Heading South!

Dear Blog,

Sorry I have forgotten you so. I have been without the Internet for over a week and been to busy / having too much fun to have time to blog. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog. It is worth it; I promise.

Where do I even start! Well in the last week or so I have seen the most beautiful place in the world (Wengen, Switzerland), had a riot in the largest beer hall in the world in Munich, Germany, played in the Disney castle of Neuswanstein, cruised the streets of Salzburg, Austria on a segway, went for a run along a gorgeous river in Lienz, Austria, and floated my way through the beautiful yet romantic city of Venice, Italy. I don’t think my mind can take in this much beauty in this short amount of time. This is not even to mention all the fun littler things I did in each of these cities.

Well in Wengen, Switzerland I had the most fun of my life. You will have to wait to hear it from the “horses mouth” so to speak. Words cannot describe the sights or experiences I was able to participate in. Wow. A few pictures won’t come close to doing it justice but will have to suffice because of my lack of time and energy. All I have to say is that I had too much fun but that I came out alive in the end. ;) You really need to talk to me in person about how wonderful Wengen is.

A splendid view from Wengen down the valley

overlooking Lauterbrunnen. This is what I woke

up to every morning!

Canyoning Interlaken was so splendid!

I am definately going to go back for this.

One of the many jumps we did along with slides, rappeling, hiking,

and other crazy things that canyoning entails.

They call this the canyon swing. This is a picture I took before I fell

270 feetand then was swung a couple football fields through this

glacier canyon withthe wall 10 feet away on both sides of me.

Video to come. ;)

One of the splendid hikes I took leaded me to Trummelbach Falls!

So amazing!

This is our group of rafters that went down one of the prettiest rivers

in the world! We went 14 km down the river and into the huge lake that

opened up for as long as you can see. Coming downt the river into the

lake was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen.

Boy was this water cold!

Who would jump out of a ski Gondola 450 feet above the ground?

Correct answer is: Gordy!

We got to go visit Neuswanstein castle, which is the castle that looks like the Disney Castle I believe. It sure was pretty and had some amazing things done to the inside like woodwork and a man made cave looking hall. Pretty neat.

Neuswanstein Castle and I. I think we make a good match.

We then headed into Munich and had a blast there. We went to that Haufbrahaus, which is the largest beer hall in the world. Boy was it a crazy place, but our group of BYU students sure had fun there drinking our water. Ha. We had some sweet business visits in Munich as well. We got to go to the BMW headquarters and meet with one of the big wigs; we then went to visit with KPMG and had an amazing visit with them. On our way back we stopped at Dachau, which is the first concentration camp put into use, and got to see what took place there. Those three things made for an amazing experience and lessons that I will never forget.

Bro Pic at the Haufbrahaus beer hall in Munich.

The entry to Dachau concentration camp.

The gate reads "Work will make you free."

Some of the beds the inmates had to live in.

On our way to Salzburg, Austria we got to take an awesome tour through a salt mine and visit Hitler’s Eagles Nest. I know the salt mine doesn’t sound fun but it was pretty dang cool. You get to take a train ride into it and then take slides down through it and an underground boat ride across the water filled caverns. Pretty sweet if I do say so myself. Hitler’s Eagles Nest was fun too. The weather was gloomy so you couldn’t see the amazing view that it has but I got to eat a wiener schnitzel up on top in the restaurant and that made it all worth it.

Catching the train through the Salt Mines!

Such a Blast!

A bunch of us at Hitlers Eagles Nest

with the famous fireplace behind us.

The view from Hitlers Eagles Nest!

You can't even see the far end of the deck.

Once in Salzburg it was free sailing. Between the “Sound of Music” tour I saw, and the Dinner and a Concert in the huge fortress on the highest hill, Salzburg was pretty awesome. The crazy segway ride was definitely interesting and very nerve racking. I can honestly say that jumping from that Gondola wasn’t as scary as riding the segway at high speeds feeling like it is trying to fall over backward on you. Salzburg was a blast.

This is a tribute for Crave Baby.

This mustache is amazing. He was outside the church that was used

in the filming of "The Sound of Music."

This Chapel is where the Christmas Carol "Silent Night" was first sung.

The girls were struggling to hold me. I can take a hint.

Steve and I jumping over the river.

The back of the house from "The Sound of Music."

I am almost as musically inclined as the Von Trapps.

Not!

Blair and I reinacting part of the movie.

The view of Salzburg from the fortress on the hill were

we had our fancy dinner and a concert.

In the Catacombs at St. Peters.

Blair, Kelley Anne and I at the horse baths.

Steve and I cruising the city by segway. People from our

group that randomly saw us thought we were missionaries

at first. That would be sweet to have as missionaries.

We stopped in Lienz, Austria to break up our drive to Venice and was probably one of my favorite cities. It was a small town feel and we had all day in the most beautiful weather we have received so far to walk, explore and have an awesome pool party. Exploring took us to adventurous places where we could play in the freezing river and walk through the middle of nowhere hearing only the sound of the river and only being able to see the beautiful mountains in front of us. We found out about this water park in town and most of our group ended up there eventually to play some beach volleyball and play on the slides and diving boards. This was definitely a highlight. It was so much fun.

Our group in front of our bus just outside Lienz.

The beautiful river in Lienz. This is were the two rivers met.

They are different colors when they meet. It is pretty cool.

The local pool we went to for our pool party.

Crave, you should be proud of my diving abilities. ;)

This morning I woke early and went for a nice long run through the city of Lienz. I went along the river and through the old town and was just continually amazed at what I saw. After buying some of my new favorite music by Peter Fox at the local “Pop Shop”. We headed to Venice where we got to spend the remainder of the afternoon and evening seeing the sights of Venice and getting lost in the city. I love Italy so much and can’t wait for the next week and a half to explore more of Italy.

The famous city of Venice. Boy is it a wonderful place to explore.

I love it here!

This trip is seriously amazing and has changed my outlook on life. I am spending to much money but can’t think of a better way to spend it. I will remember this forever and always. I can’t believe it has been 4 weeks already. Life continues to fly by. The great thing is that I have an awesome group and it is going to be weird not to wake up and see all of their faces every morning. Some more than others obviously ;). This is my report for now. Take care of yourselves!

Fresh Air!!

Wow! That is the only word I can think of to describe the amazing experience I had today. Long story short; once a year the local Swiss Cowboys move their cows from the valley floor to the high alps for them to live for the summer and to graze on the amazing green pasture way up there. That day happened to be today! I met this awesome lady today named Severine, as we both professed our love for horses and the cowboy way, she arranged through her brother for us to meet up with him and help him herd cattle through the alps to their summer home. Few, if any, tourists could say that they were able to do this. I have been on such a high all day because of it. It truely was amazing! There is nothing more I can say to describe this experience.

I haven't tasted air this good in a long while!

These are some of the sweet cowboys behind me.

I got to get me one of thosetraditional Swiss cowboy

herding shirts the two behind me are wearing!

All the cows wear these huge decorated bells

with the name of the owner on them.

It is a tradition and a celebration for the one time

a year they heard them up the mountain.

I will have to post the video of the bells

ringing the whole way up the mountain.

After herding the cattle this morning we went to a cheese factory that has been making the same cheese for hundreds of years. We got to take a tour of the factory and see the working of how they make the cheese to the curing process and everything that has to go with it. The cheese made me sick because it was so good and I ate way to much. I think I am gaining some good weight I will have to loose:). We then went to a wind park and got to go inside the windmills that are used to produce energy and see how they work and then wen to the other side of the wind park to see all the solar panels they have to produce energy for the village there. It was quite a learning experience. The best part of the solar panels is that on the back of this field of solar panels is a sticker that said "Made in the USA" Go America! We then had an authentic cowboy meal of every kind of meat you can think of and most of which was pretty raw. We ate this meal in the hay loft of a barn to make it even better. Then got lots of chocolate from the local factory and came back to the hotel. What a day! I love Europe so much.

The rest of the week was great as well. I don't have time to go into detail, but since my last post I have played around in several cities in Germany (Cologne, Mannheim, Koblenz, and Stuttgart), ran through the old Roman Sewer System and escaped from the museum gaurds through a hidden exit, visited the John Deere factory of Mannheim, went to the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart, have played in the old city of Bern, Switzerland, at a much needed Mexican meal, and had a wonderful day today (as mentioned above)!

This is the John Deere factory that we got to go in.

It was amazing to see every little detail of how they are built.

Just a taste: From start to finish it takes 4 1/2 hours to built a tractor.

This is my instructor on the long bus ride ;).

I am always on of the only ones awake on the long drives so I

entertain myself by taking pictures and talking to the bus driver.

This is a lake in Koblenz. There was a significant bridge built in

this spot during WWII. What a site!

This is one of the many amazing cars

at the Mercedes-Benz Museum.

Only Five of these were ever made and are worth millions of dollars.

These are the sweet bears that are in Bern!

They just had two cubs this spring.

I posted this to tell a story.

This is my international experience in Switzerland.

I had a Russian waitress that was speaking German at a Mexican Restaurant with the menu in German. Meanwhile there was a live Mariachi Band singing Spanish in the corner with me and three lovely ladies that only spoke English. Fun huh!

This is some cheese coming out of the brine salt!

Got to love these outfits.

This is what we got to wear to go through the cheese factory.

IIHF World Hockey Championship!!!

Just a quick note;

Today was a great day! We started by visiting the largest flower auction in the world. This place was amazing! The racks of flowers go on for miles and miles. There are auction rooms with people constantly bidding on these flowers that arrived in the warehouse this morning and are shipped out this same day to be sold all around the world in shops that same night. It was a site for sore eyes and sore noses, at least for those with allergies. :)

As far as you can see are these connected train of flowers that are moved through the auction hall to be bought by the bidders for markets all around the world.

This is a closer look at the racks of flowers! They were so beautiful!

As for the Hockey game. We checked into our hotel at 4pm. As we were walking in there was a projector in the main room showing the pregame of the USA vs. Denmark game. I expressed my interest in the sport and the manager informed me that the games are going on only 6 min away at the local arena. What?!! The World Championship happening right now. I knew I would never get to see this kind of event again so I grabbed some people and ran to the stadium to enjoy an amazing game of hockey. I have been on a high ever since the game. We met some awesome friends there from Finland that helped keep us entertained. This was phenomenal! David and Deano would be jealous! It was so much fun. Definately a highlight of this trip! What are the odds that while stopping in Koln, Germany that there would be such and event going on.

My new friend Yan. He and his friends were awesome and super fun/crazy. ;)

The few of us that I could convince to join me for the game.

It really was way to much fun!

The Trek Up North!

I can’t believe it has already been a week since my last post! Where has the time gone? Since my last post I have ran the beaches of Normandy, got the romantic fever in Paris, visited the site of the Battle of the Bulge (Bastogne), saw the Mannekin Pis while stuffing myself with 8 of the famous waffles in a 24 hour period in Brussels, ran the tower in Brugge by myself while dining on the most delicious chocolate in the world, smelled the stench of a cheese factory in Holland, watched an awkward Dutch boy (Remón) make some Clogs at a clog factory, saw the first sight that is going to be destroyed in the millennium (Amsterdam), listened to some of the best talks in Sacrament meeting in four different languages, had a moving visit to the house of Anne Frank, and had a blast seeing the sights in between all these with phenomenal friends. If that wasn’t a run on sentence then I don’t know what is. That really is my week in a nutshell!

There is no way I can describe all those experiences listed above without spending all my time typing it up. I will do better to type things up so I can post them when I get free Internet at random McDonalds throughout Europe ☺.
I feel the best way for me right now to describe some of the places and things I have seen is by pictures. I will try to post quite a few below. Hopefully I can download them all before my time run outs.

Along with all the wonderful things I have seen are all the amazing visits we are able to have with a lot of big people around the world. From meeting with some big name attorney’s, to a guy from The Division of Homeland Security in charge of NATO. We also met with a local and international retailing big wig from Delhaize. They have gave some motivating and inspiring speeches that have made me want to do so much more with my life. What an experience to be having!

Tonight is our last night in Amsterdam and then we head south from here until the end of our trip.

One of our awesome "Bro Pic's" overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

This Museum was crazzy! There was so much to see and to do. This is me with my friend Alex.

I ran the beaches of Normandy and visited the Normandy American Cemetery. This was an amazing site to see.

These cannon's were so far inland that you could barely see the ocean. But they could shoot ships 18 miles away in the ocean off the coast of Normandy. I went up for a better view.

There is a ship in the distance! Ryan and I manning our cannon!

A wonderful pose at the Gardens at the Rodin Museum in Paris. This is one of my favorites!

I tried to take the armor off this pony to use on my own and he went crazy.

Somehow I survived.

A view of Paris and the Eiffel Tower from the top of Notre Dame.

A great view of the Seine River from the top of the Eiffel Tower.

What way was this picture taken? Turn your computer screen if you have to.

I was taking charge of this cannon at the Army Museum.

The gardens of Versaille! They went on for miles. It was a beautiful day too!

A great view in Amsterdam!

Me and my friend Maddison out from of the house Anne Frank grew up in.


Our group out to church in Amsterdam.

What a great experience!


We got to go to see PSG (Paris Saint-Germain).

The great futbol team that just one the French Cup.

Biking around the huge gardens and lake at Versaille. What a sight.

A great view of Brugge, Belgium.


My giant clogs at the clog making factory in Holland.


Me and the Mannekin Pis. Someone decided to dress him up for the day.

Usually he has much less clothes on. ;)


Getting fat on Belgium Waffles. Yum

The monument commemorating the 50 States at Bastogne.

This is where the Battle of the Bulge took place.

The American Cemetery in Normandy.

What a sight to see!

The floating trailers in the canals around Amsterdam.

This is my definition of a red neck yacht club!

The sanitation workers went on strike before we got to Amsterdam so there was garbage everywhere. Just something to add to the filthy things of this city.

This sure was a great week! So much to do so little time!