crich

This is our last day in Strasbourg. We left around 8:15am and we went to a place that sells duck and goose, also known as Foie Gras. We saw a power point on how everything is prepared. The meat is brought in by the person they purchase the food from. They clean the meat and then they slice it and put it into jars. They fill them up and then they put them in a machine which cooks it as well. They food last for up to 2 years. We tried a sample of goose and duck. The goose liver was smooth/creamy like. It tasted like liver to me. We had some Pinot Gris wine to go with it. As far as texture, it is better to start with the goose liver and sip the wine. ... read more

This was our free day, and since I am not going to Paris or anywhere else, I decided to stay around. I slept in and it was very nice! I rented a bike and Nate, Brent, Josh, Sinai, Stephanie and I decided to go on a bike ride. We went riding through the trails and our first stop was a little flowing pond. There were two dogs who were jumping in to get the ball that was being thrown at them. I've never seen a dog jump in water! Afterwards, we wanted to go to what looked like a beach. When we finally made it, it was a nude beach!! We walked in and I was wondering what I saw some nudity and naked people everywhere! They all were about 55 and older it seemed! We ... read more

Today we had a really relaxed tour on the bus. We had a tour guide Vivianne Beller gave us a really nice tour. She was born in Massachusetts and moved to France and has lived here for 32 years. She has 3 children and one lives in Pars, China, and America. She goes to America probably twice a year. We traveled around as she informed us of the plantations, and what things are grown. We are in the Alsace and we stopped by the "Haut-Koenigsbourg Castle". The castle was built in the 12th century and was the residence of the several different eminent proprietors including members of the Habsburg dynasty and German emperor Wilhelm II. As we went through the tour, it was like we were fighting to get through and we got a real sense ... read more

Today we ate breakfast, which isn't as good as it was in Switzerland! I liked that breakfast a lot more. We went into the town and we had a boat tour of the city of Strasbourg. The boat ride was 1 hour and we got to see some cathedrals, and the building of Human Rights as well. The boat ride was very nice, and you could listen in different languages as well! We also saw the European Parliment while on the boat. After the boat ride, we had about 1 hour and 30 minutes to eat lunch and walk around if we wanted. I ended up eating some type of ham sandwhich with this cheese cooked on top of it. Luckily, Stephanie Clark loaned me some money to eat! I was so thankful! I talked to ... read more

To be perfectly honest, I did not sleep well last night. I was still so angry and in shock of not being able to access my bank in Europe. Not to mention, watching everyone book their tickets to Paris was majorly depressing! I had some breakfast and the stuffed my suitcases full of things from the room. We travelled to Hergiswill, Switzerland to visit the Hergiswill Glass Factory. This was an amazing factory! There was lots of history in this factory. The men who worked there were barely paid any money, and they always owed their boss money when they would get a credit. They also worked under dangerous conditions. After the tour of the glass factory, we got the chance to visit two of the glass shops; one was discounted and the other wasn't. I ... read more

This was our free day today. I decided to sleep in today and it was great!! After eating breakfast, I got dressed and Catherine, Nate, and I went walking around. We walked along the river that runs through the city. It was really interesting because we saw lots of snails and slugs around the trail. They were huge! We haven't seen anything like this in Texas. After wondering around town, we got hungry and stopped at this restaurant called "Rosti-Hauseinwaldli". This seems like a nice local place to eat dinner. We walked in there was this big dog sitting there in the doorway. That was really weird. The lady did not speak any English so that made everything really difficult. She passed out some menus that had some English on it. Me and Catherine decided to ... read more

After a long day of driving we wake up today to go to Mt. Titlis. We walked over the cable car that will take all of us up to the mountain. We stopped at a bar/restraint to have a presentation by Gabriela Sigrist. He is the marketing director and sales rep for Mt. Titlis. Mt. Titlis is 10,000 feet high and they have changed cable cars 3 times to better improve them. Last year, Mt. Titlis made about $42,000,000 in revenue. 60% of that figure was from the winter season and 40% comes from off season time which is normally during the summer. We had some croissants and hot chocolate for us to snack on. He gave a really nice presentation. After the presentation, we left to go to the mountain. We have to take 3 ... read more

Day 2 was strange! I and several other people woke up at 5:30 am!! That never happens! I decided to go for a morning walk. The weather was nice, the sun was rising, and I was awake to early. I grabbed my map and I left the hotel to find the trail. I was a little apprehensive about walking around by myself but I felt okay. I walked for about 30 minutes and I took pictures of the scenery. It was absolutely beautiful! I came back to the hotel and I had breakfast which was amazing! We got dressed and then the group walked over to the Engelberg Monastery. I have always wanted to see a Monastery. We met with Brother Thomas who is becoming a Monk. You go in and you can see if you ... read more