Geo: 9.93, -84.08After a long day of traveling, we are safely in San Jose, Costa Rica! We enjoyed a smooth day of transitions between airports (Boise, Salt Lake, Atlanta, San Jose), and were happy to see all of our luggage when we landed here this evening. Our Tour Guide Edgar met us with a big grin just beyond the immigration and customs checkpoints, and led us to our van where we were whisked over hilly streets and through the city lights to the Hotel Tournon. We all enjoyed calling out the billboards signs in Espanol. Once in the hotel dining room, dinner awaited us: a fresh green salad, a rice and chicken entrée, followed by a caramel cake for dessert. Everyone is in high spirits, ready for a good night's sleep, and eager for the adventures ... read more

Geo: 48.8566, 2.35097(Erin here.) It's our final day in Europe, and Paris seems the perfect place to spend it. We are delighted by our hotel breakfast because it includes more than just cold cuts and cheese for once. Today we're actually treated to warm, flaky croissants. Some are even filled with ooey-gooey chocolate which has us wondering how we've ever lived without chocolate-filled croissants every morning of our lives in the States. We spend the morning on a bus/walking tour of Paris city proper—taking in the traditional sites of the Arc de Triomphe, the Champs Elysees, Notre Dame Cathedral, and Napoleon's gold-domed tomb. It's when we get out of the bus to walk around on the back streets when we really begin to get a feel for the city. Because it's Sunday, many of the shops ... read more

Geo: 49.4019, 8.68024(Sean here.)Well, another bus day greeted us following our amazing day in Lucerne and I must confess some sadness in having to leave Switzerland. Although our bank account will feel better (Switzerland is expensive – One lunch of bratwurst and fries = 19CHF or about $25-$27!), I am sorry to leave the crisp air of the Alps, the stunning views of the surrounding mountains, the melodic jingle of cow bells, and the pending feeling of adventure from the trails we had not hiked. Switzerland has definitely lodged itself in my mind as a place we must return to explore more deeply.So, once my melancholy subsided, we turned our focus to Germany once again with a stop at Rheinfalls (the tallest waterfall in Europe), the Black Forest, and a night's stay in Heidelberg. After logging ... read more

Geo: 45.442, 10.9955(Sean here.)Travel from Venice, Italy to Lucerne, Switzerland via Verona, Italy"On the road again, just can't wait to be on that road again" Willy rolled through my head as we boarded the bus again for another long day of travel as we made our way from Venice to Lucerne. Our day began a little later as our fellow group from South Carolina had a late night at the dance club while we had a late night playing on the beach near the Adriatic Sea. The bus pulled out of the parking lot a little after 9:30am, and we were back to chewing up the kilometers through northern Italy.Two hours later, we came upon our first stop in Verona, Italy, where we were given two hours of freedom to explore the city. Manuel did start ... read more

Geo: 45.5331, 12.6447Travel to Venice, Italy via Innsbruck, Austria"That's a Keep!" How often do you hear that when driving through the Mountain Home desert? Personally, I haven't, but maybe I am just driving in the wrong areas. Well, Jared shouted that exact phrase as we began our ascent through the Alps in southern Germany on our way to Innsbruck and Venice and that stuck with me as a sign we were truly not in Idaho anymore. In case you are wondering, a Keep was a medieval type structure that slightly resembled a castle tower and happened to be a rather common site on our longest bus day yet as we wound through the Alps. The views were beautiful, but somewhat tempered by the low hanging clouds that prevented us from seeing the true grandeur of the ... read more