Day 18 - Grecian Island Cruise - 7.8.12

Sorry today’s post will be brief, but it is again very late here! Today we went on our wonderful cruise to three Greek Islands: Hydra, Poros, and Aegina.

First, we enjoyed an hour and a half cruise to the furthest island of Hydra. We really only had about an hour or so on each, so we just had some time to walk around a little bit, peek into shops, and grab something refreshing to eat or drink. Hydra was probably the most picturesque island that we visited, famous for the white-washed houses overlooking the sapphire blue mediterranean sea. After that, we came closer in to the next island of Poros, where we only had about 45 minutes. They call this island the ice cream island, because you really only have enough time to get some ice cream, and that is exactly what we did. Raspberry sorbet hit the spot. Finally, we went to the final island of our cruise - Aegina. We had the most time on Aegina, and it was very fun. Because of the extra time, a group of people from our group found a close public beach, where we swam. The water was so incredible! For the entire cruise I had been seeing the incredibly blue water, and now I was swimming in it. Somewhere between warm and cold, the currents felt amazing as the water temperature changed as the waves came in, and it felt extremely refreshing. After being in the water for probably an hour or so (playing some games, swimming, and just hanging out) we headed back to the boat for our hour long ride back into the mainland of Greece. This was happily spent sunbathing at the front of the boat, occasionally dozing a little bit as the wind whipped calmly across the boat. 

Once we returned to the hotel, we headed out for our last Greek meal. A Greek favorite, we had to go for another gyro! Gyros include a specially prepared meat, tziziki sauce, pita, tomato, and lettuce. As usual, it was delicious. Definitely a satisfying way to end the trip! Because it was so late, we just headed back to the hotel and now here we are, 18 minutes past 11, and it is definitely time for bed after an exhausting day!

Day 17 - Parthenon, Shopping, and Mopeds - 7.7.12

Today was our first full day in Greece. And, unfortunately, our second to last full day in Greece. And....I know that I say this a lot, but it was incredible! We began the day by enjoying a delicious breakfast, including greek yogurt of course! After our breakfast we walked out of our air conditioned hotel at about eight in the morning, and it was already like an oven outside. However, excited for the day’s adventures, we walked into it and up the steps of the acropolis to behold the Parthenon. We had a great tour guide, who led us through the olive groves and beautiful aged white marble steps up to the Parthenon. Unfortunately, the entire Parthenon is not standing any more because it was bombed by the Persians hundreds of years ago, but now they are working to rebuild and restore it. It was very cool to look up at the powerful columns as well as see all of the hundreds of pieces of it laying around and see the old and the new all in such close proximity. We had some time to stand and gaze in wonder up at the mighty Parthenon, which can be seen everywhere in Athens because it is illegal to build skyscrapers, or any building more than about 10 stories. Interestingly enough, the Parthenon does not look massive when you are standing very close to it. Because everything was built using the golden ratio, it mimics nature and looks natural, which presents it in a way that it never looks overpoweringly huge, except from far away, because it is so gradual and natural.

After enjoying this, we hopped on our bus for a 30 minute guided tour of the city where we got to see a couple of cool sights such as the Temple of Zeus, white marble olympic stadium, tomb of the unknown soldier monument (yes, there is another one in France), and we ended this near the Plaka for us to get lunch and spend our free time. Starving, we headed to the first gyro place we could find. However, it had to be a restaurant so we could get in out of the heat in the air-conditioning! We found a place that was just perfect, and we all ordered pork gyros. We were graciously served a greek salad of tomatoes and cucumbers first, and then enjoyed the most delicious gyros on perfect pitas. It was just what we needed. We left from here to walk around a bit, but some of us wanted to go back to the hotel, so we went back to sit in the air conditioning of the hotel and make a plan. Some people wanted to go shopping, some of us wanted to just hang out at the hotel, and right as we were making plans we ran into Mrs. Libby, who told us that she just had a unique experience - a fish treatment. We thought that this sounded cool, so those of us who wanted to head back out in the six hours of remaining free time. It was definitely an experience. We walked into the spa where they do it, paid for the treatment, and then after washing our feet sat down and placed our feet into fish tanks. As soon as my feet hit the water, a hundred miniature carp with no teeth went to work on my feet and lower legs, sucking off any dead skin to rejuvenate the skin. It was definitely one of the strangest feelings I have ever felt, like lots of tiny bubbles all over my legs. 

After the 30 minute treatment, we walked back into the extreme head of the outside and went back to the hotel to meet up with everybody. Once we were all together (just a small group), we went back down to the Plaka to do some final shopping. We browsed lots of little shops and found some very cool and unique stuff all around the Plaka. However, after a good hour or so of this, it was getting to be too hot again to walk around so we headed back to the hotel to sit on the roof jacuzzi (don’t worry, it’s not hot!) to relax for about an hour before dinner. The water felt great! It was just perfect for getting in out of the heat, and it was perfect before dinner.

From the water, we headed down and met the entire group in the lobby of our hotel to walk to dinner. Tonight’s dinner was very unique! Pork kebabs with rice and potatoes, fantastic tomato, cucumber, and feta salad, finished with some ice cream. It came complete with live music and dancing to watch, which made for an altogether very delicious and fun night!

We still had some free time after doing this, so we decided to do something that some other people had done the night before - rent a “fun bike”. A fun bike is a bike with four wheels, on which four people pedal and it is a fun way to enjoy the city. However, this seemed like a little too much work in the still hot evening, so we each (about 5 of us) rented little electric mopeds on which we toured the city. We were all set for an hour. We drove everywhere! We almost completely circled the Acropolis, went to the Agora, made it back to some highways (which we had to drive on to get back to the Plaka because we were hopelessly lost!). It was another adventure for the day! We got hopelessly lost in Athens for about 45 minutes, and it was so fun! We just explored streets and used the Acropolis as a landmark to find our way back eventually to the stand where we rented them just in time to return them.

Now, after this adventure, we are back in the hotel before our early 6:30 breakfast call tomorrow. The boat ride tomorrow tomorrow will be very fun!

Day 16 - Goodbye to Some, Hello to Greece - 7.6.12

As the alarm buzzed at 2:15 in the morning it was not a welcome sound. I begrudgingly roused myself to take a shower (I know it sounds crazy but it sure did help wake me up!) and throw all of my toiletries in my bag. At 3 our bags were loaded into he coaches and we munched on a very quick breakfast in time for our 3:30 departure. As it could be expected, once on the coaches everyone was completely asleep after sadly waving goodbye to Germany. 

Magically, 2 hours later we were awoken as we pulled into the Frankfurt airport. Everybody going to Greece got off at the first terminal, leaving our big luggage on the coach to stay in Germany while I disembarked with my two carry-ons. In the airport, it was pretty much straight forward. We got our tickets, made a quick Starbucks stop, went through security, and made it to our gate! We only had a couple of minutes to spare at our gate, where I hopped onto the free wifi there to send a couple of last minute emails before leaving Germany. 

Once in the plane, I fell asleep for the first bit of the ride. Once I woke up, I was treated t a snack and beverage as I settled in to read about one hundred pages of my book for school in the fall, which I am getting very close to finishing. Luckily, this helped speed the plane ride along and before I knew it we were descending into Athens! Once we landed, it was a breeze to get to our bus because we had no checked baggage! As we drove to our hotel we got glimpses of the beautiful Athens city, with the massive Acropolis and Parthenon lurking above us. Our hotel is quite nice! I am rooming with different people this time for the next three nights because not everybody is going to Greece! Once we arrived at the hotel, I did a little laundry to get ready for the next three days, and then we immediately went over to the Acropolis museum to see hundreds of statues, ruins, and relics that have been salvaged from the Acropolis. It is all such an impressive sight! After spending about an hour or so in the museum, we left and broke into small groups to walk around the city area near our hotel, which is at the base of the Acropolis and only a few short minutes from the plaka. We explored for about an hour, poking our head into clothing and relic shops, and then it was time to indulge in our first Grecian meal. And I was amazing! Salad with olive oil, feta cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, beef, cheese pie, noodles, more cheese, potatoes, and finished off with some delicious chocolate mousse, it was definitely an impressive and delicious first food experience in Greece. After dinner, we walked as a group to the Plaka, a famous shopping and restaurant district in Athens near our hotel. Although we didn't do any shopping, we bookmarked many spots in our minds and decided that we definitely need to visit them tomorrow afternoon during our free time to pick up some souvenirs. We didn't have a huge amount of time, because we had an early bed check at 9:30 so that we would go to bed a little early because we had so little sleep today. The sleep will definitely be welcome! More Grecian adventures tomorrow...   

Day 15 - Rothenburg and the Final Concert - 7.5.12

Today was a very fun and relaxing day overall. As the tour has continued, we have gotten more and more free time, and tomorrow we probably had the most. We had the entire morning free, and we were told that if we wanted breakfast it was from 7-8 in the morning. After our breakfast, we had until one in the afternoon to do as we pleased. Because we walk liked around the town and walked the wall the night before, we used the time we had in the morning to do some shopping.

First, we stopped at the Christmas village, which is a world famous shop and display. They had some amazing things! Everything from regular Christmas ornaments to intricate nutcrackers, amazing incense smokers and beer steins, it was all amazing! Unfortunately I have no pictures of the store, because for some reason they do. Not allow any pictures inside the Christmas village. After looking and doing some shopping there, we walked down to the revered knife and sword shop just to look around. It was a very cool store, somewhere between awesome and nerd-haven. One person on our tour bought a five foot tall axe/spear thing from it and had it shipped home! We spent a couple minutes here, and after making any purchases we wanted here we continued to wander. As we continued to wander down the street, we were taken by the heat and decided that it was a must for us to stop for some gelato. Everybody that I was with had completed all of their shopping by this point, so we walked further into Rothenburg to visit the famous crime museum. It was very cool! They had a multitude of executioners swords, shame hats, head and hand "violins" that bound the victim, as well as a multitude of other torture devices. After walking through this a museum, it was time for our concert!

We all quickly went back to e hotel to grab our stands and music as well as as change our clothes. After that, hurried to the town square where our last concert was held. It went splendidly! Even though it was entirely too hot and resulted in all of being very sweaty and only a little bit miserable, it was a very fun last concert and the crowd really seemed to enjoy it. They say at there is always such a big crowd in Rothenburg because hundreds of people come at 2 o'clock to see the massive clock tower under which we performed. When the clock finishes its show, everybody hears the band begin to play and simply sits down and listens! As I said, the concert went very well, it as a very fun last time playing together. After we loaded everything and the percussion was packed up, we decided to head out for a couple hours to enjoy the last couple of hours we had free in Rothenburg. After changing, I headed down the street towards the choir and orchestra concert, figuring that I should sit through at least one of their entire concerts. However, of course, to beat the heat we decided that we needed some gelato. Because it was so hot, a creamy flavor just wouldn't do, so I decided to try lemon and cherry, thinking that it would hopefully taste like cherry lemonade. And it did! It was the perfect snack. After this, I walked down to the choir and orchestra concert to see and hear them play their last concert, and it was wonderful! 

Once everyone was done playing, I met up with a couple people from the band and orchestra and we decided to once again walk along the wall around Rothenburg. However, because we had already done this once, we decided to have a little fun. Once it began to get dark, a lot of nooks and crannies on the wall become completely pitch black for a couple feet. We thought this was a perfect opportunity for us to hide in these places to see if people noticed us. Of course, they did. So, we one upped it. I had the fantastic idea that I could get up into the rafters of the roof of the wall and sit there waiting for people. (I in that the ceiling was quite because I always felt like I was going to run into it!) I spent about 30 minutes up in the rafters of the wall, with the rest of the people I was with telling me when people were coming so I would know when to drop my hand down in front of their face to give them a little scare. Unfortunately, I do not have a picture of this, because I didn't have my camera with me a the time! Hopefully I can snag the picture off of someone who I was with. 

After this fun aside, we realized that it was about time to head back for our final farewell, which consisted of a 30 minute slideshow of a collection of pictures chronicling our adventures in each city. As this came to a close, it was a bittersweet moment for sure, but all I could think about was how much I had to pack! After saying goodbyes to everyone, I rushed to my room to pack. Packing completed: 11:30 pm. Wake up call: 2:15 am. 

Dachau and Rothenburg

Today we started early again needing to be down to breakfast by 7 so that we could leave Seefeld, Austria at about eight o’clock. It was sad, as it always is when we leave a country, but we were all excited for what lay ahead! Today our day included many many hours of driving, with a stop at Dachau.

We were all excited for Dachau, not in the same way that we were for many of the other places at which we stopped, but because of the eye opening experience it would be. As we pulled up to Dachau, we had absolutely no idea what to expect. As we entered, it was something to behold that we had only, until now, read in history books and seen in documentaries. We walked through the gates, barracks, and gas chambers that were not recreations, not museums, but where it actually happened. It is honestly quite hard to believe. Although Dachau was not as intense of a death camp specifically like Auschwitz, it still was a terrible place and we had the opportunity to experience that first hand. However, it was very unfortunate because we only had about an hour there to see everything, and there is much more there to see than we had time for. To see the entire thing you would probably need five or six hours to see the entire museum, and walk around everywhere. However, in our time we had a chance to walk quickly through the museum as well as walk in some of the barracks, rooms, labs, the gas chambers (labeled as showers), crematorium, and many other horrible sights. It was an extremely eye-opening experience, and I am so glad that we got to go and hope that I can revisit sometime to see even more of everything that they have there.

After leaving Dachau, we made a quick stop for lunch, and then we were on our way for the three or four hour ride from Dachau to Rothenberg. Like every other drive, it was spent sleeping, reading my book for college, as well as playing some scrabble on my iPad. About four hours later, we rolled into Rothenberg. Upon our arrival, we all went to a large room where we had our orientation. Because this town is so old, it actually dates back to the middle ages and the time of the black plague, and the room that we had our orientation in was apparently used to house the dead bodies before being carted away or burned. They told us not to worry, most of the remains are gone by now.

After the orientation, we moved into our hotel, which is nice but unfortunately doesn’t have air conditioning, and it is very hot this time of year! We had some time in our hotel rooms to move our luggage in and get settled just before dinner. For dinner, we enjoyed some delicious soup, followed by a course of some pork, carrots, and fries. After this course, we finished off the meal with some delicious pudding and then called it quits for dinner. 

The coordinators raved about a local tour led by the “night watchman”, a man who impersonates a night watchman from the middle ages. We ran from dinner just in time for the tour to begin at eight, and it was very enjoyable! We were led by a man with long hair, a beard, a leather hat, black robes, a candle lantern, and a long axe/spear. It was very fun and an adventure as we heard all about many historical points and interesting parts of the history of Rothenberg. We got a tour of the beautiful city just as the sun was setting on our part of the country. After the tour ended, we had a little bit of time to explore the city on foot before tomorrow. We decided to leave the shopping up to tomorrow, so we walked along the top of the wall that surrounds Rothenberg. It was a fun adventure, and gave us some beautiful views of the city. After this, we just had time to go back to our room before the bed checks, and honestly that sounded quite nice! 

Now I am just getting ready for bed, as we have our last concert and free day tomorrow. In the background I can barely see and hear some fireworks, must be some local people celebrating the Fourth of July!

Day 13 - Venice!! - 7.3.12

Again, I apologize for the short length of this post but we have to wake up in just 7 hours, and sleep is crucial on this trip!!

Today was very fun, we woke at 4 this morning for a 4:45 breakfast to begin the 5 hour trek to get to Venice for the day. As it can be imagined, we were all out within the first five minutes of the drive and were for pretty much the entire drive to the docks. Once at the docks, we ate a packed lunch and then boarded the boat to travel into Venice. We took the fifteen minute ride into Venice and then all unloaded into this new, colorful, incredibly beautiful place for our tour. We walked over the bridges and through narrow walkways in our tour, learning not so much about the sights but more about the actual history of Venice, which is very interesting. Our tour ended at the glass factory, where we got to see a demonstration and peruse the gallery there. After this, we broke off into individual groups for free time for the rest of our time there, until 4:15 in the afternoon. In this time, we got gelato (I had one scoop of strawberry and one scoop of straccitella) to cool us down in the ninety degree heat. We wandered around a bit after this, seeing the Basilica de San Marco, as well as things such as the Bridge of Sighs. When we returned back to the square, we decided to, despite the price, take a gondola ride. For 20 euros each, we got a 30 minute gondola ride through the canals of Venice, which was a very fun experience. Lots of pretty architecture, and the feel was just fantastic. I could only think of movies such as The Italian Job while we were navigating the canals. 

After this, we decided that we wanted some real Italian pizza, so we sought out a place to get some to go. We had some margherita as well as spicy italian sausage pizza as we walked through Venice, which we found was quite difficult to actually know where you are. The narrow and somewhat organized pathways make it difficult to get your bearings anywhere, so we really had to navigate by “feel”. After pizza, we looked down at our watches and realized that it was time to head back to the meeting point to catch the boat back to the dock where we left the bus. However again, it was so extremely hot and humid, we had to stop again for gelato (who cares, I won’t be in Italy again soon, might as well enjoy the gelato!), this time trying the cherry (which was delicious!). After this gelato stop, as some of the chaperones said is the best way to measure time (in gelato stops), we made our way back to the meeting point to catch the boat back to the bus. Although it was sad, we had to say goodbye to the wonderful city of Venice, only to think of the next time we will visit this place...

Once we arrived home after the five hour bus ride, we were pleasantly surprised to be told that a local brat and sausage stand had stayed open special and late for us after our trip to Venice, so we all piled in line to get our dinner. It was delicious, of course, and now after a good brat and tiring day of heat, gelato, and fun, I can call it quits before tomorrow’s adventures! More tomorrow as we head to Germany...

Day 12 - Innsbruck and Free Time - 7.2.12

Well, sorry this post is going to be short, but I have to wake up at 4 o’clock tomorrow to go to Venice! Today we started the day by traveling a couple of minutes to the city of Innsbruck to visit a couple of sights. We had the chance to walk around and explore by ourselves (in groups, of course!) and see what Innsbruck had to offer. We had a chance to see an olympic training ski jump (we tried to go on, but they couldn’t accommodate a group of 350 all at once! Also none of us brought skis! After seeing this we went to a basilica, which was possibly one of the most beautiful churches we’ve seen so far! It didn’t have the magical stained glass of the Notre Dame, but it did have some amazing gold sculptures lining the entire room and ceiling, it was gorgeous. From here, we went into Old Innsbruck to see the famous Golden Roof, as well as see a room in which Mozart stayed when he wrote much of his music. You can see the street with both of these monuments in the picture. Click on it to get the detail!That was all very cool to see of course! After that we had some time to wander around, which was quite nice to do. I indulged in an Apfelstreusel (an apple pastry with streusel topping), which was a true delicious Austrian delight!

After spending some time in Innsbruck, we headed back up the mountain to Seefeld, where we are staying. Again, we had free time! First we needed to get some lunch, so we visited a revered little place called Mama’s to buy some bratwursts, which were delicious! After having this amazing treat, we walked around to see some of the shops that Seefeld has to offer and picked up a couple of little pieces of memory that will help us remember our wonderful time here. We happened upon the coffee shop at which we stopped last night, and thinking about it some hot coffee sure did sound good after a long day of on and off rain. After our coffee stop we had to hurry back to the hotel in order to be ready for our five o’clock concert! The concert went well, as good as any others, and it rained on and off. However, the people here must be dedicated because they all stayed and enjoyed the concert. Tonight, the choir and orchestra is performing at nine. After the concert we went back to the hotel to eat another delicious Austrian dinner. We had cream of garlic soup, pork with mushroom sauce, rice, broccoli, and a delicious dessert of a peach cobbler-type dessert. 

After dinner, we had the rest of the night free. I met up with some friends that are going to Greece with me from Grand Junction that attend Fruita Monument High School, and we decided to go swimming. Despite the rain, there is an indoor/outdoor swimming pool just a couple of minutes walk from our hotel, so we decided to go and enjoy the pool! After about an hour in the pool, we called it quits and headed back to the hotel to get some rest before our very very early morning tomorrow of 4:00 am. Now off to bed and Italy tomorrow!!

Fondue Party, Liechtenstein, and Travel to Austria - Day 11 - 7.1.12

First of all, the fondue party. It was amazing! The cliffsnotes - amazing pots of steaming cheese were delivered to our tables and soon after trays and plates of delicious bread were brought to us and the feast began! We enjoyed this classic swiss tradition until the entertainment for the night began. We watched a group of women yodel, play the accordion, play a bicycle pump, men who played those humongous horn things, a small band, singers, and the grand finale of dancers! It was a night to remember in Switzerland and delicious food, friends, and fun entertainment all made for a perfect last night.

Like most travel days, today was not the most interesting. However, it can be listed under the more interesting travel days because it included the chance to drive through Liechtenstein. We started off at 7:00 this morning after a 6:00 luggage call, and we were of course all immediately out after enjoying our last breakfast with the view to die for. The bus ride basically consisted of switching between sleeping and reading, which resulted in a good amount of sleep as well as getting about one hundred pages read in the book that I have to read for school in the fall!

A couple of hours later, I was woken by a voice over the intercom system saying that we had reached the tiny country of Liechtenstein for lunch. However, we only had an our! We dashed over to the Coop store (grocery store) to buy a picnic lunch of bread, meat, cheese, chips, and an apple pastry to go. We found a nice bench where we could view the gorgeous scenery of tiny Liechtenstein and enjoy our meal just in time before we had to board the bus again.

We all loaded back on the bus and it was the same story again as the morning, except my reading time was greatly interrupted by lots of tunnels! We must have passed through twenty or thirty tunnels on the journey between Liechtenstein and the city we are staying in (Seefeld) Austria. Because it continually was dark for random times at random times, I resorted to just listening to music and playing a short game of scrabble against myself on my iPad. Soon enough we made it to Seefeld!

Once we arrived we checked into our hotel, probably the nicest so far (but definitely not the same view as Switzerland!). Once checked in, we had some time to explore the small town around us where we will be staying for the next three nights. We got into town, peered into a couple of shops, and then decided to enjoy a cappuccino on the sidewalk, do a little people watching, and ultimately gather our thoughts and decide what to do next all while enjoying some fresh air after being shut inside a bus all day. After this delicious treat, it was time for dinner! Our first Austrian meal - soup, meatballs and potatoes, carrots, finished with a marscapone cheese and cherry dessert - was incredibly delicious! If there is one part about this trip that is continually amazing and incredible it is most definitely the food. The food has all been superb. After enjoying dinner, we had a couple hours of free time to spend before we had to be back in our rooms for bed. We decided to head out and find the revered gelato shop and catch a few minutes of the big Spain vs. Italy soccer (fútbol!) game here. It was crazy! The streets and restaurants were all full (for a small town) of people wanting to watch the game. We watched a few minutes as we ate our gelato and then were on our way back to the hotel to catch some sleep. Sleep on the bus is good, but it will definitely not compare to sleep in a real bed tonight!

More adventures tomorrow...

Zermatt and the Matterhorn (fondue too!)

This morning we rose a bit earlier than yesterday morning, having to be at breakfast at 6:45 in order to leave Crans-Montana at 7:45 so that we could make it to Zermatt in time for a full day of fun and adventures there. We left and all instantly fell asleep on the bus because of the very late night last night because of the concert and the early morning this morning because we needed to leave early. I settled in, listening to some good music, and found myself shutting my eyes for the trip along with everyone else and then waking up about an hour later at the entrance to the railroad that would take us up to Zermatt, because the bus couldn’t make it up the windy roads to the town itself.

Once in Zermatt, we had about two hours to talk around, look in stores, and buy some food for a picnic lunch that we would then eat once we ascended the mountain to see the Matterhorn. I decided to buy a swiss army knife, because that is a very swiss thing to get from Switzerland, plus they were having a sale because all of us were there! So, I picked out my knife and ordered it, and they said that I could pick it up later in the day about 2 pm because it would be engraved. I put in my order and then continued to walk around the shops. We did see a watch that was 34,000 (yes, you read that right) dollars, but unfortunately I don’t think I could quite afford that one! Maybe next time...

From here we boarded the cog railroad that was to take us up to the top of the mountain at Zermott so we could see the Matterhorn. The railroad literally ascended THROUGH the inside of the mountain, which was a cool and new experience. It was almost like the Matterhorn ride at Disneyland! Once at the top, the view was incredible. I know I have used that word a lot but it simply describes it perfectly! We could see the majestic and mighty Matterhorn across the valley from where we stood, and it was amazing. It wasn’t too shrouded by clouds, so we had a very nice view of it to take pictures. After all of the picture taking was over, we found a nice picnic table where we could enjoy the apples, gruyere cheese, ham, and fresh bread that we bought earlier at the grocery store. It was a delicious lunch in front of an amazing sight! After lunch, we decided to go back down the mountain after soaking in the last couple minutes of the gorgeous view to pick up our knives. However, when we got down they were not ready yet! So that gave us some time to explore the town and look at some other spots to shop, such as the Swatch shop! We have been told that Swatches are a very nice souvenir because they are not only some of the best quality watches in the world, but to buy one in Switzerland is very special! I liked them a lot, so I tried a couple on, and then made the decision to buy one. Now, as long as I don’t buy any major things in any of the countries, I should be able to afford it :) I do not regret my purchase at all to this second!

After having a couple more minutes to walk around the town, we had to (very sadly) get back on the railroad to bring us back to the bus. As it was on the way down, we all instantly fell asleep on the bus as we drove away from the matchless beauty and adorable spunk of the Matterhorn and Zermott. 

Now we have a small bit of free time before we have our big cheese fondue party tonight, so I am writing this now. Pictures and info from the fondue will be posted tomorrow! Now off to the party...

Day 9 - Alps, Lake Geneva, and Concert - 6.29.12

Today was a very fun day! I know I have probably been saying that a lot, but it is true of everything! Switzerland is definitely my favorite place so far. It is pretty hot, but it is so relaxed and chill, we are just hanging out and doing a little more of what we want which is lots of fun. We started off this morning after breakfast (with that amazing view again!) with some free time. We could choose between hiking, riding a cable car, paddle boating on the lake, shopping, or anything else could imagine! Some friends and I chose to go ride the cable car up to the top of the mountain at Crans-Montana. It was so beautiful! We could see all of the mountains around us and was very breathtaking. We decided to hike down the mountain from there. It was a very nice (and a true Swiss adventure) hike down, using some paths and doing a fair amount of bushwhacking as well. It is very nice and we really were wishing that we could ride down it all on our mountain bikes. There were some very fun looking trails, but I guess I will have to reserve that idea for another trip here...

After walking about 3 or 4 miles down the mountain, we arrived back into the small town of Crans-Montana. We had only about 30 minutes before we had to load the busses to hear for Montreux and the Castle de Chillon, so I decided to do it like a local and go to the local grocery store and buy some fresh bread, delicious Swiss gruyere cheese, ham, and an apple (and of course a little bit of swiss chocolate to nibble on!). I snarfed down this delicious meal quickly while hurrying to make the bus in time!

We had a very nice relaxing bus ride to Montreux, which is about an hour or so. We stopped at the Castle de Chillon for our tour, and again, the few words I can use to describe what I saw is simply indescribable. The castle is situated on the lake overlooking the gorgeous body of water, and it was fun to explore what was lived in over 900 years ago! We learned about some of the history of the castle as well as the culture and how peopled lived there. Things like that it was an honor to be invited to bathe with the lord of the castle, as well as the bathroom situation (simply a hole situated over the lake) was very fun to learn about. From here, we had a nice walk along the edge of the lake to the center of Montreux where we had a little bit of time to shop. After having some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever had to cool off, we came upon a dock where some people in our group had decided to swim! It was about 90 degrees there (I was starting to wonder if we were in Switzerland or Costa Rica!) and man did swimming sound good! Very bummed that I didn’t bring my swimming suit, I decided just to jump right in in my shorts. I put my shirt and shoes with my backpack on the dock with everybody else’s and hopped right in. It was the perfect temperature. A mix between warm and quite cool water was extremely refreshing and felt very good for the couple of minutes we had in there. But, our time was limited because we had to dry off in time to get back on the bus for it to take us back to Crans-Montaa for dinner and our concert.

After making it back to the village, we ran into our rooms to change and get our things for the concert. We had a delicious dinner of salad, pizza, beef with mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and a fruit tart for dessert. It was all delicious (as everything has been) and left me very ready for the concert!

Our concert was in a giant tent set up for the ambassador groups, one of which comes through each city every three days. It was by far the most energetic and craziest of concerts so far! There were hundreds (probably the entire town) of people there to see our concert, and it was very crazy! They asked for three encores of stars and stripes forever and simply loved everything that we played. It was a great night!

Now, after our very long and late concert I am back in our hotel for a few minutes just before I go to bed before tomorrow’s adventures to the Matterhorn...

Travel to Switzerland - Day 8 - 6.28.10

Again, like our other travel day, we didn’t have a very exciting day (other than going to Switzerland of course!). We rose at 6 am and had to have our bags to the bus by 6:30 to grab some breakfast and then load onto the bus and begin the very long drive to Switzerland. Most of us were out at the very beginning couple of hours of the ride as we had woken up very early and were just driving. We passed by hundreds of miles of gorgeous French countryside, which I could have stared at for hours without getting bored, but I chose to look at it for a little while before I went to sleep and then slept for a couple hours. At around 11:30, we were woken up and stopped for an hour at a rest stop to grab a quick lunch before we continued on the road.

From here, we continued on the road for several hours, which I used to read the book for school in the fall. A couple of hours in to this part of the ride, we simply went through a gate with a Swiss flag on it, which I assume is the Swiss border! No passport check, no customs, simply drove through! About an hour or so after that, we stopped again for a little bit just to stretch our legs and use the bathroom. There was a small shop at which everybody was hoarding the swiss chocolate, and I must admit I did endulge in a Toblerone bar (although we can get it in the states, I read that it is still one of the best swiss chocolates.) After a couple minutes here to stretch our legs, we all hopped back into the bus for the last leg of the journey. The scenery just got better and better. First, we came over a hill and could begin to see the Alps. Then, we turned a corner and could see Lake Geneva and the city of Montreaux. As we drove deeper into the Alps, the scenery got more and more impressive until finally we began to drive up into the Alps themselves. We ascended into the beautiful forest and saw the beautiful snow capped mountains ahead of us. 

As we drove into Crans-Montana, it was more than I ever could have imagined. Being a traditional ski-resort town with summer golfing (one of the top ten resorts in all of Switzerland), it has a gorgeous view of the Alps. We dropped our stuff in our rooms and then joined everybody from our bus (each bus is in a different hotel) for dinner. I cannot even begin to describe how incredible our view from dinner was (it's posted right here). We enjoyed a beautiful view off of a balcony of the Swiss Alps, a matchless view for sure. We enjoyed a four course meal of salad, spaghetti, chicken with fries, finished with some of the most delicious ice cream I have ever had. A meal to remember!

After this incredible dinner and first evening in Crans-Montana, we had some time to explore by ourselves (in small groups) before going to bed. Because it is much smaller and far less dangerous, we were given a little more freedom to simply walk around wherever we pleased. There is a gorgeous lake just two minutes from the hotel that we walked to and around. From there, we walked into the town and explored looking around all of the shops and restaurants that we can visit later on. Of course it was all closed because it is so late, but it gave us some ideas as to what we can do tomorrow morning in our free time. Now I am back at the hotel, ready for a good night of shut eye so I can be ready for tomorrow! 

Very excited for an incredible day in Switzerland tomorrow...

Paris Sightseeing - Day 7

This morning we rose a little bit earlier than we had before to set off through the terrible traffic that is Paris. We went first to the Eiffel Tower, where we got to walk under it, and choose if we wanted to walk up it or if we wanted to take a lift. However, just before we arrived at the tower disaster struck - my camera battery died unexpectedly, leaving me with no picture taking abilities for our entire sightseeing day. I couldn’t do anything about it though, so I decided to look at it as a chance to observe Paris as a citizen - without worrying about taking pictures all of the time but simply experiencing the city.

First we climbed to the second level of the Eiffel tower, a staggering 689 stairs to climb. It offered breathtaking views of the city, which I could only look at, but it was incredible to see all of the buildings in this wonderful city from one perspective - above. However, we wanted some time to look at the tower itself for a while in addition to get some lunch at a café, so we only ascended to the second floor and no further, going back down at that point.

We walked from there down some streets, checking out local brasseries and cafes to choose a spot for lunch. There were none that spoke to us, and just at that time we happened upon a local street market. It had fruits, patisseries, and many other small shops. We decided to try out a patisserie and try a fresh croissant, baguette, an quiche lorraine (trés bien!). After indulging in these delicious baked items, we headed back to find our bus, which would take us on a sightseeing tour around Paris to see the Notre Dame, obelisk, and finally end at the Louvre (of course we saw many other amazing French sights as well!). Our first stop was the Notre Dame, and although we only had a couple minutes when we stopped there, it was truly breathtaking and gorgeous. First the extremely ornate entrance, to the stained glass windows which are only lit and beautiful while inside the building, to the gargoyles and flying buttresses. From very cool architecture to truly beautiful symbolism and art, it was a breathtaking experience.

We all loaded back into the coach from here and headed to the Louvre, taking a couple of detours on the way to see different sights. Once at the Louvre, we had only a couple of hours to look at the vast amounts of art that is housed there. We decided to, of course, hit all the “big ones” very quickly. First we went to see the famous Aphrodite sculpture, which was amazing to see with my own eyes. After that, we went to view the Mona Lisa, which was again incredible to see right in front of me. She follows you with her eyes even more when it is in person. From here we dashed around to see things like the statue of Ramses II, sarcophagi, and many endless other things. 

After our time in the Louvre was up, we headed to the restaurant for dinner. It is amazing how the time flies in each day! At our dinner we enjoyed a cheese pastry, pot roast and pasta, finished off with a creme puff pastry and creme sauce. An all in all delicious last French meal. Now we are back at the hotel packing everything to head off to Switzerland tomorrow! A very early morning again...

More tomorrow...

Concert and Cafés

Bonjour!

Today was our first entire day in Paris! It was a very nice day where we finally got to see some of the Parisian magic we have been hearing so much about lately. We began our day with a later morning, enjoying a breakfast of fresh croissants and fruit. Our first French continental breakfast. After this, we headed off to enjoy some of the city before we had our performance in Paris. We headed up to Montmarte, a beautiful area of Paris with the Sacre Coeur Basilica as well as small sidewalk cafés and the artists area.

Unfortunately, because we were very short on time I didn’t actually have a chance to go inside, but other people that got there a little bit earlier said that it was beautiful, with stained glass so vivid it was unreal. However, I did have a chance to walk around the artists area along the cobblestone streets and peek inside some of the shops. There were so many beautiful pictures that were hand painted by artists there. We also stepped into a sidewalk café to find some lunch before the concerts. I decided to enjoy un crepe de jambon et fromage. Trés bien! After this we dashed back down the stairs heading up to montmarte and made it to the busses back just in time for them to head off to the choir concert. They performed in a church very near Notre Dame, that was very beautiful, full of exquisite stained glass. However, instead of staying and listening to the choir and orchestra, after I had walked around the church and taken some pictures, Mr. Stephen and I as well as his wife decided to seek out a dessert crepe. We walked through the busy streets of Paris until we came upon one that looked good to us and then we sat down to stop for a bite. I indulged (it is France, of course) in a crepe avec chocolat, creme, et pomme. This crepe along with an espresso (when you order a café in France it seems that they just bring you a shot of espresso!) was the perfect afternoon snack to help me make it all the way until dinner as well as through our concert. We went back through the streets and made it back to the church where the choir was performing in time to see the last orchestra song as well as all of the choir numbers, which was truly breathtaking to hear in the cathedral. When they stopped, it seemed as though the sound resonated forever! From here, we headed to Montsouris Parc, where the bands were performing, to get set up for our 4 o’clock concert.

Right before the concert, as I was walking away from the stage as I was not in the band performing first and to my surprise and delight I saw Barbie (a friend that graduated before me from school) walking down the street. She was staying in Paris for the summer and was here to hear our concert! She sat down, and I ran up just in time to play our portion of the concert. Afterwards, after getting everything packed up and everything we had a chance to talk as well as for her to see Mr. Stephen for a few minutes before heading to dinner.

After catching up with a friend, it was just about time for dinner again, and as we arrived at the restaurant it was just in time! Tonight it was salad, cordon bleu, and chocolate mousse, all delicious (as usual here!). From here, we departed to go a couple of streets down to the River Seine to have an evening cruise to see some of the Parisian landmarks that sit along the Seine. We saw the Eiffel Tower, historic French buildings, the Louvre, Notre Dame, and so much more! It was very relaxing and fun to ride along the Seine, imagining that what I was seeing with my own eyes has been through so much incredible history, taking me back to history classes throughout high school that dealt with Paris. 

After docking from the cruise, we headed back to the hotel to get some very needed sleep, we were all falling asleep on the ride home and now its time for bed...

**PS - ask me in person about the “parisian crepe lady” story. :)

Travel Day - Day 5 - 6.25.12

Well, today’s story is not as fun and adventure filled as many other days were. We started the day by waking up at 5:30 to leave the hotel at 6:30 (!!!) am to head for Paris! We started off the day with the hour and a half ride through the gorgeous British countryside on our way to Dover. I felt like I was reliving scenes from All Creatures Great and Small while riding through the scenery. Eventually, we made it to Dover and, having made it early (I wish they knew we would make it early when they told us to leave at 6:30!) we had some time to spend at a little rest stop near the docks. I decided to indulge in an iced Americano before the ferry ride. After about thirty minutes of hanging out and talking to people while sipping my americano, we headed back onto the bus to make the very short journey to the ferry. Unlike some ferries I have been on, we loaded all of the cars and busses into a series of decks very low on the boat, and then we were required to exit the bus for the ride and could choose from any of the three decks for passengers, in addition to the top empty deck where we could have some nice views of the white cliffs of dover. We hung out on the boat and explored the decks, trying out all of the couches that looked worthy of sitting on for the entire ferry ride. Finally, as we rode along the beaches of France I could only think of how these beaches must have been viewed by soldiers traveling to Normandy during the Second World War, and then the announcement came on that there were only about ten minutes left in the boat ride. Remembering that I was supposed to get lunch before we exited the vessel, I rushed down flights of stairs to the food court where I bought a delicious looking piece of fruit as well as a boxed sandwich that they had in their mini grocery store on deck. Taking it with me, I dashed back to the bus just in time as all of the cars on the ferry began to slowly pull off of the ferry and into France. 

As we drove through France, all anybody could do was sit and watch as the gorgeous rolling hills of the French countryside complete with an occasional dairy cow or church steeple passed by the bus. After about thirty minutes of watching the French countryside, I found myself dozing off a bit and gave in to it because of our very early morning. An hour or so later, I felt the bus slowing to a stop as we pulled into a rest stop for a bathroom break. We all unloaded off of the busses and went into a rest stop complete with food court and souvenir shop. Only spending a couple of minutes there, we all loaded back onto the busses and continued our journey into France. At this time, I decided that I would try reading for a while so I unpacked the book I have to read for school in the fall for the last leg of our journey. An hour or or so later we pulled into an area that looked a lot more populated that I had been seeing for the last hours. We pulled up to a very Parisian looking restaurant for dinner. Starving, we walked in and enjoyed some of the best quiche I have ever had in my life, chicken with a creamy mushroom sauce and rice, and finished off the meal with an apple tart. From here, we embarked on our bus back to the hotel and are now getting settled into for the night. Excited for what comes tomorrow!

Performance and Picadilly - Day 4 - 6.24.12

Our last day in London was filled with excitement and fun. In the morning, after enjoying another English breakfast we went to a local church (not Westminster Abbey like I said... I guess I misunderstood them when they said that). We attended the service, which was quite fun to see a British church service, and it was very special because the choir that traveled here with us performed at the church service. This was a very cool cultural experience and a good way to spend the morning. From here, we traveled to a garden and park with a small amphitheater where we had our performance. It was quite chaotic, but it was very fun! We had to unload all of the percussion equipment off of the busses and onto the stage. It was also very fun to finally get to hear the other band as well as the orchestra!

Another fun surprise during the concert was to see the Visani family, which was not only cool that they came to the concert but it was cool to see them during the summer in another country! After the concert, I stopped by a local Starbucks and ordered a Venti Americano, hoping that my US starbucks card would work, and it did! Loaded with a coffee, I loaded up the percussion equipment and we grouped into small groups to decide what to do with our evening. I found some of the other Lakewood people as well as some of the people from our bus and we decided to go with Mr. Stephen to the London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, eat at a pub (classic fish and chips!), and then finish the night by looking around at the shops in Picadilly Circus. This was all very fun, and the eye was certainly an adventure! Many awesome views of the city with 27 of us packed into one of the capsules definitely made for a good time. Like I said, we did a quick walking tour from there to some of the other big sites just to snap a few pictures and then we motored on to a local pub (complete with many local people watching the “football” game) to enjoy some fish and chips on our last night in England. From here, we simply walked around Picadilly Circus again, watching the street performers and exploring small streets that shoot off of the main square. From here, we split off again like last night and all went to find taxis to make our way back to the hotel. Now we are all back, and it is time to hit the hay before a very early 5:30 morning tomorrow for breakfast before we head off to Dover to get the ferry over to France tomorrow...

London Tour & Phantom - Day 3 - 6.23.12

We got to it early on Saturday, starting breakfast around 7 o’clock am. We had a delicious London breakfast of a croissant, ham, cheese, cereal, and coffee (tea was a choice as well of course). We left early and stayed going all day! We set off in our coach with an amazing tour guide and driver Sepp from Austria. We drove throughout all of London, seemingly on every street, to see the most famous shops, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, and finally made our first stop to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which was very cool to watch and experience. Many people do not know that the guards that March at Buckingham Palace in these types of ceremonies have other duties, but this is simply seen as a high honor - to be able to guard the royal crown. After experiencing this (with THOUSANDS of other tourists crammed in front of Buckingham Palace) we got back on the coach and headed to the Tower of London. However, we needed a bathroom break and luckily our tour guide knew where a free bathroom was. (It is quite common here to be rushing into a bathroom just to find that you actually need fifty pence before you can enter). On our way back to the coach from the bathroom, we happened upon something that we heard was very special and very cool that we got to see. The Blues and Royals cavalry regiment happened to be traveling down a sidewalk and we got to witness it extremely close because it was not a known tourist attraction! They just happened to be passing and we got to stand as they passed extremely close to us.

From here, we proceeded to the Tower of London. Although it is not extremely high by today’s standards, the Tower of London is called a tower because when it was created over a thousand years ago, its 110-some feet was an incredibly massive feat for architects then. The Tower not only holds some very cool museums as well as the crown jewels (including a 530 carat diamond, about as big as a strawberry!!), but it was very interesting and cool to see all of the different architecture. The central tower (the white tower) was the original piece, and as each piece of the tower such as the walls and apartments were added on, it is very easy to tell what time period they are from by looking at the architecture.

After viewing the Tower for a couple of hours, we all headed back onto the coach to head to the point at which we were to be dropped off to see the musicals! We were dropped off in a park that is actually the same park we will be performing in tomorrow, and we grouped by which musical we would be seeing which, for me, was Phantom. However, before the play, we had a chance to explore London near Picadilly Circus and find some dinner. So, I headed out with about five other people in the group to find some food. Wanting to try something different, we asked for a suggestion and many people who had traveled here before recommended going to Chinatown for dinner, just a few blocks away. After pushing through crowds and trying to read maps, we made it in Chinatown and found some delicious food! Armed with only chopsticks, I consumed some of the most delicious (and the perfect amount!) of Chinese food I have ever had. We headed back to Picadilly Circus (the Times Square of London) and waited for about 15 minutes as the rest of the Phantom-goers also found their way back into the square before heading off to see the play. A piece of advice: if you want to make money in London, paint yourself one color (preferably metallic) and stand perfectly still. You will make loads. We passed by many people who were dressed as metal or disguised as a statue who were very well appreciated with hoards of people around them just because they were standing perfectly still, and would change positions every couple of minutes.

Once our entire group found their way back together, we headed off to the play. Luckily, Her Majesty’s Theatre was only about 2 blocks away from Picadilly Circus, so we didn’t have far to go. I wish I had more to say about the play other than that it was INCREDIBLE. It was PHANTOM. Already possibly the best Broadway musical in existence, it was phenomenal to see it in London. Although we were not in the best of seats (very high up) it was still incredible, and an experience definitely to be remembered. As we exited the theatre, we were greeted by the pouring rain and an unfortunate LACK of taxis (which we had to take in small groups to get back to the hotel). However, after walking around Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square, we eventually found enough taxis to get us all back. 

So now, I am back in the hotel and enjoying some (not cheap) wifi. 10 pounds for 24 hours, which I thought was a better deal than 6 pounds for 90 minutes, because now I can use it tomorrow night as well (as long as the clock doesn’t run out!!). Signing off for now, and on to Westminster Abbey to see a church service (and the choir), perform ourselves, and enjoy the evening of free time as our last night in London.

Arrival to London - Day 2 - 6.22.12

Suddenly, the entire world lit up as I woke up to the brightly lit plane about four hours later. I woke up just in time for them to pass out bananas and a DeltaMcMuffin. A muffled announcement was heard (in only English) over the intercom announcing that we had about one and a half or two hours left in the flight. Taking a few minutes to wake up, I eventually reached up to the overhead compartment and dug out my toothbrush and some toothpaste. As the flight finished up, I packed up my book and all of my other belongings and tried to sneak a peak out of the window down to the English land below. As we filed off of the plane, I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that we had actually arrived in London! Terribly long customs lines aside, we made it through to the other side only to see a Costa Coffee (the same one?) that we had a coffee at seven years ago as we spent some time at the Heathrow airport prior to departing to my Denmark adventure.

We eventually made it to the coaches, and from there we made our way to the Windsor Castle. Unfortunately, because our plane was a little bit late along with the extremely long customs line we only had about 30 or 45 minutes to spend at Windsor Castle, but nonetheless it was a very cool place to visit and many good pictures were taken! From Windsor, we traveled to our hotel in London, and the entire bus was pretty much out because it had been almost a day since we had last had a true nights sleep! After about an hour or so, we made it to our hotel and were reunited with our luggage and keys were handed out as we all ventured off into the Thistle Barbican Hotel to find our rooms. Once we arrived at the room, I unpacked my backpack and dumped all of the stuff that I had been carrying this entire time into my big suitcase now that it no longer mattered how much it weighed. How good it felt to get all of that weight off of my back! We hung out for a bit while we repacked, and then we headed down for dinner. Dinner was in our hotel, and we enjoyed some delicious salad, potatoes, chicken, and green beans along with a delicious piece of chocolate cake! Directly from here we set off onto a nice evening walk down to the Thames River, on the way to which we saw some very cool landmarks such as the Millennium bridge and the rebuilt Globe Theatre, modeled exactly after the one in which Shakespeare’s plays were performed. We took lots of great pictures and had nice walk to tire us out before we made our way back to the hotel to enjoy a good nights sleep.

Bon Voyage - Day 1 - 6.21.12

Well, as you know, I arrived at the airport early on Thursday morning, around 7:15 for my 10:15 flight. As we ascended up the escalator we were met by a sea of red shirts and jeans, the recommended wear for the journey. Slowly but surely we made it through the lines up to the Delta Airlines counter to check our bags and receive our boarding passes. Of course, I had to make the entire process a little bit more complicated by requesting that I receive credit for the miles that I will be traveling.

However, with some quickness and hardly any time to spare we made it through the check-in process as well as security, and rolled up to our gate at just about the perfect time as they began to board. We boarded the plane and tightly squeezed onto the aircraft as the entire craft was overtaken by a sheen of red. As we began to taxi and take off a few minutes later to head to the Atlanta airport, I peered into my backpack to see what I had packed for the trip. I was very glad to learn that the Delta touchscreen panels with which each seat is equipped cost money to operate on domestic flights, so I didn’t have that as a distraction. On the top in my backpack was the book The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, which I had started a few weeks earlier. Soon enough as the beverage cart rolled down the aisle, I was sucked back into the world of Robert Langdon and the series of mysteries and suspense that seem to follow him. Without even realizing it, the seatbelt sign beeped on as the plane reached its descent and I put down my book with only about 30 pages left.

As our group trudged off the plane, we schlepped all the way across the Atlanta airport to the entire other end of it where the international flights leave from. As we set up camp at our gate, we were there so early (seven hours about), so early in fact that the plane that was leaving before us had already arrived, a plane headed for Johannesburg, South Africa. In our time at the airport we found some lunch (a panini and salad for me), played multiple card games, and I took up a long time reading. I finished The Lost Symbol and picked up the book I have to read for Whitman in the fall, which is surprisingly interesting! Again, without even realizing it, the seven hours seemed to have flown by and we were about to board the plane for London. Once boarded, I whipped out the Blackberry I will be using on the trip and set out to activate it. However, to my horror, it needed some numbers that were on the box that it shipped in. However, after a panicked call to Mom and some nail biting, the phone figured it all out and I was ready to go just in time for them to announce that we were going to begin to taxi and that we should turn off all electronic devices. As I settled in for the long flight ahead, I picked up again the book to read for Whitman. After about 40 pages they began to pass out dinners, which was pasta, salad, a roll, and cheese and crackers. Other than it being airplane food, it passed for meal and filled me up for the time being and I settled in with the movie “Thor” to watch as I ate and fell asleep, focusing greatly on the fact that I did not actually fit between my seat and the seat in front of me.