The Hills are alive...

Hello dear friends! So we just finished in Munich and then headed for Austria! The first thing we did in this grand country was white water rafting! Oh my gosh, what a thrill. It was sooo much fun! Slightly scary at some moments for me, but very fun. We had to wear wet suits (the water was FREEZING), water shoes, this weird thin jacket, and then a life jacket over that. There were 10 of us in our raft including our guide. I was positioned in the very back right next to the guide and Brandon was in the very front leading the pack with our rowing time. I was trying my very hardest to not fall in the water and only went in twice... the 2 manditory times. While Brandon couldn't jump in enough! So typical of our ways. During the more low key parts of the river we played some fun games where we all had to stand up and balance on the edge of the raft using our neighbors to keep our balance. At one point and time our guide asked for 2 volunteers, Brandon being one of them of course. They had to stand on the edge of either end of the raft while the rest of us made the raft spin in circles faster and faster and faster. Brandon fell into the water, but it's okay, he loved it. To say the least, the white water rafting experience was one of our favorite activities! Will I do it again... uhh, probably. Especially if Brandon has anything to say about it. :)

The other main excursion in Austria was a trip to the Swarovski Crystal Museum. I know all you Moms out there, it was exciting, but just calm down. ;) There were displays and interesting creations using light, color, crystals, and sound. The pictures will help give you an idea of what we saw.

Austria is famous for apple strudel, Wiener schnitzel, and being Arnold Schwarzenegger's home. Not to mention it was in Salzburg where the Sound of Music took place.

At the end of our time in Austria, we traveled to Italy. However, due to the fact that we went to 3 cities in Italy and because there are massive amounts of pictures, I am going to skip over that section of our trip for now and move on to Switzerland. In the next blog, I will go back and do the 3 Italian cities (Venice, Rome, and Florence) all together. I wanted to do all of Italy in one blog so as to give you the full impression of the country. I couldn't handle breaking it up like that. Yeah I know, I'm a perfectionist. I can't help it. Anyways, back on track here people... Switzerland, Switzerland.

Alright. So S-land is known for their chocolate, cheese, Swiss Army knives, clocks, and their strait-laced bankers. I know, that last one's a little odd. French, German, and Italian are all spoken in S-land. Somehow they manage to blend all 3 cultures in one country. According to the Lonely Planet book "There's more to the story than Heidi and the Matterhorn, goat herders, cowbells, and yodelling." One thing this country definitely has is beauty. If you refer to two blogs ago you will see that S-land was one of my favorite places. It has some of the most exquisite natural beauty on the continent. So there you have it.

While in S-land we traveled to the top of Mt. Stanserhorn and checked out that scene. I definitely heard cowbells while up there. Later that evening we took a cruise on the stunning Lake Lucerne and enjoyed the spectacular alpine scenery. Well, that about wraps it up for these two fine countries. Up next... ITALY!

Alright, I'm outta here. Buhbye.