Munich, Milan, Barcelona, Paris

Munich, Germany - July 6-7
From Gimmelwald I traveled to Munich, Germany mainly for the World Cup semi-final vs. Spain. But my previous trip to Munich lasted only one day, so I still had a lot to see. The first night I watched the Netherlands game in a great atmosphere at my hostel's big TV room. The next morning I went to the Deutches Museum, which is the world's largest museum of technology and science. It was a perfect size, and had a lot of diversity. I enjoyed it a lot. That whole day I kept pestering the locals on where would be the best place to watch the game. I finally got the perfect answer when a kid my age showed me evidence with a video on his phone of the previous game. They played it on two TVs at the Olympic Stadium. So later that day I went by the BMW exhibition on my way to the game. The pre-game vibe was unbelievable. Most people drinking and singing songs of their country. They build-up and game was quite a show, until Spain scored and the Germans lost.

Milan, Italy - July 8-9
I returned to Italy because I met a very nice Italian lady on my train to Switzerland a week before. She invited me to stay at her home, so I did for two days. It was nothing like I had expected. The first night, we had a home-cooked family meal that was perfect. Then I was able to have some great conversation with the family members and their neighbors. The next day, I toured Milan on a city bike that you lock in a station when you're done using it. I had to do this because Milan was on a full public transportation strike. What I did not know, was that Italy was also on a train strike, which ruined my overnight plan to Barcelona. Instead I had to take a train from 9pm to 1am, waiting in the station til 5am for the next connection, along with several other people that had the same issue. 24 hours of travel later, and I was in Barcelona.

Barcelona, Spain - July 10-12
The trek from Milan was hell, and my worst travel experience of the trip. Although, I did meet some nice Dutch girls that made it easier, although, who knows why they were in Spain... Because Sunday, July 11th, was the World Cup final between Spain and the Netherlands... As I headed towards my hostel from the train station, I felt something in liquid form dripping on my heels. I took off my backpack, to realize that someone tossed paint on it. I put it down and gathered my self for a few minutes, contemplating what to do. When suddenly, a man came up offering tissues. As he handed them over and pointed me towards the water fountain, I turned back around to find my small backpack gone...... This bag had my passport, wallet, iPhone, computer and CAMERA..... I immediately look up and see the thief out of the corner of my eye before he got around the closest building. I then picked up my giant backpack and sprint after him into the crowd. After only a few strides he saw me chasing him and dropped the bag. Luckily, he didn't take anything out, but my heart was still pounding. The next day I explored the city and prepared for the World Cup finals. I watched it in the city's biggest plaza, Plaza Espanya, along with several thousand. It was unbelievable. Spain had so many close calls, which gave the crowd so much to yell about. Then when they finally scored that goal, madness erupted. Flares and fireworks began going off while people jumped in the many fountains lining the street. Once the whistle blew, the noise level never dropped till 2 am. Strangely, one of the first songs they played after the game was 'Born in the USA', which had me going quite a bit. The police had to disperse the crowd with rubber bullets and tear gas, because the intensity level stayed so high. The next day I enjoyed the beautiful beaches and ocean before leaving for Paris.





Paris, France - July 13-14
I spent the majority of my first day in the museum Les Invalides. The museum relates to the military history of France. I absolutely loved it. There was an entire section on Arms and Armor. They had the armor, guns, and swords that belonged to all of the famous King Louis'.. There was a WWI and WWII wing as well. I was not expecting the size of the museum, yet it still didn't compare to Louvre. I spent many hours there the next morning on Bastille day. It was free entry because of the holiday, and although exhausting, still very enjoyable. I especially liked seeing the less crowded paintings that I studied in Florence.
That night, for Bastille Day, I watched the fireworks show from the lawn of the Eiffel Tower. In order to get good seats, many people reserved spots with picnics beforehand. It was easily the best show I have seen because the fireworks were choreographed with music. It might have helped that it was lighting up the Eiffel Tower the whole show.

The Solo Journey Begins..

SIENA - July 2, 2010
The day the program was over, so we made our way to Siena for the historical race. A few people that stayed behind in our group joined me to see the race. The race is run at the Piazza del Campo with the horses representing each of the contradas (districts) of the town. The contradas are each represented by flags, and it is tradition for people to where scarves of the flags around their necks. I got one known as the "Commander of the Waves". The jockeys ride bareback and the horses are not experienced in racing. When we arrived we ran into a guy from Pepperdine that knew my friend from the Florence program. His parents took us out for lunch. That was when I found out his mom went to Foothill high school and knew my uncle, John Astor. They had seats on the outer track, while we stood in the middle of the square. We stood at the "mattress corner", which is the treacherous sharp turn where many riders tend to fall off. Before the race, each contrada presented their horses, jockey,and flag throwing skills. Then when the horses began to line up, the crowd was silent... Finally, they were off and the crowd erupted! In the first lap, the Waves were in the lead. It was the same for the second lap, which included a rider-less horse (which can still finish the race and win). In the final lap, the waves lost their position and once the winner crossed, the fans joined the rider and horse in celebration. The locals whose district lost stomped their way home with many of them crying. It was an unbelievable experience, and something that I would recommend everyone to do if in europe during the race.
Moments after the finish:


and the YouTube link: (my video wouldn't load)
Palio di Siena

GIMMELWALD - July 4-6, 2010
Originally, my plan was to spend one night at the Pepperdine house in Lausanne Switzerland. I went there with Armando, a Florence friend, and they didn't allow me to spend the night. But the house was amazing. Seven stories and a view of Lake Geneva, and France on the other side. I left Lausanne, heading straight for Gimmelwald.
My brother, Craig, highly suggested that I visit Gimmelwald, and now I know why I love my brother... Gimmelwald is a sleepy mountain village of about 120 people with more cow troughs than mailboxes. It has a majestic view of the Swiss Alps. I had to take a gondola to get there. Here is the view from my hostel:


In the morning I took a hike that lasted the entire day. I cannot explain how unbelievable the hike was. The views were nothing like I had ever seen. The hike ran through the town and straight into Kilchbalm. Kilchbalm is a glacial cirque with glaciers, snow, waterfalls, and streams. It was almost too much too take in at once. I spent many hours exploring each stream and waterfall, finding moments to be still in between. Being the only one around the whole time, I had never felt God's presence so much.
The middle of the hike: (I made it all the way to that snow/ice you see to the right of my head)



Now my plan is Munich for the Germany vs. Spain game, then Milan to stay with a family that I met on the train to switzerland.

Austria

When Kristina told me that we could stay with her family in Austria for a weekend, I was so excited. I knew having a native show you around their country would be a great experience, but this experience was the best weekend yet.

On Friday morning we did the Sound of Music Tour. Kristina and Kim were dressed up in their authentic dirndls from Kristina's family. We were able to see a lot. It was nice to be able to bus all around Salzburg and learn about the locations they chose for the film. From there we took a train to Villach, where Alois, Kristina's Grandfather's cousin's son.......... picked us up. He drove us to the Fertala Gasthof. The Fertalas live in a tiny town called Agoritschach. We were greeted with beer and a side room to catch the end of the USA v. Slovenia game. We got there right before they tied it up. Then for dinner we ate an amazing meal in their main dining hall. We stayed in the apartment section of the Gasthof that night. The next morning Alois guided us on a beautiful hike up the alm to their cabin which is nearly on top, close by where the three countries of Italy, Austria, and Slovenia meet. Nearly to the cabin, we stopped by a place to have shots of shnapps, a tradition. We spent the rest of the day and night there enjoying our time with conversation and cards. It was a tiny little hut with a wood stove, a cold cellar below, only candle light, and an outhouse. The next day was the local beer festival! This truly topped off the whole experience. We had already been spoiled by the Fertala family enough, then this brought us more of their culture. It was held in a tent in the neighboring town Seltschach. It started with a tradition where the local young men rode horses and attempted to knock down a wooden bucket nailed to a tall wooden pole. It took them several rounds, when the final blow knocked off the last piece giving us our winner. He is celebrated throughout the rest of the night. The celebration included live cultural music with lots of dancing. We were even able to dance the Polka with the locals. Kristina's cousins taught us. It was a long, fun night of dancing and celebrating. Experiencing the culture of these tiny towns was a blast!

The Fertala Gasthof:


The horse competition:

Cinque Terre

From everyone I had talked to, it was a priority to spend a full weekend in Cinque Terre. I am very glad we did.

Friday morning I went horseback riding for free with Pepperdine. Of course I rode the only white horse, and named him Traveler. It was only for an hour, and then we left for La Spezia. We were not able to book any rooms in the 5 towns, so we stayed in a two bedroom apartment on a hill in La Spezia, a city south of Cinque Terre. That night Matt cooked dinner and we rested up for our hike the next day. We started at the southernmost town Riomaggiore, where we spent a few minutes taking in the view. It was a bit foggy/cold, which felt good while walking to the next town, Manarola. Luckily for us, we were following the great Rick Steve's guide on Cinque Terre. This helped us out a lot at the second town when we followed his "walk" around the city. It was a scenic route that ended with a vineyard trail that connected us to the 3rd town. On our way to Corniglia, we found a very small swimming area that had a spot to get in and out of the water. After spending some time there, we continued to Corniglia, where we at lunch and prepared for the harder leg of the hike to Vernazza. It was a tiring section, but we arrived to a beautiful view of the town. The whole group, minus Parker:



We laid out on the flat rocks along the harbor just as the sun was coming out. Then we decided to take a train to Monterosso in order to find an appropriate place to watch the US vs. England game. We walked around looking for a bar to watch it and randomly stumbled upon an American bar. Because it was early in the tournament, I had to ask someone what time the game started. A group of American's in their twenties informed me and told them I would be back to watch the game. We went to dinner and returned, finding out that the same group of Americans were actually students from LMU, studying in Rome. One of the guys was one of Krista's best friends from high school. The bar was packed with all Americans, except for a few England fans. There were one dollar bills with words and names on them, posted all along the walls (we added our own Pepperdine signed bill the next day). Once the national anthem started, everyone sang in unison, even while the bartender muted in midway through. During the game, the bar filled up to standing room only, so it made for an exciting atmosphere to watch the game.



The next morning, we took the train to Vernazza and hiked the last leg to Monterosso. This town is nown for its stretch of beaches, so we decided a full day spent in the sun was necessary. They had several small areas of free beaches with no umbrellas in the way. There were also a couple soccer fields secured off with nets around them. I was a beautiful sunny day with perfect weather. Cinque Terre was fantastic.