I love Italy.

July 9
Our first full day in Italy, and boy was it a good one. My roommate and I slept through the alarm or something, so we missed breakfast. Apprenetly its nothing great, but still…we missed breakfast! I was secretly happy thought, because I wasn’t very hungry after our escapades with good pizza and gelato. So, we grabbed some granola bars, and after just kind of hanging out for an hour or so, we went to try and find an international phone card for my roommate, so he could call his pregnant wife. At least she has been spending her time in CA, where life is always beautiful haha.

iWe found a card and then hustled back to the hotel to make it ontime to our group meeting. We found out fhat one of the members of our group had ended up going home early because of some health issues. What a bummer. The person was really nice, so I hope they get better quickly. Bummer.
Italy likes to randomly have train and trolley strikes I am told, and today was one of those chosen days. So, the public transit system was closed for the day, however, it was randomly opened at other times. I didn’t get it. Whatever. We were going to have to walk about 2 or 3 miles to our business visit for the day, which was with Pirelli Tires.

 The visit was really important to be fresh for, so we’d have to work extra hard to be on our game, since we’d be walking the whole way. Boy, was it hot! I’m sure I sweat at least a litre in the hour or so it took to walk. Haha. No bueno. Anyway, we all had fun with eachother as we walked and had fun chatting along the way. We got to the business place and began our one hour meeting. The business visit rocked! We had so much fun talking with them about their business model and how they are overcoming tcurrent media challenges. It was really awesome. And…they gave us FREE HATS! How could life get any better? By this time it was around 4 PM, and none of us had eaten lunch, so we were all ready to eat. On the way, we’d stopped at this small pizzeria for water and to slightly freshen up. We were going to go back to the pizzeria and eat as a group, but when we tried…theyw ere closed! Which was weird, because they said they would be open until after 6. Weird. We went to a mall, and they didn’t have enough food to feed us all, and we walked around looking for other places, and they were all closed too! We couldn’t find anywhere to eat! I guess all the businesses closed down for a 3 or 4 hour siesta style thing, so we finally found a grocery story and we just got water and juice and snacks.

The professors bought us some popcicles too, which tasted quite good. I got some grapes and they were great, but they weren’t seedless, so that was an adventure for sure.
We walked back and clead up and then go to go back out as a group for dinner. The teachers took us to this awesome pizzeria with real homemade thick crust pizza that is cooked in the fire. It was just margherita pizza, but it was AWESOME!

They had this awesome olive oil hot sauce to put on it too…it just had some crushed pepper in it…and it made the taste even more great. The sauce was so perfect..it wasn’t too sweet, but still felt super fresh. I loved it!
They decided to give us gelato too, so we went to this reportedly awesome gelato place…and the place didn’t dissapoint. I, of course, got dark chocolate and yogurt (again) and it was very rich on both accounts.

 We walked towards to Duomo, which is the main cathedral of the city. When we got there, it just kind of popped up out of no where. The building took hundred of years to build, and was absolutely amazing to se. I only which that I could have gone and seen it when it was open. It would be awesome.

Across the street from the duomo is the galleria, which is the big shopping area downtown. In the galleria is a bull mosaic with his balls beared in all their glory. Apparently, its good luck to dig in a heel and take a spin on the bulls’ balls. So…needing all the good luck I can get (reportedly, it also gives you power over your enemies, success, luck in love, better sex, etc.and who knows what else they say it will help with), I had to take a spin. I still feel the same, but who knows. Maybe the luck is on my way! Haha.

As we began walking back towards the hotel, we came upon another gellateria, and the two professors wanted to stop. So…I decided to at least check it out. And, of course, I had to try the dark chocolate ☺ It was great…possibly even better than the first. I love dark chocolate gelato ☺
Back to the hotel, got a few minutes to talk to my family on the internet, and simmered down. What a great night. I love Italy. Then again, theres not many places I don’t love. But seriously. I love italy.

The "birth" of Cheese.

July 12, 2010
Happy Monday! Today we got a charter bus and went to a small(ish) town called Parma. It is the home of Parmesan Cheese…so we knew we would be in for a really good day. We had to be ready to go really early in the morning…at 7 a.m.! And breakfast normally doesn’t start until 7 a.m., so that created a little bit of a predicament. Luckily, they opened the breakfast doors early and so hordes of us hungry BYU students flooded the small breakfast room at 6:58…shoving globs of food into our faces like our lives depended on it. Okay, maybe that’s a little extreme, but we really only had about 5 minutes to grab something to eat and then head out to the bus. We had a number of surprises today that really made the day more interesting. First, we got on the bus and it was super smokey. Apparently, our driver has a nice little habit that he likes to share with his passengers (more on this later). After we all got cancer from inhaling the smokey air, we were off. It took about 1.5 hours to get to Parma. We met up with our tour guide for the day and he led our driver out to a small factory about 30 minutes away where they manufacture Parmesianno Reggiano cheese. It’s a specific brand of cheese that is supposed to be very high quality. We got to tour the plant, and honestly, I had no idea that it took so much wok to get the freaking cheese out and to market. The cheese is all natural too, which is really cool. First, they milk the cows and let some of the milk sit over night. Then, they mix it with some other stuff in this super big vat, which makes the milk curdle and start becoming cheese. It all comes together at the bottom and then at the perfect moment, the master cheeseman lifts the cheese up (it’s at that moment that parmesan cheese is born…yup. Born. No joke.) And then over a few month/year process they compact the cheese, burn the tops and bottoms, help the cheese get its flavor through nearly a month of soaking in salt water, and then curing for up to 2 years. Yum. I have never seen so much cheese in my life. We got to taste a 3 month old and then a 24 month old set of cheese at the end and naturally, the 24 month cheese was much better.
After that tour, we set off for another one that would prove to be even more interesting. We drove for another 30 minutes towards a castle that was used in the 1980s movie, “Lady hawke”. Nearby, is a factory where they make the parma ham. It takes about a year to make the ham, and the only ingredients are salt, and ham. Its not cooked. Its barely even packaged. It’s a lot of salting (done by the master salter, and it wasn’t half bad. We tasted it as part of some prosciutto (I guess that is what it really is anyway) an ti really wasn’t terrible.
We stopped at the castle and walked around for a few minutes, but they were closed on Mondays so we weren’t able to go in. So, we headed off to the Barilla Pasta factory where we would have lunch.
By this time, we were all really hungry. But none of us were prepared for what would come out during our special lunch meal ( we were in a private lunch area. So cool).
As we sit there waiting for the ladies to serve us our plates we notice little purple things on the plates. As the ladies bring our individual plates in and serve them to us, we see long stringy arm looking things mixed in with the yellow potatoes on the plates. The things are purple, and there were little suction cups all along the legs. What was it? Octopus. So many people from the group got totally grossed out, and couldn’t finish their meal, but I was determined to be a part of the clean plate club. So…I did. I also didn’t know if this was the main course or no, an I was super hungry so I ate it all up.
But then, the lady came out with more. Large plates of penne pasta were served with mini shrimp. Balsamic Vinegar was a nice touch. I thought we were done, then another plate came out. More potatoes, and a filet of (super fishy fish…I’m not sure what it was.) This plate was good, but required a bit more balsamic to make it through. Plus, I’d committed to be a memnber of the clean plate club. I couldn’t stop now!
At last, they brought out a large bowl of salad and a pennecotta raspberry for dessert. It was so good, and a totally different consistency than I would have expected. I’d have some again for sure!
Oh..and yes. I AM a member of the freaking clean plate club. (I didn’t finish the salad, but seeing as its not a plate….well. You get the point.)
The next stop was the Barilla pasta factory. They make three types of pasta there, and then they also package the pasta, and ship it out. It was SO COOL. Actually, it was extremely hot because we had to wear these protective hats and coats, and the machines put off a lot of hot air, if you know what I mean…
Anyway, the tour was awesome. Everything happened so fast, and we got to try the pasta right as it was coming out of the machine. It was a bit doughy because it hasn’t dried, but it was surprisingly good! I would have never guessed making pasta was full of so much awesomeness. So, buy Barilla pasta. (I’m not biased…I promise ☺
Back on the bus and we headed to the Academia Barilla, which is a subsidiary of the Barilla company. They mostly focus on protecting the Italian cuisine as an art. We had a great presentation (minus the A/C…once again very “cool”,) and then got a tour of their facility. They do a lot of cuisine classes and a lot of other activities for normal people and practicing chefs. I’d totally go and learn how to do Italian! It would be awesome. They took us to their private library and showed us some really old/cool menus. The oldest one was from the 1500’s. Yeah, I touched a 500 year old menu. No big deal. And they had a bunch of menus that some artist (I don’t remember) would create for a group dinner party over and over. I touched it too, but that’s how cool it was…that I can remember what it is now haha.
Anyway, the day was long, but really rewarding. We got back in the bus and most everyone fell asleep on the way home. Me and a couple other guys wanted to see if anything downtown was open (they wanted to shop) and so we walked down towards the duomo. Italy (Europe) is much different from the US, simply because things here in Europe close so early compared to the US. We are brought up on stores that are open more often than not, where here they are open for maybe 5 or 6 hours a day total (that’s with a 3-4 hour break in the middle of the day). Not every place is like that of course, but we found a lot that were.
Not many places were open, but we found a few places here and there. Naturally, one of the stores that was open was more American in style. I didn’t go to Italy to buy underwear that has America and NYC plastered all over it. Haha. I made another good luck spin on the bulls’ balls, and then we found this indoor mall that was still open. First, it was 9 stories high! And second, I don’t really understand why people would ever shop there. Haha. Most of the stuff was all Louis Vuitton, or Gucci stuff, so it was crazy expensive. I think I saw a set of underwear for 90 Euro (Around 130 US,) and all that good stuff. Haha. Gotta love it. We were getting really hungry and started looking for somewhere to eat, but nothing was really working out. We kept seeing this random lady drive by and she asked us twice (unil she remembered we didn’t speak Italian) where something was. Haha. We seriously saw her like 5 times in 5 different places within a 20 minute span. Haha. Anyway, Everything was closed. But luckily, we found some pizza right before we got home. It was cheap and the piece was HUGE. I really like the margherita pizza here. In the words of my sister Annette, its “yumma-lumma.”
I love Italy. It is much different than I expected it to be, but I’ve heard that is how Milan is. We are in more of the business district so it’s a bit harder to go out and look at things at night, but what I have seen so far has been awesome. Life is good. Now, off to China.

Lake Como....on the lake.

July 11, 2010
Today, although a quite interesting day was very enjoyable. For the first time this week, we got to see something other than Milan. The morning was relatively low key. It consisisted of my roommate waking up nearly an hour before me (I don’t know why..but its all good), and then breakfast, which was pretty good. They don’t cook their hard boiled eggs all the way through though, so it makes things pretty interesting ☺ But its all about the adventure! That’s what makes trips like these so fun.
We met with everyone around 10 AM and headed out for church. I guess they ended up changing the building that we were going to be going to, so we had some last minute transportation changes, and then we were off. Honestly, we spent a lot of time just going around looking for the church building. As a joke, one of the guys in the group started sing/praying “Heavenly Father...where is your building? And then one of the girls turned around and said…hey! That looks like a church building sign! And there it was. The meeting room was up a few flights, so we were a little confused…and then we had to knock and be let in. Unfortunately, because of our getting turned around and the like, we were a few minutes late. I neglected to mention…IT WAS SO HOT. I can’t even describe how hot it was as we were trying to make it to church…being dressed up with ties and everything, and then going into a hot building with no a/c…it was STILL HOT. We finally got cooled down during sacrament meeting…and the meeting was very good. I had a really significant realization during the meeting, and if you would like to ask me about it I’d be more than happy to tell you about my experience, but I don’t really want to write about it here. It’s a more one-on-one or one-on-few discussion thing ☺
Anyway, the members there were amazing, and they were really happy that we came to church at their building. We talked to a few of the members and missionaries, and then headed out. Back to the metro and back to the hotel. After changing, we grabbed something to eat and then went to Lake Como (or so we though), which is one of the most beautiful areas in Italy I’m told.
Our hotel is just about a 5 minute walk away from the central train station in Milan. Being ignorant, we thought that the tickets we bought from Milan to Lake Como left from that train station. However, we didn’t know that it actually left from a different station…and our train was scheduled to leave in about 10 minutes! It took us about 5 to figure out where we needed to go and then to jump on the train and another 8 to get to the station that we were stupposed to actually leave from. The good news is that we ran into another group (3 of our leaders and another girl) so we hung out with them and waited because they missed the train too. Haha. Ignorance is awesome…and once again, Its all part of the awesome adventure! We got all set up at the RIGHT train station and then the 3 leaders and I, and the girl started walking around the area in search of this cool castle that was nearby on the map. We went the wrong direction, but found a gelato place that was incredibly intriguing as it was called “Chocolat”. We walked in and I was in heaven. They had a few regular flavors of gelato (stracciacello, a few fruits), but they had white chocolate and about 6 or 7 different flavors of chocolate including milk, dark, and dark with chili pepper (After my pistacio experience last night, I wasn’t about to try that haha..and they don’t seem to be very willing to give free samples in most areas). So…I got the dark chocolate. 3 words…HEAVEN. (In Icecream). (If you’re thinking something right now about my choice of three words…Shut up. ;-) The dark was super dark and super good, and the white was really sweet. But the nice thing is that in a cone, its really easy to lick both at the same time which made it pure awesomeness. They even branded their cones, which made it all the cooler.
We made it on the train and began our trek out to Lake Como. The trip took longer than expected, but I had a great time chatting with some of the girls from our group. We really do have some amazing girls in our group.
After more than an hour on the train, we finally made it to the Lake. It was beautiful, and I can definitely say that I’d love to have a house there someday. Vacation of course ☺ We walked around for a while and ran into a few of the other people from our group who had made it up there an hour or so before we did. By this time, it was getting pretty hot and a few of us decided to jump overboard and into the lake. So…we did! I had to go change first, and found this nasty little bathroom to do the clothes switch, but all was well in Zion. The water was absolutely perfect. It was incredibly clear and so warm! And what could be bad about swimming with 5 girls! We swam around for a while, got out and dried off, and then a few of us got back in and swam some more. It was amazing. After that, we walked around some more around the lake (we only made it around half the lake as we only had a couple of hours to be at the Lake), took some pictures and then headed back towards the train station. Most of us were famished, so we found a nice little restaurant and sat down. Not everyone was hungry though, and the group that wasn’t went back to the hotel.
We sat down and had a few language problems at the beginning, but got everything cleared up pretty good. The group decision (by happenstance) was Lasagna. Ironically, during church one of the speakers likened the gospel to Lasagna, so I guess it made everyone hungry for it. The nice thing is that it wasn’t too expensive, and the even nicer thing was that it was very good food. I was super excited because they also had free balsamic vinegar and olive oil to go with their bread, which just makes the experience one hundred times better. I got my last few pictures of the lake and then we went back to the train station to head back to Milan.
The train was much different than the one we had on the way out. It felt much more like a school bus than anything else. We all sat together and just chatted on the whole way back, although it was pretty warm. We ran back into the teachers again, and they apparently went on a boat ride (which would have been awesome) and supposedly saw George Clooney’s House (he has a villa up there…I can’t imagine why haha. Anyway, we got back and watched the end of the World Cup…way to go Spain. Good work…I suppose you deserved it although I was secretly hoping that the Netherlands would win…I just didn’t want that freaking Octopus to be right! Haha.

Now, getting ready for bed and tomorrow we go down to Parma…home of parmesan cheese and other awesome food! (barilla pasta too). It should be fun! Then, Tuesday means we are off to China! So much going on..but don’t worry…the updates will keep on coming. Ciao!

Venice. Need I say More?

July 10, 2010
Venice. Need I say more? We weren’t sure that we were going to be able to make it to Venice today because of the strike, so the teachers told us all to meet early AM to see what the plan would be. Breakfast was actually pretty good (yes, I made it up in time) and we got to the room in time. Chad wasn’t there as he was at the train station trying to get tickets for all of us…and he walked in during our morning devotional. His pockets looked pretty bare, so I didn’t think that we had a chance. Oh ye of little faith. We got tickets! So, we went over to the train station (we are just about a 5 minute walk away) and jumped on the quick train to Venice. It took about 2.5 hours, but with talking, laughing, and sleeping, it went pretty fast. I’d gotten some great tips for things to see from a friend who used to live in Milan, so I was glad to have a little heads up of what to look for during the days escapades. We were off! The scene was so picturesque. The day was really clear and the colors were beautiful. I don’t even want to know how many pictures I took…I know it was a lot though. There were so many opportunities! We walked around for a while looking for St. Mark’s square (my church! Ahah) and found a bunch of little shops that were really fun to look in instead. By that time, I was really getting hungry, so I got some pizza (of course) to curb my appetite and we kept on walking. Along the way we found this really cool market and I was able to buy some water for only 30 cents! I love great deals. The water tasted good, I just wish it had been cold. I’m not complaining though…a deal is a deal! Right across from the market were some people trying to move a refrigerator up into a 3rd story house. It was really quite interesting to wach them. Apparently, they had put a dishwasher up there earlier, but we had just barely missed it. We kept walking around, found more shops, and just had a really good time. We finally made it to St. Mark’s Square, and it was much bigger than I expected. There was a long line to go into the cathedral, and so the teachers we were with told us to go and look around and then come back rather than us all wait in line. We walked over to the water, which was just about a minute’s walk, and then to the “bridge of sighs”, which is right next to it. Apparently, this particular bridge was the last one that prisoners would cross before heading into the prison that is right next to the church…and they would get their last look at Venice. They would sigh..and then probably be stuck in prinson or die. Fun stuff, eh? We grabbed some (nasty) gelato (I lost 2 euro…not sure how though) and we went back. The other people I was with and I all thought we’d only been gone for maybe 10 minutes or so…and apparently we’d been gone for close to a half hour! Time goes by much too fast when you’re having fun! So, the group was already inside and we didn’t get to go in. Bummer. But that is okay…we snuck in the exit and got to see a little bit of it, which at least gives a great idea of what things are supposed to look like.
At this point, we got the idea that a water taxi tour around the city would be a great idea. We found a few more people from our group that would be interested and then went to find a water taxi that wouldn’t screw us out of our money. It took a while, and some people decided that they didn’t want to do it, but it all ended up happening anyway. And, though it was a little pricey, it was totally worth it. We got to get some great air, sit down, and really see the city in a way that you don’t normally get to. They took us around the entire grand canal, which was amazing. We made it back towards st. mark’s and got to see the little channel that is there as well. Venice is one beautiful city. I kept thinking that I was in the middle of the James Bond/Indiana Jones/Italian Job movie (because the boats are the same) and they happen in Venice. Ohhh…it was awesome.
I broek off and followed some other people in my group after that we we just had fun walking around, going into shops, and just seeing what the city was all about. I got convinced to buy an Italian made tie (it is pretty nice…especially with the deal I got on it…seeing as the previous place we went into had ties at around 180 bucks per tie). We kept walking around and found lots more nifty trinkets. I got some more pizza, and …thought I personally didn’t find any more trinkets to buy…had a lot of fun looking at the amazing glass sculptures that the people there who bloq glass make. I’d love to go back again when I have more time and buy more of this beautiful glass. I think one of the most amaing things I saw had to do with fish in a fake aquarium, and also this beautiful eagle which was at least 4 feet tall. It was quite amazing.
We took a while to figure out where we were and how to get back to the train station where we were supposed to meet at the end fo the day. We walked over this really modern bridge to finish off our adventure and then then met up with everyone to make it back on the train. A lot of people slept (so I got some AWESOME pictures of them) and a lot of us just chatted and got to know eachother even better on the trip. The people here are amazing. Its going to be interesting to see where we all end up in 5/10/15/20+ years. We are all getting more comfortable with one another as the trip goes on, and becoming better friends. Gotta love it!
We made it back, and broke up into groups to find dinner. I went with the McDonalds group, because I am committed to having McDonalds at least once in ever country we are in. I’m 100% so far! The meal was cheaper than any of our others before, but didn’t taste the best. That is the better part. I think they make the cheeseburgers in masses and then just give them out. Whatev.
To finish up the day, I am writing this. And I took a shower, did my laundry, and am just getting to relax for a few minutes to the sounds of English news, and a Chinese music channel that is really weird sounding…but rather intriguing at the same time.
Tomorrow is Church and Lake Como, which should be amazing. Life could not be better.

Until next time…Ciao!

If I could leave Switz-er-land, then go to Chamonix, go through a long long tunnel, and end up in Italy...OOps..I did.

(July 8)
Wow...what a long title. It rhymed...don't judge me. haha


Today was another travel day…but with a ton of travel, we got to see some of the most beautiful places in the world.

Me and my roommate were awoken quite early (8 am) haha when the cleaning lady walked in our room. She was ready to clean already! These Switzerlandians are very avid about keeping things clean (as evidenced by the very clean city). Haha.

I We got ready for the day and then went to go grab some breakfast, because we both had some coins that we had to get rid of, especially because there aren’t any other countries that se the Swiss Franc. I got my usual bread and pain au chocolat, and then with my extra money got this amazing strawberry tart and an apple thing. The apple thing wasn’t very good, but the strawberry thing was amazing. YUM.

We left and began our day long trek to Milan. We were hoping to be able to stop at Zermatt, which is where the Matterhorn is, but it would have been too long of a detour, so we had to settle with Chamonix (Mont Blanc), France, which actually was the site of the first winter olympics in 1928. (Do they have a bob/skele track? I don’t know…It would be cool if they did!) In any case, it was one of the most beautiful mountain scenes I’ve ever seen in my life. There was a glacier off in the distance, and you could totally see where the glacier ended.

The air was so clear, and it definitely made me think of a small Park City feel. I wish we had more time to explore the city, especially as they had a little fair going on at the time, and there were a lot of trams that would take you up to the top of the various peaks. I have to go back…I WILL go back, because it was too beautiful of a place not to.

What did we have for lunch? McDonalds ☺ The fact that we were in France again made it hard for some of us, because we didn’t have extra Euros from when we were in paris. And, McDonalds takes credit cards, so…we were set.

A few people went into a candy store that was across the street from McDonalds. This is what we found. hahahahaha

Its good to know that Mickey Dees is totally making BANK in foreign countries…with the exchange rate, I paid about 10.50 for a small value meal, and a few friends paid more than 11 dollars for a salad. Gotta love it!

We kept on going and as we left Chamonix, we went through this long tunnel that went through the mountain. It lasted…FOREVER. But when we finally got out (after somewhere between 5 and 10 minutes,) we were in Italy! And boy, it was beautiful. We were on the other side of the Alps, and saw some beautiful mountains. There seemed to be a plethora of chateaus as we drove closer and closer to Torino and Milano. After class, and a few other discussions on the bus, we finally made it to the city. It was much different than I expected. I’m not sure what I expected, but it was much different than it none the less. We checked into the hotel (which doesn’t offer free internet…lame for a self-procliamed 4 star hotel). And then went out to find some dinner and of course…gelato! I shared with a friend and got a pizza with mushrooms, olives, cheese, sauce, and artichoke hearts (way good!), and my friend got some gnocci with tomato pesto.

It was a lot different than I thought it would be, but it was really good! Then we walked around and found some shops, and got some gelato. I of course got Chocolate. Ironically, I think my favorite chocolate so far has been in France (chocolate mousse) and their yogurt flavor. But I have 4 more days to try gelato…and see if that is my firm decision ☺

A few of us went out to try and find free Wifi at a mcdonalds, but to no avail. We found an internet café, but it was more expensive than the paid internet from the hotel. So, back at the hotel…watching Fox news (the only English channel…random), and getting ready to work on homework. Go figure ☺

OH! And I forgot to mention, that I found out the other day that my documentary project “I am Not my Body” has gotten a green light, as well as the beginning of my funding! I’ll need about $5,000, and I’ve gotten a grant for the first $1,000! So…now to raise the other 4K…and to get it all together in about 4 months. I can do it ☺ Its all part of the adventure.

Ciao!

(I have to pay for internet here, so I probably won't post the next few days for a few days)

Switz-er-land...our great and olympic home...

July 7, 2010

Well, today was the last day in Switzerland. I can’t believe that we are as far in the trip that we are. Time goes by so fast and it seems like we show up in a city and then leave right after. But, I have to say that this still has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve ever had in my life and it has feinitely been worthy my time and money.

For breakfast, me and a few other people from my program walked down ta small bakery that is just a block or so away from our hotel. They have these really great bread things for really cheap, so I got one of those, and when I noticed they had pain au chocolat, I had to get one of those too! I mean c’mon…its pain au chocolat ☺ We jumped on the bus and it was my turn to do a business presentation about a business that we were going to see and visit. I have to admit, I was very excited to do my report on the business I did, because it is pretty much one of the awesome companies o the world. It was the International Olympic Committee!

We actually got to go to their headquarters in Lausanne, and needless to say, they did not dissapoint at all They spent about two hours with us answering our questions and despcribing their business model. Althought they are a non profit organization, they are very much a business with defined goals and ways of working. They gave us a little folder and pad of paper with te Olympic logo on it and a pen as well. They gave water to everyone, and some of the water was the carbonated kind, so it was funny to watch people take their first drink of the caronated water when they weren’t expecting it. Haha!

After the presntation, they were nice enough to provide lunch for us in their cafeteria. It was AMAZING. They offered chicken curry, fish, steak, or even sushi type stuff along with a variety of vegetables, side dishes, and other things. Even some desserts. I just got a few veggies and the steak, and it was definitely one of thebetter steaks that I have ever had. I think one of the cool things is that they cook it for you right there. Its no typical caferita food. So, America….THIS is how you do cafeteria food.

Next, they took us to their Olympic Museum which was just a few kilometers away. We got free admission, and it was such an awesome experience. They had an awesome gift shop with so many rtifacts from past Olympic games, it was awesome. In the museum, they had a bunch of historic artifacts about the history of the games from the beginning, as well as the modern games and how they got restarted. Finally, they had examples of medals from each of the modern oluympic games, and one of the Olympic torches from each of the modern Olympic games. It was so inspiring to see all the different things that have been used to carry the Olympic fire.

They also had an example of how the Olympic fire is started before each torch relay. I didn’t know it, but it’s a really big deal. They have people dress up as high priestesses and they are actually able to make the fire start by concentrating the sun’s rays in this unique bowl device. So, at the stat of each torch relay, it starts from from the sun and then is carried all aound the world until it lights the olympic cauldron wherever the games are. It was totally inspiring.

They had this other exhibit where you can test your athletic ability. It was really fun to watch eachother try to accomplish the different tasks. I did pretty well! Hahah.
Outside the museum, they have examples set up of some of the world records. They have the highest high jump, ole vault, and shot put records so you can see and feel what it is really like to have accomplished those records. And of course, a faux medal podium. I Win!

Finally, outside, they have the Olympic flame still burning in this special cauldron. It was really inspiring to see the Olympic flame. Maybe someday, I’ll even get to carry the real thing as part of the olympics. Who knows! Anything can happen…if you let it!

Back to the hotel, and a big group of us all got together and went swimming in the lake that is right next to where we were. The water was a little dirty with debris…mostly plants, but it was so nice. Thiere was this giant pole that a bunch of us climbed up on andjumped off of. Super fun!

After that, we walked back towards the metro and got a croque monsieur and some gelato. Yum. It will be interesting to try real gelato in italy in the next day or so. Yum! And McDonalds of course. I gotta try it in every country haha.

We tried to find that festival that was going on, but with no luck. A few people stayed down by the waterfront and tried to watch the world cup game, but I decided to go back to the hotel with the people that were going. It was getting late anyway and most things were closed.

Back to homework. Woohoo

(Dark) Chocolate, oh how I love thee.

Dear friend(s) and family who read my blog.

Let it be known that Swiss chocolate is good. And let it be known that Swiss Dark chocolate is phenomenal.

Though, I don't understand why people like milk chocolate so much. It is good, but Dark Chocolate is so much better. Thats why it deserves capital letters. milk chocolate...sorry, but I don't know that I can give you that honor. 

Today, we went to the Callier chocolate factory in Broc, Switzerland. This particular factory is now owned by Nestle; however, they pretty much have kept things the same as they have for nearly 100 years. And needless to say, this chocolate is pretty darn good. (It even gives See's Candies a run for its money).

The soft velvety texture just melts in your mouth. Oh man. Yum.

We got to go on a tour of the factory, and I seriously felt like I was touring with Willy Wonka and his Chocolate Factory. We went into this elevator and then after a little thing from the speaker, the floor started sinking down...and a door randomly appeared. We went through 6 or more rooms with each room looking like there was no escape, yet each time, a door magically appeared and let us into the next room. Willy Wonka lives in Switzerland, and I had no idea.

At the end of the tour, you actually get to see how they manufacture some of the chocolate and then you get free samples. I'm not talking about one or two...I'm talking about all you care to eat. One of the guys in my program seriously just went up and down the table and picked up the samples two or three at a time. I tried the milk chocolate just to say I tried real swiss milk chocolate (oh, I forgot to mention that this is the factory where milk chocolate was invented), but then I stuck to the (much better) dark chocolate. Call me picky...I know I am. :-D

The chocolate rocked. I liked it so much I had to buy some. HOpefully, it will make it through the heat in China (reports put temps over 100 degrees). I hope we have A/C in the hotels!


Our driver got us to the tour late so we had to run to the bus to go to Vorey for our Nestle headquarters tour. Yup...that Nestle. And yup... we're talking WORLD headquarters. Their building is right on Lake Leman (Geneva), and is seriously one of the most gorgeous places I've ever been in my life. They give you unlimited coffee (I had grapefruit juice). Haha.

They were so incredibly kind to our group...they gave us a tour of their facility and everything. Little do you probably know that Nestle pretty much owns the world. They own more than 10,000 individual brands including San Pellegrino, Kit Kat, tonsof different brands of water, and even stouffers. They estimate that roughly 1 BILLION nestle products are bought every day. Its pretty stinking awesome if you ask me. Great company and a great visit. As a random note, they manufacture ketchup, mayo, and other condiments in Europe. In Europe,...specifically Switzerland, they prefer a metal tube to the plastic containers that we have in the US. Random.

Before we left the city that Nestle is in, we grabbed lunch. I got a Kebab. Holy crap. It was so big I couldn't finish it.

To finish up the day, we drove around the lake towards the Chateau de Chillon. It was a castle used to protect the people for a while, and then turned into a jail. We got there later than expected but to our surprise, they were still open. I've thrown in a picture of their latrines (open holes that drop about 40 feet to a small hole into the water below), and one of the doorways that I had to walk through. I'm a little too big...

THe scenery was unbelievable. I love Switzerland. If I had to choose a place out of the USA to live...right now, it would be Switzerland. But who knows...I still have 3 more countries that could change my mind :-).

We got back around 9 pm...and after a quick run to the local market (where I mixed up regular water with mineral carbonated water), we ran down to the water front. There was supposed to be a huge festival going on, but I think we got the location wrong. But what they did have was this huge world cup party. There was a sea of people watching the game on a huge TV. seriously... a HUGE TV...at least 10 or 20 feet wide. We walked around for a while, got some ice cream (more sugar...) and then watched some of the game. IT was really fun watching the crowd celebrate as the Netherlands won. They really like their futbol.

Now I sit in the lobby doing homework. Obviously, I'm avoiding it. Oh well :-)

Life is so good.