Goodbye Europe, HELLO TEXAS!

After my nice little nap I was able to squeeze in overnight, we then loaded the coaches to airport at 3am. It’s hard on your body to get up at be active at 3am after only sleeping like three hours. I heard a lot people mention that they didn’t feel good simply because of a weird sleeping schedule. We attempted to load all of the luggage onto the coaches, but these coaches were smaller and therefore about 25 whole bags wouldn’t fit in them. This caused us to have to wait nearly another hour on a trailer that would attach to the back of our coach. As soon as we finally left the hotel, I was fast asleep on the silent coach.

The drive to the Zurich airport wasn’t more than about 45 minutes so we arrived a little after 5am, when the airport check-in opened. It seems to me that European airports are quite inefficient when it comes to managing lines. Either that or we overwhelm them with 80 of us at one time, haha. When I tried to check my two bags, the lady working the check-in counter told me I had a special kind of ticket (different from everyone else’s) and that I would only be allowed to check one bag. After I began to tell her there is no way that could possibly be right and I started raising a slight fuss, Dr. Dan stepped in to save the day! He informed the lady that he is the travel agent responsible for this group’s booking, and that there is no way that my ticket could have that kind of restriction because it is an international flight. She still persisted and continued to argue with him, and then Dr. Dan informed her that we didn’t even book this flight in particular. I was re-booked by British Airways just last week to accommodate my former travel plans that were affected by the current BA strike. Then she began to understand and made a few more phone calls and allowed me to check my second duffel bag. I still had to pay a heavy bag fee of 50 Swiss Francs because one of my checked bags was 5 kilos over the max weight limit.

By this time it was nearly 6:10am, and boarding for our flight was supposed to close at 6:20am. I rushed myself through security, onto the tram, through the terminal, and to the gate only to discover that they hadn’t started boarding the plane at all. Turns out British Airways ended up delaying our flight by nearly 30 minutes because of the slow check-in procedures outside of security. Even after I checked my bag, there was still at least 15 people from our trip in line behind me waiting to check-in and get their boarding passes.

The plane finally took off for what was about a 1.5-2 hour flight to London. We landed and had to go through security again upon entering Terminal 5 at Heathrow. Once we were inside, it was AMAZING! Terminal 5 at Heathrow is by far the coolest airport I have ever been to! There are mini-Harrods, great shopping, and wonderful restaurants. Since it was only 9 am London time I wasn’t in the mood for heavy food, so I just grabbed a ready-made sandwich at Pret a Manger for old times sake. As tempting as it was, I only ate half while we were waiting for our flight, and saved the other half for what would prove to be a tasty meal during the 10-hour flight back to Houston. Our flight was delayed (again), this time due to the strike and the fact that they couldn’t scrounge up enough crew members to work our flight. (awesome... --sarcasm included).

I was so excited to finally take off and know that the next time we land I’ll be back in the great state of Texas. The flight was long, but not nearly as long as the flight to London seemed. The difference was that I slept nearly 4 hours on this flight and barely any on the first one. When we finally landed and the pilot said “Welcome to Houston,” I found it amusing how nearly our entire study abroad group applauded and cheered at what was simply a routine landing just because we were all so excited to be back in Texas. I couldn’t stop smiling when I was deplaning, but that smile faded fast however when we saw just how long the line at immigration was. After waiting for over 30 minutes in a sea of around 300 people, we were processed and I was able to get my luggage. After a quick run through at customs, I walked through the big double doors of IAH’s Terminal E and into Brad’s arms and I was home. I had a wonderful journey on this trip. I learned so much about culture, people, life, and myself. It’s an experience that I’m so very grateful for, but nothing beats home sweet home! ☺


oh ps: this is a picture from the plane's individual tv units that i took during the flight. In route to Houston, Europeans have no other description for humid houston than "HOT". haha, most all of us found a good amount of amusement out of that.

Last Day In Europe!

So strange. This morning was my last time to wake up and know I was going to be exploring a European city on this trip. Truthfully though, I’m very ready to come back home. This trip has been a wonderful life experience, but nothing beats lying in the arms of the one that I love simply just watching TV.

We didn’t even have to leave the hotel for our last two business meetings this morning. Bucherer Retail was first. Besides the room being exceptionally hot and stuffy, the presentation wasn’t half bad. I had already gone there to buy my Swiss Army knives yesterday, so I felt a little extra connection to the store. After a small break, Johnson & Johnson was next. That presentation however was exceptionally boring. I felt like the speaker was all over the place and it was hard to stay focused on him during his presentation.

After both presentations were finished, Dr. Mac and Dr. Dan had some last minute debriefing instructions for us before we were released for our last day in Europe. For lunch, a large group of study abroaders went across the Chapel Bridge to Mr. Pickwick’s Pub and had some pub food. I heard all the food there was good, so I was excited to get a really good cheeseburger. Unfortunately, there was some kind of weird sauce on my burger and the cheese had a weird kick to it. I barely ate half of my burger if that and didn’t order any fries to save money. I also haven’t ordered an alcoholic drink since France I think, solely for the reason of conserving money.

We left Mr. Pickwick’s Pub, took some pictures by the Chapel Bridge, watched the wild swans swim around, and then headed off to do some last minute errands around Lucerne before we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the dessert cruise. I bought an assortment of Swiss Chocolate at Bucherer while other people bought more Longchamp bags, more Swiss Army knives, and even a few nice Swiss watches.

One last thing on our to-do list in Lucerne was to walk to the giant lion monument carved into the side of a stone wall. It was so much larger and more detailed than I was envisioning it to be. We took a few pictures, and Callen, CJ, Kinsey, and I all tossed coins into the pond in front of the monument after we made wishes. I don’t really know if it was a ritual or not, but there were some coins in the bottom of the pond, so we figure why not?! Wishing on an ancient lion can’t hurt!

CJ, Kinsey, and I all walked back to the hotel to shower and get all done up for the final group event of the trip, the dessert dinner cruise on Lake Lucerne. Kinsey was wonderful and curled several of the girls hair (including mine). It looked fabulous! After weeks of not trying to get overly done up for a night out, it was nice to feel pretty and see how gorgeous everyone else looked as well!

The cruise was SO MUCH FUN! We had a private boat rented out just for our study abroad group. The first two rounds of drinks were free, so white wine was my beverage of choice! It was delicious! From the moment we all stepped onto the boat it was just a non-stop photo session. We sang the war hymn, whooped!, laughed, hugged, and just had a great night reflecting on all of the memories we made throughout the past month and the friends that will come back with us to A&M. The view of the shoreline was unmatched and the sunset in particular was sublime! I was sad to see such an amazing night end. It was tied with the Austrian dinner as being the most enjoyable evening activity that we did on the entire trip.




Sadly though, the night had to end. We walked back to the hotel at around 10:30pm, and having already packed my bags completely during the afternoon, I was able to go straight to bed by about 11 o’clock. I was one of the lucky few that actually was able to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before we had to load the coaches for the airport in the middle of the night. I set my alarm for 2:15am, so I could be downstairs at around 2:50am to board the coach. Naptime for me!

A Day In The Swiss Alps!

I have been looking forward to today’s activity for the entire trip! We were going to go up the Swiss Alps to the top of Mt. Titlus and do some fun activities in the snow… in the middle of June! SO fun! After much debate about who would ride with Gee on the coach and who would volunteer to take the train (slightly more expensive, yet I volunteered), we left this morning around 8:00am. It was about an hour’s train ride out to the town of Engelberg where we then walked for another 10-15 minutes to the Mt. Titlus base lift. We met up with the bus crew and got our group tickets from Gee. He secured us a great discount! Gee is the best!

We then started our journey up the mountain. Imagine: its nearly 80 degrees at the base of the mountain. Yet, in just a few short minutes, we would be walking, playing in, and touching snow! The series of 3 sets of lifts took nearly an hour to navigate, especially when factoring in the INSANE lines from all of the Indian and Chinese tour groups. Apparently, Mt. Titlus is actually quite the popular tourist attraction… unfortunately for us. Seriously, there was probably nearly 500 Indians and 300-400 Chinese people. The Chinese people weren’t too annoying except that they were just in the way a lot. The Indian people however were a different story entirely! I swear to you I have never been more riled up and angry at a particular culture in my entire life! In Indian culture, it is not normal to stand in a line for things… no, really, they don’t… at all. All day long, I got pushed around, shoved, and cut in front of by the entire Indian population on the mountain. I was FURIOUS! We finally had enough as a group and started getting verbally angry at the line cutters. When we have been waiting in line for 20-30 minutes, and someone waltzes all the way up to the front and weasels their way in (and then it happens over and over), it gets really old really fast. We started calling out the line cutters and telling them to get to the back of the line. They would act confused, then say, “Oh, well we’re going the same place so just let us go in front of you.” UMMMMMM…. NO! I DO NOT THINK SO. BACK OF THE LINE! We may have come off as rude American tourists today, but I didn’t even care anymore. We had had enough! Just because we are polite, courteous, and orderly doesn’t mean you can walk all over us. It doesn’t work like that. It is customary that when one travels, they adhere to the cultural norms of the place they are traveling to. In Westernized countries, that includes learning the kindergarten skill of standing in a line and waiting your own turn! Let’s just say after today, I have absolutely ZERO interest to travel to India and experience their culture. UGH! I’m still fuming about the whole situation!

Anyways, back to the journal entry. We rode another lift down to the glacier park, otherwise known as the playtime area. There was an option to go tubing or sled down a hill using many different snow toys and sleds. It was all so much fun, but so crowded once again. The snow was quite slushy considering the temperature was somewhere in the 40’s, so it managed to find its way up my jeans and into my shoes. By the time we left the mountain, my jeans and shoes were soaked. Good thing I won’t have to wear them much more on the trip!




After going back to the top, eating my lunch that I had packed from breakfast (and by doing so saved at least 20 Francs), Sydney, Laura, Laura, Brittany, and I headed the hour back down to the base of the mountain back to Engelberg. We caught the train and rode it back to Luzern. We got back around 4pm, changed clothes, and met back down in the lobby to head over to Bucherer and buy our Swiss Army knives! I was so excited to do this, because I had been looking forward to getting this gift for a good majority of the trip. I bought a Spartan Lite style Swiss Army knife for Brad and Super Tinker style knives for Dad and Grandpa. I also decided to get a small pink one just for me. It was only 16 Francs so I figured why not?! The best part… I was able to get all of them engraved with the names of each recipient for free! I’m really excited about giving this gift, and I hope all the guys really enjoy them!

After shopping, we headed back near the hotel and grabbed a slice of New York pizza for dinner. It was only 7 Francs! But then the coke that I bought was another 4 Francs. Ugh. Everything over here is ridiculously overpriced. I can’t wait to come back to the USA and buy a $1 Dr. Pepper from McDonalds or Sonic or wherever. This trip has really made me appreciate so many things that I took for granted back in America.

Dinner complete, a few of us girls hung out and talked and then we all parted way, showered, packed up our bags, and went to bed. Tomorrow morning we are having our last two business presentations (yay!) in the hotel conference room! We don’t even have to leave to go anywhere! One more full day in Europe!

4 Countries In One Day!

Today we left Munich in the morning and drove two hours to Fussen, Germany to Neuschwanstein, otherwise known as the castle of King Ludwig. This is actually the castle that Disney modeled its Sleeping Beauty castle after. I don’t think any of us were prepared for the hike that we had in store for us though. We parked at the base of a hill and had to walk up a very steep incline for nearly half an hour to even access the castle. It was HARD! I felt lame because older people were doing this as well, but didn’t seem to breathing as heavily as we were. Although, I’m pretty sure we were going at a much faster pace than recommended because we got to the top in only about 25 minutes when the map told us it should take 45.

The view was incredible! The German countryside with lakes and the German Alps in the background was breathtaking. I knew it would only be a tune up for Switzerland which I have heard to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. We had time to kill once we got to the base of the castle, so we ate our packed lunches from the Holiday Inn breakfast (they did not appreciate us doing that by the way. They told us this morning that if they saw anymore of us doing that they would call the cops on us for stealing. I don’t know but I’m pretty sure the police in Munich have bigger problems to deal with like the massive “Free Gaza” rally that we saw on our bike ride yesterday. I’m just saying…).

Anyways, after we took a lot of pictures and hiked even further to a bridge suspended over a canyon for the best view of Neuschwanstein, it was time for our scheduled tour time. The tour was relatively short to others we had experienced on this trip (only about 30 minutes), but it was still nice to see the inside of this famed castle. King Ludwig was an interesting man with his obsession over Richard Wagner and Swan Lake. What is even stranger though is the circumstances regarding his death. It’s still one of Bavaria’s (the region in Germany) biggest unsolved cases.

It was surprisingly hot even at the top of the hill the castle is perched upon, so I grabbed some ice cream for the walk down to our waiting coach. It completely hit the spot… cold and refreshing! After waiting for about another hour for people to finish up their visits, we finally were able to depart Fussen for Lucerne (Luzern), Switzerland.

On the way, we drove through a small sliver of Austria and then we entered Liechtenstein, a sovereign country in its own right but a principality of Switzerland. We stopped here for about half an hour so we could add another country to our checklist for this trip. I bought 2 postcards and perused the Swiss Army Knife collection available. There are so many choices to pick from, and I want to get individual kinds for Brad, my dad, and my grandpa. I was also able to get money exchanged from both Euros and Pounds which we aren’t using anymore. As of Liechtenstein, we have officially changed over to the Swiss Franc for the remainder of the trip!

Then we entered Switzerland! It had been a beautiful day and drive thus far, but Switzerland was the icing on the cake. Driving through the Swiss Alps, with the jagged rock faces and staggered cliffs, it was absolutely breathtaking at some points! I didn’t sleep during this part of the bus ride like I normally tend to do. I was simply staring at the window and snapping pictures when I had a good opportunity.

We arrived in Lucerne a little later than on our planned schedule at about 7:30pm. We quickly checked into the Best Western Hotel Flora that is situated right on the lake/river that splits the town in two basically. From what I have seen of the city so far, it looks so cute! I can’t wait to do a little bit of exploring Monday after our business presentations are finished. After we had our presentations and orientation meeting for Lucerne, we quickly raced across the street to get to the Burger King before it closed at 10. We got there at 9:50! It was a late dinner, but the worst part was the price. My combo meal that I ordered (which would be the size equivalent of a medium/regular combo in the States) was 12.50 Swiss Francs! OH MY GOD! ☹ We were warned that this was the most expensive stop on the trip, and they weren’t kidding! Thank goodness we’re only here about two days, or I wouldn’t have any money left to spend (I don’t really even at this point, but that’s beside the point, haha).

After skyping with my family and showering, I headed off to bed. Tomorrow morning is going to come extremely early, seeing as I have to meet downstairs in the lobby at 7:30 to catch a train to Engleberg. We are going to Mt. Titlus tomorrow to see the sights and play in the snow! I’ve been looking forward to this all trip so hopefully it lives up to my expectations!

BMW Welt & Munich Bike Tour

After battling a madhouse in the breakfast room this morning, we set off via the S-bahn and then the U-bahn until we made it to BMW Welt (BMW World in English) for our tour of their facility. It was kind of interesting since both Brad and his dad have BMW’s, so I felt like I had more of a personal connection to this brand of car, as opposed to Audi. I really love the BMW brand as well, so I think I found the tour to be a lot more fascinating than many other people in my group. We saw their delivery center where customers can come to pick up their BMW’s they have ordered. The atmosphere at BMW Welt for a customer is supposed to make their car buying experience unforgettable, and I completely agree that it would. I can only dream that one day I’ll have enough money to 1) buy a BMW, and 2) have it delivered to BMW Welt!


After the tour, we felt a little crunched for time so we decided not to venture into the BMW Museum. We had heard from others that it wasn’t that impressive, so I didn’t feel too bummed about missing it. After all, I had completed the one thing I had come to BMW Welt to do… get Brad a present. So instead, we caught the S-bahn back to our hotel, changed clothes for the bike tour, and CJ, Laura, and I set off for some souvenir shopping beforehand. Once again, I was insanely successful (not so good on the bank account though, haha). Somehow I also got suckered into going to ANOTHER H&M, and I bought stuff there as well!
Then it was time to meet for our bike tour around Munich with Mike’s Bike Tours. I didn’t have the opportunity to go on the Fat Tire Bike Tour in Paris because that was the morning that I unsuccessfully attempted to get into the French Open, so I was intrigued to see what a bike tour was like. While we were waiting for it to start, you’ll never believe who I ran into!... Jamie Hemmi from SAIL! It was so random! Apparently her A&M finance study abroad group that is studying in France was on vacation for a weekend in Munich. They just so happened to have booked a bike tour with Mike’s on the same afternoon! I got to talk to her for a bit which was very nice.

When the bike tour started I was optimistic that it was going to be fun, but I soon came to realize that our tour guide was a complete and total jerk. He was very rude to many people on our tour, and almost everything that came out of his mouth somehow was either dirty or vulgar. He thought that we as college students would enjoy his drug, sex, and alcohol humor, but most of us were not amused in the least. It was just way too over the top and way too constant. An occasional joke here and there would have been fine, but when every single museum and statue relates to sleeping with women or drugs, it gets old really fast. I’m not the kind of person to say anything about it though, at least not until after the tour is over, but apparently someone complained to a chaperone halfway through the tour and word got back to Will, our guide. He was pissed off and didn’t try to hide it from us either. He gave us the most sorry excuse for an apology I have ever heard in my entire life. It was obvious that he felt that he was the victim, that we were being unfair to him, and that we were all prudes and needed to lighten up. After that, my judgment of him was final, and he would definitely not be getting a tip from me at the conclusion of the tour. He continued to make condescending remarks directed towards how prude and easily offended we were, which only further hurt the situation. The bike tour was nice simply because we got to see many parts of Munich that I would not have seen otherwise, but my experience overall was not a good one. Maybe next year they should switch back to Lenny’s Bike Tours because I can’t imagine their guides could be worse than this guy.


After the bike tour, CJ, Laura, and I came back to the hotel and just took it easy. I showered, journaled, and packed because in the morning we leave bright and early for King Ludwig’s Castle (the Disney Castle) and then we arrive in Lucerne, our last destination! We go home 3 days from tomorrow! AH!!!

Dachau Concentration Camp & Hofbrauhaus... again.

This morning we left the hotel after breakfast for Dachau Concentration Camp. Today was a somber day visiting the first concentration camp that was a part of the Holocaust. It was sort of a surreal experience. Thus far on the trip, we have been experiencing history that happened so long ago that its almost hard to comprehend. Roman ruins in Nice built Before Christ, buildings in built in the 1200’s, etc. This most horrendous disaster happened only about 70 years ago. That’s so recent compared to everything else we’ve seen. It was hard to see pictures of the dead and know that each of the tens of thousands that died at Dachau had a family and loved ones. I can’t imagine something like that happening to me or to someone I love. It’s just unimaginable and completely unforgivable. The fact that it was raining made the experience all the more depressing. I am very glad I got the experience of visiting a place so important in recent history though.



Because of the rain, we were not able to go on our bike tour around Munich today, like was planned on the schedule. It is being postponed until tomorrow afternoon after we visit BMW Welt. Instead, we are given a free afternoon to explore Munich. That would be fine normally, but today is a local holiday and most all stores are closed. ☹ Instead a large group of us hung out in the lobby for a while before heading over to the Hofbrauhaus. I don’t like beer at all, so the place isn’t nearly as interesting to me as it is to other people. I tried to have fun there, but I was fighting a losing battle. Everyone was getting more and more drunk, and I was taking on the role of very sober person who is annoyed by the all the noise.

Finally Laura, CJ , and I went to get dinner at Burger King. It was a nice break from everything, even if it was typical American fast food. Quick and simple is all I needed though! Then we headed back to the hotel. We were all feeling pretty chill and low-key, so we decided to make the most out of our free time and work on some of our other assignments for our trip’s final book such as the cultural differences, likes and dislikes, and interviews. It was nice to just have a quiet, relaxing time in the hotel lobby with close friends who I really enjoy spending time with. The trip is fun, but I’m getting to the point where I am increasingly homesick and can’t wait to be back in College Station, with my boyfriend, and with my family. Only 4 more days from tomorrow!

Audi Manufacturing Plant & Arrive In Munich

Once again this morning we packed up the coaches and headed off for a new destination. However, today was different because we were to be dressed in business casual dress for our Audi manufacturing plant tour on the way to Munich. Somehow we completely overestimated on time and got to Audi and Ingolstadt a full 2 hours before our tour. That gave us plenty of time to eat lunch, look around their gift shop, and just relax.

Then it was time for the tour. We actually were able to walk through the entire production facility to where we could see all of the main steps that a car goes through when being made. The Ingolstadt plant is more like a city within itself employing more than 33,000 workers that produced an average of 2,300 cars per day! It was amazing to walk through the facility and see how far technology has progressed these days. Robots were doing nearly all of the work of assembling and manufacturing parts for the car. To me who had never seen such a thing before, it looked like something straight out of the Iron Man or Transformers movies. Audi is so efficient, so precise, and so automated. It’s crazy how that can achieve that mix and make it successful. I feel like I have a deeper appreciation for my own car now. Sometimes I think we as consumers forget that everything we buy goes through a unique and timely creation process before it seemingly magically appears on store shelves. I have come to appreciate that hard work during the Riedel and Audi visits recently.

After we left Ingolstadt, we drove about another hour until we arrived in Munich. Here we are staying in a Holiday Inn again, similar to our accommodations in London. It’s probably been my least favorite chain of the hotels thus far (Marriott and Hilton are in the lead). The rooms are small and there is no safe. I suppose I shouldn’t complain much though considered we could be staying in hostels and really roughing it the European way, haha.

Once we had a rather long segment of presentations for Munich, Dachau Concentration Camp, BMW Welt, and King Ludwig’s Castle we set off via the S-bahn (subway system in Munich) to find something to eat for a late dinner. We strolled on through the rain and stumbled across this cute little restaurant off a side street near Marionplatz, the city’s center. I had wonderful weinerschintzel and sautéed potatoes there! It was a giant portion as well, so large in fact that I only ate about half! It wasn’t overly expensive either, only 9,50 Euros.

After dinner, we walked a few blocks over to the Hofbrauhaus, one of the world’s most famous beer halls. The place was HUGE! So much bigger than I would ever have imagined it to be! All of the many tables downstairs were jam-packed so we wandered upstairs where there was almost no one. A band was playing German folk tunes, so we sat down listened, and ordered up a round of liters (yes, a WHOLE liter, that’s what they serve over here). Laura and I, although we don’t like beer, ordered up a Rattler which is a mix of lemonade and beer just so we could say we’ve had a beer from the Hofbrauhaus in Germany. I had just a few sips before I was finished. It wasn’t that bad in all honesty, however beer just isn’t my cup of tea. We also managed to get our interview done and out of the way while we were there as well. We interviewed on the senior members of the band that was playing on stage. It was a fun time!


We didn’t stay there too long, and we headed back to the S-bahn which took us straight back into the basement of our hotel. Isn’t that nice?! I showered, journaled, and settled into bed. Tomorrow, we tour Dachau Concentration Camp in the morning and then will most likely have a free afternoon to explore Munich due to our bike tour being pushed to Friday because of rainy weather.

Riedel Glass & Swarovski Crystal

Today was going to be another day filled with business visits. This morning the green group left at 9:10am to drive about an hour to Riedel: The Wine Glass Company. I didn’t know what to expect from Riedel because I knew nothing about it. It turned out to be very cool and interesting! We were given a small explanation of how they go about making their glasses with molds and shaping them based upon which wine you plan on drinking with them.

We then were able to walk through their factory where they actually produce the blown glasses. It was mesmerizing to watch! The workers would get a molten glass mix from the furnace, bring it to another guy who would begin shaping it while it cooled off slightly. Then while the glass was still rubbery, they would place it into the mold and blow through a long tube that would blow the glass to fill the mold. After the glass had cooled more, they would cut off the top of the glass and then slow burn it with a flame to make it just as smooth as the rest of the glass. Then the master on the floor would add the stem and base to each glass. Every time the glasses turned out perfectly! It’s amazing the level of efficiency that they have created there, especially when all of the glasses are individually hand-made.


After seeing the process in action, we walked through a really trippy exhibit in which we learned about how the different glass shapes and sizes drink wine differently. Apparently white wines are best drunk though a slimmer glass. More bold wines (reds) require a more bulbous glass that allows the nose to smell all of the flavors of the wine before you drink it. We then went into the Riedel store. Seeing as I do love wine, I was tempted to buy at least something there, but I refrained simply because I wasn’t sure how I would successfully get wine glasses back to the United States unharmed. Lots of people did buy things however, and best of luck to them! The boxes are huge so we shall see how they manage it.

We were supposed to drive back to the hotel, have time to change into business formal, eat lunch, and then leave for Swarovski at 2pm. Riedel went longer than expected however, so we ate on the road… again. Another AutoGrill rest stop. Woohoo! (sarcasm). We then got to Swarovski and had our marketing presentation first. It was interesting and afterwards we got free cokes (that’s a big deal over here!). Then we were taken on a small tour of Swarovski’s private museum that is not open to the general public. They had a lot of unique, cool stuff there, such as a chandelier from a James Bond movie, dresses made especially for celebrities, and huge crystals.

After that, we were bused over to Swarovski World, where they have a massive underground exhibit showing off everything that their crystals can do. There was a crystalline wall that runs like a backbone through the building that was something that 42 meters long by 11 meters tall! It was so pretty. By far my favorite part of the exhibit though was the crystal dome room. It was amazing! It was like you were inside the crystals of a kaleidoscope. If you stood directly in the center, your voice was magnified, almost like you were using a microphone. I will never forget that room.


After we walked through the exhibit and took pictures, we made our way to the gift shop. I didn’t buy anything however since I bought a lot yesterday at the Swarovski in Innsbruck. We waited around for a bit while some people made purchases, and then we loaded up the coaches and drove back to Innsbruck.
I just ate my dinner in my hotel room because I had packed an entire lunch that I had let at the hotel in hopes of eating it when we were supposed to come back between company visits. It’s getting to the point in the trip where any money saved might be useful at the end. I ended up just staying in, completely repacking my bag, showering, and going to bed early. I don’t sleep well on the buses, so I figured it best to get as much sleep as possible during the night. Tomorrow morning, we wake up early, load the coaches, and head off for our visit at the Audi manufacturing plant. Then we keep driving and end up in Munich for 3 nights!