Home is where the HEART is

Summer 2010... complete.

I am departing Germany in t-minus 14 hours and 45 min... but who's counting =)

Arrive in Chicago at 2:30pm Saturday. Then its Chicago-Cedar Rapids arriving in CR at 6:30pm.

I have my wallet and my suitcases are packed. Ready to be HOME.

Looking forward to seeing you all very soon!

God Bless

Love,

Matthew

Holland

Amsterdam

My last trip of the summer was to Amsterdam, Holland/Netherlands. Amsterdam gets a bad rep because of its repetition of being a weed smoking/party crazy city. Not really the case. It actually has very beautiful scenery with canals all throughout the city. It is definitely a tourist city though and thrives off of visitors.

Heineken Factory Tour

Heineken Beer is originally from Amsterdam and they have there beer factory there and we went on a tour. It was a pretty interesting tour as it was really high tech. Meaning a lot of videos, cool lights, and interesting ways to present the history of Heineken. You also get 3 free beers for going on the tour... not a bad deal.

Sights in Amsterdam

We were there during the weekend of the Love Parade or the Gay Pride Festival. We really didn't see much of the festival as we were there on a Sunday but we did get to see a lot of the aftermath from the festival. There is an actual parade on Saturday and there is always music and dancing going on.

One of the popular sights to see in Amsterdam is the Anne Frank House. The line was really long when we got there and none of us really wanted to go in so all I can say is I saw the Anne Frank house.

First thing most people think of when they hear Amsterdam is weed/marijuana. It is sold here... pretty sure legally. Fear not, for I did NOT purchase or smoke any but for those who were wondering they sell them at 'CoffeeShops' (all one word is the way you know). I went inside.. saw what I wanted to see and left. It's the real deal and people are not making it up. Just something you have to see when you're there unfortunately.

My camera did die about half through the day and I was unable to capture about half the sights I got see while in Amsterdam. Overall, it was a fun last trip for the summer and I thought the city is pretty interesting.

5 DAYS

I am coming back to America in 5 days and I couldn't be more excited. Thanks for all the love and support this summer.

GOD BLESS

Belgium

Brugge & Brussels

I went to my 6th country of the summer... Belgium. I really didn't have any expectations for this trip because I haven't heard much about Belgium and I didn't know what to expect. I was really pleased and had a great time. Its a beautiful country and that reminds you of various parts of Europe.

Brugge

For the first part of the trip we spent some time in the northern part of Belgium in the city of Brugge. It was an old town with canals and lots of people. It had a Venice feel to it without the Italian atmosphere. A lot of markets selling random household items. It was a neat place to go.

Brussels

The capital city and the biggest city. Completely different than Brugge. The central train station is in the heart of the city and we walked around there for a bit. It really felt like I was in a big city back in the states. Our hostel was in a sweet location. It was in a street right by the main square where all the tourists gathered. We were a few minuetes away from the peeing statue which is a popular site to see in Brussels. It had its nice big buildings and cathedrals like all the other big cities in Europe do but in a way it had its own uniqueness. I guess you'll just have to go there yourself to know what I am talking about.

Swim Camp

My daily job is running a swim camp for 6-10 year olds. It's two 4 hour sessions 8-12 & 1-5 pm Tuesday-Friday. My favorite part is going outside and playing games.

I have only 2 weeks left and I would be lying to ya if I said I wasn't counting down the days. No matter how fast I want these last 2 weeks to fly by I know they won't and I learning to be patient and content. The experiences I have had here will be with me the rest of my life, mind as well make them enjoyable ones.

Canyoning Pictures

I received the pictures minutes after posting my last post. Anyways, here are some pictures from my awesome experience in Interlaken, Switzerland... Canyoning!

Here is my pride and joy picture... zip line until middle of the water and then release into a back flip. Solid landing... fyi

Week 7

Canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland

Last weekend I got the chance to go to Switzerland and go canyoning. Just Google canyoning and you will see what I got to do. It was super awesome! Probably the best experience thus far. It was an intense morning of going down a canon and jumping in ice cold water. There was a photographer there taking some pictures as we went through the mountain and Outdoor Interlaken (the company I did canyoning through) will mail me a cd with all the pictures on it and it has not arrived yet. I think you will have a better understanding of what I did until you see the pictures.

Switzerland is a beautiful country. If I had my choice of living anywhere in Europe... Switzerland would be my first choice. It doesn't feel very to touristy and it just has a home feel to it. There are a bunch of mountains and lakes all throughout the country... very beautiful. The cost of living there is very expensive and that would be the big down side. I highly recommend going to Switzerland for anyone that wants to travel Europe...yes even over Italy! Just my opinion.

The weekend we stayed pretty local and just went to Koln, Germany. It is a city that has a lot of rich German history and it was a great place to see. The cathedral (first picture) is huge and I enjoyed walking through it. It's as big or even bigger then the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. Koln is just a tourist town and some place you have to go see when you are in Germany. We were only there for a couple of hours. It has been pretty nice by staying local this weekend as I am getting a little sick of sitting in a train for hours on end during the weekends.

4 weeks left!

There are only 4 weeks left of my summer and I really hope to live for the moment here and appreciate what a blessing it is to be here. Camp is going well and I hope to make changes to make camp a little better for all involved. I really enjoy being a director and can really see myself grow as a leader. By the way my camp name is Mr. Incredible (from the Disney movie, The Incredibles) so it has been pretty fun to listen to kids call me Mr. Incredible all day long. =)

CARPE DIEM

Oh happiness

Living it up

This past weekend I was able to go to Venice, Italy and as you can see by the picture above I got to see Katie! The trip was a roller coaster ride as I hit a lot of bumps in the road to get there to see Katie but we made it happen.

Overview:

Katie and I have been planning to meet in Venice the entire summer so I was way excited for this weekend to finally arrive. Well once it did it seemed like everything went wrong and the chance of us seeing each other looked impossible. First off the people I was traveling with were not excited for the 14 hour train to Venice and then have to make the same 14 hour train ride back home all within about 36 hours... so a lot of time on the train.

Well I eventually talked my group into going so we set sail late Saturday night. We traveled all through the night (not taking night trains) so sleeping was difficult. We did not have reservations on any of the trains (which is a must) but the train conductors were actually nice and let us buy them on the train.. which is usually uncommon. So we felt pretty pleased with that. We arrived to Venice at 2:30pm on Sunday. Katie was due to arrive Monday morning. My days off from work are Sunday and Monday and her's are Monday and Tuesday. She got off work Sunday night and set off to come to Venice which is about 8 hours away from where she was at. She ran into many bumps as her group wasn't to excited for the long trip but eventually got going. They missed there initial train that had them set to arrive in Venice at 10 am on Monday. Well they didn't arrive until 2:30pm. That is just way the things go sometimes when traveling in Europe with trains. Anyways, I had to leave at 3:20pm so.. we had about 30 min to spend together.

'All that for 30 min!?' Haha yes but it was a great 30 min that I will remember for a lifetime.

Venice is a beautiful city and very unique. I really enjoy it as this was my second time visting the city.

Difference between a 'night train' and a 'regular train.'

Night trains are for traveling long distances in the night and they provide quiet sleeping beds that you have to pay extra for.

Regular trains are not geared towards sleeping as they run all through the night. Lights remain on the entire time and announcements are made over the loud speaker. Basically what I am trying to say is taking regular trains to a long distance is pretty rough on ya. I hope that made sense. I am started to understand the train system more and more and becoming quite the "traveler."

My spirit is doing a lot better and I am enjoying myself. Time is honestly flying by here and I can't believe I am half way through the summer.

Camp Adventure Aquatics Director:

I am the Aquatics Director this summer as I have stated before so I am in charge of 4 counselors. That has been my toughest challenge this summer by doing a good job of taking care of the kids as well as making them happy and doing a good job as their director. I am learning a lot about my leadership and I know this will pay off in the long run.

I am blessed and so thankful of being able to spend my summer here and see all the sights.

Love you all.