Our time in the Alpine village of Cortina d'Ampezzo was quite relaxing. We stayed in a cozy lodge where the people built fires for us and stuff. I went for a hike at one point, but other than that there really was nothing to do there. But luckily, we had wireless, so not only did I get to Skype with Mom and Dad (and Andrew for, like, 2 seconds) but I also got to get caught up on some television! I watched all the new episodes of Chuck, Desperate Housewives, Dexter, and The Office. It was awesome.

We left Cortina and drove through the Alps into Austria. We stopped in Innsbruck for lunch and continued on to Bamberg, Germany, where we were staying. That first night we had a group dinner at the hotel restaurant- bratwurst and sauerkraut and potatoes- and I also tried a smoked beer, which is the specialty of Bamberg. The next day we went to the cathedral where they have some important German sculptures. Then we had a free afternoon. It was unfortunately very cold and rainy, but I still went for a walk with Stevens and a few other people along the river and through town. On the way back, Stevens took us to a cafe and bought us cake and coffee. That evening, I bought a pretzel sandwich thing and ate in my hotel room while working on my journal, but I wasn't a total loser- I did go out for a beer with Haley, Jill, and Ben that night. On Friday, we took a day trip to Nuremberg. We looked at more sculpture work in a couple churches there. Unlike Bamberg (which is one of the few cities in Germany that the Allies did not bomb during WWII), Nuremberg was completely destroyed, but you really couldn't tell that the city had just been rebuilt in the 1950s. We had some free time in the afternoon, so Ali, Cristina, and I got some sausages for lunch, watched the little show in the Glockenspiel clock, and went to the toy museum and Albrecht Durer's house. Then we met back up with the group to go to the Germanisches Nationalmuseum. Not much to see there, actually. They supposedly have a gallery of German paintings, but it was closed. We pretty much just looked at a couple sculptures and altarpieces and left. We had a dinner in Nuremberg of schnitzel and potatoes and apple streudel (yum!) before heading back to Bamberg.

Yesterday we took a bus to Munich to see some paintings in the Alte Pinakothek, including several works by Durer and another Rogier van der Weyden altarpiece. Then we went to the airport, flew to Brussels, and then took a bus to Bruges. We had dinner in the hotel restaurant here- shrimp salad; beef stew; ice cream; and wine. Today we went to the Groeninge Museum to see paintings by Jan van Eyck, Hugo van der Goes, and Gerard David. Next we went to the St. John Hospital to see a reliquary and 2 altarpieces by Hans Memling. We had free time this afternoon, so for lunch, Belgian waffles! Then Cristina, Max, Ben, Jill, and I took a ride in a horse carriage, from the market square along some of the canals. It was lots of fun, and since it's really cold here like it was in Germany, we wrapped up under some flannel blankets. After that, Cristina and I went to walk and look in a couple of shops. I bought some chocolates- some for other people, a couple for myself :) - and they were seriously amazing. Then we came back to our hotel and here I am!

I think tonight I might go eat some mussels for dinner and maybe go out- beer in Belgium is supposed to be most excellent. Tomorrow we are going to Ghent to see one painting, but it should be a good one: Jan van Eyck's Adoration of the Mystic Lamb. Then it's back across the English Channel to London! I think spending 4 days there will be a great end to our trip. I have lots of fun stuff planned, including Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, Les Miserables, and more. I guess that means my next post will probably be my last, and I'll wait until I get home so that I can include all the things I do in London. See y'all on the other side!