It is a sunny Friday morning here in Verona, Italy. During the past 11 days I have experienced many firsts, such as touring a castle, visiting a cathedral, and traveling to a World War 2 Concentration Camp. The whole experience has been amazing and I am very happy to be following "the Nazi trail" while also touring the countries we visit along the way. We started out in Munich, Germany which is one of my favorite locations that we have visited so far. I enjoyed that the city was rebuilt to resemble how it looked before the war. The architecture is vastly different from what I am used to seeing in Utah. Munich also had many interesting historical sites such as administrative buildings used by the Nazis, and of course the Concentration Camp Dachau. This camp was a chilling reminder of the cruelty of the Nazi regime to anyone not of the "perfect" race. The crematoriums had the most effect on me personally, it was strange to stand in a room where so many people were murdered and then burned. After leaving Munich we traveled to Austria and visited the cities of Innsbruck and Steinich am Brenner. While in Austria we walked the trail through Brenner pass that the war criminals used to escape into Italy. We also toured a war museum in Innsbruck. After departing Austria we entered Italy and have visited Trento and Verona so far. We stopped in many interesting places along the way including the most beautiful lake in Italy which is renowned for its dark green water. We have toured many castles while in Italy including Castel Mareccio, Castel Avio, and the Castel Vecchio museum. The first castle we toured was built by King Ludwig of Austria, and is used by Walt Disney corporation as a model for their castles. We have also visited many beautiful cathedrals while in Germany and Italy. Visiting these cathedrals is one of my favorite parts of this trip because I enjoy seeing the great 15th and 16th century architecture. I am excited to visit the final few cities in Italy and see what interesting historical sites they have to offer.

---Colton Martinez