Austria, home of red bull, Swarovski crystal and of course, Arnold Schwarznegger (is that how you spell it?, damn autocorrect not helping me now when I need it. On a tangent, does anybody else's autocorrect change if to of, or so to do, or night to ngjt?).

I was not prepared for the most beautiful drive I had ever experienced (until the next day) as we spotted the Swiss Alps for the first time. Also our first spot of snow. Naturally we had to get it out of a system so we pulle over at a service station for a snow fight, very entertaining although most returned on the coach cold and wet, one guy even returned without his phone. And no efforts to call it and sift through mounds of snow were going to succeed in finding it. This now took our tally to 2 lost jackets, 1 lost iPod, 1 lost phone charger and 1 lost phone. We are doing well guys! I'm sure plenty of "lost" cash for those who wake up after a big night and claim they didn't think they spent that much.

Anyway, we arrived in Innsbruck thick in snow. First challenge, walking through the snow into town without falling, or being hit again by snowballs as fights erupted again. We were to Innsbruck's golden roof and then to the Swarovski shop. Obviously my love of crystal got the better of me, and I left to view the sights instead of look through women's jewellery.

One regret in Munich was not climbing one of the bell towers, and I took the advice I heard from Nicole. If you see stairs, climb them. I wouldn't even know the purpose of this tower, but 250 odd stairs later we had a great view of the ski slopes, and Swiss alps overlooking the lane ways of Innsbruck. Absolutely stunning and probably my favorite view so far.

After returning to earth, Amy and I looked very hard for a brattwurst. Keen to try the local food. Although we failed miserably, but did find some other very cool lane ways, shopping centers and squares. Innsbruck are preparing for the Youth Olympic Games which start in a couple of days, so plenty of temporary construction going up. Eventually we settled for some restaurant, which so far is the only meal in Europe that hasn't satisfied me.

We returned to find the others and more snow fights erupted, particularly with 45 of us each getting a snow ball and launching at the 5 guys attempting to get the group. A few locals may have been in the crossfire and not very impressed.