Screech! The purple charter came to a halting stop as the children’s heads lurched forward with the impact. It had been cruising along the streets of Interlaken, Switzerland, when a large herd of cows stampeded into the road. As the students excitedly enjoyed the sights of the scenery, the cow herders rapidly tried to free their herd from harm.

The group of 27 campus students, parents and alumni ventured their way along from Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Liechtenstein during June 2003. Campus teacher Greg Stobbe led the students on a voyage he takes once every two summers. This was his 10th educational trip and, his 7th trip to Europe. The group traveled their way from green pastures to rural cities.

“The most beautiful spot that we visited was Liechtenstein,” Erin Elmore, ’06, said. “It is a small country out in the country with houses that look like cottages and the view of the Alps is spectacular.

Liechtenstein was a very small country with the motto of “To it not through it.” The population of Liechtenstein is smaller than Fresno County with 130,00 people.

“I enjoyed many of the beautiful sites and awesome scenery,” John Stevenson, ’04, said. “I had fun when some of us decided to run down a mountain plateau, from where we had seen the Matterhorn; it was a very beautiful and memorable hike.

After the 17-day trip, Nate King, ’05, roamed Italy with his older brother Jordan and a friend, David Olson, both?01, for two extra weeks. Then they visited some of the places that the group had not ventured.

“My favorite place we visited was Venice, Italy,” Nate King said. “The places we visited were very interesting and it was cool to learn hands on about things and places that we have only read about.”

Along with plenty of educational stops, and monuments, many athletic activities took place throughout their trip such as hiking and swimming in the glacier-fed lake in attempts to escape the humid weather. In Lucerne the group biked their way along the lake trail led by their tour guide for the afternoon.

“Some of the highlights of my trip were hiking, biking, swimming, and seeing many castles,” Shawn Cason, ’04, said. “This trip was an awesome experience and I am so glad that I went, it made my summer.”

For more photographs on the trip, go to www.fresnochristian.com and click on the pictures button and scroll down to Switzerland 2003.

Stobbe has not yet announced the date of a future trip but has hinted it may be to Ireland and England with a stop-over in Iceland. This paper will provide details of any updates.