European Panorama 2005

Its all done!!

2005-07-29T18:11:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Just thought i'd use this spot to introduce myself as well as my blog here. My name is Michelle and I am 25 years old from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. This summer was my first time overseas and i had a blast. I took the 28 day European Panorama tour from June 16 to July 13. My tour manager was Amy Pomeroy and our driver was Spoodge. There were 50 people on our tour: 23 australians, 17 canadians, 7 americans, 2 mexicans and 1 new zealander. It was honestly the best thing i have ever done, and i can't wait to go on another tour next year. If there are any of you out there trying to decide whether to do a tour or not, go for it i promise you, you will not regret it. I'll be the best thing you've ever done. Have fun reading and i hope it helps answer some of your questions about what happens on these tours.

Michelle (Cheers mate eh!!)

Contiki Day 28

2005-07-13T16:57:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 28Wednesday July 13, 2005 Well not only was this the last day ever of our tour and the day i was flying home, but i also felt like a train had run over me. As if feeling depressed wasn't enough i had to be horribly sick. But anyways i made my way out of bed and to breakfast. I tried my best to eat, but my throat hurt too much and i just didn't have an appatite. Needless to say breakfast was very quiet and down. Even as we waited for the bus not many people were chatting. On the bus we finally had the audio back, so for one final time Amy played our day song. Oddly enough i expected people to either sing to start crying, neither really happened. I think everyone was hung over from the night before. Amy gave her little good bye speach than told us to do our good byes on the bus cause we woudln't have time at the airport. See what was different about this tour is half the group (almost all of the Canadians and Americans...while the Australians stayed) left here in Amsterdam instead of going back to London. Needless to say neither Amy or Spoodge liked this because they're used to having everyone go back to London than having one final night in the pub (but even that didn't turn out in end cause Spoodge left them in France...he didn't go to London, and Amy ended up finding out her next tour was the next day...so she coudln't go out either that night). So as we arrived at the airport everyone got really quiet. Most of the people came off the bus to give their good-byes to us who were leaving, and that's when it all started going downhill. I went around getting my hugs and saying my good-byes. But it wasn't till the bus drove away and everyone waved till i almost started crying. The next 4 hours in the airport were spent with me walking around all the time so as not to cry. Even on the plane i kept almost crying. This was so much harder than i ever expected. I arrived home safe and sound, but it just wasn't the same. I loved seeing everyone, but missed the tour and the people so much. Even as i type this out all the memories flood me and i'm almost in tears, not to mention some show about Napoleon is showing right now.

Contiki Day 27

2005-07-12T16:58:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 27

Monday July 12, 2003

Oh no we've made it to our last day on the trip, i don't know how i'm going to do this. I had the worst feeling when i woke up and knew it was going to be like this for quite some time. Well i made my way to breakfast but couldn't eat much. We than were on a shuttle bus (cause for some strange reason Spoodge had a day off, maybe because he was going straight to another tour...wish i could do the same) into town. First stop was a diamond factory, but because Melanie really wanted to get her luggage we skipped this and made our way to find some luggage. Amy told us to look in the markets, but i didn't really feel comfortable with her buying luggage there. So i went into a shop and asked where i could find a luggage store. After some searching we found it, and Melanie finally had her luggage. We than ventured off to find me a handbag. This was easier than i thought, cause the first store i walked in i fell in love with this light blue one. So Melanie had her luggage and i had my handbag. Next stop ended up being an internet cafe, where we stayed for an hour. After this we attempted to find Anne Franks house, but because of the line up we gave up there and went for some lunch. After lunch i still had to find a box to put Spoodges present in, so i went looking for this. I didn't find what i wanted but settled with something else and got a little bag and tissue paper. We than made our way back to the hotel to sort our things out before our final dinner and cruise. I wrapped Spoodges present and organized my suitcase. It was nice to know we were all packed even before dinner, it was very relaxing. We made our way to dinner, where it wasn't as festive as i thought it would be. Than the cruise and the same thing, it was more people talking than actually partying. Maybe they were saving this for the bar that night. We got back and everyone made their way to the bar. The fact that it was a sauna mixed with smoke deterred me from going in and i went to bed. I'm just too depressed to party...oh i wish it was just starting.

Contiki Day 26

2005-07-11T17:07:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 26

Monday July 11, 2005

Another horrible/sad day. Today was going to be our final day on the bus (well travel day at least). We left the Rhine Valley and headed to Amsterdame. Yet another day without audio (no music, no Amy). Along the way we stopped in a little village called Edam, where we walked to a bike shop. After some instructions and no being silly, we hopped on some bikes and like the locals made our way through the village. It was really nice being on a bike, but i'm sure my butt will not agree later on. After the ride, we got a quick talk from Amy about tips and how much we shout tip her. It was interesting to see the looks on some peoples faces when they were told they'd have to pay both Amy and Spoodge 56 euros EACH. Like many people have even 100 to give away after a month in Europe. Either i had paid them so all was well. Back on the bus to our cheese and clog demo. The place where they made the cheese smelled so bad i thought i was going to die. Luckily it did not last very long and we were taken to clogs. This was quite boring but the guy who did the demo was funny so it evened it out. We were soon on our way to the hotel, and after less than 5 minutes we had arrived. After lugging our luggage up a flight of stairs, i made it to our room only to find Asian guys walking around in the underwear and screaming in the opened-doored rooms. This didn't last long cause soon Amy came upstairs and told them off. Boy i wish i could be like her sometimes. We didn't have much time before we had to meet with Amy for our final evaluations. I didn't feel like filling it out in front of everyone so i left with Melanie and we did it in our room. After this was dinner, than a nice evening in the city of Amsterdam. Alright we arrived in the central part and i was terrified beyond words. I thought i was either going to be attacked or abducted. I was so scared that i didn't move anywhere far from Amy. I'm not sure why i thought she would save me, but at the time i did. We took a walk through the red light district to our very excited live sex show. This turned out to be an experience in a half, but i was glad i'd done it. We than had a little free time, but because i was still so scared i just stayed with Amy. I'm sure she must have thought i was insane, but i was terrified. I certainly was glad to be back at the hotel, i sure felt safe there. I even felt safe enough to walk around the little village by myself that late evening before making my way to bed.

Contiki Day 25

2005-07-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 25

Sunday July 10, 2005

According to most people today was the longest bus riding day by far, but according to me it was just fine. I'm used to long rides without stops so i'm good on the bus. Some of the reasons people those this, was because they had been drinking the night before and because there was no music on the bus (apparently the audio was broken). On the plus side everyone liked the fact that no one was ever woken up by Amy on the microphone giving history lessons. So a rather quiet bus ride there, even in the front Spoodge wasn't as entertaining like he normally is. The only downfall to this no music thing is that the people in the middle of the bus got Amy's instructions twice cause she made them once in the front than again towards the middle, but at least you could not listen once and still get it the second time round. We did our stop in a little town, for a beer stein demo than later a wine tasting optional. I chose to do neither of these and took a little walk around the rivers edge. Here i found some flags of various countries and of course had to take pictures of each one, some were definately easier than others. A little while later i found some others (Kelly (aus) and Karim (nz)) sitting on the grass so i joined them. We waited till we had to meet the group for our cruise, than made our way to the meeting spot. After a little wait for some others we made our way to the boat. At first i started upstairs, but that got boring so i went down to find Shelly and Kelly (can), Yvonne (us) and Megan (aus) they were chatting and having some drinks. I joined them and we had a blast trying to figure out a way to win one of Shelly's shot glasses. Of course we didn't have enough time for time, but it was fun either way. We got off the boat and made our way back on the coach to find out hotel. A little while later we were in our hotel going crazy and screaming every second word (still not sure why we were so hyper), but we had fun. We than went to dinner, but i didn't like it so i left (though Amy was really worried not sure why though) to find some other food. I didn't find anything so i went to my room and took a shower. I was really tired i guess cause i soon fell asleep after this. Just i needed to rest up for our final days in Amsterdam.

Contiki Day 24

2005-07-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 24

Sunday July 9, 2005

I woke up to a nice sleep in and in a very excited mood. I can't wait to be on the mountain exploring. We had some breakfast than off to catch a bus which will take us to the mountain. First we had a stop at the market we tried to find last night (oh it would have been great if Amy had told us we would have gone here this morning instead of telling us to buy food last night). Since i had tons of food i just sat and waited for the rest of everyone else. Though while waiting i got bored and headed to the post office to buy a postcard and a stamp. I ended up with this postcard which was swiss stickers, this will be used for my scrapbooking. We were later on the bus and off to the mountain. After we arrived at the mountain, we had to take a cable car thing to get up to the top. I ended up in a car with Theresa, Kelly and Amy. This was good cause i had some questions for Amy and it's always nice to get to know her better. After awhile we arrived at the top and i was so excited to start exploring. I decided to climb to the peak, which was easier than i would have thought. It was so pretty up there and my excitement made the fog no issue. But it was kinda sad that you really couldn't see anything. Though i thought just being there was awesome. After about an hour, and being attacked by some birds as i ate i went down to explore some more. Melanie felt horrible so she stayed back as i went exploring. The entire time there i walked up every single step i could find and ventured into every single cave along the way. By the time i got back everyone was tired and ready to go back, i on the other had wished i had 3 days to be there. But i had my fun so all was well. Back down the train thing with some awesome views to our not so fun cruise, than back on the bus. I was very confused when Amy just abandonned us after the bus, but i made my way with Melanie back to the hotel to wait for dinner. After dinner i was cohearsed into going to the bar that night, which turned out super fun. As we walked there Rob (the only guy with like 11 girls) stopped at an ATM so that people could take out money. Than for some strange reason he started imitating Amy, it was really funny. He was pointing out the sights while turning in a circle, telling us what time we were going to depart including "don't be late, we won't wait" and the best part getting pissed off and swearing when we were 12 seconds off schedule. It was the funniest thing to happen all tour so far. The bar was awesome, but i left with the first group cause i was scared of being locked out of the hotel (apparently they lock the doors at 1 and you need a key to get in). But on our way back we had a stop at McDonalds for a bite to eat. I had a total of 4 fried than gave the rest to Sep (aus) and the rest of my drink to Travis (can). Back at the hotel i went to bed, so as not to disturb the others.

Contiki Day 23

2005-07-08T17:19:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 23

Friday July 8, 2005

Back to long bus rides today as we make our way from Hopfgarten to Lucerne. But along the way we had a long stop over at the White Water Rafting optional. I was so glad i didn't do this cause it was freezing outside, like see your breath cold. Just what i needed was pneumonia. So yeah the crazy people ventured out into the freezing water while the rest of us lounged in warmer temps. We had some lunch did a little walking and took some pics of the rafters as they went by the bridge. We later found out from the freezing Contiki-ites that the water temp was between 3 and 7 degrees celcius. Yeah right like you could ever pay me enough to enter waters that temperatures even with a wetsuit. Back on the bus as the others tried to warm up. We later arrived in Lucerne where we were brought straight to a knife and watch shop. Here i bought some knives for Gordon, Matthew and Gigi. And i surprised myself by buying a Swiss watch for me. Yes i now have a good watch...that isn't digital...how amazing. Back on the bus for honest two minutes before we arrive in our hotel, don't ask me why we took the coach i'm still trying to figure that out. Either way we were here and soon we went for dinner. After dinner Melanie and I ventured out to find the market Amy so well pointed out to us on our map. Apparently her mapping skills are not quite as honned as her ability to recall any sort of European History knowledge. Needless to say neither us nor two other groups found this market she says exists. Luckily for us we found some people who did find it (funny how they didn't ask Amy) and we later found it ourselves. After a nice walk back in the rain, we were in bed getting ready for our huge day on the mountain.

Contiki Day 22

2005-07-07T17:21:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 22

Thursday July 7, 2005

Yah another short drive to Hopfgarten!! Today ended up being a very strange day. It all started when we stopped at the Crystal Museum for our tour. As we were walking into the museum, the first people were glued to the tv screens. I figured since it was all the Australian people it had something to do with their Rugby thing. But no as i walked through the tv screens were showing something about London, England being bombed in their metro system and one bus. I just coudln't believe it none of us could. But since we coudln't hold up the queue, we had to go through. Now the next strange thing was the museum. As you walk in there's this huge crystal and a tour guide explains some stuff about it and the museum, than you walk through this black curtain and it's crazy. The whole museum is like some strange freak show or horror show. Nothing at all has to do with crystal and to be honest alot of it really is disturbing. I can't even describe it in here. I don't know, it was an experience but i was glad i only spent 6.50 on it. Plus you got 3 euro off any crystal purchase. I was very glad to get to the shopping part. Here i purchased two little crystal flowers for Mom and Sue, and a pretty angel necklace for myself. We than headed out to meet the rest of the group. And board our coach again. I was surprised more people didn't talk about the bombings, but luckily i was sitting beside someone who was messaging someone else for info. So along the way i got more info about the bombings. Though it wasn't until we got to the hotel and turned on some tv's that we all realized the severity of it all. For the next two hours everyone was either glued to tv's in their room or the main one in the common room. After watching this for sometime i went to find Amy and asked her if she would translate something for me, she said alright as long as it wasn't too difficult or long. I went upstairs and quickly composed my postcard and brought it downstairs to her. Within minutes it was translated and i thanked her, than went back upstairs to write it out. This postcard was going to be to a former teacher who would be so excited to have some written to her in German and from me. I was just as excited to be able to send it in German. After this was finished i made my way outside to call my mom (reassure her everything was alright especially in the happenings of the day). My mom was really glad i called and we talked for a bit. After this, Melanie and I went to find a post office. This took a little longer than expected but we had fun walking around the cute little town. We than went to relax before dinner. Dinner was really good and some awesome company (Tina/Elest). As i was walking upstairs i noticed a movie was being played so i joined the group and they were all debating what to watch next. In the end The Sound of Music won out, which was nice cause i had never seen it before and after all we were in Austria (i think). So watching this movie than headed off to bed.

Contiki Day 21

2005-07-06T17:24:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 21

Wednesday July 6, 2003

One more week to go, how sad. I don't want this trip to ever end i'm having so much fun. Though today was our very short bus riding day. We actually arrived in our hotel in the afternoon. It was a very uneventful bus riding day cause Spoodge was all upset cause he had to leave Suzie (poor Spoodge i wish we could help). After getting settled in our hotel Melanie and I made the huge mistake of lying down. Cause when it came time to leave we just wanted to stay in bed. But we did get outta bed and were soon waiting with the rest of the group to leave. Amy took us into town and she was supposed to show us the sites, well this turned into her showing us two things: the big glockinshpiel thing and the old town hall. So exciting i'm so glad i got up for this. Anyways, after this we were abandonned for dinner than were meeting again at the beer hall. Melanie and i ventured to a Mexican restaurant where i had awesome quesedillas and a very strong Pina Colada. After dinner we went in search of some postcards, money and the use of the internet cafe. We found both and than were soon trying to find our way to the beer hall. We did this and inside we found everyone. I sat down at a table and chit chatted for a bit. Soon everyone was wasted (after all they were drinking liters and a half of beer at a time, and most had like 4), and things started to liven up. Amy got super touchy feely, as well as Sep and Spoodge got funny. I walked around from table to table and took some pictures. A little after midnight Melanie, Megan and i decided to make our way back home. I decided along the way though that i was going to say hi to every single person i passed. Every single guy i passes said hi and waved, but this one yucky lade didn't say anything and gave me this weird look. Oh well i was having fun and didn't have more than a sip to drink. So all was awesome. Back at the hotel i decided to go down to the bar for a bit, but after people started getting really weird i left. Went to bed!!

Contiki Day 20

2005-07-05T17:26:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 20

Tuesday July 5, 2005

Like stated in the earlier entry, i made the decision not to join the group this morning, which turned out great cause it was miserable outside all rainy and cold. So i stayed in bed honestly till 1 when the cleaning lady came in. After getting ready very slowly, i made my way outside. While i was walking to the shopping mall (biggest in europe) i saw Spoodge, he asked me where i was going and if i wanted a lift into town for a bit. I said i was fine and was going shopping so we parted our ways. I made it safe and sound to the shopping mall and did some exploring. I decided i was hungry so tried to find a place to eat, finally settling on pizza cause that was the only thing i could order properly. I sat and ate my food than walked around a bit more. After this i made my way to the train station (metro thing) and boarded a train for town. It started pouring and since i really didn't wanna get sick i turned back and went to the hotel. I wasn't there very long when Melanie and Theresa showed up. After a bit of talking Melanie and I decided to go have some sushi for dinner at the shopping mall. Now i know we're supposed to be experiencing the local cuisine, but it's all meat and i don't eat that. So sushi was just fine for us. While eating we'd decided that we wanted to pay for a movie back at the hotel, so on the way back we stopped and bought some munchies. Melanie decided to take a shower before the movie so i went downstairs to visit for a bit. I sat and talked with everyone finding out how their day was. After quite some time i ventured back to the room to watch our movie. We were set on Miss Congeniality 2, but actually changed to Hitch. It was a really good movie, and our munchies were yummy too. After this we of course went to bed.

Contiki Day 19

2005-07-04T17:34:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 19

Monday July 4, 2005

First off Happy Independance Day!! Back on the coach today, we leave Venice and make our way to Vienna Austria. Now the most important part of this trip is the fact that we leave behind stupid Italian reststops. This means no more looking for what you want, than going to pay for it, than going to order it. Either way apparently its good according to Amy. Along the way our first Austrian rest stop was the Hanzel and Gretle's house, according to Amy this rest stop acutally looks like Hanzel and Gretle's house but we'd understand when we saw it. And she was right, not that i really know what their house looks like. I always thought there was just candy on it, and this house didn't have any, but whatever. Tonight we are going to the Mozart concert, though it was supposed to be the fallowing evening. So a quick shower when i arrived at the hotel, i got ready and was off. The concert was amazing (smaller scale than i expected), there was even ballet and opera added in. I am so glad i decided to go. After the concert we had the most amazing dinner at this super fancy restaurant inside some monument. On the way back Amy did a slight tour with us, she said cause we actually made it out with her (though she wasn't at the concert). So i got to see the things i wanted to that evening, and made the decision not to go out the next day with the group. Back at the hotel, i chatted for a bit before bed.

Contiki Day 18

2005-07-03T17:39:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 18

Sunday July 3, 2005

As we wake up we realize what a crazy day today is going to be. We are going to be stranded in Venice for an entire 12 hours, well ok not stranded that long cause part of it is our dinner and gondola rides, but still that's a long time for such a small place. After breakfast we head to our shuttle bus (Spoodges day off with his gf Suzie...Spoodge is so happy to see and be with her) and head to the docks. Here we take a boat which actually brings us to the city of Venice, i'm not sure where we were staying though. We than went for a little tour of the city (well that's not true all we saw were the Doges' Palace, Bridge of Sighs and St. Mark's Square), but all was well it was cool. Next we were off to a glass blowing demo which was really really really hot, like it wasn't hot enough outside already. We were escorted upstairs to see the gallery of sculptures and stuff if we wanted to purchase anything. I really fell in love with these glasses, but for fear of having them break and having no confidence they would ever arrive to the right destination i didn't buy them. But the rest of the stuff was super cool and very expensive. After this we were off to a lace demo, where here i could purchase stuff. The demo was alright and i purchased three doily center-piece things for Aunty Leona, Aunty Val and Grandma (i hope they like them). Jesy (aus) and i were really hungry so we didn't last long their, after we were done with our purchases we left (much to the disliking of Amy) and found a restaurant. We didn't choose a very good one, but when you're hungry it really doesn't matter. While we were eating some others came in, but we left before they were done. As we were walking around Jesy found a store to buy her dad a present, but than we had to locate a bank. I'm really glad we had to find one cause i found a really cool building to take some pictures of. I really have no clue what the building is but i like it. We than made our way to find the river taxi to take a cruise around the canals. While we were doing this we met up with a whole bunch of other people and i joined forces with Kelly, Rosie, Shelly and Melanie (can). So together we rode the taxi both up and down the canals. We had fun and got some cool pictures, not to mention we got to know each other a bit better. When we got back we made our way around the streets (we saw Spoodge and his gf...so cute), and like every other time ended up back in St. Mark's Square (i'm convinced all roads lead to St. Mark's Square). Here we decided to go inside the big church, but Melanie wasn't allowed because of her bag. I was going to wait for her but the stupid security guy made me go in. We than lost Melanie and i felt so bad that i waited for her. After awhile though i got tired of waiting and figured she'd gone off on her own, so i went walking. I didn't get very far, when i met up with Jesy and Belinda (aus) so i sat with them for sometime. While we were waiting we met up with a whole bunch of people including Jessica and Janae (us), who had gotten a free gondola ride and their gondolier sang to them (not to mention they had it on tape). They were going to show it to Amy cause she had said if anyone got their gondola guy to sing she would give them a bottle of wine. Well of course she denied this later on and they never got wine. So after sitting for a very long while, we met up with the rest of the group to wait for Amy to go on our own gondola rides. I ended up being with Megan (aus), Yvonne (us), Shelly, Kelly and Melanie (can) and we had some fun. At first our guy was boring, but soon lightened up. He even sang to us, whistled and danced. We asked him what his name was and he kept say "gondola", so we weren't sure if that really was his name or he just didn't understand. After alot of fun in our gondola, we were headed off to dinner. I ended up sitting with Carol, Ryan, Belinda (aus) and Melanie. We had so much fun and were laughing most of the time. Not to mention we had consumed 4 entire bottles of water, that's like one for each of us cause Belinda didn't drink any. It was so much with Carol, she's great fun. After dinner we had to wait quite some time for our boat ride back, but that was alright cause most people were very close to being drunk and were tons of fun. It was even funny cause some of the people stole the actual full bottles of wine and glasses from the restaurant, i'm so glad Amy didn't see or they would have been so yelled at. We than were back on our shuttle bus than everyone went straight to bed.

Contiki Day 17

2005-07-02T17:48:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 17

Saturday July 2, 2005

Another wake up on the boat, but this time is was not rocking like the other one. Quickly got ready and headed out to the back deck to see what Amy called some pretty views as we docked. For the most part Amy was right, there were some really cool views and i got some neat pictures. After awhile and some confusion as to where to exit the boat (apparently not the same way as you got on), we made it back aboard the coach. This time we are off to a secret location, which Amy will not tell us. The secret location ended up being Simione a very pretty town the lake. We got some really majestic pictures on the way and stopped for some lunch. I thought we had a little too much time here and i got board after lunch, but there were places to walk around and shop so all was alright. Back on the bus we were headed now to a little town called Verona. The name sake to this place is Romeo and Juliette's blacony. Because i have never actually read this Shakespear play, this place meant actually nothing to me. In fact i would have rather never stopped here. But we were here and i had to make the most of it. Well the most of it ended up sitting at a cafe the entire time and spending no money which was nice. We fianlly were headed to our hotel after this stop and found some very noisy Asian people. Amy told us on the coach that this is a good place to do your laundry cause there is a laundromat right down the street. So right after dinner most everyone set out to wash their clothes. Because i had been pretty good at washing them along the way, it made no sense for me to go. So i stayed behind and rested till everyone got back.

Contiki Day 16

2005-07-01T17:50:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 16

Friday July 1, 2005

Well first off Happy Canada Day!!! Second off we had to load our bus at 4:45 am (yes that's right, 5 o'clock in the freakin' morning). Why you may ask, oh i don't know we were told cause we got an earlier Ferry ride. Whatever the stupid reason no one was awake on the bus, yet our lovely tour manager decided to blast our tour song anyways...boy do we love her now. Well when we finally got on the Ferry we had to wait about an hour to get our keys for the bus, so needless to say most people had fallen asleep in the chairs waiting. We finally got into our rooms, and only 11 people made it to breakfast that morning. I on the other hand planned to do breakfast but fell asleep till 2. After i woke that afternoon, i decided to explore the Ferry and found some people on deck. To my surprise i also found Gyros on deck and of course had to have one of these. I sat and chatted for awhile, had my gyros than made my way back inside to read for a bit. A little while later i found some others and we sat for the rest of the afternoon till supper time. They all went to the self-serve place, but i didn't like anything so i ventured off for yet another gyros. This time while eating i found a best friend (cute black lab dog) and fed him some of my meat. After dinner i went to the lounge to watch some tv and chat with everyone. For most of the night i sat and chatted with Tina/Elest, Sash/Aneta, Rosie, Jesy, Cathy and Amy. We had fun chatting and some played cards as well. At around midnight i slowly made my way to bed for the night. Everyone hated this boat ride cause they all thought it was boring with nothing to do. I on the other hand really enjoyed chatting and getting to know everyone better.

Contiki Day 15

2005-06-30T17:58:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 15

Thursday June 30, 2005

After a slight sleep in i was at breakfast getting ready for my full day in Corfu. Because this was both Amy's day off and Spoodge, a group of us took to Corfu's public transit system and made our way into town. It was really funny cause when we got off the bus we instinctively got into a group and decided where to meet just like with Amy. Boy we're getting the hang of this. Like every other time we broke off into smaller groups and set off to see the sights. Melanie, Theresa and i decided to go wandering a bit to shop and such. Melanie ended up buying a really cute tankini and looked awesome in it. After this we continued our walk around the town as we made our way back to the meeting spot. After we met up with everyone, they all wanted to go to this cafe, but i wanted another Gyros. So i stayed on my own and ordered my chicken gyros. Though i was not alone long cause Megan (aus) and Yvonne (us) showed up and i ate with them. A little while later Amy appeared and joined us. Yvonne and Megan left so i sat and chatted with Amy for about a half hour before her friends showed up. After this i met back up with the group and we ventured back on the bus back to our hotel. This evening most everyone took to the Greek dinner and dancing optional, but i didn't attended this one. Instead i walked around trying to find an eddible restaurant. What i did find instead was a cute little place owned by a guy named Teddy from New York. I of course ordered another gyros and it was awesome. Than back to the hotel to pack before going to bed early.

Contiki Day 14

2005-06-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 14

Wednesday June 29, 2005

Woke up bright and early for our full day in the sun. There was a huge mix up with the watersports and George's boat, so needless to say Amy was once again pissed and someone got left behind. So poor Amy didn't get to do any watersports and she was very cranky, but who's the blame her. I on the other hand got cohearsed into going parasailing, but it turned out very nice. The ride was fun and very relaxing not to mention the views were awesome, but i must say i did get bored a bit. Than i spent the rest of the afternoon watching everyone else go on the donut rides. I must admit Spoodge and Lidia was by far the funnest to watch. We even got mooned by Spoodge when we was parasailing with the Corfu rep (I think her name was Ellen) and they were both awesome. I kinda wished the two of them were our driver and tour manager, cause the trip would have been crazy. But Amy is cool too, just not as outgoing. Towards the end of the afternoon i started getting a headache because i wasn't wearing my glasses, so i wasn't in peak form. We than got on Georges boat and boy did the fun start. George, like Juan was crazy and so super fun. He and the trip all revolved around sex and "jigee jigee", it was a blast. As we cruised around he explained some of the sites but was obsessed with our swimming spots. I only took to the water in the first spot, though the second was the most interesting. The second spot was strategically called "Skinny dipping island" and oddly enough three people took advantage of this including: Spoodge (of course), Sep and sorta Steve (though he had a second pair of shorts underneath). I missed all of this, but more on purpose than anything else. The rest of the cruise was us dancing around and being fed every few minutes (there was enough food to feed all of Corfu on that boat). We even had to as a group go up and sing our respective national anthems (and the Canadians were the loudest...go Canada eh!!). Towards the end i decided to get one of Greoge's famous t-shirts (i decided on the "Same shit...different day" one). We than headed back to our hotel for dinner a little while later, than i decided to go to bed early. Of course this did not turn out and i was later on the beach playing cards with Tina/Elest and Aneta/Sash (aus) than for a walk and finally to bed. What another awesome day!!

Contiki Day 13

2005-06-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 13

Tuesday June 28, 2005

I woke up to the boat rocking back and forth and lucky did not feel sick. Oddly enough it was really relaxing and cool. After getting ready, i met with the rest of our group on the back of the boat. We than made our way off to find Spoodge in the coach, ready for us. We boarded and were off to our hotel in Corfu. It was quite a drive, didn't think it would take that long. But we made it and were sent straight to breakfast. Now what i surprise i must add. This was a full out buffet, with fruits, meats, hot items, cold items, cereals, pastries, ice cream, everything on could imagine. I even got some eggs and bacon, oh what fun. Needless to say everyone stuffed themselves to the brim. After this everyone was ready to hop in their rooms to change for the beach. Well this didn't happen for a few groups cause alot of the rooms were not ready. Amy was of course pissed (but who woudln't be), and made her point that the rooms should be ready. I didn't stick around much for this cause luckily our room was ready for us. Well we got to our rooms and none of us could figure out how in the world to turn on the lights. After about a half hour of trying i went down to the front desk to ask, well guess what there was a power outage cause they were doing maintenance. Once again a mad Amy, but i just went upstairs and took a shower in the dark. Hey it's vacation you deal with whatever comes. After all the settling of rooms and the light issues, we were than taken into town and were give a very short tour. But the highlight of this tour was the Gyros place Amy had suggested. I for some reason decided to try one of her favorite Gyros and boy did it pay off. This thing was excellant, i'm gonna attempt to make some at home or at least find a good restaurant that sells them. After the yummy find Megan (aus) and i ventured off to find some postcards and reading material before meeting with the rest of the group. We than headed back to the hotel where i thought i was going to lie down. Apparently nothing you plan ends up happened in Europe. Melanie started to get ready for the beach and with seeing that how can one not go along. So in about 10 minutes i found myself in the very salty waters of the Adriatic sea. Played a little frisbee jackpot (only to hurt my finger, and it still hurts i must add) than lounge around for another hour to so. I somehow made my way back to the hotel in time for dinner, than off to a beach bar for the evening.

Contiki Day 12

2005-06-27T18:08:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 12

Monday June 27, 2005

Our journey today takes us from Rome to a little stop-over in a site called Pompeii. Now Pompeii was the city that was devistated by a volcano only to be dug up several years later. Now this is a lovely touris attraction, visited by lots of people each year. Ok that's the only info i really know about Pompeii, because Jesy (aus) and i did not do the guided tour with everyone else. But this was just fine with me cause i'm not really a guided tour sorta person, Amy guiding us is quite enough for me thanks. So Jesy and i walked around absorbing all the sites and stuff and had quite a lovely time. We walked around at our own pace, and was not holard at by the guide: "Contiiikii over here", "Contiiikiii you're going to slow", "Contiiikii come back!!". So we were quite happy about that one. I took quite a few pictures and did some browsing around in the gift shop. We later bought some postcards and such, than met back up with the group. We were than headed to our ferry ride on our way to Corfu. But unfortunately along the way, Amy got sick and was very happy to arrive at the rest stop. Though Spoodge did try and bug her abit (silly Spoodge). Well after the rest stop Amy felt better and we were almost at the Ferry. After waiting awhile to get on board, i found an awesome surprise in our cabin...BUNKBEDS!!. You have no idea of my luv of bunkbeds, so needless to say i was excited. After getting settled we had to meet with Amy for some instructions and to pay for dinner, than the rest of the time was to us. We chilled abit before dinner than went to eat. After this we found a place to chat, but because i started to feel sick i went to bed and the night ended here for me.

Contiki Day 11

2005-06-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 11

Sunday June 26, 2005

Had to wake up bright and early this morning but apparently not early enough for breakfast. The hotel was taken over by half of Asia and most of us didn't get any breakfast. Megan and I managed to grab a few things to eat on the bus, but didn't have a proper breakfast. We went on a shuttle bus (another day off for Spoodge) who took us to the metro and again ventured off as a huge group to the Vatican City. We were put in line by Amy and than she abandonned us for the day. We waited in line for almost three hours, which was fine cause we were actually going to the Sistine Chapel and it was free so what do you expect. The whole thing was totally surreal, i coudln't believe i was actually in the Sistine Chapel, but the best was yet to come. On the bus ride over Amy told us that she heard from and unreliable source that the Pope would be making an address. So by some miracle Megan and I actually made it to St.Peters Square just in time to see the actual Pope. I'm surprised I didn't faint. It was so cool. After this, Megan and I ventured off for some lunch than off to see the inside of the Colesseum. We than did a little shopping where i bought a scrubby and got attacked by some crazy lade and her kid (she stole two of my maps). As we were making our way to the Spanish steps we met some other and together we all took the metro to meet Amy and go on the metro than bus back to our hotel. We had dinner at the hotel than straight to bed for a good nights sleep.

Contiki Day 10

2005-06-25T18:27:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 10

Saturday June 25, 2005

Another fun driving day ahead of us. This time i sat beside Karim, but because he was sleepy we didn't do much talking. So i had to either amuse myself or let Spoodge do the honors. Spoodge had no clue where our hotel was so we were warned that we might either get lost or take quite some time. Neither of those actually happened and within a few minutes we were driving up to our hotel. Good job Spoodge you always find the way. We than had about an hour before we had to meet for our walking tour of Rome. Spoodge took us to the metre and like the daycare kids we were given instructions on how to stay together and be safe. We even had to wait along a wall when we got off the metre. But after the experience i now know why (crazy metro systems). WE we did manage to make it all safe without loosing anyone. We did a walking tour of some of the major monuments than were stranded for dinner. I ate with Megan (aus) and we had tons of fun. We even planned the fallowing day. I walked up front with Amy and had a blast. She is fun and interesting once she looses her attitude. She even walks to your speed when you're with her. But absolutely hates walking show. Well i had a fun evening.

Contiki Day 9

2005-06-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 9

Friday June 24, 2005

Today started off like most other days...we woke up to the sound of Melanies alarm clock and wished we had more time in bed. But who could sleep in Europe in the palm of your hand. Amy had really warned us about this breakfast so i made no attempt of even getting downstairs for us. Though as i was waiting for the bus some people came by and told the group of us that breakfast was just fine. So we quickly made our way downstairs to devour what we could in the five minutes we had. We were sitting they not worrying that we were going to be late cause half of us were down there. Though a few minutes into it Jason was sent downstairs to tell us the bus was leaving with or without us. So we grabbed some more food and quickly made our way to the bus. We were off for our group photo, than were brought into town for a leather demo and some shopping. The leather demo was dumb but the store we went into next was awesome. This is where i bought my Nomination bracelet. I put on 12 flags of the countries i've visited (Can, GB, France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and US) all for a total cost of 243 Canadian. Very worth the price i must add. After this a group of us didn't wanna do the leather demo but we made the mistake of telling Amy and she was pissed at us (silly cause she didn't even do it, plus it's our holiday to choose what we wanna do and don't), so we started our day with Amy pissed at us. But we made up for it buy shopping like crazy. I on the other hand started feel yuckyand during lunch i had to go back to the hotel to lay down cause i coudln't handle it anymore. I ventured off (not to the liking of my group, they were worried and wanted to take me home but i wasn't going to ruin their day) to locate a cab. I found one and got to the hotel same and sound. I took some midol and laid down. Everyone came back to get ready for dinner and i felt a little better so i decided to go along. We were once again served way too much food, and again i didn't eat all of it. There was an opera singer who was pretty good, and she sang during our dinner. There was even dancing and such after we had eaten. I once again had fun venting about Amy this time is Janae (us), apparently her cousin Jessica (us) really doesn't like Amy and is going to write a letter to Contiki telling them about her. I wouldn't go that far, but i wish i knew what was wrong with Amy to make her happier. Oh well this is my holiday and nothing is going to ruin it. After dinner we went to this discotheque thing and had some drinks and partied with other Contiki groups. It just sucked cause we could only stay there a couple of hours so not much happened beyond chatting and such. Some people danced and other did Kareokee, the mexican girls were really good at that. Back to the hotel where i didn't sleep very well, stupid snoring.

Contiki Day 8

2005-06-23T18:34:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 8

Thursday June 23, 2005

Today was once again a nice bus riding day, well for those who liked the bus which weren't many. Today i sat beside Cathy and she wasn't feeling well so she just napped most of the ride, which was fine by me. Its not like it's ever boring too long with Spoodge as our driver. Nothing much happened today so in my journal i did a little venting about our tour manager, but to be nice i won't write it all in here. I like our tour manager and all, but sometimes she has such an attitude than she's not so nice. But everyone is like that so i can't really blame her not to mention all she does for us. So yeah we arrived in Florence and were off for some Italian food. I don't get how the Italians don't weight like a million pounds with all the food they gave us. We started with a dish of meets and things like that, than moved into two selections of pasta (awesome i must add and i got my raviolis) than into chicken and salad and finally some dessert. I quit after the pasta, and dessert was only a nectarine so i had that. But the best part of the dinner was complaining about Amy with those at my table. It's funny how i wrote on the bus about Amy than we go and have conversations about her at dinner. So i guess i'm not the only one that has a few issues with her. But all in all we can live with it. So after dinner we did a little walking and were taken back to our hotel for either visiting or sleeping, i choose the latter.

Contiki Day 7

2005-06-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 7

Wednesday June 22, 2005

Most of the day was wasted cause i coudln't get myself out of bed till around 2. So needless to say after Waynes bar and such i was dead tired. Nice didn't really interest me too much so it wasn't too day. I did manage to get myself out of bed long enough to go buy some postcards and help Theresa try and find a pair of nice shoes for our evening. Well after another nap, we were finally off for our evening in Monaco. Spoodge did an awesome job of driving through the crazy windy roads up all the hills and didn't manage to kill us...way to go Spoodge. Though along the way it was an awesome beautiful drive. We made our way to the top and even drove a bit on the Formula 1 track that is used in real racing. Though Spoodge was upset cause it was an automatic bus and he coudln't drive like with a standard, but he still made it super fun of course. I don't know what i'd do if we had a boring driver, it would make the trip almost unbarable. So anyways we made it to our restaurant where i sat with Melanie, Shelly (can), Jesy (aus) and i'm sure there was one more but i don't remember. Dinner was really lovely and between courses we could go walk off and buy postcards and such. Before dessert i went off to take some pictures and met up with Kelly and Jason, because i didn't want dessert i stayed and chatted with them longer. After dinner we made our way back on the bus to get to the Grand Casino. It was really cool to walk around and pretend you were rich, though of course none of us were. It cost 10 euro to get into the big casino so most of us went to the free one. I didn't really wanna gamble so i sat and chatted with a group of people. This part was kinda boring but oh well it was only for an hour. Back on the bus, though we first had some elevator problems and Amy got really pissed at us, but who really cares we had fun. Back at the hotel where i visited a bit before bed.

Contiki Day 6

2005-06-21T18:40:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 6

Tuesday June 21, 2005

Yet another long bus riding day. Spoodge managed to squish on all of our luggage, including my new suitcase...yah for Spoodge we love ya!! Today i sat beside Jen (florida) and across from Kelly and Jason (aus). I once again had the front seat and when things got boring Spoodge always managed to entertain us. We were headed down to Nice and although the scenery was nice (hehehe) the ride was rather uneventful. We arrived at our hotel and like before had to unload the bus in the middle on a busy street, how they work these things out is beyond me. But we all made it safe and sound into the hotel with all of our bags and ourselves intact. We went upstairs to change for dinner, and after a nice walk we finally ended up at the restaurant (yah to Amy for getting us there, she's never been there before). I made the huge mistake of being nice and sitting beside Simone and Randy (can) cause it was only us and Amy at our table. Needless to say it was a very boring dinner, but Carol and Melanie let me sit with them later on in the evening. It's funny how i have no problems with Amy but felt so uncomfortable sitting with her at the table. Dinner was rather yucky and i certainly did not eat much, but oh well. We were than headed off to this place called Waynes bar. Now we were told that you dance on the tables here, which is cool. But i didn't expect that everyone would be dancing on the tables but apparently that's what happened. We somehow made it through the very crowded street with almost everyone to the bar. It was very quiet inside so we just chatted for awhile...with the events that were to come the calm was nice. So here's the full story of Waynes bar. It all started rather tame; we all sat down got some drinks and chatted. But after karim had too many tequilla shots it all went down hill from there. he tried taking a shot but ended up spraying it all over cause it went up his nose. At this point he'd had like four shots already, but continued to the point where he puked at the table all over Megan and Jen. He was taken upstairs where he continued to puke all over the place. Back downstairs we continued to sit and chat till the band came inside. They finally come in a little after midnight at which point Karim had been taken home by Mareta. The band started playing music and all of a sudden we were required to dance on the tables. Of course I was far too self conscience to do this so i danced on the benches. Though after a lot of prawding by Cathy I did end up on the table with Steve. After about an hour of dancing most people were getting very drunk including Amy and Spoodge. Now Spoodge isn't ver different drunk than normal but Amy gets really spacey and can't hold her balance. She kept trying to get on the tables and kept falling off. At one point she was dancing all over Adrian and made him and two others fall of the table. We finally convinced her to come down and she fell and started to cry. Spoodge calmed her down and I took her to the side so she woudln't get hurt. The whole time I was standing with her she kept dancing with me and putting her hands all over me. She was hugging me and telling me how much she loved me. Finally Kim took her and Spoodge home by herself though I did offer to help. A short while later, Melanie, Megan, Yvonne and I decided to go home. On our way we found Spoodge aimlessly wandering around. We asked him for directions but he told us we were crazy for walking. At one point he got tired of waiting for a cab so he litterally went and tried to hijack a car. This obviously did not work, so he than stopped some cops in the middle of the street who told him to go sleep on the beach. he was so set on doing this so the group of us decided this was enough and told him we were going to walk Amy and Spoodge home. Kim gave Amy to me while she and Nic went to go acquire about cabs. As i was trying to hold Amy she kept laying, hugging and grouping me. At one point she started crying that she just wanted to go home. I kept reassuring her that everything was going to be fine and that she was going to be in bed soon. she continued to tell me how mcuh she loved me and how grateful she was and I told her i felt the same. On our walk home though Spoodge ma a stop at a kebab place and made the horrible mistake of eating it cause it ended up all over his room. Though we did manage to get everyone home safe and sound with all their belongings. But Spoodge did end up with Amy's wallet in the end. So needless to say that was an experience and so much fun. Never in a million years am i ever going to forget Waynes bar, dancing on tables or bringing home our tm and driver.

Contiki Day 5

2005-06-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

Contiki day 5

Monday June 20, 2005

I was super excited to take a shower with my own soap this morning, yah for finding luggage. I than went to breakfast where i had my usual croissant and fruit. After breakfast a quick stop at Olympic Park from the 92 games in Barcelona. I was quite dissipointed and what we saw i thought it would be more, but i took some pictures. We than made our way to Juan's shop, much to the dismay of Amy i'm sure. Now Amy had warned us about Juan and how he would act, but nothing had prepared us for what was about to happen. As soon as we walked into the store Juan kept telling Amy how much he loved her ("you know i love you Amy, Amy you know i love you"), he honestly much of said this a hundred times during the entire tour. He than proceeded to show us various crystals, jewllery and porcelain. After saying "do you believe this" half a dozen times and scaring most of us, he proceeded onto leather. Three volunteers were picked to model some jackets including Ryan, Kelley, Cathy and of course Amy. It's funny how awesome everyone looked in the jackets. He went on to letting them model the jackets but for some reason when it was Ryans turn he kept poking him in the head, but don't ask me why. I'm sure it took all of Ryans energy not to deck him one. Well after this we were free and most of us darted out of the store faster than the running of the bulls. Though he did continue to tell Amy how much he loved her and kissed her i'm sure over a dozen times before finally letting her leave. We were than escorted by Amy on a walking tour of the city. I really did not enjoy this, but after all it's all part of the experience. We were than abandonned for the rest of the day. A group of us went walking and found an exchange place, where we broke off into different groups. I ended up with Melanie, Megan (aus), Yvonne (us), Kelly (can). We did a little walking before finding a Tapas restaurant. We really had no clue what this was but decided we had to try it. At the restaurant we met up with Travis (can), Rosie (can) and i think Greg (us). I ended up having this fried fish thing with white beans and Calamari. It was really good and now i can say i've had Tapas. We than continued on our shopping and exploring ways till we had to meet for the bus. I went to bed early since i did not attend the optional dinner. Well ok i did not go to bed early but that was my plan. I went downstairs to take some pictures when i met up with the three married couples. Kelly asked me what i was doing tonight and i said nothing. She asked if i wanted to join them for dinner and i accepted. We made our way to the Hard Rock Cafe where we had the most magnificent time. There ended up being Kelly/Jason (aus), Tina/Elest (aus), Aneta/Sash (aus) and the loan Canadians myself and Leah. My boring evening turned into a great evening with great friends.

Contiki Day 4

2005-06-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 4

Sunday June 19, 2005

Another day back on the bus, this time from Bordeaux to Barcelona (yah for Spain). Today i made the bold choice of sitting in the front seat, and you know what it paid off big time. Spoodge is absolutely hillarious and keeps everyone entertained. Not to mention is really funny to see Amy flirt with him. Today we made a stop as a placed called Carcassone, which is a walled city. But if you ask me it just looks like a castle with streets in it. I did a little walking around before settling on some food with Theresa. I had this Pannini thing and boy was it awesome, i ever ate it with cheese. Subway look out Pannini's are taking over. So yeah lunch was awesome and not to expensive. After this i did some walking around and some shopping. I found one of Megans first presents and i was throughouly excited. Back outside i took somemore pictures and talked again with Ash and Bec. Than back to the bus where we made our way to the hotel. We stopped at the border for one of our scheduled rest stops (we cannot driver more than 2 and a half hours before we need to stop according to stupid european driving laws) and for the first time ever i took out some money with my cash passport. That was really exciting cause it didn't eat my card, and i could pay for my optional excursions. We were back on the bus going to the hotel, but when we got there poor Spoodge couldn't park the bus. We had to drive around a little bit and than unload the bus in the middle of the street. We managed just fine and were in the hotel in no time. We had dinner a little while later, and during dinner Amy came over and told me my luggage had finally arrived in the same city i was in; how exciting. That evening most people went out to drink with Spoodge cause the next day was his day off. Theresa and i on the other hand found an internet cafe and than did some laundry. Than off to bed for a relatively early evening. I'm so excited cause tomorrow morning i getta wash with my own soap.

Contiki Day 3

2005-06-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 3

Saturday June 18, 2005

Up early and off to breakfast for apparently our last good breakfast on the tour. I had the same thing as the day before and my croissant liking has turned into an obsession. I don't know how i'm going to live without eating a croissant every morning when i get back home. Anyways we than boarded our bus for a very long bus ride to Bordeaux. I did not wanna sit beside Theresa so i ended up sitting in the back row, ok really bag mistake. The way the seats are made in the back you end up sitting on the seatbelt buckle and boy was that uncomfortable for the entire trip. The only good thing was that i was sitting beside Jesy (aus) and we did alot of talking during the trip. We made our way through the pretty landscape to this little town where were going to stop at a grocery store to get some lunch for our next lunch stop. Apparently Amy and Spoodge got some info to go to this other grocery store, but that proved to be wrong and we ended up driving around in circles for quite sometime. Eventually they gave up their flight to find the place and we went to the normal store. We were told to buy some picnic type stuff cause we were going to have lunch at a castle. Because i'm not really big on bread i stuck with some crab sticks and fruit for my lunch choice. We were back on the bus and made our way to the castle. It was a really pretty castle, but the best part was my first real picnic was in europe at a castle, now how cool is that. For some reason i wasn't really chatty so didn't really talk with anyone and sat with Melanie (maybe cause my ass hurt so much). But on the way back to the coach i talked with Steve (aus), Nikki (aus), Fil (aus) and some others. We waited for the coach and i got to know them a little better. While waiting i also met Kim and Mareta (both from aus). We got back on the bus and i sat in a different seat, no more sore butts for me. We headed to our hotel, where we had just enough time to drop off our bags and head out to dinner. Dinner was at some restaurant that was completely empty. But that was good cause we could be as loud as we wanted. I sat with Ash and Bec (aus - married), Simone and Randy (can - married) and Jenn (florida). We had some good conversations and i got to know them all a little better. But i liked talking to Jenn the most. I find the married couples especially those on their honeymoon tend to stick with themselves, which is understandable. After this we were back on the bus, where Spoodge made it look like we were lost. We kept driving in circles around the city (and trust me its not big), but the conversations were good and Spoodge was super entertaining. At one point he even got one of the girls to read the map for him. We finally found our way, and Spoodge decided to take a wrong turn. So needless to say we got back to our hotel a little later than expected, but the ride was super fun. Back at the hotel Melanie, Theresa and I decided to locate the internet cafe. We asked a few people including the hotel front desk. But as hard as we tried we never made it. But back at the hotel i didn't feel like going to bed so i made my way to the bar to chit chat for a bit before bed. Melanie went and played uno with a group of people. So we had some fun before our bedtime.

Contiki Day 2

2005-06-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 2

Friday June 17 2005

We didn't have to get up super early this morning which was nice. In the previous days we were warned about the breakfasts we were going to have along with the dinners. So i wasn't expecting too much, but boy was i wrong when we got there. There was tons of food to choose from like: cheeses, pastries, yougurts, breads, cereals. Most anything people would eat. I settled on a croissant, some yogurt and fruit cocktail. Oh boy do i love croissants, i'll be fine as long as they are offered. I ended up sitting at a table with a few other people including: Greg (us), Ana and Valeria (mexico), Karim (NZ) and some others i have forgotten. We didn't really talk but that was alright cause i was sorta hungry and still kinda sleepy. We than loaded the bus and were off to the Eiffel Tower. Because this was something i really wanted to do, i walked around completely by myself taking everything in as i went along. I took tons of pictures and had some great views. As i was waiting to go down though i met up with Rosie and her friends (Rosie was the girl i was talking to on the net), they asked if i would like to join them as they walked around Paris and of course I agreed. But when we got downstairs it ended up being very different. I went with them but they ended up waiting for some others. People kept joining our group and leaving to go see other things. Rosie and her friends set off, but there were a couple others that had walked away and we said we'd wait for them. So i waited a bit and Melanie ended up waiting with me. So in the end our group ended up being Melanie, Carol (aus), Adrian (aus), Jesy (aus) and myself. This proved throughout the day to be the perfect group. We set off to see some sites but ended up a bit everywhere. We found the Champs Elysee (shopping street) and slowly made our way down there. Along the way we got hungry so stopped off for lunch at a cute little restaurant. We than set off back down the street to make our way to the Arc de Triomphe. We finally got there but had no idea how to get underground to cross the street. After some help from Nikki (aus) and some asking of police we made our way. We didn't really wanna go up it so we just continued our trek to now the Louvre. Along the way though Jesy wanted to find a camera shop (her's just broke) so i went with her while the other aimlessly walked around the streets. After this we began our trek to the Louvre. We took tons of pictures and seen various sites along the way (most i cannot name because i have no idea what they are) and slowly continued on. We finally made it to the Louvre, but because Adrian did not buy a museum card he had to wait in line to get in. We parted our ways and the rest of us went inside and waited for Adrian. After what seemed like an eternity we finally met up with him and we all headed straight for the Mona Lisa painting. Of course we saw some others along the way but only cared to see that painting. It took awhile to get to but we made it and i took a picture of it. I really expected it to be bigger than it was. But oh well i was there. We than wanted to go see Notre Dame and slowly made our way there. But by this time we had been walking for like 5 hours so our pace was a tad slower. Though energizer bunny Carol had so much energy that we did just fine. We finally arrived at the Cathedrale, but there was a big line so we didn't go in. After taking some pics we made our way back to the metro to get to our hotel. Most of the people were going to see a show called Nouvelle Eve, but i didn't wanna go see it so i stayed at the hotel by myself. Which was fine cause i did a little walking around and settled in for an early evening. What an awesome day in Paris.

Contiki Day 1

2005-06-16T18:56:00.000-07:00

Contiki Day 1

Thursday June 16, 2005

I woke up to the sound of the alarm and did not wanna get up, well that is until i realized we were actually starting our tour today. We got all of our stuff ready and were off to meet everyone and get our bages checked. Because i still had no luggage i did not have to worry about weight or size or anything like that. Everyone else on the other hand did, but for the most part Contiki did not seem to care as long as you weren't super over the 20 kg weight limit. Than we met our tour manager once again and our driver. Our tour manager was Amy who seemed really nice. Our driver was Spoodge and he seemed crazy, he was really hyper and nuts, but i loved this. We made our way onto the bus and i sat beside a girl named Amanda from Australia. We talked for a little bit but sat in silence for most of the ride. After awhile our tour manager came on the microphone and really introduced herself. Her name was Amy (though i later found out her real name was Amelia) and she had been working for Contiki for 2 seasons now (roughly two years). The reason she choose Contiki was because she was so sick of her job (accounting) and hated getting up every morning, so she needed some change in her life. She'd been traveling around for some time and came across a posting for a tour manager job for Contiki. She applied, got the job and here she is today. She really loves being able to travel and share her love of traveling and info about all the different places with young adults. She no longer hates waking up and hopes to do this for some time. She is from Australia, but hasn't been there in quite sometime. We continued our travels until we reached the White Cliffs of Dover where we boarded our ferry to get to Paris. At this point we were informed of the different ways we'd see things. In our info packs, it says that sometimes we will just visit places, sometimes we will just see places and other times we will stay in places. Well like Amy showed us, this was one of the just see places. She honestly just pointed to the White Cliffs of Dover and said see those are the white cliffs of dover. I thought that was the funniest thing in the world. We than boarded our ferry; including our bus. And most of us made our way up to the veranda to view the sights and take our first pictures. It got really windy and cold up there, not to mention i was getting really hungry so we ventured downstairs to find some food. I finally settled on this ham in a baguette thing which was really good. It was funny as i was walking around trying to find somewhere to sit i kept seeing people and tried to decide if they were from my tour or not and whether i should go say hi. My shy side took over and stuck with Melanie and Theresa. But while waiting in line for the food i got to chatting with this youth music group who were also making their way around europe. I had a nice chat with one of the mom's and the line went by really qucikly. We ate and in no time were finally in Paris We boarded our bus again and made our way into the city. The traffic was nuts, but the drivers were insane. Along the way, Spoodge almost killed Amy cause he had to slam on his brakes when someone cut him off. Amy went flying down the coach (she was in the middle of talking to us) but apparently landed safely in her seat. I had no idea cause i was somewhere in the middle of the bus and coudln't see anything. But she was alright, a tad shaken but alright. We finally made it safe and sound to our hotel and lugged our stuff up to our room. We didn't have much time before dinner so we just chilled for a bit in our room. During dinner i sat beside a guy named Steve and had the best conversation ever. He had done a Contiki trip of the States last year (one of the ones i was looking into) and so we talked the entire dinner time about that. Its funny how you can talk so easily with some people and not with others. Well Steve is from Australia and works at investigating banks, he was living in Perth for the last few months. And just recently decided to do this Contiki trip to get away from real life for a bit. Such a wonderful dinner. After dinner we had the choice of doing an evening bus ride around the city to see some of the sites we'd be going to the next day. I of course wanted to do this so as we were waiting outside for Amy and Spoodge, i met two guys from Australia; Sep and Vic. I must say i absolutely love the australian accents and all the people seem so nice and awesome. I sat down on the bus and guess who sat beside me; Steve. We continued our great conversations, but because Amy was explaining things as we drove by we coudln't do too much talking. Which was alright cause i was in Paris!! We saw Notre Dame Cathedral, the Eiffel Tower, many other site. But the best part was the Arc de Triomphe. Amy was explaining some things until we got to the Arc, she said that now she had to sit down. We really didn't understand her until she put on this crazy driving music and all of a sudden Spoodge just cut off half the people and we made our way in the round about. Apparently this is how you have to do it or else you'd never get in. It was the most craziest thing i've ever seen, it was scary and awesome all at the same time. We saw a few more things, but by 11 we had to start making our way back to the hotel. There is some crazy european driving laws that state exactly how long you can be on the road and how long you have to be parked. We learned throughout the trip just how crazy they were and be really began to hate them towards the end. Well back at our hotel and straight to bed, another long day in Paris tomorrow gotta be rested up.

I'm taking over Europe!!

2005-06-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

I'm in Europe finally!!

Wednesday June 15, 2005

Well i have made it safe and sound to europe, can't say the same for my luggage though. as i knew it would happen the plane lost my luggage but because i had lots of spare clothes in my hand bag i really didn't care. i was just so excited to actually be in london nothing else mattered. after attempting to make our way on the underground we arrived at Russel Square. we had no idea how to get to our hotel from here so we ended up doing alot of walking around to attempt to find it. of course our hotels were screwed up (Contiki said we were in the Imperial, but really it was supposed to the Royal National) but we eventually made it to the right one. we coudln't check in at all so we made our way to the Contiki basement to sign in and leave our luggage there to explore London. My two friends i went with didn't wanna do anything so i set off on my own to explore everything London had to offer. My first stop was the Girl Guide shop where i purchased some books. than i made my way to Buckingham Palace for some great photos and along the way i took some pics of the Royal Mews. Than back on the underground to make my way to Big Ben and the House of Parliaments. As i got there i found the London Eye (the huge ferris wheel sorta thing) and decided i had to go on that for some more awesome photos. I must admit the 12.50 pounds was well worth the spending cause it had the best views ever. I just wish i could see the Tower Bridge, but coudln't seem to find it. After this excapade i made my way back to the hotel to check in and chill before our tour meeting. Our tour meeting was the most pointless thing i've ever been to. We met our tour manager but that's about it, she didn't say much all she did was give us a form thing to fill out we didn't even getta meet many of our tour mates; oh well its all part of the experience. After this i made my way back to the airport to attempt to find my luggage to at least get some info on it. Of course my luggage was no where to be found, but at least i gave them my itinerary of where i'll be so they can always find me. Than back to the hotel for a good nights sleep before our tour really starts.