Day 25: Amsterdam

14/08/2011

Our last day.. Nooooooooooo!
We started with a canal bike ride, it was a lot of fun.. Especially as I wasn't pedalling! The boats were wet and it was drizzling but it was still fun! We played some bumper boats and got a bit lost!

After the boats we went to Anne Frank's house - very interesting but very sad :( I need to read the book properly now!

We then went shopping down the Kalverstratt, which was just a normal shopping street really. Went to McDonalds and had a burger called the McCrocket. It was wierd, but only available in Amsterdam..nice though.

Went back to the hotel to pack our suitcase, then went on a canal cruise to a floating chinese restaurant for our farewell dinner. Food wasn't great but the company was :)

After dinner we went on a bar crawl (after some coach dancing) and went to 3 bars, got some free shots, one had live music which was good.
Then we went to 2 clubs, both were really good!

I thought that I would be up all night partying hard, but everyone in our group went home early! I was sleeping by 2:30am! Ah well, back to London tomorrow : (

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Day 24: Germany (Rhine Valley) to Amsterdam

13/08/2011

Had a great sleep all prepared for Amsterdam!! Yay! A planned 5 hour drive turned out to be awful! We got stuck in traffic for 5 hours alone!!

Unfortunately due to this we missed our bike ride in Amsterdam, our visit to a cheese factory in Edam and our visit to a clog maker's house :( oh well!

Got to the hotel which was sooo nice! A proper hotel and the bed was soooo comfortable! Had some random dinner in the hotel which I didn't like much, then we went onto the Red Light District to see a sex show!

Omg it was mad! Proper live sex in front of your eyes! Apparently all of the couples were actually couples and it was really fun as well. They pulled people from our group up to join in .. Not with the sex of course!!

After the show we went to a bar, I met loadsa british guys (!) Lol. Didn't stay out late, went to bed!
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Day 23: Switzerland to Germany (again) - Rhine Valley

12/08/2011

Driving day.. Early wake up and I was soooo hungover, but I pulled through!
We stopped at a town called Heidelberg, which is apparently a very famous university and there was a church.

After more driving we went to a Beer Stein shop which had some really nice beer steins. Hand painted and 1 even had part of the Berlin wall on the top of it!

After that was dinner time in a random hotel, then we had wine tasting, which we DIDN'T have to spit out! It was the worst coz I was so hungover!

The hotel was really nice, I knocked out as soon as I laid down.. Needed recovery time!!
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Day 22: Switzerland

11/08/2011

Today was an amazing day!
Went up Jangfrau mountain on a train which took 2 hours. Even though it was long, it was beautiful - snow topped mountains surrounding us, grassy slopes with cows with cow bells, beautiful weather!

When we got up there it was pretty cold and apparently we were 3571m/11,782ft high. We went to the Sphinx Terrassen view point on a MOUNTAIN and apparently we were at the top of Europe! It did make you feel a bit nauseus though - being at such a high altitude.

We went to the 'snow fun' part where there was beautiful snow, and hot sunshine - amazing! I went on the flying fox which was so fun! We also went to the Ice Palace which was a whole cave made out of ice, even the floor!

Anyway 2 hours later we were back at the accommodation. Had a nice dinner of burger and chips then got ready for our 'Swisco Disco' themed party tonight! I dressed the part and got drunk on pre drinks! Everyone was partying in the corridor instead of in the bar! Had a lot of fun today!!

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Day 21: Austrian Tyrol to Switzerland

10/08/2011

Breakfast at 7:30, left at 8 for a very long drive! 1st stop, the Swarovski museum! It was really wierd in there, a mechanical room with dancing trousers and flying shirts, a huge beautiful crystal wall and wierd figures like a dancing sun and moon! Really loved it!

Next stop Leitchenstein - a country in its own right. We just ate something and walked around the shops.

Next stop Lucerne - a city in Switzerland, it was beautiful, a big river with swans and ducks, and be warned.. Switzerland is expensive!!

Got to the accommodation which was beautifully surrounded by mountains! Peaks with snow and sulphury looking waterfalls coming down them.

Dinner was nice - Fondue! :) then drinking time.. Went down to the bar which is actually a bomb shelter. I felt safe lol. Had a little dance, drank some wine and red bull shooters.. Good night :)
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Day 20: Austrian Tyrol

9/08/2011

Had a nice long sleep ready for PARAGLIDING!! :)
After the best breakfast of beans, toast and hash browns I got ready to jump off a mountain!

At 11 we drove to the paragliding place, I was pretty nervous but tried not to think about it. We went to the top of a mountain in a cable car, it was soooo high! Got to the top, got strapped up to my flying partner and was told to run after the count of 3.

To cut a long story short I didn't run for long enough, fell over and got dragged down the mountain!! I actually thought I was gonna die! I sprained my wrist!

Anyway, attempt number 2 was good. I never felt so releived to be in the air! It was amazing! Just felt like sitting in mid air falling really slowly. He did circles in the air it felt like a rollercoaster!

Afterwards went to a restaurant and got lost lol, eventually found our accomodation and I went to sleep! I was seriously battered!

Woke up later and tried to go bar but it was shut, we just hung around outside for a bit drinking random alcohol and went bed :)

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Day 19: Munich to Austrian Tyrol

8/08/2011

Today we go to the Austrian Tyrol for activities! Today was a boring day for me as I wasn't doing any activities today.

First up was white water rafting, which I was so happy I didn't do as it was pouring with rain. It looked like it would be fun though.

Next activity: Bobsledding! This looked fun but I'm also glad I didn't do this one as apparently it was really short and everyone got really bruised from it!

We got to our accomodation at around 8 and had a nice dinner of beef goulash, turkey schnitzel and apple strudel :)

Today I'm taking a rest day, there's a theme party on but I just had 2 big nights. The theme is stupid anyway: tightie whitie brighties or something!? Went to bed pretty early.
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Day 18: Vienna to Munich

7/08/2011

With 2 hours sleep we left for Munich.
We stopped off at a concentration camp and watched a film about what went on there in Hitler's time. Its crazy to think that these things actually happened! It was really sad to see.

Into Munich we only had about 2 hours in the city, but that was enough as all of the shops we're shut anyway! We walked around and nearly got left in Munich!! The bus left a bit early as the team leader counted incorrectly and thought everyone was on! So lucky we got seen wen they drove past us!

Anyway later that night we went to beer halls, we had a dinner of 'pork knuckle' which was a big lump of pork and crackling.. A complete let down! It was just pure fat! The entertainment was good though, girls played cow bells and danced and sang.

Got back to the hostel and the bar was bad. We attempted to go out. It was Sunday however so our team leader and receptionist said there would be no point as everyone's religious.

We tried anyway and found a club called Pimpernel.. It was very erotically decorated, we thought we were in a strip club!
We drank Jagerbombs, met some Amsterdam folk, had a good time but the music wasn't great. Electro.
I'm just glad we went out in Munich!

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Day 17: Vienna

6/08/2011

Had a kind of Austrian breakfast I think..had toast, chicken liver pate spread, some paprika cheese spread! Which was actually nice!

Some people from the tour were getting the bus into town for a quick walking tour, but 4 of us just decided to go in later by ourselves :)

We caught the train into town which was pretty easy - again similar to London. We went shopping for a bit then wandered around. Even though we didn't know where we were going we saw a lot!

We found the Museum Quartier which had loads of different museums in it and it was a nice area; there were these wierd triangular shaped colourful chairs everywhere.

Then we found a film festival thing where there was a gigantic screen and loads of different stalls selling food..we stopped in a beautiful big garden and the city was generally beautiful.

We then met the rest of the group and went to a Schnapps museum. He talked about different types of alcohol etc. And we tried loads of different flavours, like gold infused and chocolate hazelnut mmm mmm

We had a slight coach party after and while everyone else went to a Riglerhooter thing (dinner in the bushes or something!!) I went back to the hostel.

Later that night we decided to go find a club! We asked the receptionist where to go and went on her suggestion - Cafe Leopold in the Museum Quartier! So glad we did! They played only reggae and bashment in the upstairs room and it was packed!! Best night of the trip!

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Day 16: Venice to Vienna

5/08/2011

Were going to Vienna! Yay!
We drove into Austria and our first view of the mountains was amazing.

We stayed in a hostel called Wombats, it was pretty nice and felt nice to be staying in a holiday type place rather than a contiki building! Our room was huge. We ate at a cheap chicken and fish shop, which was really nice! I had a chicken schitzel burger.

I was really ill today; worst I've felt so I bought some Austrian medicine which really helped even though I couldn't read the packaging!

I stayed in the hostel bar for a bit and drank only juice :) the bar was nice though; it had a good vibe. I went to bed about 11 to try and sleep my illness away :(

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Day 15: Venice

4/08/2011

Today we got the boat from our campsite into Venice and had a walking tour. We saw the monuments of St Mark's square, and learnt about the history behind Venice.

We then went to a few shops and ate in a pub - the food really wasn't great!
After that the others went up towers and visited churches, but I was really fed up of views and churches! So I just walked around and bought some souviniers.

I wanted to go to a glass blowing demo but the tour group left early so I missed it! We didn't miss our Gondola ride though - it was so nice, serene and we were drinking Prosecco..
I asked the gondola man to sing and he said no, but he did in the end :)

Back to the campsite for dinner - it was the best! Had a bbq of ribs, chicken and chips yum!!

Later on it was drinking time.. Pre drank some vodka and went down to the bar, it was so empty and quiet, everyone must have been worn out from the night before! I stayed for a bit but went bed about 12:30 :)

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Day 14: Rome to Venice

3/08/2011

The drive to Venice was longer than I thought it would be! We stopped at Bologna, where there were a lot of shops and randomly I bought nutella, breadsticks and a drink in one!

Anyway..we got to the Venice campsite and it wasn't too bad, 3 people to a room. We had the best dinner, spaghetti bolognase and ritz crackers with dips for starter! :)

Tonight there was meant to be a beach party but it was cancelled due to bad weather. We just went down to the bar, had a couple of drinks and there was a guitarist playing live music which was really good!

The bar was mad! They gave free shots to girls that showed their (.)(.) !! Lol and it got over packed!

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Day 13: Rome

2/08/2011

7:30am breakfast was nice, we had pancakes :) then we got the metro into Rome with our tour manager.

We went into Vatican city for a walking tour. Everything was so beautiful - amazing artwork and statues. It was REALLY hot, had a burger for lunch - not very Italian but I'd already had pizza and pasta! I did have Gelato though, pistacio - yum!

Didn't do any more sightseeing as it was too hot so we made our way back to the campsite by metro. The train system is similar to London underground/overground. It was a bit hectic but we made our way back eventually!

We took a little nap then dinner at 7:30 - heart shaped chicken schnitzel :) then went back to the room to get ready for our 'whiteboard' party. We all had to wear white t-shirts and write on each other - funtimes!

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Day 12: Florence to Rome

1/08/2011

We drove to Rome which wasn't too long - a 3 hour drive, and my t-shirt design got picked! :)

We went sightseeing and saw all of the main sights. Went to the Colloseum, the Pantheon and Trevi fountain.

I had the best pizza ever - just mozzarella and parma ham, no tomato base YUM!

We got to our campsite which wasn't as nice as the last, wooden cabins with one electricity point, it was alright though.

Italy is swarming with mosquitoes, I got bitten really badly in the colloseum! I had a very early night - bed at 9:30!! All ready for a 6:30am start!

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Day 11: Florence

31/07/11

After breakfast went into Florence and visited a Leather store where we learnt how leather jewellery boxes were made. Then we went on a walking tour around Florence, walked along a river, visited a church called Santa Croce, saw statues of Neptune, replica of the Statue of David, Percius etc. Visited a famous bridge called Ponte Vecchio..

Went for lunch ate a mozzarella salad (yum!) and went back to the campsite early to go in the pool - it was sooooo hot!!

Later that night we had our team photo :) and had a Tuscan meal with sooo many courses! We had Bruschetta, 3 types of pasta, pizza, wine, and icecreamy dessert! Mmm mmm!

Then we went to Space Disco!! It was fun! Good music, good vibes and pervey italian men lol :) oh and a few 'hook ups!' Haha (not me!!!)

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Day 10: South of France to Italy

30/07/11

Another early one again today..
We had ham and cheese croissants for breakfast today - yum! Felt really sick today though! Slept most of the time on the coach, and we watched Independence day.

We had to put in designs for our team's t-shirt today, I designed mine with a girl called Caitlin, its the Best!!

We stopped of at the leaning tower of Pisa and I took pictures kissing and licking it! There was a competition but they didn't say who won! We shall see tomorrow!

We got to the campsite at 6pm, I was really impressed! The cabins are newly built and the food was sooo nice! We had lasagne and tiramisu icecream for dessert!

Everyone went to a bar but I'm ill so I'm resting tonight, getting ready for a big night tomorrow! :)
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Day 9: Nice/Monaco

29/07/2011

It was sooooo HOT today! :)
Breakfast was decent, had a cheese omlette..
Then we went to NICE!
It was really upclass - I would love to move to the south of France!
we went to a perfumery which was nice, and then spent the rest of the day on the beach!!

We paid 14€ for a private beach which was well worth it to have our own loungers and space! It was beautiful weather! I sunbathed for 3-4 hours :)
Think I stayed in it too long though, felt sick the rest of the day!

That evening we went to Monaco! This place was really upclass! We saw the hairpin bend of the F1 track, expensive shops and went into the Grand casino - a bit dissapointing as we paid 10€ entry and it was a boring casino basically made for the rich people of Monaco. I put 5€ into a slot machine which was lost very quickly!

We ended up in Mcdonalds - 4€ for a happy meal :)

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Day 8: Barcelona to French Riviera, South of France

28/07/2011

This was another very long drive!
Only had like 2 hours sleep so wasn't in the best of moods! Didn't have breakfast but ate Bacon n Eggs at our first stop :)

We stopped off at a town called Arles where we saw a Roman building (can't remember the name!

We arrived at the campsite, and Contiki recruit 'cookies' and 'dishies' for meal times.. Unfortunately I was a dishie, so I had to clear up plates n wipe tables. The cabin we stayed in was pretty small with bunk beds and 4 people shared a bathroom.

We tried frogs legs which tasted like fishy chicken, not too bad but the though of it made me feel sick!

Tonight we just played some pool, hung around the bar and went bed! I caught up on stuff like doin my nails! Pretty nice relaxing evening.
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Day 7: BARCELONA!

27/07/2011

Today was a HUGE day! Toured around Barcelona in the day time.

We walked up and down Las Ramblas a few times, saw the Spanish Arc de Triomphe, castles, Christopher Columbus tower, a food market (which had moving crabs n lobsters! Yuk!), the Port and the BEACH!!
The beach was soooo nice! The weather was amazing - finally hit the hot weather! :)

Then 5:45pm, back on the coach for FLAMENCO!! It was so fun! The dancing was amazing! I don't know how they move their feet like that! There was a really talented guitarist as well. They brought us on stage to dance and there was sooooo much SANGRIA!!

We got really drunk so had a coach party on the way to a restaurant! It was so fun jumping n dancin around the coach! I'm bruised now though!

We went to a MEXICAN restaurant which was nice and drank some more sangria!

Then it was bar time! We went to Port Olympica, about 5 clubs next to each other. I danced a little but mainly sat at the front of the club with people drinking n smoking sheesha..

Twas a good day!!
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Day 6: Beaujolais Wine Region to Barcelona!

26/07/2011

Today is a DRIVING DAY! Left at 7:45am and got to the hostel at about 7pm!!

There were a few stops though, 2 service stations and one stop at Pont Du Gard - a roman aqueduct, the views were amazingly beautiful.

The accomodation was quite nice, bunk beds and the bathroom was in the room! :)

We just hung around the hotel, did some washing and caught up on sleep (still went bed late tho!)
: D

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Day 5: CHATEAU free day at Beaujolais wine region

25/07/2011

This was our only free day on the tour and it was NEEDED! It was raining all day so unfortunately we couldn't go in the pool, and we were meant to go on a picnic but it was an HOUR walk in the rain!! So we just stayed in with our picnic basket and hung about the chateau.

We watched a film in our room on someone's laptop, went on the net and just RELAXED!! After the last night I planned on not going out on this night, but ended up goin! The theme was HoBos and Hot Hoes! I was a hot gangsta hoe lol. Didn't have a big night though.. Too much alcohol in my system!!!

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Day 4: Paris to Beaujolais wine region

24/07/2011

Today was a driving day.
Woke up for breakfast and left the Etap hotel at around 9am.
At one of our stops we went to a Patisserie and bought Macaroons :)

We arrived at our Chateau at about 5pm and had wine tasting at 6pm, which we didn't have to spit out! Didn't even want it after all the wine that was drunk the night before!
The chateau was beautiful, big white building with a pool out front. Unisex showers however!!

Dinner was ok and we got dessert! After dinner it was PYJAMA PARTY time!! I was still feeling rough so intended on not drinking much but ended up drinking a lot!! The party was fun - in the basement of the chateau or cave as they call it! Drinks were cheap n the music was decent!
Was a good night!!!

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Day 3: PARIS!

23/07/2011

Today was a big day!!
We went sightseeing in Paris but only had from 9am til 4pm so couldn't do everything.. There's so much to do! Its lucky we went on the Eiffel Tower last nite coz we would have spent the whole day waiting in the queue for it!

We went to the Louvre which was what I expected! I loved the pyramid structure :) we saw the Mona Lisa and the Venus de milo..
We also went to the Notre Dame cathedral - we wanted to just walk into the cathedral but we joined the wrong queue, and after we queued for like an hour we realised it was to climb up the tower! That was a KILLER!! So many stairs!! Nice view though.

We went to Dinner and I had French onion soup, which had a thick layer of cheese on the top! I also had Duck a l'orange for main and some kinda chocolate moussey brownie thing. Food was ok but it was very shambolic!

After dinner the rest of the group went to cabaret, but at 75 euros so early in the trip, I could live without it!! A few of us went on to a bar and the rest of the group joined us after the cabaret.

It was a mad night! Drank a lot and had a reallly good time! I'm liking the people :)

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Day 2: London to Paris!!

22/07/2011

Woo Hoo! So today I went overseas!!
Woke up at 4:45am (!!) I was soooo tired but sooooo EXCITED!!

After getting my case weighed we had a 2 hour drive to Dover, 1 and a half hours on the ferry to Calais, then a 4-5 hour drive to PARIS!

The journey wasn't bad at all! I've enjoyed meeting new people, and haven't got lost yet!!

I'm staying at the Etap hotel in Paris, really happy with the room and even happier that I stay here for 2 nights!

We had dinner at Le Sultan restaurant right next to the hotel. Not very nice to be honest, some bland chicken leg with rice and lettuce lol. But it was an included meal so I'm not complaining!!

We then went on an 'illuminated' tour of Paris - supposed to be by night but it was still bright outside! We saw the Arc de Triomphe, drove along the Champs-Elysees, saw the Opera Garnier, the River Sen (if that's how its spelt!), the bridge with all of the locks on it, and loads of other stuff I can't remember!

And then we went to the Eiffel Tower and WENT UP IT! :) it was AMAZING!! We went scary high!!

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Day 1: LONDON!

21/07/2011

So today I showed round a couple of people from Australia round London!
We went to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Oxford Street, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, London Eye, and St Paul's Cathedral!!
We did a HELL of a lot!
It pelted it down with rain while they were on the London Eye, but it was still a nice day!!
We saw random statues of giant jelly babies (I think!) at Marble Arch and I hadn't been to Buckingham Palace before so it was good for me too!!

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Packing Day!!

20/07/2011

OMG! Today was a day of STRESS!!

me at my mum's house packing! :(

Packing is officially the worst thing in the WORLD! It's bad enough when you're just packing for a 2 week holiday, but it's the worst packing for travelling! You need more and have to bring less!!!
Anyway, after packing and re-packing about 3 times, I finally got there!
The allowance is 20kg, and my case weighs 18kgs. My only worry is carrying it if I have to go up stairs or wotever..
I'm sure it'll be fine - I can't take anything out now! I nearly took my mouthwash out until my mum said "well go around with stink mouth then" loool I've never seen my mum laugh that hard! haha.

Here's my beautifully packed case!! :)

OMG IT'S TOMORROW!!!!

Tomorrow it will be TOMORROW!!

19/07/2011

Lol.. OMG! I'm so excited but kinda stressed at the same time! I'm SURROUNDED by clothes, toiletries, bags etc etc and I have no idea what to take!!
But as I said above, tomorrow it will be tomorrow!
The actual tour starts on Friday, but I'm classing it as starting on Thursday as I'm staying in a hotel in London for the night and I'm showing a couple of people on the tour round London for the day, so that should be fun!
It's been raining CONSTANTLY in London, I can't WAIT to get away from it!!

Rainy and murky London :(

so so EXCITED!! woo hoo! I just wanna go now!!