Leon's travelogue

29 May 2008
After another great contiki breakfast is was goodbye to switzerland and back to germany! No more switzerland - the land of unreal sceneries, where the snowy mountains and backdrops seem more like paintings than real. Beautiful and yet seemingly unreal. 
Anyhow we reached the german town of st goar set in the rhine valley around afternoon after passing through the university town of heiderberg along the way. The german rhine valley where the river rhine passes through, one of the most scenic parts of germany and also where many folktales originate from, which the stories of laura lyle being one of the more well-known ones. Reaching st goar, we were brought into a beer stein store and introduced to many beer steins, made of metal,clay,large,small,special contiki beer steins,hopfbrauhas steins etc. Generally people would get beer steins and bring their own beer steins to the beerhalls where they can keep a lid on it and keep their beers at the right temperature instead of exposing it in a traditional beer mug. Apart from the beer stein shop, there was also a store selling cuckoo clocks,teddy bears and yes - a birkenstocks store. 


Heidelberg








St goar

After more looksee looksee-ing around the area and the shops, we proceeded to this like sort of underground wine cellar where we had our st goar wine tasting in shot glasses. The wine tasting was located in a dim cellar with long wooden tables and we were treated to a variety of white wines,rieslings and my favourite kind of wine - ice wine (which is why i bought a bottle too)! And the wines were pretty good german wines i must say. Though the whole wine tasting session was actually quite hard to concentrate with dave trying to learn french vulgarities and spouting french nonsense and john asking stuff like how do you say 'my nipples are exploding with passion' in french etc. Wine barrels of laughs man.



The wine cellar


Matt and a ghostly rhi



Next was dinner at a small hotel nearby of pork chops and noodles (of which i had many pork chops) followed by heading to our lodging for the night - grandma's house. Okay it's not grandma's house but this pretty old inn with weird/eccentric decor and some old lady in charge - grandma! To add to the weirdness you got a seat beside a toilet bowl in the toilet (for someone to watch you??) and other stuff that just makes the place feel weird and old. 


Statues at grandma's house






Kebabs!

At night we chilled out at the garden terrace at grandma's house before heading to a pizzeria/kebab store down the store for some kebabs and turkish food! After that was back to grandma's house where i almost couldnt get back to my room until i searched around in the dark for a staircase back to where my room was.phew no sleeping out under the german sky.

30 May 2008
Today we say Auf Wiedersehen to Deutchland and head to amstedam, holland. After a breakfast of bread and post world ancient fruit loops, we bade goodbye to grandma's house and said hello to grandma's bikes over at a place near amsterdam(i forgot the name of the small town). We did bike-a-dyk on granny bikes that were so old that you had to backpedal to brake (talk about difficult to control). A basically joy ride and 'dangerous' ride along the canals and with view of the dykes coupled with a lively bike guide and a windmill, definitely a great experience. 


Fromage,cheese....








Listening to the guide


Granny bikes














After this we headed to a cheese and clogs store where we were treated to a cheesemaking demo and clog making demo. Clogs are wooden footwear that are like the traditional footwear of dutch, coming in various sizes,colours and designs. And presenting all this was the crazy dutchman (somebody stop him!) which was really entertaining. Oh and this is where they sell strupelwaffles. Waffle-like biscuits with caramel or something sweet inside that taste oh-so-good. And supposedly heavenly if you put it on top of a cup of coffee and let it meal.


The crazy dutchman demonstrating cheesemaking


and clogmaking







After dinner at the hotel, it was heading into the city centre of amsterdam, or rather the red light district, to see a sex show! After a brief tour of the red light district and a sex shop we finally got down to watching the show. The amstedam red light district has for long been a tourist attraction with glass windows showcasing prostitutes and basically really sleazy with sex shops around, urinals in the middle of the streets and lurking creepers.

The sex show was well - really bad and disgusting i must say even though it came with two drinks. It started off with a lady in leather (quite old) who stripped and later on asked a guy volunteer up on stage to 'humiliate' him. Next up was a really thin girl who did some pole dancing and then started puffing a cigarette with her pussy which was pretty amazing but somehow reminded me of chimneys. Then it was a guy and girl having sex on stage and changing positions but with the kind of face more like they were just doing their job than enjoying it ( but it was pretty disgusting just to see anyway), then we had more not very young ladies performing before this black tall guy came up on stage( a special for the contiki ladies). Then katie and amelie got picked to go up on stage and help him strip and rub stuff on him which was qt amusing but maybe disgusting for them. To round off we had this lady who were performing,got some guys up on stage to eat a banana she stuck in her pussy and to do some dancing with her before doing a sort of 'choo-choo train' dance on stage where a gigantic gorilla with a sticking out dick suddenly appeared out of nowhere and danced behind the last guy - who happened to be dane. That part has probably got to be the most entertaining though. The rest was pretty bad and disgusting but nevertheless still an experience. Now i know what a sex show in amsterdam is like...and i don't think i'll ever watch it again.

After the sex show we had our own free time to roam around so most of headed over to the grasshopper. Where the first two floors are like a bar and down below and where people take brownies,joints etc. When in amstedam do what the people in amstedam do so i ordered a brownie and had my first experience of drugs.Suprisingly the brownie was pretty good and tasted like a normal brownie though it certainly isnt with traces of marijuana inside and for beginners to try. Beginners are also advised to take half and wait half an hour before taking another half though i think my interval time was probably only about 20 minutes. Some others were smoking joints and i tried a puff and started coughing like mad (think a person trying to smoke for the first time) but i didn't like it though and safe to say now i more or less hate the smell of weed. Some of them were suprised i've never tried a joint before and i was saying how in singapore people either do heroin or extremely dangerous drugs or sniff glue and none of the people i know do them, anyway it's also very very serious if you are caught with drugs or anything along that line.

After this we wanted to head to a club or something so mel somehow got some dutch to lead us to a club in amstedam so the group of us just followed him and we more or less walked for like an hour before going to some supposed clubbing district but were rejected by 3 clubs because we were too big a group and they were probably afraid we were too rowdy(even though it was majority girls). So after getting rejected by 3 amsterdam clubs on one night, we all landed up in Mcdonalds before heading back to the hotel in cabs where along the way i finally felt the effects of the brownie (yes i know very lag). It makes you feel light and like as though you are floating but your head will be spinning even though im not sure if that's how you're supposed to feel.

Anyway someone mentioned about some law where from 1st June onwards no drugs will be sold to tourists so this may be the last time we can get to try such stuff( even though im not sure if the law is true or false).

31 May 2008
Today morning after breakfast we went for our canal bike ride where its basically a sort of boat where two people in front would pedal while two people or more will sit behind and rest/relax and changeover when the ones in front were tired. Anyhow i shared a boat with matt,shahira and dane and me and matt were the pedallers all the way and i was more or less sweating like crazy all along the way ( must be the brownie!) and the boat's turning gear was pretty hard to control which made maneuvring the canal-bike not so easy so initially we kept bumping into walls,other boats and facing the wrong direction and all that. But gradually it went well and with matt controlling it all i had to do was pedal pedal pedal and enjoy the scenery and view of amsterdam from the canals. We were supposed to switch over halfway through but pedal pedal we landed at anne frank's house - our destination. So dane and shahirah in effect were passengers all the way.oh well..but it was pretty tiring on the legs though.


Canal bikes!










Next we queued up to get into anne frank's house - one of the must sees of amsterdam which is a house turned musuem. This was where anne frank and her family hid during the nazi occupation of amsterdam. Living in hiding in the annex behind for years before finally they were betrayed and caught by the germans. The musuem presents how they lived,excerpts from anne frank's diary,exhibits of the rooms and hiding places and the feelings of the inhabitants and were all pretty interesting.
After lunch and some shopping in amsterdam where i saw the most beautiful store assistants ever (i swear i could have stayed in that shop for ages), we went back to the hotel to quickly get changed before heading out for our last contiki night on the tour. The evening started off with a canal cruise, a large boat that cruised around the canal coupled with snacks and drinks but of which everyone were more or less engrossed in taking pictures that noone really noticed that the guide barely said anything and noone really noticed the views from the canal cruise.




Evening cruise










the driver















After this was dinner at a floating chinese restaurant that also served indonesian food. And so me and john finally got the sweet and sour pork that we had been waiting for ages and once again more drinks! (By the end i had 2 beers and 2 glasses of white wine already) The meal was pretty good and came with fortune cookies where my fortune slip was something about going around praising others -_- And our table was the only table with chopsticks! On special request from john ahah. 




















Next up was a mad walk to a sort of 'farewell' to lexie and tim before we all boarded the tram and headed to some bar to chillax.(More drinks again!) before partying at a club in amsterdam - zebra which had house/techno below and not very good hiphop upstairs which only opened later on. 




























Not exactly a great contiki last night i must say though but hey we finally got into a club in amsterdam! Even though we did in such a way where we entered in groups and acted as though we didnt know each other until we were all in.

27 May 2008
After another amazing contiki breakfast, we set off the swarovski crystal museum which can certainly be classified as an amazing world by itself. You enter through a large green head with crystal eyes spurting water into a dark place full of crystals - a crystal horse, a wall of crystals, crystals on various exhibits and here and there. With each next room presenting new suprises, whether it's flying t shirts and jeans with jewels, a glittery river with jewels or a gigantic crystal globe that switches colour with psychedelic effects. Right at the end has got to be one of the biggest swarovski shops ever, with crystal pens,jewellery to crystals. 


Swarovski crystal musuem!









 





Check out the toilet with crystals on the mirror!

After this we stopped by vaduz,in the small country of lichiestein where he had lunch before heading off to the swiss city of lucerne. Switzerland - my favourite country since young! Lucerne is a city with a gigantic lake and many bridges and one of the more picturesque places in switzerland. In lucerne we visited a watch and swiss army knife store before chilling at a cafe and just lying on the grass. By now ive already more or less drank coffee from various countries in europe already! Germany,austria,switzerland,italy,france,spain.. Woot cappucino never tasted so goood.




En route to lucerne


The stone lion of lucerne (somehow it reminds me of narnia)


Lucerne







Later in the evening we arrived at our campsite in lauterbrunnen, which is the valley of the 77 waterfalls, so named for the many waterwalls surrounding the valley where the town is located. The camp itself is stunning, located below a waterfall with snow mountains at one side and green mountains on the other side - just like a painting. For dinner we started off with cheese fondue as our appetizer before our main course ( Who said contiki meals were bad? )






Cheese fondue!


Our chillout corridor

After that was pretty much a quiet night of 2 beers,a strongbow cider and redbull liqueurs. In the bar theres this target board where if you take the redbull liquer cap and shoot with your mouth and hit the target , you get free drinks or something along that line so you basically see ppl hitting the bottles, drinking up and then shooting to see if they hit the target. After that was just chilling out in the corridor - our chillout area for this campsite - before turning in for the night.
 
28 May 2008
Today we were supposed to pay 135 swiss francs to take a train up to jungfraujoch, the highest point in europe. However, with news of a whiteout where you can barely see in front of you, it wasnt adviced to go up as it would be a waste of our money. Also considering you cant do activities like skiing,dog-sleighing etc with a whiteout. Hencewise we settled on another alternative itenary for the day.

A number of us when to town and took a gondola up to a train station midway up with exceptional views all along and a gondola that is like a gigantic box that fits 100 but also slightly unstable where you can just imagine if everyone would to go on side, it'll be slanted and we'll all be looking at things at an angle. 

So we took a train to a small hillside town - a place called murren - where we were treated to breathtaking views of the snow mountains behind us. The closest you can get to a slow mountain with a whiteout up on jungfrau. 

Then it was waiting for another cable car down and more sightseeing along the way. On the way down we saw this wooden bridge that was the kind of swaying bridges you find in movies that look highly unstable and would break at any time but one of the people there had to mention that it's not completed so not for visiting yet - poop bubble burst






The train


The boys standing


And falling


The girls standing


And erm... falling

 

 



Contiki class photo


Chloe cant reach the handles!


  
3 of 77 falls





Next up was more looksee looksee before boarding a bus to trummelbach falls! Trummelbach falls is one of the waterfalls in lauterbrunnen but different in the fact that it's accessible by tourists and unlike the other falls that are outside and visible,trummelbach is like a waterfall located inside a mountain. Chilly with loud sounds of the water rumbling through and rushing down, the experience is totally exhilirating. 



Waiting for the bus


Trummelbach falls!


Hop john hop!







 













After this was a satisfying lunch of a gigantic veal sausage and lots and lots and lots of fries. Then a nice walk along flowers and cows all the way back to our campsite where after a short break, me,john,amy and chloe decided to go for some mini golf to pass time which was really fun! 


Veal sausage mit frites






Check out the cow bells on cows


Margaret!


John and the minigolf park dog


1st place - Amy, 2nd place - Chloe, 3rd place - Me, 4th place - John




Circle of deathhhhh




Spoooooon


Overhead spoon

After dinner was chilling out in the balcony before all of us headed down to the bar - the bomb shelter - where we pretty much played some circle of death and danced abit before someone suggested checking out the bar in town. Which really actually turned out to be a disappointment - but then again what can you expect from a bar in a small town a switzerland! So that or more less summed up the 2nd night in switzerland.

24 May 2008
Late morning, leaving the city of vienna, we headed to mathausen concentration camp - one of the largest concentration camps in austria during the nazi occupation of austria. We started off with a video on the atrocitieis committed by the nazis and the camp followed by a tour of the camp itself - the old gas chambers,the rooms,memorials etc. All these pretty much set a grim atmosphere as people reflected on the atrocities of hitler and the nazis during world war II  


War memorials at mathausen




Stairway to hell


The gates of mathausen






Gas chamber


Where the bodies are burnt








The pondering shot

Next up was Munich! Where along the way we topped by the sound of music town of Mondsee which the yellow church where apparently they got married in the film. Lunch at mondsee of a steak was exceptional and has got to be one of the best steaks i've ever eaten! 



We reached munich in the evening, just in time to catch the glockenspiel at 5. I was actually expecting something like a cuckoo clock with a bird or what to pop out but all you got was the figures on top moving in circles. Interesting but nevertheless kinda dissapointing.

 
Glockenspiel






After this we proceeded to one of the beerhalls in munich (not hofbrauhaus though) and were served with meals of either schnitzel or pork knuckle and then one litre mugs of a beer called hell. Throughout the meal we were also serenaded with music and dancers on stage coupled with a performance of sounds made from different cow bells which was really interesting. Then there was also the 'chicken dance' and of course some dancing. And not forgetting the constant call to cheers where we start singing 'aprosky aprosky.... ein zwi drei.. prrrost!! ' which after awhile got kinda irritating when you keep having to stand up and toast like countless amount of times. But overall a really great night nevertheless!  Das ish gud-ya!


Munich beerhall!

 




 




















Party bus pics!!

Back at the hotel it was partying back at the hotel bar down below! 

25 May 2008
The next day morning we were given time off to spend in the town centre of munich but being a sunday morning, everyone was more or less in church so no shops were open. Which pretty much left finding a cafe to sit and have breakfast as the only alternative available.  But we also had a chance to visit hopfbrauhaus - one of the most famous beerhalls in munich. If i ever do come back here thats where i'll go for bier.






Procession in munich on sunday morning




Hofpbrauhaus!





Next up was whitewater rafting in austrian tirol! This being my first time doing whitwater rafting i was extremely excited and it turned out to be a truly remarkable experience indeed! It was only grade 3 rapids but nevertheless the rapids still made it fun and the cold water constantly splashing on my face kept me wide awake and freezing. Hahah. And kat got thrown into the water 4 times by the guide! After the whole thing we were treated to a shot of schnapps which in a way did keep us warmer followed by for me - a bowl of hot goulash soup and bread! 









After whitewater rafting was then proceeding to our austrian tirol campsite in hopfgarten which is like a sort of contiki lodgehouse in actual fact. And after a great contiki dinner it was then followed up by the first P-partY!! Which was also where i got my embarassing moment on the trip. At the start of the P party there was this battle of the sexes competition and round 2 was about various sexual positions. Being an amateur at it and not knowing if i was the guy or girl i pretty much screwed it up in front of a crowd of girls and guys (makes you want to hide somewhere at that point). Shahirah with her pregnant belly certainly did much better at that.  The bar was pretty hot though so people kept stepping in to dance,step out in the cold air to chill and step back in again and so forth.But.... Another great contiki party night nevertheless!!


The shot board!


P Party 1












Timmay!!!

26 May 2008
The next morning after breakfast we went mountainbiking on a slight hungover. The front parts of the route at some points with the gravel paths and upslopes was slightly tiring (especially without any cycling done since eons ago), but some of the other parts were just cruising and enjoying the cool austrian air,listening to sound of the rivers and rapids by the side and getting marvelled by the beautiful mountains and greenery of the austrian outdoors. Definitely an experience hard to forget. For lunch was a BBQ lunch of sausages,potatoes and salad which was fannnntastic followed by more cruising down slopes,cycling through fields of flowers and back to the campsite. 

















Next up was driving up to this carpark of sorts where we met up with the paragliding guides and me being the first,the guide and me set off up the hill on a cablecar of sorts till we reached the top. Then while i went to the toilet in a small wooden 'cafe' at the top of the hill, he set up the parachute. Once geared up and good to go,that's where it starts. I'll run in front of him while he'll be running behind me and pretty soon you're running off the cliff and running on air but the feeling - albeit a tandem paragliding where you pretty much just sit and enjoy the view - was just incredible! And to add thrill, he did spins that just made you felt like you were having a rollercoaster ride high up in the austrian sky (okay actually is just 1500m). And when i landed i pretty much shocked everyone down below by shouting CONTIKI while rushing straight at them. just imagine all the Shocked looks on everyone. (o_o)



















Anyhow by this stage of the trip it was inevitable not to get the contiki cough with all the drinking and partying so after i reached back to the campsite me nat and shannon went over to town to shop (for cheap booze and for me to get my cough fixed at a pharmacy). What i got was some cough drops that tasted weirdly exactly like jaigermeister. Talk about cough drops tasting like alcohol. Oh wells. Then it was another great contiki dinner of turkey schnitzel and i definitely think the contiki meals at hopfgarten has certainly got to one of the best around already. 


booze...and nat's banana

Later at night was the 2nd P party which i didnt attend because i wanted to have an early night and take a break but i pretty hung around till everyone went down to the bar in their costumes and laird was trying to get everyone to do the gaydar test where a person will kneel on your floor (get on your knees!), place a lighter one hand distance away and try to push it over with the nose. The strange thing is no guy can do it except dane whos gay (thats why its called the gaydar test), and all girls can do it (if they can't their lesbians).hahah. But that was interesting to watch nevertheless.


Gaydar test!


which also tests for lesbians
 

22 May 2008
We reached vienna in the evening. Vienna - the capital of austria, the city of music, the cultural capital of europe. Starting with our first glimpse of the city centre of vienna, we then had dinner at a chinese restaurant where i had particularly salty food (or rather the most salty chinese food ive ever tasted), before heading to an old palace for a mozart and strauss concert. 






Performers up on stage

The mozart and strauss concert was by a small chamber ensemble consisting of 2 violins,a bass,a cello,and some wind instruments. But just listening to them play music by mozart and strauss (most of them familiar tunes) in a chandeliered hall that's part of an old viennese palace, complete with opera singers and dancers, has got to be one of the best experiences in europe. A classical music concert in vienna and certainly one of the best concerts ever! During the intermission we were given champagne (or sparkling white) and a talk on the history of the palace. 
Then it was back to our lodging in vienna - wombat's hostel.

23 May 2008
The next day in vienna started off with a city bus tour round the city centre of vienna before stopping off at marie therese statue to start off our walking tour that consisted of the hapsburg winter palace, a few monuments dedicated to WWII. Vienna is a city where things are most or less in rings and the main sights to see are in the inner ring which makes sightseeing easier. 


Marie therese statue












War memorial





After the walking tour we were given our own free time at the shopping area near St stephen's cathedral where we went for breakfast at a cafe (and to try out viennese apfelstrudel,coffee and sachertorte). After that was shopping along the area (where there were many H&Ms), before having lunch at a cafe where i had really good ribs! 
After lunch we went to visit St Stephen's cathedral and a waited to do a tour of the catacombs - consisting of the old and new ones with tombs,old pottery and sculptures and mass graves (but the bones in rome are still better). 
With time to kill we decided to walk over to the parliament square with the statue of athena facing away from the building (to symbolise the lies told in parliament), passing by the town hall on the way there. 





Coffee and apfelstrudel


the ribs!



 
St Stephen's cathedral












The town hall





Parliament



Next up was a visit to the schnapps musuem where this old guy whose family has been in the business for generations gave us a talk on schnapps and his family business before we had a tasting session where i pretty much tried everything. Start off with a red liquid called 'rocket fuel' which supposedly is supposed to cure itchiness in the throat with a breathe, and then to absinthe (drunk by putting a sugar cube on metal spoon over a glass of absinthe and pouring ice cold water over to get a cloudy greenish liquid so as to dilute it considering standard absinthe is like 60%), then down the line to peach,pear schnapps,a golden liquid with gold flakes inside,and then liquors that are like caramel,strawberry and vanilla,hazelnut versions of baileys. Apart from schnapps and all these alcohol,the place also sold shirts with interesting lines like 'if there is no absinthe in heaven,i'm not going' or 'the more you drink,the better you look, tomorrow i'll be sober and you'll still be ugly'
After this we visited schonbrunn palace - the summer palace of the hapsburg before heading to dinner at rieglerhutte.


At the Schnapps musuem


Absinthe!




Schonbrunn palace







Rieglerhutte is a restaurant set in the woods where we serenaded with music,provided with a meal served together with 2 drinks and pretty muched entertained by people 'sabo-ed' to go up. And at one point we had to sing our national anthem and being the lone singaporean i pretty much had to go up without any music backup and attempt to sing the majulah singapura.After dinner was dancing in the open space in the restaurant before once again - the party bus! 

















The anthem





Back at the hostel we chilled out for awhile before john,amy,donna,matt and i went for doner kebabs at a turkish kebab place down the street to end off the night.

20 May 2008
The next morning it was ciao roma and back to florence campsite to pick up timmay before heading into Verona - lexie and tim's special for us. Verona was where the inspiration for romeo and juliet came from and yes, where you can find juliet's balcony and the statue of juliet of which is supposed to give good luck when you touch her breasts in a certain way. But with rainy weather it certainly wasnt particularly a great day to be enjoying ourselves. And to make it worse wearing berms and slippers in rainy weather in italy was freezing cold. 


Raining in verona



Juliet's balcony


For good luck!


Cookie!



In the evening we reached venice campsite hoping it wouldnt rain the next day so venice wouldn't flood. And for venice i was a cookie! So it's on with the apron and up as a pasta server for me! After dinner was just some internet usage (5 euros for 1 hr - the most expensive ever!) and then watching circle of death again!

21 May 2008
The next day started off with a boat ride over to the main island of venice - which has got to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Then we went to venezian murano glass shop where we saw a demonstration of how glass was made followed by a lace demonstration. After this was our own time where we walked over to the market nearby the rialto bridge and had lunch around there before continuing with shopping in the markets, buying venetian masks,bling caps and ciao bella shirts for our tight and bright party later on at night. 


Cheapo boat ticket




Venice!

  
Riviera Del Leon

  




The flying rats of venice


Murano glass in the making






Rialto bridge






Venice is Sinking!!








Bling caps! Bling Bling!

  







  







After this was me and john and dave went to st mark's basilica, which had water all around outside. Venice is sinking!! St mark's basilica is located at one end of st mark's square - which is packed with pigeons or flying rats as some people call them. But the people around seemed to enjoy the pigeons and even let them climb all over them whilst most of us were like disgusted with it. 
After this was meeting up with the rest for a gondola ride around the canals of venice which is really spectacular and magnificent before heading back to the campsite. Back at the campsite we had a BBQ dinner with loads and loads of meat (thanks to meat from the girls for the guys table). After that me and dylan had a round of attitude adjusters before heading back to the cabin where dave called for a round of PT session consisting of push-ups to burn off the fats from the meat. Alright Pushups and alcohol.hahaha.


Let's get ready to Partay!



 













Next up was the tight and bright party where our tour group pretty much made a 'grand and colourful' entry for the night! Oh, and more attitude adjusters ( a cocktail of gin,rum,vodka,granada and orange)

19 May 2008
The next day we took the bus down to the train station where all of us squeezed into the train to get to the station near the vatican musuem. And forgetful me had to leave my camera on the bus that day.
And then what we found there was an extremely long queue that looked like it would take like 2hrs. Whilst queuing there were those people trying to sell tours that apparently lets you cuts the queue. Looking at the length of the queue and how the tour seems quite credible with their own office and certification and allowing us to cut the queue, a group of 12 of us decided to go with it. When we reached the office we paid and were given headsets whilst where after that we headed for a point in the queue. When we reached there they told us we were going to start queuing from here and that we had to wait for the rest of the people who signed up for the tour to arrive with the tour guide before we could continue. And at this point you really start to feel like it is a scam (and the rest of our contiki tour were already ahead of us in the queue). And some of us were thinking of going back to the office to get a refund and just join back the queue while some were saying like how they would smash the computers back in the office if it really is a scam. In the end since we were already in it and there we just decided to go with it but everyone was still pretty much pissed. And there was this lady who didnt seem to understand what we were saying and saying how we had to queue from here and all which made us feel even worse. Another guy on the side was like im australian, i know how you guys feel. But this is italy, trust me i know. 


Shots of the vatican musuem from johnny




 
  





Finally the rest of the tour arrived and we went in only to find out some of our headsets were either running low on batteries or flat and they couldnt manage to get any replacements for us so we just had to stick close to her. As the tour started and progressed we realised she's a really good tour guide, very informative and she really knows her stuff and we started to feel better as the time went on. And turned out the rest of our contiki tour didnt have any sort of tour so they were pretty much just roaming around. And with the sheer size of the vatican musuem - the courtyard of the cone,hall of the muses,the round room,tapestries room,raphael rooms and sistine chapel - it was certainly helpful to have a guided tour. 
The vatican musuem has got the one of the best musuems in europe, with really good paintings by great painters like raphael,michaelangelo just to name a few and just so much to see that you can pretty much just spend days in it. And with a guide you actually make meaning of some of the paintings over there. And that's when you really start to feel that despite the part that it felt like a scam at first, it was really worth it. 


Outside st peter's


Swiss guards


Inside St peter's basilica




After going through the magnificent sistine chapel we passed through a door leading to st peter's where we walked through the grotto/tomb situated underneath the basilica without realising it. This was where all the popes were buried and tombs of the popes were including the tomb of St peter. And it was only after going out did we realise that we were underneath the basilica even though i tried to convice the rest of it. And so after going out and making one big round we went back into the basilica to be amazed once again.
St Peter's basilica has got to the largest and one of the most magnificent churches in europe but you cant really compare churches in europe since each one has it's own style and is different in it's own right. But nevertheless the sheer expense of it and the frescos and various sculptures around is enough to impress anyone.


Our cheap pasta place


Secretly taken shots of the bones by matt




Inside the pantheon



After this we were supposed to meet up with the rest for our afternoon pickup but we decided to forgo it and head over to see the cappucin monk's bones instead or what we call 'the bones'. So we headed to a metro and along the way we met many black people selling fake gucci,prada,louis vuitton bags and once you look at one the rest will set up stall around you and you find yourself in a market. But just when shahira thought of buying one a police car came along and we were glad we weren't caught red handed buying fake goods. 
So we had lunch at this place selling really cheap pasta near the bones before heading to see the bones. When we got in we were totally amazed. The bones there were like arranged in patterns. Think flowers,wall patterns,lamps etc made up of various bones - pelvic bone,finger bones etc. Freaky but amazing nevertheless.
After that we went to see the inside of the pantheon but after seeing St peter's, somehow in pales in comparison. Before heading back to our campsite where we realised all everyone did was just have dinner and chill out. Which means we didnt really miss out on much.


Chilling!


Our own dinner


At the campsite nightclub




The worm dance

Later on at night the group of us had our own dinner at the restaurant in the bar before joining the rest at the nightclub over at the bar.Too bad they had no absinthe - a really really strong alcohol of which the highest we saw was 85%. But it was a great day nevertheless!

18 May 2008
The next day it was goodbye to Tim and then another driver took us over to the capital of italia - Roma! Tim had a break from the coach - some sort of coach free days thingy so we would only pick him back up on our way back. 
Anyhow we reached rome in the afternoon where we saw some of the sights of rome on the bus - Castel Sant'Angelo,Pnte Sant'Angelo,Capitol hill and capitol hill musuem,the victor emmanuel monument amongst others.
Then we were dropped off at the colosseum where whilst waiting, me,dave,john,shannon,laird and jay took the time we had to walk over to the Capitol hill musuem to get a closer look and back. Along the way we saw maps of the expansion of the roman empire on the wall, lots of buskers and a gladiator who took photos with us (it all started with dave challenging him with a water bottle). The gladiator made alot of amusing sounds and suprisingly charged very little for his 'services'. Now that's a good gladiator! 


Castel Sant'Angelo


The river tiber








Capitol hill museum


Circus maximus


Colosseum








When we returned back, everyone was still sitting outside waiting for our guided tour of imperial rome to start and so we headed to the maps on the walls place and waited again. Finally our guide appeared and we started the imperial rome guided tour from the roman forum where through the tourguide's information we were able to make sense of some of the rubble lying around - the rubbish the romans left as some people call it. The guided tour led us from the main square of the forum with a view of the arch of septimius severus, to the temple of julius caesar, the arch of titus and then the mighty colosseum beside the arch of constantine.


Listening to the tour guide

 
SPQR - Senatus Populus Qui Romanus




In memory of julius caesar




The massive colosseum, though less of it's former glory, was still extremely massive to behold and a wonder in itself. And through the guided tour we also learnt more of it, like how it used to be filled with water so gladiators could fight each other on boats, how they had a canopy they could deploy if it rained with many slaves pulling it at the same time from the outside,and how the emperor decided a man's life by a finger.












After the guided tour lexie brought us to the trevi fountain where we threw coins into it. Legend has it that if you sat at the fountain and threw the coins behind you, so that you would come back to rome again and for good luck. Then it was on to the spanish steps, piazza colonna with a large column dedicated to marcus aurelius, the pantheon (only a view from the outside), and then piazza navona with it's bernini fountains and cafes. 
After this we were given a short time to find our own dinner so me,amelie,nat,donna and dane went down the street and just sat at the first cafe we saw. And this has got to be the bestest meal ever! An italian waiter in a white and blue striped shirt, checkered tableclothes, heavenly lasagne,gnocchi and good white wine with appetizers of that tomato thingy. Perfect! 


At the trevi fountain




An extremely crowded spanish steps


The pantheon





Best Italian Meal ever!


View of the tiber in the evening

And then it was back to the campsite where i had my first break from drinking day after like 12 nights of drinking - and even though was supposedly a party going on that night organised by another tour.

16 May 2008
The next morning it was au revoir to france and buon giorno italia! Our first stop in italy was in pisa where you see people putting their hands against the tower in attempts to support/push the tower in photos. oh ho ho even though mine didnt really work out well. Requires the right angle and both your hands to be at the right place and all that. Then it was travelling on the campsite in florence - firenze, where we had a contiki dinner inclusive of lasagne! After dinner we went on our way to the red garter karaoke bar, where we caught our first glimpse of the beautiful city of florence on our way there. 


The cathedral of pisa with the leaning tower behind


Leaning on the leaning tower







Beer for the boys


















And the singing starts


Outside but it's not over...


Party bus!










Partying at the campsite bar






Circle of death!


Goodnight dave

At the red garter it started off with beer for the boys and then gigantic jugs of cocktails with extremely long straws then as the mood started to go up, people started singing at the karaoke station and the rest started dancing. Even when we left the place the mood was still high and everyone was still pretty rowdy but we were told to be quiet in case people threw their piss on us for being noisy. Oops! But back on the margaret the bus - it was a total party bus. Tim was playing good songs and people were just dancing in the middle of the bus,with people doing flips and turns, basically just everyone enjoying theirselves and having a good time on the bus. Once we reached the campsite, it still wasnt over so a group of us went up to the camp bar and danced away - on tabletops, on the floor, what-not before some of us went to the cabin for a round of circle of death with liquor bought by david - just before the store closed. A fabulous party night!

17 May 2008
The next morning it was back into the city centre where we went to leonardo's leather works. Over there we were shown how leather is made,how to tell fake and real leather apart (Look for the suede!), and some talk about cows being fireproof or not. After that we were given time to shop around and buy leather goods or silver goods. Where i walked down the street and found a shop selling really nice silver jewellery that i bought for my sisters. Silver jewellery from florence in pouches with the insignia of florence - how appropriate! After roaming around it was then meeting up with the rest of the group at the big piazza where the police where holding a sort of anniversary celebration so there were all sorts of police uniforms,police vehicles,boats etc. Then we started on our tour of florence visiting the statue of david outside(the real one is inside),some other stone sculptures,the ufizi with sculptures of leonardo da vinci etc outside,ponte vecchio the famous bridge of florence and so often in postcards,a market,and then the duomo which has a beautiful facade of pink,green and white that somehow blends in perfectly.The interior is also stunning with a large fresco on the dome which is beautiful to behold. However beautiful florence was and however informative the guide was, it was just too hard to listen with myself falling asleep no thanks to a late night before, so i more or less had trouble trying to even stay awake.




Hungover people


Leonardo's leather works


At the police anniversary



   


Ponte Vecchio






Duomo


The fresco in the duomo

After that was our own free time so we went for lunch at a pizzeria just opposite the duomo before climbing the 500+ or more steps to the gallery where you can view the fresco on top of the dome up close and then further up to the top of the dome where you can catch scenic views of florence from up there.



Lunch in florence!


At the top of the duomo


Mel and marijke's poncho

Then it was back to the campsite to get changed before heading out to florence city centre for group photo taking before a going tuscan restaurant where we had vino(red wine),entrees of some tomato on bread thingy,salad,pasta of fusilli and spaghetti,meat and potatoes,dessert and then limoncello - an italian liquor made from lemon and grappa.


Views from our photo sight




Statue of david up on the hill


Our tuscan dinner








After that was space discotheque in florence where we encountered many sleazy italians trying to take advantage of the girls so most people didn't stay long,before heading back in cabs that drove at like 100km/h and made you feel like you were in some sort of crazy taxi through florence(or at least mine did!)

14 May 2008
On the way to the french riviera, we stopped by the city of arles where a roman amphitheatre was located. We only had time for a small meal and coffee during which david related his experience of getting robbed the night before after clubbing where he lost his phone and camera and advised everyone to be careful. Losing your laundry in paris including one sock, getting robbed in barcelona and getting shat on by a bird in arles - how unlucky can one get? So we reached arles and found a cafe by a backstreet and had a good meal and very good coffee before heading to our campsite in the french riviera which is located in antibes. At night was pretty much just a few beers at the bar and listening to laird's travel stories of south america and some of the travels by lexie our tour guide to eastern europe. Oh man how i really which i could go to all these places!!


At the cafe in arles




David and his shit

15 May 2008
Today was pretty much boy's day so the group of us guys took a train to cannes where it was the first day of the international film festival where we pretty much walked around and soaked up the atmosphere. Having a coffee in a cafe in cannes,a beer in front of the hotel martinez,lunch of duck breast and pepper sauce(for me) and pizza or pasta and a beer,and then walking round looking at big boats and mega-yachts of the rich and famous, even spotting some lady in green with lots of cameras in front of her and she waving her hands about - some star that i can't recognize. So over at cannes for us was pretty much a day of chilling,soaking up the atmosphere,big boat sighting and people watching. Boy's day - Boats,Booze,Hot cars and hot girls. 


Waiting for the train


View from the station




Coffee in cannes


Lunch at cannes


Big boats


French riviera


View from above


Monte Carlo Casino


Monaco grand prix!


Living it up in monaco!

In the afternoon we took a train ride back to the campsite and then took a bus up to monaco. Passing by the beautiful beaches of nice and gorgeous views of the french riviera from above on our way up. At monaco we were constantly reminded of the upcoming f1 grand prix with signs,advertisements etc. We reached the palace and had walked around before taking a group shot and then heading back down where we boarded the bus to head into monte carlo - where we had a look at the grand casino before some of us went into this bar with views of the casino and where cocktails were like 13 euros, to have one is to really live it up in monaco!

13 May 2008
In the morning after breakfast we went on a city bus tour of barcelona visiting sights like palau guell on montjuic, the olympic stadium and onuments,the magic fountains,the unfinished sagrad familia by gaudi,stopping at the sagrada familia for photo shots. A really big building with cranes which signifies the ongoing building going on, sagrada familia depends on donations for completion and is not expected to be completed until 2050. A building that gaudi would never get to see completed. After the city bus tour we got off and went on a tour of the gothic quarter, barri gotic where we saw the cathedral of barcelona and a trio of musicians who are suprisingly good for street-side buskers, complete with their own CD. After this was our own free time in barcelona so it was shopping through la ramblas for us where zara shops are seriously everywhere. in one street alone you can have two gigantic zaras and lots of other stores including bershka - a store in europe which sells cheap and good clothing. We also went through el corte ingles, an extremely big department store before landing up at place de catalunya just to relax and take a rest from all the walking and shopping. 





Sagrada Familia


The 3 talented buskers


Gothic quarter


Shopping at la ramblas

After that was a pickup to a place where we watched our flamenco dancing. Flamenco dancing is a traditional spanish dance that is really interesting to watch and involves tapping of the feet,clapping amongst other things. Alongside we were also provided with sangria and tapas whilst mesmerised by the beautiful dancers and their dance moves. Then some 'unlucky' ones like me were picked to go up on stage by the dancers to follow what the dancers were doing before some guys and girls were called up to dance with each other with directions from the emcee. ie guys stand behind and thrust their hips forward while the girls in front thrust their hips backwards - you get the idea. To round off all the entertainment was a mass dance but the evening was not over yet! Remember, when a girl is hot you say Ole wopa! when a guy is hot you say Ole wopo! Ole Barcelona Flamenco!


Flamenco!


Unlucky guy on stage


Guys and girls dancing by the emcee's directions


Port Olimpic


Dinner


Olimpic Bar


Some of the rest with nikki










After this we were dropped off at port olimpico where we had a dinner of pasta,pizza before some of us decided to stay on for partying at bar olimpico - recommended by nikki our contiki site rep for barcelona and where contikians get drinks at a discounted price. All cocktails and shots at 5 euros and beers at 4, which in europe is already considered a bargain. So i had a jagerbomb for the first time, which is in effect jagermeister in red bull,tequila and then long island tea( the strongest ive ever tasted since it was virtually all alcohol) .woot! At first we were the only ones there but after some time more and more people started to file in and i partied all the way till like 2 something before heading back and then realising my room-mate dane was still out there partying. So without a bed and keys to my room i went to brooke's room where i just sat on a chair and slept, refusing to sleep on shannon's bed even though she was still out partying. Eventually when chloe and amy returned( they din spot me at first), they encouraged me to sleep on shannon's bed also till i finally conceded. After who knows when, 5+ or so, shannon finally came back which means dane was back too and so i went back to the room - suprised to find the two beds in the room both filled up. So pretty much everyone was sleeping on other's people's beds that night.hahaha

11 May 2008
The next day after breakfast was getting ready for our lunch picnic at the top of the world where a group of 8 would share a picnic basket with bagutte,ham,cheese,tomatoes,fruits,chocolate and water and rosé bought by dane. And so given a map ( proven again not to trust contiki directions), we set out to find the top of the world of which along the way alot of people just took different routes,some longer,some shorter and some not even going up. It was a pretty rough and tiring walk all the way up with rocky areas at some points,'we are going nowhere' feeling at times and then a view at the 'top of the world' which while spectacular, wasnt really what we expected after sweating all the alcohol and going through stones and tracks with slippers and a picnic basket. But nevertheless we took a rest at the top where we took our 'Contiki magazine shot' and enjoyed some rosé before heading back down for a picnic at a grass patch and shadier place down below. 




The trek up


Our Contiki magazine shot


Dane's rosé


After our picnic

Soccer!


Cards


and monopoly 

After our nice picnic lunch we headed back to the campsite where we pretty just chilled and relaxed before i joined in for a game of soccer. Alas the weather didnt permit and it started to rain so we went indoors and landed up playing cards indoors - shithead,crazy 8,rummy,president etc all the way till dinner and then continuing with cards after that, proceeding to the boy's room once the place closed. 


Pont du gard


Circle of death


Matt the gamemaster



12 May 2008
The next day after breakfast on our way to barcelona we had a stopover at pont du gard, a roman aqueduct dating from ages ago. After some photos and lunch it was then further on our way to barcelona campsite where we were greeted by contiki site reps and then treated to a welcome drink of sangria and tapas which was really really good. Then it was dinner of spanish food - think tortillas! before everyone brought out their drinks they had bought earlier from the supermarket and matt introduced Circle of death - a really really funny drinking game just to watch. Then the games proceeded indoors where the sounds of arr you be drinkin' became yeeha fuck geedi-up fuck drink fuck..

 

10 May 2008
The next day, after breakfast and paying 5euros for a lost key (15 euros split between 3 people! they should have told us beforehand that we needed to pay!), it was au revoir to paris and making our way to the beaujolais wine region where one of contiki special stopovers - chateau de cruix - was located. 


Fountainbleu


The stairs


The big lake behind

Along the way we stopped over at fountainbleu, a small town where napoleon's palace was located. The palace of napoleon and josephine where people would make use of the steps there to play napoleon and josephine. Where napoleon on the way back from some of his battles would order josephine not to shower for a few days so he could smell the sweet smell of success -_- It's a pretty big palace with a big lake behind (with gigantic fishes and algae) and a really big park. And this is also the place where leigh got john west (Our tour mascot) from, for the beach party at the chateau that night.
Back on margaret on our way to the chateau was each and everyone's first try and introducing ourselves to the entire bus and a mention of a fact or embarassing story so when i came down to my turn, i just related the most recent one which was the parisian train story. Which in a sense was pretty embarassing. A guy crossing his legs in parisian metro and giving a constipated look in front of his friends which were mostly girls. *blush*  




Chateau de cruix!


View from the room window


Wine tasting


Listening


Smelling the wine


à la votre, à la notre, Fromage!


Eau de vie

Finally we reach the wine regions of beaujolais with many green hills,wineyards,orangey houses scattered all over and a really lush and green scenery to behold. Located on a high-ground in the midst of it is where we'll be staying for the two nights - chateau de cruix - contiki's very own chateau! *excitement excitement* So we start to unload off margaret and explore our rooms (new roommates again!) which is considerably big.Once again fits four but only filled with 3 and with a window with a view of vineyards. Swwweet. Then it was down to wine tasting at some shed in the chateau where we learnt about wine tasting and the various types of wines they had available. Fromage! ( Our group's answer to cheers after a confusion between nat and lexie with nat thinking lexie was askin what's french for cheese rather than cheers, thus fromage was born! ) à la vorte, à la notre, fromage! And the beaujolais red wine has got to be my favourite red wine of all time. I personally hate red wine and prefer white,but this is suprisingly light and easy and slightly fruity and so really good to drink. Then theres also eau de vie - some clear liquid with a snake(or something like that) in it that we didn't really get to try.  







The debut of john west!








After the wine tasting was a contiki dinner again which was absolutely delicious. Salad, some tomato thingy,ribs with fries and a dessert. And after dinner was chilling out alittle before the beach party at night at the cave!

9 May 2008
After missing out on our evening tour of paris the night before, we had our first contiki breakfast before we set off from the campsite to the city centre early in the morning for the first half of our paris city tour on the bus which included various sights such as notre dame,the spire of sainte chapelle,the louvre,musee d'orsay,ecole militaire,napoleon's tomb,sorbonne,grand palais and the eiffel tower amongst others, dropping off at the eiffel tower for a whole day of sightseeing. 


La tour eiffel





napoleon's tomb and les invalides


By the river seine finishing our lunch


place de la concorde


arc du carousel


the louvre


inside the louvre


notre dame


the stained glass in notre dame

The eiffel tower opens at 9.30am but by 9am there's already a large crowd and long queues so instead of waiting in line with the rest, we decide to forgo going up the eiffel tower and spend time on other sights. So we walked over from the eiffel tower down parc du champ de mars to ecole militaire and then further down to napoleon's tomb before heading across the river seine to place de la concorde, where the devil wears prada fountain is and a big obelisk with a gold tip. From there we walk through the tuileries gardens and pass by the arc du carousel all the way to the louvre, where we walked around trying to find the underground alternative entrance aside from through the pyramid, which turned out to be a confusing walk from one side of the subway station to the other side of the track. You can see the look of relief on everyone's faces when we FINALLY reach the underground shopping mall which houses the entrance to the louvre musuem. Yay! Then it's a walk through the denon wing of the louvre musuem where we saw beautiful gold carvings and paintings on the ceilings,lots of stone sculptures,paintings,venus de milo stone sculpture,mona lisa,lots of people and artists trying their hand at painting paintings by other painters. By then you could see the look of fatigue on everyone's faces after all the walking so we walked along the river seine again till we found a cafe in a backstreet where we had a lunch of sandwiches. A ham and cheese baguette may not seem like one but a french baguette with melted cheese(fromage) and ham(jambon)  is absolutely delicious. After our lunch of sandwiches,coke and water was a walk to ile de cite where notre dame was located. Notre dame which is french for Our lady, has got to be one of the most beautiful buildings in europe, the intricate details on the doors, the gothic arches and naves and the large and imposing interior with beautiful stain glasses. Definitely somewhere i would want to come back to. After notre dame i wanted to go visit sainte chapelle for the famous stain glass but the queue was crazily long so we headed back to musee d'orsay for our afternoon pickup back to the campsite. But the we had to walk all the way along the length of the louvre and we secretly cursed why the louvre was sooo big. And i still cant believe king Louis the XIII the sun king found the louvre too small and relocated to versailles.
 


sacre coeur

On the way back we had the 2nd half of our city tour where we saw champs-elysees,arc de triomphe and opera garnier on the way back. Places we didnt have a chance to visit by foot ( That's what contiki is like, more of a glimpse of a city so you know whether you would want to come back and what you want to see when you come back). Then it was back to the campsite to change before heading back past the red light district and to the montmatre area where whilst the rest went for their contiki optional dinner, me,dane,amelie,natasha and catherine climbed all the way up to sacre coeur for magnificent views of paris and to look inside the church before finding a nice cafe at a sidestreet where we had a 3 course french meal and french onion soup!! 



Outside moulin rouge


At nouvelle eve

Then it was meeting up with the rest of the group at moulin rouge before heading to a parisian cabaret show at nouvelle eve which really worth it. The parisian cabaret show wasnt just a show of exposed boobs but a show with colourful costumes,singing,dancing,a lady whos at least 50 spinning around and balancing on a rope from the ceiling,a performance by a really funny acrobat who's like some sort of crazy einstein/clown/acrobat all in one, and dance performances by some of our own contiki people coupled with champagne. One of the european experiences on this trip im glad i managed to do!


Drinking again!
After this amazing show it was then back to the campsite for a round of drinks with dave,john and megan at the bar before following dave with a torch to check out on the germans who apparently stole his laundry,

8 May 2008
Today's the start of the 25day Contiki European Escapade and this day reserves the right to every bit of excitement! A busload of canadians,australians,one brazilian,one south african,one singaporean,three koreans and one chinese on the start of their tour around europe.In the morning we weigh our bags and load it up on to the bus and bide farewell to london and wait to say bonjour paris! We leave london on the coach full of anticipation and excitement to dover. Where all along the way we see the beautiful english countryside of green and yellow up till dover where the looming white cliffs of dover greet us. The cliffs are white because they are of limestone or chalk however you wish to call it and they are absolutely... white. 


the white cliffs of dover!

So we wait for our ferry which was delayed and visit this building which has coffee,burger king and toilets. Yep, i still havent paid to use a toilet in europe yet! Anyhow on the way through customs Deon the south african or saffer on the tour realised his passport was missing so he was detained by the british customs and denied access onto the ferry with his tour (but his passport was later on found in the hotel room between the bedrest and mattress even though he missed out like an entire day of sightseeing in paris)


Another ferry and the white cliffs


Me and white cliffs

Finally we all manage to load onto the ferry or rather margaret the bus manages to get on it, and we start to explore this immensely huge vessel. With a foodcourt, seating areas indoors,an arcade,bar,shops,massive carpark and viewing deck with a really good view of the white cliffs of dover and white seagulls in flocks that can come really close, you can't help but be impressed by the ferry and the view it offers. 
After close to 2hrs on the ferry,we finally load off together with margaret into calais - our gateway to france! Bonjour France & goodbye Britain!


French countryside


Bienvenue a paris!


Our cosy cabins that fits 4 and comes with a bathroom

Then it's a really really long long bus ride to paris campsite - the first contiki village complete with contiki site reps that we are going to be staying at. Along the way they pass down roomlists where people can randomly put their names down and room with anyone and i got john and dave as my roommates! An aussie,british and singaporean sharing a cabin! The cabins are small but comes with an inbuilt bathroom and windows so we won't die in there. Anyway we were invited into the campsite with a welcome drink of pink champagne and escargot! With some girl maid to wear a french hat and have moustache drawn on her.oooh la la.Oh wait. or hor hor! So it turns out that after our welcome session the only french everyone could say was bonjour! oor hor hor! Then it was a dinner with the first cookies and dishies helping out - Contiki dinner cooked by contiki chefs and prepared by contiki cookies and cleared by contiki dishies. or hor hor!
After a few rounds of beer and some 13% alcoholic shit - the strongest we could find in the bar, i was off to paris centre to see the eiffel tower, albeit in a half-drunk state.




The eiffel tower from trocadero




So a half-drunk me and some others were given 'contiki directions'( trust me it isnt really good) to the train station where along the way we met an old lady with an wooden leg who said it wasnt far (i wonder how we believed her). So we finally reached the train station and took a metro in search of the eiffel tower. At this point after all the drinking i needed the toilet but it was really difficult to find one on the train and on the way to it so i had to cross my legs and bear with it all the way till we reached trocadero where this old man said he lived and had wonderful views of the eiffel tower. Finally we reached trocadero and i rushed out only to find out from the old man that theres no toilet nearby so i had to piss in a side street in trocadero with a view of the eiffel tower! Sacre mer! But the view of the eiffel tower at night from trocadero is definitely captivating - even though being half drunk that night all i remembered was a metro ride and a blurry but imposing eiffel tower complete with changing colors of lights. After that was a long metro ride and a long walk back to the campsite where the rest were having a party (which was due to the fact that our evening sightseeing tour of paris was cancelled due to the ferry delay and some european driving laws rules for tim). Then it was bon nuit to paris!
 

7 May 2008
The metropolitan city of london - the gateway to europe where most people considering the cheapest flights to europe fly to london. London was the first stop for me and from the very moment i stepped off my British Airways flight into Heathrow terminal 4 was when a whole new experience started for me. 
First off was the immigration and customs officer in heathrow who somehow had a question too many to ask, some of which i even believe are irrelevant. Questions like what are you here for,where are you going after london,what tour is it,did you or your parents pay for it,where did you get the money,how old are you etc. I think i actually spent more than 10 minutes just answering questions at the counter. 


The way to the tube!

Then it was orientating myself to where the tube station was and getting on it to head over to russell square. I've taken the MRT in singapore which is a london tube equivalent but the experience was different in the people you saw and the different stations and the train in itself being built differently (maybe smaller). So i reached russell square really early and more or less just loitered around the hotel until when i was supposed to meet amelie,natasha,catherine and angela. And after that was our london hop-on hop-off tour! 


Us on the bus! (Photo grabbed from amelie)

Our Hop-on Hop-off tour by Original tours essentially let us travel around london in open top buses (with or without live commentary) and you can basically get on or stop whenever,whereever you want. And its really good cos you more or less get to see the various sights of london all in a day - tower bridge,tower of london,westminster abbey,big ben,buckingham palace,the various parks,trafalgar square etc. So we basically rode around and get off at buckingham palace where they were having some queen's event with lots of people with big hats,army uniforms,suits and all that ( Probably all the big shot of england and boy would i love to be one of them). And so filled with envy we continued on the bus to green park where we posed on beach chairs at the park before continuing on to the start point for the free thames river cruise that came with the big bus tour. A lunch of hotdogs and crepes( Apple and cinnamon crepe!) and we were on our way to a nice relaxing cruise down the river thames with a commentary by one of the boat crew. With view of sights like tate modern,tower of london,london bridge,tower bridge,eye of london,big ben etc. It was certainly well worth it. Then it was a bus ride all the way back to royal national to relax and take a shower in our rooms while we wait for the CONTIKI pre-tour briefing in the evening. 

            
Outside buckingham palace



At Victoria monument


      
In front of tower bridge



In a red london phone booth

          
Westminster Abbey



On the thames river cruise


    
View of the thames river      



House of lords and big ben


At the pre-tour briefing, i was pretty much suprised by the big turnout! Apparently we had a full tour and it certainly wasnt evident on facebook! Anyhow after getting the administrative stuff settled dane brought us to this place called ultimate burger for dinner and their burgers are HUGE! And tasty too! Like a Gigantic Big MAC but even tastier. Yumm. Then it was chlling and the first night of drinking over at the pub at royal national. Us,johnny,leigh,katie and becca together with two south africans from another tour. Clinton and Deon. Deon's my room-mate for the night and a great guy. And i must say Magners Irish cider is really really good! 


Nat and her ultimate burger



Chilling out at the royal national pub

Then it was to bed and to prepare for the start of contiki the next day!