Euro Trip!!!

DAY 13: ROME

2007-03-26T23:01:00.001-07:00

Our last day! We had to make it the best. Today was exhausting, fun, and lots of walking. I got to see a few places in Rome I hadn’t before, which was exciting. We went the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, then St. Peter’s Basilica. Just breathtaking. I saw many paintings and sculptures that I studied in my art history class this quarter.

The famous “Creation of Man” scene by Michelangelo on the Sistine Ceiling was amazing. We went to Spanish steps, which weren’t as impressive as before when I had seen them because there was construction in front of them. Shortly thereafter, we went inside the Pantheon, which I hadn’t seen before. The top of the Pantheon had a big hole open to the sky that Pete told us our Contiki bus could fit through.

Gelato was next in line, a requirement of course. We did some little errands, like the internet café, picking up cards for our Tour Manager and Driver, then did some shopping. After meeting with the big group, we had dinner at a restaurant which overlooked the Collosseum! Yummy food too.

Back at the hotel, we had a toga party!! We all got dressed up in sheets and went downstairs to exchange our Contiki compadre gifts. My Contiki compadre was Alvaro, and I had gotten him a glass plate from Venice, famous for their Verano glass. I got the award for best packer, because my suitcase was the smallest out of the whole group. I found out my Contiki compadre was Marian, who I had been hanging out with all along and I didn’t know! She got me a cute t-shirt that says “Ciao bella” with a matching hat. After that, we were all just hanging out in the hotel rooms and saying goodbye to people as they left to take the bus to the airport. I said my goodbyes and I was off to the airport with all the So-cal peeps for a long plane flight ahead of me.

Reflecting upon my trip, it was a great experience and I would love to do it again!!! I met some really cool people and will actually be taking a trip to New Zealand with Contiki in the summer of 2007! And I will get to reunite with some of the people I met on my Contiki Europe trip. YAY. Hope you enjoyed reading. Peace out.

DAY 12: ROME

2007-03-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

On our long drive to Rome, we stopped in San Gimignano in Tuscany. The views were spectacular! I really love the countryside here. We walked around the small town and bought some more gelati.

Once in Rome, we had one last tour, which was called the Imperial Forum walking tour where we got to see the Collosseum and Roman ruins. I had already seen these before when I went to Italy and Greece my junior year of high school, so it was just a basic recap for me. Pete then guided us to the Pantheon and Trevi fountain, where we had more gelati! We made a wish at the Trevi fountain and made our way to dinner, which was pasta and mushrooms. It was absolutely delicious!

DAY 11: FLORENCE

2007-03-26T22:59:00.000-07:00

This morning, we left to Leonardo’s Leather Shop to see a demo of how to distinguish real leather from fake leather. Pretty interesting. I love the smell of leather! After a Panini with Marian, Rachael, and Kathryn, we had the first walking tour of the trip. We walked to the Pecchio Bridge, which we learned was the only bridge that was not bombed in World War Two. After more exploring through the streets of Florence, we had more gelati!

That night, we got all dressed up to go to dinner. First we took the Contiki group picture with the Piazza Novana in the background. Then we arrived at La Certosa, a cute restaurant with great food! I even took a picture of my plate. I had a few glasses of wine, and was feeling it…a lot. There was some dancing and an opera singer even performed for us! I danced with my suave friend Ricky and it was tons of fun! The opera singer was also fantastic. Also, I went to the bathroom precisely FIVE times throughout the dinner because I had so much water/wine, and the last time I went was when everyone was about to leave. So after I came out from the bathroom, I went back to my table to get my purse, and I didn’t see it, and I was kind of freaking out because it had my passport and camera in it. I got on the bus and asked if my friends had it and they said Jessica did, thankfully. Phew.

After that little adventure, we headed to the Space Electronica Dance Club!!! SOOO MUCH FUN!! The night started off with some beer being spilt all over my heels. That was pretty nasty…twas a sticky night, haha. Didn’t keep me from dancing though! We danced and danced and danced, quite a nice workout. It was a pretty fancy dance club too, with all these huge TV screens all around, and a balcony. FUN NIGHT!!

DAY 10: FLORENCE

2007-03-26T22:55:00.000-07:00

Most of today was spent on the coach, with a few stops in between. Around lunchtime, we stopped at Autogrill, which becomes a frequent service stop for our group. I ordered a Rustichella, which was basically a turkey and cheese Panini. A few hours later, we were surprised with a visit to the LEANING TOWER OF PISA!! I walked around with my best buds, Marian and Rachael and took pictures, having fun trying to match up my friends’ hands with the tower to make it look like they were holding up the tower. I was a photographer for my high school yearbook, but it took me a few minutes to adjust my camera. Next to the tower there are shops that sell souvenirs, and there are also men walking around selling fake watches and other jewelry. Many of them came up to me to try and get me to buy something off them, but I just said no and they didn’t bother me too much after that.

After arriving in Florence, everyone was muy hungry and a small group and I went to a small restaurant overlooking the Pecchio bridge at sunset! By far the best food I have had on my trip. The service was also great too. I had noodles with ham, mushrooms, and cream, and a glass of white wine to complement. YUM.

Later that night we went out as a big group to the RED GARTER, which is a bar and karaoke place. This was the place to be. I had tonsssssssssssss of fun. After some red wine (can’t have enough wine in Italy), we danced to karaoke singing, which a lot of my Contiki friends did. A 23 year old Albanian guy named Adrion asked to dance with me which was exciting, but then he couldn’t speak English (or Spanish) so my other friend Alfio, who speaks Italian, had to translate for me. It was good while it lasted. He offered to buy me a drink, but I didn’t want to drink more so I kindly refused.

Later, when walking back to the hotel, we stopped for some gelato. There are all of these dark-skinned men selling fake purses, which are all setup under white sheets on the ground. On the way back, we heard cops coming down the street, and we saw the men selling the purses hurriedly pick up their sheets and hide in some alleyways. It is illegal in Italy for them to sell on the street so they were hiding. Thoroughly entertaining to watch them scramble.

DAY 9: VENICE

2007-03-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

The rain began an adventurous day as the group hopped off the coach to take the boat to Venice. This is the only way we were able to get to the city, as it is known for flooding 70 times a year! There were ponchos ready to purchase and we looked amazing with them, as you can probably imagine. After arriving, we walk around San Marco square only to see thousands of pigeons, otherwise known as “flying rats” by our Tour Manager. Masses and masses of pigeons covered the ground everywhere and flying overhead. I was extremely glad to have my poncho on at that time…

Soon, the weather cleared up and it became very sunny! YAY! In the San Marco square, we were able to see the Doges Palace, Campanile tower, and the San Marco Basilica. The group went to see a glass-blowing demonstration, which was really interesting. A man showed us how to make a glass cat from scratch using a glass blower. Then, we went into the room with all of the glass materials they had available to buy. Everything was so shiny and colorful!

I decided to “get lost” in Venice with Marian and Jeff, two of my pals. One thing I love about Contiki is that they don’t really take you on guided tours, short ones if any. Pete told us to explore the city, which makes the trip feel more like we are on our own, but at the same time we also have the comfort of knowing we have a group to go back to, which is nice. Our little group first visited the famous Rialto Bridge, which had a great view of Venice. Although I had left my camera battery in the hotel, Jeff was able to take some good pictures. We found some lunch, which was an amazing, better-than-words-can-say turkey Panini. Wow, I will probably never eat a Panini of that taste value again.

While getting lost and having random fun, we come along to the original ghetto. It was a very quiet square, partitioned off from surrounding buildings, and had a synagogue within.

Fun fact: The city of Venice is in the shape of a goldfish.

Of course, a requirement in Venice was to get gelato; my favorite kind is tiramisu and chocolate. You don’t know me until you know I am an obsessive chocolate lover!! The gelato was incredible.

The three of us met up with the big group again to see a lace making place, which is the last handmade lace location left that is subsidized by the government. Next, the GONDOLA RIDE!!!!!! 6 of us were allowed on each gondola. Combining a gondola, 6 friends, and white wine is one of the best things. The man who held the gondola pole told us that the water level is usually .5 meters and that today it is 2 meters high. So, when we were going under a bridge, my whole group actually had to lean to one side so that the gondola would fit! It was kind of exciting because it felt like the whole thing was going to tip over.

After making another trip for gelato, we had dinner at a nice little Venetian restaurant! I liked everything there besides the sea bass, which was whole and I’m not used to seeing a whole fish on my plate…I don’t like when it seems like the fish is looking at me with an ubiquitous gaze (I learned that in art history, haha.) During dinner, I got the opportunity to talk with Luke, who works at a running specialty shoe store. Since I am a runner, he recommended some running shoes, which I am extremely grateful for now because my knee problems went away completely! (Asics GT 2110) More wine and pie for dessert left me very satisfied!

On the boat ride back to the mainland, everyone was pretty buzzed and was singing and acting pretty stupid. It was fun though. On the bus ride home, I bonded with Jeff then went to bed as soon as we got back to the hotel. Long, but incredibly great day.

DAY 8: AUSTRIA

2007-01-01T15:01:00.000-08:00

August 2^nd, 2006, Wednesday

Today was a big day! This morning, we got up bright and early to go WHITE WATER RAFTING!!! Personally, this was the most exciting event of the trip. We were told the river we were going to be in was 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees F)! AAH cold! Even for someone who is not a Southern Californian, this temperature is pretty darn chilly! Not to worry though because the rafting company prepared us. Over my swimsuit, I put on a wet suit, booties, a cover up, life jacket, and a helmet. You can imagine all of us looking super sexy, of course. Here we are!

We split into rafts, and I volunteered to be in the front! There were 8 people on our raft, including our guide. No sorry, they don’t let you plunge down the rapids by yourself (good thing)! Before getting in the water with the raft, our guide, Marcus, told us to go jump in the water. We all thought he was crazy for a couple seconds then realized he was serious! So, me being the one-foot-at-a-time kind of person, I slowly walked into the water. Then, I see Geoffrey come running towards me, and I am pushed into the freezing cold water against my will! Ya know that feeling when you gasp for breath because the water is so cold?? Yea, that happened to me. It was pretty exciting though. I recovered then went back to carry the raft into the water.

Marcus (our guide), told us the rapids we were doing were levels 2 and 3 (the highest is 5). So, not too hardcore, but just enough to get your heart racing fast. After we had gone over a couple rapids, he challenged us by telling us to do certain things on the raft. He first told us to stand on top of the outer ring of the raft by holding onto everyone next to us in a big oval circle. Even though I’m pretty good at balancing, it was surprisingly very hard! No one fell off luckily. After a while, we all got on the outer ring of the raft once again and let go of the people around us as Marcus had told us to. So, there we were, balancing on top of a raft while the strong current was taking us downstream. Ordinary day I would say, haha! It was such an amazing feeling, kinda like a high on incredibly clean air and water. There is nothing like having freezing glacier river water sitting in your wet suit, and not even caring because you are so focused on not falling out into the rapids!!! I definitely recommend anyone go white water rafting!

After showering, I had an Austrian hot dog, so big and tasty! We vedged at this service stop for a while: eating, playing volleyball, and receiving our rafting pictures. Later that night, we arrived at our hotel in Italy for dinner and a long night’s sleep!

DAY 7: HOPFGARTEN, AUSTRIA

2006-10-07T12:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 1^st, 2006

It was raining that morning so we couldn’t go on our bike ride, but the Contiki staff thought fast and decided to meet outside the hotel at 12:30 to see if the weather was better. So, instead we walked around town which was relaxing because the town is so small with only 2,000 people and very quiet, in a pleasant way. I went to the supermarket and bought stuff with my credit card. This reminds me...make sure you check with your credit card company to see if there are any finance charges for using your credit card for a different currency. It turned out mine was 3%, which sucked to learn after I got back.

Next was our bike ride!! Although we couldn’t go up to the mountains like previously planned because the trails were too muddy from the rain, I had a great time! It actually started raining harder once we all got on our bikes, but it was so great because I didn’t feel cold at all. In the middle of our trip, we took a break to have some ice cream! Even better. After we were done, there were long wet + dirt streak marks on our backs and butts.

A shower never felt so good. We had dinner then everyone started drinking. There was a little bar in Haus Lucas (where we were staying). While everyone else pre-partied, I packed my suitcase because I knew I wouldn’t want to do it after I got back from the bar we were going to.

We all headed to the Silver Bullet just a two minute walk up the street. I didn’t drink anything, but I had a great time dancing and chatting with people. I met some Aussie’s from another Contiki and one of them said they were going to San Diego (where I live) next. When I was tired and had too much fun, Geoffrey walked me back to the hotel…how sweet of him. On the way back, for some reason, I felt like jumping in a few puddles on the street, which was fun at the time. I didn’t realize one of the puddles was so big and I got my shoes and the bottom part of my jeans wet. Attractive!

DAY 6: LUCERNE/LIECHTENSTEIN/HOPFGARTEN

2006-10-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 31^st, 2006

That morning, we had breakfast (which was really good by the way; hot chocolate, bologna, oatmeal, and oj), and drove to Mt. Pilatus, the highest mountain in Western Europe with fantastic views of the Swiss Alps. We took gondolas (shown below) to the top. The gondola ride was about 45 minutes and it was fantastic seeing the brilliant views! I really love the mountain countryside. All of the tall tree forests reminded me of where I used to live in southern Washington State. On top of Mt. Pilatus, we could see the Swiss Alps perfectly! They were truly amazing views because it was such a clear day. Just breathtaking. Plus, it is the coldest place we have been so far on the trip. It was cold enough to have a sweater on, but really pleasant. The air was so clean too because of the altitude.

We visited Liechenstein, the third smallest country in the world, for about two hours. I had the most delicious chicken burger ever and bought 3 Swiss chocolate bars to fulfill my chocolate craving (I have them all the time, not just when I’m next to the country known for its great chocolate)!

On the bus ride to Hopfgarten, we were surprised and told we were going to stop at the Swarovski factory! Swarovski is a famous jewelry store known for its crystals. I had never heard of Swarovski before because again, I’m a cheap girl and know nothing about expensive jewelry. We were left in the store for about an hour to look around and buy whatever we wanted. Once I got into the store, I was amazed with all the shiny stuff! I decided it was a special place and bought my mom a necklace, sister a ring, and a necklace for me. My dad doesn’t wear jewelry…so I didn’t feel bad not getting him any. J

After that little adventure, we came to Hopfgarten, my favorite place on the whole trip. It was pretty similar to Lucerne, but I think it had more of a really really small town feel. I like those kind of places. Everyone knows everyone. We had dinner, which our Tour Manager and Driver helped make! In Hopfgarten, Contiki has what they call “Contiki Villages”, which is where Contiki employees stay for a lot of the year and only Contiki travelers stay there. The rooms were quite nice with a spacious room, couch, separate bathroom and shower room. Back to the dinner….sooo good. I had vegetable pea soup, chicken, potatoes, salad, and apple strudel. Yum.

Then, one of the Contiki staff taught us that one of the traditions in Austria was to take a shot with your thumb on the top of the glass and your pinky on the bottom. When it turned midnight, they switched their fingers, taking a shot with their pinky finger on top and their thumb on the bottom! I thought that was very interesting and am still wondering how that tradition originated. If anyone can help me out, that would be awesome.

DAY 5: LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND

2006-10-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 30^th, 2006

We were on the bus most of the day today. I caught up on some sleep and then we listened to music for awhile. By the time we arrived in Lucerne, Switzerland it was time for dinner. I had no idea what to expect out of a local Swiss restaurant called “Stadtkeller”.

My favorite food was the Swiss cheese fondue. The tradition is that if you accidentally drop your cheese bread into the fondue dish, you have to kiss the person on your left. So Jason “accidentally” did this, and kissed my friend, Julia, I think she enjoyed it thoroughly because all of the girls thought Jason was attractive.

While we were eating, there was original Swiss folk music, yodeling, alphornblowing and flagthrowing, and national costumes. Several times throughout the evening, the performers called up volunteers to try all of these traditions. People yodeled, blew the big horns (some of the guys were pretty weak), drank some beer, and did the chicken dance. One of the funniest parts of the evening was when a Swiss cow came out and started licking people and running into them (people in costumes of course). At the end of the dinner, everyone got out of their seats and started dancing in a line around the restaurant. It was extremely fun!

That night, there was thunder and lighting and it was raining. But I was inside the hotel, so I loved it!

DAY 4: PARIS

2006-10-07T12:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 29^th, 2006

Today was a great day of walking, shopping, and seeing the sights. After breakfast, we were dropped off at the Place de Clichy square and headed over to the Louvre! The outside was absolutely beautiful! Once inside, we saw the famous Mona Lisa painting (where you can’t take pictures) and the Venus de Milo sculpture.

Our Tour Manager had told us it would take someone full days to walk through the whole Louvre at a leisurely pace, but we managed to be in n’ out in about 10 minutes.

Our group wasn’t very interested in art history, and kept taking obnoxious pictures in front of the statues (not me of course). One of the men working there told our group, “This ain’t no Disneyland!” Hahaha. They told us to leave since someone in our group had touched an art platform accidentally, so we kindly pranced out of there. It was pretty fun being followed out.

Next to see was Notre Dame. The line was not too long, but we decided we didn’t want to wait an hour so we went in through the exit in groups of two. No one pointed us out (why doesn’t everyone just go in the exit?? Haha). Inside, it looked like a glamorous church with huge statues of Jesus on the cross and gigantic stained glass windows.

LUNCH! We were all starving and found a little place on a corner of the street that served crepes. Let me tell you, chocolat crepes are AMAZING! Wow…I won’t go into further detail, but they were just that good. We all sat in front of the Notre Dame on this great sunny day, and talked until we were done eating.

We walked down the famous street called Champs de Elysees and went into a lot of the shops. We are shopping in Paris! The clothes were quite different than that of the U.S., but it was interesting to see the styles here. Now, I think of all these shops when a TV show or movie refers to when they fly to Paris just to go shopping for the day. I can imagine Oprah flying there in her private jet and shopping there. I didn’t see anyone famous there, though. The street had mostly clothing and shoe stores.

We walked up about a million stairs up to the Arc de Triomphe, but it was worth it. Next time, I will listen to my Tour Manager and wear tennis shoes instead of flip flops while walking all day! The views of Paris were beautiful, including the Eiffel Tower.

A few of the girls wanted to go in the Louis Vuitton store, so we went there and discovered the excellent service. They had tons of employees, all dressed up professionally, wanting to help customers. All the products were displayed in glass cases. I looked at a small wallet with the LV leather on it and saw the price, inscribed on a metal pin, of 350 euro (about $440). Personally, I would never buy any purse or wallet over $30. That’s just me though! (I’m pretty cheap.) Also, I think the LV store was one of the only stores that had an escalator going up and down.

While walking back to our hotel from the Metro, the only guy accompanying us 5 girls suspected a guy to be following us. He told us to stop and look at a shop window to see if he would pass. The weird guy kept staring at us as he walked by us, and then stopped at a bar in front of us. Conveniently, the police were near us and we tried to tell them we suspected a guy who might pickpocket us (since they are everywhere in Paris). But, with our luck, none of us knew how to tell them in French and none of them spoke English. So we basically took off running past the bar and ran most of the way to our hotel while almost getting run over running through the street. Yea…we are a smart group. But these are the kinds of things that make trips interesting!

At dinner, we had unbelievably yummy food and wine. This was the first time I drank on the trip. It was even better because I am legal in Europe! I tasted this wine, not red or white, but pink wine called Kir. SO GOOD! I drank a glass and a half and was already really buzzed. Describing the feeling is pretty easy; I felt really relaxed and didn’t really care what anyone thought about me (typical buzz feeling). So I had a great time! J

Next, the big event, the Moulin Rouge!!! For those of you that don’t know, the Moulin Rouge is a cabaret show where you sit down at tables, drink champagne, and watch topless dancers dance and sing. The show was really great, especially with the alcohol, which made everything seem two times better. With the added two glasses of champagne, I was feeling in a daze, like everything I saw was slanting from side to side, kinda like a strobe light view. I still felt good though!

DAY 3: PARIS

2006-10-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 28^th, 2006

After another English breakfast in the morning, we head out on the Contiki coach toward France! I caught up on some sleep on the way to the ferry that would take us across the English Channel. The coach is pretty pimped out…it has comfortable cushioned seats that can lean back, air conditioning, big clean windows to take pictures out of, and a built-in stereo sound system.

Before getting aboard the ferry, we could see the famous White Cliffs of Dover. They were pretty sweet. Fortunately, the ferry was as big as a cruise ship, and I didn’t get sick. The ferry even had a casino on board!

It was a long bus ride from the border of France to Paris. One thing I noticed was that this trip made me tolerate much longer periods of time while driving. Three hours seemed like nothing. I got more sleep and when we were almost to Paris, my slumber was disturbed…how dare they!? I heard this noise…it was actually one of our Contiki “day songs”. It was, surprisingly, a great song to wake up to because it pumps you up, but gently. Not many people on our trip were morning people, so it helped to lighten up the cranky ones…;) If you want to listen to/watch our day songs, go to: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5827711531508302539&q=feel+the+love+generation+bob.sinclair and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6954619326052556824&q=move%2Cyour.feet+junior%2Fsenior.

Hope you enjoy those!

That night, we had dinner at the hotel, which was soooo amazing!! We all had pizza on a croissant, chicken with noodles, and a strawberry sponge cake. YUM! Right after dinner, we headed out on the coach for our Paris “Illumination’s Tour”. This is the part where I get really excited because I am in Paris! It is so unbelievably beautiful at night with all the city lights. We saw a lot of the sites including the Louvre, the Opera House, Notre Dame, and Champs de Elysees.

We all kept seeing the Eiffel Tower in the background, making sounds of awe, and Pete (our Tour Manager) said that we would have time to take pictures of it when we passed by. As we pulled up near it, everyone had their cameras ready to drive by it AND THEN…Pete says, “Well, look at the Eiffel Tower, isn’t it beautiful, now get your stuff ready because we are going up the Eiffel Towerrrrrrrr!” I don’t think anyone really understood what he was saying until a few seconds later and everyone started screaming, some people even crying. I never expected this. I couldn’t believe I was going to actually go up the most symbolic monument in Paris!

Pete had gotten us special tickets to go up the Eiffel Tower, what a man. We got to go in the special “group” line and the sun was just setting when we got to the second tier of the Eiffel Tower by elevator. It was gorgeous! I was a little sad I didn’t have a boyfriend because it was such a romantic place, but I didn’t think about it too much because I was too excited and just in utter shock that I was where I was. Eiffel tower at sunset…what more could a girl want?

The views were amazing, especially because I saw the views when it was both light and dark. Such an incredible feeling. Then, when I got back to the base, I had just enough time to take a video of the sparkling lights (they turn on for an hour each night). It was truly an unexplainable feeling of goodness.

And, before we left for the hotel, Pete told us there is one last surprise. We are thinking…what else could he do?? He tells everyone to buckle their seat belts (they are supposed to be worn at all times, but no one wears them usually). So we go up the famous street in Paris called Champs de Elysees, and, directly in front of us is the Arc de Triomphe.

For those of you who don’t know, the Arc de Triomphe is in the center of a roundabout. A roundabout is the coolest thing that they have in Europe, and is a way for traffic to flow without traffic lights.

So there are 12 streets coming off this roundabout and in this particular one, the traffic is opposite of every roundabout I experienced in Spain. All the vehicles exiting the roundabout yield to the cars coming on the roundabout. This means that it is hardest to get off the roundabout. Pete cranks up the song “Woooohoooo” (Listen to it here.)

So it is blasting…real loud. This song is the perfect song for this roundabout because the traffic situation is so crazy. We go around about three times, which takes a good four minutes. We are going a fairly good speed, and the coach feels like it is almost tipping over. We are going around and around the Arc de Triomphe! Such a great rush.

DAY 2: LONDON

2006-10-03T22:32:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 27th, 2006

At the hotel’s English breakfast, I was just happy I was ok with eating eggs…because they had a lot of them. Scrambled egg whites, regular scrambled eggs, dunken (sunny side up) eggs, and hard boiled eggs. They did have a variety of meat such as patty sausage and regular sausages, but personally, I don’t prefer eating red meat. All it does is cause heart disease! So basically that left me with eggs, bread, and cornflakes. It was an ok breakfast, but I was partially glad when it was over.

Next, we went on a sightseeing tour of London. A few of the major sights we saw included Buckingham Palace, the Parliament Buildings, Big Ben, and Trafalgar Square.

I hadn’t heard about the history of any of these sites before the trip so it was nice to have Pete (our Tour Manager) explain some of the exciting tidbits behind the places. Pete informed us that the most common misconception about Big Ben is that “Big Ben” actually refers to the 13 ton bell inside of the tower, not the clock, as most people believe. oooh aaah.

A small group of us decided we wanted to ride on the London Eye. After walking for a while, we got to the central square. There were performers in the square trying to get people to listen to their corny jokes, and also people that had costumes and their faces painted who would move or dance everytime someone tipped them. Otherwise, they stood completely still except for blinking.

It was a nice sunny afternoon, a little cooler than yesterday, thank goodness. We saw there was a huge line to get on the London Eye, but we decided to see how much it cost…30 POUNDS!!! AHH!! No way were any of us going to pay $60 for a trip on a Ferris wheel. Everyone just about ran from there, and we enjoyed another long walk back to the hotel.

We entered a restaurant called Porter’s and ordered. This was our first group dinner and everyone began socializing. The waiters even asked our group to tone it down a little because our group was talking too loud, but we didn’t really care because we’re loud American tourists…what can you expect right?

After the alcohol started to kick in, everyone started to open up even more. A guy from our group named Geoffrey started singing around dessert time, and everyone thought he was extremely drunk. The funniest thing is…he had only had one drink, and the next day, he announced he was sober and he is just naturally extroverted. That is just the beginning of my fantastically enjoyable encounters with Geoffrey.

Overall, I would rate the food in London a 5/10, much worse than the food I eat in the U.S, much more expensive too. I am hoping the food will get better once we arrive in FRANCE! The best part about London was bonding with everyone and having fun at the same time. It was a great couple days in London!

DAY 1: LONDON

2006-08-31T20:51:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 26^th, 2006

After we walked out of the gate, to our surprise, we saw a 6-foot, bald-headed Australian holding a sign that says “CONTIKI”. After I hear him speak and joke, he came across as a comical-yet-expressionless kind of guy. I found it quite amusing. This guy turned out to be our Tour Manager, Pete. The Tour Manager basically takes care of everyone’s special needs or concerns, introduces the cities, gives some special tours, and makes sure everyone is happy.

He gave us directions on how to get to the “Tube” (like the Metro) and 45 minutes later we had all arrived at the Imperial Hotel in central London. We had the whole day free to do whatever we wanted in London! We walked up to the hotel at about 10am and checked-in. They gave us our keys, which consisted of a long and thin piece of metal attached to a key ring. I wondered how I would fit the “key” in my purse and soon learned that it is routine to give the key to the porter’s desk on my way out of the hotel so it doesn’t get lost. Amazing concept!

I unlocked my door and found a single room. After a quick shower, I met some of the SoCal’ers in the lobby and headed out to one of the local bars (at 12pm?). This seemed weird since me and my innocent self have never been to a real bar! It was nice not having to worry about my age in Europe because the drinking age is 18. Mostly everyone ordered a beer, but I don’t like beer so I got a lemon soda.

I had to use London pounds so I was thoroughly confused. I spread out the change on the counter and the woman took what she needed. She probably thought, “Dumb American doesn’t know what the difference between a pound and pence!” Well, she thought right.

After chatting it up at the bar, a smaller group of us decided to find food and we ended up at a small Indian restaurant that said “air conditioned” and “fully licensed” on the front. Oh, well that’s good! I was surprised they didn’t even have soy sauce for my rice.

I learned London is a place where everything is more expensive. I found out one pound equals about two dollars. For future travels: Learn how to convert the currency into dollars before you use them! You can definitely think you are spending less than you really are.

It was really hot and humid in London so when I got back, my room was scorching hot, my hair was practically sticking to my neck, and there was no A/C because I don’t think it is usually that hot in London. So then I find out the toilet in my room doesn’t work, of course, after I went to the bathroom (#1 don’t worry!). I am glad the hotel gives me a new room so by that time the welcome meeting is about to start in the lobby. The meeting formally introduced all the Contiki staff, including our Tour Manager, Pete and our Tour Driver, Aaron.

I headed out with a fairly big group to the Tube (the Piccadilly line, isn’t that a funny word?? It sounds like the name of a flower). After finding a bar, the whole group ordered drinks. I got a glass of red wine, but after taking a few sips I realized I didn’t enjoy it warm. It wasn’t even room temperature…just very warm. Ugh, not for me. If you need to know one thing about me at this point, it’s that I don’t really drink…at all. Yes that may be hard to believe for some of you, but it’s true. I seriously didn’t drink more than 1 cup of wine during my whole first year at UCSB (#2 party school in the U.S. according to Playboy). Anyway, it was very fun socializing with everyone at the bar and just having a good time hanging out.

After walking for awhile, we ended up at the London Eye, which is mainly a ferris wheel that overlooks the whole city and it takes 45 minutes to go one time around! After the police officer specifically told him it was not allowed, Aaron opened a bottle of white wine on the Millenium Bridge. We hung out in a grassy area and talked while we enjoyed the beautiful London city lights, Big Ben, and the London Eye. By this time, everyone was pretty comfortable with each other. Travel really brings people together. It's a really great way to make 50 strangers become 50 new friends!

To a great day in London...cheers!

2006-08-17T14:34:00.000-07:00

Note to self: Need to make journal about my upcoming trip to Europe. I love traveling, and writing it down keeps the memories alive. It'll be interesting to read this blog 10 years from now! I worked my butt off the past 9 months in college and I really need a break! So where to start?

I found a travel company that focuses on 18-35 year olds (That's me!). I researched a lot and the company I chose is Contiki Holidays. Their itineraries and excursions look fun and I especially like the idea of meeting new people my age. I didn't want to spend 2 weeks going to museums and just doing everything a normal tourist would do, I wanted to have experiences that will stick with me for a lifetime. I'll do my part and hope they deliver.

Monday, July 24^th, 2006
THE DAY BEFORE MY CONTIKI EUROPE TRIP

I had high expectations for this trip after talking to other people who have gone on Contiki trips before who said they had a great time and recommended I go.

Looking at my itinerary for the trip, I get excited when I see the places we will be going. All the way from London to Rome! Eiffel tower and Moulin Rouge in Paris …white-water rafting in Austria …gondola ride in Venice! I rolled up my clothes and stuff as much as I could into my little green suitcase.

This will be my third trip to Europe. I went on a 10-day tour of Italy and Greece in 2004 and went to Spain with my dad and sister about a week ago. I knew I needed to pack light because it will pay off for all of the times I’ll be carrying my suitcase upstairs and lugging it around.

I consulted Contiki’s site on what to pack, which was very helpful. After packing, my suitcase weighed about 25 pounds (I'm not a high maintenance girl ;) and the limit is 44 pounds so I’m all set and pumped to go! I can’t wait to meet the 44 strangers all looking foward to having as good a time as I am! Stay tuned...