... The Contiki European Whirl!!!

A new month, a new opportunity to demonstrate my poor blogging abilitys. But huzzah, I am now in London, bout to start my new job, and the chances, opportunities and need to blog are greater than ever. Before i start getting into adland-related mind vomit i have to blog about the amazing trip i got back from over a week ago. So my last blog was all about the Contiki tour I booked onto, to go explore Europe in a quick whirlwind adventure. ..

It was one of the most amazing and worthwhile things I have EVER done :D

So glad i took the chance whilst i had it! I've written a mammoth review of the trip and here it is for you avid (inexistant) blog readers; the juicy goss is HERE for your reading (ignoring) pleasure :)

The Contiki European Whirl!

Day 1: London > Amsterdam
A very early start, met our tour guide Liz and started the drive to Dover. After the ferry we played bus ‘speed dating’ and got to meet a bunch of our tour mates. Nice, friendly bunch, mostly Aussies (standard!) I was one of 2 Brits, people seemed to think I was American due to my dumbed-down Scots accent! (offensive!) I needn’t have worried about travelling alone; there were maybe 8 of us brave souls. A few couples too and they were so lovely! That night in the Dam things got kind of messy, and I certainly made a good first impression on the tour group.... Kinda just went by the ‘when in Amsterdam....’ Certainly an eyeopener, despite the fact I’ve visited before (for Scotland vs Netherlands footie!)


Day 2: Amsterdam
Did the tourist thang: visited a cheese and clogs factory, went on a bike ride thru the wee town of Edam and did some museums in the city. I managed to find a ‘handbags and purses museum.’ Amazing. (how girly am i eh?)


Day 3: Amsterdam > Berlin
First impression: Berlin is graffiti-tastic. And i love it. I love the city on the whole in fact, and did so the moment we arrived. Visited the parliament our first night; doubt you would see a queue as big for the UK parliament. The building was pretty cool and the views would have been too had it not been 10 at night. Fail.


Day 4: Berlin
Did a mass walking tour of the city with a Matt Damon lookalike guide. I learnt SO much! I had alot of WW2 history in school but it was mostly focussed on the holocaust, Jews in particular, i never knew what happened in Germany and when. We walked past some key Nazi sites and it was really fascinating. All the Berlin wall stuff was something else lacking from my knowledge and i thought it was so interesting; this is modern history. It happened in my lifetime. And its turbulence is so amazing to think about. (I really loved the little ‘ampelmann’ symbols on the pedestrian crossing signs across the city- so sweet!) That night we went on an ‘eyespy’ tour which was mostly us drinking and doing a mini treasure hunt. I approved. We started in a shisha bar (fit) and ended in a nightclub called ‘Matrix.’ Many Jagerbombs ... amazing night!


Day 5: Berlin > Prague
Stopped in pretty Dresden for lunch... wasn’t much to do, but arrived in Prague late afternoon and checked out the castle (saw the changing of the guard, bless them!). Really pretty and gothic, and the town on the whole was so gorge, really quaint!! Also saw the famous astrological clock. Bit overrated but it is pretty, and at least i’ve seen it do its thing now!! Got bar PR’d by a fellow Glaswegian, small world eh?! Lots of student type barcrawl companies targeting the masses of young eurokids on cheap trips, kind of cheapened the beauty of the city i think.


Day 6: Prague
Free day to explore (shop) and take in the culture (visited a chocolate museum.) I’m a bit indifferent on the city to be honest. Not overly full of things to do. But it does please the eye; the mix of buildings from different eras is really interesting. That night had a couple cocktails in a few of the bars whilst some of the others went on a big pubcrawl.


Day 7: Prague > Munich
Arrived in Munich in the afternoon and saw yet another famous clock at the glockenspiel. Another pretty city with not much to do i felt. Wandered around a bit (shopped) and took in the culture (market) some more.... I decided at this point i was on ‘Suze’s drinking and shopping tour of Europe.’ That night we had an epic night at a traditional beer hall! I drank 2 steins, had some jager, and was gone! The hall got pretty rowdy, everyone singing along to the one drinking song that was repeated over and over... Ein Prosit (spelling?!) we made a giant conga line, watched traditional dancing and bell ringers and then i did the usual drunken suzy banister slide when we left! Our driver Tony created/allowed for an amazing DISCO BUS experience for us on the way back to the hostel... dancing and singing in the aisles with flashing lights. Best. Bus journey. Ever. The party continued back at the hostel nightclub and it got kinda messy again. O. Dear.


Day 8: Munich > Austrian Tirol
Lovely drive (not so lovely hangover) and Sound of Music sing-along’s led us to this beautiful wee village of Hopftgarten. It was nice to be back in a green, nature place again; the air was so fresh and the smell was amazing. We were staying in a Contiki chalet with another group and it was so cute. Went on a 25k bike ride around the mountains and rivers which certainly helped get rid of the hangover, as did the pure mountain spring water. Was hard to capture the area’s beauty on film. Had a wee beach party in the chalet that night, complete with battle of the sexes game. It became clear that the reps really wanted you to get wasted and spend all your money there. And sleep with them. I’d heard that about Contiki sites before and it really manifested. I wasn’t drinking and when i told a rep i was having a night off he marched me to the bar and tried to buy me shots. Then looked offended when i refused. To be fair, I didn’t spend all that money on a trip purely to get wasted every night and miss out on sightseeing etc, and i wasn’t going to be forced into doing so.


Day 9: Tirol > Venice
Started the day with some early morning white water rafting and i LOVED it! Had never been before and it’s so against the kind of person i am but i took the plunge (literally!) and really enjoyed it. FREEZING water mind, but i looked and felt sexy in my lovely wetsuit getup so it wasn’t too bad. Learnt a few commands, played a few games and hit a few rapids. Not as many as large as i had imagined. Still awesome though, i reckon i’ll try go again :) Drove through to our Venice campsite to be met by a massive thunderstorm. Minging. But i got a cool photo of a lightning bolt over the city so heyho!


Day 10: Venice
I heart Venice! Had a long and tiring day seeing as much of the gorge city as poss. The initial view of the city got me so excited, and i was constantly going ‘oooo’ and ‘aaaa’ and ‘it’s so cute!’ the entire day! Went to a murano glass blowing demo, then the last remaining lace school in venice. Went up the top of the campanile to get awesome views of the city then went for a wander ourselves to ‘get lost.’ Saw some really cute streets, shops, cafes etc, and i bought a really pretty (purple, glittery, flowery) Venetian mask. We had traditional Italian pizza for lunch (i had waited so long for that) and i think i had 2 or 3 icecreams by the end of the afternoon. AMAZING. Went on a gondola ride too, wasn’t too blown away by it but it’s gotta be done eh!?


Day 11: Venice > Rome
Arrived early evening and had a wee wander. Saw the Trevi fountain and made a wish. It came true a week later so I believe the hype! Ate more icecream and pasta, yum! Also saw the Pantheon and Piazza Navonna. I loved Dan Brown’s ‘Angels and Demons’ and loved seeing different sites from the book (and film) too.


Day 12: Rome
A very busy day in the city I have wanted to visit for far too long. Started off with a big guided tour through the old Roman Forum . Amazing thinking it used to be the hub of ancient Rome and now it’s just rubble. I would have loved to see the city back in Caesar’s days. The coliseum was unbelievable; it’s a beast! Hard to imagine what it would have looked at when all filled up for a gladiator match back in the day. We headed to the Vatican next and i did a quick whirlwind visit through the museums with some of the girls. Amazing what these wee popes have acquired over the years! I liked the Egyptian stuff the best, real life mummy hanging loose too, freaky! Saw the famous Sistine Chapel and it was immense. Though i felt a bit silly cos i forgot the image of god and adam was right in the middle, and couldn’t find it for ages. Oops! Had a wander round St Peters square after. I’d only ever seen it packed with people on TV for popey things so it was a strange feeling. Navigated across the Roman tube system to the Church of the Capuchin monks next... it’s basically a few rooms full of old monks’ bones in pretty patterns. Very eerie and has to be seen for sure! The message at the end is spooky too- ‘what you are, we once were, what you are, you will become.’ Back at the campsite i jumped in the pool to cool off (with a beer too) and had a lovely relaxed night :)


Day 13: Rome > Florence
Boo i woke up feeling like death; the Contiki cold had finally hit. We spent about 4 hours in Florence and i felt shitty the whole time, and the heat didn’t help. Just wandered around really, had more icecream and did a mini tour of the mini city. That night we had a ‘traditional Tuscan meal’ at a restaurant in town, which was an organised excursion and was CRAP. A fine example of Contiki reps just trying to get money out of you for their commission, fair dos tho, that’s what they need to get by! I wish i had done my own thing and had the chance to eat nicer food on my last night in the country with my fave types of food in the world! I was feeling so ill so didn’t drink much and back at the campsite when everyone was partying i was in bed feeling sorry for myself.


Day 14: Florence > Swiss Alps (Lauterbrunnen)
Horrible day of travelling, and feeling ill didn’t help. Got stuck in bank holiday traffic entering Switzerland so 12 hours after leaving Florence we arrived at the Contiki chalet. Lauterbrunnen was simply STUNNING! Like 5 million times more lush than Austria!! I felt like my eyes were popping out the sockets constantly, like a wide eyed little kiddie! The weather was lovely and chilled and the air so so fresh. LOVED it. You could see thousands of stars at night as there was hardly any streetlight to interfere. LUSH.


Day 15: Swiss Alps (Lauterbrunnen)
A nice lazy day where a few of us lasses went exploring and did a trip called ‘the Murren loop.’ Basically a cable car up to a wee village in the mountains, a train to another village, the cable car down to some amazing waterfalls, then bus along to the start point. Cute picturesque villages and stunning views all around, pics do no translate the beauty. All my photos looked like postcards! Visited the Tremmelbach falls, which is where 10 different glacial waterfalls all link up in caves and mountain crevices. Some beautiful shapes had been made in the rocks over the years, and the speed, power and temperature of the water was unreal. It kicked up such a cool, refreshing spray, unreal when its like 30 degrees just round the corner. We tried Swiss cheese fondue that night then had an army themed party in the chalet bar, based in an old bomb shelter. Was really fun cos 1. I was feeling better 2. There were a couple more Contiki groups in 3. I met some lovely people! Fun fun fun all round!


Day 16: Swiss Alps > Paris
Long drive again, but we still squeezed in a quick bus tour of the major city sites. Tony even managed to navigate the coach around the roundabout at the top of the Champs Elysee! I’d only been to Paris once before when very young so was exciting! Plus i had the chance to practise mon Français! Tried snails that night too, despite being a veggie. Tho i eat fish, and snails are more fishy than animaly right? They were just like slimy mushrooms really.


Day 17: Paris
Climbed, yes climbed, the Eiffel tower very first thing in the morning, it felt like we were going to be the first up there, as we were first to start the climb, but of course some lazy ppl chose to take the lift :P Lovely views of course. Then a couple of us reckoned, looking at a map, that the walk to Notre Dame was both short and doable. It was an hour and a half. But still doable. Really lovely cathedral and surrounding areas. Had a crepe then navigated the tubes to the Champs Elysee and browsed the shops for a bit, before wandering back to our meeting spot. Nice relaxed day really, i didn’t want to try squeeze too much in cos i know i can easily pop over again for a weekend if i fancy! Later we walked up Montmartre and had a look at the Sacre Cour, it’s set in such a cool, quirky area! LOVE the film Moulin Rouge, and this is where it was all set so i enjoyed looking around. Had our farewell meal which was really nice; tried yet more traditional French food in the form of onion soup! Our group got drunk and rowdy as usual and we soon moved onto our final stop for the night: the Nouvelle Eve. One of 3 remaining cabarets in Paris. We stopped quickly at the Moulin Rouge for pics and there was this big air duct thing so i stood on it and did a Marilyn Monroe :D The Nouvelle Eve was amazing! It was a small, intimate venue and we got bevvied on champagne whoop! There was dancing, singing (miming) acrobats, clowns and lots of glitter and tits! They did a traditional cancan with really lovely colour coordinated outfits too and i was loving it; if i lived in Paris i would wanna be up there! There was a man doing the whole fake statue thing and it really freaked me out, there were too many heads and hands for one person and i couldn’t for the life of me figure it out. I would love to go back and see another show and see if its the same everynight. We had another wee party on the bus back that night then had more booze back at camp and said some goodbyes to those we wouldn’t be seeing again :(


Day 18: Hometime!
Stopped in the Louvre on the way out of Paris so that those who wouldn’t have the chance to visit again could pop in and see the Mona Lisa. I felt rough rough rough so just chilled in a cafe. The drive home to London was quiet as alot of people had left for the airport that morning, sad! We got given everyones contact details, so of course we’re all mates on facebook now and there’s even a group for our tour so we can keep in touch. It was sad saying goodbye back in London, i probably wont see a vast number of these lovely folk again, but if i ever pop to Oz you never know!!


So all in all a unique and awesome trip that i’ll never forget! I managed to soak up the culture everywhere we visited; i tried traditional food (and drink) and tried to speak as much of the languages as possible. I certainly learnt a lot about European history, and it’s enlightened me quite a fair bit which will come in useful in day to day life i think; i’ll be a star in pub quizzes anyways! It’s also helped me restart that inquisitive part of my mind that’s so important for my lovely new job. I wanted to learn to be more spontaneous on this trip, just like the way i booked it, and i think i did so! I was less indecisive in shops/restaurants and i went with my gut instinct and just did things without thinking too much about all possible outcomes. When else would i have had the chance to go white water rafting or try snails?! And finally, a major reason I went away was to get a taste of each country and discover the ones i wanted to revisit, mission achieved!

Thanks Contiki for a once in a lifetime, amazing trip. It’s been a ball!!

(Will jazz this up with pics soon!)