Praha!

From Germany we took our last coach ride over to the last stop on our tour, Prague. I really didn't know what to expect of this city because I didn't know anything about it or the Czech Republic really. So when we finally arrived I was eager to take it all in. The first thing we did when got there was hope off the bus and take a brief walking tour through the city. We started by going to the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral to check them out. The cathedral was so gorgeous to see, the architecture was quite unique also. It was Gothic, but I thought it was prettier than most cathedrals of this style. We continued to walk to the next photo spot, which was on a hill over looking the city. Ryno took us through the streets of Prague and I did my best to capture its essence. We went over the Charles Bridge and through the Old Town square and saw the Astrological clock. This was one of my favorite things that we saw in Prague! I love clocks and this one is so cool to see. We hit many of the big spots of the city before finding the coach again and heading to the hotel to check in.

That night was out last big night out!! Many of us planned on going out to the largest Night Club in Europe! Five floors, each with a different style of music and atmosphere all together! This was definitely one of my favorite nights of the whole trip!! Once we checked in we were left to find dinner on our own and then meet up with Ryno between 9-10 at the U Prince, a hotel that was across the street from the astrological clock and that had a cool bar up on the roof. Whoever wanted to hit the club was going to meet there so we could all go together. Well that was what was suppose to happen! A smaller group had gone to meet Ryno in the city by 9 but a larger group of us started our nights a little earlier and went to catch up with Ryno and the rest a little later. So there was about 20 of us heading out into the city looking for the center of city. We were able to get to the metro and we all got on safely and took it to the right station. When we got up from the station and walked outside where it had started to rain- I take it back-POUR. So at first we try to hang out under awnings, but soon the awnings were to few and far between and we still had about 3 or 4 blocks to go. So at one point we had made a group decision to just run! So you can just imagine the sight of about 20 college kids running the the streets on Prague in the pouring rain! It was so much fun!!! I personally love warm summer rain! But finally we made it to the hotel where we took the elevator up to the roof only to get kicked out for being completely drenched! it was all too cinematic really. So the group of us hit up another bar instead and waited for Ryno and the other group to finish before all heading over to the club. When we got there my shoe broke and Christine was genius enough to give me her hair elastic to save my shoe, for the rest of the evening at least. Then we got dancing and checked out the place. It was a crazy good time!! When we left to grab a cab, Ryno advised us to tell the cab drivers to put their meters on so we wouldn't get screwed. We remembered this and Christine was sure to tell that cabbie we wanted the meter on. Even though we still payed more than the people who arrived in the cab behind us. He probably should have said to act as sober as possible while talking to the cab driver. Ah well. We went back into the hotel looking for some food to finish the night in the proper way. So Kevin managed to get a few sandwiches from the front desk and we headed back to our room, where Christine ended up with a cucumber on her face and almost told us a really good story from the windowsill. Still can't help but laugh when thinking about it. It was so much fun!

Luckily the next morning and day was completely by our own schedule because Christine and I didn't wake up until around 11:oo. It was so nice to wake up late. We really didn't waste anytime getting ready after that and heading into the city with a bunch of friends. My favorite thing that we did was paddle boat on the River Vltava. I know, you can go paddle boating just about anywhere. But the view from the river was gorgeous where ever you looked. I really enjoyed just paddling around aimlessly for about an hour. Then we went on walking the streets and checking out the shops and local fast food. I mean like small vendors not like McDonald's or anything, even though there was a few people in the group who hit a few KFC's up for beer. Not my story to tell. But later that afternoon we made our way back to the hotel and changed up for our last group dinner. I finally sat with my buddy Inna, which was lovely! We enjoyed another meal with some cultural music being played in the background. After dinner most of us went to one last bar to say cheers to all the new things we saw, all of the new things we did and all the newest faces we call friends!

Güten Morgen!

After the lovely landscapes in Austria we were off to Munich, Germany! Before leaving Austria we stopped by the Swarovski crystal factory! The show room was very impressive, lots of shiny things! It had some cool statues and gardens too, even though the guys weren't too interested in the crystal they didn't mind roaming around the gardens and it was a good souvenir place for them too. Then we hit the road, saying goodbye to the rolling hills for the most part. When we arrived in Germany, before going right into the city, we went to Dachau concentration camp. This was such a different experience on the tour. I'm really glad we stopped there. It really put things into perspective. It was crazy to actually walk around the place after learning so much about these places. When we got back on the bus Ryno handed out rocks to us. He said he picked them up as he walked around. He wanted us to have them so when our lives become hard we can hold that rock and think of how things could be. I know I have so much to be grateful for, and I will always remember that!

After leaving the camp we headed right into the city. We got to check out the famous Glockenspiel. Which is along the same lines as a giant coo-coo clock. Not that amazing to be honest, but legendary I guess. I wondered around with some friends and got some bratwurst for lunch, there was meat everywhere!! All delicious. We also checked out the devil's footprint in Frauenkirche Cathedral. (which is number 3 on a top ten list of things to do in Munich! Glockenspiel #4 and Dachau #8) There is also a great view of the Alps from the top. We wondered around and got some good ice cream as well. Some people did some shopping which was near the area we started from.

From there we went back to the hotel and got ready for dinner at the famous Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich. There we enjoyed a huge German buffet! Lots of meat and vegetables! All very tasty in my opinion! Speaking of tasty, the beer was good too and came in large quantities as could be expected in Germany. The folklore show that we saw during dinner was great too! They did everything from cutting a large log to cultural dancing. Oh the dancing was good! Kevin from our tour got up there and slapped some knees with the best of them! It was very entertaining!! You can check out his skills on youtube as well. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=sqWyv0FM9AE) After dinner I just headed back to the hotel on the coach, with my buddy Christine. We were told to take out some Euros to exchange when we got to Prague because the ATMs there can be kind of funny and they use the Kronas. So Christine and I decided to talk a stroll to the nearest ATM. It was funny because we were suppose to take our first right and it was right on that block. But we started talking and kept walking straight for five or six blocks instead. Did I mention this was after the beer hall. So we had a little adventure but we found the ATM shortly after and headed back to our room for some nice bonding time. I'm so glad we met and got a chance to room together for the last 3 nights!! Next stop Prague!

The Hills are Alive.

Austria is probably one of my new favorite places. My grandmother had told me that my grandfather had always loved Austria; she had told me it was beautiful. Just driving through the mountains was breath-taking. There were houses and even castles set right into the hills. I honestly hadn't had much past experience with mountains, so I found that there was just so much to look at. Not to mention so much to do!

We wasted no time! Before going anywhere else we stopped at Feel Free rafting and went white water rafting!! I had never gone before and it was so exciting! The tour guides that took us down the river were so much fun. We learned what to do if we got knocked out of the raft and how to help other people get back in. Then we got to the fun stuff, hitting the rapids hard! We also did some tricks like the wheelie, which was when everyone in the raft went over to one side and almost made the raft tip! Other rafts flipped their rafts on purpose for fun. All in all it was an unforgettable experience. I would love to go again! The guys at Feel Free were really great too, when we got off the rafts and walked up the hill with out rafts we were greeted with shots of schnapps, I'm not really sure why, but it added to the sense of accomplishment. Sort of like a toast you know? Then we all changed up and had some delicious goulash to warm up and headed towards the small town of Hophgarten, where we stayed the next two nights.

We stayed at Contiki's very own Gastof Inn. It was a smaller place, set up more like a hostel than a hotel. It was a simpler place but still nice and accommodating. I got to room with two of my favorite people, Inna and Liz! The staff was like no other! They ALL greeted us outside waving as we drove up the path. It was really welcoming! Not to mention that they took us all on a mini tour of the place showing us were the dining area was and the bar where they passed around another shot of schnapps. This time it was green apple and delicious! I don't know if you are keeping track but it is only probably 3 o clock in the afternoon and we've had two shots of Austria's specialty. Then we had dinner right at Gastof where we were served our meals by some locals, Heidi was Ryno with a wig and an 80's make-up job. It was hysterical. Then after dinner we headed out into town to the local bar, The Silver Bullet, which was kind of empty on a Monday night in such a small town. But we filled it quite nicely, that's the thing about being with such great people on these tours. So we socialized over rounds of beer and got to know each even better. A group of us got to know one of the staff members from Gastof that night. Paula is originally from Australia and had gone on a 46 day Contiki through Europe just a few years ago and then applied for a job with them in Austria, where she now works at Gastof as one of the charming staff. For the rest of our stay at Gastof I would pop into the kitchen to say hi to Paula, she was so much fun and I'm glad we exchanged email addresses before leaving.

The next day started early with a 25k bike ride through the Alps! It was one of my favorite parts of the trip. The scenic route was so enjoyable. I went at my own pace, as did everyone else, stopping to take pictures of the gorgeous hills and the local livestock. We had gotten such beautiful weather where ever we went and Austria was no different. It was a little cooler and much less humid than Italy, which was perfect. After the 25k ride we had lunch of sausages and potatos that were great. We relaxed a bit before taking the short cut back to the hotel.

We were back around 2:00 and had the bikes until 5:00. So at his point went got to explore on our own. Everyone dispersed making the most of their afternoons, some people went swimming at the lake, others caught their own trout for a second lunch and some people even just went to the local cafes. I took this time to catch up on some quick emails and postcards and went into town on my own. I checked out some of the little shops, cafes and stopped by the bank to get some money to sent out some mail. Then I headed back, washed up and rested a bit before dinner. That night we were accompanied by another Contiki tour who was staying the night at Gastof as well. After dinner the Contiki staff had thrown us a party in the bar that is right at the hotel. It was a themed Pimps and hoes party, which proved for some interesting get ups for sure. Kyle, Kevin and John added some bling to their outfits with some aluminum foil and silverware, while a good amount of the girls just wore one of their dress shirts. It was a really good time! That night Christine and I had a blast trying some new things, for example, the sperm. The sperm shot is the specialty in Austria, a milky shot taken out of a small plastic sperm. It got its name from the shape of the country, apparently it is shaped like a sperm and Hophgarten was somewhere in the tail. That night was a blast! Just a group of crazy travelers having a good time!

Ciao Bella!!

As far as wonders of the world, I truly believe Venice is something you've got to see! It's all pigeons and bridges. There are over 160 bridges! Including the famous Bridge of Sighs, which was the first one we saw. When we arrived in Venice, Ryno handed us maps, as per usual, and then told us they would be generally useless. The streets and canals of Venice are crazy! I felt like there was thousands. I think the coolest thing about traveling through Venice for me was the fact that I felt like every turn I took was a secret passage that no one else knew about. Then eventually we would run into some people on a busier street. But it was really like a maze, I felt like it was a game to get back to San Marco's square that afternoon to meet everyone. Liz, Krystyna and I just wondered around all afternoon. We found ourselves in a marketplace where there were the most beautiful Venetian masks everywhere!!!

After strolling around for a few hours it was about time we started to find our way back to the square. At first we found a sign or two that said San Marco with an arrow pointing in the right direction. Then those started getting fewer and far between but luckily there was graffiti "S.Marco -->" But I liked that feeling of not really knowing where we were going. It was adventurous a bit I guess. I also liked the locals. It was so fun to see everyone riding gondolas and boats everywhere. We were taking pictures on one of the many little bridges and some gondola men were coming down the canal and Krystyna yells out to one of them "Ciao Bella!" which literally means Hey Beautiful, and is something that is said to a girl. The gondolier thought it was funny anyway and responded with the same.

Finally we were back in San Marco square where we all headed over to the docks for our very own gondola ride! It was so surreal- a gondola ride through Venice! There was about 6 people per boat and we were generally with our regional groups. Zac, being the pimp that he is and the only gentlemen in our team, gave a lovely toast, as we shared a bottle of champagne together. The ride was so nice, and I shared the love seat with the one and only Janessa Reyes! It was beautiful.

Then after the ride we went to a demonstration where we watched a guy blow a snail! (out of glass- duh.) The show room of the glass blowing places was pretty incredible. I bought myself some pretty Venetian glass earrings too. There were a lot of pretty gifts in Venice. I got a friend of mine a pretty martini glass for her birthday and a sweet silk tie for my brother. It really was a unique place to say the least, everything was so beautifully aged.

That night we went to dinner where we had more pasta but also seafood, very regional. Also we were serenaded by a man on a clarinet who also knew the chicken dance. And I believe it was Dan's birthday that night. I could be mistaken because our tour manager, told the restaurant if was someones birthday every night. It was so funny because we would all chime in, and we wouldn't know who we were singing to until the waiter had walked over to someone from our tour with some free dessert. Something you should definatly do when you go on a Contiki ;)

Later that evening we jumped back on the ferry back to our hotel. I personally took that night to catch up on a bit of much needed sleep especially with white water rafting and biking through mountains to come!