Hi Everyone,Well i will write what i have done from the start of my 46days will tryto keep it brief as posssible, if you have any questions feel free toemail and ask :). If there are spelling mistake sorry am trying to doit as fast as i can. DAY 1: We were up early and had to met a 6am weighed our bags in thenpacked the coavh, yes they called it a coach not a bus!!!! Weheaded for the White Hills of Dover for the ferry crossing into Calaisin France. The ferry trip across was nice and smooth. Once inCalais back on the coach and we headed for Paris to set up camp for thenext three nights. After the introductions to the site reps andtrying of snails we headed into the city for a evening tour.DAY 2-3: We were explored the sites of Paris, some of these sitesincluded the Eiffel Tower which i climbed all 1665 steps, the Arc de Triomphe, TheLouvre, the Champs Elysees, Note Dame Cathedral and Chateau Versailleswere some of the attractions seen. On the second nite we went outfor dinner and a Parisian cabaret show.DAY 4: A coach day to heading to Lyon through the Bungundy region to Contikis Chateau de Cruix where we sampled there wine.DAY 5: We drove through to Pont de Gard and had a service stop therethen past the Pyrenees Mountains. Our destination today islocated on on the Mediterranean sea, Barcelona, Spain.DAY 6: The morning was spent sightseeing round Barcelona by coach. This tour included seeing Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia Cathedral, the 1992Olympic complex and the Gothis district. Followed by a free afternoon towonder around the city. This included a walk up the famousshopping street La Rambla, which consisted of heaps of stalls andmarkets, people statues, and pick pocketers!!! We were lucky that weall made it to the end safely.In the evening we went to experinced Flamenco dancing.DAY 7: French Riviera here we come. Back into France we headedand along the beautiful coast to Arles and wandered throughthe steetsof this historic town. We continued on past the Cannes home ofthe film festivals to the glamorous French Riviera.DAY 8: Today we started off with visiting a French Perfumery (but dueto a cold i had difficulty smelling) before heading to nice. Weexplored the shops, beachs and took in the amazing views fromabove. Tonite was a big glamous night as we were dressed to thenines and off to Monaco toenjoy the view of the Royal Palace and tryour luck at the casino. We were lucky enough that the Grand Prixwas happening in the weekend so we got to drive around the racetrack!!! DAY 9: Au revior to France and Buon giorno or Ciao to Italy. We skimmedpast the seaside of Genoa and stopped in Verona, home of Romeo andJuilet, we all got to touch her boob! Back onto the coach andonto mainland Venice.DAY 10: A short boat ride from the campsite took us into the historicalcentre of Venice to see St Mark’s Square, the Doges’ Palce and theBrige of Sighs. We visited a glass blowing and lace makingdemonstration. In the avro we experinced the famous gondola ridearound the streets of the city sitting back and relaxing with a bottleof wine and cheese and crackers.DAY 11: The famous Leaning Tower of Pisa was a must to do beforeweaving through the hills of Tuscany to the most spectacularRenaissance city of Florence.DAY 12: A guided tour around the sights of Florence was completed,these included the Piazza della Signoria, the Duomo, Santa Croce aleather making demonstration. this was topped off by spending anevening enjoying a three course meal followed by a night at SpaceElectronic Disco.DAY 13: All roads lead to Rome where we did a sightseeing tour of theEternal city . We strolled past the Trevi Fountain, saw theamazing Pantheon and Piazza Navona.DAY 14:A full free day was spent wandering across pebbled stones of theRoman Forum, the Colosseum, and the Vaticancity were a few sites that we saw.DAY 15: Back on the Road south to Napples to board our motor boat tothe beautiful island of Carpi. After lots of discussion we finallyfound a private boat and headed out round the shores for a relaxingcruise with the usually a bottle of wine. A swim was had througha cave, then we returned back to the island to rejoin our boat and setsail for Sorrento situated on Italy’s stunning Amalfi coast.DAY 16: Today were explored the Ancient ruin city of Pompeii with alocal guide. In the afternoon we took in the sites and scenery ofsouthern Italy was we travel towards Brindisi to catch our over nightferry to Greece.DAY 17-19: Well at 5.30am we arrived in Greece and went to our campsiteonly to have to wait until it opened. Three days were had in thesun, relaxing, either on the beach, under shade or on Georgesboat. Some people experience watersports.One Nite was full with atoga party, another with a Greek dinner and dancing, the other with ahens/stag party (as Kyle and Jayde got engaged in Venice) where we allgot to cross dress, Man there were some interesting sites!!!! The guysenjoyed it a little too much.DAY 20: All nice and relaxed well for some (as one ended up in hospitalafter falling off a balacony, yes drink had been consumed!!) we headedthrough peloponnese and across the Corinth Canel to Athens.DAY 21: A whole day was spent in Athens seeing the Acropolis and the Parthenon and many more sites.DAY 22: Another day in the coach heading to Kavala. This took uspast Spartan Themopylae and Thessaloniki, once the captial of theByzantine Empire and then onto to our seaside overnight stop.DAY 23: Another ferry crossing into Turkey to Troy to have alook aroundthe ruins there before moving onto our first hotel in the Easternblock, Cannakale.DAY 24: Well this day was very emotional for everyone as we made ourway to take time and pay tribute at Gallipoli and Anzac Cove. After the emotional morning we heading towards Istandbul.DAY 25: A guide took us through the local spice markets and into theheart of the city where we stopped at the Grand Bazaar. Westopped at the Turkish baths for a look and some booked a scrub andsaok for alter on in the afternoon. The boys had there soaks andthen visited the local baber for a cut throat shave. The night wasfulled with belly dancers and Turkish foods..DAY 26: We crossed the Turkish boarder in the town of Edirne and intoBulgaria. Across the plains we travelled in the Captial of Sofia.DAY 27: Goodbye to Bulgaria and over the hill into Macedonia. Alunch stop was had in Skopje then ontho the stunning lake Orhid wherewe camped on the edge of the lake which is the deepest in Europe. The toilet facilities weren’t of high standard so the bushes were usedby everyone. A Camp fire was built and we sat around talking anddrinking.DAY 28: Another border crossing into Albania. Today we sawsome stunning mountain scenery interwoven by the numerous remains ofthe defensive bunkers built years ago. We stopped in Elbasan forlucnh, well if you could find some food you got lunch there wasn’t muchin this rough area. We continued onto Durres which is animportant seaside resort town.Day 29: On the Road again, pass Shkoder before crossing into Montenegroand then into Bosina. The afternoon was spent travelling alongthe coast of Croatia into Dubrovnik.DAY 30-31: Well what can i say it was so amazing we toured on groundaround old city (inside the wasll) and then we walked around the top ofthe walk checking out the picturesque city. We crusied out to seato visit some of the islands off shore. The second day was wet sowe decided to get even wetter by going diving along the coast and inthe start of a cave. The evening was finished with dinner in town at alittle bar watching football (soccer) with the locals. Some had along trip in town as they got catch up in the riots on the streetsoutside the wall.DAY 32: We on our was to Zadar following the Dalmatian coast, enjoyinghte scenic archipelago that mixes stunning blue waters with the manyislands. A short stop at Split was has which gave us time towander through the Roman remanins of Diocletians’ Palace.DAY 33: Farewell so long Zadar. Off we set through the scenicPaklenica National Park, crossing into the Hungarian border. Theshores of lake Balaton saw a stop there before our final destinationdof Budapest.We reached our campsite only short of the tour manger as anhour out of Zadar she realised she hadn’t paid the campsite andcollected her passport so she had to find her own way back (doing170kms) and then onto Budapest. DAY 34: We were given a tour of Budapest by the coach driver and thecook, they did very well using some of Kylie’s notes they found. Yes Kylie was still absent as she got catch up in traffic and missedthe train so she rejoint us in the evening at dinner. Dinner was acruise along the Danube taking in the illuminated city.DAY 35: Our journey today saw us saying farewell to Hungryas we crossedthe border into Slovakia with a lunch stop at Bratislava. Wefinsihed in Vienna the home of the 2024 Euro Cup. The campsitewas full of Germans and Austrians. We ventured into town to check outthe fair and try some of the rides, i watched for most of them but didtry a spinning thing, not really good after you had eaten a big dinner.Not much sleep that night with all the partying happening around thecampsite.DAY 36: Well since the Euro Cup was on the city tour didn’thappen however we walked around and saw the Palace ofHapsburgs, State Opera House. The afternoon we visited a schnapsmuseum. I spent the evening at the campsite with a few others watchingthe football on a small screen.DAY 37: Today we drove through Bohemia and stopped in the medieval town of Cesky Krumlov a nice small village, then onto Prague.DAY 38-39: We had two full free days to explore Prague. The firstday we did a lunch time crusie along the Vitava River. This wasfollowed by a guide bike tour, this was great after a few wines atlunch time.DAY 40:We moved onto Bavaria’s lively captial Munich, home of theOktoberfest. Tonight was spent at one of the oldest and mostfamous beerhalls in Munich. I had a pork knuckle and beer fordinner while we watched dancers, yodellers and musicians in fullcostume.DAY41: Another border to cross today into the Swiss Alps. Alongthe way we stopped for lucnch in Vadus and the capital ofLiechtenstein. the vies were amazing another stop was had inLucerne before we reached our idyllic stop in the Swiss Alps. Camping next to a waterfall and the mountain right there, something todied for.DAY 42: Well this day was well spent, we climbed the hill on a cograilway up to the snow covered Jungfrau Mountain. The scenery wasfabulous we walked around the attractions at the top, but the snow wasto soft for the husky dogs so no sledge ride :(DAY 43: Heidelberg here we come but it was hard to leave the Swiss Alpsbehind! Yes back into Germany to visist the universtiy town situated onthe banks of the Neckar River.DAY 44: Goodbye Germany, Hello Netherlands. We headed passed thelegendary Lorelei before a short puase in St Goar inthe Rhine Valleyfamous for its storybook castles. We hit the capital Amsterdam, watchout everyone Contiki is on the lose in a sex and drug city anything canhappen!!!! We had a tour of the red light district and wereallowed to try greenery of Amsterdam. Yip i had to try a bite ofcake to see what it was like.DAY 45:We visited Edam for a cheese and clog demonstration followed bya bicycle tour around the alleyways and windmills. Free time to exploresites of our choice so we went to Ann Franks house, where she hid for 2years. Tonight was spent together celebrating out last time anddinner. DAY 46: The last leg back to London.We travelled through Belgium backto Calais to catch the ferry to Dover. As we headed back we recaped ourjourney and the highlights. Addresses and contact were swappedand we presented the Contiki staff with a small book ofmemories. Lots of good byes were said and a few tearsfollowed over the evening of saying our farewells, either on the sideof the road by the coach or at the pub later that evening. Aftera awesome 46 days had I spend the evening on the hotel floor of somemates as there was no more accomodation. For some of us it wasn’tgoodbye for good it was goodbye for now, seeya 2moro or at xmas andkeep in touch using Facebook
posted Wednesday July 2024