CONTIKI ADVENTURE!!!

Hello all you wonderful people!!! I have been back in Henley from my Contiki Adventure for a couple of weeks now, very depressed that the fun has ended, and have finally felt like updating my page and showing you all what I got up to ;-) Click on the images to enlarge them!

I spent 25 magical days with 52 Amazing people travelling through 12 countries!! These countries were:

France, Spain, Monaco, Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, The Netherlands, and Belgium!

Unfortunately I didn't get photos EVERYWHERE (like Munich for Oktoberfest cause i didn't want to risk losing my camera), so I need to pinch some photos of others!

Thanks to all you Contiki friends for making it the best time of my life!!! TIMES LIKE THESE!

Enjoy!!










First things first :-) This was my home for 25days!



And secondly: Meet the family!! (Photo taken in Florence)



FRANCE: (Paris)



The final resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte` : Les Invalides.



Me and lady Eifel ;-)







Few of pics of The Arc de Triomphe - dedicated to Napoleon. The bottom pic is a postcard I scanned to give you an idea of how crazy the traffic is! It's in the centre of a massive 6'ish' lane roundabout, there are no 'give way' rules, you just hope to god you don't get hit! Our contiki bus FLEW into it, we all cheered and laughed, and circled round it 3 times!





Notre Dame (where the hunch-back was from!)



Standing on 'Point Zero', just outside Notre Dame, where every distance in France is measured from.





The Louvre, and the Mona Lisa! You're not supposed to take photos of Mona, I was sneaky though, and because I was trying to be subtle, I didn't have my 'flash' on, so she's a little blury sorry haha..









A few site-seeing shots: One angle of Paris from the top of the Eifel Tower, The Seine River, Statue of Joan of Arc, and the famous 'Moulin Rouge' ;-)



First night at dinner in Paris, cute bunch aren't we ;-) From left to right: Carol, me, Jo`el, Nicki, Leesa, Kelly, Kelly#2, and Michelle.







A few shots of French cuisine! The first is my entree` at dinner, the 2nd my snail and wine experience in our cabins food hall mess, and the 3rd is my French McDonalds! Seen Pulp Fiction? I ordered a Royale with Cheese meal, with a beer!



Not the Moulin Rouge, but we caught a Caberet` show after dinner in Paris, and who should get picked out of the crowd to dance? My mate Brandon was also a lucky guy and got picked to shake his booty too. Thanks Ange for taking photos!







A few snaps of my Beaujolais Wine Region experience! We stayed here after Paris in an awsome Chateau, near Lyon.







Here we have the Roman aqueduct at Pont du Gard, as featured on the '5 Euro' Note! It began being built in 19BC and took 100 years to finish.



SPAIN: (Barcelona)



Sadly, Barcelona was washed out from day 1! A lot of beautiful architecture here though - also the home to a LOT of Picasso works.



A cool statue we came across while doing a driving tour of the Gothic Sites, and the 1992 Olympic Stadium. Can't remember WHAT exactly it symbolised - maybe the black plague? 'Ringa Ringa Rosie'? Someone from Contiki help me out here! lol...





Guadi's Sagrada Familia Cathedral: Pic 1 is his work, unfortunately he died before it could be complete. Pic 2 is whats being built on today, Gaudi didn't leave complete designs of how he wanted it finished, so modern architects are 'playing it by ear' really! Gaudi funded the building from his own money! His work is found all over Barcelona, probably all over Spain.



Shannon - this one's for you babe!! A little cafe` I came across!



Action shot: Flamenco Dancers! I wasn't called up for this one lol... Though we all had to dance at the end to classics like 'The Macarena' and 'Follow the leader' haha.. Good times :-)



FRANCE: (French Riviera)







Back in France again on the way to Italy! This time we're cruising along the French Riviera in Nice (pronounced Neece). Beautiful! (But stone beaches!)





Laura, Nicki and I caught the train to Cannes (pronounced Carn), and found a cool little tourist train that drove us around the city. Again, it didn't stop raining for long! We caught the wrong train on the way back to our campsite that afternoon lol...



Still in Cannes, we found the 'Hollywood Stars' hand prints version! Here I'm shaking hands with Bruce Willis.



And here, I've gotten down on all fours for Sharon Stone haha...



MONACO:



Our first view from the bus of Monaco! Very Cool!



Here we are! The boys! Getting all Rev'd Up for a night out in Monaco! Grr...like a Tiger!



Monaco's famous F1 Racing Corner!



Couldn't forget the girls! Aren't they lovely ;-)



This lady was carving little soap ducks by HAND! She had hundreds! We came across her in a little French Perfumery.



ITALY: (Pisa)





Ahhh... The Leaning Bell Tower! Of course I also took a classic 'holding up the tower' shot, but this one accentuates the lean :-)



ITALY: (Florence)





Beautiful Florence! I didn't get to see the original 'David' Statue cause the entry line was WAY too long and we only had minimal time in each place (but I did find some classic penis boxershorts haha..) So yeah, top pic is a David replica, and the 2nd is Perseus; who in Greek Mythology defeated Medusa and cut off her head!



The Ponte Vecchio; a bridge with heaps of little (expensive) jewellery shops.



Sitting on the Ponte Vecchio. Actually, just to my left was a wall with locks all over it. Our guide of Florence told us it's where all the romantics come and make a wish, lock the lock on the bridge, and throw the key into the river. Doing this is supposed to insure their love lasts forever - until (as the guide chuckles), the government comes and cuts them off when there become too many lol....



A view of the narrow bridge - crowded with tourists!



Gelato!! Our first taste of Italian cuisine! (Lots more Gelato and Pizza was to follow!)



ITALY: (Rome)



First impressions of the Amphitheatre; aka: The Colosseum!



Here is the inside, what you can see is what used to be covered by the ground. What you're looking at are the little tunnels and rooms where the Gladiators and Wild animals would wait to fight each other!



A good shot of the Colosseum, showing it's 3 walls which make it up.





A couple of snaps of 'Ancient Rome', a lot of excavations are still going on, and much of Ancient Rome is still being uncovered - only recently re-discovered 10 years ago!



VATICAN CITY:



Waiting in line to get into the Vatican! This line can stretch for miles!



Inside! We encounter a strange glass'ish' sphere - anyone else love the show Alias? Reminded me of a Ramboldi design lol...



Gold ceilings of the Sistine Chapel with paintings above. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take photos of Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Man/Adam", but it, and the other paintings were beautiful!



Overlooking the Vatican!



Another angle! Laura, me, Leesa and Calum.



The Spanish Steps, where Romans and tourists love to flock during the day - couldn't really see the appeal lol...



Me, Calum, Laura, Gabby, Leesa and Andrew, sitting down for some Italian pizza and lasagna!



"How the F$%K am I supposed to get F$%#ing Paro off this!?" haha...



This is another scanned postcard cause you weren't allowed to take photos (I'm not sure I would have wanted too - spooky!) It's 1 room of 6, called The Crypt of the Capuchins, a Church with the remains of Capuchin Friars errected on the walls, floors and ceilings! Everything from full bodies, to skulls, hip bones, knees, etc...



SAN MARINO:



Views of the city.



The main city of San Marino is situated on the grounds of an old castle.



The 'War' Capital! lol.. This is what you find in EVERY shop in San Marino! REAL axes, swords, guns, knives - right along side your shot glasses and jewellery! I picked up a cool 'half-sword' myself! A mate bought a 'Kill-Bill' Sword - good luck bringing THAT home lol...



Ahhh... The main Contiki Bus diet: Pringles! "You 'aint gettin any!"



ITALY: (Venice)



Beautiul Venice! The City that floats...



Simon and Scotty getting friendly with the thousands of pidgeons that line the streets of Venice.



This (in the upper background) is a really famous bridge in Venice. I forget why! Its either a romantic lover's bridge, or people were killed on it lol.... One of those ;-)



Bit of a 'friendly' pose next to some Gondola's (we were just mates).



Overlooking beautiful Venice; Carol, Kelly, Calum and Laura.



Action shot: On board a Gondola!



Romantic yes?



Hmm... it's a modern world! Allow me to introduce you to our mobile phone driver!



AUSTRIA: (Vienna)





Here is where 'The Sound of Music' was filmed!



A monument dedicated to the victims of WWII. We drove to a Concentration Camp in Dachau, but it was closed so we couldn't go in.



Taxi's; Austrian-Style! Actually, a lot of Europe has taxi's like these!





Laura and I, just taking the time to play with the animals in a Museum in Vienna :-)



A Cathedral - one of many things Laura and I climbed to the top of - it became our mission to climb as many things as possible!! Eifel, (actually, only I did that one!), Vatican, etc..



The little Schnapps Man! He's holding up a red bottle of Vienna Blood/Rocket Juice (which I bought - like fire, but delicious!) He said "red looks better in photos" so we weren't allowed to take a photo until he held this one up lol...



AUSTRIAN TYROL: (Hopfgarten)







Hopfgarten was our 'extreme sports' city! We got to go white water rafting - it was AWSOME! I'm taking it up once I get home!





Two types of Churches that are EVERYWHERE in Austria!



Here's me paragliding amongst the Alps! Sadly no, we were supposed to, but the weather turned shit, so it was cancelled :-( This is some lucky random person that got to go later in the day, rubbing it in my face!



All geared up for a spot of bicycle riding site-seeing! Dan (Kill-Bill man), Nicki, Me, Michelle, Kelly and Laura.



Nice little bridge and rappids we came across.



This is pretty much what EVERY house looks like! Very pretty.



Andrew (from a different Contiki tour group that met up with us), Hayley and Laura. Background: really noisy Cows with their Cow Bells and the countryside!



A spot of Trout Fishing!!



10 seconds later...



This little Trout Farm was brilliant! You pay 6.50euros to fish in the pond, a little old man baits your hook with corn and a worm, you catch your fish, get your photo, and then they cook it up for your lunch! Very tasty!



SWITZERLAND: (Lucerne)



Flower Bridge; rebuilt after burning down from a boat that caught fire docked to it some time ago.



SWITZERLAND: (The Alps)



Heading up Jungfrau Mountain, the "Top of Europe", in a little train that goes through the mountain itself.



You can see the clouds in the distance! We were 3,454 Metres above sea level, and it was 1.2 degrees outside!



Just blending in...



Fabian, Kate and Me.



Laura's dare; Lying face down on the snow for 10 seconds lol... Everyone had a dare, mine was to yell "Cockadoodle loo" every hour, for 24 hours, no matter where I was or who I was with haha..



Me and Jo`el playing in the Ice Palace of the mountain.



How's the F$%#ing Serenity? ;-) (Contiki Joke).



Another conquest: Climbing a waterfall! Calum, Laura and Me.



Ta daa!



GERMANY: (Heidelberg) ; home to 'beer flavoured' lollies!



This little guy was supposed to hold the tradion/myth of making you fertile if you looked into his little copper mirror (so Sean, our awsome Tour Manager tells us - he was a bit full of shit sometimes! Seriously, he'd make up random facts about things for his own amusement, so you had to be on your guard about what to believe!)



I got a little carried away in all the excitement ;-)



THE NETHERLANDS: (Amsterdam)



We begin with a bike ride in the charming villiage of Edam. Me and Tanara.



Andrew, Billy, Fabian and Me.



Daniel posing for me with a Windmill - cheers Dan!



Me and our Bike tour lady, Claudia. Billy loves the name of the business: 'Bike-A-Dijk'.



Artistic photo of the warped buildings of Amsterdam - notice the lean!



Ahh... beautiful Julie. She gave us a talk on cheese, in a cheese and clogs factory.



Calum with all of our McDonald's boxes etc.. He picked up Conjunctive itis, it looks like he's stoned and had the munchies :-)



Classic shot: A beautiful old Church, the 1st one in the Red Light District; upper left - a sign advertising the 'Prostitution Information Centre' building!



CANDID CAMERA: (Action sleeping shots on the bus) - Thought it was only fair! haha...



Alice and Nathan; with Scotty and Brent's handy work...



Simon..



Billy, William, Aimee and Alana...



Aaron...



Clicking on this one helps! Half the bus! lol..



My personal favourite: Darren; aka 'Gary' (So nick-named in Barcelona whilst skulling a bottle of Vodka straight, someone called him Gary by mistake - early in the tour. Also where 'Go-Gary-Go originated!)



Je suis une machine. Je n'ai pas besoin de sommeil !
(I am a machine. I don't need sleep!)
Thanks Patrick! You were a KICK-ARSE bus driver and a top Frenchman!



Sean - Thanks for being such an awsome Tour Manager and friend!