Athens plus a Turkish border crossing and WWI history lesson

Athens was the last stop for our Southern Trailers (another Contiki tour that has left us and we had another join on). Pretty much the highlight was the parthenon. Of course! Also, fun fact: Athens is currently housing some riots/demonstrations to "rise up against the man" so when we arrived at the Parthenon there was actually a demonstration happening over the side up at the top. Pretty interesting stuff. It was also pretty sweet to see what theyve done to restore/preserve the temples themselves since you could see the newer white marble compared to the more yellowish 2500 year old marble.

Also saw zeus' temple which made for a pretty cool photo but there's sadly not much left to the thing. The rest of the day was spent shopping, both at the markets and at H&M (leave it to me to totally underestimate the heat in a European summer. Tis is what happens when you're from Newfoundland I guess. Totally only brought two pairs of shorts). Bought some souvenirs for those I love that couldn't join me on this trip and btw if you haven't already and you want a postcard, send me along your addy! I may be home by whe you get it since I'm not oo sure how frequent post offices are in eastern Europe.

That night saw the birthday of two of my tour mates: Caitlin and Allison (sorry if you spell your name a slightly different way). Had way too many expensive cosmos and a super long chat with Becks at the bar. We turned around and everyone had left! Oh well... Had some ridiculous sandwiches on the way home that I'm pretty sure went from my fingertip to my elbow.

The next morning, Rachel, my tent mate, epic failed on me and made me sleep through my alarm. Thanks homie... NOT! She won't live this one down for a while hahaha. Stopped in Kavala for the night as a stopover on the way to Turkey.

Speaking of Turkey, it took us two hours to cross the border, which is apparently as smoothly as it goes! Nuts. Also for all you canadians who want to visit Turkey and haven't, it costs 45 Euro for your travel visa (everyone else who has to pay pays 15; fair? NOT). apparently they could've asked us to completely empty the bus of absolutely everything so they could search it. Trust me, that thing is packed to the brim and that would not be a pretty site.

Later in the afternoon we went to ANZAC cove, a super important place for all of the Australians and New Zealanders on our trip. Also found out that 49 newfoundlanders died there. Needless to say it was a pretty solemn afternoon. May have cried a few times, no bigs. I really appreciated comig to visit it though.

On to Istanbul tomorrow! And off for what I hope is my first of many more runs on this trip as I write.

May or may not be chilling on a beach in greece

So after my last post, it became quite clear that is is literally the hottest weather I've ever been in in my life but whatevs I've gotten to do some pretty awesome stuff while I was here. Yesterday saw our tour group going for a little cruise around in something called georges boat. Picture the creepiest, most hilarious large Greek man who inserts a sexual innuendo at any possible moment and that's George. Too much fun was had really. The day started off with water sports, so of course I had to do parasailing! It was AMAZING! And for those of you who know about my fear of heights over water I was totally over it at that moment. The scariest part was actually running to the end of the dock to catch enough speed to get airborne. But by far the best view you could ever manage to get in greece. I had the bug in me for water sports after that one so a couple of the girls and I went on one of those inflatables where you lie on your stomach and get towed. Too fun! I didn't fall off though since I got put in the middle. Then George served us his famous tzatiki and fries. Most. Delicious. Thing. Ever. Nom! Went swimming a couple of times in the most gorgeous water you've Ever seen, including one skinny dipping spot. Most of the girls only went tops off though since that water was quite clear hahaha. Got to sing Oh Canada with my fellow Canadians on the boat before we docked and learned that shotgunning beer is apparently only really a North American thing. Spent too much money but this day was too awesome so it was totally worth it!

On to Athens tomorrow. Hopefully going to meet up with Sarah and company.

I'm mellllllting

Pompeii was pretty cool to see. Fun fact: it had 27 brothels since when you went to a brothel you didn't have to use language so for that moment in time it got rid of any language barriers there might be. Another fun fact: those bodies at Pompeii aren't actually preserved but plaster models of the negatives of cavities where bodies once were in the ash. Shows how much I know!

The rest of the day saw us driving to the ferry to Corfu. Got a cabin on the boat ( yay! A bed! )but absolutely no air movement and tons of creepy men.

Am currently in Corfu and literally melting from the second I step pinged off the ferry. This little east coast body is not used to 37 degrees plus humidity! But am drinking lots of water and got me a good start to a tan today. Greek feast tonight! Noms!

Roma with a dash of Capri (sun for those of you who like the juice packs)

So from Florence we went on to Rome, a must see if you're ever going to bother to make a trek over to Italy. The trip to Rome was quick; only included one service stop. Side note: our bus travels are actually littered with service stops due to some European law to do with drivers hours, miles and rest time. Makes sense I guess to get some of those crazy European drivers off the road for at least forty minutes :D. Once we set-up camp in Rome which had by far the best campsite thus far, it was off for a driving plus walking tour of the city. Got to see, among other things, the Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Mouth of Truth (cool story is that it was made to try and find out if a wife was cheating back in the day. That's about all the details I remember; Kelly tells the story much better), and the Pantheon (thanks for actually teaching me something CPST. Also don't remember if I mentioned it but we totally stopped at the roman aqueduct of Pont du Gard last week too). Then grabbed some more Italian noms plus gelato of course.

The next day brought us to visit only two sites (Rome is QUITE large): the Colosseum which I appreciated much more after watching Gladiator again on the way to the city and the Vatican. Colosseum was awesome! So cool to see things left standing from 2000 years ago. For the Vatican, we had yet another guided tour. I honestly could've dealt with just looking at the artwork and museums before the Sistine Chapel and made my way there and to St. peters Basilica so I could've spent more time there. Speaking of, you can't quite picture what the Sistine Chapel looks like until you see it. May have sneaked a few illegal photos, but they never do it justice. And as gorgeous as St. Peters Basilica was, I was much too tired to really appreciate it (sadly) and just wanted to see the place under the altar that was featured in the Da Vinci Code. Hahaha I'm so pop culture it's disgusting! Then, exhausted and walked out, we made our way back to the campsite to chill by the pool for a few hours. Successful day I'd say!

Today we headed to the Isle of Capri. Missed our intended ferry by literally two minutes so it cut our time on the island even more short. As a result Megan, Carolyn, and I chose to just climb to the top of the lookouts and catch the view and spend some time on the beach. Apparently we missed the best boat ride/event of anyone's lives by not renting a boat. Oh well! Now we have an excuse to come back right? Loved the view and the water anyway so I had a great day all in all.

Off to see Pompeii tomorrow (super excited!!!!!!) and then the overnight ferry to Corfu in Greece! The vacay in the middle of my vacay :D

Dash over to Florence for a sec

So the first night in Florence, right off the coach, some of the tour went into the city to jam to some karaoke. Always a good time. They had towers of beer (think brew tender from Maxwell's for you haligonians) which always ends awesomely, or badly depending how you look at it. I, of course, sang me some lady gaga. No ke$ha selection though, so that was mega disappointing.

The day in Florence started off with a tour through a leather shop. 200 Euro for a leather purse? No thanks. I'll take my chances with the street venders and save me some dough. They did teach me how to spot a fake though so thanks for that :). Then we had a walking tour through a couple for the florentian sites. Most long-winded tour guide. Ever. Took an hour and a half to show/talk to us about three sites. She redeemed herself with a good lunch spot recommendation though. Nom calzone! Our waiter asked us if we know about Jersey Shore (who, by the way, finished up in Florence THE DAY BEFORE we all went out there!! Seriously! Grrr! I wanted to meet me some Snooki). And he apparently loves them which was awesome.

Got myself a leather bag before leaving the city (of course). And then we had a Tuscan dinner including bruschetta, pasta, pizza and tiramisu. The only thing that was really good was one of the pastas. If I had my time back I would've taken my 30 Euro and gone elsewhere on my own.

Ended the night with a trip to the space disco. Weirdest drink paying system ever. You get a card when you enter (that's 50 Euro if you lose it) and the bartender marks off each drink you drink by it's cost and you cash out before you leave. Strange! The place had pretty good music, but I was just toast after yet another scorching day (seriously my east coaster body is finding this hard to handle). So headed her home early and grabbed a snooze.

For those of you who know about my obsession with going to the gym everyday, not going is killing me. Going to start running in the evenings now to at least try and maintain a smidgen of cardio when I get home. Then I'm totally jumping right into Insanity. I shall die. Also am completely unaware of how Italians eat all these carbs and aren't huge. Lots of walking? Who knows...

Bonjourno to Italia for a week

So the trip to italy was yet another long drive day. But it's ok since now we'll be in Italy for pretty much a week. The first night was awesome at the campsite as it involved a campsite bar (yeah that's how camping rolls in Europe. Sites also have laundry, supermarkets, and restaurants) special drink called amnesia, with good reason. It had vodka, gin and rum with fanta plus grenadine to cover up the taste of the liquor. Dangerously delicious combo. I was all good though. Had some sweaty dances at the bar to some awesome music and was still good to go this morning. Was also quite able to handle the ferry ride over to venice while many of my tour mates were not quite so lucky.

Had a hilarious walking tour from a little French lady (how funny is that?!) who is apparently married to a venetian, not an Italian. Who knew there was a difference? And for those of you who are unfamiliar with how Venice is laid out it's a complete maze. Much too easy to get lost in the little alleyways but this little French chicky brought us to see the coolest things. Then we had the morning and afternoon to roam so the activity of choice became getting purposefully losqt in the side streets and alleyways. As stupid as this sounds it was pretty cool to come across a dead end that was actually a couple of stairs down into a canal. And FYI for those of you who were wondering: yes the city does flood, usually about 20 times a year. No, the city isn't actually sinking, it's just the wood between the clay bricks that doesn't rot but compresses over time making things shorter and slightly sinky. But it won't crumble to the sea anytime soon. Ok time to stop being a nerd. And btw when people find out you're an engineer that apparently makes you qualified to explain how the city was built on top of the water. Hilarious. One more fun fact: the canals are only about six feet deep.

Saw a glass blowing demo that would've been cool if it had lasted longer than about five minutes. And OF COURSE went on a gondola ride vec some champagne which was awesome. By far the coolest way to get around a city ever. Had some BBQ at the campsite for supper. Yes BBQ in Italy. I think that might be sacrilegious. But don't worry, in Venice today I got some legit Italian pizza and gelato. Noms!

Off to Florence tomorrow!

Bonjour from the French Riviera

So may just be eating some noms on The beach in Nice. No big deal. Oh yeah and Brad Pitt just walked past. Juust kidding! But it was totally possible. Going to go spend the rest of the afternoon getting a tan on the beach.

Having a tough time keeping hydrated here. Sometimes my legs just won't stop shaking. And, yes, before you tell me I know I hVe to take care of myself :).

This will be a quick post since yesterday was a driving day so not much exciting happening there. Going to a casino in Monaco tonight though. Maybe I actually will run into so,done famous!

There's a drama lama lurking on a night out in Barcelona

So last night I wasn't feeling 100% after a full legit day in the sun (finally) {side note: apparently I'm the only one who actually found Spain hot. Thank you eastern Canadian climate}. so I decided the best course of action was to head back to the campsite and have a decent sleep considering today was going to be a long driving day. Got woken up by people being ridiculous and rowdy when they were coming back from town which wasn't super out of the ordinary so I didn't think all that much of it.

Once I woke up though it turns out that last night one of the girls on our trip had come home in a cab with some other girls and once they got to the campsite gate, she took off sprinting. No one saw her after that. So this morning we packed up the campsite as per usual and our tour manager was going to stay behind to try and search for her. Juuust as the last group of searchers were going to hop on someone heard sirens coming up to a dance behind our campsite and a girl that looked like the missing one. So there she was! She's not really sure what happened but thankfully she had I.d. On her when she was approached by the cops (who don't speak English at all btw which is crazy to me). So lucky! And we're so glad she showed back up!

Yet another lesson: always keep a piece of id on you, especially in a foreign country. Well done chicky!

Oh and btw I currently have cankles from walking and not drinking enough water. Awesome haha.

Some fun little stories I've gathered along the way

1. Cabs try to rip you off sooo bad. One guy had a base fare of 11 Euro.

2. Actually saw a friend of mine almost get pick-pocketed by a preggers lady on the Metro in Paris. She reached in the front pocket of her purse and tried to grab her camera and then when she was caught she acted all shocked and appalled. Jumpins!

3. Sangria is delicious. Why have I never tried it before I came to Spain?

4. You can never drink too much water while traveling but it still kills me to pay 3 Euro for a bottle of water.

5. You quickly become very good at charades.

6. You will never appreciate a hot shower more than after spending nine hours on a bus.

7. Australians and New Zealanders have some pretty hilarious phrases they use. Like chewie for gum and jandals for sandals.

I'll add some more as I spend more time on this crazy continent.


And now to my usual update post:
Currently in Barcelona, but it's a Sunday so all of the shopping I anticipated doing has just not gotten to happen. Boooo! However found some sweet souvenirs including an awesome piece of artwork for my new home in Louisiana. French Riviera tomorrow! Beaches and rich people nom...

Paris plus some Lyon

So the cabaret was hilarious. No photos of it though (of course it was against the rules haha). Then we all went out afterwards to a 24 hour bar which they of course have in Paris. Danced and partied with all my tour mates until about four and then tried to grab a cab. What an impossible endeavor! Didn't get back to the campsite until 5:30!

That didn't stop me from making sure I was up the next morning to make it around Paris. The first stop was the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa among other things but that was definitely the first order of business. FYI if you were to see every site in there for five seconds it would take you five museum days to see them all. Fun fact! Then we headed for crepes (nom) and macaroons at a place called Maison du Chocolat aka pretty much a chocolate jewelry store.

Then we headed to the Notre Dame. Won't lie it was totally awesome and overwhelming and a few of us may have cried a tad. After super we headed back to the Eiffel Tower to see it at night which was aaaaamaaaaazinnggggggggg!!! Rode up the glass sided elevator which scared the crap out of me but the top was amazing to see the city all lit up! We were also on tower DURING the light show. Tooooo awesome.

The next day saw us driving to Lyon for some tasting of Bourgeounais wine which is pretty unique to the small region. Delicious and definitely bought some. It was also completely gorgeous to look out over the countryside from the chateau where we were wine tasting. Oh and the camp ground was totally sketchy there! On our way to Barcelona now as I speak.

Trotting around Paris

So all day yesterday was spent driving from London to Paris. By the ferry in Dover, we got to see the white cliffs which was pretty sweet! Also had a legit English breakfast on the ferry which apparently is massive compared to everyone else's standards but it just reminds me of going from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia haha. Then we setup camp in Paris which was surprisingly close to the center of Paris.

Today included a tour around Paris on the bus where we got to see all of the sites like l'Arc de Triomphe and of course the Eiffel Tower. Our tour manager also told us some awesome stories like a square that was used to behead tons of people during the French Revolution and the smell of blood was so strong that horses wouldn't even enter. We also went to Versailles to see the huge palace and grounds there which were massive, gold, and super symmetrical. Got to sample fome escargots and champagne as well.

Currently writing this message on the Champs Élysées in a McDonalds (haha seriously these are Everywhere!). getting tons of awesome pictures that I promise to share when I get back. Going to a legit Parisian dinner tonight and a cabaret show. Tomorrow will be an on our own adventure around that plan to include the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and the catacombs in!

Until next time!!

Landed in London

So for those of you that I didn't get to brag about this to before I left, my awesome parents got my flights to and from London for me as my grad gift. The best part of this being that the only Flights available on points were in Executive Class. Cha ching! There was nothing sweeter than having a legitimate bed and a hot meal for the overnight flight to London.

I managed to survive my first trip in the London Underground. Fun fact about the underground here: it is legit underground. As in you pretty much have to take an elevator (or lift to be authentic) to get to street level. I was much too tired to do any sort of tour or sightseeing today when I got in besides the fact that it was foggy and rainy. Herm. Sounds familiar hahaha. So I ecided to chill out in the hotel lobby and read until I could check-in to my room.

A well-deserved nap was followed by meeting up with my fellow Contikiers at the pub in the hotel for some laughs and introductions. Just finished checking in with the tour and to be quite honest I am toast. Don't know how late I can make it tonight considering I have to meet my tour group at 6 am tomorrow morning (gah!!).

P.s. I promise more exciting things will start happening soon :D