Tuesday, June 15th - I was in a foul mood on the way to the airport, I was exhausted from lack of sleep and upset that contiki was officially over - I was going to miss all my new friends. Sandra and I got to Heaththrow and sailed through our check-in and waited to board the airplane. The flight to Ireland was short, under an hour but I slept most of the way. We touched down in Dublin and had to figure out our next move. Sandra and I hadn't arranged for any accommodations nor did we have any actual plans once we got into Dublin. We were in Ireland to visit Kara who was living in Belfast, 2 hours north of Dublin. Problem was that we were not very organized and we didn't even have her address at the time so we decided that it would be best to just book a hotel and catch up on sleep and go from there. We ended up at the tourist desk and they were nice enough to book a hotel for us in the city for us, so we hopped on the airline bus shuttle and headed to our hotel. The hotel itself was super cute and cheap - only 45 Euros for the night for the 2 of us. I was very impressed! The only problem was that we couldn't check-in until 2pm and it was only 9am. We stashed our luggage at the hotel and set out to explore.
I had been up for over 24 hours now and Sandra was still sick so we weren't in the mood for sight-seeing. We grabbed a traditional Irish breakfast at a pub where I had my first taste of black pudding. It wasn't too bad. We walked around a little bit but then decided to go wait out our remaining time in an internet cafe, we literally spent 4 hours here. I finally caught up on all the emails I owed and many hours of TV. I was so tired at one point that I actually contemplated crawling under the desk and taking a nap. Finally it was 2pm and Sandra and I were able to check into our hotel, after being awake for 36 hours straight I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
We slept about 4 hours but woke up starving so we got cleaned up and went looking for some dinner. We found a cute Italian restaurant that served us some amazing food, delicious! We were still pretty beat so after dinner we just headed back to the hotel and headed to bed.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Day 34 - London Again
Monday, June 14th - I was up early to say goodbye to Jas who was catching an early flight back to Canada. I was hoping to push my flight to Dublin the following day up a day and change the 6:45am flight time, so I decided to head to the internet cafe to suss it out. The airline I had booked with wouldn't let me change the flight online so I headed back to the RN to call and make the changes. When I called the airline something was wrong with their phone system and I kept getting looped back to the main menu without talking an operator. I was beyond frustrated but resigned to the fact that this was my last day in London.
Rochelle, Sukhey, Sandra and I planned to go see Harrods and it was a fabulous experience. This is definitely one of the best shopping experiences I've ever had - it puts Holts in Toronto to shame. We ate in one of the many restaurants and it was delicious - my tuna salad was to die for. Better yet was the ice cream parlor we browsed after our meal, simply the best ice cream of the entire tour (note best ice cream - not gelato). We then wandered around all the designer clothes including Canadian designers D squared. Though I was more than tempted to drop a few hundred pounds on a few dresses I managed to restrain myself and headed to Top Shop instead for a few cheap finds. Sukhey and I then headed back to RN, she was my next goodbye and the one of the hardest. Rochelle and I were in tears saying goodbye to her. As of the moment I'm planning a trip to Vancouver in 3 weeks time, I'm looking forward to being reunited with my best from the tour.
I headed to London pub to find out what the plan was for that evening. A bunch of us had talked about going to see the Lion King show but it wasn't playing that night. We opted for Wicked and the majority of the remaining group came out aside from Matty Ray, who was off to some family members place and Ben and Matt F who got caught up at a casino and didn't have enough time to get ready. Wicked was alright, it was my first musical and I really didn't love it but in all honesty my mind was somewhere else that night. Afterward there was a huge debacle were we lost Chloe and Paula - who just ended up going home on their own. We all headed back to RN with the plans to go out to a club that evening. By the time we all got assembled in London pub it was quite late. I ran upstairs to grab my camera and by the time I came down everyone had decided to forgo going out that night. We all grabbed beers and hung out in the hotel bar, Sandra came and told me that our airplane shuttle was picking us up at 4am. It was already midnight so I just decided to pull another all-nighter.
Since it was my last night it was time for many sad goodbyes, the hardest was with Rochelle and with Ben. Rochelle and I had a few goodbye moments that night, it was pretty sad. After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, Ben and I headed to my side of the hotel and we had a long goodbye. For those who don't know, Ben and I started something up early on in Barcelona and it lasted the entire trip. Definitely had a few exciting moments together and the two of us will always view stairwells with a bit of fondness. We stayed up until 3am but eventually it was time to say goodbye. It was time for me to pack up and grab my airport shuttle, so with one final (and sad) goodbye to Ben I was off to Ireland.
Rochelle, Sukhey, Sandra and I planned to go see Harrods and it was a fabulous experience. This is definitely one of the best shopping experiences I've ever had - it puts Holts in Toronto to shame. We ate in one of the many restaurants and it was delicious - my tuna salad was to die for. Better yet was the ice cream parlor we browsed after our meal, simply the best ice cream of the entire tour (note best ice cream - not gelato). We then wandered around all the designer clothes including Canadian designers D squared. Though I was more than tempted to drop a few hundred pounds on a few dresses I managed to restrain myself and headed to Top Shop instead for a few cheap finds. Sukhey and I then headed back to RN, she was my next goodbye and the one of the hardest. Rochelle and I were in tears saying goodbye to her. As of the moment I'm planning a trip to Vancouver in 3 weeks time, I'm looking forward to being reunited with my best from the tour.
I headed to London pub to find out what the plan was for that evening. A bunch of us had talked about going to see the Lion King show but it wasn't playing that night. We opted for Wicked and the majority of the remaining group came out aside from Matty Ray, who was off to some family members place and Ben and Matt F who got caught up at a casino and didn't have enough time to get ready. Wicked was alright, it was my first musical and I really didn't love it but in all honesty my mind was somewhere else that night. Afterward there was a huge debacle were we lost Chloe and Paula - who just ended up going home on their own. We all headed back to RN with the plans to go out to a club that evening. By the time we all got assembled in London pub it was quite late. I ran upstairs to grab my camera and by the time I came down everyone had decided to forgo going out that night. We all grabbed beers and hung out in the hotel bar, Sandra came and told me that our airplane shuttle was picking us up at 4am. It was already midnight so I just decided to pull another all-nighter.
Since it was my last night it was time for many sad goodbyes, the hardest was with Rochelle and with Ben. Rochelle and I had a few goodbye moments that night, it was pretty sad. After saying goodbye to the rest of the group, Ben and I headed to my side of the hotel and we had a long goodbye. For those who don't know, Ben and I started something up early on in Barcelona and it lasted the entire trip. Definitely had a few exciting moments together and the two of us will always view stairwells with a bit of fondness. We stayed up until 3am but eventually it was time to say goodbye. It was time for me to pack up and grab my airport shuttle, so with one final (and sad) goodbye to Ben I was off to Ireland.
Bye Rochelle!
Day 33 - Back to London
Sunday, June 13th - Contiki had finally come to an end, I can't believe how fast 4 weeks flew by. The majority of the tour members were taking the coach back to London but we were leaving about 10 people behind in Amsterdam to go their separate ways. It was time for our first round of goodbyes - most significant for me was saying goodbye to Monica and Pete who were traveling to Poland and Alex who was meeting up with his parents back in France. We got on the coach and Alex came on and said one more tearful goodbye and we were en route to London via Belgium and France. I was hoping to grab my own bank of seats so I could stretch out and grab some sleep but Matty F ended up sitting with me and he wanted the window seat so I ended up in a much less comfortable aisle seat. It worked out in the end; Ben ended up sitting across the aisle and we got caught-up on each others weekends and he informed me of some events that went on after I had left the club the previous night. Matty Ray and Jas finally made out! This had been building the entire tour it was about time it happened. He had been bugging Ben and I the majority of the tour, always teasing us about hooking up and hanging out so I finally had something to tease Matt about - I only had 24 hours to do it but I made the most of it. Ben also told me that Lorraine hooked up with a random, I missed out on so much taking care of drunk Alex. This is why I always stayed out until the very end of each night - so I wouldn't miss a thing! While the rest of the coach slept Ben and I chatted for a few hours, he told me all about the events leading up to the mix-up with the wrong day sheet which was pretty funny to hear. We also discovered that both our father's ran engineering company's and as a result we have both put in time working front desk jobs for our dads. I was actually really tired but every time I almost fell asleep he would nudge me with something new to say and in the end I'm glad he did, really I'd rather talk to Benny than sleep.
We stopped for breakfast/lunch in Belgium and this rest-stop was the only part of Belgium we would see (contiki only promised we'd see Belgium in transit). It was still pretty early and I wasn't too hungry so Sandra and I shared a sandwich and then it was time to get back on the coach. This time Ben and I actually slept until we reached Dover. It was time to get back on the Ferry that had started us on our trip, I found it to be quite bittersweet. I spent most of my time duty-free shopping and taking advantage of the cheap deals. We docked and it was about 2 hours back the RN. Here we said goodbye to a few more tour members including Sian and Katia, and a much smaller group of us checked in. After 4 weeks of mostly sub-par hotels throughout Europe RN wasn't as horrible as I had originally thought. After much needed showers we all headed to London pub to watch the World Cup - Australia and Germany were playing and with the majority of our tour being Australian we all become honorary Australians that night - but they still lost to Germany 4-0. Even though they lost this ignited my obsession with the world cup and soccer that I would take home with me. Early on I picked Spain as my team and they didn't disappoint and I have now a new obsession with soccer. My house-league team starts up in a few weeks!
That night ended up being quite uneventful, it literally ended up with the Amigo's, Kristen and I standing around in the hotel lobby and chatting. Eventually Kristen and I decided it was late and headed to bed.
We stopped for breakfast/lunch in Belgium and this rest-stop was the only part of Belgium we would see (contiki only promised we'd see Belgium in transit). It was still pretty early and I wasn't too hungry so Sandra and I shared a sandwich and then it was time to get back on the coach. This time Ben and I actually slept until we reached Dover. It was time to get back on the Ferry that had started us on our trip, I found it to be quite bittersweet. I spent most of my time duty-free shopping and taking advantage of the cheap deals. We docked and it was about 2 hours back the RN. Here we said goodbye to a few more tour members including Sian and Katia, and a much smaller group of us checked in. After 4 weeks of mostly sub-par hotels throughout Europe RN wasn't as horrible as I had originally thought. After much needed showers we all headed to London pub to watch the World Cup - Australia and Germany were playing and with the majority of our tour being Australian we all become honorary Australians that night - but they still lost to Germany 4-0. Even though they lost this ignited my obsession with the world cup and soccer that I would take home with me. Early on I picked Spain as my team and they didn't disappoint and I have now a new obsession with soccer. My house-league team starts up in a few weeks!
That night ended up being quite uneventful, it literally ended up with the Amigo's, Kristen and I standing around in the hotel lobby and chatting. Eventually Kristen and I decided it was late and headed to bed.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Day 32 - More Adventures in Amsterdam!
Saturday, June 13th - The previous night I had made Jas and Sukhey promise they would be up and ready for 10am, I woke up at 9:30am hurting and regretting being so adamant about getting a good start. We had decided to sleep through the organized events of the tour and do our own thing since it was the last weekend of Contiki and we wanted to make the best of it. I arrived to breakfast about 45 minutes late, definitely had a hard time getting moving. We decided to take the free airport shuttle to the airport and then grab a train into a city. Given the previous night's taxi fare I was more than willing to spend the time and navigate the metro to get in the city.
Rochelle, Sukhey, Jas and I arrived in the city and set off for the shopping district. I had originally wanted to see Ann Frank's house, but we had heard the queues were a couple hours wait and we only had about 4 hours in the city, so we opted out of it. This is the only attraction in Europe that I missed out in during the entire trip that I regret. Clearly I will have to go back to the Netherlands. I was hoping to find an outfit to wear out on my last night of Contiki but no dice. I did find a great pair of shoes for 20 Euros, so cheap! The shopping was actually quite good, but I was trying to be careful with my money given I still had London and Ireland to get through. Jas and I grabbed some lunch at McD's and then I headed to Zara alone with the plan to meet up with the rest of the group within 20 minutes. I ended up spending heaps of time at Zara although I never bought anything. By the time I left everyone had moved on to other stores so I was left alone. No worries, I prefer shopping on my own anyways (with the exception of shopping with Sukhey who is my perfect shopping partner.)
I was left on my own which I didn't mind with the exception of the fact that I don't wear a watch and I didn't have my BB on me - I didn't have service anywhere in Europe, so my BB became a glorified alarm clock while on the trip. I wandered around and did a bit of shopping and then decided that I should probably head to the meeting place where the coach was picking us up. Apparently I should have paid more attention to Sian when she was instructing us on the meeting place because I was definitely waiting in the wrong place. After waiting there for about 10 minutes (and 4 guys circling me, making me thoroughly uncomfortable) Matty Ray thankfully walked by and I found I was indeed waiting for the coach in the wrong place. We soon ran into a few others and headed to the actual meeting place for the coach. Katia was running a bit late which was somewhat disappointing because it cut down on our time to get ready for our farewell dinner. We were finally picked up and we had about 45 minutes to get dressed up and get back on the coach for dinner.
The majority of the group got on the bus but Sian noticed that the Amigo's and Kristen were missing. I was apparently the last one to see them the night before, at first Sian was concerned that Kristen had never made it home the night before but I assured her that she had. We carried onto dinner without them. Dinner was mediocre, the appetizer and dessert were both amazing but my main course of steak closely resembled a piece off over-cooked meat with campbell's mushroom soup poured over it. Halfway through dinner Sian got a text from another tour manager - apparently the Amigo's and Kristen had gone to the wrong dinner! This is a bit of an aside but a pretty great story so I will include it. The boys and Kristen skipped the tour stuff of the day and decided to hit up some cafes to experience Amsterdam life. Apparently somewhere throughout their day they ended up reading the other tour's day sheet (for the non-contiki readers, a day sheet was our daily agenda that Sian posted each day somewhere in the lobby of each hotel). Even though the two sheets were clearly marked with each tour's details, including each tour manager's name, the next destination - our's was London and the other tour was Barcelona they somehow still ended up getting them mixed up. So they arrived at the other tour's dinner and discovered the mix-up and grabbed a cab to our dinner, which cost over 100 euros. By now the boys were quite high and Matt apparently started to freak out in the taxi, which according to Ben and Kristen was quite hilarious to watch. They eventually made it, I was the first one to see them walk in, the look on Matt's face was priceless - he looked a bit terrified. First thing he did was hug Sian as soon as he got to our restaurant. They grabbed a bit of dinner and then it was time to head out to our farewell canal cruise.
Our farewell cruise was also a booze cruise - all the beer or wine that we wanted in an hour and a half. I found the boat similar to our coach, but with tables and it was definitely hard to maneuver around in. I got tired of sitting so after a while I got up and tried to walk around but I really never made it very far - only to the next table where Jas and Tom decided to go beer for beer. Eventually I gave up trying to walk around and sat with Matty Ray and Naomi for the the reminder of the cruise - it was at least close to the bartender, didn't even have to get up for another drink! Near the end of the cruise I hopped over to see how Matt and Ben were doing, they seemed okay although somewhat out of it.
After booze cruise we tried to figure out where to spend our last night of the tour. We ended up back in the red light district but decided to head to the club we had originally wanted to go to the previous night before. It was still quite early so I suggested we head to Prime for pre-drinks and then go to the club later in the evening. Everyone agreed this was a good idea and we all grabbed cabs to our next destination. It took a while for everyone to make it Prime - a bunch of us were waiting outside for the rest of the group. Eventually we thought that possibly a group of us had already gone into the bar so the boys sent me in to take a look because I wouldn't be charged cover. I went in but no one was there and on my way out I was stopped by a group of guys who tried talking me up, not interested I pushed past them and some guy grabbed my arm with one hand and grabbed my chest with the other! I was absolutely livid, I seriously wanted to punch the guy but given I was currently alone in a bar I decided it was best for me to get the hell out of there. I did give him a pretty good shove though.
Eventually the majority of our group made it to Prime and we had some drinks and did a bit of dancing. After about an hour everyone was ready to head to the club across the street but Matty R and I had just bought drinks so we decided to meet everyone there. We finished our drinks and Matt needed to hit up an ATM, I directed him to the one I had gone to the evening before but told him I would wait for him outside the club. I should have gone with him, a girl standing alone outside a club garners heaps of unwanted attention, I seriously felt uncomfortable. I decided to head into the club on my own but Matt met up with me while I was waiting in line. Twice in one day that Matt came to the rescue, although unintentional on his part.
The club was great, had both lounge and dance areas and I tried to divide my time between both places. Kristen and the Amigo's finally caught up with the rest of the group but the Amigo's still seemed a bit off - Kristen had never smoked in the first place. Later in the night I ran into Alex who was quite drunk and he asked me to sit with him, after a few minutes I realized he was absolutely wasted and I asked if he wanted to go home and he said yes. We grabbed a cab, although this time I was smart enough to negotiate a flat rate before we got in, and then he proceeded to puke out the window the entire way back to the hotel. Once there I had to help him clean up as he was an absolute mess and then I decided to head to bed. It had been quite a night!
Rochelle, Sukhey, Jas and I arrived in the city and set off for the shopping district. I had originally wanted to see Ann Frank's house, but we had heard the queues were a couple hours wait and we only had about 4 hours in the city, so we opted out of it. This is the only attraction in Europe that I missed out in during the entire trip that I regret. Clearly I will have to go back to the Netherlands. I was hoping to find an outfit to wear out on my last night of Contiki but no dice. I did find a great pair of shoes for 20 Euros, so cheap! The shopping was actually quite good, but I was trying to be careful with my money given I still had London and Ireland to get through. Jas and I grabbed some lunch at McD's and then I headed to Zara alone with the plan to meet up with the rest of the group within 20 minutes. I ended up spending heaps of time at Zara although I never bought anything. By the time I left everyone had moved on to other stores so I was left alone. No worries, I prefer shopping on my own anyways (with the exception of shopping with Sukhey who is my perfect shopping partner.)
I was left on my own which I didn't mind with the exception of the fact that I don't wear a watch and I didn't have my BB on me - I didn't have service anywhere in Europe, so my BB became a glorified alarm clock while on the trip. I wandered around and did a bit of shopping and then decided that I should probably head to the meeting place where the coach was picking us up. Apparently I should have paid more attention to Sian when she was instructing us on the meeting place because I was definitely waiting in the wrong place. After waiting there for about 10 minutes (and 4 guys circling me, making me thoroughly uncomfortable) Matty Ray thankfully walked by and I found I was indeed waiting for the coach in the wrong place. We soon ran into a few others and headed to the actual meeting place for the coach. Katia was running a bit late which was somewhat disappointing because it cut down on our time to get ready for our farewell dinner. We were finally picked up and we had about 45 minutes to get dressed up and get back on the coach for dinner.
The majority of the group got on the bus but Sian noticed that the Amigo's and Kristen were missing. I was apparently the last one to see them the night before, at first Sian was concerned that Kristen had never made it home the night before but I assured her that she had. We carried onto dinner without them. Dinner was mediocre, the appetizer and dessert were both amazing but my main course of steak closely resembled a piece off over-cooked meat with campbell's mushroom soup poured over it. Halfway through dinner Sian got a text from another tour manager - apparently the Amigo's and Kristen had gone to the wrong dinner! This is a bit of an aside but a pretty great story so I will include it. The boys and Kristen skipped the tour stuff of the day and decided to hit up some cafes to experience Amsterdam life. Apparently somewhere throughout their day they ended up reading the other tour's day sheet (for the non-contiki readers, a day sheet was our daily agenda that Sian posted each day somewhere in the lobby of each hotel). Even though the two sheets were clearly marked with each tour's details, including each tour manager's name, the next destination - our's was London and the other tour was Barcelona they somehow still ended up getting them mixed up. So they arrived at the other tour's dinner and discovered the mix-up and grabbed a cab to our dinner, which cost over 100 euros. By now the boys were quite high and Matt apparently started to freak out in the taxi, which according to Ben and Kristen was quite hilarious to watch. They eventually made it, I was the first one to see them walk in, the look on Matt's face was priceless - he looked a bit terrified. First thing he did was hug Sian as soon as he got to our restaurant. They grabbed a bit of dinner and then it was time to head out to our farewell canal cruise.
Our farewell cruise was also a booze cruise - all the beer or wine that we wanted in an hour and a half. I found the boat similar to our coach, but with tables and it was definitely hard to maneuver around in. I got tired of sitting so after a while I got up and tried to walk around but I really never made it very far - only to the next table where Jas and Tom decided to go beer for beer. Eventually I gave up trying to walk around and sat with Matty Ray and Naomi for the the reminder of the cruise - it was at least close to the bartender, didn't even have to get up for another drink! Near the end of the cruise I hopped over to see how Matt and Ben were doing, they seemed okay although somewhat out of it.
After booze cruise we tried to figure out where to spend our last night of the tour. We ended up back in the red light district but decided to head to the club we had originally wanted to go to the previous night before. It was still quite early so I suggested we head to Prime for pre-drinks and then go to the club later in the evening. Everyone agreed this was a good idea and we all grabbed cabs to our next destination. It took a while for everyone to make it Prime - a bunch of us were waiting outside for the rest of the group. Eventually we thought that possibly a group of us had already gone into the bar so the boys sent me in to take a look because I wouldn't be charged cover. I went in but no one was there and on my way out I was stopped by a group of guys who tried talking me up, not interested I pushed past them and some guy grabbed my arm with one hand and grabbed my chest with the other! I was absolutely livid, I seriously wanted to punch the guy but given I was currently alone in a bar I decided it was best for me to get the hell out of there. I did give him a pretty good shove though.
Eventually the majority of our group made it to Prime and we had some drinks and did a bit of dancing. After about an hour everyone was ready to head to the club across the street but Matty R and I had just bought drinks so we decided to meet everyone there. We finished our drinks and Matt needed to hit up an ATM, I directed him to the one I had gone to the evening before but told him I would wait for him outside the club. I should have gone with him, a girl standing alone outside a club garners heaps of unwanted attention, I seriously felt uncomfortable. I decided to head into the club on my own but Matt met up with me while I was waiting in line. Twice in one day that Matt came to the rescue, although unintentional on his part.
The club was great, had both lounge and dance areas and I tried to divide my time between both places. Kristen and the Amigo's finally caught up with the rest of the group but the Amigo's still seemed a bit off - Kristen had never smoked in the first place. Later in the night I ran into Alex who was quite drunk and he asked me to sit with him, after a few minutes I realized he was absolutely wasted and I asked if he wanted to go home and he said yes. We grabbed a cab, although this time I was smart enough to negotiate a flat rate before we got in, and then he proceeded to puke out the window the entire way back to the hotel. Once there I had to help him clean up as he was an absolute mess and then I decided to head to bed. It had been quite a night!
Amsterdam at night
Farewell Dinner
Canal Cruise
Booze cruise
More booze cruise
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Day 31 - Amsterdam
Friday, June 12th - I was a bit tired the next morning but nothing too horrible. I grabbed a seat with Rochelle on the coach and we were off to Amsterdam. It was a somewhat early morning so we slept the first few hours and then stopped for an early lunch. I didn't have much of an appetite so I just picked at my food at the rest stop. The drive to Amsterdam was fairly short, we were there by about 2pm. Our first stop was the "I Amsterdam" sign, some people snapped pics but a bunch of decided to use the time to go shopping. I ended up wandering into a LaCoste store and spent 140 Euros on a dress! I love it and it was worth every penny. After shopping we met up with the tour and got back on the coach to head to the Heineken factory for a tour. Katia had to let us off in a bike lane and we had to jump off rather quickly because we were in a no parking zone. Not being careful, I jumped off the coach right in front of a vespa and almost got run over - if it wasn't for Sian screaming at me to get out of the way I definitely would've been hit. Thanks Sian!
The Heineken tour was quite alright and there was an interesting adventure ride that simulated the entire bottling process that was rather creative. As usual we were on limited time so most of the group were keen on getting our free beers at the end of the tour. Since Sandra wasn't feeling well she gave me her free beers as well but I couldn't get through them, there wasn't enough time. We then headed to our hotel and it was actually quite nice, we were given enough time to get ready to go out before dinner and then we headed to our "cultural show."
We headed into the Red Light district and I quickly learned that Amsterdam is full of cobblestone streets and is not the place for heels. I got caught up pretty badly at one point and had to grab on to Paula to avoid eating the pavement. Sian took us through some of the ally ways and we got a look at the prostitutes in the floor length windows - they looked so bored! One was even just doing her nails - c'mon, if this was their job they should put a bit of effort in! We then went to the sex show - it was movie theatre setting that overlooked a stage. We place our drink orders and then the first act wanted volunteers from the audience to participate. In the end Matt F, Ben and Lorraine ended up going up. It was pretty funny to watch them with the stripper probably the most entertaining part of the entire show. The rest of the show consisted of 2 couples having sex and finally a lesbian couple. The entire thing was pretty boring, it all looked scripted and the participants didn't seem very interested. I will give props to the lesbians, they actually looked like they were having fun. After an hour it was time for us to go and I was quite okay with leaving. Next we headed to a bar that Sian recommended and I really liked it. It had good music and a decent crowd. A few of us stepped out to go to a cafe to purchase some pot, I ended up buying a space-cake (similar to a pot brownie) and also bought a joint. It's like ordering from McD's only it's pot instead of hamburgers! We took everything back to the bar as it was legal to smoke in the back there. I took about 2 bites of my space-cake, decided it was disgusting and opted to just stick to drinking for the night. Kraisten and I ended up chatting to some English blokes for quite a long time, they were absolutely hilarious until they got too drunk and kept repeating the same jokes which I got tired with.
After a few hours at the bar we decided we wanted to move onto a club, Sian gave us the name of a decent place and a bunch of us jumped into cabs. I ended up sitting on the floor of a van-taxi and the driver ended up charging per person instead of using the meter. So even though I didn't have a seat he still charged me! I'm sure the driver made a good penny off of us. We got to the club and found out it was 20 Euros to get in, which we thought was a bit steep. Instead we ended up at a bar called Prime which was actually really fun. The music was great, even played "Memories" which is our Contiki tour song. The night was heaps of fun. As usual I was one of the last to leave and by the time we all got cabs, only Alex and I were left so we had to take one just the two of us. This was fine except for the fact that are hotel was really far out of the city - it cost us 50 Euros to get back! Pretty steep when you're only splitting it between two people. We got back and Matt F and Ben were waiting for us outside the hotel. I was tired and pretty drunk so I opted to head to bed. I got back to my room and tried to sleep but I wasn't as tired as I thought so I decided to go catch up on some emails in the lobby - sorry to all who got drunk emails that night, especially Padraic. Eventually Matt F and Ben showed up, they were locked out of their room. Matt was pretty much done - he tried sleeping on the couch in the lobby but the staff told him to get up. I hung out with them for a bit and I eventually headed off to bed, but apparently the poor boys were up for a few hours.
The Heineken tour was quite alright and there was an interesting adventure ride that simulated the entire bottling process that was rather creative. As usual we were on limited time so most of the group were keen on getting our free beers at the end of the tour. Since Sandra wasn't feeling well she gave me her free beers as well but I couldn't get through them, there wasn't enough time. We then headed to our hotel and it was actually quite nice, we were given enough time to get ready to go out before dinner and then we headed to our "cultural show."
We headed into the Red Light district and I quickly learned that Amsterdam is full of cobblestone streets and is not the place for heels. I got caught up pretty badly at one point and had to grab on to Paula to avoid eating the pavement. Sian took us through some of the ally ways and we got a look at the prostitutes in the floor length windows - they looked so bored! One was even just doing her nails - c'mon, if this was their job they should put a bit of effort in! We then went to the sex show - it was movie theatre setting that overlooked a stage. We place our drink orders and then the first act wanted volunteers from the audience to participate. In the end Matt F, Ben and Lorraine ended up going up. It was pretty funny to watch them with the stripper probably the most entertaining part of the entire show. The rest of the show consisted of 2 couples having sex and finally a lesbian couple. The entire thing was pretty boring, it all looked scripted and the participants didn't seem very interested. I will give props to the lesbians, they actually looked like they were having fun. After an hour it was time for us to go and I was quite okay with leaving. Next we headed to a bar that Sian recommended and I really liked it. It had good music and a decent crowd. A few of us stepped out to go to a cafe to purchase some pot, I ended up buying a space-cake (similar to a pot brownie) and also bought a joint. It's like ordering from McD's only it's pot instead of hamburgers! We took everything back to the bar as it was legal to smoke in the back there. I took about 2 bites of my space-cake, decided it was disgusting and opted to just stick to drinking for the night. Kraisten and I ended up chatting to some English blokes for quite a long time, they were absolutely hilarious until they got too drunk and kept repeating the same jokes which I got tired with.
After a few hours at the bar we decided we wanted to move onto a club, Sian gave us the name of a decent place and a bunch of us jumped into cabs. I ended up sitting on the floor of a van-taxi and the driver ended up charging per person instead of using the meter. So even though I didn't have a seat he still charged me! I'm sure the driver made a good penny off of us. We got to the club and found out it was 20 Euros to get in, which we thought was a bit steep. Instead we ended up at a bar called Prime which was actually really fun. The music was great, even played "Memories" which is our Contiki tour song. The night was heaps of fun. As usual I was one of the last to leave and by the time we all got cabs, only Alex and I were left so we had to take one just the two of us. This was fine except for the fact that are hotel was really far out of the city - it cost us 50 Euros to get back! Pretty steep when you're only splitting it between two people. We got back and Matt F and Ben were waiting for us outside the hotel. I was tired and pretty drunk so I opted to head to bed. I got back to my room and tried to sleep but I wasn't as tired as I thought so I decided to go catch up on some emails in the lobby - sorry to all who got drunk emails that night, especially Padraic. Eventually Matt F and Ben showed up, they were locked out of their room. Matt was pretty much done - he tried sleeping on the couch in the lobby but the staff told him to get up. I hung out with them for a bit and I eventually headed off to bed, but apparently the poor boys were up for a few hours.
I amsterdam
World of Heineken
Prime
Day 30 - St. Goar
Thursday, June 11th - Sian had warned us the previous night that if the weather didn't improve we wouldn't be able to leave. We headed down to breakfast eager to see what the verdict was but Sian still hasn't heard either way. We grabbed some breakfast and Sian had us pack up our bags and wait in the lobby until we found out more details. Eventually we were given the go ahead to go down the mountain, I grabbed the second cable car down. Even the lodge workers came down with us so they wouldn't be stuck on the mountain. Apparently the winds from the previous night were well over 110K! I caught up with Ben on the cable car and he told me that he had been locked out of his room for hours after I went to bed, poor guy!
We hopped on the coach and I sat with Nicole and I had a good chance to get to know her, I wish I had taken the time to get to know her earlier on the tour, she's quite lovely! Nicole was planning on staying in the UK after our tour ended, I quite admired her for this - very gutsy! We were also told about one last optional inclusion on the tour that wasn't included in the brochure - a live sex show in Amsterdam. Apparently I was pretty much the only person who didn't know about this earlier. Sian said she would pass around the sign-up list around the bus twice as she knew that some people may be hesitant to sign up for it the first time. I had initially decided not to go, the first time I the list came around I passed it on to Jas and Sukhey. I then decided the hell with it and grabbed it back and signed up, when is the next time I'll be in Amsterdam? Might as well experience it for all it's worth.
The plan was to head to straight off the coach to our hotel in St. Goar. I was quite okay with this plan as I was dying for a shower and I really wanted to grab my luggage; we were only able to take are carry-on up to the lodge in the Swiss Alps, obviously all our luggage would be to heavy for the cable cars. Last minute Sian changed plans and instead we were doing a tour or a Beer Stein shop instead and then we were going to do a cruise down the Rhine. I really didn't love this idea and it put me in a bit of a bad mood. First thing I did when we got off the coach was suss out an ATM, I hadn't been able to take out cash since Corfu and I was getting low, for some reason my card wouldn't work in Venice. I wasn't the only one, Alex was also having problems with this as well. I was a bit late for the beer stein shop demonstration but I wasn't bothered, I wasn't really interested. The beer steins were impressive, very detailed but quite expensive - I think easily over 100 euros.
I was quite surprised by the weather in St. Goar - it was not only really hot, but quite humid. Reminded me of Ontario summer on a bad day. Not very nice. We had a few minutes before the cruise so Sukhey, Rochelle and I decided to get our daily gelato treat. This was the worst gelato we ever had, very disappointed! We went into a few shops, Jas showed me a pretty silver ring she had bought so I went and sussed out what they had and I found a simple silver band that I fell in love with so I purchased it. Next up was the cruise, Sandra dropped out of it as she was feeling quite horrible, I wish I had joined her. Matty Ray also opted not to get on the boat, good on him - I wish I had followed his lead. It was really quite hot out and and I was in no mood for a cruise down the Rhine. The scenery was nice but got old quite quickly. The most exciting part of the cruise was some Japanese tourists thinking Starr was a celebrity, they were all asking her for her autograph and posing for pictures. It was quite funny. Eventually I pulled out my cards and a few of us played a few rounds of crazy eights until we finally docked.
Out hotel didn't have any lifts so Sian suggested that we all just grab some clean stuff from our luggage and then use our carry-on luggage again. I really didn't feel like pulling apart my luggage in the car park so I decided to drag my luggage upstairs, this seemed to be the consensus among most people. While everything was being loaded off the coach I went to check on Sandra to see how she was feeling. I told her she needed to come down and grab her stuff from the coach. The poor girl really wasn't well so she grabbed her carry-on but I decided to help her out with her luggage. I ended up making 3 more trips up the stairs in the super hot weather, carrying Sandra's luggage, my luggage and finally my carry-on up the stairs. I've never been more sweaty in my entire life. I decided to skip dinner and grab the coldest shower I've ever taken.
After dinner we had a wine tasting organized. I was really looking forward to this given my previous summer working for a winery outlet. Germany grows mostly Riesling grapes and I was eager to see what they had to offer. I was surprised by how sweet the wine was and I really wasn't a big fan. We then got to taste some ice wine, which was really disappointing. This is the one wine product Ontario is quite good at making, we have the perfect climate for it. the German version was nasty, truely dissapointing. I tried to ask the winery owner about his product, the climate, etc., but he wasn't very engaging. He didn't seem very passionate about his product. Although I was disappointed in the product I still bought a bottle, as did a few others. It was only 8 Euros, I might as well. I would like to point out the actual wine cellar where we had our wine tasting was great, a musty old cellar with wine barrels. The place was used as a bunker during WWII, very cool.
It was still early when we left the wine tasting - still light out. Back at the hotel I ran into the Amigo's who had found a pretty great balcony that they were throwing wet paper towels at people in the street - boys will be boys. I decided it would be fun to join in, Sukhey and I were trying to distract fellow tour members so the boys could surprise them. After a few minutes a neighbour across the street called our hotel and complained that we were too loud and we were kicked off the balcony. Sukhey and I decided to grab the bottle of wine I had just purchased and we headed to the Rhine river. We had a great talk here, this turned into another great redeeming night after a quite poor day. Afterward we met up with Jas and Kairsten, and we decided to explore St. Goar. Jas bailed but Sukhey, Kairsten and I had a fun wandering around. Eventually we headed back to the hotel and Suk and Karisten headed to bed but I decided to see what was going on at the bar. I found out that the Amigo's shower almost crashed in from above while one of them were in it! I forget whom it was - Pete and I knocked on their door to get some details and Shane told me but I've since forgotten forgotten them.
I then headed back to the bar and hung out with the few remaining people who was there including Sian who again was quite pissed and quite funny. At midnight it became Jono's bday - so we decided to buy him shots but the bartender wouldn't sell us anymore because he was closing up. Matty Ray suggested that he distract the bartender while I stole a bottle of Jack, in the end the plan never worked but I did managed to get us shots for Jono, Matty and myself. After that it was time for bed - we were off to Amsterdam the next morning!
We hopped on the coach and I sat with Nicole and I had a good chance to get to know her, I wish I had taken the time to get to know her earlier on the tour, she's quite lovely! Nicole was planning on staying in the UK after our tour ended, I quite admired her for this - very gutsy! We were also told about one last optional inclusion on the tour that wasn't included in the brochure - a live sex show in Amsterdam. Apparently I was pretty much the only person who didn't know about this earlier. Sian said she would pass around the sign-up list around the bus twice as she knew that some people may be hesitant to sign up for it the first time. I had initially decided not to go, the first time I the list came around I passed it on to Jas and Sukhey. I then decided the hell with it and grabbed it back and signed up, when is the next time I'll be in Amsterdam? Might as well experience it for all it's worth.
The plan was to head to straight off the coach to our hotel in St. Goar. I was quite okay with this plan as I was dying for a shower and I really wanted to grab my luggage; we were only able to take are carry-on up to the lodge in the Swiss Alps, obviously all our luggage would be to heavy for the cable cars. Last minute Sian changed plans and instead we were doing a tour or a Beer Stein shop instead and then we were going to do a cruise down the Rhine. I really didn't love this idea and it put me in a bit of a bad mood. First thing I did when we got off the coach was suss out an ATM, I hadn't been able to take out cash since Corfu and I was getting low, for some reason my card wouldn't work in Venice. I wasn't the only one, Alex was also having problems with this as well. I was a bit late for the beer stein shop demonstration but I wasn't bothered, I wasn't really interested. The beer steins were impressive, very detailed but quite expensive - I think easily over 100 euros.
I was quite surprised by the weather in St. Goar - it was not only really hot, but quite humid. Reminded me of Ontario summer on a bad day. Not very nice. We had a few minutes before the cruise so Sukhey, Rochelle and I decided to get our daily gelato treat. This was the worst gelato we ever had, very disappointed! We went into a few shops, Jas showed me a pretty silver ring she had bought so I went and sussed out what they had and I found a simple silver band that I fell in love with so I purchased it. Next up was the cruise, Sandra dropped out of it as she was feeling quite horrible, I wish I had joined her. Matty Ray also opted not to get on the boat, good on him - I wish I had followed his lead. It was really quite hot out and and I was in no mood for a cruise down the Rhine. The scenery was nice but got old quite quickly. The most exciting part of the cruise was some Japanese tourists thinking Starr was a celebrity, they were all asking her for her autograph and posing for pictures. It was quite funny. Eventually I pulled out my cards and a few of us played a few rounds of crazy eights until we finally docked.
Out hotel didn't have any lifts so Sian suggested that we all just grab some clean stuff from our luggage and then use our carry-on luggage again. I really didn't feel like pulling apart my luggage in the car park so I decided to drag my luggage upstairs, this seemed to be the consensus among most people. While everything was being loaded off the coach I went to check on Sandra to see how she was feeling. I told her she needed to come down and grab her stuff from the coach. The poor girl really wasn't well so she grabbed her carry-on but I decided to help her out with her luggage. I ended up making 3 more trips up the stairs in the super hot weather, carrying Sandra's luggage, my luggage and finally my carry-on up the stairs. I've never been more sweaty in my entire life. I decided to skip dinner and grab the coldest shower I've ever taken.
After dinner we had a wine tasting organized. I was really looking forward to this given my previous summer working for a winery outlet. Germany grows mostly Riesling grapes and I was eager to see what they had to offer. I was surprised by how sweet the wine was and I really wasn't a big fan. We then got to taste some ice wine, which was really disappointing. This is the one wine product Ontario is quite good at making, we have the perfect climate for it. the German version was nasty, truely dissapointing. I tried to ask the winery owner about his product, the climate, etc., but he wasn't very engaging. He didn't seem very passionate about his product. Although I was disappointed in the product I still bought a bottle, as did a few others. It was only 8 Euros, I might as well. I would like to point out the actual wine cellar where we had our wine tasting was great, a musty old cellar with wine barrels. The place was used as a bunker during WWII, very cool.
It was still early when we left the wine tasting - still light out. Back at the hotel I ran into the Amigo's who had found a pretty great balcony that they were throwing wet paper towels at people in the street - boys will be boys. I decided it would be fun to join in, Sukhey and I were trying to distract fellow tour members so the boys could surprise them. After a few minutes a neighbour across the street called our hotel and complained that we were too loud and we were kicked off the balcony. Sukhey and I decided to grab the bottle of wine I had just purchased and we headed to the Rhine river. We had a great talk here, this turned into another great redeeming night after a quite poor day. Afterward we met up with Jas and Kairsten, and we decided to explore St. Goar. Jas bailed but Sukhey, Kairsten and I had a fun wandering around. Eventually we headed back to the hotel and Suk and Karisten headed to bed but I decided to see what was going on at the bar. I found out that the Amigo's shower almost crashed in from above while one of them were in it! I forget whom it was - Pete and I knocked on their door to get some details and Shane told me but I've since forgotten forgotten them.
I then headed back to the bar and hung out with the few remaining people who was there including Sian who again was quite pissed and quite funny. At midnight it became Jono's bday - so we decided to buy him shots but the bartender wouldn't sell us anymore because he was closing up. Matty Ray suggested that he distract the bartender while I stole a bottle of Jack, in the end the plan never worked but I did managed to get us shots for Jono, Matty and myself. After that it was time for bed - we were off to Amsterdam the next morning!
Pretty St. Goar
Wine Tasting
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Day 29 - Swiss Alps Adventures
Wednesday, June 10th - Sandra and I woke up to some insistent banging on our door. I tried to ignore it but whomever was there was being quite persistent. I opened it up and it was Kristen telling us that the top of the mountain was closed! Our lodge was only about halfway up the mountain and we had all bought passes to go up to the top to play in the snow but apparently the weather was turning quite quickly and the winds were too strong for the cable cars. I was really disappointed, I was really looking forward to some tubing and tobogganing. Sian also told us that we only had a few hours to go down to the base of the mountain before the cable cars would be closed in that direction as well.
I woke up Sukhey and Jas to let them know about the situation and we decided that we should head down to Engelberg to grab some lunch and other supplies. Rochelle, Lorraine, Sukhey, Jas, Sandra and I headed down on the cable car. We wandered around for a bit - in the opposite direction of Engelberg - opps! After finally finding our way into town we ran into Jake, Paula and Chloe at a Bistro that they said was pretty good so we decided to stop and have some lunch. The food was quite yummy - really good pizza. We had heard that some stores in Engelberg have their own siesta so we decided to go to the only grocer in town to pick up some fruit and booze while we waited for our food. In the end we had heard wrong but at least we picked up our "supplies". After lunch the rest of the girls hit up the grocer and then it was time to catch the cable car back up to the lodge. Before we did we all goofed around in the gift shop at the base of the mountain - trying on funny hats and generally making asses of ourselves - lots of silly fun.
We got back to the lodge and found a bunch of people putting together puzzles - yes puzzles. This is what you do when you're stuck in ski lodge halfway up a mountain. I think it was a race with boys against girls, I watched for a bit but obviously puzzle building isn't the most griping thing to watch. In the end neither teams got very far but apparently they each wasted a good couple hours before quitting!
Rochelle, Sukhey, Jas and I decided to venture outside to find some snow - we could see some small snow piles from our windows, this was especially exciting for Rochelle being from Aussie land. I was pretty excited myself since we barely got any snow in Ontario this past winter - it was definitely closer to a Vancouver winter than an Ontario winter. After climbing a huge hill to a tiny patch of gross, dirty snow we then saw a heap of snow that we decided to check out. We made our way down and found a snow heap that had been made into a number of rooms and passages. We all took turns standing in the snow and taking pictures. Someone then spotted a waterfall not too far off so we decided to check it out - we had to skirt some barbwire and hop over a few small streams but we got there and it was awesome. We climbed up the rocks to the mountain and it was pretty cool, the water was super cold but really clean. I could have drank from it.
Afterward we decided to watch a movie in the movie room and we had a few drinks and then headed for dinner. Dinner was exactly the same at the day before but this time I was starving and I wasn't disappointed. I should mention that poor Sandra was quite sick by now - she had been fighting it since Corfu and by now she wasn't even able to hold food down. Sandra definitely was hit the hardest by the 'contiki sickness." She had ended up missing out on quite a few nights - such as the Vienna nights, trying to get healthy. She was pretty much on a bread diet by now, poor girl.
After dinner Sian had organized Trivia night. I'm a huge fan of trivia night so I was quite excited for it. Also we were stuck halfway up a mountain - there really was nothing else to do besides drink and play games. The night was fun - we played 4 rounds and in the end my team of Sukhey, Jas, Rochelle and I came 4th. The winners were the team with the kiwi's and Ivan, the oldest bunch of the group! After trivia we all headed to the common room trying to figure out something to do. In the end most of the group continued with their own trivia game but I ended up just sitting and talking with Ben on the sidelines. Eventually we were the last two up and I convinced Ben to come outside with me to see just how windy it actually was. (Honestly, really how windy could it be?) We jumped out the window onto the deck and we could barely walk 2 steps - I can honestly say I've never been in winds like that before, I really could have been blown off the side of the mountain. We quickly retreated back inside and it was finally time to head to bed.
*I'm still waiting for pics from Swiss Alps. I'll update once I have them (c'mon Rochelle and Sukhey!)
I woke up Sukhey and Jas to let them know about the situation and we decided that we should head down to Engelberg to grab some lunch and other supplies. Rochelle, Lorraine, Sukhey, Jas, Sandra and I headed down on the cable car. We wandered around for a bit - in the opposite direction of Engelberg - opps! After finally finding our way into town we ran into Jake, Paula and Chloe at a Bistro that they said was pretty good so we decided to stop and have some lunch. The food was quite yummy - really good pizza. We had heard that some stores in Engelberg have their own siesta so we decided to go to the only grocer in town to pick up some fruit and booze while we waited for our food. In the end we had heard wrong but at least we picked up our "supplies". After lunch the rest of the girls hit up the grocer and then it was time to catch the cable car back up to the lodge. Before we did we all goofed around in the gift shop at the base of the mountain - trying on funny hats and generally making asses of ourselves - lots of silly fun.
We got back to the lodge and found a bunch of people putting together puzzles - yes puzzles. This is what you do when you're stuck in ski lodge halfway up a mountain. I think it was a race with boys against girls, I watched for a bit but obviously puzzle building isn't the most griping thing to watch. In the end neither teams got very far but apparently they each wasted a good couple hours before quitting!
Rochelle, Sukhey, Jas and I decided to venture outside to find some snow - we could see some small snow piles from our windows, this was especially exciting for Rochelle being from Aussie land. I was pretty excited myself since we barely got any snow in Ontario this past winter - it was definitely closer to a Vancouver winter than an Ontario winter. After climbing a huge hill to a tiny patch of gross, dirty snow we then saw a heap of snow that we decided to check out. We made our way down and found a snow heap that had been made into a number of rooms and passages. We all took turns standing in the snow and taking pictures. Someone then spotted a waterfall not too far off so we decided to check it out - we had to skirt some barbwire and hop over a few small streams but we got there and it was awesome. We climbed up the rocks to the mountain and it was pretty cool, the water was super cold but really clean. I could have drank from it.
Afterward we decided to watch a movie in the movie room and we had a few drinks and then headed for dinner. Dinner was exactly the same at the day before but this time I was starving and I wasn't disappointed. I should mention that poor Sandra was quite sick by now - she had been fighting it since Corfu and by now she wasn't even able to hold food down. Sandra definitely was hit the hardest by the 'contiki sickness." She had ended up missing out on quite a few nights - such as the Vienna nights, trying to get healthy. She was pretty much on a bread diet by now, poor girl.
After dinner Sian had organized Trivia night. I'm a huge fan of trivia night so I was quite excited for it. Also we were stuck halfway up a mountain - there really was nothing else to do besides drink and play games. The night was fun - we played 4 rounds and in the end my team of Sukhey, Jas, Rochelle and I came 4th. The winners were the team with the kiwi's and Ivan, the oldest bunch of the group! After trivia we all headed to the common room trying to figure out something to do. In the end most of the group continued with their own trivia game but I ended up just sitting and talking with Ben on the sidelines. Eventually we were the last two up and I convinced Ben to come outside with me to see just how windy it actually was. (Honestly, really how windy could it be?) We jumped out the window onto the deck and we could barely walk 2 steps - I can honestly say I've never been in winds like that before, I really could have been blown off the side of the mountain. We quickly retreated back inside and it was finally time to head to bed.
*I'm still waiting for pics from Swiss Alps. I'll update once I have them (c'mon Rochelle and Sukhey!)
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