Amsterdam :)

I think I am still recovering from Amsterdam!

In Amsterdam everything goes! There are coffee shops that do not sell coffee! Instead, they sell Pot! You are given a menu and have choices from Chocolate cake to lolly pops. Its quite funny actually, everywhere you look there are people of all agaes walking around cracking up laughing!

Amsterdam is famous for its red light district, The whole group went to a sex show on the first night, this was eye opening!! When I say sex show, it was actually people having sex on stage.

We also wandered around the city, saw the girls in the windows everywhere. There is lane ways for everyone!! Big Girls, skinny girls , asian girls, and old ones to!! The Girls hire the windows for 150 Euros for an eight hour shift, they generally make anywhere between 500 and 800 Euros a

day.. I am so in the wrong proffesion!!

The problem with Amsterdam is that you just cant help but look, and there are many shops that you just wished you had never looked (Below!)

Of course, being that Amsterdam was our last stop on the tour we decided to make it a big night.

This is where it all went down hill!!

We hoped on a river cruise that just happened to have alcohol included in the price of the tickets for 3 hours. We were given bottles to shot, and then it was on with the night. We managed to drink the boat dry of Alcohol with 15 minutes to go on the cruise! I think they may be reassessing the alcohol included part of their tour!! The rest of the night was a bit of a blur.. What I can tell you is this..

Gus (Our tour Leader) Had said that we all had to be on the bus ready to go at 7am. At 6am, to Gus's horror we all got out of Taxi's from a big night, and ran in to pack our bags as he was having breakfast!

One person on the tour was arrested for Drunken and disorderly (He missed the bus and had to make his own way back!)

2 people were missing in action at 7am, however on our way out of amsterdam on the bus we drove past them asleep on a park bench!! (They were woken up and thrown on the bus!! Their belongings are to be posted to them!)

2 others to were to hungover, and could not rejoin the group. (they to, will make their own way back to London!)

All in all a successfull night out!! LOL.

The tour ends today and now its back to London with Davina and Carl. I will be having a quite few days in London to catch up on some well needed rest after the tour. And then flying to Amman (Jordan) on saturday. Next update from there!

Berlin Night life

On the first night on our way to dinner I saw a poster for Delerium playing that night, We all went and saw them and it was awsome!! Got home at 4am!



The second night we went on a Pub crawl around berlin, we were all given "The hoff" Tshirts to where. Everywhere we went if you ordered a drink (which of course I did!) you were given a free shot! Very messy night :) It was pooring with rain, so if you wondering why we are all wet.. No it wasnt a wet Tshirt competion!!

Below Me, Bindi, Katie, Mel, Danni and Gus

And the shots begin! Me and Mel

Me and Katie (Below)

Berlin

Germany is a strange place. Berlin is not a very nice city to look at, it actually reminds me on Bangkok.. Very grey and dreary.

I touched the berlin wall!! (Below)

Its funny, you go on a walking tour, and you need to imagine everything because most of it was either bombed, or has been ripped down. So there is actually not that much history to see in Berlin left.

I went to Check point Charlie

The buildings has holes everywhere, this is from the war and they are bullet holes, its quite eery to stand where you know so many people where killed.

Below is the memorial the germans have built to remember the holocost.

They say that as you walk through the maze of concrete slabs many mothers will loose their children in the middle. This was the idea behind this as the artist wanted others to feel what it was like to loose a loved one like the jews did... Very clever

I stood ontop on Hitlers Bunker, aparently its walls are over 3 meters thick, they could not get rid of it so they have just filled it with soil and built a park ontop.

Im not sure how many books on the holocost you guys have read, but do you remeber when the Jews all had to go to the city square and bring their books and paperwork? They were all then burned? This is the square it happened in..

This place was built as a tribute to all the soldiers killed in the wars. The statue in side is of a mother holding her son who is dying. It is so simple, but had great impact.

All in all Germany was a great place to see, it really makes you realise how lucky you are

Oh and check out the funny green pedestrian crossing men, they where hats!

Prague

Prague is a really cool city!

Prague is just one of those place you can just wander around all day. I think out of all the town squares I have seen (Allot!!) Pragie would have to be the best!

I did so something rather naughty in Prague!! And you will all need to wait till I get home to find out!!

I also found out the Prague has the cheesiest nightclubs in the world!! Now for those that know me, they know I love a good cheesy night out, but this place just took it to a whole new level!
P.s Did the traditional Absyinth shot!!

Mauthausen (Austria) Concentration Camp

We went to a concentration camp today, I can honestly say it was one of the hardest things I have ever seen. Sorry but I did not take any photos cause it just didnt feel right to be taking them.

The jews were made to line up into 2 different lines male and female down a long corridor. This is where they were split into the line for the gas chamber, and the line to work. Once the Jews were split into the gas chamber line, they had a photograph taken on them. I walked down that corridor, which leads to the gas chamber, hung on the walls were the photo's of all the jews. The looks on their faces I will never forget. I went into the gas chamber, there were nail marks on the walls from people trying to climb to get fresh area. It was bloody awful..

Austria

Austria was very similar to Switzerland, but smaller!
Just a few photos this time, we stayed in a little country like town.
P.s Feeling heaps better!!

Venice

Did you know that there is not a single car, bus, truck anything in Venice??

Just boats and Gondalas. The city is amazing and is nothing like I have ever seen before.I went on a Gondola Ride!

If you can picture Melbourne, and the roads in Melbourne are all little canals. So the only way to get around is by boat, you hop on and hop off the boat at different shops,the shop windows face the canals. The town is full of narrow footpaths and Bridges that cross the cannals, and is completely unorganised in the way it is set out. It’s a guarantee that you will get lost of you tackle the town by foot. There is something to be said though about no traffic, the town is so peaceful.

You cannot trust the signs to get you around either in Venice either, Signs that have been put up on walls with arrows pointing to the nearest main area have been changed by local shop owners who paint over the arrows and put another arrow facing the opposite way just so you walk past their shops! Dodgy Wogs!

We had a Toga Party that night, all I will say is BIG Night!! Apologies to Stu for the drunken phone calls!

In the Middle is our Tour Guide Gus, and 2 Guys on either side are just people who were staying at the backpackers - Not even part of the tour! They saw the party and decided to Join in, However I think they misunderstood how the Toga was meant to be tied!!

Rome Part 2

Rome is an amazing place, its one of those places that you just cant help but be excited about being there. It has so much history and ancient tradition. When you walk the streets past the remains of the roman empire you really can picture yourself the with Julius Ceaser and almost see just what it would have been like.

Seeing the history here has just blown me away, the stories that go behind so many of the buildings are incredible.

I went to the Vatican City early this morning for a 3 hour walking tour of the Vatican, St Peters Basilica and the Sistine Chapel. The one thing that stood out was the the Pope has way to much money!!

The Vatican is dripping with Gold and ancient paintings and Tapestries. Here are some Pics of within the Vatican.

The Sistine Chapel was also amazing, it was incredible to think that I was standing under Paintings that had been done by Michelangelo. Unfortunately you are not allowed to take photographs of them, so I cannot show you what it was like.

St Michaels Basilica was also pretty amazing.. Huge actually, Pics below

I was meant to meet up with Davina and Carl in the afternoon, but I am still not well and I think the 3 hour walking tour took all the energy I had! I ended up heading back to camp and resting for the Afternoon.

Rome Part 1

I was so happy to rejoin the group today, we jumped on a bus early in the morning and travelled to Rome!

I dosed myself up with heap of drugs and against doctors orders (I think I am safe in assuming she is not reading this!) went on a 3 hour walking tour around rome. I am blown away at the history here.. Stu.. I think you would love it here, we have to come back. I saw the trivelli fountain, Collessuem, where Napolean was killed and buried. The Roman forum, ate Gelate, Pathanon, and lots lots more. Apologies for the incorrect spelling but i am running out of time on the net and typing quick!

Kerrylee, below pic is for you!!
Trevi Fountain

The Colosseum




Lots more in rome to update, and have all of tomorrow to! Will update again when i can

Piza

Today I saw the leaning tower of Piza, Its strange, I actually expected it to be a lot bigger than what it was. They say that within the next 50 to 60 years it will fall over and be gone

Don’t be fooled by the pictures below, Piza is not a very nice place at all. It is very dirty and scummy, almost 3^rd world like. However they make the grass very green and keep the tourist attractions looking great – but once you walk out its full of people trying to rip you off and rubbish!

Unfortunately I have managed to pick up a lung infection, probably mixture of the minus 6 degrees on the mountains of Switzerland and to many late nights! I had to leave the tour today and stay on in the hills of Tuscany so I could see a doctor, The tour headed today to Florence, so I am really disappointed that I have missed out on that. I had to have 2 injections of what I think was penicillin and a course of quater zone and a course of antibiotics and lots of bed rest. There is nothing like being sick on your own in a non English speaking country to make you miss home!

The Italians really do work to live rather than live to work. They start work generally about 9am. Then all the shops, doctors and tours shut down at approx 12 – 1 for a siesta. Once hey have woken up, generally around 3 -4 pm they re open their shops!

I was waiting at the Doctor’s for an appointment, and had to wait until she woke up to see her!!

I will rejoin the tour tomorrow for the drive to Rome, hopefully by tomorrow night I will be feeling better and up for walking around the Vatican City etc.

Monaco

Monaco

Monaco is the home of people with a hell of allot of money. People have to apply to become citizens of Monaco, and not many are accepted. The people of Monaco pay no Tax. Sean Connery is one of the rich and famous that lives here.

We headed to the famous Monte Carlo Casino, this was incredible. You could almost me the money coming out of some of these peoples pores!

We also drove around the Monaco Grand Prix Track, it was kinda cool to think the grand Prix will be here is 2 weeks.

Below is a photo of the carpark out the front of the Monte Carlo Casino, as you can see – No Toyota’s in site. Just porches and lots of Ferrari’s

Nice - France

Nice

Nice is down the bottom of France, it’s where the rich and famous come for holidays. Apparently it has the highest number of private jets than any other Airport.

I had a free day today to spend in Nice, me Katie and Zoe went for a wander through the shops (Had I not been on a budget I could have spent a fortune!) Then headed down to the beach. The beach was not what you would expect, there is no sand – just lots of rocks! However the water is bright bright blue. There were lots of wrinkly leather boobs to be seen on the beach!

Little more about switzerland

A few more facts on Switzerland

As you drive along, you can see Army trucks and fighter jets in the middle of paddocks with grass roofs. This means that if any one was trying to bomb Switzerland they cannot see the Army base or its equipment from the sky.

All the cows wear cow bells in Switzerland. The cows are treated almost like royalty here, and in the winter time the Swiss do not have heaters, instead they keep all their cows under the house out of the snow, this inturn sends the cows body heat up through the floor boards !! I would think it would be quite smelly to!

The tour

It has been really hard to find internet access.

Ok, I joined my topdeck tour on Thursday morning. I was really nervous! The tour group is 48 people! Huge! But they are all a great group. Our tour leader is Gus, you will hear allot about him, he is a classic!

We started of by defining the tour songs, so we have a "Wee song" ( when we have long days on the bus and some one needs to pee) This is Glory of Love - Yes cheesy, but thats the point!!

Every morning when we get on the bus to start the day we have John Farnhams "Your the Voice"

And we a dance that we have made up to that song..."From Paris to Berlin....." cant remeber the name. All these sound very cheesy..But very entertaining!!

So.. On with the tour...

I am still stuggling with the thought that I am in Paris!

I met the group at 6am and we jumped on a bus that took us to a ferry, and then a ferry to France.

We had a long day of driving to get to Paris through lots of country side, quite simiar to somerset. We arrived out our hotel, and got put into rooms. I am sharing with 3 other girls – Maryanne, Zoe and Katie.

At night we went for a drive around Paris, this is when the WOW fatcor kicked in

I saw the Sacre-Coeur (Below)

Eiffel Tower

Mouin Rouge and many many more. Paris is a beautiful city at night, all the key area’s have been lit up to make the city just glow.

The next day we had free time for the whole day, me and the 3 girls jumped on an open top bus and toured around the city, we were all exhausted by the afternoon, so we grabbed a bottle of fizzy plonk each and sat in the park infront of the Eiffel tower.. Let me just say that drinking straight out of a bottle makes for a fun afternoon.

Me, Katie and Maryanne

Notre Dame

the time me met up with the group for a picnic under the Eiffel tower we were all well on our way and very merry!

We met with the group at 7pm, there was a gourmet picnic that included snails, Yes, I tried one.. It was fowel! We then went on a boat cruise, everyone was drinking all night, including Gus, by the time our bus came to pick us up we were dancing in the aisles with the music blasting!!

Very sore head the next day!

Switzerland

I am not going to talk to much about this place, let the pics tell the story. It was amazing, I would love to come back here one day

I think that this would have to be he most amazing place I have ever been to. I caught the train up to the top of the Swiss mountains, infact it was the highest place in europe. the air was really thin, so we kept getting head spins all day. Here I had snow fights, Slede rides, and much more, the day was the best!