European Encounter 16 Days

Ok so day one of contiki. Everyone looks very groggy yet excited as we
congregate around London coffee to sign in, weigh our bags and figure
out which coach to load our shit into. Ours is Blue! We chuck our gear
underneath, say polite hellos to everyone around and board the coach.
Jocelyn is sitting next to Trent i believe and you guys are just
opposite Helena and I. I think Kimmy is a bit further up the coach on
the right hand side.
Rich gives a chat about bus cleanliness and demonstrates the barf bag
over his ears. Chris jumps up to introduce himself and the way of
contiki to us all. As we depart for Dover we all get chatting with the
folk around us. Everyone think Jos is a wog haha. Turns out half the
coach is from QLD woohoo! We get to dover and are unleashed into the
duty free and cafes. Some people get pizzas, Lana and i get beers and
danishes and then hit the cheap grog in duty free. We arrive in Calais,
reboard the coach and make our way through Belgium to the Netherlands.
We stop just over the border for a lunch break. I meet Brock who is
laughing at me cos im drinking cans of heinis out of bornw paper bags
hee hee. Back to the coach and onwards to our hotel in Amsterdam, the
Lakeland lodge. We find our rooms and come back for an all u can eat
dinner in the hotel. Potsy joins the girls at dinner and thinks he is
the shit!
We jump back on the coach and drive into the city centre for a bit of a
looksie! We do a glass top boat cruise through the canals that includes
free beer, wine and cheese. People get mingling. I notice a blondie in a

hot red boob tube (thats u kimmy) I want that top!!!!!!
People get a bit tiddly hehe. We get off the boat and are taken to the
grasshopper. Few people buy some goodies (myself included) and have a
few heinis b4 we can either meet the coach and head back to the hotel or

stick out in town. No idea what u girlies did but i went back to the
hotel. Emad bought 2 boxes of flugels for everyone. Wahoo! I met a local

who i swear was Alan Smiths twin! Him and i go outside and i fall in a
lake while he is pissing on someones van haha. We run back to my room
(someone was yelling at us) and lock the day and have a great shagging
time until Eveyrone is banging my door down. I sneak my dutch local out
the back door and piss myself laughing as he runs off along the lake in
nothing but socks and boxers haha. I let everyone in and try to say i
had been sleeping but evidence has been lef ton my neck. The biggest god

dam hickey ever! I try to cover it with Helenas makeup but she is almost

an albino compared to me and it stands out even more!
We all hang out on my balcony talking about sexual fantasies,
experiences and whatever else. My mattress is pulled onto my balcony and

Eve and i hop in. I musta fella sleep cos next thing i know its morning
and im all alone in my matrress on the balcony staring at the lake.

Lana and i are too early for breakfast and read the wrong tour sheet so
we miss the bike ride. So have Tracey and Andrew. We walk over to the
cheese and clogs place (thankfully close by) and meet Willem! I had
actually met him the night b4, he was the one who helped me out of the
lake haha. He gives us Specculaas and coffees to tide us over as we all
had missed brekky. We take some crazy photos and chase black bunnies
around the place until everyone else arrives. Someone had a big mouth
cos everyone was straight upto me asking about my hickey. I played dumb
"What hickey?" then ran away b4 anyone could pull off my scarf!
We saw how cheese was made and tasted a fair few samples. The we saw how

clogs get made the traditional way. He gives his clog he just made to
Naomi. We then have time in the gift shop b4 boarding the bus into the
city for a free day. Jocelyn has lost a few things so she heads to the
cop station. Actually i think we go with you don't we? Some of us got
some space cookies and a few joints from somewhere hee hee. We hit up
Heineken but its closed, Rijksmuseum also closed, something else is also

closed. Grrrr!!!!!! We do the Van Gogh museum and then get a tram back
to our meeting place and hit the piss in there. I show everyone my
hickey hehe.
We go back to the hotel to get changed and then have an optional dinner.

I dont go (did you guys?) I have dinnder with Nicole, Jess, Kat, Brock
and Lana and we are all stoned as!
Then we have the Casa Rosso, then the walking tour thru the red light
district. I am blank here but somehow i ended up back at the hotel and
my local was there again waiting for me. Apparently he asked a few
people for me but i saw him and did a runner to me room and finished off

2 joints hehe, had a great sleep that night!

Day 3. Woke up after the best sleep ever!

Went down for brekky and then packed our shit and loaded the bus up.
There had been a hook up the night before but no one was mentioning it.
We 3 girlies were at the back end of the bus as we made our way into
Germany. We stopped for lunch at a truck stop and got some lunch. Sheree
and Pete ordered 2 big bowls of slop that turned out to be goulash soup.
Yuck! I ordered some cabbage thingy, everyone stayed away for fear of
flatulence haha.

We got to Germany and bordered a boat called the Lorelei Rock. We
cruised down the Rheine River along with a few Trafalgar tours. I went
to take a photo of a few people and ended up with a huge pile of cameras
beside me to take a huge group shot (see website) Some American guy
helped me out. Then i hit the bar with Joe and Brock. We got some
flugels and some pints into us and set about the back of the boat in the
sun. I got talking to some American traflagar people who had a whinge
about everything.

After a boozy cruise, we finally docked in St Goar, made our way to our
cute little hotel, dumped our bags and me, Jos and Lana had a few shots
of apple sours. We then went to the beer stein place across the street.
Inside we learnt about the making of beersteins and the ideas behind all
the different themes. Emad of course bought an expensive one with a
piece of the berlin wall on top of it. I got 2 of the cheapies and then
headed off to the teddy bear and cuckoo clock shop. Free time was
afterwards. I took a great photo of Eve, Helena dn kimmy beside one of
the biggest tobacco machines i have ever seen. We had a pint in the pub
and then went back to the hotel for dinner. Dinner unfortunately was all
dairy (im lactose intolerant) All the hotel could give me was an apple.
Yay for me. Chris said he'd take me to the pub for dinner but a few
people wanted to come to so i said to wait for them. Pub people ready we
made our way down only to find the kitchen closed. Noooooo!!!
We headed onto the wine tasting. Not realising the shot glass was meant
to be drunk quickly, we were well behind when they maid came around with
the next wines and had to shoot them. Everyone was pissed in no time.
The wine tasting i thought was a great way to chat and mingle with the
people sitting close by.
After an optional taste of the ice wine, i piggy backed Pete back to the
hotel where we all drank up big on the flugels and played games with
pringles. I got extremely blind (empty stomach remember) and ended up
snogging the old and disgusting bar tender and some local guy in the
tightest and most bright blue muscle shirt i have ever seen! I got to
pull pints behind the bar and i got free beer
for the rest of the night. (see my snogging paid off) Wahoo!

I ended up chucking everywhere in our bathroom but not knowing it hehe.
Woke up still crook, chucked all the way to Switzerland. Andrew went to
sit beside me on the bus but i warned him off and he left as soon as i
started to dry retch haha. Chris looked after all the way to the lunch
stop. Forrest helped me off the bus and got me some water. Some one
kindly got me a salad roll and some juice while i chucked outside in the
garden. After eating and drinking the juice i was great! Continued into
Lucerne, did our walking tour and swiss knife shop and was ready for a
beer again! Got a beer and a sausage in the market place, wahoo!

Then we had our cruise along lake Lucerne. Stephs dare was in action,
she had to scream and scream like she was afraid. So funny!

After the cruise, we drove up into the Alps to our home for the next 2
night, Engelberg. Jocelyn and Forrests dares were in action. Wearing
undies over your clothes. lovely! We had dinner at Hotel Europa and were
greeted by a crazy bar owner screaming "Hello contiki lady, 2-4-1
contiki!" and he shoved drink vouchers in our hands. Our waiter for this
evening was a creepy monobrow sporting pervert. He flirted and was seedy
with all the girls.

After dinner we went to a bar called the Enzone where they got a dj in
for us. Everyone was doing body shots and snorting snuff (myself
included) i met a local guy named Guiltar who was a crazy punk rocker
dude that liked to snow board in winter and skateboard in summer (go
figure) his english was pretty good.

After a few hours in that bar, a few of us moved across town to another
one. We ate bread sticks and Jocelyn somehow lost her underpants in here
hehe. I was mucking around with my local when he said to me "I like to
lick, you come outside, you like" Hahah i nearly died! I told emad and
then emad said go with him and ill watch, if hes bad u give the signal
and i'll take over. eewww what is wrong with these boys!

I went home with Rich very very very drunk!

Austria Via Liechtenstein

This morning we drive to Austria via Liechetnstein. We are stopped at
the Swiss border to have our passports checked and Chris fill in some
forms. We all stare out the left side of the bus as two middle eastern
looking blokes have their car pulled apart and searched hehe, suckers!

We arrive in Liechtenstein to find it tiny as. We have free time to get
some lunch, souvenirs and have a go at the massive chess board hehe.

Back on the bus we enter Austria to see the Alps. We continue to Tyrol
where we have the option to go white water rafting! Most people are
doing it and quickly change into some unflattering wet suits and
helmets. We meet our guides. A welsh guy and two locals. All 3 are
extremely sexy hehe. Tiffanys dare is in action, shes afraid of the
water. She is screaming away until she is picked up and dumped into the
water. We all then get into the water to "acclimatise" ourselves with
the water. Its fucking cold at 6degrees.

We split into groups and get into the water with our rafts. Each tour
guide gives his raft a chat about safety and what to do should be flip
or fall out at any stage. We play games along the river and have some
fun in the rapids. Somehow we all jump ship and end up in different
boats hehe. We get our photos taken. Right at the end each boat does
something different to finish the ride. Our boat tried to stay vertical
and flip at the very end up but we are too stupid and flip instantly.

After the ride we eat hot dogs and change to rebaord the bus as we are bound for Innsbruck.

We get into town, and Chris gives us a walking tour that includes the
golden roof. We get free time to buy souvenirs and sample some local
cuisine. Lana, Tiff and i hit up a cafe and get some apfel strudel und
viennese kafe. Tasty! 10mins later we are all munching on maccas haha.

back at the hotel i forget what we did for dinner or how we ended up in
the bar drinking plum schnapps. Few people are fighting and voicing
their opinions (myself kinda included about the local jokes) then Emad,
Jocelyn and me hit the town at Emads expense hehe go us! We find this
funky bar and go down and procede to get drunk. Jocelyn snogs a local
and steals his hat! I snog Emad, eeww what's wrong with me! But i stop
snogging Emad to snog Jocelyn hahaha.

We leave Emad to the girls hes trying to pick up and head back to the hotel somehow. Memory gone hehe

Next day we cruise to Italy. What did we do tonight??? I totally
forget? Did we go to Venice tonight? Or was it tomorrow all day?
Someone else can write to me and tell me about Venice. Im moving to Florence now.

So Florence via an autogrill where u can buy tasty treats such as
Positanos and Rustichellos. YUM! I stock up on some tissues as i have
the dreaded contiki cough.

We have a group photo up on a hill overlooking the whole city of Florence.

We then have a leather demo and see florentine boxes and some people go
next door to buy nomination bracelets (myself included) other people
ditch the whole thing and run off to see the David. Then we have a
guided walking tour of the city that includes sights such as the Duomo,
the Ponte Vecchio and the brass pig where if u rub his tongue it is
good luck.

We see an iron grate thingy with heaps of padlocks on it on the ponte
vecchio. Our guide explains that people get engaged on the bridge and
then padlock their love on the grate and throw the keys into the river.
Awwwwww



It is then free time for a few hours. Most people hit the shops. Kimmy
buys the most gorgeous black guess jacket and a funky hat!

That night is the optional at La Certosa. All u can eat and drink with
live music, opera and another contiki tour who looks bored out of their
minds. Our tour gets up and does Zorbas dance. We then pull the other
tour up to join us but only a few are interested. Chris has a bottle of
Imperial drop which is made by the monks across the road. We lean back
to take a swig straight down the throat and it burns all the way down!

Both tours all get drunk together afterwards and head to Space
Electronic. The place is full of Norwegians! I snog about 5 upstairs
wahoo! We get drunker and drunker and have a laugh as Kimmy and Jos
take over the karaoke. Uptown girl belts out and the whole bar seems to
be singing with them hehe.

Chris joins Eve and i for some drinks. he introduces us to a shot he
invented. Its bacardi, contrieu and squeezed lemon. Very tasty! Black
sambucca shots come next and then tequila!

Chris comes over to me with a whip in his mouth and whips my arse. I
steal it off him and whip him back. Suddenly i am grabbed by the
manager and another contiki TM and handcuffed to the bar and have a
huge rubber penis placed infront of me. The penis is then covered in
whipped cream. What am i supposed to do? Im lactose intolerant? Well i
dont care and im off licking it and doing all sorts. My polaroid can
now be found somewhere on the wall behind the bar haha.

Don't remember much else but somehow i end up with a lad from the other tour named Adrian. Very cute!

Next day we make our way to Rome. It is a looooooooong drive with many autogrill stops hehe

We get into rome late arvo and Chris takes us on a walking tour. We see
the Colloseum, spanish steps, the pantheon and the Piazza Navona where
we have dinner. We eat at a restaurant where Chris knows the manager.
The Bruschetta is heaven! We go a few streets away afterwards for
gelati. Well i had sorbet (dairy free) but ended up losing half of it
to Chris. Helena gives me evil looks and doesnt speak to me for the
next 2 days. (turns out she likes Chris, how was i supposed to know??)

That night we are drinking on the balcony of our hotel. Jos looks hot
in a denim mini and a cute little singlet. We play drinking games and
rich joins in as its his coach free day the next day. We play yes no
and i think wink murder and some other game. We are too loud for that
area so we have to move. But where? Rich jingles his pockets and says
he has the coach keys on him. DOwn to the bus we go and we have the
music up full bull and Chris takes the mike and is creaming mutha fucka
and all sorts in the mike. Eve and i have to pee in the bushes haha.

Again we are too loud, the hotel can hear us from the car park so they
open the club for us. Everyone hits up the bar and continues to get
drunk. Kim manages to bottle herself in the eye and slice her face open. Well done Kimmy!
At the end of the night it is just me, Eve and Jos left.
Christian teaches us latin dancing (or rather tries)

Next day Eve and i are soooooooo drunk still. We all head to the
Vatican and line up. Eve and i often leave the line and rejoin as we
keep buying more and more water and food and check our internet.
Finally we get in. Michelangelos fresco is amazing!

We get out and do all the other sights. Eve and i are struggling so
bad, dragging our feet and barely speaking a word. it hurts too much to
talk or laugh.

No memory of this evening.

Next morning we hit up Mt Titlus! We got the cale cars up and stood
inside a glacier. We got some great photos and spent a few good hours up
there. We got scooters down the hill known as trottis!
Down the bottom we loved them so much we got the cable car back up just
to do it again. Kimym stacked it and ripped her knee open.

After the 2nd trotti ride, Helena and i met Jess and Nicole in a cafe
and ordered hot dogs. We were shortly joined by Pete. Then Helena and i
went shopping for a bit.

Back at the hotel, a room party was taking place. I took my southern
comfort along to crack it open. Little did i know it would be the last
time i saw it!

Dinner again was in Hotel Europa. We were greeted again with "Hello
contiki, 2-4-1 contiki" and we also had the creepy monobrow freak!
Dinner was veal casserole. No one at our table would eat it so the
plates were passed to me and Joe hee hee!
Vickey graced us with her piano playing. I have no memory whatsoever of
what happened this night hehe

Next morning we groggily boarded the coach and made our way to Pisa to get a shot of the leaning tower. After Pisa we cruised along the Riviera into France to our home for the next two nights, Nice.

We got into our very pink hotel, tizzied ourselves up and reboarded the coach to hit up Monaco.
There was an optional dinner but it was way to expensive so a groups of us went next door and got a 3 course meal for 15euros woohoo! I think salad was the entree followed by pizza and then crepes for dessert. Many carafes of wine later we all head off to the grand casino for a bit of gambling. Kimmy wins 50euros on black jack wahoo!
I win jack all so decide to drown my sorrows with the help of really cold carlsberg, mmmm!

Back to Nice for the night. Well end up in Kimmys room i think drinking beers that we kept cool with frozen spinach hehe. There is green slime everywhere!

Next day is a free day in Nice. We get dropped right in town and are set free. Most people go to the net. Lana and i head up to the old town and have a looksie. We spot Forrest and Deb ina  restaurant, Forrest is eating frogs legs. Eewww!
Nice is really, really, really clean! Its scary! We take photos down on the beach, steal pebbles and throw things at the seagulls. Then we wander around the shops. Every fricken label u could think of is here. We find a funky jewellery shop where they make the necklaces by hand infront of you. Mad! We take a number and wait our turn to pick out our designs. 2.5hrs later we finally walk out of the shop only to realise we have missed the coach pick up. SO with our maps in hand we find the train station and magically find our way to our hotel.

No idea what happened this night either hehe. man i should have updated my diary more often!

Next day we head north to Lyon via Avignon. We find the coolest lolly shop there, and also discover McDonalds is selling beer wahoo! So big mac and McBeer in hand i happily wander the streets.
Onto Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France. We check into our hotel and have a bit of free time b4 we have to meet again for a walking tour. I take my soco and ehad over to Emma and Joes room for a few cheeky ones. Have a great chat and a laugh with them. Chris gives a walking tour and shows us the new and old cathedrals. Then we are released for dinner. We go to this really nice restaurant where everyone except me orders the famous Lyonnaise salad. I get sausages of some kind hehe. Then for mains everyone tries something different. I get some steak thing that is soooo good! I thought everyone was gonna chuck cos it was blue but that is how i eat my steak sometimes so i was all good.

After dinner we go next door to an irish pub. Chris warns us that the carlsberg here is 7.4% so be careful. I of course never heard any of this hehe and proceded to down pint after pint. I suddenly freak out and run to Chris telling him i think someone spiked my drink. He gets all worried until sees my pint glass (it says carlsberg) and then he slaps me and tells me im an idot as he tells me again about the carlsberg. Sweet as!
Me and Chris sit down to watch the football on the telly. Some Moroccan guy leans over Chris to chat me up. Classic! Chris gets up and "leaves me to it" bastard!!!! Actually the Moroccan guy was really nice. We got soooo drunk together and then went across the street to his Russian friends house for some hashish (did i spell that right?) I get so wasted and the freak out cos i have no idea where i am or where my hotel is but the Moroccan guy walks me back. Phew!

Next day we head to Paris via Fontainebleu. Pretty cool stop here, very pretty!
Onwards to Paris. We go straight to the eiffel tower and run up it and down so fast!
We check into the ibis hotel and do a driving tour around the city. We get to stop and get out at the eiffel tower. Its so pretty all lit up and sparkling. back to the hotel me, Potsy, Fordy, Brock and Lana are downing beers in the bar for a few hours b4 turning in.

Free day in paris. We all run around like chooks with no heads on as we have only one day here to see as much as possible. I somehow manage to see Napoleon, Arch D Triomphe, Champs Elysees, st Chappelles, Picasso, the lovers bridge, the war museum, French opera house and something else....... ah i forget. Ooh the musee D'orsay! I got kicked out of the Lourve cos i had a pocket knife and refused to hand it over (its a steve irwin one) but when the guard wasn't looking i tried to sneak in only to get caught by a plain clothed copper. Fuck! They take my photo and it is emailed or whatever to every entrance of the Louvre. Well there goes that idea hehe.

That night is the optional Cabaret show. I am sick and bail out. Lana stays with me in the hotel while i sleep, she repacks. I wake up and we down my bottle of southern comfort (replaced luckily as someone stole it in Switzerland, you know who you are!!!!) and then dress up and head out to a bar next to the Moulin Rouge for our last night of contiki.

Everyone gets completely blind, its so much fun! My dare is to propose to someone on tour. Chris and i already arranged in Florence that i'd ask him so i got down on one knee with a rose in my teeth and asked him for his hands in marriage. He accepted graciously and we got drinks bought for us by so many people (not tour people, other people in the bar) cos they thought it was for real hahaha, suckers!

Somehow we get back to the hotel. Lana and i are about to go to sleep when brock rocks up. We start drinking abit and chat about shit. Then incomes Pete. He has something important to tell brock but sees the grog and forgets and join us. Next minute Sheree comes in screaming at Pete. He was supposed to tell Brock that Kat (his girlfriend) had fallen down an emergency exit or something and cant move her legs. Ouch! So everyone goes off in search of Kat. We get to the hallway and Joe stumbles out pissed as anything, covered in what we hope is alcohol trying to support himself against the wall hehe. We help Emma get him into bed and then Lana and i set off for our beds.

Next morning almost no one is speaking. They are either passed out or wishing they were dead hehehe. It is a long slow drive out to the Canadian war memorial. Only one Canadian on our tour so this place wasn't as sombre as i hear on other tours. Still pretty sad though, theyve left the trenches and areas where bombs hit untouched. Kinda eerie!

Onwards to Calais, we board the P&O and head back England. it is quite a clear day so we can see the white cliffs of Dover instantly.

Back in London everyone is all sad but all promise to meet in the London pub shortly for one last piss up. Not everyone comes along though sadly.
Chris and i get married in the pub. trent makes me a flower and a veil out of yellow serviettes hehe. Forrest draws all over my neck and back with a black nikko which was......PERMANENT!!!!
Cannot remember alot from this night but i woke up in Evies room the next morning. Cheers Evie!

Next day we all said goodbye, i got all my bags and headed to Helenas Uncles house. We would be staying with him out in Ealing Broadway again until we leave for home. So depressing the trip is comming to and end. We dont do alot over the next few days, just last minute London sights including the London Eye. We also run into a few people in a walkabout and then again in Top shop near Picadilly Circus hehe. Coincidence? I think not!

Finally the day comes when we must leave the mother country and return down under. I am so tried, hung over and sick i cannot speak much other than goodbye, thanks for having me haha i felt so bad.

I slept for most of the flight home, got an awful nose bleed at one stage which pissed me off cos then the flight attendants constantly came to check on every 5 mins. But at least they cared. The flight was almost empty so we stole whole rows, lifted the arm rests and crashed out. Arrived in brisbane and i stunk of Indonesia (we stopped in Brunei for a few hours) Yuck!

And thats the end of the trip! Hopefully soon i will remember things and fill them in hehehehe