Contiki

To begin our European adventure we decided to undertake a 21 day European Vista contiki tour. We thought this would be the best possible way to get a feel for being in another country by being in a group. We met our contiki crew three weeks ago in London at the Royal National Hotel. Everyone seemed pretty friendly so it was a great start.

We met the next day to board the coach. Still nervous but eager to make a few friends. The first day I sat next to a girl named Nicole. Funny as hell and a real vibrant character. We headed to the Port of Douvre to the Ferry where we went across to France. Here we met another two girls called Janelle and Rosie (or Rosina). These meetings marked the very beginning of the formation we called the ´wolf-pack´.

After a day in Paris, it was clear that the five of us (including my travel friend Alana) were becoming closer. The event of Janelle getting stuck in the metro tram doors definitely made us better friends. 

On our tour we were lucky enough to fit in many places. These included Paris, Lucerne (Switzerland), French Riviera, Florence, Rome, Venice, Austrian Tyrol, Munich, Vienna, Prague, Rhine Valley and Amsterdam.

Over this time we made many more friends beyond our family wolf-pack. We even added an extra four to our wolf-pack including always witty Bobby (who we called Roberto), Ethan (who was forever playing his music) and Rachel and Ben (a loveable and funny husband and wife). The time went unbelievably quickly and there was just not enough time or energy for me to keep up my blog. Each of these places were unique in their own way and memories were made in every place. 

Twenty-one days was a perfect amount of time to see a lot of things in every stop. My favourite places would have to be Paris, Nice and Venice. The bike ride in Munich and the white water rafting in Tyrol were my most favourite of the activities we did. Although it was difficult to say goodbye to our contiki crew, we are excited to meet up with our good friends Janelle and Rosie in the greek islands. We made two new Australian friends in Madrid yesterday called Amy and Justin who will also be in te greek islands at the same time! Coincidence I think so!

At this moment we are chilling out in our hotel room in Barcelona on La Rambla. This is the place (apart from Molfetta) that I have been looking forward to the most. Can't wait! Even better we just found out our good friends Janelle and Rosie are in town tomorrow as well as our new friends we met in Madrid yesterday Amy and Justin! I see good things ahead for Barcelona!

Via Porzia

Xxx

Venezia

Venice is a really unique city. It's main square San Marco Piazza is beautiful. There is the San Marco Church and lavish espresso bars and expensive jewellery stores bordering the piazza. Off comes little alley ways which we couldn't wait to wander.

 My main aim of Venice was to find my mum a unique Venetian mask. She has been collecting them as long as I can remember. She has one from each of my siblings. After a while the stores all started to look the same. We ran into a corner store with walls covered from top to bottom in beautiful masks. Two young women were running the store and they were really friendly. It was called 'Venice Art Di Myshketa Artur'. I spotted a beautiful cream coloured mask with gold trimming framed with jolly bells and I knew straight away that mum would love it. It was about 180 euro but it was worth it. I have a month of travel still so it would have been impossible to carry it around with me so the girls shipped it off for me for an extra 50 euro. They seemed very professional so fingers crossed it gets home!

After lots of walking we headed to lunch near the main canal at Bar Ristorante Omnibus. For a good 20 euro we had three courses including pasta napolitana, fried fish, french fries and watermelon. We were so full! A good 20 euro well spent.

The next aim of Venice was to feed some pigeons. If you're not a fan of birds I suggest don't come to Venice because they swoop A LOT. We bought some seeds from a professional photographer and stood in the midst of a whole lot of pigeons. We stuck our hands out and they started flying towards us. In between each 'smile!' there were many squeals but the experience was fantastic and I would probably do it again!

Even though we were full we couldn't pass on Gelati. We bought tiramisu Gelati from a gelateria in the main piazza and it was damn good! 

The very last aim of Venice was to ride a gondola of course. We got the group together and Alana and I scored the lover's seat! The views were stunning and the weather was perfect. Claudio our gondoliero weaved us through the city. Another 'happy moment'. 

After the gondola ride we met for dinner at Ristorante trovatore. This was a contiki optional. After eating so much at lunch it was impossible to keep up with the almost 10 course meal. Much like our Nice experience the restaurant had  little atmosphere and again was tucked away within the city. 

We caught a boat back to the mainland and the short cruise made up for a disappointing dinner with its views of the Venice port.

Venice is without a doubt one of those places I have to visit again. 

Via Porzia

Xx

Pisa & Florence

On the way to Florence we stopped by Pisa to visit the famous leaning tower of Pisa. I never imagined it to be in such a small (almost deserted) town. We got our iconic shot and we were back on our way. One thing I really noticed about Italy is there are many beggers and black market sellers who basically put the product in your face. The market sellers aren't shy of inappropriate remarks either. Tad annoying.

We got to our Florence hotel and this was the first taste of a 'real' Italian hotel. After dragging my suitcase up a flight of stairs it wasn't too pleasing to see the smallest shower I have ever seen in my life. Drop the soap and you're screwed.

The Florence lookout was amazing. The town itself isn't too clean unlike London and Paris but the view of the city from above makes up for it.

At our tuscan dinner we were welcomed with a Campari and sat down in a room where mist constantly sprayed with the fans to cool us down. The amount of food was ridiculous.... just like home. We had antipasti to begin with including a range of small bruschetta. For the first course we had pasta napolitana and lasagna. For second we had beef with baby spinach with rock salt and potatoes. Hello carbs! All of this washed down with a big ass bottle of wine paired with a sing-along to volare with the restaurant's in-house entertainer. No doubt there were lots of cute Italian waiters so of course I sneaked in a photo! 

After dinner we headed out to Space discoteca electronica! It had two levels. The bottom level was karaoke style so I found the top level was more my style. The only disappointing thing about the place was that it was full of other contiki groups. We experienced this back in Sully's in Paris. Nevertheless our contiki group is a lot of fun when we head out so it was a good time. The Italian bars have an interesting drink system. They hand you a drink card which gets stamped at the bar and you have to pay before you leave and you receive a pass out. It makes the bar a lot more efficient but if you lose your card you have to cough up a nice 50 euro. We got home about 2 and headed down the street where an italian lady was serving hotdogs. We sat in the lobby and I skyped my parents. It was good to see their faces as well as my little friend Siena. 

The next say we got up early to begin our tour of Florence. First we went to a leather shop. I learnt two ways to tell if leather is fake. The first the lining of leather is suade which is difficult to replicate and if you can't see the lining, if you rub the leather together and there is friction this means there is suade inside the lining. 

I bought an orange pandora leather bracelet with a prayer (ave maria) written on it in small detail to add to my italian arm swag. Florence is also popular for their nomination bracelets. Growing up in an italian family back home I still have mine from when I was about 12. 

I stopped into a espresso bar to grab a water and a small svogliatelle for a snack. We met our italian tour guide who took us around the piazzas, teaching us about all the statues and buildings that surrounded them. You could wander around the piazzas endlessly because there is something cool and interesting around every corner whether it be a cute jewellery store, espresso or pizza bar or some sort of building or statue with its own story to tell.

After a long day walking around in the hot sun we headed back on the coach to head to Rome!

Via Porzia

Xx

Paris

Paris is awesome. The first night we went to the Eiffel Tower and it was incredibly busy. It really is massive and beautiful. A lot of men were going around selling roses. As we were leaving one bolted towards me handing me a rose. Alana continued to scream "don't take it!!" But the man insisted that someone had bought it for me. Turned out a Parisian guy bought me a rose. Very sweet. But he was probably 15.

As we drove away the tower lit up with millions of fairy lights. This was probably one of my first 'happy moments' in Europe.

The next day we had a full day in Paris and it was a big one! We went back to the tower to climb it. The view of Paris was beautiful. The streets and buildings are laid out in perfect symmetry. We then decided to attempt the metro. You have to be really careful because the doors open and close really fast. Our friend Janelle was the last to hop at the stop and found herself wedged between the tram doors. We all started to freak out and I grabbed her as hard as I could (risking amputation of my right arm). We finally pulled her back in and the tram took off throwing the five of us into each other. Probably the scariest thing to happen but definitely one of the funniest! 

We reached the arc de triumph and wandered down the champ elysee for a bit of shopping. The Tour de France was finishing up so there were a lot of tourists around. We did an incredible amount of walking down this massive strip.

For lunch we headed down a small alley and grabbed a baguette and sat on the curb. I had one with tomato, lettuce and Brie cheese. Yum! We walked further until we reached the Notre Dame. The size of it as well as the detail on the building were incredible.

Tired of walking we decided to take a bike taxi all the way to the love lock bridge. Probably the best idea we made. The love lock bridge was packed with locks. I wrote de Cesare on mine because my wish was made for my family. Before heading back to the hotel we stopped for Nutella crepes. I had one with banana and it was so good!

We went to the moulin rouge that night. The dinner was not too crash hot and the dancing was ok. The costumes were outstanding but I felt myself fading a little towards the end.

We went to O'Sullivan's Pub next door after the show and it was the first time we went out as a group. It was a really fun night and it brought us closer together. We ran into another contiki group who were just finishing up their tour. 

It was a long day and a long night but it was an unforgettable day!

Via Porzia

Xx