Mountain Biking! Then Sex-Position Chair Battles? In the same day in AUSTRIA!

The next day we awoke and had breakfast at the hotel, and met some other Contiki travelers from the other Coach that was also staying at our hotel. After breakfast we then got dressed up to mountain bike!

The ride was a 5 mile loop, gradual, sometimes-rocky, and slightly uphill the whole way there, and a flying downhill on the way back. The scenery was breathtaking. We stopped once to rest on the way up and filled up our already-purchased-by-Contiki water bottles from a small, trickling stream on the side of the trail that was literally the best water I have ever tasted! I was a little hesitant to drink water right from the stream, but I swear I have never had anything so fresh and so clean!




We saw mountain goats, cows and 2 black cats crossing the trail (superstitious anyone? haha!). When we made it to the top we had some amazing bratwurst and potatoes for lunch waiting for us at an outdoor café at the top of Gatshof. We are still silly Americans and although apparently this sign means something along the lines of "hot food" the boys loved it that it said "warme kuche" and we all laughed.

Then we flew down the decent from the mountain, which was a complete blast. We had our bikes rented to us for the rest of the day, and the rest of the afternoon was left for us to hit up Hopfgarten.

Rhyno gave us a map and a variety of options of things to do in the town. Some of us decided to go trout fishing. Hopfgarten has a trout farm, and those who went said they caught a fish in about 2 minutes, and then the trout farm crew grilled up the fish that they had caught right there… talk about fresh fish! There was also a cool water park and swimming lake there too, but James and I decided we wanted to take the gondola and chairlift ride to the park and church at the top of the ski resort.

One of the lifts was a single person lift with barely any restraint, which was probably the most intense chairlift I had ever been on, but scarily-fun! The view of the mountains from the top was spectacular. After coming back down the lifts we biked to pick up some schnapps from a local market and went back to the hotel for drinking and getting ready for the night.

Since the hotel was owned by Contiki, the staff decided to throw us a “pimps and hos” party for the two Coaches staying at the hotel. We all got dressed up and the staff hosted a pimps vs. hos trivia game (aka the girls on one side had questions about sports, supermodels and beer and the boys were asked stuff like Sex and the City trivia, fashion and make-up) The contest ended in a sexual-position battle where one boy and one girl had to battle to see who could come up with the most sex positions in an allotted amount of time (and do them. physically. on the floor of the bar or with a chair that the staff had allotted “sex-position-chair”.) I don’t remember if the guys or the girls ultimately won, so yeah… that means that I was having fun. I spent the whole night chatting with random new friends from the other Coach, and ended up actually staying up the entire night. We decided to walk to a bench to watch the sunrise over the mountains, which was gorgeous! And before we knew it, it was all the sudden time for breakfast! Thankfully we had a bus ride to Munich to take a nap the next day! What a fun night, I would have never guessed there would have been so much to do in there, but Contiki showed us all the hidden treasures of the quaint little town (and then threw us a party!) What a fun night!

“Certainly, travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”- Miriam Bea

Rafting. And Then More Drinking! TEAM FUCK YEAH!

We left Venice after breakfast at the hotel where I enjoyed some great espresso there for breakfast that seems so rampant in Europe. Then we were off to the Austrian Tyrol district to stay at a Contiki’s Gastoff hostel in Hopfgarten (aka a hotel full of Contiki travelers!), but on the way we stopped in Brenner Pass to go white water rafting!

I think a prerequisite for the job as a rafting tour guide was that you had to be a sexy, foreign, English-speaking male, because all of the guides were incredibly good looking, and we all noticed! We got into our gear and did a little safety training session and jumped into the river to get a taste of the water temperature before getting onto our rafts. The rafting was so awesome! We jumped and fell into the water a couple times, definitely got splashed around, and purposely spun and tried to flip the raft, just for fun.

After the 45 minute raft ride, guides were waiting for us with shots of schnapps and gouloush soup, which are Austrian favorites. We got back onto the coach after lunch and headed to Hopfgarten, this quiet little town in the mountains. After checking into the hotel, we wanted to go out.

But there wasn’t much nightlife in Hopfgarten, however Ryan (the tour guide) recommended this one bar called The Silver Bullet, and the coach shuttled us there after we’d had some time to settle in our hotel and shower. They had punch-off beer cards (10 pints for 20 euros) so Elise and I shared a card and Contiki travelers literally took over the bar. It was a Monday night, so the bar was pretty empty, but we sure made it fun!

When the beer card was all gone, things turned a little crazier—shots of absinthe started to come out, and whiskey-in-a-water bottle outside the bar was involved too. Me and some of the girls got to know the Contiki crew of Marky Mark (left) our tour guide Rhyno (being fondled in the middle) and K-Mad a little better, by playing “The Questions Game” and “Never Have I Ever”. This was a blast, and full of laughs. Let’s just say the quote of the night was “Penis in your ear!!” and I think that kind of sums it up!

Anyway we didn't feel like walking back (although it wasn't very far) so we decided instead to cab it home. The cab driver was driving 80-90 miles an hour along small, turny cobblestone streets! Had I not been intoxicated I would have been terrified! When we asked him about his driving, he said “There’s one cop in the city. My dad’s the cop.” So I guess he wasn’t worried! We passed out at the hotel after another awesome night, ready to mountain bike in the Alps in the morning!

"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open." -- Jawaharal Nehru

BOB the "sleep dancer" and Blown Horses. What, that isn't what you think about when you think of Venice?

We woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and got on the Coach to drive to Venice. We drove through the Appennine Mountains and through Bologna (where spaghetti was born!) We got on the boat to Venice, which has been dubbed the “sinking city” cause the island actually is sinking into the ocean every year! You could see, walking around the canals, that some of the steps are now a couple steps shorter cause they are submerged into water.

We saw St. Mark’s square (the historic center of the city) and the Doges Palace, a gorgeous castle. We also got the chance to watch a glass blower work his trade at a local glass shop, and he gave us Contikiers a special show (He blew a horse. Nice, haha!) and he showed us how glass blowing works. He gave our tour a discount at his store, so I bought a gorgeous, handmade glass necklace there.

The streets were so small and bustling, and the pigeons were prevalent in the square (ew. bird poop), but I loved Venice so much! It was my favorite city on the trip so far. We spent the afternoon wandering the city, ate some gelato for lunch and walked around by the water. We then met up with the Contiki group in St. Marks square and went on a boat ride through the canals with a bottle of champagne provided by Contiki, and an Italian guide dressed in a Where’s-Waldo-esque outfit and a perpetual cigarette in his mouth. It was gorgeous though and so much fun.

We took a big boat back to the mainland for dinner. We had this 4 course Italian dinner, and listened to some great live music while we ate (wine included with dinner. naturally.) After dinner we were kinda warn out from lack of sleep and excessive alcoholism so we decided to take the five-or-so extra, unopened bottles of wine that our waiters left us at the table at dinner and proceed to hang out at the hotel. Let’s just say that the night ended with a game of “2 minutes in the hot seat” and a blacked-out-Brittany. I'm a damn good uh... sleep dancer. Enough said! Haha!

“I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.” Rosalia de Castro

From Churches to Wine. And a naked man Statue.

After breakfast at the hotel (and now chugging water instead of drinking wine!), we started off our morning with a walking tour of the Piazza del’a Signoria, the Duomo and Santa Croce Cathethedral. Our tour guide was so informative and knew tons about the artwork, statues, and gorgeous Renaissance architecture. This is only a reconstruction of the famous David statue, but its the same size as the real dude, and is located in the Piazza. Florence is famous for its leather, so those of us who were interested headed to a little leather shop and learned a little bit about how it was made, in a short demonstration from one of the employees of the store. I bought some really cool leather jewelry there. We had the rest of the day to enjoy Florence on our own.

Some of my friends went to museums and galleries, but I decided to head out with a couple new friends and pick up a panini sandwich and gelato for lunch, and shopped a little bit around the city. There are a lot of mopeds in Florence, and we witnessed two near-accidents (by the same lady) within approximately 2 minutes! Good work, lady. It was pretty funny how uncoordinated she was on her moped. After our afternoon in the city was done, we went to the top of this gorgeous hill that over looks Florence and took a bunch of group photos of our Contiki travelers as the sun was setting over the city!

Soon after, we went to dinner. We entered the quaint little café restaurant and were immediately greeted with a choice of three drinks and little appetizers in the outside dining patio with fountains and gorgeous flowers. Once inside, we were offered unlimited wine and a four course meal spread over a couple of hours. We wined and dined and listened to the live music, including an amazing opera singer. I usually think opera is usually not my fav, but this lady was so talented! There was a dance floor at the restaurant, and we actually witnessed another proposal too! Europe is so romantic!

After dinner we headed out to Red Garter, which is this cool karaoke bar. There we meet up with a bunch of other Contiki travelers who were on the Road to Athens tour. We kicked it with them, flirted with Australians and Italians from the other Coach. I tried to speak Spanish to the Italians (again. Apparently I speak Spatalian) Basically just we partied until late into the night. We finally made it back to the hotel after another fantastic day of travel. I’m so stoked… Venice tomorrow!

“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.” - Maya Angelou

Beavers. and Italians. Fun!

We woke up and had breakfast at our hotel before hopping on the Coach on our way to Italy. I took a nap and daydreamed out the window, looking at all the beautiful sites. We stopped at Mount Stanserhorn and took a cograil trip up to the park at the top of the mountain. It was so gorgeous up there! And (random)… there were literally some beavers inside a cage up there, and we were all a little confused about that! I wish I had a picture of these beavers to prove this to you!

We hiked a short trail up to the summit and got the whole view of Lucerne and Switzerland in its beauty. We took some photos, then hopped back onto the Coach on our way to Florence (while stopping to benefit from some Extrafahrten on the way down. We’re so silly…)

Once we got to Florence, we chilled and showered for a few hours and got ready for dinner and the Italian nightlife! We dined at a Tuscan restaurant where we enjoyed pasta and unlimited wine over candlelight. Then we went out clubbing at this amazing club called Space Electronic Discoteque, where Contiki hooked us up with the VIP section and bottle service. We danced and had fun into late into the night. Everyone diverged into their own separate paths/hookups/random hilarity and fun, but for me I remember a long conversation with an Italian man, with me talking in Spanish to him hoping he’d understand. I think he sort of did, actually! Anyway, the night was so fun! Tomorrow it’s free time to enjoy the city!

“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.”- Lao Tzu

Cows, Chocolate, Knives, Beer, and Mountains. Guess Where?

From Paris, our next stop was Lucernce, Switzerland. We woke up early in Paris for the bus ride to Lucernce and had breakfast again at the hotel buffet. We had a chance to relax, listen to music, read and chat for a few hours on the coach.

We got to Lucerne and spent the afternoon exploring the attractive little medieval town and walked around for a while on the narrow, cobblestone streets. We walked over the Chapel Bridge (a famous wooden bridge that was burned down at some point and then later rebuilt) and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery of the lakes and rivers that run throughout the village. We bought some cheese and chocolate and some of us got Swiss army knives.

We then made our way to the hotel and got ready for our night out. We had dinner at a folklore-themed restaurant with traditional Swiss foods—fondue to start, veal and potatoes, a tasty little desert cake and of course, two large mugs of beer included in the meal.

There was live music and a stage and show including a two person cow that walked around the restaurant, yodelers on the stage (some Contikites were even brave enough to get up and give yodeling a shot on stage or play this gigantic instrument that looked like a huge pipe and made the most ridiculous noise!) Dinner ended with a huge train of travelers and locals going around holding onto each others’ shoulders and dancing around the restaurant, led by the happiest drunk and dancing old man, who was stoked when the whole restaurant got up to join in his dance party, as he had been laughing and singing and dancing in the middle of the restaurant by myself for some time now.

After dinner we went out clubbing and dancing at a beach bar that had sand on the floor and a beachy-theme. It was so crazy and fun! Our night was finished off back at the hotel with a bottle of wine and gazing at the stars and the city lights from the roof of our hotel. We found this secret ladder up to the roof and decided it was necessary to go up there and enjoy the scenery at night! Then we decided to go to bed. Tomorrow, we are are off to the country I’m most excited to see… Italy!

“Love is like a butterfly. Hold it too tight, it’ll crush, hold it too loose, it’ll fly away.” -proverb written on a little piece of wax paper from inside this Swiss chocolate ball, written in 5 other languages too. Cool.

The Night We Became Lady Marmalades

We woke up early and started off the morning with a fantastic breakfast buffet at our hotel. Already I can tell that the food is different, but I really enjoyed trying the new things. After breakfast we hopped on the coach and Ryan played us the song “Life is a Highway” by Tom Cochrane as we made our way to the city. He said that this was our trip’s “day song” so that whenever we hear that song we will remember our trip and think of all the memories we’ve shared together! He said that he is going to play it every morning as we board the coach.

Once we got to the center of Paris, we had some time to roam the city on our own. We got to see many famous monuments such as the Louvre and the Notre Dame Cathedral among many others, but my roomie Brittany our new friend Hannah and I decided we wanted to stroll down the streets and enjoy something else that Paris is famous for—the fashion! We shopped in boutiques for most of the afternoon and picked some hot new outfits, a couple postcards, some fine wine and souvenirs for friends and family back in the states.

It was a great day of fun and shopping for us girls, but the best part was that we had the opportunity to choose what we wanted to do! We were on a "tour" I guess, but it wasn't like we were being chaperoned. Ryan our tour guide passed out what he called "Ryanos in your
pocket" that had tips and suggestions about what to do or where to go in the city and how to get there, so everyone had the opportunity to explore Paris to thier heart's desire! We headed back to the hotel early evening to get ready for our exciting night. The Contiki crew was off to check out the Moulin Rouge show!

We got all dolled up and ate a fantastic dinner and fabulous wine at the theater before the show, and then watched in awe at one of the most famous cabaret shows in the world. There were incredible acrobats, intricate and flashy costumes, topless dancers with sparkly outfits, and even an underwater snake dancer! The acts were interspersed with comedians and the show lasted about three hours. It was probably the best show I have ever seen in my life, I was thoroughly entertained! After the show we headed back to the hotel and Brittany and I bonded and got to know each other a little while and then went to bed, ready for our next adventure!

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."-Ernest Hemingway

Our First Night in The City of Lights and Love

The day has finally arrived—it’s time for my Contiki Eurotrip ‘07! I held out on packing until this morning (with my tendency to procrastinate, this isn’t a surprise!) But I actually think that that actually worked in my favor this time around, because I didn’t overpack too terribly! I generally have a problem with that, but the Contiki staff had said to pack what you think you need and then take half of it out! Good call, cause I don’t want to lug things around Europe that I’m not going to use!

I got dropped off at LAX and met Ashley, another Contiki traveler who was on my same flight. At our layover in Houston we also ran into Brandon and Kyle, two other guys who were on our trip! I was getting really excited to meet the other travelers on our tour and was so stoked on seeing the sights of Europe.

When we finally landed in Paris, the Contiki staff was waiting for us at the airport and we loaded up into the Contiki Coach. It was actually a pretty nice bus, pretty comfy. We met our tour guide Ryan and he showed us a bit of the city through the coach window as we made our way to our hotel. I met my roommate Brittany from Penn State and we headed up to our room to get ready for our first dinner with the entire crew! We had a traditional French dinner and wine and then set out to see one of the most famous, iconic sights in the world—the Eiffel tower.

Since we were such a large group, we got special tickets to see the tour, and got on the elevator to ride it to the top. There were two sets of elevators, the first one went up diagonally along the side of the tower and the second went straight up to the very very top of the tower! We took some pictures up top and watched the sunset from the top of the tower. What a great way to kick off our trip! As we made our way back down after the sun set, we enjoyed a spectacular light show that made it look as if the tower itself was sprinkled with glittering diamonds. We even saw a proposal occur on the top of the Eiffel tower as the light show was beginning. …now I know why they call it the City of Lights and Love! We made our way back to the hotel after the show, had a beer with the team at the bar downstairs in our hotel and then headed off to bed so that we could get up early and explore Paris the next day. Already I can tell this is going to be the trip of a lifetime!!

"Paris is the city in which one loves to live." –Margaret Anderson

"The best of America drifts to Paris. The American in Paris is the best American."- Scott F. Fitzgerald

Leaving On A Jet Plane

Sometimes the simplest pleasures and the seemingly insignificant moments in time are some of the most rewarding, life-changing experiences. I first heard about Contiki in a line at a concert. We were piled up to see headliners My Chemical Romance in the summer of 2005 at the House of Blues on Sunset in Hollywood. I was at the concert alone, covering the show for The Daily Trojan, the University of Southern California's student-run newspaper. I began chatting and joking with two people in front of me in line. We chilled at the concert all night and had a lot of fun rocking out, so at the end of the night I received their business cards and they told me a little bit about Contiki, the travel and touring company they were working for. I immediately fell in love with the company's mission and their ideas about traveling for young people. It seemed like Contiki allowed hassle-free travel and the opportunity to enjoy and discover the world with young, ambitious travelers from around the world. We shot some emails back and forth through out the next week or so, and I checked out the Contiki website too. I bookmarked Contiki.com so that I could turn to Contiki sometime in the future when I had time to check out the world.

So that takes me to tomorrow, where over 43 other young students from across the nation and I will be heading overseas to enjoy the Contiki experience on a European excursion. We will be visiting six countries and doing lots of sightseeing, trying authentic traditional meals, going gondola riding in Venice and white water rafting in the Austrian Alps, viewing culture shows in Prauge and Munich, sightseeing, and making new friends! The best part is that Contiki takes care of the transportation, breakfasts and most dinners, as well as offers a tour guide to point out the best spots to see. I can barely contain my excitement!

I truly think that travel not only broadens the mind but also the soul. I can't wait to meet my fellow travelers. Anyway I should probably start packing :) Here's to kicking off my Contiki experience!!

"The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Quote from my Contiki information handbook