Ok!! So I'm in an internet cafe & have few minutes!
We are on about day 20 of our trip & just about to lose 14 of our friends & pick up 14 more. That will be interesting & a little sad, as some of the ones that are leaving are people that I have gotten closest with. But this is the way it goes!!
Been getting up crazy early most days. I like to wake before everyone else to grab a shower & I tend to be such a light sleeper that anything wakes me up. I usually wake up at around 5 am, but usually sleep in until 6 or 6:30. Then get ready, we have brekky, which is usually muesli, coco puffs, corn flakes, fruit & yogurt. :) And then we are either on the road again to the next place or we are heading into town to have free time exploring or to take a tour.
So far:
Paris - spent 3 days. It was so big & so much to see. I definitely want to go back as I did not get to see everything I wanted to see, but only for another few days, maybe a week?? And then I would move onto the South of France because the Parissians are definitely more than a little snotty ;)
Lyon - Beautiful beautiful. We were only here for one night, but I would love to see more of this area
Barcelona - spent a couple days. I loved the feeling, but it was pretty dirty. I would love to spend more time in Spain & see more places. Especially if I knew a little Spanish!!! lol getting around France was a lot easier for me!
On our way to Nice we stopped in a little town for lunch & got to watch the Tour de France go through!!! It was very exciting!
Nice - I loved Nice!! It was gorgeous, the beach was phenomenal! Actually, it was our first pebble beach & it got quite windy. We saw a man got dragged out of the ocean & dealt with by the lifeguards & ambulance drivers. All I can say is - DO NOT DROWN IN NICE! Beautiful place, crappy life saving techniques!
Monaco - Went to Monte Carlo, some people gambled, I wandered around & had gelato. Very posh place! There were fireworks too.
Verona - mmm...spent an hour or two here. Saw Juliet's balcony & felt the romance. Half of the town has it's streets done in marble! INSANE!
Venice - LOVED Venice! And the canals were NOT as dirty as I had been led to believe. It was so much fun to spend a day wandering thru the tiny streets & canals. Our gondola ride was a bit disapointing. I was alone at the front of it & our guy was on his mobile the whole time. No singing! But it may be because it was a Contiki special & I'm finding some of those are just cheap deals & not the best experiences you can get ;)
Pisa - the tower seemed smaller! But it was pretty cool & we all took some cheesy photos!
Florence - Really loved Florence too. In general I just really loved Italy! The pizza was phenomenal, although I only really enjoyed my pasta once. I kept ordering seafood pastas & the seafood was always overcooked. :(
Rome - So much to see. Need to go back just to see all the touristy things. It was also VERY hot! But very cool. Lots of amazing buildings
Vatican City - smallest country in the world! Saw the Sistine Chapel & St. Peters Bascillica. Incredible stuff.
Capri - Such a beautiful island. We went out to the Blue Grotto, which is a very cool natural light phenom. And then had lunch in the shade
Sorrento - Such a lovely and romantic seaside city in Italy!!! Had a pretty great evening there!
Pompeii - we were rushing thru our tour, but it was still awesome to be there!
Corfu - just finished our 3 days in Corfu, one of many Greek islands. It is beautiful & the people are lovely. Spent quite a bit of time in the water & have been trying to work on my tan.
Everyone on the tour has a cold right now. I think it's late nights, early mornings, too much drinking for some, AC on the coach all day & new water & germs everyday! :) But I'm starting to get over mine now so we're golden ;) We are at an internet cafe on a routine stop on our way to Athens. Looking forward to Athens! So much history there! Greece is amazing, I knew I would love it here!
There are lots of great people on the trip. Definitely people that I will be keeping in touch with, to call on when I visit their countries & vice versa. Loads & loads of Kiwis & Aussies on this trip. Only a few Canadians & Americans. And one South African, and one lady from India.
It is going well. People are going to add me to FB so that they can tag photos.
Love you all!!
wow---greece my ultimate vacation spot...one day I will get there...what a way to see the countries---not for oldies like me but I should have done this at your age. Lots to take in over a short span of time...your head must be spinning. My big vacation was to Cranbrook, Kimberley and Bonners Ferry at the end of Jun. Big storm here last nite...the wind was over 100 km per hour---in parts of the city, trees were blown down, there was hail and power outtages. Finally calmer today. Hot weather still lingering so no doubt we will get more unsettled weather. There are fires in Kelowna that is causing major evacuations so I guess we can count our blessings that we aren\'t dealing with that. Glad you are having so much fun....B
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