Contiki 2005

Contiki - the dreaded C word. Looked down upon by independent travellers all over. I have to say though, I loved it. Sure it may not be the most authentic travelling experience. Its basically a month long party on a bus, but I genuinely had a great time. It isnt for everyone though that is for sure. If you like complete freedom in your plans you simply wont like it, but for people like me who hadnt really travelled before, and didnt want the fuss of organising everything themselves, it was the perfect introduction.

I was on the Contiki Adventurer trip, taking in the following places...

France
Paris - so much to see. The Eiffel tower, Louvre, Arc d'Triumphe. For mine the highlight was possible the roundabout around the Arc, which has one rule, which is that those on the roundabout have to give way to those off of it. Complete opposite to everywhere else in the world.
Beajolais Wine Region - We stayed in the Contiki Chattau and drank lots of wine. What more can you say?
Antibes - Located between Nice and Cannes this was pretty much everything I expected from the French Riveria

Spain
Barcelona - Possible the best clubbing i have ever experienced. Really great night out was had here, although the gothic quarter was also a highlight

Italy
Florence - Too tight to pay to see the real statue of David we settled for the fake one outside. The whole town was amazing, and we had a couple of funny nites there, which included having the girls constantly chasing off some overly keen locals
Rome - I was impressed with the Vatican more so then I thought I would be, but the food left me underwhelmed as it did all over Italy.
Venice - Two words, "Attitude Adjusters". The campsight we stayed at had these as their feature drink. Four shots of white liquor topped up with a Bicardi Breezer, all for around 5 Euro. Two very good nights there. The city was also quite impressive. We bullied our Gondola guy into singing, then begged him to stop once we heard his voice.

Greece
Athens - A little like any other city for mine. The Acropolis was impressive though, despite a moon showing!
Corfu - The sight of the infimous Toga Party. What a messy night that was! Was also the sight of a now famous driving bingle, and Georges Boat. George was truly one of the funniest guys you will ever meet, in a completely filthy kind of way. Got to do some fun things such as Parasailing.
Mykonos - The party Island. Lots of fun. Stayed at the Contiki resort which was quite good. Nothing to do but club all night and relax on the beach all day. How hard is life? Highlight was clubbing in an open air club on the beach, and seeing the sun come up over the water...

Austria
Vienna - Nice city, but didnt do a great deal for me. We had a good night out at the optional dinner, where people got very messy, and made for a good bus ride home. Poor Ash!
Hopfgarten - Mountain biking was a highlight, as was another messy party (sense a theme here?) with the theme of P.

Switzerland
Lauterbrunnen - Nestled in the valley between two large mountains, this was a relaxing couple of days, where many people, mainly from WA, took the opportunity to head to the top of the mountain for their first glimpse of snow.

Germany
Munich - Only one night, but it was a good one. Went to a beer hall where we ate Pork Knuckle, and drank out of litre steins. My dreams can come true. Later that night we drank in the hostel bar, but were a little put off by underage school children doing the same...
Rhine Valley - Stayed at Grandma's house...nuff said. Wine tasing was good though.

Holland
Amsterdam - Good way to finish up the trip. Basically just a two day bender, which some coped with better then others. One of the adventure sports for the two days was dodging those with pink eye!

England
London - Back at the hotel in London we had one big send off, and big sad farewells as everyone went to bed one by one.

On the whole I made some really good friends on that tour. Spending 37 days with 50 people you can get very close and thats what we did. Have caught up with some of them since, and hope to catch up with more when I get back to Aus.

I hope to one day write a more details account of my Contiki tour, but it will be some time in the works!