2005 Contiki European Panorama July 25

Transcription

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Contiki European Panorama Movie Europe Travelogue Photo Travelog Optional Checklist Suggestion 2005
I'm too lazy to write anything fancy here so without further ado ...
Interested in Africa?
Download the movie.
Music Playlist from the movie.
See / Download photos.
Comments / Guestbook / Msgs
Continually updated Going on this tour or something similar? Here's a Pretour checklist .
Here's a description of the Optionals.
Check back soon ...
OK, here's my shameless plug ... cheapest calling card I found (and am using).
*** www.EastBoca.net ***
2005 Contiki European Panorama
July 25 - August 21
Before you go ... some pretour suggestions.
Back to the home page
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NOTE: Last update 18/03/2007. Latest version is online at www.eastboca.net/EuroPan/BeforeYouGo
0. Order a Contiki brochure - This free booklet is actually nice to flip through. The 2007/2008
European catalog is 125 thick glossy pages to make you really want to spend your money. I think the
booklet is almost indestructible :) And in similar fashion, it's the same size as a magazine from the UK ie: oversized. Briefly describes all the tours, most of the optionals [if your tour passes by Amsterdam,
there are unlisted optionals ... if you know what I mean ;) ], travel dates, and cost. Much of the fine
print can be found in there as well.
1. Tour Booking - Look online first (ie: Google "Contiki discount"). Typically, you can save 10%+ over
the Contiki Brochure !!! You also get what ever additional Contiki discounts such as Early Booking
discount, Multiple tours, etc ... I did the Panorama, Spain and Portugal and saved $440 (9% discount off
both tours at the time and $50 off second tour). Actually, I didn't book online, I just called them up and
spoke to a person and got all the same discounts as booking online. Contiki Veterans: Mention that
you've done a Contiki before and if you remember your past tour itinerary/schedule code, ask if you can
get a 5% returning customer discount. I didn;'t try this, but others have. You may get it ... you may not,
but it doesn't hurt asking !!!
ps: Don't worry about going solo - roughly 2/3 of the tour are solo adventurers.
2. Flights - If one of those Contiki "Fly Free" packages fits into your schedule, then you can't beat that
(especially if you used #1 above to book your tour) !!! Otherwise, you might wanna scan thru the
various flight search engines such as:
Expedia
Travelocity
Orbitz
Qixo
Give your local Travel Agent a call !!
Found the absolute lowest flight? Go to that airline's home page and key in your flight. You might be
able to save a little more since you're now at the source, cutting out the middleman. Note the schedule
change & cancellation policy for your airline ticket contract should your tour get cancelled (ie: read
the fine print), otherwise make sure your insurance will cover this loss. IMPORTANT -> READ
Posts 4 & 5: (cancelled tours [Page format not compatible with Firefox browser]). Before booking the
flight, ask Contiki if the tour has enough confirmed participants.
Fine Print at the back of ALL the Contiki brochures: 3.5: Contiki is not responsible for the costs of any
other travel arrangements affected due to our cancellations or rescheduling of any tour vacations.
3. Money
o Bank ATM
• Definitely the best way to go. There were ATM machines aplenty so no worries.
Must be 4 digit PIN.
• I brought 2 ATM cards; one was my regular ATM card which I had as backup hidden deep
in my suitcase just in case an ATM machine felt hungry or otherwise.
• The second ATM card is linked to a new second checking account I requested from my
credit union specifically just for this trip. I transferred my budgetted spending money for the
entire vacation in this second account. Both cards have different PINs.
• Inform your bank of your travel dates and where you will be so they do not freeze your
account due to suspicious activity.
• Check to see how much your financial instition charges for each international transaction.
Credit unions are usually cheaper than banks. There are no ATM withdrawl charges in
Europe - you only pay the inter-bank exchange rate plus your financial institution's
commission fee (my credit union was 1%).
• Make sure it is part of the "Plus" or "Cirrus" network (printed on the back of your card).
• Check the expiration date.
** Special Note for Australians **: Your cheapest option is the Wizard Clear Advantage
credit card. It's the best deal I've seen for a international purchases. I would also load up the
card with budgetted spending money before the trip since it's cheaper than using a bank
ATM card for cash withdrawls. Just make sure you have access to another source of funds in
case something happens to the card.
o
Credit Card - Investigate the fees involved ... if it is a bank or credit union issued credit card, it
could be the same as using an ATM debit card, except that it's not tied to your bank account.
Note: if you are gone for more than a month and are wondering how to pay your credit card bill
or otherwise - since it will not let you enter more than the current balance online, mail in a check
for more than your current balance. This will give you a credit and buffer room. ie: estimate
how much you might spend and add that amount to your payment. This is just a suggestion since
I'm not comfortable doing online banking at an internet café. Visa/Plus & Mastercard/Cirrus
generally accepted everywhere (bring one of each just in case). Notify the issuing institution of
your travel dates. Check the expiration date.
o
Cash -> what if you loose it ... nuff said !!! There are ATMs in airports and everywhere else.
o
Travellers Checks - I brought some as backup, but more of a hassle and more costly since
exchange rates are not as favorable as ATMs (receipt). Take note of the serial numbers (more on
this later).
I exchanged 100$US TC and the prevailing rate that day was 1.74130 $US/£ exchange rate. I
was charged 1.8764. That's 7.8% commission charge, not including the £3 service fee!!! I
received a measly £50.29 vs £56.85 had I used my ATM. So stick with the ATM and get the
best rate.
o
Amex Traveler$ Cheque Card - many fee$
$ome fee$ as listed from Amex Traveler$ Cheque Card: rip off
$14.95 i$$uance fee per Card
$2.50 fee for each ATM u$e.
$5 reload fee
o
Travelex Cash Passport Card
- Fees, Terms & Conditions
Some costs ...
Fees
A$
US$ £
$
Load/Reload
1%
1%
1%
ATM Withdrawal Fees
3.75 2.25 1.50 2.20
1%
Monthly Maintenance Fee
4.00 2.00 1.50 2.00
(after 12 months of inactivity and will
remain until activity re begins on the card)
o
2nd Card on the same account
Free Free Free Free
For a full withdrawal and closing of your
Cash Passport fund at a Travelex branch
7.50 7.50 7.50 7.50
Summary - if you don't have an account with a credit union (not a bank), maybe you should join
one. I was charged inter-bank exchange rate + 1%. Withdraw enough for perhaps 4 days. Bring
your credit card as back up. I had Travellers Checks as an extreme last resort.
o
Budget After paying for your tour, insurance and plane ticket, how much should you budget?
How much to bring? Obviously more is better, but here it is broken down realistically: (only
meant as guideline to help you).
Meals: all the breakfasts are included and 1/2 the dinners. So you are responsible for all your
lunches and 1/2 the dinners (or 14 dinners). If you do all the optionals, that would include
another 8 dinners, thus leaving you with 6 dinners. Say you budget €15 for lunch (but that's
pretty steep since many lunches will be at highway service stops) and €25 (once again, this is
pretty steep too) for the remaining 6 dinners = 15x28 + 25x8 = ~€650. If you go completely nuts
on all the optionals +850 (it's very tough to spend this much on the optionals ... but better safe
than sorry, ie: parapenting is not mentioned, but costs €120 including roll of film). So you are
looking at €1500 which will include all the optionals and feed you as well. All that's left are your
souvenirs and drinking money. Average drink is perhaps €6 x 5 drinks/day x 28 days = €850 for
booze. But are you really gonna drink that much ?!???! Some days may be more (ie: I had 12
rounds of B-52s in Nice), whilst somedays will be less (ie: when you get clobbered by the
Contiki cough - alcohol will be the last thing on your mind). So assume you never get sick and
drink like a thirsty fish for €850. Ok, we've covered all your food(650), optionals(850),
alcohol(850) for €2350. What else is there? Souvenirs. Maybe €30 of stuff per day (including
entrance fees for exhibits and activites during your free time)? Well that's gonna be alotta crap to
carry around. But maybe you are travelling light and have space or brought some disposable
clothes. I bought a ton of T-shirts. So €30x28 days = €860. Grand total = ~€3200. Doubtful if
you will spend that much. I got by on less than US$3000 and took all the optionals except Can
Can Dinner in Paris(€100), drank until I got the Contiki Cough, and bought lotsa t-shirts
including spending €200 on beer steins in Germany. So an extremely high & extravagant budget
for a hotel tour is about €100/day, but I easily got by on US$100/day (not including plane &
tour). So put €3200 onto that new ATM card that you opened for this trip and every possible
expense is covered (and you'll most likely be bringing a lot of money back home too).
o
Money belts: not a bad idea especially in pickpocket havens like Rome. Infact, that's the only
place I used a money belt.
4. Passport - must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the conclusion of your trip.
5. Visa(s) - if required.
6. Backup your info - make 3 sets of photocopies and place them in zip lock bags
o Leave one set deep in your main suitcase.
o Put another set in your day bag.
o Leave one w/ a contact at home.
o
What photocopies should each set contain?
travel itinerary
travellers check serial numbers and contact numbers in case you lose your checks.
passport
contact numbers of your bank & credit cards
visas
driver's license.
airline Ticket / ETicket.
travel insurance policy# and contact.
I also sent myself an email with attached image scans of the info above.
7. How to get to the Hotel? The easiest & most economical way is to take the Underground Tube (ie:
subway/metro) since it's only a single line from Heathrow airport (E1 on the Tube map bottom left hand
corner) to the Imperial & Royal National hotels at Russell Square (C5 on the Tube map). You hop on
the Tube/metro at airport and after a 1/2 hour ride, you get off at the Russell Square station. You do not
need to transfer metro lines nor hop on any buses.
cost:
8$ US round trip Tube voucher (airport -> hotel, hotel -> airport) while booking thru
Pavlus Travel, so ask your travel agent if this is available.
Note: it will cost more if you purchase at the ticket counter.
ps:
a one way taxi from ride from the airport cost my roommate £50 ... (ie: friggin ex$pen$ive)
Map of hotels relative to Russel Square Tube Station
(From Google Earth)
click for full size photo
8. Travel light !!! Buy T-shirts along the way and not to mention, they make good souvenirs! You are
not staying at Hilton Hotels with plush elevators with bellhops, but rather a few hotels will be
independants (ie: not a chain hotel). Some of them will be very old buildings WITHOUT lifts/elevators,
(this is Europe, remember?). Or perhaps the hotel has one lift no larger than a telphone booth or is
broken (probably the latter). 50 people arriving at the same time means you're hiking up the stairs. You
will also need space for your souvenirs and clothing you buy along the way ... For summer, you could
get away with Teva sandals and running shoes. I cringe at the thought of bringing dress shoes - only
used them twice on 2 tours over 6 weeks and not worth the hassle.
Idea: Still have some OK-looking clothes you haven't worn in years? Well I got news for you, if you
haven't worn it on the last 3 years - yer not gonna wear then in the next 30 years either !!! So bring
those as disposable clothes and buy some new gear on tour.
Summary: Don't overstuff that expandable luggage before the tour - you are gonna need the space for
all the junk you buy on tour.
9. Shampoo Soaps etc ... the hotels have them so don't bother. If you must, then bring small travel pack
sizes so you have less to carry as the empties get tossed.
10. Electric Toothbrush Hey, if you haven't tried one of these babies, pick up a cheap battery powered
Colgate or Crest model. Worth every penny ... and then some !!! ... or try this.
11. Computer - NO !!! We bumped into a Med highlights tour on their last day in Rome ... and their rooms
got broken into ... bye bye computer ... and since we're on the topic ...
12. Suitcase locks - always use them. ... unless you are hospitalized and all the required docs are in your
suitcase. If that's the case, then perhaps write down the lock combo and give it to your roomie for safe
keeping. Then again, if you have followed #6 above you should have a copy in your day bag as well ...
13. Film Camera - a little dated ... Use next item below instead. Don't you wanna see the pics you just
took ?!?!?
14. Digital Camera & Storage. Bring the largest possible memory card(s). I brought two 4 GB cards and
didn't bother erasing any pics (unless I didn't wanted them at all). Read your camera manual & spend a
weekend really knowing your camera. Bring an extra battery !!! Here's a sample pic using my Canon
S500 5 MPixel. This camera has since been replaced by the smaller SD450 (aka IXUS 55) which is
smaller than a deck of cards!! If you live in the US and are shopping for a camera, you should checkout
Slickdeals.net for sales or if you need it now.
So what did I do with all this storage? Well it was easier than writing a journal. I tried to take a
picture before entering any establishment so it acts as a photo journal with time stamp. If it weren't for
the photos, I wouldn't remember as many details as mentioned in the Travelog or Optionals sections.
Alcohol is a terrible memory enhancer :P
Other storage options: don't forget that mini video clips on your camera take up alot of space
iPod Camera Connector:
transfer your photos to your iPod. Check camera compatibility list.
You may also want to
consider
Vosonic mini portable hard drive with memory card reader, or ...
You may also want to
consider
Vosonic mini portable hard drive with memory card reader and color
video screen, mp3, etc...
Review,
Q&A.
15. Insurance. Yes, nuff said. If you buy your flight on your own, seperate from Contiki, make sure your
insurance also covers your flight in the event of a tour cancellation by Contiki. Also, people get sick
(see #16 below). Ferries crash (see 2nd paragraph), etc ...
16. Medicines etc ... Bring some!!! I took double vitamin doses but still got sick. See survey.
Think of the Contiki cough (ie: sniffles, cough, fever, sore throat, or a combination) as part of your tour
package.
- Acetaminophen/Aspirin/Ibuprofen/Naproxen ... whatever regularly works for you.
- Dramamine/Gravol (possible sea sickness for the boat cruise to Corfu).
17. Pillow Case - to store your dirty laundry. Hummm, maybe you can double your underwear mileage by
turning it inside out and using it again - or better yet, not using any ... what ever floats your boat.
hehehehe ...
18. Duffle/Overnight Bag - For this tour, you will need a 2-day bag since you are not allowed to bring
your suitcase up to the hotel on Mount Pilatus, Lucerne (2 cable cars rides up to 7000 ft). Suitcases also
do not leave the coach during the overnight ferry trips to and from Greece. See My Overnight bag.
19. Backpack/Day bag - Day essentials for the bus trip and stuff. This is not a mini-luggage/carry-on with
wheels that people bring on planes. Think much smaller than that. Overhead bin space is very limited
and the space under the seat in front of you is smaller than on a plane.
20. umbrella? - Really compact, but I never needed mine though...
21. Small flashlight - If you live in the USA, I picked up one of these LED flashlights. The thing is
unbelievably bright !! Great for hurricanes ( I live in Florida) and the batteries last forever (72+ hrs
runtime vs 7 hrs for a 2 AA Maglight)!!! ... Update: So I decded to leave this little sucker on. It's now
past 150 hours and it is still cranking out light, albeit very weak - but brighter than a nightlight still.
Maybe like a cellphone display. Maybe it's because of the Energizer batteries ... it keeps going and
going and going - no wait, I put Duracell batteries instead.
22. Alarm Clock ... there will be times the bus leaves at 7 am, but this is rare ...
23. Sunblock/Sunglasses
24. Beach towel ... NO - never needed one. Buy one or use the hotel towel. The key here is travelling light.
25. It might get a little chilly when you stay atop Mt. Pilatus ... perhaps buy a sweater there. We want to
travel light. There may be times you will have to huff it up stair cases! Definitely bring a jacket though.
26. mp3 player ... Maybe download some comedy tracks like George Carlin, Carlos Mencia, Larry, the
Cable Guy to play on the bus. The group will love you for this !! See Vosonic above in #14. Bring a
splitter to share your music with your neighbour.
27. ear plugs ... Sometimes you just wanna crash out on the bus and you're not a fan of the music/noise
blaring from the bus' speakers.
28. Don't bother lugging a guide book like Fodor's Europe (1232 pages) or Lonely Planet's Western Europe
(1112 pages), since you don't wanna carry bricks - there's that travel light theme again!! Your tour
manager would probably have these 2 travel bibles, especially for a long tour like this. Do some
research online before you go if you are curious about your destinations. Or read the travelogue for a
description of the various places visited. Or maybe bring along my 40 page Panorama Travel Guide
(PDF / Word). Before arriving at each city, your TM will give you a brief outline of the city's history
and culture. Each person will be given a map and your TM will point out the major attractions on the
map as well as internet cafes, banks, etc. Also, your TM will provide you with sugggestions as to what
people most commonly do during their (very short) free time at each city.
29. Power adapters / converters
This is for North American residents visiting Europe ...
North American power sources are 110 volts, but all the countries that you will be visiting on the
European Panorama run on 220 volts. Check your hair dryer, iron, and camera/cellphone/mp3 charger if
they can accept 220 volts.
Some hair dryers have a 110/220 volt switch and some camera battery chargers can accept a 220 volt
input without a switch such as Canon. I'm not too sure about irons though. (what's an iron?? :P ) If all
your electrical stuff can accept 220 volts, then all you need is an adapter. You will need the following 2
adapters (top left is UK, bottom right is for the rest of Europe) Both of these adapters can be found at
Radio Shack for about $3 each:
If your electrical stuff does NOT accommodate 220 Volts, then you will need a converter as well. You
can get the adapters & converter that will accomodate up to 2000W at Bag'n Baggage for $40.
There are two 50W/1600W models from Amazon for $16 +s&h and $17.21 +s&h. Read the reviews
before purchasing.
Note: if you do get a power converter, make sure it is rated for your blow dryer (~1600W) if you are
bringing one of those too. Some converters are only suitable for less than 100 Watts. Reference
30. Blow Dryers - Sorry girls, I guess you're kinda stuck. Scanning thru the thumbnail pics, only half the
hotels (Hotels 1 Hotels 2) had blow dryers on the European Panorama:
London
-Paris
-Bordeaux
??
Barcelona
yes
French Riviera
yes
Florence
-Rome
yes
Corfu
yes
Venice
-Vienna
yes - heck, they even had a telephone beside the can
Munich
yes
Lucerne
yes - only at the Hotel Bellevue
Hopfgarten
-St. Goar
-Amsterdam
-31. Suitcase - Contiki is very strict on the 20 kg limit for tours departing from London. Your main
luggage CANNOT exceed 20 kg (44 lbs) at the start of the tour. They weigh and tag each main luggage
on a digital scale on the morning of the tour departure from London (so if it's 20.1 kg or 44.1 lbs, it's
NOT going on the bus). Only afterwards, can you load your luggage with rocks and bricks if yer
needing the excercise. :P It's quite a hectic scene since there are a myriad of tours leaving at the same
time. There was NO bag weighing from tours that departed from Athens (Greek Island Hopping) nor
Madrid (Spainish Spree). I have NEVER seen any bag measured for size, so don't sweat about the size
too much. Most people have the traditional expandable soft fabric roller luggage with extendable
handles while the remainder had backpacks. Don't think I saw any hard shell luggages. They are quite
passé and weigh too much to begin with and don't expand. If you're close to the limit, put your heavy
stuff (ie: rocks and bricks) in your daybag. But I do recommend travelling light since not all hotels will
have lifts. BTW, I'm kidding about the rocks and bricks, I would strongly refrain from bringing a pet
rock or pet brick on tour (or any pet for that matter). Probably preferable to adopt one after your tour
ends ... Also see #8 above. Read my comments in this thread.
32. Davinci Code & Angles & Demons. These 2 books are very quick reads and addictive page turners.
Once you finish the novel, it leaves you wanting for more. The Davinci Code describes many buildings
and artwork in Paris and touches on Rome. The backdrop of Angels & Demons is strictly the Vatican
City and Rome. The European Panorama tour visits both cities and you can go on this treasure hunt!!!
You look at buildings, statues & artwork more inquisitively. If you are pressed for time, I'd start with
Angels and Demons.
33. A funny read ... a view from a retired tour manager: Rule No. 5: No Sex on the Bus : Confessions of a
Tour Leader
34. Maybe make a silly video like Where the Hell is Matt?? Makes for awesome memory !!!
Why didn't I think of that ???
35. What did others pack?
o
o
o
o
Sarah Smiles - Vista May-June 2005
Steve Gempeler - Ultimate Euro June-Aug 2005
Shelly - Contiki Experience March-Apr 2003
Chrissy - Discovery May 2005
36. Some good Archived Comments [Page format not compatible with Firefox browser].
37. Contiki Cafe - Another message board which is good for its extensive travelog collection. Contiki's
msgboard used to crash on every 3rd page (ahhh, the memories), but will be superior to Contiki Cafe
since it will be completely stable (tie for Contiki & Cafe), but the new message board will have
industrial strength search abilities !!!! Yes baby !!!! Too bad the Contiki Cafe has no such facility well it does, but doesn't seem to work. I've tried out the new search engine already. You will no longer
need to troll thru pages after pages for any topic and then give up and ask the same question that was
previously mentioned. I do recommend scanning thru a few pages though - you will encounter many
other questions that you may not have thought off. I guess I can retire now, eh?
38. Weather? Current weather conditions are posted in the travelog section. Historical Weather Almanac.
39. Other Tours - I've also done Spain & Portugal , as well as Greek Island Hopping. So I maybe able
to answer some questions on that as well ... hopefully I'll be able add Aus & NZ Explorer Tours,
Scandi/Russia, Egypt and the Nile, Spotlight on Greece, and finally Turkey and I'll be all Contikied-out.
I'm accepting donations :)
40. Find others on your tour - Well this could be hit or miss since I bumped into only one other person on
my 2 tours (Panorama + Spain&Portugal) last summer. But it's worth giving it a shot ... Find your trip at
the Contiki Meeting Place Messageboard.
41. Student ID Card - If you have one, bring it. You might be able to swing a discount at some places
(ie: entrance fees at some Spanigh Spree locations and Dojes Palace in Venice among others ...)
Regular student ID should suffice - even if it's expired, bring it anyways !!!
No need for international ISIC/ISE/IYTC cards.
42. Calling Card - If you don't wish to bring your cell/mobile here are 2 Calling Card options/possibilities
to phone home (or elsewhere).
43. Help!! My friend(s) backed out / Travelling Solo - No worries. It's their loss. You'll be like 2/3 of the
tour group now travelling solo. This I think is even better since it forces you to make new friends rather
then being stuck with your buddy who may not want to do all the same stuff you wish to do. Chances
are yer gonna be good buddies w/ your roommate. Will you ever see these people after your tour? For
the most part, probably not, but you will have made long distance acquaintances that you can keep in
your back pocket from around the world, and there will probably be the select few with whom you'll be
lifelong friends. See this discussion [Page format not compatible with Firefox browser]. See poll
results - more than 500 votes and more than 2/3 are solo !!!
44. Am I too ancient ? - I'm 30-something and have never travelled. Will I be out of place with a bunch of
college kids? I think you'll have more comfortable time going on the hotel superior tours. Of my 2 tours
last summer, there were few in their 30's on one tour whilst the other tour had an individual who had
just turned 18 a few days before the tour and another who was 37. I think that people who travel to
distant countries are apt to have more of an open mind and sample new cultures, and that said there are
probably going to more receptive and pleasant as well. So don't worry, be yourself. See this discussion
[Page format not compatible with Firefox browser].
45. Optionals - Prices, descriptions and links for optionals available on the 2005 Panorama Tour.
46. Airport restrictions - Current airport carry-on and checked in baggage restrictions for North America.
Heathrow restrictions (page 1, page 2). Australia (effective March 31, 2007).
47. Other Questions?? - Many other answers can be found here. Seriously, check this link out !!!
If you have any questions or suggestions, email me - vic(at)talk21.com or post a Message
Enjoy ...
- Vic
Cheap & Good Calling Cards
From Home:
Since most have free long distance w/ their cell provider, I use my calling card for
international calls (ie: from USA to Canada).
Call your overseas Contiki buddies for cheap ...
Bizon, Champion, and Cardinal appear to be the best cards (calling from N.
America), but there are calling cards for use around the world.
Bizon, Champion, and Cardinal provide:
· PIN Free access to specified numbers you register (ie: home, cell, etc.)
· 5$ min card purchase.
· Optional automatic refill.
· 2¢/min for calls in N. America to N.America & UK
· 3¢/min (or less) for calls from N. America to Austalia
· Check thier website for other destinations
· No Connection Fee
· No Maintenance Fee
· Rounding - 1 minute
· Toll Free Access Numbers - Yes (USA/Canada)
· Local Access Numbers - Yes (Canada, USA)
· Pay Phone Charge - 99c
· Validity period - Unlimited (Card expires if no refill within 10 months)
On Tour:
You can get a European Union Calling Card which allows you call anywhere in
the world from any European Union country. It costs about €10 and I think it was
good for either 60 or 100 minutes to N.America. This card can be found in cigar
shops, internet cafes and magazine shops. It had different toll free access numbers
for every European Union country printed on the back.
July 25 - August 21
~~ ~~ Panorama Optionals ~~ ~~
all prices in Euro €
Don't forget your Student ID - there are discount rates at some places.
My suggestion - sign up for everything unless you've done it before. Why? Well, do you think
you'll ever go back? You're here, and you've travelled all the way from (...) so you might as well
do it. Most people signed up for all the dinners though (except for the Can Can).
So if I signed up for EVERYTHING, how much would all this cost me?? Roughly 850 € extra and I am erring on the high side. Just need to add your spending money; lunches, non-included
dinners (unless it's an optional), beverages, and souvenirs.
How/When do I pay for the optionals? Cash is king ... and in Europe that would be Euros. On
the first day, everyone will receive an Optionals Sheet outlining all the optionals activities and
their respective costs. You tick of the one you want to do and total up the cost. For a long tour
such as this, maybe you might pay in 2 installments - it all depends on your TM (tour manager).
Also, you can elect not to go on an optional even if you've already paid for it in advance - and
obviously, you will be refunded. The only time you will not get refunded is if your TM indicates
that reservation must be made in advance and states there is no refund - such as in parapenting.
The only place where you pay the activity operators directly are for the water sports for George's
boat in Corfu.
See Current Panorama Optionals from the Contiki website - subject to change [ie: Amsterdam :P
]
Paris
Nouvelle Eve Dinner & Show Can Can. 105 €
A little pricey - I didn't go since I've seen it before. I think 2/3 of the
group went to the show.
Museum Cards: 18 € for a 1 day pass. Probably won't have enough time to
put this to its full use. I didn't get one. I don't think anyone got a pass due
to time constraints.
Barcelona
Dinner and Flamenco show at El Patio Andaluz 48 €
I think most, if not all of us went and we had a good time. On the menu
was Paella, which was a mish mash of stuff. Dancing and dinner was good
and the performers randomly selected a few of us to dance with them
towards the end of the performance. Don't bother hiding or they will be
more inclined to drag you onstage. There are pics of this online in the
photos section.
On a funny note, if you are staying at the NH Condor Hotel, you will be
taking the coach to the restaurant. Goes down the block and hangs a right.
Then one more block and hangs another right. Finally goes down another
block and hangs another right. Can you guess where we are now?!!?!?!?
If you guessed that we are around the corner form the hotel, you are
indeed correct!!! WTF? Apparently, Contiki policy is that a coach must
take you to all Contiki optionals. And here's the kicker, according to
European driving laws, our own driver couldn't drive anymore since he
had driven his "quota" for the day so we had to hire a local coach and
driver - to drive us 150m from the hotel. Yeah weird.
Monaco
Restuarant Cavagnetu 32 €
Excellent restaurant. Here is the Contiki menu selection. All items on the
menu were superb. There are pics of this online in the photos section.
Note: Later on that evening, you will venture over to the casino area. Monte
Carlo has 4 casinos. If you've been to Las Vegas, save yourself the 10 €
entrance to the Grand Casino and venture over to the free ones just across
the street. There's nothing special inside the Grand Casino; quite small
consisting of 316 slots and thirty-five table games. You have to check in
your cell phone and you camera, as well as bring a passport. Drinks are not
free. The real show is outside where all the Ferraris, Astons, Rolls, Bentleys,
etc. are as common as Hyundias & Kias in a Walmart parking lot.
Florence
Tuscan Dinner at La Certosa. 38 €
There is a pretty good opera singer here too!! You start of with a salad and
cold cuts buffet. A word of warning, one of the options on the menu is fish.
They do gut the fish, but everything else is intact. There seemed to be a
billion bones. I don't like bones. There was veal as another option I think.
Space Electronic Disco 8€ or 11€?
By ths time, the dread Contiki Cough had beaten me down and I had to let
others carry the torch. By all accounts, those who went had an amazing
time.
Group Photo 11 €. Ouch ... But I took a 10 MB scan of my group photo just
in case others don't have a copy and would like a "backup". At your service
:)
Rome
Guided Tour of the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel. 24 €
Wow. Lotsa artwork here. Everyone did this. It's the vatican. What is not
included is a guided tour of the St. Peter's Basilica. There was a free tour you
could always join (See last item on this link).
Note 1: There are NO Vatican tours on Sundays. That is most unfortunate
if this is your tour.
Note 2: Everything up to the knees and shoulders must be covered up (for
BOTH guys & girls). Your TM will remind you of this.
Note 3: Not mentioned: Do the treasure hunt searching for items in Dan
Brown's Angels & Demons.
Pompeii
Guided Tour 16 €
Everyone did this. See the excavated ruins of a city that was buried and frozen
in time when Mount Vesuvious erupted in 79 AD. If you have been on the
Greek Island Hopping Tour and saw the Akrotiri Archaeological Site
excavation, then Pompeii will not be as impressive - but the tour and facts are
still informative nonetheless. Greek Island Hopping suggestions, odds & ends.
Corfu
George's Boat (Caique Cruise includes lunch) 25 €
What a trip. This is not to be missed. George is one helluva character and
his support crew is excellent.
Parasailing - single 38 €
Parasailing - double 34 € per person
Waterskiing 22.5 €
Donut Ride 18 €
Wakeboard 25 €
Jetski - single 44 €
Jetski - double 30 € per person
Flyfish single 32 €
Flyfish double 27 € per person
Flyfish 3-7 ppl 32 € per person
Molecule 20 € ??
I don't think anyone did the water skiing - it seemed too boring. I didn't see
any wakeboards either. Many signed up for parasailing. I did the donut ride
and you are almost guaranteed to get tossed out. Up to 4 ppl are pulled and
you bumped into each other like bumper boats. Quite fun! I also sampled
the Molecule. It was probably around 20 € I think. That ride was sheer hell
in the sense that I was holding on for dear life and had a death grip on the
handles for 12 minutes. Others seemed to share the same sentiments. If
there are fewer than 3 on the Flyfish, you can get some serious air in that
thing !!!! I did that.
The Jetski seemed kinda lame since you had to go far off somewhere else to
do this activity. They had 2 jetskis and one was broken. So there was 6 ppl
waiting to try a jetski as one person went for 10 to 15 minutes at a time.
Yeah, do a jetski for 10 minutes then watch others do the same thing for 50
minutes - not my cup of tea. Ask them if all the jetskis are working and can
more than one jetski be cruising around at a time. I wasn't too sure on that
point since I bailed out on the jetskis opting to stay at the main watersport
site.
Dinner and dance at Taverna Gloupos 30 €
I think we had chicken here ... but it is all a big blurrr so don't quote me on
that. Does chicken qualify as traditional Greek food? I do know that there is
a potato here - and not necessarily for eating. Everyone attended and had a
good time.
Venice
Gondola 21 €
What can I say ... you have to do it. Akin to the Casinos in Vegas or the
Eiffel Tower in Paris. 6 to a Gondola. Bring a bottle of wine, perhaps?
Venetian Restaurant 30 €
The restaurant was located in the back of the hotel Bruno. The wine flowed
and I believe there were 2 musicians. Good food.
Vienna
Mozart Concert and Dinner 60 €
This may seem steep in price, but it is not. You will attend a classical opera
at the Auersperg Palace by the Residenz Orchestra. It is a small setting in an
oval hall. I think the concert is split in two 30 minute halves with short
intermission where a glass of wine is served. Later on that evening, we head
over for dinner at a really old hall called Wiener Rathauskeller. It is a sit
down affair and the food is very good.
Schnaps Museum 5 €
A 5 € well spent !!! They show you the history of Schnaps and how it is
made. Afterwards, you are allowed to sample 3 varieties, but seriously, it's
more like all you can drink ... and you really can't drink that much since
some of the stuff is potent!! Especially the Absinthe.
Hopfgarten/Tyrol
Region
White Water Rafting 37 €
If you've gone white water rafting in Canada during the spring and have
seen a Class 4/5 rapid, I think this ride touched a 3 once ... but barely. I
would pass if offered to do it again. So in summary, this was more like a
freezing boat ride down a little stream. Furthermore, rumour has it that the
raft guides are not allowed to tip the boat under contract for the safety of the
customers (ie: it would suck to leave the tour due to accident/death). Also,
Contiki doesn't wanna any more tragedies.
Swarovski Crystl Museum 6.50 €
Pretty cool - lotsa crystal ... and it's only 6.50 Euro.
(ahhh that's where that avatar in the Contiki message boards came from)
Parapenting 105 €, 15€ extra for a 12 exp film roll
Run like mad off a hill with an open parachute and catch a thermal. This is
quite an expensive price for a 12 minute ride, but considering that I've never
done this before ... what a helluva aride. No comparison between this and
parasailing!!! Watch the video. A cheaper option, but we are not in the area
is in France where it's 90 € for a 1 hour ride. But YES, I would do it again!!!
Windbreaker, sweatshirt (or many layers of t-shirts), pants and shoes are
required. It's cold on the way down ...
Get the 12 roll exposure of film! Also, if you have a compact camera, bring
it with you and take pics/movies on the way down.
Lucerne
Boat Cruise on Lake Lucerne. 23 Swiss Francs
hummm ... another boat ride. It was OK. Actually it was more like YAWN ...
Basically expensive transportation to get us from town to the Cog Rail Train
base station for the ride back up to the hotel. Nice group photo setting
though. Not offered was the 6 km toboggan ride (here's the rough Google
translation) midway up Mount Pilatus. I forgot what the deal was. I think it
for 12 €, you could go go tobogganing all day long.
St Goar
Wine Tasting at Weingut Schloss Rheinfels 8 €
Another excuse to drink and everyone went. Located in an cavernous old
basement cellar dating back from the 12th Century. Seems like it could
double for a bomb shelter. They serve wine (sweet, dry, red, and white ... I
think) and cheese. You get to keep the shot glasses.
Amsterdam
van den Hogen Restaurant 30 €
Final dinner - good food and you really have to go because everyone was
there.
Canal Cruise 26.50 €
After the last group dinner (above), this cruise has an open bar offering one
type of red wine & one type of white wine as well as beer. Everyone went.
This is your final evening together.
Not mentioned, but TM will announce it: Live Sex show at Casa Rosso 25 €
(I think)
This was tasteful, funny and 2 drinks are also included. For obvious reasons,
Contiki doesn't want to print this in their brochures but all the tours go there.
Not mentioned #2: On your own ... go see Ann Frank's House / Museum
7.50 €
Get there 20 minutes before it opens (9AM) to avoid the crowds.
Not mentioned #3: On your own ... go see Heineken Museum 10 €
Opening hours:
Tuesdays through Sundays, 10.00 - 18.00 hrs. [Editor's note ... closed on
Monday ???]
Last ticket sales: 17.00 hrs.
Please note: on Christmas Eve (December 24th) and December 31st 2004,
last ticket sales will be at 16.00 pm. The Experience closes at 17.00 pm.
Peruse the photos, or download the movie to see what these optionals were like.
There's also the travelog.
If you have any questions or suggestions, email me - vic(at)talk21.com - or post a .
Enjoy ...
- Vic
July 25 - August 21
Travelogue
Good day, eh!?!?!
Go to the second half of the trip ----->
I - AM - CANADIAN
Today is Dec 23th, a full 4+ months after the end of my trip. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy
Kwanza, Go shop, it's Boxing day!! And every other holiday and tradition that occurs around now.
So what the heck happened? It's all a fog, but a good thing that I took a billion pics (ok ... 2635 photos, give
or take 2300) to reminded me of what happened and where we went on this Panoramic journey. I think I'll
scribble a day's worth of stuff each day so this log should be a growing journal for about 28 days. Maybe I'll be
adventurous and write more than one journal per day? Or maybe I won't.
Day T-1
Saturday, July 23
Since the trip hasn't really started, perhaps you could count this as
Bonus footage!! Bye bye Miami - Hello London !! I hop on board
Virgin Atlantic Flight #6. Now isn't that an odd number for a flight ... a
single digit. My return flight was Virgin Atlantic Flight #5. I guess
they don't have that many routes/flights. Virgin Atlantic seems quite
different from all the airlines I have been on in N. America. It seems
like all the flight attendants could've been on the Contiki trip. By all
appearances, the average age of the flight attendants was roughly 26
and I don't think I saw any that looked older than 32. Mostly female
and the token male. Yup ... this flight troop really could've been a Contiki group. Ohhh ... and did I mention
that all the female flight attendants looked smokingly hot!?!?!? Yes, this wasn't your average airline. This was
Virgin Atlantic. Way to go Rich !! Hi 5's all the way. The gourmet was pretty good on the flight ... I had 3
serving of the steak, because ... well just because I was hungry so I asked for more food - twice. They also give
you a little travel kit which consists of eye shades or socks, tooth paste/brush, earplugs and some other odds
and ends. There is also an envelope for donations for needy kids or something. If you can afford to fly, I think
you can afford to at least toss your loose change in the envelopes. As for entertainment, there is a detachable
control pad on your armrest that controls the video screen in front of you. You have the option to listen to
music, watch movies, see real time flight status, play games, or play network games against other passengers on
your flight. I saw Million Dollar Baby and it is indeed a very good movie - worthy of the Academy Awards that
were bestowed on it. Then there was the Longest Yard w/ Adam Sandler -> what a shit flick, excruciatingly
boring that it put me to sleep quick !!! According to Contiki, this is considered as Day 1 on the tour; Nice way
to inflate your numbers. I think all flights from N. America are overnight flights. Miami to London is a little
over 8 hours flying time and the plane departed at 7:30pm (Miami time). I think they served dinner at 9 pm
(Miami time) and let you go to sleep afterwards. To get you adjusted to the time difference (-5 hours) you see
sunrise only a few hours later and you are having breakfast 5 hrs after dinner. It is now 2 am Miami time and
the sun is peering thru the shade upon all us weary travelers as we wake from our slumbers to eat some
semblance of breakfast. We will be landing at 3:30 am Miami time or 8:30 am London time. Yawn ... it is now
day 2.
Day 1
Sunday, July 24
London pics. As mentioned in Day 0, the tour doesn't really begin
until tomorrow, but Contiki has creative accountants mucking with the
calendar. And so begins Day 2 and there is no Contiki in sight - I am
still on a plane. It's too early in the morning for me still, but it's 9 am
UK time. Yippee ... I get my one and only passport stamp. Actually, I
get 2 stamps on my passport and they are both from UK - go figure. No
EU passport stamps. Is England like a pseudo-EU country with their
own currency (£)? While we are on the topic of currency, yes, there are
a few currency exchange places in the airport that will be more than
happy to take all sorts of paper currency and travellers checks, but at a cost. Ouch was that a cost. For $100
US, I receive £50 (receipt). Exchange rate on that day was 1US$ = £0.5755 which works out to 13%
commission. So suggestion #1: use your ATM card for a better exchange rate, but contact your bank first to see
what the commission charges are ... probably less than 13% I would guess. My bank was charging only 1%
over the interbank rate. Look at the Pretour suggestions I mentioned. Let's get to that hotel ...
As everyone on our tour arrived from around the world (err, mostly Australia), it also happened to be 2
weeks after the July 7 London Bombings involving 3 Tube subways and a Double Decker Bus. Getting to the
hotel would not be that easy. But things are back to normal now and getting to the hotel via the tube is a piece
of cake, and you'll save 50£ cab/taxi ride. You get on Tube/subway at Heathrow (E1 on the map) and you get
off at Russell Square (C5 on the map). It is one line, no transfers nor buses to take. Russell Square Tube stop is
right in between the 2 Contiki London hotels (Imperial and Royal National) -Map. The pretour meeting, and
the Basement are located at the Royal National. All tour coaches also depart from there as well.
Being dead tired, I crash out in my room only to be woken by the front desk informing me that my
roommate is on his way up. Who is this kid? Now normally, you can get anyone as a roommate for that first
night before the tour - they might be just ending their tour or they might begin a tour the next day - but not
necessarily yours. So ends up that this guy is on the Panorama tour like myself. Cool. "So what keeps you busy
ie: work/school?" and he replies. "I just quit my job." Shit - we are gonna get along just fine - I just quit my job
too !!!
We meet the group for the pretour meeting and see complete strangers. All the tours are meeting at the
same place at the same time so it's quite a jungle. More of a jungle the next morning when everyone has their
luggage waiting for the weigh-in (20kg max). Later that night, we meander aimlessly in search of his buddies
who are also in town. Apparently, there are Jack The Ripper walking tours that wander the various sites where
Jack the Ripper found his victims and the various crime scenes. It's an interesting tour to kill (no pun intended)
off the first evening. If you do this, take the one by the foremost authority on the subject, Donald Rumbelow:
•
•
He's the author of the definitive book on the subject, the best-selling The Complete Jack the Ripper.
He's the former Curator of the City of London Police Crime Museum.
•
•
•
•
•
•
He's a two-time Chariman of the Crime Writers" Association.
He's been the chief consultant for every major television programme and film on the Ripper over the
past 20 years. Indeed he's appeared on several of those programmes, including one that recently aired in
the United States. And he will be appearing in another one that's in the pipeline.
Donald was the consultant for the recent Johnny Depp film on the Ripper, called "From Hell...".
Indeed, Johnny came to London in order to go on a private Ripper walk with Don.
And I hasten to add, Don's not some dry-as-dust academic...he's an ex-City of London Policeman who
pursued a dual career as a crime historian. Which in effect means you're taken over some of the most
famous crime scenes in the world by a law enforcement professional who just happens to be the world's
leading expert on those particular crimes. Can't be bad.
When Donald's Ripper Walk dates do get set out here they are definite but with the usual proviso about
the "unforeseen" - i.e., the schedule is subject to Don's not coming down with the flu - or being hit by a
bus!
Donald's Ripper Walk goes at 7:30 pm from just outside the exit of Tower Hill Tube Stop.
Day 2
Monday, July 25
Paris pics. Now the tour has started. We get our bags officially
weighed-in. 20kg max. If you are over, then you will have to place
some items in storage at the Contiki Basement. You could weigh your
stuff the day before at the Basement. Or you could but the heaviest
crap in your day bag since they do not weigh that. I recommend
travelling as light as possible and 20 kg is boatload to carry when some
hotels do not have lifts (or not enough elevators). Everyone passes w/
flying colors and we are off to Paris. First stop: the ferry ride across the
English Channel. Once on the mainland, it's a good time to crack the
ice and your TM (Tour Manager) will probably ask you to come to the front and introduce yourself. It'll take a
few more days to figure out everyone's name.
Being the only Canadian in this ragtag group, we don't stop at Vimy Ridge, but rather, we zoom by (at 100
kph) and catch a glimpse of the Canadian WW1 memorial (my pic from the bus; bottom RHS). Actually, the
real reason we didn't stop is because:
In 2004 the memorial was closed for restoration work, including general cleaning and the recarving of names.
The statues will be moved off-site and also cleaned and restored. The restored memorial will be inaugurated on
April 9, 2007, the 90th anniversary of the battle.
Upon arrival at Paris, there's a quick bus tour of the sights before unloading our stuff at the hotel. Chow down
on the included dinner at a restaurant a block away from the hotel - which was not that bad. The Contiki
brochure says that you visit the Eiffel tower the next day, but I doubt that any tours visit it during the day, but
rather during the evening. Time to update the brochure. No spoilers here so you'll have to find out for yourself.
My roommate & I - we're both lazy asses - OK, I speak for myself - anyway, we're late for a large part of the
group that heads out in search of a bar. No luck in trying to find the group after 1 hour of searching. Time to
crash out, I'm still on Miami time. Roommate is on California time.
Day 3
Tuesday, July 26
Today is a free day on our own in Paris. The only thing on the agenda is the optional (& costly) evening
Dinner Cabaret show . The French CanCan. €105 for food and see some boobies - I think I'll pass (only
because I've done it before). The coach ride into town has 2 stops after breakfast; one is at the Arc de Triomphe
at one end of the Champs d'Élyse, and the other is at some Obélisque at the other end. So that almost seemed
like a no-brainer. Maybe the tour manger organized it that way? Either get off at the famous Arc de Triomphe,
or we can dump you off somewhere else out in the middle of nowhere. That's a surefire way of getting rid of us
quick. One thing I've noticed is that there seems to be many Obélisques all over Europe. Actually, the route we
took did cover much of the main tourist sights in Paris, from the Arc, up thru the white storefronts on Champs
d'Élyse until the other end at the Obélisque de Luxor at Place de la Concorde. A nice stroll along the Sien river
over to the next stop: Notre Dame cathedral. Since many didn't want to stand in line for the 1 hour to go up the
Bell Tower (~€7), I was on my own. No probs. I am going regardless - it's not everyday I go to Paris. It is a
long way up the 422 very narrow steps. 6:45pm is the last admission (it is very tiny up there). There is also a
crypt which I did not know about. In case you are curious, the Crypt (€5.5) is open everyday from 10am til
6pm(Apr-Sept) or 5 pm(Oct-Mar), and there is a guided tour on the first Thursday of every month at 10:30am.
I wonder if it's as good as the tour in St. Stephens in Vienna?
Seen the Bell Tower, now back to the hotel since it started to rain slightly. Today was probably not a good
day. If people were gonna get hit by vehicles, I'd figure that London was probably your best bet. Driving on the
other side of the road, etc. But everyone on tour survived London pretty well. Day 2 in Paris was another story.
Paris went 1 for 3 in our group. Wynette was whacked by a bus and had to go for surgery. That effectively
ended the tour for her and her husband. Poor girl. Same day, 6'2" Angela almost got hit if it went for her 6'3"
hubby who yanked her away from the oncoming bus at the very last second. Then finally there was me coming
back from Notre Dame. I saw 4 lanes of traffic and 3 of them were bumper to bumper in one direction. I
figured the last lane was an express lane for car pooling. Oh boy was I mistaken. That last "empty" lane was
for buses travelling in the opposite direction. If it weren't for another pedestrian who screamed at me just
before I got creamed ... well I would've been road kill if it weren't for the Matrix-maneuver dodging the bus. So
here's a lesson to you all: Look both ways before crossing the road. Period.
Since half went to the CanCan dinner, the other half searched for some fine cuisine in the red light district.
We happened upon a little Italian restaurant and most every (mostly Aussies) sampled escargots for the first
time. Michelle's reaction (as shown on the video) was indeed 'priceless'. Later that evening back at the hotel,
the group gossiped and got to know each other more on the concrete steps outside. A complete stranger started
to chill with us. Then disappeared. Then reappeared with 2 dozens beers. How cool is that !!!
Day 4
Wednesday, July 27
Chambord/Bordeaux/Carcassonne pics. We didn't do the Louvre
Museum yesterday, so we are sneaking it in today for those who wanna
see it before we jet to Chambord which used to be retreat for French royalty. That previous link is the official
link, but all the info is in French (and the English translation is all but non-existent), so if yer curious, you
might wanna try this link instead. Not much time to do anything since we're here for only an hour (a common
and recurring theme). So what is one hour good for? It adds up to taking a few exterior pics and grabbing a bite
at the large outdoor food court. I think it may also have to do with the European driving laws mandating that
commercial drivers (like ur coach driver) must take a break after "x" hours of driving. It also makes for good
filler in the Contiki catalog - woohoo !!! We see Chambord. If you do happen to have more than an hour's
worth, it sounds like a pretty nice castle since it was for royalty. A cool feature of this castle besides for the
splendor and beauty is its double double helix staircase. Yes, that's two double helices; this allows for a person
to go up and another person to go down the staircase at the same time without ever meeting each other !!
Maybe they had a lot of 1-way traffic on the staircase? Who knows? Onwards to Bordeaux.
This is the famous wine region, although I personally didn't see any vineyards. In fact, I think I saw more
warehouses and it seemed more industrial than anything else. No rolling hills with rows of fresh grapes
anywhere. We have our included dinner at a ... what was it. We were the only customers there. Well there
must've been a kitchen somewhere since we were served food - although the wine was extra (nice touch for the
famous wine region - thought it'd be free dammit!!!). If you do go around late July, and it was swelteringly hot,
try to get to a table close to a window all the time. I don't think that Europeans have discovered air
conditioning yet. Food was OK. Our tour guide mentioned that if we did want to visit the area, then walk up
the street for about 2km until you get to the church - OR - you could just take it easy and relax for the evening.
I'm wondering how to paint this picture. What we've seen so far of Bourdeaux looks very uninspiring. We
are staying at the Holiday Inn which is modern. Dinner was not one would consider as "a gastronomic delight"
and it was friggin hot outside. Crashing out seemed like a very nice option. But we are in Bordeaux - and it
can't be all gloom. So roommate & I head towards the church as our TM had described. Maybe I'll give my
roommate a name. How about Allen? Yeah ... that sounds good since that is his name. The scenery along the
way to the church is ... mundane ... this town going downhill very fast. Then we pass an odd shaped structure
with upside-down-wooden-acorn-looking structures about 4 storeys high. What is it supposed to be?? Well it
turns out that that is the Court House. Wow. This is quite interesting. Ahh, there's the church off in the
distance. Once we passed it, it was like night and day. This part of Bordeaux is beautiful. Old classical style
buildings with marble stone walkways or cobble stone. There's a very modern tram running thru the area.
Check out the pics ... this place is nice now !!! Thank goodness I didn't miss this. But they must've run out of
funds when building beyond the church. This area of town of 2km x 2km is the Bordeaux that people come to
see. So Allen and I wander around town looking for anyone in our group. Chances of finding anyone would
seem close to nil. There are bars and restaurants everywhere, but somehow Contiki-sense kicked in and I was
drawn to a bar that seemed oddly out of place. It looked like an English pub. What are the chances of an
British-style pub in France ?!?!?! Lo and behold - fellow contikiers !!!! From here, we venture to another bar.
Nice bartender. So I ask her a question in French (we are in France, remember) and she replies in English, but
w/ a British accent. She's lived in Bordeaux for the last 5 years. Abby is her name. Shot after shot ... and more
drinks ... and more shots from her own special concoction of unlabelled bottles. What an awesome time we had
- in attendance - myself, Allen, Alyson and James. It was time for Abby to close up shop, but the party must go
on and she directs us to the Cuban Bar. At 2 am (or was it 3 am?), that place seemed as spacious as a Tokyo
subway car at rush hour. I didn't know it was physically possible to pack in that many human bodies into that
crawlspace. How we made it to the bus the next morning is still a mystery to me ...
Day 5
Thursday, July 28
Barcelona pics. We are headed to Barcelona with a lunch stop at
Carcasonne, which is an restored medieval town surrounded by high
fortress walls. Aside for the crowds, this is probably the most authentic medieval town - with the arrow slits in
the castle walls and a courtyard where jousting competitions are reenacted. There's also a pretty gory Museum
of Torture for those who can stomach it. Outside at the entrance of the castle was a fair maiden in a purple
dress. Quite a pretty gal I must admit since quite a few of the guys were outside waiting for the rest of the
Contiki gang to come out while admiring this pretty girl in purple.
Upon arrival at Barcelona, we pay a visit to the Sagrada Familia which is Barcelona's most famous church
(which seems will never be completed in my opinion). You see, they began construction on this not during that
last century ... but the century before that!! 1882 to be precise. There's a guestimate that it *might* be done
sometime in 2040'ish, but with all the siestas going on, I wouldn't bet my money on it. We are housed in the
NH chain of Hotels, NH Cóndor to be precise. Wow ... what a nice hotel that was - especially the bathroom.
Not the best hotel, but definitely way up there. An included dinner at the hotel and then a night on the town
down Barcelona's famous Las Ramblas street. Beyond that, we cross the Ramble del Mar bridge to go clubbing
at Maremagnum, a large shopping complex in the middle of the bay (pic) with a dance club on the second
floor. A good time had by all, but this place was very hot - temperature wise. Oh BTW, Kahlua doesn't seem to
exist in Spain, what's up with that?!?!?! Try asking for a drink which has Kahlua and the bartenders return a
dumbfounded look. Hummm ... looks like I am missing the first 20 or so pictures in the Barcelona picture set.
Note to self: Need to fix that one of these days.
Day 6
Friday, July 29
On the itinerary today is ... "do what ever you want" day. It's a free day in Barcelona. If you can get up in
the morning, you'll get to see the home of the 1992 Summer Olympics (ie: the Stadium). Afterwards, we head
into Placa de Catalunya - Barcelona's Main Square. There might be a leather demonstration where a guy with a
real strong lisp accent - a Catalunyan trait - will try to hawk off some leather jackets. On a completely different
tangent, what's the difference between Basque & Catalunya? I never figured that out and am too lazy to Google
it. There'll also be a walking tour of the Barri Gòtic or the old Gothic Quarter of Barcelona. You'll see a wall
riddled with bullet pock marks where people were executed. Quite moving. There's also a Bridge of Sighs or
Carrer del Bisbe where convicts were paraded thru before their execution. This is similar to the famous bridge
in Venice. Come to think of it, I saw another one in Cordoba, Spain (large pic, small pic). There must be a
bunch of Sighs Bridges across Europe. Maybe it was the "in" thing back in the day? So getting back to the
Sighs Bridge in Barcelona, your tour manager will point out the bridge to you. I think any small old looking
bridge with walls and a rooftop that spans over a walkway (or canal in Venice) is probably a Sighs Bridge ...
But this one does have an certain morbid peculiarity. Take a trip under the bridge and look up while
underneath the archway (ie: you don't have to cross the bridge, you are on the main road underneath the
bridge). What do you see. Well that could be difficult to answer right now if you haven't been on this tour yet.
But here's the answer: There is a real skull with a dagger passing thru it. Kinda cool, huh? I wonder who's head
that belonged to? I wonder if your Tour Manager will point out that little tid bit to you, eh? Maybe I should be
a Tour Manager? Well I didn't get to see it. I only found out about this after my tour. Oh well ... no worries.
So by now, it's around lunch time and you are free to go on your own. Lunch ... hummm ... hunger. Spain is
known for it Tapas - or finger food, and we happened upon a restaurant called Mikel Etxea. This restaurant has
a huge selection of Tapas. It's good to go as a group so you can sample many foods. Don't order the Broccoli
though, since it is included as a side dish with many of the Tapas items. I don't recall if it was pricey ... it may
have been, but the food was excellent.
Please, if you don't want to be stolen in Barcelona, don't go to a restaurant tapas bar, MIKEL ETXEA,
in las ramblas, the price is really really EXPENSIVE,and believe me I'm from Barcelona. And almost I
can't pay the bill. The trick is that in the menu what you think that the price for a tapa (normally a plate)
is not the price for a mini slice of bread with something on the top. If you want to go to a good place
you can go to c/ Mandri, Bar Mandri for little tapas, or to the restaurant El Pescadito in the same street
if you like see food.
Elena
Elena Pastor Jaén on January 3, 2004 11:25 AM
http://www.nyceats.net/eats/2003/10/barcelona.html
Well we went to the aforementioned restaurant and were able to pay the bill hence no dish washing was
necessary. Maybe Elena is from another restaurant? Or maybe it really is expensive - at least for locals? Or
maybe Elena ended up washing dishes after seeing her bill? Ahhh, the conspiracy theories abound ...
What else did I do ... more walking and the best aerial photos of Barcelona are from the cable car which
had a funky pricing scheme. It was something like 3€ elevator for the ride up the tower and 3€ for the Cable
Car ride. But here's the catch, if you want to take the Cable Car ride, you must also take the elevator ride as
well. Now who wants to go up a stupid tower and not go on the cable car ride, duh !?!?!?! Barcelona also has a
nice beach ... as with many European beaches, topless is the norm - but not mandatory. This day's entry is
getting a little long so to speed things up, there's the optional Flamenco Dinner this evening which many
attended. You can read about it in the optionals section. That's all for today.
Oh forgot to mention one last thing, Gaudi's architectural works of art is quite something to see. Here are 2
sites that have many photos of the Casa Mila (Site 1 or Site 2). Actually, there was one site that had many
awesome pics of the Casa Mila, but I haven't been able to find it again :( ... Don't you hate when that happens
!?!?!? In case you are curious, it's somewhere in the Flickr online photo universe.
Day 7
Saturday, July 30
French Riviera pics. Ahhh ... the fabled French Riviera. Before
arriving, I had no clue as to the location of the French Riveiera or
Monaco except 1) it seems to be in France, 2) it seems to appear in
James Bond movies, and last but not least, 3) I *think* people here
have lots of money. So here's the breakdown, the French Riviera (aka
Côte d'Azur) is probably the resort/playground of the über-wealthy
residents of the planet Earth. It's located southeast of France on the
Mediterranean coastline just before the Italian border. It consists of
Saint Tropez to the west (where the rich live), then Cannes (apparently,
they host some sorta film festival, but for some reason, I never get invited), Nice and finally Monaco (where
there's a Royal Family and the total area of the *country* is less 2 square km ~or~ 1/2 the area of most
International Airports). So it goes without saying that Monaco doesn't have its own international airport.
What do I remember about Nice ... hummm. I thought Nice was AWESOME! A decent hotel: Kyriad It
was the first stop where you could get laundry done for a reasonable price. A full pillow case of laundry set me
back about €10. They charge per pound. Ok, there must be more highlights than dirty laundry ... and there are!
Tonight is the included dinner at Les Mets de Provence, a small restaurant that caters only to large groups ...
like Contiki. I believe there was soup & salad and the main course. Good food :) ... but I think it was a little
hot. We were on the second floor of a building and did they have air conditioning? hummmm. Maybe, but I
think the AC unit was struggling against the summer heat + a packed mess hall. After dinner, it was off to the
clubs! The most famous is Wayne's Bar, where EVERYONE dances on the tables. If you Google "Waynes
Bar", it's the first link that appears! Hummm ... going to that sight right now and what appears on the Waynes
Bar home page? "Wayne's Pornstar Party - Feb 1st." Sweet !!!! At Wayne's Bar, I introduce the group to B52
shots and we do a few rounds of 3 shots each. I think I had about 12 shots - mmmm .... tastes good! After
dancing on the tables, we all ventured for a late evening/early morning Mediterranean swim circa 2 AM. Oh, if
you plan on doing the same thing on your tour, remember to complete EMPTY OUT your pockets, especially
anything of electronic nature. I thought I had cleared my pockets, but apparently not. The next morning, I
found a rechargeable battery dangling somewhere in the multitude of pockets of my cargo shorts leaking green
slime. Batteries don't like to go swimming in the salty Mediterranean Sea. R.I.P. my spare battery. Hope you're
in battery heaven. Peace.
Day 8
Sunday, July 31
1/4 of the trip is over. And so begins week 2 of 4. Waking up is one of those interesting things in the
morning - especially after a night of drinking and you really don't want to wake up. Standard procedure for
most on a free day is to either catch the last 20 minutes of breakfast or miss it completely. No hangover luckily
for me. In fact, I don't think I ever had a hangover on this trip. So there you go kids - never do beer, wine and
shots all in the same night - a big recipe for disaster. Stick with either beer, wine, or mixed drinks. I think I
locked out my roommate the evening before - oops so there's my public apology.
Today was hot. Very hot. Allen & I decided to tour the beach. Some very "nice" pictures indeed of the
beach and its "surroundings". En route to the beach, Allen attempted to withdraw money from an ATM w/o
any luck. Apparently, the bank froze his account due to suspicious withdraws. Seems reasonable enough since
the last few withdrawals were nowhere near Los Angeles. So as mentioned in item #3 of my Pretour
Suggestions, "Inform your bank of your travel dates and where you will be so they do not freeze your account
due to suspicious activity."
Have you ever tried to frame someone in a photo - attempt to give them directions, without telling them
why? ie: Tell them: Trust me... this photo will be a keeper !!! Well it's easier said than done. Which photo is
this? Well it's one of the beach photos. Happy hunting ... The day consisted of more walking and wandered
around town and towards the marina and older section of town on the eastern side of the beach beyond the
lookout. I never really mention why I like the French Riviera - it's really tough to quantify. There are no
pictures to definitively frame a portrait of this area. It's the totality of the experiences that define the French
Riviera, and that, you can't really put into words. ie: you had to be there. A little wordy, eh? Anyway, tonight,
part of that experience is in Monte Carlo where there is the optional dinner and a visit to the famous casinos.
Later that evening, we put on our fine duds and head 20 minutes east over the mountains towards Monaco.
Should I cut and paste or put a link here ??? Too lazy so here's the review for the dinner and Casino
description. A really fine dinner !!!! Hummm as a little aside, looking at the Restaurant Cavanetu website for
the Monaco optional dinner, looks like they uploaded a mirror image of the restaurant ... oops. Here's the photo
from their website and here's my photo Here's a Quicktime virtual tour
Day 9
Monday, August 1
Piza and Florence Pics. Today we bid "Adieu et Au Revoir" to the
Frech Riviera and a "Ciao or Buon Giorno" to Italy, the home of many
tunnels and where we wine and dine Chez Autogrill !!! But before heading off to Italy, there's a stop at the
Fragonard Perfumerie. This definitely must be a stop for the girls because to me, it was a little too much. Too
many strong scents in the air - similarly to being in an elevator and someone enters with overpowering
perfume. A hint of perfume is nice, but this was overboard !!! Remember to bring your gas mask. OK just
kidding. They give you the tour of how perfume is made, how many tons of a certain flower is required to
make perhaps 50 mL of a perfume etc ... Then the guide mentioned that there were something like only 40
people in the world with noses sensitive enough and trained to know when a perfume batch was correct - or
some spiel of the sort. Talk about a case of the Emperor's New Clothes !!! I wonder what cut Contiki gets from
the perfume sales? Fragonard website says that the tour of its factory is free - a good price for Contiki !! At one
point in the tour, I think I counted 4 Contiki coaches (including ours) outside the perfumerie parking lot. Well
enough of that. Now what would've been cool is if we went to the Ferrari or Lanborghini museum. That would
definitely rock!
Next stop: Piza. Apparently, people flock here to see some old crooked building - or is it the all the fake
handbags and stuff sold in all the outdoor merchant stalls? I think it's probably the crooked building thing.
Joking aside, the Leaning Tower of Piza is the one and only main attraction in Piza, and everyone does the
mandatory pose as a Leaning Tower prop. Other ideas come to mind, but ;) heheheh ...
This place would
lose "mucho dinero" if that tower ever came crashing down. Hummm that's Spanish, not Italian. Let's try: This
place would lose "lotti di soldi" if that tower ever came crashing down. Onwards to Florence ...
What can I say about Florence? You'll hear the name Medici get tossed around a lot. They were a powerful
family that ruled Florence during the Italian Renaissance. Our digs in Florence is the Autopark Hotel. They
have one computer with free internet access I think, as well as a parking lot surrounded by a 10 ft high power
wrought iron fence and gate with spikes on top. Hummmm .... By this time, I am have been overcome with the
Contiki Cough, runny nose, & fever. Tonight is an included dinner in town. Where was this place and what
was it called? I have no clue since there were no signs posted. You would've missed the entrance if you
blinked. The restaurant was quite hot and stuffy, and it seems like they only cater to groups since I saw another
group filter in to an adjoining room. Ok food, but not anything to write home about. I think there were others
who were also sick at this point from the Contiki Cough. While walking to the restaurant, I imagined Florence
to be this old beautiful Renaissance city, but it seemed like it was more in need of a good scrubbing because of
all the pollution. Other opinions I have of Florence is that there seems to be some underworld corruption still
going on here, like the fact that it costs €300 or so for a daily parking pass of a coach/tour bus. Lotsa kickback
going on here ... Case in point, after dinner, we head over to Rod Carter bar for drinks. Not feeling up to snuff
(and nor is my roommate), we decide to head back early. We ask the bar manager how much is a cab and if he
could call a cab for us. He happily obliges saying that it would cost around €25 (or was it €30). In any case, the
cabbie let the meter run and at the hotel, it was reading €12 but he tells us it's €25. So hail a cab yourself and
LET THE METER RUN !!! I really am not liking Florence. Those mega doses of vitamins before the trip (as
suggested by some postings on the Contiki message board) and during the trip are not helping any - I am
feeling sick as a dog!
Day 10
Tuesday, August 2
Hummm, what does the Contiki Itinerary say ... "Today our local guide takes us on a walking tour of the
Duomo, Giotto's Belltower, Basilica of Santa Croce and Piazza della Signoria. Shop for leather and silver and
gold. Take time to visit one of the many galleries or museums in this 'City of Art'. Tonight why not join the
locals in a restaurant or club." Reality check: what we REALLY did.
We start off today with a visit to Leonardo's Leather Works factory. They all claim that their leathers are
authentic, but apparently you can never tell. So I didn't buy leather from them (not that I wanted nor needed
anything) - but I still got suckered into buying "tourist trap" stuff later on ... in Germany. But hey, if buying the
stuff makes you feel happy, then buy it, albeit overpriced and everyone gets a cut. How so you may ask? Tune
your ears, the shops that we are herded into always ask for the tour group and tour manager's name when
ringing up the sale. Afterwards, we did have a local guide and the walking tour was perhaps a little over an
hour. This is one manner that Italy, or at least Florence supports its own local economy. You'd think that many
Contiki Tour managers have heard this routine quite a few times and should be able to do the song and dance
description of Florence, no? But I guess this is good since we have an expert guide. Sometimes the Tour
Manager goes along for the walk, and other times, they bail out opting for some free time for themselves. I
don't blame them, you can only see some old building a billion times before the novelty wears thin. So getting
back to the itinerary, the 1 hour walking tour has stops with a description of the Belltower and
Duomo(Cathedral) of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, and Ponte Vecchio which is
a very wide bridge built a long time ago with shops on both sides. I didn't know what the Uffizi was until this
tour. It's kinda like Florence's Louvre museum. Also, the lines are long (1+ hour wait time). Many Renaissance
works can be found here like Michelangelo's Statue of David. If you plan to visit the Uffizi, I suggest that you
make reservations and purchase your tickets in advance so you can skip the line. Reservations must be made 2
days in advance and there is a €4.47 service charge for each ticket. Oh, and no, I didn't visit the Uffizi. The line
was too long, didn't know about the Uffizi, nor the reservation system.
What else did I do ... I think we had 3 hours after the end of the walking tour for lunch and free time. I
recall being feverish at the time and I needed food that I was used to. I was in dire need of McDonald's. I
believe that this is the one Allen and I went to. It has since been renovated. Now why would I remember such a
silly thing like McDonald's? Well this one was like no McDonald's I've been to. The design motif was of a
dance club with modern/new age furnishings. This place was nice. Get rid of the McDonald's menu and they
could've had a cover charge !!! 2 more hours to kill - let's find that Santa Croce Church meeting place. The
funny thing is, it seemed like all the guys had the same thing in mind. They were all tired of Florence and were
ready to return to the hotel. They did the same thing as us - eat and headed for the rendez-vous point. As
mentioned before, Florence needed a good scrubbing of all the exterior surfaces - the effects of pollution were
clearly visible. After the luxuries of the French Riviera, Florence was a letdown. Just being blunt and honest no holds barred. Oh did I mention that all the bath towels in Italy look like thin table clothes? How utterly
useless is that ?!?! A completely different tangent, I know, but I am using my artistic freedom to write
whatever comes to mind. So with 2 hours to kill, roommate and I venture into the Santa Croce Church. Nice
place. Lotsa dead people are entombed here; Galileo, Machiavelli, and Michelangelo to name a few.
After returning to the hotel, the rest of the evening consisted of the Contiki group photo, dinner and disco
optionals. That's all for now ... 18 more days to write up ...
Day11
Wednesday, August 3
Rome and Pompeii Pics. Florence is not that far from Rome and
we arrived in Roma around 2 pm - according to the time stamp on the
photo. If it weren't for the info on the photo, do you seriously think I'd
remember what time we arrived? I hardly remember what I did last
weekend ... hehehehe. Our hotel is the Cascina Palace. This is one
place where you really need to keep your stuff under lock and key. The
hotel rooms have a safety deposit box - but the useless ones that
require a key that is attached to the same key ring which has your room
key and room number. Sure ... let the fox guard the hen house. This
was one of the shadier hotels. The only safety deposit boxes I ever used were the digital ones that you program
yourself and was bolted to the wall - none of this key crap. Kinda like writing the PIN on your ATM card.
There, I think I've made my point. Furthermore, this was the only place where the TM (tour manager) did not
post a day sheet of our activities. Not enough warning for ya? Well there was a Mediterranean Highlights tour
there at the same time as us and on their last evening, 4 rooms were broken into. No signs of forced entry...
Hummm, inside job? Front desk has the keys ... Hey, there's the skeleton of a burned-out car in our hotel
parking lot (pic 1, pic 2). Last point I didn't like about this hotel was it was VERY far from Rome. How far?
Once you got of at the end of the subway line, you had to take a bus for a few more kilometers. About an
hour's travel from downtown - or so it seemed. Don't know if this hotel is still on the tour since both TM's
complained to Contiki management about the hotel.
Suggestion: read Dan Brown's Angel's & Demons. The book is as good the Davinci Code. Why am I
harping about it? The book is a fictional murder mystery during the Concave election of a new Pope. Besides
for a captivating storyline, many buildings and monuments in Rome are referenced in the book.
Before heading into town, we unwind and ensured our suitcases were locked up. Our TM warned us that
Rome is probably the pickpocket capital of the world. You'll notice that anyone with a backpack will have it in
front for fear of pickpocketers. People have come to accept this as the norm. I guess every society is different.
Coming from Montreal, I never see police walking around with machine guns, but when I went on the Greek
Island Hopping tour, many of the Athenian cops seemed to be packing HK MP-5k or Uzi sub machine guns. In
town we tour the Coliseum (entrance fee not included), many Obelisks, the Pantheon (how'd they build such a
large dome around 118 AD?), the Vittorio monument, the Piazza di Spagna (aka the Spanish Steps), and the
Trevi Fountain. We had some free time to grab a bite in town as well. Now as if our TM hadn't warned us
enough about pick pockets, we had this one individual who was wearing an Outback-looking hat with full of
pins from all over the world. He was also wearing a fluorescent yellow t-shirt with Australia printed in huge
letters. What else ... he was also carrying TWO hand bags - one in each hand, no back pack / knapsack. What
the *&%# did he have in those bags anyways? All you really needed was your wallet and camera. Well both
his hands were occupied and while were in the subway, he got hit by pickpockets - even with 35 of us
Contikiers around him. I guess his outfit was screaming, "Tourist!!! And both my hands are occupied carrying
bags!!! Take my wallet !!!" Don't let this happen to you ... you have been forewarned.
Day 12
Thursday, August 4
Today was an early day. We left the hotel by 7 AM with snack pack bags for breakfast. Nothing special ...
maybe an apple or banana, a muffin and a juice box. We took the public transit into town. I am only wondering
as to why we did that? Or did we? Maybe to avoid morning rush hour? It was too early in the morning in any
case. It's a good idea to get to the Vatican early since as a tour group, you are allowed to enter about 1/2 hour
before the general public ... and those lines can be VERY long. By 7:45 AM, we were in line waiting for our
Vatican tour guide at the entrance of the Vatican Museum. Our tour guide is a small old lady with a great sense
of humour who quietly cussed at Vatican guards when she didn't have her way. She called us her Contiki
children. We had no problems hearing her since she had a transmitter and everyone was given headsets. As
mentioned in the optionals section, your TM will remind you many times that knees and shoulders must be
covered up. At the modern entrance of the Vatican museum is a huge ramp for wheelchair access - that in itself
is a work of modern art I think. Once inside the actual museum itself, there are 3 grand corridors. The first
corridor is lined with statues on both sides and beautiful artwork on the ceiling line with gold leaf everywhere.
The second corridor is oddly insulated. Temperature and humidity controlled as you enter thru glass doors.
There is no sunlight here, I wonder why? The corridor is devoid of statues along the wall, but they are replaced
by tapestries. At first sight, there appears to be is an intricately carved and painted ceiling. Then they drop the
bombshell, there are NO carvings on the ceiling. It is all a painted optical illusion and that the ceiling is a very
flat surface and that the shadows are painted. Holy carp[sic] (no pun intended)!!! Then you enter the 3rd
corridor, the map room which has both paintings and statues on the ceiling. I think they went overboard with
the gold leaf in this room though. I wonder how they painted those corridors. Makes me cringe at the thought
of trying to paint it - even if I had a paint spray gun !!!
Besides for this, there are many more rooms with historical relics and paintings. Then you enter the Sistine
Chapel - a place where you are not allowed to use camcorders nor cameras and the utmost silence is demanded
(ie: hushed whispers and turn off your mobile/cell phones). But people being people, the noise level increases
until a one of the priests claps his hand 3 times and announces silence in a frustrated angry tone. Hell I'd be
bored to tears if my job was to do that every 5 minutes for the whole day. And that concludes the Vatican
Museum tour. While I'm the subject, and yes, I've babbled about this elsewhere, read Dan Brown's Angels &
Demons.
The rest of the day was on our own. Not to be missed is St. Peters Basilica (Wikipedia). Try to find one of
the free guided tours (one of the last items on this link) . And check out the grottoes (I missed that). This place
is ginormous. It's twice as long as 2 football pitches (soccer fields) at 230 meters (that's almost a 1/4 of a
kilometer) and an interior capacity of 60 000 people !!
Some of us took a Hop On / Hop Off double decker tour bus afterwards. The good thing about these tours
is that you can hop on and off at any of the given stops and the pass is good for 24 hours. The also give you
really cheap earphones. Seriously, I've never seen cheaper pieces of garbage. The sound was worse than using
2 cans connected by a string. So use your mp3 headset if you have them handy. No need for any advance
reservations as mentioned on the website, just pay the bus driver ... probably cheaper that way too. There are
too many things to see in Roma so I'll let you get lost and discover it for yourselves. We made out way back to
the hotel for the included dinner afterwards and most just chilled out on the patio chairs outside the hotel that
evening with beverages of choice at hand. BTW, the hotel doesn't like streakers. :p
Day 13
Friday, August 5
Rome and Pompeii Pics. Yeah, here are those Rome pics again,
but the last bunch are from Pompeii, of which, I didn't take that many
photos. As mentioned in the optionals section, I previously had done a
Greek Island Hopping tour and had visited the Akrotiri Archaeological
Site excavation. Honestly, the Akrotiri site blows this outta the water,
but this is a good tour if you've never seen an ancient site, frozen in
time due to a volcanic event. Yes, I am a Contiki junkie. Also did a
Spain & Portugal - which unfortunately, is no longer offered. Back to
Pompeii... I couldn't find Pompeii weather forecast, but Naples is only
10 km away. Weather is generally the same within 10 km - unless you live in Florida. Pompeii in August is hot
and dry. Not that much wind that I can recall. Definitely a Sunblock day. So where is Naples/Pompeii? It's on
the west coast of Italy south of Rome. As you can see on the map, there is much travelling to be done today.
After the guided tour and lunch, we are on our way to the port of Brindisi for the overnight ferry to Corfu,
Greece.
The ferry we are taking to Greece had me worried. It was not that big a ferry, albeit it did have a very
interesting name - seen here as we enter the bowels of *ship name*. I have not had that much luck with Greek
transportation while on Contikis - Greek ferries seem to sink all the time. On my Greek Island Hopping tour, 3
Greek Ferries crashed within 5 days leaving 78 dead, and I was on one of those boats. Maybe the captains were
watching the 2000 summer Olympics? If you're curious to hear about that adventure, leave me a message on
the guestbook. If there are a few curious souls, I'll add that write up ... :) But to summarize, this ferry stayed
afloat, but we hit a few rough patches which made me wonder if we were gonna make it. To put things into
perspective, all the glasses and bottles at the bar came crashing down during our voyage. I suspect this Greek
ferry company must be frequent shoppers and have bulk discount on beer and wine glass supplies :) Where's
that Gravol motion sickness pill? The cabin was pretty crappy - see the Corfu pics. Ohh ... today is one of those
days where you REALLY need an alarm clock!!! You need to vacate the cabin by 5 am or some early insane
hour - no kidding because by 6am, we were already at the Corfu Divani hotel. Oh BTW, no Greek ferry
tragedies while I was on this tour, but a Greek airliner crashed during my tour. Maybe people should refrain
from Greek transportation while I go on Contiki's ? Tidbits and photos from my Contiki Greek Island Hopping
tour.
Day 14
Friday, August 6
Corfu Pics. Corfu (or Korfu, or Kerkyra) is the midway point of the
tour. And we actually get to stay here for 3 nights. Woohoo what
welcome relief!! Time to convalesce. We are housed in a very nice
hotel - the Corfu Divani. Have that Contiki 2006/2007 Superior &
Budget Tour guide handy? Check out page 19 (too lazy to get the
booklet or don't have one, here it is), nice pool eh? We arrive before
sunrise and crash on the lounge chairs for a few hours. The human
body is not meant to be woken up this early during vacation - maybe
go to bed at this hour, but definitely not rise and shine at 5 am. It is
here that you discover that you are part of the "routine" 3 days later whilst on your way to breakfast (or
Brekkie as the Aussies would say w/ their Vegemite), we see the next batch of Contikiers sound asleep on the
same sofas & couches that we once occupied. Other than that, I don't think I ever saw anyone else use those
couches ... hummmm .... sleep for 2 hours before some breakfast and heading into town. One thing about this
hotel is that the breakfast buffet is very very good. Probably on par with the one in Vienna, but not as good as
the one in Munich. This had every imaginable breakfast stuff (except Vegemite). Munich on the other hand
blows this outta the water (as seen in the movie).
Corfu is a Greek resort island off the northwest border between Greece and Macedonia. I like these little
small tourist towns since traffic jams are non existent. This was reminiscent of the Greek Cyclades (Santorini,
Mykonos, Paros) - small narrow crooked streets & alleys. The Cyclades distiguishes itself differently with
distinct blue rooftops and whitewashed walls. After wandering around in town and grabbing some lunch, we
head back to the hotel to check-in, crash out by the pool (or do some hand wash laundry). It's quite hot during
our stay here and there's plenty of time for stuff to dry out. Dinner tonight is included at the hotel, but you have
to pay for any beverage (including the bottled water) - it's a sit down affair ... no all-you-can-eat buffet like
breakfast. Oh, speaking of which, at the bottom of the driveway to the hotel across the street, there's a small
store where 1.5 L bottled water was only 40 or 50 cents or what ever they call partial euros/coinage. The small
mini bottles 500mL or 750 mL was something like 15 or 20 cents. Don't know how water could be so cheap.
The hotel was charging €2+ for a bottle of water. Maybe because it came in a glass bottle. What a dumb idea!!
All I want is water, and for it to be chilled and cheap. Inexpensive (alcoholic) drinks are also appreciated !!!
Go to Part 2:
Days 15-28
July 25 - August 21
Travelogue
<--- Go back to first half of the trip
Day 15
Saturday, August 7
Corfu Pics. This is day 2 in Corfu. This is the midpoint of the trip,
so this seems like a logical place to split the already longish travel
journal. If you've gotten this far, I commend you :) What does day 15
bring us? Why George's boat Caique Cruise of course! Now what is
that exactly? Well if you've downloaded the movie, it starts around
36:08. George is quite a character; you'll be able to identify him quite
easily if you watch the movie. The cruise itself starts off at one of the
ports in Corfu and meanders to some unknown destination (no, I did
not bring a GPS unit with me). The final destination is perhaps a 30-40
minute - or maybe an hour - ride on the boat and we end up at a launch dock for all sorts for water activites.
There's parasailing, ski jets and the like. A complete description is covered in the optionals section. This is
definitely a nice change of pace from being couped up in a bus every second day. Nice time to unwind and
recover. If you're not into all the water or parasailing stuff, you could always chill out on the beach or take pics
of others. There will be plenty of cameras being passed around of those wanting to capture their Kodak
moments. Here's a pic of how NOT to take off. Can you say rug burn? Yeh, that's gotta hurt ... On a side note,
there might be a Contiki budget/camping tour you might bump into. Yippee, more playmates :) You'll notice
that happens a few times, that you'll encounter other Contikiers for various excursions, and especially at the
highway pitstops !!! Europe is a small world ... After lunch, which was probably something like a buffet of
cold cut sandwiches fruit dish, there was more aqua fun to be had. A group pic before heading off for the cruise
back home. Ahh, but it's not a straight line back to Corfu town, there are 2 stops along the way for nice
swimming holes. George may ask the group to go skinny dipping - or he may not. It all depends on whether a
regional Contiki rep is there (in which case, George will be on his *better* behavior) and how fun and risqué
your tour group is.
After a long day of fun in the sun, most people are completely beat. An included dinner at the hotel this
evening and perhaps some lounging by the pool or heading off to town for an evening stroll ... or recuperating
if you are still sick. That Contiki Cough spreads like wildfire on the bus and many got bogged down with it.
Face it, yer gonna get it so deal with it ... nuff said, but don't let it stop you from having an amazing time.
Day 16
Sunday, August 8
'tis our 3rd day in Corfu, the first free day to explore. Day one was just resting since we vacated our ship
cabins at 5 am - basically walking around the day in a zombie state of mind. Maybe it's just me getting old? A
quick trip into town after breakfast since we can't check-in to our rooms yet and we were all shot. Day 2 on the
island was a full day on George's Boat. And now day 3 - we get to relax at our own leisurely pace and explore
town. Alyson was not a happy camper today (or was it tomorrow?) Misplaced her cell/mobile, never to be seen
again. I wonder how many back up their mobile's contacts list? I know that I would lose some contacts
permanently if I were to lose my cell. I better go do that this weekend! More vegging by the pool back at the
resort and we were ready for the traditional Greek Dinner at at Taverna Gloupos (€30) later that evening. I
think everyone went to this one. And there was 1 or 2 other Contiki groups there as well, just like the dinner in
Florence. Good food, you get to dance with a potato?!!?!?!? Some fire dancing and plate smashing. Did I get
your attention? see it in the ... you guessed it - movie :P U should know where to find the link by now.
Day 17
Monday, August 9
Today we have a late departure from Corfu, leaving the hotel around 3pm. Checkout time is 11 am, so after
vacating the rooms, some lounge by the pool, and many head into town one last time. Don't miss out on the
breakfast since this is one of the good ones. The first ferry we catch is a 90 minute ride on a tiny ferry from
Corfu to Igoumenitsa. The next ferry is an overnight trip from Igoumenitsa to Ancona, Italy, and it's a serious
ferry known as the Superfast Ferry. This ferry line inspires much confidence, with the whole fleet being ultra
modern built between 2001 & 2002. We are on the Superfast XII and as the name suggests, the boat is fast (57
kph) !!! The cabins we get are nicer than the hotel rooms in Venice !!! Nice restaurant, has a few slot
machines, gift store, *disco*, etc. you get the idea. One person who had done a Caribbean cruise mentioned
that this ferry was nicer than some cruise ships. Well this is a short entry since all we do mostly is kill time in
town and hop on 2 ferries. Suggestion: on the Superfast ferry, try to be on the top deck at sunset. It's a beautiful
sight ... but make sure you use a flash if taking people pics with the sunset in the background.
Day 18
Tuesday, August 10
San Marino, Verona, Venice Pics. Today is a short travelling day
- so short that we can even stop over at San Marino. My North
American impression of what and where San Marino is that it is some
marina in California. OK .. googling time, am I correct? Hummm,
actually, there is a San Marino in California; it's NE of Los Angeles so I learn something new everyday. But the real San Marino at issue
here is in Italy. It is also known as the world's oldest republic. Quite
small too at less than 61 square km (or 7.8 km x 7.8 km). On this tour,
other tiny independant states we visit is the Holy See (Vatican City) at
0.44 km square (0.6 x 0.6) and Monaco at 2 km square (1.4 x 1.4). We have yet to arrive at Liechtenstein,
which is relatively massive at 160 km square (12.6 x 12.6). So what is San Marino? It's an old fortified town on
top of a hill dating back from 300 AD, but it not really on our tour, but it did make for a nice lunch stop.
After San Marino, an actual stop on our tour is a quick visit to Verona, which is due west from Venice.
This is not a very large city, but perhaps a smallish-large city. It consists of 3 main attractions: the mini
Coliseum, 3rd largest in Italy; a lot of shopping; and finally, it is also the backdrop of Shakespeare's Romeo
and Juliet. Along the way, there is a passage plastered with Post-Its and heart-shaped paper pieces with
messages of probably the amorous kind. At the end of the passage way is the fabled balcony as well as a
bronze statue of Juliet. There are probably many other things to see in Verona, but as always, this in not an
indepth stop, but more of a quickie. I wish we had more time, but alas, it was time to make our way to Venice
after a short stop here ... perhaps not more than 2 hours, if that.
Our final and permanent stop of the day is the worst hotel for the whole tour. Worst in the sense that it was
pretty run down. The beds mattress sank to the bottom, broken and dangling light fixtures. No elevator - so
those that didn't travel light surely got some excercise. Flickering lights, and light bulbs thats were of useless
wattage. And once again, those useless mini table cloths that they try to pass off as bath towels. The hotel was
not in Venice but on the main land. I think if we looked for an equally run down place, we could've found one
in Venice itself, but it would've been logistically quite difficult. 1) There was probably no place in Venice to
accomodate us all. 2) The coach drops us off in front of the hotel, and there are no motorized vehicles on the
islands - definitely no space for a Contiki coach. 3) No vehicles in Venice would mean that we would be
lugging our luggage with us. I supposed we could day-bag it. 4) It floods quite often in Venice. A mixture of
points 3 & 4 do not gel well together. But it sure would've been nice to have accomodations in Venice.
Tomorrow we are off for a whole day in Venice, but tonight, we have the included hotel dinner (not bad) and
chilling out for the rest of the evening at the hotel ... which is situated close to nowhere.
Day 19
Wednesday, August 11
Venice (Venezia in Italian) is awesome (the city that is, not the accomodations) ... well at least in my
humble opinion. It's just as you imagine it in the movies ... many canals, bridges, gondolas, crooked walkways
and NO cars anywhere (for obvious reasons). If you have a map of Venice, let's say it's more of a guess of
where streets *might* be, but many street corners have directional arrows to the main landmarks such as the
Rialto Bridge, or Piazza San Marco. Speaking of Piazzo San Marco, it means St. Mark's Square, and the
history behind it is that St. Mark's body was stolen from Egypt and buried in here, and this story is depicted in
the frescos of the 3 half dome arches to the basilica. As many of you know, it is true that Venice is sinking, but
in our time frame, what should impact you more is probably when does it flood? Venice does flood, and it
floods often, but most flooding occurs in November and December.
This morning, breakfast at the hotel was fast - nothing thrilling ... some cereal and bread. Hop on the coach
for a quick bus ride to the water taxi dock. Upon landing, we see the the famous Bridge of Sighs which
connects the Dogo's palace to the prison where condemn convicts were lead off to execution. Here's a trip
planner that is NOT included in this tour, nor is it mentioned by the TM:
The Bridge of Sighs is included in the guided Itinerari Segreti ("Secret Itinerary") tour of the Doge's Palace,
which you can book by appointment. This 90-minute tour is conducted in Italian; it also includes the prisons,
torture chambers, and other rooms that normally aren't open to visitors. From June through September, tours
are scheduled daily except Wednesdays at 10 a.m. and noon. Reserve at least a day in advance, since the
number of visitors is limited.
So what is Doge's Palace? As the name suggests this was a palace and if you take the tour, the ceiling is as
ornate as in the Vatican Museum, and it has one of the world's largest paintings Paradise - so large (74 ft x 30
ft) infact that the original painter died before it was ever finished and was completed by his son (poor kid). The
Doge was an elected ruler of Venice for life - kinda like an elected king, but theirs heirs are not automaticaly
crowned afterwards. I guess for the most part, they did an OK job save for one - who was beheaded. Seems as
performance was not up to par for him. Too bad same isn't applied to the likes of Enron and Worldcom or other
corrupt executives. This is something I just found out about while writing this up, but if you've gotten this far
in the Travelog, lucky you! I suspect there are English tours available as well. There are probably more
interesting tidbits in the rest of my ramblings ... so read on ... Upon arrival at the main square, Piazza San
Marco, you will probably notice some birds ... (she just happed to be there). Here they are stretching their
wings. I think they do these bombing runs once every 20 minutes or so and it is quite the sight to behold. If you
remember the school of tuna in Finding Nemo, then you get the idea. I wonder if they are all related? A quick
€6 elevator ride up the bell tower (not included) will provide you with the nice views of Venice. Then we are
off to the 2 included glass blowing and lace demonstrations. More kickbacks for Contiki here. The glass
blowing is quite interesting - we watched one of the master craftsmen cranks this glass horse another angle in
under a minute (or else the molten glass hardens). The lace demonstration was OK. Yadda yadda yadda ...
hand made ... blah blah blah. Looks machine made to me but what ever floats your boat. The lace was one of
those things where you just had to get a table cloth or something for mom. And yes, I did get a table cloth set.
If you do intend on buying something, ask your TM if you can leave it at the shop and pick it up before the
gondola ride later in the day - this is what our group did. At this point, you are free on your own. You will find
that you will get lost in this maze of a city. Somehow, Steve, Allen and myself ended up in the hospital . Not
because someone had an accident, but rather, we just got lost and ended up there !!! Nice hospital though so
you will be in good hands should anything happen in Venice. As for the gondola ride - it's the thing to do in
Venice so you just have to do it - and as I mentioned, you can purchase some drinks to take along for the ride
(champagne perhaps?). Seeing Venice from the gondola lets you see the ornate entrances to many old buildings
since gondolas used to be the only method of transportation. The dinner later that evening has good food and 2
musicians (and if you are curious, you can see our singing abilities - or lack thereof - on the movie). After
dinner en route back the the water taxi, Piazza San Marco seems oddly strange at this time of evening; you will
not see a single bird!!! BTW, if you do see a bird, please leave me a message - I think I photoshopped out all
the birds!!! (just kidding). The evening concludes with some chillin' back at the hotel ... the worst hotel in
terms of quality (or lack there off) of the rooms; beds mattresses that sank to the floor, musty smell, dangling
light fixtures and exposed wires. Here's a question: why do all the hotels in Italy seem to use table cloth-thin
materials for bath towels - heck, I felt like using toilet paper instead since it was more absorbent!! Did we have
toilet paper? I don't remember ... (jk). But I enjoyed Venice (the city that is).
Day 20
Thursday, August 12
Vienna Pics. Today we are heading up the road to Vienna, which is
almost at the eastern tip of Austria. Our lodging there is the Eventhotel
Pyramide which is quite a nice hotel. There was a professional soccer
team staying there at the same time so it's one of the better hotels. Here
are 2 pics of their pool: Pic 1 (bottom left) and Pic 2. What else? They
even have a telephone beside the can! Now whether I'd place that
phone beside my ear is another question. There's a badminton court,
table tennis, squash court and after you're done doing that, there's 2-4-1
happy hour at the bar. In the evening, you could head over to the club
or play billiards across the street in the mall. Hey, maybe buy something at the freakishly large vending
machine? I'm guessing this is one machine you won't be able tilt if the machine doesn't spit out your food
sustenance.
This evening we head into to town for the optional classical concert and dinner. As mentioned in the
optionals section, if you do this optional, the concert is held in a small oval hall in an old classical building.
See the pics. Afterwards, we take a stroll to another classical building for dinner, which is very good - a sit
down affair in an old hall called Wiener Rathauskeller. Upon returning back to the hotel which is quite far
from Vienna, some drinks at the pool hall in the large mall across the street, as well as a massive tilt-proof
vending machine. That's it for this evening.
Day 21
Friday, August 13
This morning we were met with a large buffet seletion for breakfast before heading into town for a walking
tour of Vienna. Today continues your enlightment about classical music - some Mozart and the Strauss's (Jr &
Sr) among others; the Habsburg dynasty; the Hofburg Palace; the Ringstrasse (or Ring Boulevard); and St.
Stephansdom Cathedral, the humble abode of the Archbishop of Vienna. One thing to note, there's an
interesting tour of the Crypt about 10 meters below St. Stephansdom Cathedral which your TM might point out
that you can explore during our free time. I do recommend it and it costs less than €7. I think they have 2 or 3
tours a day. Quite fascinating - you see the resting place for all the Habsburg, past cardinals, as well as massive
caverns and wells full of bones since it was were everyone was buried, as well as a mass grave for those who
died during the Black Death which killed 1/3 of Europe's population. On another note, during the summer, you
will probably see many marching bands. Before heading off the the hotel, we visit the Schnaps Museum. For
€5, this was completely worth it and the Schnaps range from sweet caramel flavoured for desert to potent
Absinthe, and along the way, you are shown how it is made and the history behind it. They sell Schnaps and Tshirts of which I got both. The t-shirt was pretty funny, here's the front ... and the back
Back at the hotel, some lounged by the pool - and i tried my hand at squash, kinda rusty after not playing
competitvely or at all for the last 10 years. 2 for 1 drinks during happy hour afterwards at the hotel bar should
NOT be missed. Very happening place. A night-cap at McDonald's (or Mickey D's) later that evening ... Did
you ever see Pulp Fiction? Well this menu might ring a bell...
Day 22
Saturday, August 14
Munich Pics. We depart Austria for Munich or München, Germany
today. Enroute, there is a stop at Mauthausen, a World War II Nazi
concentration camp. A very stirring moment of the horrors and
antrocities that were carried out on a massive scale targeting
population genocide. We enter a museum area of various letters and
artifacts housed in a modern building. We also watched a movie with
another Contiki group in a hall, but during the silent moments, the lack
of sound was almost absolute, only to be punctuated by occasional
deep sighs & cringing gasps from the shock of it all. Afterwards we are
alotted 1 hour (NOT ENOUGH TIME !!!) to tour the the actual concentration grounds beyond the erected
memorials; past thru the main doors from whence 60 years ago, most never exited alive. If they were allowed
to leave the camp, it was only as prison labour for the local rock quarry. There were the bunkers where people
were placed like sardines until they were called. There was the gas chamber, and the many furnaces whose
cremation smokestacks never rested. It definitely is a surreal place being there. You can read all the books and
watch all the movies, but until you are fully immersed in the surroundings, knowing that this place or that place
is where such and such happened imbues a solemn sadness. I do have photos, but somehow they didn't make it
to the web page, but the movie (which contains a variety of stills and small movie clips mixed with music)
does bring forth some of the emotion I am attempting to convey here. As a final thought, I wish we had more
time there, perhaps 2 hours instead of 1 hour, it took about 12 minutes just to make the round trip walk from
the museum to the concentration camp. Do browse the Mauthausen website. It is very good. May we never
forget ...
We are now off to Munich, and for the first 1/2 hour, the ride is obviously very quiet as many pause in
reflection. A little about Germany. First off, it consists of 16 federal states or Bundesländer, of which 3 are
known as a free state or Freistaat. Actually, they are all free states, but 3 of them decided to keep Freistaat as
part of their formal name. So what exactly is a Freistaat? It refers to a state that is no longer ruled by nobility.
Munich resides in on of these Free States, the Free State of Bavaria or Freistaat Bayern. Actually, all the states
are no longer ruled by nobility and are all Free States, but the 3 "Freistaat"s simply decided to keep that part of
their name. The hotel of choice for this single night is the Dorint Novotel. Wow, what a nice hotel!!! Recently
built in 2004, the rooms were very modern, the bathroom had a separate bathtub AND shower. A stocked mini
fridge with clear glass door. I think you're allowed to take 2 chocolate bars before they charge you ... so I took
both chocolate bars :) Orchids lined the lobby and there was a free foosball machine, free PS2 and free internet
access. Yup, I think Contiki was trying to make amends for the hotel in Venice or something. At €70/pp double
occupancy including breakfast, Contiki could afford to hole us up here for only 1 night. I not finished talking
about this hotel, but I'll describe more later on. We are here for a VERY short time - infact there are only 3
other locations (aside from ferry rides) where we only stay for the evening, that being Bordeaux,
Tyrol/Hopftgarten, and St. Goar. Referring back to the Contiki itinerary, there is the Marienplatz &
Glockenspeil and a Bavarian Beerhall. One of those things makes sense to me!! A bunch of us decide to go
straight to the Beerhall with our driver Spooge skipping the Marianplatz. so what did I miss by not walking
with the TM and rest of the group? What is this Marianplatz? Essentially it's the main market square, whilst the
Glockenspiel has at "17 o'clock each day, visitors can watch the famous Glockenspiel or carillon. The figurines
perform the Schläffertanz or cooper's dance, which was originally performed in 1517 at the Marienplatz to
commemmorate the end of the plague." So there you have it ... I missed something cute. Oh well. But the
Hofbräuhaus beer hall is really the main attraction in Munich. How can I describe this? This is one HUGE beer
hall, and regulars can leave their beer Steins, and they have their regular reservation(s). I suppose this is a place
where you can fancy a BEvERage of sorts and everyone partook. BTW, the steins that they served come in a
nice size: 1 Liter , so if you do go, know your limits, you don't want to end up in the hospital - that just gets the
TM & driver team really pissed off at you!! And when you delay the coach the next morning, you get
EVERYONE PO'ed at you! So they serve beer here, anything else? Yes indeed, and the specialty here is pork
knuckle which is the best I've ever tried - simply deliciously sumptuous. A €5 cab ride back to the hotel, the bar
was still open and I had a night cap & chat with Alyson & Steve. The mixed drinks at the hotel costo mucho
dinero ... ouch.
Day 23
Sunday, August 15
Hopfgarten Pics. So in continuing about this hotel, breakfast here
is an optional €15, but since brekkie (as the Aussie would say) is
included everyday, we didn't have to pay. What can I say about
breakfast, the usual fare might be a breakfast buffets of toast, croissants, or cereals and coffee or juice continental style. But this buffet was 5 star. Hey if I can give it 6 starts out of 5, I would !!! It is that good. All
sorts of fruits, every imaginable cheese, salmon, shrimp cocktail, every type of deli meat, fresh cut
strawberries, a waffle maker, orange juice squeezer, every cereal. A veritable smorgasboard of gastronomic
delights, fit for royalty or heads of state entertaining other dignitaries!! €15 almost seems too cheap. Do not
miss breakfast if you are staying at the Dorint Novotel in Munich.
I've already mentioned not to end up in the hospital because of too much drinking - this usually means that
you are gonna be late for the bus the next day. Watch the movie, the commentary is funny. But the individual
in question seemed to be a veritable s**t magnet where everything happened to him; dislocating his kneecap
just by walking in Barcelona, being the only person to get pickpocketted in Rome; that happens if you are on
the subway carrying 2 bags - one in each hand, wearing a hat emblazoned with pins from all over the world
and donning on a florescent rugby jersey with Australia printed in big block letters. Although he was amongst
35 Contikiers in a crowded Roman subway, he still got hit. Sheesh, his outfit was screaming "TOURIST here,
and my hands are full, pickpocket me!!" I guess he didn't understand the term "to blend in". There's more stuff
about this individual, but I'll leave it at that. Oh, suggestion #12 in the suggestions section was because of him.
Yeah, his roommate was none too thrilled either trying to get his insurance papers out, or the TM being at the
hospital at 3 am. GRRRR!!!! Onwards to our next destination ... Austria.
Wait a sec, back up the truck there grasshopper, weren't we in Austria just 2 days a go? Yes indeed - as in
France(3x), and Italy, we enter these countries twice (as well as Germany)!! Hopfgarten is our destination
today with a small stop at the Swarovski Museum. Ummm lotsa crystal. There's even a 10 ft crystal Christmas
tree. Wanna bring some home? The gift shop has a few €30k+ pieces if you're so inclined. Onwards to Tyrol or
Hopfgarten ... which is it? Here's a little geography lesson about Austria. There are 9 states within Austria, and
Vienna is both a city and a state, as well as being the capitol of Austria. Ironically, it's also the smallest state as
well, consisting of city center and the outlying suburban areas and is completely surrounded by another state:
Lower Austria or Niederösterreich ... similar to Washington DC, which is surrounded by the states of
Maryland and Virginia. Hopfgarten is a small town in the Kitzbühel district nestled in the eastern Tyrol state.
So there you have it; Hopfgarten is a town in the Tyrol state. This is by far the shortest bus ride of the tour.
Munich to Hopfgarten is only 70 km, and that gives us time to do stuff like parapenting that afternoon. What a
helluva ride !!!! Better than any rollercoaster I've ever been on. Kinda expensive for 12 minutes but everyone
who went didn't regret it at all. I took a few video clips while we were doing loops - kinda crazy. Oh ... don't
forget to bring a windbreaker. It's windy and cold up there. If it weren't for parapenting, perhaps the
transportation there and back to the hotel was another adventure thru the curved and undulating roads in the
mountains. Maybe the driver had to go to the bathroom really bad ... twice. Maybe she didn't like us? Or maybe
she used to be a Formula 1 driver before, and forgot she was driving a passenger van?
Back at base camp, our shelter today is Haus Lukas (the name probably means Lucas House for those of
the English speaking crowd); a small bed and breakfast joint 3 stories high. Most Bed and Breakfast places do
not have elevators, and this is no exception. You'll have to lug that suitcase up the steps. Nothing fancy at Haus
Lucas except don't bother with the only coin-operated internet station. The connection completely sucks and
you'll have to perpetually feed it puppy treats for minimal results. Sorry Hauslukas, I call it as I see it, and the
truth hurts sometimes. After dinner, we are asked to help with returning our plates to the kitchen ... No biggie,
this is the probably the closest we come to sampling the lifestyle of those on a Contiki Camping Experience.
Have you tried the Wiener Shnitzel yet? You must - it's part of the Austrian culture, like pizza in Italy, Fish
and Chips in the UK, beer in Germany, Ouzo in Greece, or poutine in Québec. Wait, how did Québec get on
this list? Well being from there, I do have my biases.
Day 24
Monday, August 16
Lucerne Pics. Something
Odd here? What's up with the 2
Wunderground weather
stickers? I have a beef with
Wunderground here. No
sticker or mention of Lucerne
(more info), but they do have a
sticker for the likes of
Southend Saskatchewan. I'm
from Canada and I've never heard of Southend (full wikipedia entry [24 words]: Southend is a small village in
Northeastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It sits at the southern end of Reindeer Lake, the ninth largest lake in
Canada.) Population? Maybe 1? Nice, a village gets a sticker but Lucerne didn't make it, although GM thought
it worthy enough to name a car after it. Since Lucerne is almost between Bern & Zurich - they are seperated by
only 100 km from each other, take an average of the 2 weather stickers above and voilà, that should give you a
ballpark idea of weather in Lucerne.
This morning we pack 2 days worth of stuff since we're staying atop Mt. Pilatus for the next 2 evenings. We
won't be seeing our suitcases for our duration here and some will need more clothes on the side because we're
making a white water rafting stop before Lucerne. As I've mentioned before in the optionals section, I'd skip
this because it was FREAKIN' FREEZING !! Being under the spell of the dreaded Contiki Cough didn't help
matters much either. I think water is colder than ice up here - no kidding. If you've done a class 5 rapid, save
your €€€€'s. Infact if you've done a 3 or 4, I'd say skip this - the rapids were a 2 ... maybe it reached a 3 for
1/100 of a second.
What's in store for today ... oh oh oh oh ... we get to see 2 new countries - one of them during a 45 minute
pitstop. And what country is this (so that Contiki can inflate the country count on this tour)? Why it's none
other than Liechtenstein, all 12.5km x 12.5km !!! Run a lap around the country and it's a little more than the
distance of a marathon. I suppose we could've driven around the place and skipped it all together, but in
reality, I think it's just part of Switzerland since they use the Swiss franc, and we did pass the Swiss boarder
before arriving here!!! Supposedly there are 34,000 inhabitants. Mail a postcard, get your passport stamped and
grab some grub on the run and that's your 45 minute pitstop. I did manage to take a picture of a Chateau w/
scaffolding all around it. I think the king of this city ... err ... country lives there. Time to leave this country and
onwards to Switzerland. Oh wait, my bad, we are in Switzerland. hehehe.
OK, here's what I learned about Switzerland. They are a neutral country, but that just means they are armed
to the teeth with military weapons hidden everywhere. Every able-bodied male must serve in the army or the
airforce from the age of 19 until they are 41. The navy is not an option. As well, everyone brings their militaryissued weapons home (unless you are part of the airforce). Now there's a good deterent against home invasion
violence, no? What else, there are many tank traps and all the tunnels are lined with explosives to repel an
invading force. As well, there are enough shelters (containing hospitals and commmand and control centers) to
house every Swiss citizen. Pretty impresssive for a neutral country, eh? Looks like joining the military is a
sweet job, unlike joining the weekend reserves in the USA, all of them got stuck in Irag/Iran for more than a
year! Oh, and the Swiss Guard also protects the pope. On the matter of Banking, this is where the Über-wellto-do place their $$ if they want complete privacy. Rumour has that this land produces a few watches, some
chocolates, and multi-purpose knives.
Our arrival at the base of Mt. Pilatus was just in time considering we encountered tons of traffic due to
construction and the general european holiday season. Apparently if you don't catch the last gondola rides up,
game over, either you hike up the mountain (the hotel is at almost 7000ft above sea level) or you wait until the
next ride the next morning. And some tours have missed to last ride unfortunately. As the 2 stage gondola
disappears into the clouds, the air gets thinner and it does become a little chillier. My roommate Allen,
travelling by the sacred creed of travelling light needed a sweater, so off to the gift shop. How about a
sweatshirt with "Swiss Made" printed in front (but made in India nonetheless according the label :P )? Time to
get settled in ... There was another Contiki Group (Vista) already at Mt. Pilatus and here's were it gets
interesting. There are 2 hotels atop Mt. Pilatus; one is an antique building Pilatus-Kulm, while the nice shiny
metallic round hotel you see in the brochure is the Bellevue. So what's the diff you may ask?
From the website: "Step back into the last century: the Hotel Pilatus-Kulm, built in 1900, enchants guests with
its very special ambience. In 1999, the building was placed under protection order as a monument in Canton
Obwalden worthy of preservation."
Translation - There's a key phrase "last century"!!! It has a nice interior but the bathrooms situation is a little
different. There is only 1 bathroom per floor ... or 44 people divided by 3 bathrooms. I guess that what you
get for the special "protection order as a monument in Canton Obwalden worthy of preservation" as well as
"very special ambiance". Sorry, but I prefer modern ambiance - like a bathroom in my own room.
... and since there was a schedule mix-up, our group got the nice Bellevue with a bathroom in each room!! That
Vista group was PISSED !!!! But FYI, all Panorama tours are scheduled to stay at the antique shack. As the
Contiki brochure says on Day 25: "... For the next two nights stay atop Mt. Pilatus in the Victorian section of
the resort complex." Last time I checked, there was nothing modern associated with the word Victorian. After
the included dinner in the Victorian Complex, a bunch of us went for a stroll. There are 3 lookouts; 2 of which
are essentially beside our humble metallic abode, whilst the highest peak is a 1/2 hour hike to the far side of the
mountain. Naturally, the goal of our stroll was to get to the highest peak, and we were not disappointed, the
view is awesome here. Our TM warned us that most of us will probably take alot of photos, and my how those
words ring true.
Back at the bar, we chilled and introduced ourselves to the Vista group til many called it a night. I, on the other
hand, decided to scope the lookout behind the hotel with camera and LED flashlight in hand. At midnight, the
non-moonlit side is literally pitch dark, but you get unbelievable photos - no light polution from street lamps.
You can scan thru the photos, but the movie really brings it to life. An apropos adage about the movie: the
whole is WAY more than the sum of its parts. And perhaps consider this travelogue and the rest of this website
as a potpourri of Coles Notes, Cliff Notes, Schaum's Outline, or Contiki Panorama Guide For Dummies.
Day 25
Tuesday, August 17
Now isn't that a treat, eh? You probably thought this travelogue would be just a buncha words, but NO!!!
(see web page) That Panoramic above is a real time view from just above the hotel, so drop by often and see
what it's like from Mount Pilatus. My how time flies, seriously. When you are on the trip and are thinking
"Ugggh, did I screw up chose a trip that is too long?" And by the end of week one, yer thinking that this will be
a long trip. But now we are almost at the conclusion - day 25 and it seems like this trip only started! Today's
breakfast was the regular offering buffet of toast, juice coffee and cereal. Maybe a fruit on the side? After
brekke, we take a 2 stage 1/2 hour gondola ride to the bottom of the mountain. The upper gondola is one of
those massive ones that can a bucket of ppl (~20 ppl). One thing about Switzerland, is that this place is very
clean. A 5 minute walk from the Gondola base station to the bus stop and I could probably count the number of
cigar butts on one hand!! Maybe a street sweeper had recently passed by? But I think not. This place is
Cleansville, Planet Earth. A walking tour before we were eventually herded into a tourist trap; a Swiss watch
and pocket knife shop. Does anyone still buy a watch these days? I've only worn a watch twice this millenium while going Greek Island Hopping 5 years ago and for the European Panorama, and Spain & Portugal for this
go around. Otherwise, that's what a cell/mobile is for. It's got a flippin clock so lose the watch - although it is a
fashion accessory that serves a redundant purpose. Some free time on our own before catching the scenic boat
ride along Lake Lucerne. Free time consisted of eating at Stadt Bistro which had very good food. There are
many places to see in Lucerne, but tow really do stand out; the Dying Lion tribute to the fallen Swiss Guard,
and the Chapel Bridge (Kapellbrücke) which was partially destroyed in 1993 (actual fire, burnt out section)
The bridge has since been restored. Looking back at the restored bridge, the question comes to mind: Why was
this bridge crossing the river in a diagonal? It's not the most efficient route. Oh well, this is Europe and things
are not strange - just different. Same applies for Florida drivers ... all the %$T@#$@#$ slow drivers parked in
the passing lane. MOVE DAMMIT !!! No wonder Miami, Florida tops the list for road rage. As for the Swiss
Guard, this was a tribute to their sacrifices and steadfast loyalty. Two examples are cited often; the defense
Tuileries Palace during the 1792 French Revolution where 600 of 900 perished when the mob stormed the
palace. Another honour, although not engraved on the Dying Lion monument is protecting Pope Clement VII
in 1527 during the sacking of Rome when 147 of the 189 Guards perished. Enough history for you ... we take a
Lake cruise - nothing spectacular, quite a big yawn in my opinion. It's just a way to get to the Cog Train side of
Mt. Pilatus. A pretty disgusting dinner ontap at the hotel. Seriously, this seemed like a completely different
chef!!! Last night was edible - infact pretty good, but tonight, the staff took just as much back to the kitchen as
they brought out - just in a different form-factor; all stirred up my us. This was followed by a lame disco night
at the hotel's main lobby. OK, I'm peeved here, why didn't they hold this disco night last night when the other
Contiki Vista group was here ?!?!?! They had some cuties !!! Michelle from Canada (she did mention she
visits Florida quite often), 2 sisters from Miami ...
Day 26
St.Goar Pics. Along the banks of the Rhine river 80 km east of
Franfurt resides the small town of St. Goar (or Sankt Goar am Rhein.
It's about midway from Lucerne to Amsterdam, hence a perfect place
to set up shop for the night. As mentioned before, Europe has very
strict driving laws and you will never see the coach's speedometer ever
crack 100 kph. Another rule is that driver can only drive for X hours
per day. This is probably monitored by a) GPS tracking unit (Contiki
coaches have been broken into before, but in Russia, the whole coach
disappeared !!!), and more so, b) if you ever sit in the front, you'll
notive the driver occasionally inserting a disk into the dash board. All the telemetry for the day is written to the
disk, ie: distance, avg speed, max speed, how long the coach was driven for, duration of rest stop etc. Another
new twist in Europe as of May 2006, is that all occupants in any moving vehicle must wear seatbelts except for
public buses. Don't know how they're gonna enforce that one??? Oh and the best view is at the front of the bus.
Whew ... I little off topic there, but let's get back to St. Goar; it is quite picturesque as it sits in a valley
immediately flanked by steep hills. Our first stop is a the Montag Beer Stein tourist trap. You get a nice
description of how beer steins are made and the different types. I will admit, the beer steins are very unique
and intricate works of art. I bought one myself!! Actually, I bought 2. A nice way they increase the perception
of value is by making certain steins limited edition. The one that will catch everyone's attention is the stein
with a piece of the Berlin wall attached on top. At Montag, it costs €149 (select Berlin Wall Steins top right) +
shipping since you really don't wanna carry this thing around with you. If you live in the US, buy the same
thing online for US$190 including shipping and you'll save yourself a few bucks ... Next up is the optional
Wine Tasting Weingut Schloss Rheinfels €8 as described in the optionals section. A short movie, some cheese,
and 4 samplings of different wines ranging from dry to sweet including a house specialty - ice wine. We get to
keep the shot glass as souvenir. A scenic boat cruise down the Rhine river as we see some castles and the the
famouse (never heard about it 'til now) Loreley Statue. St. Goar is a nice little town I'm thinking. We can
surely make a night out of it as we did in Bordeaux. The hotel shouldn't be too far. Eash was I mistaken ... we
drove and drove and drove. Our final destination was Urbar (maybe that's German for in-the-middle-ofnowhere)? So a St.Goar outing was out of the question. We were in a village with 1 bar and *restaurant*. That
said, guess where we had dinner? This place place was quaint but not interesting. Judging by the signs (pic1,
pic2) posted on our room doors, English is not their forté. Next stop ... Amsterdam.
Day 27
Thursday, August 19
Amsterdam Pics. Amsterdam in a nutshell. So what is Amsterdam
famous for? If you've downloaded the movie, the answer is ... obvious,
no? Well our first stop is a cheese & clog factory. All sorts of cheeses
and how they are made ... there was even a smoked and some spiced
cheeses. Next door, there are many wooden clogs of all shapes colors
and sizes, and even one you can sit in! A quick demo of how a clog is
carved out and an opportunity to buy a pair. By the way, I think that
these things are machine made, but the demo is a nice show 'n tell of
traditional methods. Time to go borrow some granny bikes from Dijk's
Bikes and check out some dykes ... Off to the hotel before we are educated in some of Amsterdam's cultural
offerings. At the hotel we see that this is really a small Contiki world since who's the bartender? Why it's none
other than the guy who was carving out the clogs. Guess carving clogs doesn't pay much. I think Contiki is this
hotel's largest customer since I counted no fewer than 3 other Contiki couches at various stages of their tour ...
arriving ... leaving ... beginning the tour ... ending the tour ... etc. Contiki's bus maintenance garage isn't too far
from here either. A little rest, a few drinks before dinner and then an early dinner before heading out to town.
The included hotel buffet is not that bad. Actually, the meals here are pretty good and diverse.
Now for a bus ride into town. The hotel is what ... 40 km from town? Maybe 50? You get the idea, we are
not excactly situated close to the action, but more so, in tulip/canal/windmill-ville. Nice and clean and
censored. Time to break all that. If your TM hasn't mentioned hasn't mentioned it by now, it's time to go smoke
up and watch some live porn - in that order. Enough of the bikes and dykes. Wandering thru the camera free
zone of the Red Light District, our first stop is Cheech & Chong's favorite recreational pastime. How funny
would it be if we could actually get to one of these "coffee houses" by 4:20 pm ?!?!?! SWEEEEET But as the
summary goes, the Bulldog & Grasshopper are more touristy whilst the other places *might* have better
quality. The muffin and joint had almost no effect. You get what you pay for - the 3 or 4 joints in a plastic bag
we shared sucked. I had to keep on lighting up that useless stick I had after every puff. Next time I'll just get
the big joint. Ahhh, afterwards was the live sex show at Casa Rosso. I thought it was funny and tasteful, as far
as 2 people copulating on a rotating stage. You might even be selected to be a participant, so I'll leave it at
that. Go see it. This was actually worth it since we did get a group rate and 2 drinks are included. I like
Amsterdam ... I plan on returning for a 3rd time.
Day 28
Friday, August 20
Today is a free day to explore. After a quick breakfast buffet, a bunch of us head over to Anne Frank's
House / Museum for €7.50 . Get there 20 minutes before it opens (9AM) to avoid the crowds. And just who is
Ms Frank? She probably wrote the most famous diary of the WW2 era whilst in hiding from the Nazi.
Afterwards, there 's the must-do (even though I dislike the taste of the beer) Heineken (details bottom). You'll
probably have some free time so check out other things? Maybe the Sex Museum or venture thru the 5 funfilled floors of the Erotic Museum. Don't forget to get a t-shirt in Amsterdam ... of which many are quite
interesting. By now, it's almost time to rendez-vous for the trip to the hotel and changing before our final
dinner together at the van den Hogen Restaurant located in a seaside village of Volendam. I never had any real
complaints about the food - even in the crappy hotel in Venice, so this food was pretty good I suppose. Well
it'd better be for €30. Last stop ... the Amsterdam open boat (pic1, pic2) cruise w/ another Contiki group just
starting their tour!!! Before the festivities begin, we were all served some Toppertje which was not that bad - a
shot of some sweet syrupy alcoholic red drink. Afterwards, All U can drink and on tap was beer, one type of
red and one type of white. A very memorable cruise ... And back at the hotel, more drinking before everyone
was worn out. Apparently we need to get up tomorrow since we are leaving for our last destination ... London.
Day 29
London Farewell Pics. So this is it ... our last official day on tour
together. All good things must come to an end. Apparently, we are
passing thru Belgium. Yes, that's right, it's the country that is
mentioned on just about every Contiki European tour, but no one ever
sees. Kinda like the Red-Headed stepchild country in Europe. Luckily
for Liechtenstein, we were able to bless it with a bathroom break. Oh,
speaking of pit stops, the driver strongly begs you NOT to piss and
especially NOT TO POOP in the lavoratory. Think of it as use only in
life & death emergency situations, since the driver is the one who
cleans it out. Maybe I should've mentioned that at the very beginning? Nah, fuggit !!! I have more suggestions
for Contiki, from Venice to Vienna, we could've swung down a teenie little bit and touched on Slovenia and
Vienna is basically right beside Slovakia. I've just increased the country count from 12 to 14 countries. That
there is marketing baby!! Hey Contiki, are you listening?? As we make our way back to London, our TM
hands out a contact list containing any contact info that people volunteered a few days before the end of the
tour. Standard fare is email at least, and my suggestion, use your hotmail or yahoo account - chances are you'll
have that longer than your present email at work. Or maybe some folks didn't want to be contacted ... ever
again. Fine by me, there are 5 billion other people on this planet I have yet to meet. Who knows. Some left
only addresses. What can I say about home addresses? Well I'm not snail-mailing anything so too bad, get with
the program. EMAIL dammit! Oh and one last thing - is it really that tough and too much to ask to write
legibly? Some of that crap look like Hieroglyphics so I lost those contacts as well. Or perhaps, what if they
intentially wrote a wrong email address? Eh, their loss. More beer in London. More photos. Final goodbyes.
Tomorrow, I start my Contiki Spain & Portugal tour ... Life of a Contiki Junkie. Hey, if you've gotten this
far and enjoyed (or hated) this, found any of it informative (or not), drop me a line. I'll take cash donations - eh,
better yet, just scribble me a note on my . - danke schön !!
- Vic
ps:
some closing thoughts ... why did I chose this 28 day Panorama First of all, I wanted to see as many
countries as possible. There were longer tours available such as European Explorer 31 days and a 3
other budget tours. Since I wanted my own bathroom and in a hotel room (ie: Superior tour), that left
me with 2 options; the Panorama or Explorer. I really wanted to go to Corfu and had already previously
done Greek Island Hopping in 2000, that effectively eliminated the Exporer. Oh, and yes, I am still in
contact with people from that Greek Island Hopping Tour from 2000. They had better hand writing!!!
What else, 2 days stops were a welcome relief instead of the hectic 1 day stops on the shorter tours. I
don't think I could ever do I rush tour spending a night at each location. Here's the general picture: you
are at city X eating breakfast, get on the bus for "x" hours, arrive at next destination. Now by the next
morning, you are already leaving this place? But you just got there a little after say 1 pm ... tour ... eat
dinner - maybe hit a bar /go clubbing, sleep wake up, rush to eat and catch the bus. Nah, that's
something I couldn't do. 28 day Panorama will go by very quickly. This tour would be more accurately
titled, "A Taste of Europe". Now that I've been introduced to the various places, I can visit my favorite
stops later on in life. Next year 2007, I wonder if I can fit in the Egypt & Nile, Turkey, Greece, Scandi
& Russia, Aussie Explorer, Kiwi Explorer. Kinda optimistic agenda. We'll see what happens. Maybe the
stock market will be nice to me ... Fingers crossed. I'm probably dreaming ...
Oh and by the way, if you're wondering if it'll be fun. Yes, you'll have a boatload of fun. Worried
about travelling solo for the first time? More than half the bus (60%-66%) are solo adventurers like
yourself. Should you get a single room? Eh, save your $$$ for something else. Chances are yer gonna
be good buddies with your roommate. And if things don't work out with your roommate, your TM will
do their best to fix the situation. I've seen it happen and there is a solution for every problem. Any
medical conditions? gluten intolerant, diabetic, penicillin allergy, etc - just make sure you let your TM
know during the pretour meeting. Special meals can be arranged ahead of time. Bon voyage !!!

2005 Contiki European Panorama July 25

Transcription

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