CherryPopper

For the few that made the trek back to London we had our last dinner and drinks together that night at the hotels pub. It was good just to sit back and reminisce about the past 20 days and all the crazy things we had seen and done. Deano & John (our tour manager and bus driver) were also kicking back with us having a few beers since they had got a good tip off us they shouted us drinks the entire night. A few of the girls got a little emotional as the group slowly shrank as people either headed to bed or off to their next destinations.

It was sad to see the people you had only 20 days ago not known at all leave. In such a short time we had all become great friends, looked after each other to make sure we all got home ok each night, shared rooms, beds, even toothpaste as i lost mine early on We all lived in each others face for the past 20 days waking up and getting on the bus or walking round a new city, taking it all in. To finally have to say goodbye was harder for some than others, but we all felt a sense of sadness that it was now at an end.

John the bus driver wanted to keep going... even after the pub shut and kicked us out. He was trying to get us all to go to another pub but after 20 days of going hard almost everynight we had all had enough and said our final goodbye's and headed to bed.

Myself, Cam, Alison and Nat all caught up the next day for lunch before Cam and I headed to the airport, I was going to Manchester to visit my Nanna's sister and Cam was on his way home with a stop over in Hong Kong. We had a nice lunch in the park down from the hotel before we parted ways.

Cam and I caught the tube to Heathrow where i only just caught my flight, lucky it was delayed. After a short flight to Manchester i was saying hello to Uncle Roy and Auntie Lillian. They took me out for dinner at a local pub and not that i was wanting to start drinking again after 20 days straight of constant drinking i felt i had to be polite and suck a few back to keep him happy. We then headed back to their place for a few more beers and it gave me a chance to show off my photo's from my trip and catch up with them.

The next day i woke up to what can only be described as "the worlds best breakfast". Auntie Lillian had truly out done herself with a traditional English breakfast, eggs, baked beans, bacon, mushrooms, fried tomato, sausages and the piece de resistance... fried bread. YUMMY.

After that i was on the long flight home and it does drag on and on and on. Finally getting home in the weee hours of Sunday morning to a freezing 8 degrees. It was home and a shower. I tried to stay awake but feel asleep around lunch time for a few hours then got up for dinner as i had to try and get back to a normal sleeping pattern since i was back at work Monday

Overall i had the time of my life, I would recommend anyone thinking of going to just go book it. You will love it.

Well that's it... that's my European Inspiration and it truly was an Inspiration.

We got into Paris earlier than expected due to some great driving by John and this allowed us to see both the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower on Monday as the Louvre is closed on a Tuesday. It also meant we got the 2 most time consuming things out of the way the day before we would normally hit Paris, which gave us more time to see the sites.

First up was the Louvre which is just an enormous palace that's now a museum full of one of the worlds best art collections including the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo. The palace originally had over 600 rooms but only 3 bathrooms when it was built, so you had to plan your trip, thankfully they have fixed this now. We only had 2 hours in the Louvre but it was more than long enough for a pleb like me. We got to see the Mona Lisa and the Venus de Milo and both were ok but still didn't come close to the awe of the statue of David in Florence, at least for me. There is so much art work in this place you could spend a month just looking at it all.

Next was the Eiffel Tower and if you love to line up this is the place to be. We did get through the first part quickly since we were a group but we did have to line up for the rest of the lifts (2 lifts to get to the top). But it was well worth the waiting as the views really were spectacular and you could see all of Paris spreading out to the horizon. The Eiffel Tower was a lot taller than i thought it would be too. Once we got our fill of pictures and awe inspiring views we headed down and jumped on the bus back to the hotel for dinner.

After dinner we had our awards night. A few of us had the idea to give everyone an award based on what they had done on the tour. Some were quite good, i ended up with the "sex in the city award" since i apparently knew all the gossip but i'm just a good people watcher . Some of the other awards we gave out to people like Hero (a dickhead American no one liked), his award was "Person most likely to be pushed into on coming traffic", Random ended up with the "Team Blue lifetime achievement award" for his many, many Random efforts. We then went to the local pub for a few quite beers and a chat before we hit Paris the next day.

Paris is just a massive city and we tried to cover as much of it as possible on foot. First up was the Louvre courtyard to get those pics of the glass pyramid, then it was off to Notre Dame which was very gothic with lots of gargoyles and alike. The stained glass windows where enormous and very detailed. Next we headed into the city and by that time it was feeding time for us wiry travellers. We all got a picnic lunch and headed for one of the nearby parks which ended up being in front of the Luxembourg.

We had been told that the Frenchies didn't like people sitting on their grass but when we got to the park there were a number of people sitting in the shade on the grass so we thought great this must be an exception to the rule. After munching on a baguette and drinking some French wine for 45 mins in the shade we soon found ourselves being ushered off the grass by a guy with a whistle, at least we got to eat our lunch.

After lunch we headed to Napoleon's tomb to check out just how short this guy was. His tomb is just massive but they had his clothes and hat on display and he sure was a short fellow. Then we headed to the gardens beside the Eiffel Tower and onto the Arc de Triomphe to see just how crazy that 12 lane round about with no lane markings is. You just sit there and watch the madness and the accidents!!!

Then we strolled down the main shopping strip of Paris where only the top brands have shops. We cooled off in the Louis Vuitton store as it was nice and cool. We then came across the "most romantic bridge in Paris" so i got my picture taken with not one but 2 girls kissing me From there we headed back to the hotel to get ready for tonight.

Our last outing was to a Parisian cabaret show. We stopped off in front of the Moulin Rouge snapped a few pics then headed to our show down the street. Jo who won the wet t-shirt comp in Florence was wearing a very... umm... revealing top and as we walked past some locals she got a very French "oh lala". The show was good but the food was great. Yummy steak and man was i craving for red meat. The best part was the "free flowing" wine where myself and cam proceeded to drink 2 bottles each and were quite plastered walking out of the show. From there we joined the rest of the group for our last hurrah at the bar beside Moulin Rouge where most of the cabaret girls go for a drink afterwards and most of them are Australians (but very good looking ).

It was a great night to end what was the time of my life. I don't really remember getting home but it was late and i didn't get much sleep. Cam and I almost missed the bus back to London as we didn't get a wake up call as we normally did and i slept through my alarm, Cam was just useless. We ended up getting a phone call from Deano saying "Umm are you guys coming to London... if so get your asses down here now cause your 10 minutes late!!!". A quick slap of Cam on the ass and yelling at him to move as we are late, we are both still drunk but somehow manage to get all our stuff and down to the bus in a few minutes.

Most of the bus was still drunk from the night before and on the way to the airport we said goodbye to a lot of the yanks as they were heading off from Paris instead of London. It was kinda sad to be leaving everyone but i was looking forward to getting a decent nights sleep and remembering what its like not to be drunk.

We got to see the white cliffs of Dover for the last time as the last 15 or so people who were mainly Australian headed back to the hotel it all started in 20 days ago. We got into the hotel just after lunch and it was nice to get into a shower since i didn't get a chance in the morning.

But we still had that night to say our final fair wells.

Switzerland the land of Chocolate, watches and Nuclear Bomb shelters? Yes that's correct the Swiss are nuts, paranoid to the max. These guys have explosives on all the tunnels and bridges surrounding the boarder, all their airbases are under ground with the runways made to look like roads and the hangers all being underground or inside the mountains. They have underground cities with supplies to last a few years for a few 100,000 people, all their tunnels are curved so that if a rocket is fired into it the entire tunnel can't be destroyed, military service is compulsory and if you don't your thrown in jail for a month. To top it all off all the houses built since the 80's have had nuclear bomb shelters. All for a country that is neutral? Sure they have Chocolate but its not worth going to war over.

We were lucky in that Lucerne is normally a quite place but when were were in town there was the "Blue Balls Music Festival" on. It was a blues festival and the place was just one big party town, which suited us perfectly. Add in the fact that our hotel got changed to one that was a block from the festival and that equals all of us parting our pants off. But ouch were the beers expensive... around $10 Australian for a pint and the swiss beer is crap. Lucky for us they had some quality German beer

The next day we hit Mt Pilatus for a view of the spectacular swiss alps and Lucerne. It was also the first time we had felt temperatures under 30 degress since we were in the clouds. It was nice to not sweat again even if it was for only an hour or 2. One thing we also saw up there were mountain goats, these guys were nuts going out on ledges just to get grass when the entire valley below was full of grass.

We went up the mountain in a cable car and we went down via train and then back across to Lucerne by boat. It was a nice way to relax and take in the sites of Lucerne and Mt Pilatus. A few of us went shopping for watches (got my mummy a nice watch & myself a small pocket knife) and walked around the city. Its quite small Lucerne as you can walk round the city in around 30 mins so we covered the city's sites pretty quick so most of us headed back to the hotel for a nanna nap before hitting the town again for the festival.

Later that night we went out for dinner and a cultural show. This is when we really found out how nerdy the swiss are. They played these massive horns, a broom, bowls with rocks in them, a saw and had a flag throwing dance. All this was going on while we munched on some cheese fondu and other swiss goodies. Most of us snuck out early and headed to the blues festival and enjoyed some real music and entertainment. It was another good night and Lucerne put on a good show.

Next we were off to our last city

On our way to Florence we hit Pisa to see the learning tower of Pisa. There really isn't much in Pisa and is a bit of a hole to be honest so it was a quick photo stop to get the obligatory shot of you holding up the tower, or in recent times to get the "erect" tower coming out of your lap. So after the quick stop in Pisa we hit Florence.

After dinner at the hotel we all headed into the city to the Red Bar. Now i'm not sure why they called it the red bar but i'm guessing it had something to do with the fact that everything was red? There were quite a few other tours in this bar, not just contiki but other companies as well so it was bound to be a great night.

The beer's were pretty crap and expensive, the place was crowded and hot but the one redeeming feature was that it had karaoke!!! With a few beers under our belts some decided to give the singing voice a warm up and jump on stage. First up of course was.... Random. But what song would he pick? being Random and not knowing what he will do or say next it was an obvious choice... "The Yellow Submarine". He had that place pumping with the entire bar not just singing but screaming "we all live in the yellow submarine, the yellow submarine". A few of the others jumped up and gave it a go with 2 of the Americans and 1 Canadian picking "men at works - land down under" which was just wrong on so many levels and Cam, Simone and Kirby giving "New York, New York" a bash. It was a great night and a hell of a lot of fun.

The next day we had a tour of the huge amounts of art work on display around the city of Florence as this is where anyone who was anyone in the art world used to come to do their work. Statues, carvings and lots of paintings are everywhere around Florence. The one thing that impressed me the most was the statue of David. My god that is one impressive piece of work. It took just under 3 years to chip away at the marble block and turn it into one of the most life like statues i've seen... you can even see his butt hairs if you look carefully enough. Once again lots of walking and visiting the sites and statues.

Later that night we would head out for our dinner and group photo over looking Florence. The dinner was great and for once it wasn't pork which was a refreshing change. We had entertainment in the way of an Opera singer who had one impressively powerful voice and sung without the need for a microphone as well as a few others who got us up and dancing. Even Random got his butt shaking with not one but 2 girls at once. Lindsay even tried to show me a dance that had a total of 4 steps but after both of us being...well.... drunk we couldn't get it together.

After dinner we headed out to "Space Electronic Discotheque" nightclub. This place was huge and full of people which makes for a great night. Deano shouted us a few rounds on the house and we all danced the night away. There was even a wet t-shirt comp half way through the night and 99% of them were Australian girls... i so must be going to the wrong parts of Australia. Anyway our Joanne got up their and strutted her... rather large chest. She ended up taking the goods and coming out the winner. She did us proud.

Another late night but what a great one. Next up Lucerne.

We hit Rome that night and went on a quick tour of the city on the bus. There is one word that best describes Rome at night. WOW Massive monuments that have stood for centuries lit up at night to show them in all their glory & splendour. Afterwards we kicked back at the hotel for drinks, card games and a chat with Deano. It was really interesting hearing where he had been as he pretty much as all of Europe covered and the only parts he doesn't are at war at the moment so i don't see him going there anytime soon.

It was an early rise for everyone as we had to hit the Vatican city before the crowds to be sure we got into the place in this lifetime. The pope was meant to give his little speech but apparently his a soft cock and can't handle the heat so left us for Austria to cool off... Soft popey... soft. But this also meant that the line wouldn't be as long since he wasn't talking, it still took us 2hrs to get in!!!

Once in we got a guided tour of the worlds most priceless collection of artwork. All the "ninja turtle" artists were there as well as every other big name you can think of. Anyone who was anybody had some art work at the Vatican city. The halls were chock full of art work, statues & more. Even the buildings themselves ended up covered in paintings and mosaics. The floors the walls even the roofs had paintings on them, some were even trippy enough to have been painted to look 3D with frames around the pictures... very trippy.

Walking into the Sistine Chapel was just amazing. The entire place while small is covered wall to floor with paintings. Massive paintings everywhere, roof, walls even the floor has marble mosaics in it. Just amazing to think it was all done by a handful of people the roof was done by Michelangelo alone.

After getting through the Vatican we also visited St Pauls Cathedral. WOW what an enormous church in every way. Massively high roof with dome's everywhere and they are all painted with depiction's out of the bible. Its very wide and long with small area's on the side for small worships and alike. Just one big impressive church.

After getting through the Vatican we headed into Rome to see the rest of the impressive buildings that Rome has to offer. But first up was lunch and lots of gelati to get us ready for an afternoon of walking. The gelati in Italy was not the crap we get here, its more like ice-cream and very very yummy.

First up we hit the "Il Vittoriano" or as the locals call it "the wedding cake" since it looks like a wedding cake and like a wedding cake there isn't much inside. But a very impressive building with some great views from the top of the coliseum & of Rome. After that we visited the Coliseum and that is one impressive building. In its day it could hold 70,000 people and they could have it cleared in 10 mins!!! Personally i think they just let the lions loose in the crowd to get them out quicker. For such an old building its quite impressive when you think about when it was built (0080 AD) and the fact that there was nothing even close to it in the entire world.

From there we walked around Rome seeing a few more of the sites including the church where they made these memorials for the monks out of their bones. Its quite disturbing in a way walking through and seeing so many human bones setup in an artistic fashion. We also visited the trevi fountain, a few more churches, some big squares and lots of other buildings from the glory days of Rome.

That night we were all dead after getting up so early to see the Vatican city. So we had a quite one in the hotel then hit the hay ready for the bus ride to Florence.