Contiki Europe Tour (Dec 2011)

Ryan’s Europe Travel Journal Dec 2011

15 December – flight from Jhb to Amsterdam via Frankfurt

Our flight is scheduled to leave at 20:20. We get a lift with Hilary to the airport and arrive at 17:30. Long wait in the queue to get our luggage wrapped, and a long queue to check in. We realize there is 2 Lufthansa flights going to Frankfurt in the same evening and we are actually standing in the wrong queue. Luckily we were only standing in the wrong queue for about 5 minutes before realizing. The other queue was not too bad, but then the queue for passport control is ridiculous. There are hundreds of people, with only 1 person working. People getting irritated and anxious to missing their flights, including us. The lady at the counter asks Claudette if this really is her passport because her photo looks different. Boarding is due to begin at 19:35, and we eventually get through passport control at 19:50. Luckily the plane was delayed until 21:20. Eventually we get in the air, the flight not too bad and we manage to get a bit of sleep.

16 December (day 1) – Netherlands, Amsterdam

Our flight arrives in Frankfurt, Germany more than an hour late. We have to go through passport control again, as this is the first point of entry into Europe and also we need to go through security checks again. Claudette’s bag is searched because they could see bottles in the bag (toiletries). All is fine but we eventually get to the boarding gate for our connecting flight 10 minutes before takeoff, but it is too late. We have to organize a new flight, and it only departs at 4pm after arriving at 8am. This is a huge airport and there are long distances to walk. We are scheduled to land in Amsterdam at 17:45. We sleep like hoboes on the airport benches and are dying for a shower. Claudette straightens her hair in public while enjoying free local cappuccinos we found hidden in the Lufthansa waiting area.

A successful flight, on time and luggage arrives in Amsterdam. The tour began in London but we are joining in Amsterdam and we arrive before the rest of the group. Nice hotel, excellent dinner. We meet another 4 people, also from SA, that join in Amsterdam. We go out on our own in the evening to see the city centre. We caught a train from the airport which is right near the hotel, to the city centre. We see the red light district. It starts to hail/snow/sleet while we in town. Claudette is shocked to see fat prostitutes in standing in the windows.

17 December (day 2) - Netherlands, Amsterdam

So it only gets light close to 9am. We have a good English breakfast (scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, yoghurt, etc.) All met at the tour bus after breakfast and found out that most of the group are South Africans, a few strange Australians and New Zealanders, some Brazilians, Columbians, Japanese and Chinese. We then went to a cheese making farm and was able to try out some different cheeses, including smoked cheese. It’s delicious. We watched a demo on how clogs are made. The guy giving the demo was full of humor. He says they are taught not to throw anything away. The shaving from the clogs, are used to smoke the cheese. The bus then dropped us off at the city centre where we had free time to explore. We walked the streets and chatted to the locals. They can understand us if we speak Afrikaans and us them, so communication isn’t a problem. We go back to the hotel for an afternoon snooze and then go back to the city centre in the evening. We go to 3 different pubs. Had a burger and chips for dinner. Our favorite pub was named “Drink n Sink” and they played great music. This city is full of energy! We walk through the red light district again and then head back to the hotel. A good start to our tour.

18 December (day 3) – Amsterdam to Germany

We left early at 8am (still dark) on our way to Germany. We don’t go through any passport control or Border posts but just move freely between countries. It’s a very scenic drive, and I don’t want to sleep to miss out on anything. We see 2 car accidents while driving on the autobahn. The tour manager surprises us with a change of plan and detour to Cologne which is not part of the tour. We went to a Christmas market and tried out some gluwine (hot wine), and also some bratwurst (nearly like a boerewors roll). It is a real festive and Christmas feel and everyone is happy even though it is freezing cold. There was also a church built in the 1300’s and a service was on the go at the time of going in. We saw quite a bit of snow on our way to St Goar driving along the famous Rhine River. St Goar is named after a guy that baptized people but many actually drowned. We visited a beer stein and a cuckoo clock shop. The hotel wasn’t very fancy and situated in a small little village. The heater wasn’t working at first, but it was repaired. We had a good traditional dinner (pork and vegies), before going to try some wine tasting. Also tried a German beer (Bitburger). The wine tasting guy wore a medal that he won 45 years ago. Wine wasn’t that wonderful apart from the eiswyn which is harvested at -7 deg C. It is very expensive though (28 euro for 350ml).

19 December (day 4) - Germany to Switzerland

A small breakfast in comparison to Amsterdam but good none the less. We are no sooner on the road and then one of the SA guys (named H) says he has forgotten his passport at the hotel. The bus stops, makes a few calls and the hotel are searching for the passport. H finds his passport in his bag about 20 minutes later, and comes quietly to the front of the bus to say that he has found it. Beautiful scenery along the way. We even pass the Hockenheim race track and a go-kart track. There is a lot of snow along the way and we learn about the history of Switzerland. Switzerland holds 35% of the worlds wealth and they work in Swiss francs because are not part of the European Union, although the franc is more or less the same value of the euro. We stop in Basel (just inside the Switzerland border) for lunch and learn how expensive things are in Switzerland. 12 euro (R130) for a slice of pizza and a coke. As we enter Lucerne we are shown this monument where a lion was carved into the side of a rock face. Around the lion is the shape of a big representing the French that acted like pigs in the war.

We stop at a Swiss army knife and watch shop where we can buy souvenirs and get them engraved. Our hotel is an old jail turned into a hotel, because there is no crime in Switzerland. The actual cells are the rooms. They are narrow and cramped with one small non opening window and heavy doors. It’s very strange. An interesting dinner too. Lettuce leaves for a starter, spaghetti for main and ice cream for desert. We have a snooze and then at 11pm tried to find an open shop for some coldrink. The city is dead, not a person in sight and its freezing. Eventually we find 1 open restaurant and we manage to buy a 1.5l coke for 5 francs.

20 December (day 5) Switzerland, Lucerne

Today we were supposed to go up Mount Pilates. Apparently this is where Pontius Pilate from the bible is supposed to be buried. We have cereal for breakfast with breads and then use public transport to get to the mountain. Unfortunately the mountain is closed on top due to strong winds and it is snowing quite heavily. They say we will try the mountain again in the morning. We go to some shops and a Christmas market. Everything is very expensive! We have lunch at Burger King and it costs 19 euro (R200) for 2 burgers, 1 chips, and 1 coke. Crazy! We take some lovely photos during the day, especially ones with snow falling. Everything is white! Some of the group went pub crawling last night and are all complaining about the price of things. We learn that Switzerland can be closed off in a short space of time. We just walk around the city looking at shops and the snow is lighter but very very cold.

21 December (day 6) Switzerland to Austria

This morning the cable car up Mount Pilates is open but freezing cold. The mountain is over 2000m high. The first cable car goes past 2 stops with 4 people per car. The final stage takes 40 people per car. The temperature at the top is -9 deg C. Most of the group have a snowball fight. It was snowing heavily at the top so we couldn’t get a view of the rest of the Swiss Alps but was still quite a different experience, and what we could see was spectacular. Then it was back to the bus and on our way to another small country called Lichtenstein which also uses francs and they have a Prince that rules the country and has a royal family. We stopped there for lunch just below the royal palace. One of the strange Aussie girls (Pinky) was late for the bus and was punished by having to sing karaoke on the bus for everyone. Finally we head for Austria (Innsbruck). What a breathtaking scenic drive! Plenty of snow and was snowing the whole time while we were there. This city twice hosted the Winter Olympics. We went straight to a Christmas market. The atmosphere was again very festive. We went to a Swarovski crystal shop. Claudette was in heaven. The bus was thrown with snow balls by naughty kids as we stood at traffic lights. The hotel was great, a welcome relief from the jail. We had traditional Austrian schnitzel for dinner, delicious! The hotel had its own pub, so we sat down there for a few drinks before bed time. What a nice place!

22 December (day 7) Austria to Italy, Venice

A decent breakfast in Innsbruck and an early 7.15am departure for Italy. Not far into Italian territory and the snow is gone! Very nice scenic drive. We arrive in Venice at about 2pm and are taken on a private boat to the main island. Everything is so old, no cars. Some of the canals are very narrow and it’s so easy to get lost because it’s like a maize of tall buildings and every alleyway looks the same. We have some coffee and later a pizza right next to the main Grand Canal. We see the famous St Marks square and take lots of photos. On the bus on the way to Venice we are told we need to have at least 1 ice cream (Gellati) a day while we are in Italy, so we try our first. Yummy. The South Africans start singing the national anthem and Waka Waka on the way home and the tour has hit a new high level. Everyone is happy. The hotel again is very nice in Mirano just outside of Venice. Another fantastic day!

23 December (day 8) Venice to Rome

A cold night and early morning but all are excited to head off to Rome. Some South Africans hijack the bus driver’s teddy mascot and sew a South African badge onto its jacket back. It’s a long day on the road and we stop in Florence on the way for lunch. We go to a leather store and learn how to tell between real and fake leathers. We get to explore the area a bit for lunch. We see statues of David and Dante. Eventually we arrive in Rome at about 7pm because of heavy traffic along the way. They take us to the city centre and point out a few of the city highlights. We some of the original ruins and its amazing. Most are lower than street level as modern Rome is built on top of the original. We get a glimpse of the Vatican as we drive past, and then walk past the famous colloseum. Wow! Amazing! It’s huge! We then go for a group dinner at a restaurant with a crazy Italian opera singer. We get to the hotel at about 11pm, very tired but another good day.

24 December (day 9) Rome

A good English breakfast to begin the day. We catch a train and then climb straight onto the tube train to get to the Vatican. We have our own private tour guide and are each given earphones to hear him while we walk around. Hundreds of people in the queue, but we go straight to the front. What a bonus of being with a tour group. Its amazing, big statues everywhere. We learn about the whole history of the Catholic Church. We then move into the Sistine chapel and see the artwork on the walls and roof painted by Michelangelo. We then get inside St Peters cathedral. It is massive and beautiful. There is TV stations outside busy setting up for Christmas broadcasts for tonight’s mass. Afterwards we have some pizza and the best ever gelato ice cream. Yummy. I had caramel miragne and coffee flavours. Our tour manager (Dom) takes us to view a couple of tourist attractions such as the Spanish steps and the Trevi fountain. The fountain is where you make three wishes when u throw 3 coins into the fountain, 1 for luck, 1 for love, and 1 for your safe return to Rome. We then head to see the Colloseum and ancient ruins. It is mind blowing to think that hundreds of years ago, people were shopping and walking in these very places. The colloseum is huge, and 2000 years old. Wow! We take some nice photos then wonder the streets and go to a few shops. We head back to the train and to the hotel on our own, and need to get a bus from the train station to the hotel. We find another couple from our group at the station, and we get a little lost with the bus, but eventually get back, exhausted. Its Christmas tomorrow.

25 December (day 10) Rome to Florence.

Bon Natalie! Which means merry Christmas. We hear that one other SA couple got engaged early Christmas morning. And we on the road again. We have a secret Santa gift exchange on the bus. Each person had to draw a name earlier in the tour and buy a gift for up to 5 euro for that person. I get a miniature bottle of cape velvet and Claudette gets a souvenir of Italy. We are all given a Father Christmas hat to wear for the rest of Christmas day. It even has flashing lights. The trip to Florence goes quick and when we arrive we go for a group photo looking over the whole city. Quite a spectacular sight. We then go for a guided tour through Florence seeing statues of David, Dante, Michelangelo, and Galileo etc. We get to the hotel early in the afternoon and have a chance to have a much needed nap. Everyone then meets up at 6 and we head off to our Christmas dinner in the Tuscan hills. Everyone is excited, hats on and singing on the bus. What a lot of food! We have pasta and lasagne and other breads as starters. That was already enough as a main meal. The main was roast turkey with potatoes. We have 3 bottles of wine per table too, so the atmosphere was merry. We had traditional Italian Christmas cake for desert. There was live music and Andersen (Dr Brazil) kept shouting out “Gracias Gabrielle” to the Italian opera singer. He was sitting at our table made us laugh so much. Also there was another Contiki group who joined us for the evening, but didn’t seem as alive as our group. From dinner, we go to the space electronic disco. They were singing karaoke and the vibe was festive and a bit too much wine. We shared a taxi back to the hotel with Pieter and Nadia (another SA couple). What a good night!

26 December 2011 (day11) Florence to French Riviera

A long day on the bus after a heavy night. The bus today is more quiet than usual. We stop at the city of Pisa and see the famous leaning tower. It really is amazing at the amount that it does lean, even though they say it has been slightly corrected recently. We get to take some fun photos and have our final Italian gelato ice cream before crossing the French border. Back on the bus and we stop for lunch just outside Genoa. Genoa looks like a nice city. The sights are beautiful as we drive along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Tunnel after tunnel and a view of expensive yachts down below. We arrive in Nice around 4.30pm and drive along the beach front. Everyone is roller blading, cycling and running. It seems like another world here, considering only a few days earlier we were covered in snow. It is much warmer here, and everyone is out and active and no need for a jacket in the day! It’s about 15 Deg C. The hotel is right next to the train station conveniently and is very clean even though it is probably the smallest room we have had thus far. We do have our balcony. Dinner was at an Irish pub in the centre of town right near the beach front. The city is alive! Lots of people out on the streets late at night. We have curry for dinner with crembrulee for desert and then join in on a quiz hosted by the restaurant. We quit after round 2 because couldn’t get any answers right. Can see we will enjoy it here!

27 December 2011 (day 12) Nice and Monaco

My day has come. We are off to Monaco. The tour is a free day to explore by ourselves. The options include Nice where we are staying or Cannes or Monaco. Of course we choose to go to Monaco. It takes about 20 minutes on the train which runs along the coastline. Some spectacular sights on the way, with small towns built into the side of the mountains. As we walk out the station we see a monument of a formula 1 car and I realize we are at turn 1 of the race track. Because it is not racing time, it isn’t so easy to work out the layout of the track, but soon realize we are walking up the steep hill towards casino square. I can’t believe how narrow and tight the roads actually are. No wonder there isn’t much overtaking there. I don’t know how they overtake at all. We virtually walk the whole track, see the hairpin, the tunnel and the start/finish line. Quite exciting. We see plenty of fancy cars. Around lunch time we return to Nice and walk down the main road to the beach. It has a pebble beach and is like a big bay. It had wide pavements for all the roller blading, cycling and running. These people are very active! We really like this place. We have lunch at a beach side restaurant, having French fries and pancakes. Then we walk around the shops along the main road. Claudette buys herself a smart coat and a pair of boots. Styling! We then leave for the Monaco dinner and casino. We have pork for dinner at a restaurant right next to the royal palace. After dinner it’s off to the casino. The one SA guy is up 700 Euro but eventually walks out about 4oo euro up (R4200 +-). Most of the guys are all excited to see the Ferraris parked outside the hotel and we take a video of how the toilets flush. Quite amazing. Another good day.

28 December 2011 (day 13) Nice to French Chateau

Today we head north towards Lyon. We really enjoyed our time in Nice, but the tour must go on. Everyone on the bus is sick and I have a sore throat starting too. We depart a bit later than usual (9am). We have another cheese and salami sandwich for breakfast. Tired of the same breakfasts. We drive for about an hour and then stop at Grasse to visit a local perfumery. The brand is well known in France and they explain the whole process on how perfume is made etc. There is apparently only 50 people in the world who are experts on smelling and mixing fragrances. These people are called “The Nose”. Back on the bus and then we stop for lunch at Avignon which is where Popes lived before the Vatican. It is also famous for a half finished bridge that stops halfway over the river. We have some McDonalds for lunch, the first time since May. We finally arrive at the French Chateau (which means “castle”). The rooms are very smart, modern and spacious, and we even have a bath. We have chicken for dinner which was presented a bit differently but still wasn’t too bad. We then have a quiz game, boys versus girls which the boys won. Tomorrow is our final day of travelling and we will arrive at our final destination, Paris.

29 December (day 14) French Chateau to Paris

Bonjour! Everyone was up early this morning on a mission to get a front seat on the bus because the back is noisy and most people are sick. We get our usual 2nd row seats. This is to be our last day on the bus. Everyone is now very tired. We stop for lunch and then later stop at this palace called Fontainebleau.

Some of the group are going to Moulin Rouge tonight but we decide we will rather explore the city ourselves and spend the money on a good dinner. As we check into the hotel around 4pm, we decide to go straight away to the tube trains and see what we can see before it gets dark. We arrive at the destination station and then as we get outside we get a glimpse of the Eiffel tower in the distance as we walk over the Seine river bridge. We get to Notre Dame and go inside. The bells are ringing. Quite spectacular and its very similar to the Vatican. It actually seems bigger inside. There is a church service on the go at the time so we sit down and watch for a few minutes. After that we explore the streets and eventually find a small restaurant in a student village with a 3 course menu for 10 euro (R110). What a bargain. Starters, Claudette has snails and me French onion soup. Mains Claudette has beef stew and me a leg of lamb. Very good value. Was enjoyable. As we leave it begins to rain, so we decide to head back to the hotel. We were a little confused at the one interconnecting station and then ended up going gin the wrong direction, but eventually made it back to the hotel. On the way back we find a shop that sells a 1.5L coke for 1 euro 50. What a bargain! So this was our first taste of Pari!

30 December (day15) Paris

Our final full day of tour. Hot water this morning (water was cold when we got back last night so it was a splash and dash). We have a good hotel breakfast (more than just bread and salami). More variety than normal. We go with the bus to the city centre and Dom explains a few things on the way with regard to some of the history of Paris. We first go to the Louvre which is where the famous Mona Lisa is kept. He says that if you spend one minute looking at each painting it will take a month to look at everything. We then stroll up the main street towards the Arch de Triomf, looking at markets and shops along the way. We underestimate the distance to walk, but it’s good anyways. The arch is huge. Then we walk again towards the Eiffel tower. You can see these landmarks from far away and it seems close until you start walking. We stop at a small memorial along the way at the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed. The Eiffel tower is massive. It’s hard to think how it was constructed. A true work of art, it was completed in 1899 and stands 324m tall. We then walk to the palace and war museum, but our legs are then so tired that we decide to take a train towards Notre Dame for lunch. A very good lunch. Ate too much. Claudette finds herself a pair of boots at a good price. We eventually get back to the hotel and have a much needed nap. We have chicken for dinner at the hotel and then head back out for our last guided tour with our tour manager on the bus. They take us again to all the main spots. We see where Napoleon is buried, where the thinker statue stands and the statue of liberty. We then go round and round the traffic circle of the Arch de Triomf in the bus and are told that vehicles are not insured at this intersection because it is the most dangerous in the world (an accident happens here every 12 minutes). We nearly hit a van. Then the highlight was when we stopped. First he had our attention looking for the ghost of Napoleon in some old buildings windows on the left purposely as a hoax because nobody realized that the Eiffel tower was standing in all its glory to our right. What a sight! We were then told that something had gone wrong with the bus and we all needed to get off the bus and look at the Eiffel tower. Of course it’s another joke, and after a few minutes it starts to flash with blue lights. Beautiful! We get given tickets to go up to the very top of the tower. The lift takes forever and just goes up and further up. My legs feel weak. We get to the middle floor and then catch another lift to the very top. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t good and we were in the clouds so had no view from up top, so we went back down to the middle floor to take photos. It’s amazing. What a sight. You can see the whole of Paris from there. Back on the bus and it’s much warmer! And that’s our tour. What a thrilling finish! What a great experience!

31 December (day 16) Paris - Frankfurt – Johannesburg

We get up early, have breakfast and say our final goodbyes to those travelling back to London. Once they leave we get our bags all packed and walk to the shops near to the hotel. We then say our goodbyes to SA friends we met on tour and then head for the train station. It wasn’t easy carrying our big bags down steps. We need to change trains once and it takes about an hour and half to eventually get to the Charles de Gaulle airport. The terminal that our departure is from is small with 1 shop and we sit there bored all afternoon. We through our photos while waiting and realize how much we have seen over the past 2 weeks, and its New Years eve too. We catch our flight to Frankfurt which is about 20% full, and are ahead of time, so no stress this time round. Flight to Johannesburg wasn’t very comfortable but we back. What a great holiday! Happy new Year!