DAY 7: HOPFGARTEN, AUSTRIA

Tuesday, August 1^st, 2006

It was raining that morning so we couldn’t go on our bike ride, but the Contiki staff thought fast and decided to meet outside the hotel at 12:30 to see if the weather was better. So, instead we walked around town which was relaxing because the town is so small with only 2,000 people and very quiet, in a pleasant way. I went to the supermarket and bought stuff with my credit card. This reminds me...make sure you check with your credit card company to see if there are any finance charges for using your credit card for a different currency. It turned out mine was 3%, which sucked to learn after I got back.

Next was our bike ride!! Although we couldn’t go up to the mountains like previously planned because the trails were too muddy from the rain, I had a great time! It actually started raining harder once we all got on our bikes, but it was so great because I didn’t feel cold at all. In the middle of our trip, we took a break to have some ice cream! Even better. After we were done, there were long wet + dirt streak marks on our backs and butts.

A shower never felt so good. We had dinner then everyone started drinking. There was a little bar in Haus Lucas (where we were staying). While everyone else pre-partied, I packed my suitcase because I knew I wouldn’t want to do it after I got back from the bar we were going to.

We all headed to the Silver Bullet just a two minute walk up the street. I didn’t drink anything, but I had a great time dancing and chatting with people. I met some Aussie’s from another Contiki and one of them said they were going to San Diego (where I live) next. When I was tired and had too much fun, Geoffrey walked me back to the hotel…how sweet of him. On the way back, for some reason, I felt like jumping in a few puddles on the street, which was fun at the time. I didn’t realize one of the puddles was so big and I got my shoes and the bottom part of my jeans wet. Attractive!

DAY 6: LUCERNE/LIECHTENSTEIN/HOPFGARTEN

Monday, July 31^st, 2006

That morning, we had breakfast (which was really good by the way; hot chocolate, bologna, oatmeal, and oj), and drove to Mt. Pilatus, the highest mountain in Western Europe with fantastic views of the Swiss Alps. We took gondolas (shown below) to the top. The gondola ride was about 45 minutes and it was fantastic seeing the brilliant views! I really love the mountain countryside. All of the tall tree forests reminded me of where I used to live in southern Washington State. On top of Mt. Pilatus, we could see the Swiss Alps perfectly! They were truly amazing views because it was such a clear day. Just breathtaking. Plus, it is the coldest place we have been so far on the trip. It was cold enough to have a sweater on, but really pleasant. The air was so clean too because of the altitude.

We visited Liechenstein, the third smallest country in the world, for about two hours. I had the most delicious chicken burger ever and bought 3 Swiss chocolate bars to fulfill my chocolate craving (I have them all the time, not just when I’m next to the country known for its great chocolate)!

On the bus ride to Hopfgarten, we were surprised and told we were going to stop at the Swarovski factory! Swarovski is a famous jewelry store known for its crystals. I had never heard of Swarovski before because again, I’m a cheap girl and know nothing about expensive jewelry. We were left in the store for about an hour to look around and buy whatever we wanted. Once I got into the store, I was amazed with all the shiny stuff! I decided it was a special place and bought my mom a necklace, sister a ring, and a necklace for me. My dad doesn’t wear jewelry…so I didn’t feel bad not getting him any. J

After that little adventure, we came to Hopfgarten, my favorite place on the whole trip. It was pretty similar to Lucerne, but I think it had more of a really really small town feel. I like those kind of places. Everyone knows everyone. We had dinner, which our Tour Manager and Driver helped make! In Hopfgarten, Contiki has what they call “Contiki Villages”, which is where Contiki employees stay for a lot of the year and only Contiki travelers stay there. The rooms were quite nice with a spacious room, couch, separate bathroom and shower room. Back to the dinner….sooo good. I had vegetable pea soup, chicken, potatoes, salad, and apple strudel. Yum.

Then, one of the Contiki staff taught us that one of the traditions in Austria was to take a shot with your thumb on the top of the glass and your pinky on the bottom. When it turned midnight, they switched their fingers, taking a shot with their pinky finger on top and their thumb on the bottom! I thought that was very interesting and am still wondering how that tradition originated. If anyone can help me out, that would be awesome.

DAY 5: LUCERNE, SWITZERLAND

Sunday, July 30^th, 2006

We were on the bus most of the day today. I caught up on some sleep and then we listened to music for awhile. By the time we arrived in Lucerne, Switzerland it was time for dinner. I had no idea what to expect out of a local Swiss restaurant called “Stadtkeller”.

My favorite food was the Swiss cheese fondue. The tradition is that if you accidentally drop your cheese bread into the fondue dish, you have to kiss the person on your left. So Jason “accidentally” did this, and kissed my friend, Julia, I think she enjoyed it thoroughly because all of the girls thought Jason was attractive.

While we were eating, there was original Swiss folk music, yodeling, alphornblowing and flagthrowing, and national costumes. Several times throughout the evening, the performers called up volunteers to try all of these traditions. People yodeled, blew the big horns (some of the guys were pretty weak), drank some beer, and did the chicken dance. One of the funniest parts of the evening was when a Swiss cow came out and started licking people and running into them (people in costumes of course). At the end of the dinner, everyone got out of their seats and started dancing in a line around the restaurant. It was extremely fun!

That night, there was thunder and lighting and it was raining. But I was inside the hotel, so I loved it!

DAY 4: PARIS

Saturday, July 29^th, 2006

Today was a great day of walking, shopping, and seeing the sights. After breakfast, we were dropped off at the Place de Clichy square and headed over to the Louvre! The outside was absolutely beautiful! Once inside, we saw the famous Mona Lisa painting (where you can’t take pictures) and the Venus de Milo sculpture.

Our Tour Manager had told us it would take someone full days to walk through the whole Louvre at a leisurely pace, but we managed to be in n’ out in about 10 minutes.

Our group wasn’t very interested in art history, and kept taking obnoxious pictures in front of the statues (not me of course). One of the men working there told our group, “This ain’t no Disneyland!” Hahaha. They told us to leave since someone in our group had touched an art platform accidentally, so we kindly pranced out of there. It was pretty fun being followed out.

Next to see was Notre Dame. The line was not too long, but we decided we didn’t want to wait an hour so we went in through the exit in groups of two. No one pointed us out (why doesn’t everyone just go in the exit?? Haha). Inside, it looked like a glamorous church with huge statues of Jesus on the cross and gigantic stained glass windows.

LUNCH! We were all starving and found a little place on a corner of the street that served crepes. Let me tell you, chocolat crepes are AMAZING! Wow…I won’t go into further detail, but they were just that good. We all sat in front of the Notre Dame on this great sunny day, and talked until we were done eating.

We walked down the famous street called Champs de Elysees and went into a lot of the shops. We are shopping in Paris! The clothes were quite different than that of the U.S., but it was interesting to see the styles here. Now, I think of all these shops when a TV show or movie refers to when they fly to Paris just to go shopping for the day. I can imagine Oprah flying there in her private jet and shopping there. I didn’t see anyone famous there, though. The street had mostly clothing and shoe stores.

We walked up about a million stairs up to the Arc de Triomphe, but it was worth it. Next time, I will listen to my Tour Manager and wear tennis shoes instead of flip flops while walking all day! The views of Paris were beautiful, including the Eiffel Tower.

A few of the girls wanted to go in the Louis Vuitton store, so we went there and discovered the excellent service. They had tons of employees, all dressed up professionally, wanting to help customers. All the products were displayed in glass cases. I looked at a small wallet with the LV leather on it and saw the price, inscribed on a metal pin, of 350 euro (about $440). Personally, I would never buy any purse or wallet over $30. That’s just me though! (I’m pretty cheap.) Also, I think the LV store was one of the only stores that had an escalator going up and down.

While walking back to our hotel from the Metro, the only guy accompanying us 5 girls suspected a guy to be following us. He told us to stop and look at a shop window to see if he would pass. The weird guy kept staring at us as he walked by us, and then stopped at a bar in front of us. Conveniently, the police were near us and we tried to tell them we suspected a guy who might pickpocket us (since they are everywhere in Paris). But, with our luck, none of us knew how to tell them in French and none of them spoke English. So we basically took off running past the bar and ran most of the way to our hotel while almost getting run over running through the street. Yea…we are a smart group. But these are the kinds of things that make trips interesting!

At dinner, we had unbelievably yummy food and wine. This was the first time I drank on the trip. It was even better because I am legal in Europe! I tasted this wine, not red or white, but pink wine called Kir. SO GOOD! I drank a glass and a half and was already really buzzed. Describing the feeling is pretty easy; I felt really relaxed and didn’t really care what anyone thought about me (typical buzz feeling). So I had a great time! J

Next, the big event, the Moulin Rouge!!! For those of you that don’t know, the Moulin Rouge is a cabaret show where you sit down at tables, drink champagne, and watch topless dancers dance and sing. The show was really great, especially with the alcohol, which made everything seem two times better. With the added two glasses of champagne, I was feeling in a daze, like everything I saw was slanting from side to side, kinda like a strobe light view. I still felt good though!