Postcard diaries - Part 1

Buongiorno & bonjour!

Whilst I have been traveling I have been writing on postcards I have picked up from every place. Thought the best way for you to hear about my trip was to simply read those! Tried to upload them but they are not clear enough, so read the typed version in the next few posts instead. I hope they paint a clear enough picture of how FUN and adventurous my life has been!

EUROPE UNPLUGGED, TOP DECK CAMPING TOUR

Day 1 &2, 18th &19th July: London to Paris

After waking up at a ghastly 3am on Saturday the 18th July in Oxford and catching a bus to Victoria St Station in London City then a train to goodness knows where by Russell Square, a tired and bent over (due to all the bags & no sleep) Michelle arrived at the Generator Hostel. Everyone on my "Europe Unplugged" Top Deck Tour looked pretty dreary to be honest. Dont blame them - 6am starts (or earlier!) are not fun. Little did we know at the time but it did set the precedent for our waking time over the next 23 days! Made friends with two Ozzies Nic and Josh first off so spent the bus ride blabbering on about town planning and the like. Caught ferry from England to Calais - you can see the Dover Cliffs in my photos below. Upon arrival in Paris had a bus tour - it certainly is known as the ´City of lights`for a reason! Next day checked out the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre and in the afternoon did a bike tour taking over the footpaths and the streets of Paris. We broke the record of broken chains on our tour. Had a gourmet meal under the Eiffel Tower that evening following a snail eating competition against another Top Deck Tour. We won just quietly.


Click here to view the photos

Day 3 & 4, 20th & 21st July: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Land of fondue and wood chopping!! 8 hour drive from Paris and border formalities. Awestruck when arrived at campsite - campsite nestled at bottom of famous Jungfrau and Schilthorn Mountains. Highest in Europe. Snow peaked. 5 other Top Deck/Contiki groups at site. Set up tents, then dinner & hanging out by cook tent in our sleeping bag parachute huddle. Next day walk to Trummelbach Waterfalls - actually in cliffs. many waterfalls also coming down from cliffs surrounding us. Went behind one. Filled up water bottles here too - so refreshing. Dipped our toes in stream on way back - I lost the competition to see who could stay in the longest. Walked through town (one street) - looked at Swiss Army Knife shops, bought chocolate incl. Toblerone. Myself, James and Dan took cable car up mountain following a full analysis of the area map and delighting in names. Got off cable car and bush-wacked up mountain further past cows and slugs. Incredible breath-taking views. Toblerone opened and enjoyed on our rock perch. 1000+ m high. Happiness. Went for swim in stream afterwards with the boys - just like a turbulent spa, only about 30 degrees less and fresh from the snow-peaked mountains. Madness. 50min walk there (convinced everyone else it was only 15). That night hit the camp bar. Named rightly so: "The Bar". Bras and coasters that had been signed by visitors over the years hanging from roof. Danced on tables, crouching in between hanging objects!! Boys sliding on tables = messy. Fun times in Switzerland!!

For the picturesque and adventurous photos click here

Day 5, 22nd July: Avignon, France

Drove through French wine growing area of Rhone Valley. Got to campsite and Rory (our bus-driver) had to back through whole campsite, putting dust on fellow campers (+ their food). Sola Rosa cranking so not so bad. Perfected my lylo blowing up skills in the 30 degree heat (a couple of people got the fun job of blowing up everyones lylos using an air nozzle each time we arrived at a new campsite). Tonnes of cicadas. Sat next to river as Allira (tour leader) explained history of area. Very cool priest movement history. Took a walk at dusk to Palace of the Popes (largest Gothic palace in world), Pont St Benezet. Peaceful yet vibrant ancient walled city. Annual Avignon festival on - neat street performances and a lot of people. Posters plastered everywhere. Dinner at restaurant with other Top Deckers. Got to know everyone more. Split from group, got gelato and wandered streets dreaming and soaking in the atmosphere. Surprises around every corner. Quaint and lived in little streets. Got lost but made it to a bit of the city wall, then found ferris wheel by river and bridge. Walked through multi-cultural markets, still buzzing at 11PM. Marveled at leather goods, white Italian hats and Rastafarian people and goods. Walked back over Pont Edward Daladier bridge to campsite, meeting up with Maria from Columbia, glanced over at famous Pont d'Avignon bridge (now ruins and only about an eighth of its original length). Magical, enchanting evening. 

My photos can be viewed here 

Day 6 &7, 23rd & 24rd July: French Riviera & Monaco

Drove South from Avignon to French Riviera. Arrived mid-arvo at campsite in Antives. About 10 min walk from a beach with very cool curvy apartments. Settled in to dusty campsite, holding on to our no peg or fly policy Kristin (aka. Canada) and i had agreed on. Did some washing. Woop. Monte Carlo this evening. Dressed up. Dinner on way - high up looking over water of the Med, cruise ships, marinas, terra-cotta roofed houses. Delish gourmet food done by Ollie (our cook), but a gazillion wasps. Good champagne. Drove through Monte Carlo to the Palais du Prince at souther end of Rue Des Remparts in Monaco Ville. Got stopped by police/guards as a VIP was vacating the premises. Wish i knew who. Moved on to casinos of Monte Carlo. Think: Oceans 11, 21... Looked at Grand Casino and adjacent roundabout and restaurants then went to more casual Sun Casino. Watched boys play 21 (and learnt the base rules myself - 21 Rules 101 by Dan). James lost 100 Euros!! Can see how people get addicted. Due to restricted bus driving hours (legalities) could not stay long. Au revoir rich, lavish, over-the-top, built-up yet kind of empty (of souls) Monaco!! Merci for the gorgeous yachts and launches though - a delight to the eye and imagination.

Facts about Monaco: only 1.95 square km. 32,000 people. World's 2nd smallest country after Vatican City. Ruled since 1297 by Grimaldi family. Own Monegasque dialect. Loss of Monarch Price Ranier (1923-2005) - was married to Hollywood actress Grace Kelly. Now son Albert enthroned.

Next day: got dropped at main train station in Nice this morning. Walked to beach with usual crew: Helen, James, Fox, Carl, Dan, Sarah & Manisha. Main street in 'new' part of town very average. Boys hit the beach while the girls, James and myself discovered the old part of Nice. Stumbled across markets. Incredible and authentic. Flowers, food and craft. Bought a few glass finger paintings off the artist who did in front of our eyes in 1 minute! Skill!! Bought Jasmine ice-cream. James had lavendar. Taster how it smells - glad i tried them, but hardest ice-cream to get through! Walked through narrow, terra-cotta orange/yellow streets, had heart attack from town bell AND cannon being let off at midday, signally time for lunch for the locals (tradition). Flip. Walked up and through old Jewish cemetery to Old Chateau look out at end of beach. Water = turquoise. Met others at beach and had yum pizza back at old part of town. Funny waiter who took photos of himself instead of us. Back to beach via rollerblades along Promenade Des Anglais (hired some with Carl - absolute gumps!), met up with others in our TD group, lay on their highlighter lylos. Actually most uncomfortable swimming/beach experience! Pebbles are undercover evil. Poor little tootsies. NZ IS THE BEST. Soccer on beach with random Spanish guys. After an hour of sleeping on beach, James and I stayed in town for dinner. Craving chips and veal steak. Spilt water on table - spilt food on me every meal that day. Apple juice = breakfast (literally ALL over me), pizza = lunch, veal sauce and water = dinner. James being highly cultured was disgusted - meanwhile i could not stop laughing. Good dinner and company. Caught train back half asleep & wandered back to campsite through random alleyways and a firework display in distance. Everyone back at campsite partying and rowdy. All great friends by this stage! Finished washing, walked through 'Q' drive-through with James and Dan then had a D&M on cobblestone beach. Great relaxing night.

To see photos get clicking here 

Day 8, 25th July: Pisa & Florence/Firenze, Italy

 Arrived on bus in Pisa only to be welcomed by a swarm of African-Americans illegally trying to sell us goods. Couldn't believe it. If a tourist buys off them and gets caught by the police, the onus is on the tourist - straight up a 500 Euro fine!!! So bad. The Tower is all there is to Pisa to be honest. V.touristy. Bit disappointing. Place didnt seem like anything spesh at all (quite a few rundown buildings) apart from tower. Nonetheless took the usual pics, drank a refreshing frozen (literally) coke and jumped back on bus again. Been there done that! Ciao!

Following Pisa arrived in Firenze late arvo. Brilliant campsite with views of the city. Nestled amongst olive trees! Great bathrooms. Felt like luxury. Had dinner with everyone on tour at House of Sizzle. Walked down into Florence from campsite at dusk. Gorgeous, peaceful views of the city - lighting = soft. After dinner went next door to bar area and went hardout with Kareoke. 2 people on stage singing their hearts out at guy on guitar and background music. After a long wait in line and meeting other Kiwis also on a tour (with Contiki though) sang Grease remix with Trace. Hilarious and such great fun. Tonnes of our group ripped up the stage and sung-a-long equally as loud on d-floor. Early next morn had walking tour with gorgeous guide, Nico - born and raised in Florence. Place full of Renaissance treasures - known as an outdoor museum. Lots of famous statues from Michelangelo and the like. Walked by the Duomo Cathedral, Giotto's Bell Tower, Sante Croce, the Town Square and Uffizi Gallery. Saw leather demo and brought Florentine stationery!! Love! Place quaint, but not as big and busy as I imagined.

To see photos simply click here 

Day 9 &10, 26th &27th July: Rome/Roma & Vatican City

Following morning in Florence, we hopped back on bus to Rome - our half-way point. Arrived 6ish and had 3 hour walking tour of city with Allira. Golly cannot understand how she remembered so much history, esp. in Roma! Walked to pretty much all points on map given - started at Spanish steps/getting water from famous fountain (poor Lynda slipped over where filling up bottle!), on to incredible Trevi Fountain (one of faves on trip - neat reasoning behind design), stopping at the Pantheon to have dinner. FUNNY SITU - found a little restaurant down a little alley by Pantheon. Had under half an hour to order and eat. Got pizzas. We had a no talking policy when we got the food. Helen and I gulped down half a pizza each while Dan wrestled with a whole one plus bread and James breezed through his pasta. TOTAL BLOTAGE afterwards. Then went past Pizza Venezia, the Capitoline Museum, the Roman Forum (ruins) and stopped at incredible Colloseum (largest ampitheatre of the ancient world where games and entertainment for the masses were held. Construction begun by Vespasiano in 72 AD) before training it home. Ahhh... (sigh)

Day two: Citta del Vaticano. I must start off by saying that our campsite in Roma was incredible. We didn't have to set up tents this time because we had the luxurious upgrade to the permanent tents there instead. We could stand and could sleep on actual (bunk) beds. Crazy. Showers great too. Even a pool, bar and supermarket! Luxury to the max. So this morning, after a v. average sleep (due to some v. rowdy people in our tour group - wont name names) I woke up pretty over it already and then headed into Vatican City with rest of group. Everyone was pretty tired by this stage of the trip and many suffering from the partying-too-hard-cough-turn-infectious-virus! Had a tour of the Vatican City - namely the Sistine Chapel and surrounding areas that housed the most incredible and meaningful artwork. Good ol' Michelangelo spent 4 years on his BACK (on scaffolding he designed too which was well ahead of his time too) painting the roof of the Sistine Chapel. It's the story of Genesis. So special to know people so long ago had a Christian faith that strong - shows it can really live on and on - no matter when you live or where. Walking through this was a really fulfilling experience, even though i felt pretty rubbish. Really in awe. So neat that it draws so many people - many of whom cannot leave w/o feeling touched by the spectacle and skill in some way or another. 
Following our tour which had all the art work explained in detail to us, I headed back to campsite via Tube with Sarah and Lynda. Sat by pool at bar area with my lap top catching up on all my emails and writing a 21st speech for Bex and Rach. Nice to be in shade! Went for a swim later on, had dinner, booked hostel etc for London with James in random sandpit/kids play ground and headed to bed. Said goodbye to about 10 people who were leaving the Tour and welcomed 10 new people. Definitely would be a dif vibe without Hound Dog and Josh (loud and hilarious Ozzies). Back on the road!!

To see photos go ahead & click here