already??

well, it's all over.

after catching a shuttle bus from our hotel to JFK airport at 3:30 Friday afternoon, we touched down in Sydney yesterday morning at 7am.

the flight was as bad as you are probably thinking it was. we had ok seats so got a little bit of sleep, but we are both way out of whack with our time zones.

looking back over the 600+ photos we have managed to accumulate, we have had an awesome time, but are glad to be home - 4 weeks is enough for us.

Each location was mind-blowing in very different ways, the Hong Kong bustle, the Oxford old-time charm (thanks to Uncle Graeme for his fantastic hospitality), the history of London and Rome, the romance of Venice, the food and shows of Paris, the pristine scenery of Austria and Switzerland, the beer in Germany, and the sheer impact of New York city... I could go on and on.

Contiki is a great way to see as much as possible in a short amount of time, but it is very draining and we didn't expect to have such little time at each destination. We felt rushed the whole time, with minimal sleep and too much drinking. We also didn't expect soooo much time on the coach, although we probably would have realised it if we thought about it more.

After trying to pick a highlight, we simply can't choose just one - there are so many. Tiff claims to have had the travel bug burned out of her....I wonder how long that will last....

the fat lady is warming up

well, here we are on our last day of our holiday adventure. the last 4 days in New York has been great and continued with the same frenetic pace as the rest of the tour.

We have been to the Empire State building, ground zero, the UN, a river cruise past the statue of Liberty, a Broadway show (Rent - which was really great), Bloomingdales, Macy's, seen all the avenues, the Village, Soho & Tribeca, Chinatown, Rockefeller plaza, took a carriage ride through Central Park, saw where John Lennon got shot, Trump plaza & other buildings, Time Square, the Guggenheim and more...

It was all great and not nearly as expensive as we were expecting. We probably did more shopping here than any other location.

By the way - I chickened out on the Super Sized Macca's meal, but had a gyro (great!) and hotdog (not so great) from a street vendor, and some traditional New York pizza which was pretty good.

The food everywhere has been pretty good, which you will see the evidence of very shortly...

To sum it up - New York rocks!

Only a couple of hours before we take off for home - 7pm here, but don't get home until Sunday morning. That sucks.

finally... Contiki is over....

while we have a great time over the past couple of weeks, 12 days on a coach is just too much. We have both had too much drinking, partying, food and only getting sleep on the bus.

We finished up the last couple of days in Paris, which was really great, but we just didn't have enough time to really appreciate the city. The first night we went up the Eiffel Tower which was nice although the weather was terrible.

The next day we sprinted around the city and saw the Arc De Triomphe, Champs-Elysee, Notre Dame, the Louvre, Musee d'Orsay, the catacombs (very creepy) and had a Royale with cheese.

That night we went past the Moulin Rouge and went to another cabaret called Nouvelle Eve which was amazing and a highlight of our trip so far. While expensive, it was worth every euro. The food was fantastic and the show was spectacular. We both sat there gobsmacked for much of it.

One interesting part of the evening was the call for audience participation. Depending on how you look at it, we were lucky enough to be sitting right next to the stage, which of course meant I was selected. I wasn't too concerned until I discovered it was for a dance-off which,for those of you who know me well, are quite aware this isn't exactly my forte. I didn't win, but how do you compete against a 75 year old guy who does a decent impression of the Sara-Marie bum dance.

Just for something different, we followed up the show with some more drinking at a pub right next to the Moulin Rouge. This was after free drinks all the way during the show. As it was the last night out for the tour, the bus wasn't a pretty sight this morning. Luckily we both escaped the worst of it (although we only had less than 3 hours sleep) - I think we have reached our threshold and passed well beyond it such that it is all just a numb blur now.

So... Contiki is over which we are thankful for, even though we had a great time. We have calcuated that over the last 12 days we have had drinks every night except 2, and have averaged less than 5 hours sleep each night. We are just too old for this stuff.

Tomorrow is a day in London, then off to New York on Monday...

supping in Switzerland

Today we arrived in Lucerne, Switzerland which is absolutely beautiful. We have bought lots of chocolate and it is VERY yummy. We may (stress MAY) have some left when we get back if you are all lucky. We spent the afternoon at Mt Strasenhorn (or something like that) which had amazing views of clouds and snow covered peaks. We got some more great photos...

Yesterday we spent in Florence which was also very nice. Lots of leather jackets, handbags and belts in market stalls. The shopping was pretty good and the atmosphere was great. Saw the statue of David and some other Michaelangelo works (more photos).

We finished up with a traditional Tuscan dinner in the country side complete with live entertainment including a fantastic opera singer (and I don't even like opera). We stuffed ourselves silly with food and wine and finished up with a shot of some spirit made by monks which is supposedly 90% alcohol. It certainly tasted that way, but definitely settled the stomach after a lot of food (or maybe I was just too pissed to notice).

We then partied on at one of the more popular night clubs in Florence called Space Elektronica Discoteque until we went back to the hotel where I proceeded to throw my guts up (all that great food down the toilet - literally).

So now we are in Switzerland and happy to be somewhere that uses a little less oil and cheese in their food. We loved the Italian food, but it's too rich to eat it all the time and we are both getting a bit sick of pizza and pasta.

Tomorrow we are off to Paris after a 9 hour coach trip - can't wait....

when in Rome..

...do what the locals do and get your purse stolen.

After a couple of great days in Italy visiting Venice and Rome, today was not so good with Tiff getting her purse stolen right out of her handbag. Luckily it only contained a couple of credit cards and cash - no passports or tickets, but it has taken us a bit over 3 hours to file a police report. It was quite a saga, but is over now so we can get on with things.

A big thanks to Tiff's mum for sorting out the cards back in Oz!!

Apart from that Rome is very interesting, the highlights are the Pantheon, the Colesseum, Fontana de Trevi and the Vatican City (St Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel). They are really amazing.

We loved both Venice and Austria and can't wait to go back (preferably in snow season). It's really warm here which is great cos we packed all our jumpers, and we both have colds.

But we are still both having a great time, especially when we think we are only half way through. Another landmark today is that we broke the 500 photo mark, so we have lots of material to bore you all with when we get home.

Ciao for now...

time for a quickie...

only have time for a quick one tonight as we only have 6 mins...

Currently staying in Austria at a ski resort (although there is no snow). The scenery is beautiful here - there is just nothing like it back in Oz. Have travelled through Germany and visited Innesbrook and spent last night in a traditional beer hall in Munich. Got smashed drinking 1 litre steins for 10 bucks.

Go to go - much to do...

Contiki isn't just about drinking & debauchery...

seriously... anyone who tells you this has NO IDEA!

To sum up day one (ignoring the 7am start which I still don't like thinking about) we made it across the English Channel, up through France and Belgium and ended up at Amsterdam for the night. The night's activities included an all-you-can-drink canal cruise, followed up by a Dutch Cultural experience - more commonly known as a Live Sex Show - and ended out with a short trip to a Hash Cafe. It's funny - some people said the sex show wasn't quite what the expected, which we found interesting seeing as most of the show involved people having live sex. I'm not sure what they expected from a live sex show. It was certainly eye-opening and the whole night seemed geared towards developing the biggest hangover know to man the next day (which, if true, certainly worked).

The red-light district is also interesting - certainly quite open with all the hookers.

Our tour guide is a bit of a Nazi (which is not terribly PC seeing as we are writing this in a little town in country Germany). We have just been on a wine tasting tour and now drinking until the bar closes, to top off a day of about 8 hours in the coach. That sounds bad until we think of tomorrow when we have to travel 10 hours to Munich. This morning was terribly exciting with a visit to Anne Frank's house and a trip down the shopping street and the red-light district in the daytime (not quite as interesting).

Signing off now because we both really need some sleep tonight as tomorrow involves a lot of driving and more drinking...

bugga

spewing - we spent 20 mins (and a couple of pounds) Monday night typing up a blog about our excellent day in London, and the bloody post kept failing. So, I email the contents so I can upload next opportunity, and of course, the email has disappeared into the ether. Stupid London Internet Cafe :(

Anyway, it went something like "London is wicked, we went to heaps of places like Buckingham palace, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben (it's BIG!), Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and heaps of other places in just one day."

Tiff loves it and wants to move there. We are now on day 2 of our Contiki tour, but I will save that for another post in case this one doesn't work either...