VickiG

Basically on Contiki we had one day of travelled followed by a day in the city that we had travelled to. What I've done is basically summed up the main event in each city instead of doing a day by day account as I have done in the past. Oh yeah it managed to rain in every single country we visited! We had some of the massivest thunder storms and we survived it all in tents!!! Even though it was wet the ground we pitched our tents on was so hard that before long all tent pegs were bent!! Paris Our day in Paris consisted of doing the normal tourist attraction. Climbing the Eiffel Tower, walking under the Arc de Tromf, strolled the Les Champs-Elysees, took in the stained glass windows of Notre Dame, saw the ... read more

Day 88 Derry Today Emma and I were in at Paddy Palace by 8am to leave on our 6 day tour around Ireland!! We started off with a drive around phoenix Park, Europes largest! 5,000 Red Deer running wild. Stopping for a photo stop of the Papal Cross and a look in on Aras an Uachtarain (the home of the Irish President Mary). From there we drove into Drogheda where we stopped for lunch and saw the preserved head of St. Oliver Plunkett (executed 1681) in St. Peters Cathedral. From there we drove through a town which has 4 identical houses facing each other at the centre, with only the colour of the doors telling them apart. We then sailed on through Slain where we stopped for a quick photo of Slain castle along the way. ... read more

Day 78 Today after Emma and Lauren had left I went on over to the travel agent to buy myself a ticket to Crete. While I was there I also managed to find out that Plykias the place I was heading too I would not be able to reach that day due to the bus times. I was then lucky enough to have the lady find me some accommodation in Heraklion where the ferry was due to dock. While I was waiting for the bus to head down to the port I met a couple from Brazil who were looking in a Lonely Planet guide I just happened to see over the shoulder some of the accommodation they recommended in Heraklion. I then got up the courage to ask to have a look at the book ... read more

Day 71 I arrived in Athens airport at 5.30am to find out that the buses were on strike until 8am so I was going to be stuck at the airport until services resumed. Well I can now officially tell you that airport benches are definitely not made for sleeping on!!! Anyway I somehow managed to pass the time until the buses arrived. Well because there were so many people waiting I missed the first two and spent my time chatting to an English couple. We finally got onto a bus by a quarter to 9 and were finally on our way into the city centre. It was well after 10 before I made it into my hostel and when I was finally there I couldn’t wait till I hopped in the shower. It was then that ... read more

Day 54 I arrived in Malta at some ridiculous hour with no baggage or sleep only to have to wait 1/2 hr for a bus and then another 1/2 hour for the next one to get me to my hostel. After negotiating the busy streets I managed to find the place I'd be living in for the next 2 weeks. My next mission was to get toiletries so I could shower lucky for me I had a change of clothes in my carry on so I didn't need to worry about a new wardrobe until maybe the next day. My first stop turned out to be an internet cafe where I made a call to my wonderful mother to fill her in on my not so fantastic news. From there I zigzag my way through the ... read more