http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/amneris/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from amneris en-us Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:29:25 +0000 Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:29:25 +0000 This morning I pulled myself from my bed with a great scowl not because I was tired but because I knew tour time was winding down to its final few hours and that was depressing. I quickly got dressed and went downstairs for a final French breakfast. Juice and a croissanthelliphow exotic. I heard about the cabaret from Laura Erin and Anita and it sounded like they had a great time. Irsquo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-174020.html Just a note I'm using my journal as a reference for this entry but it was written at 1130 at night after a very long day of sightseeing so sadly I'm sure there are details missing but you'll get the idea.Breakfast was pretty much the same as it had been through France. I was pretty excited about it the upcoming day not the breakfast. We got onto the coach and Pom Pom played the day son http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-173510.html I made my way back to my room at around 715am and Rachel answered the door with a grin. I quickly informed her of the innocence of my absence through the night. I don't think she was quite convinced. I grabbed my things and hopped in the shower. I felt surprisingly okay awake and alive...a little parched but otherwise fine. I got dressed put on my makeup and went downstairs for food. I was l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-172299.html Staying up late always seems like a good idea at the time. Although I had to physically pull my eyelids open I got up and stumbled over to breakfast. Better than Italy that's for sure. Croissant yogurt fruit and coffee. Not too shabby. Today was primarily a traveling day which was fine by me. I ran back up to the room did a quick repack of my stuff and dragged my suitcase to the lobby. As http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Nice/blog-171983.html And this is the point when I say Holy crap there are so few days left...I'm not ready for it to be overI woke up this morning pretty early all things considered and because of my lack of sleep felt a tad crappy. I pulled some clothes on and went down for breakfast. I didn't hear or see any of the group and being me I didn't go exploring so I picked up a croissant and went back out to t http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Nice/blog-171662.html Got up early and didn't quite mind this morning which was strange all things considered for our big chunky drive today. I got on the coach and sat down next to Sara. Although I was fairly awake and alert I was in no mood to chat after the insanity of the previous night. I was kind of relieved when she fell asleep and I was left to stare out the front window taking in the scenery and the val http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Provence-Alpes-C-te-d--Azur/Nice/blog-171473.html I think a lot of us were feeling a little bit sketchy at breakfast after the big night at the hotel. I was again quite unimpressed with the hard buns and Tang that the hotel was feeding us. Ah well. C'est la vie. Hopped on the coach and snagged a front seat again love the front. I'm such a nerd. Today was our last day with Zoltan. Damian was about to make his great return. The drive was uneventf http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Tuscany/Florence/blog-170458.html Now that my body's pretty much fully adjusted to the time here I'm growing more and more resentful of my alarm clock tearing me out of dreamland. Even when I get a lot of sleep a whole seven hours I'm still tired. Today was a huge day though. Breakfast at 7. We went down the stairs to the breakfast room to be greeted with the worst breakfast yet...hollow buns and Tang Wow. Definitely not subst http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-169634.html Another day of waking up ridiculously early and not wanting to get out of bed...seeing a trend here The sun lured me slowly out from under the covers. A quick shower and packing job later I was headed downstairs for breadfast. Bread and cornflakes. How novel The thing that made up for the carb overdose was the coffee. Mmm. Italian coffee. When I was going back up to the room to get my bag after http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Rome/blog-169561.html Even though I'd turned in early the night before 630 came far too quickly for my liking. I had a hard time dragging myself out of bed. I did though. Got dressed did a quick repack of my suitcase and went down to breakfast. Mmm. Bread. P We were on the road quickly this morning and within half an hour or so we were crossing the border into Italia. The views as we drove over the Brenner Pass w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-169261.html First of all...where was the time going I realized what a strange sensation it was to have every day so full and seem to drag on forever but to have the time passing at a rate much too quick for my liking.I woke up this morning and ate some more bread and jam. Mmm. We ate quickly and when we were finished we went to our respective rooms and packed up. I took the easy way down the lift There http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Tyrol/Innsbruck/blog-168978.html Breakfast in Engelberg. Can you really call bread bread more bread cereal some bread and coffee breakfast Ha. Many of my tour mates were not their chipper selves this morning. Everyone looked to be in pretty rough shape courtesy of Pom Pom's great Pparty and the Spindle bar. I wasn't too bad all things considered. A little slow but overall okay. I was too excited to be hungover today we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Titlis/blog-168907.html I woke up this morning and sat at the window watching the most beautiful sunrise I've ever seen keep in mind I make a point never to watch the sunrise because I hate mornings but things are always different on holiday. Anyway I quickly did a repack of my suitcase and went down to breakfast. Cold cuts cheese bread and Nutella and coffee. Not exactly the most impressive meal but it got the http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Switzerland/South-West/Engelberg/blog-168825.html This morning I woke up and walked like a zombie down to breakfast only half awake. 5 hours is NOT enough sleep. I piled my plate full of food scarfed it down drank copious amounts of coffee and hopped on the coach. It was at this point when Pom Pom was trying desperately to get us all settled and ready to go that Amanda realized that her camera charger was still in the room. She snuck out th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Rhineland-Palatinate/Sankt-Goar/blog-168583.html This was officially on the record one of my favorite days of the entire tour.Waking up I felt relatively good all things considered. Breakfast was good a mix of hot stuff meats cheeses and bread. I fell in love with the automated coffee machine though. I could have stuck the spout right into my veins. We ate fairly quickly then hopped on the coach and drive for about 45 minutes to Edam http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-168520.html Our Contiki tour has officially begun I made my way over to the Royal National from the Imperial checked in and had my bag weighed way under the limit. Go me. and dragged my suitcase out to the middle of the courtyard surrounded by people who looked familiar from the meeting the night before. The driver who hadn't yet introduced himself told us to bring our bags around so we did he loaded http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-168463.html As the plane started its final descent I started getting very excited. I don't know whether it was because I was slightly delirious or what but I felt butterflies and started shifting around in my seat when we broke through the clouds and I thought I saw land. The plane kept going down closer and closer to the ground...and then we went right through it. I felt quite silly that I'd gotten so exci http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Greater-London/blog-168451.html Day 1The big day When I woke up this morning I felt strangely apathetic about the whole idea of the trip but as the hours ticked by the butterflies in my stomach grew decidedly more agitated. My family drove me out to the airport and sat with me for a few minutes before I made my way through security without hassle and went upstairs to wait to board the flight. Now I don't mind flying but I http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Nova-Scotia/Halifax/blog-168254.html