Days 28-40 Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Netherlands

---

---

Hey! Well, I'm home! How to sum up the last 2 weeks of my trip... Last post was from Vienna, where it pissed rain all day that we were there (so we did nothing but sit in a cafe, shop, and eat), but cleared up for Harry's birthday party that night. We dressed up as something that begins with the first two letters of our name (i.e. Claire was a clothesline, Gina was gin, Carla was a carrot, Tracy was a tree, etc) and Harry fed us lots of schnapps. Some people found a bicycle, and decided it would be a genius idea to ride it through the bushes. The main result of these drunken activities were grass stains, and an irritated security guard. The next day we headed off to the Czech Republic, to Prague, one of the cities I was most looking forward to. Our first night in Prague it rained a bit, so for dessert we got hot chocolate with marshmallows (YUM!) to warm us up, and then we headed into town for a big night. We went to the biggest club in central Europe, which had 5 stories, each with a different theme. It was great fun. Our next day was a full one, we walked around town, went to the Jewish quarter, strolled down Charles Bridge, and generally just took in the sights of Prague. An early night that night after a big day, and off to Berlin the next day. We stopped in Dresden for lunch and had an hour to walk around town. Dresden is really pretty, although most of the town was destroyed during WW2, and has been rebuilt since then. When rebuilding the historcal buildings, they tried to use as many of the original bricks as possible. Continuing onto Berlin, we arrived to find the route to Brandenberg Gate and the Reichstag closed for a protest of some sort. Sammy our driver, taking everything in stride, just went the other way and we managed to still get to see the sights of the city, stopping at the largest remaining section of the Berlin Wall for a photo opportunity. Decked out in our I heart Berlin David Hasselhoff t-shirts (the Germans love him), we headed off to the Happy Pig for dinner. After arranging to get myself some chicken instead of the pork schnitzel everyone else had, we ate then got into some alcohol-fuelled karaoke. Dancing our way back to camp on Daddy Cool (our bus) we had a fun night in camp. The next day was cold but the skies decided to wait till we left to open up. We did a 3 hour third reich walking tour in the morning, where we got to see where Hitler's bunker was, the basement of the Gestapo headquarters, and other important sites. The afternoon was spent hunting for a Birkenstock store and some food. One we bought our birkenstocks, it was back to camp for a few drinks and an early night. We had a huge drive the next day, over 700 km, to our last stop, Amsterdam. We stopped in the Dutch countryside for a cheese and clogs demonstration, and then headed in to set up camp, which we managed to do in record time. Back into town for a quick bite to eat, then off to the sex show, the details of which i will spare you, but I will say that it was more funny then sexy. After that we headed to one of Amsterdam's infamous coffeeshops, where we bought some decriminalized marijuana (contrary to popular belief, it's not actually legal, but it is decriminalized. The difference between the two, i'm not totally sure) That was easily one of the most bizarre experiences of the trip, if not ever. You just walk into a store, go up to the counter, and they have a menu of the different types of weed you can buy, the prices for a joint, a gram, etc. We all smoked, wandered around the red light district checking out the "ladies of the night" in their windows, then headed back to camp for a bit of an early one, as the next day was our last, and we knew it would be a big night. Most of our group did a bike tour of town the next morning, but as I'm not a huge fan of biking, my tent buddy, Lauren and I decided to sleep in and relax in the sun at camp, then headed into town for a bite and a stroll around. We headed back to camp early to get ready for our big night. We went into town for dinner at a lovely Chinese restaurant on the water, then went on a canal cruise, where we took tons of pictures and generally just had a good time. After our cruise it was off to the bar for a party. Many more drunken pictures ensued, as well as some dancing and general partying. The next morning was our last, and sad was the only way to describe it. Because I had decided to stay in Amsterdam, i said goodbye to everyone after we packed up the bus, and then they headed back to London while I headed into town. I checked into a sleazy hotel, and then met a friend for lunch, we walked around a bit and headed to a bookstore to pick up some english books. Then I headed back to my hotel where i got into bed, read, and fell asleep around 6 pm. I managed to sleep through the night, and the next morning, checked into a hostel so I could meet some new people. It turned out that there were 4 Israeli guys staying in my room also, so we instantly became friends, and spent the next 2 days hanging out. I went to visit Anne Frank House, and Madame Tussauds, both of which were very cool, obviously in very different ways. Still in a bit of a post-topdeck funk, I headed back to London, as my flight was the next afternoon. I stayed with my tent-buddy Lauren, and we had a lovely night. It was great to see her again, even though it had only been 3 days, after living in a tent with someone for a month, we missed each other terribly. So that was my trip. Hard to believe that I'm home again, almost feels like I never left, although I spend endless hours looking at pictures and listening to our bus songs. I miss everyone, especially our crew, who were amazing and tons of fun. I can't wait to do another tour. I'm very happy I chose to do one, it was a great way to meet people and it made everything infinitely easier. Not having to worry about transportation and accomodation made it totally stress free and I was very happy camping. No one really wanted to hang out in their tents, so we spend a lot of time hanging out as a group. So I guess this is it! Hope you enjoyed!

---