Day 14: Amsterdam, Netherlands Tuesday, October 20st, 2009 It was an early start this morning as Renata and I boarded a train from Central station to The Haag, in pursuit of Renata temporary passport at the Canadian Embassy. We spent most of the day at the embassy with us slightly freaking out because we were told that we may have to come back the next day to get Renata's temporary passport. This would mean that we would miss the ferry going back to England and would have to spend another day in Amsterdam. It would also mean a lot more money spent finding accommodation and a train or plane ticket back to London. But it all worked out and Renata was able to get a temporary Passport, at a cost of course. We were also able ... read more

Day 11: Venice, Italy to Salzburg, Austria Saturday, October 17th, 2009 So after a memorable time in Venice, it was time to head over to adrenaline inducing Austria where there were numerous activities to keep the daredevil inside of us busy including Skydiving, Paragliding, Canyoning etc. Unfortunately, when we got to Austria it was pouring rain and thus all the activities planned for the day had been cancelled. So instead, we went to explore the lovely city of Salzburg, Austria where Mozart was born. When we got to Salzburg, we went out searching for the house where Mozart's grew up. We found a yellow house that we thought was Mozart's home, but I'm not sure if it was, because we could only see a cafe inside. We walked around a bit and then in started pouring ... read more

Day 8: Rome, Italy Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 The next morning, the majority of the group headed to Vatican City. This was an important day in Vatican City, because Pope Benedict XVI was addressing the crowd. There were groups of people from different countries around the world, waving their flags. The square was crowded with people pushing to get to the front of the crowds. I was starting to feel claustrophobic. It was pretty interesting, seeing the Pope address the crowd, although I didn't understand a word that he was saying. After seeing the Pope, we went on a tour of the Vatican Museum with our local American tour guide (who held up a pom pom so we would not get lost in the crowd). In the Vatican museum we got these headphones, so that we ... read more

Day 4: Paris, France to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland Saturday, October 10th, 2009 The fourth day of our trip was spent mostly on the bus driving from Paris, France to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The view coming into Switzerland was quite beautiful. When we finally got to our campsite, we learned that we needed to pay for hot showers. I guess hot water is a luxury in Switzerland ;-) After we settled into our cabins, we had dinner in the Topdeck tent where we were served traditional Swiss cuisine, which included cheese fondue. I don't know about you, but I am more of a chocolate lover. I love chocolate fondue. I found the cheese fondue to be too rich and liquored up (which could be a good thing ;-). After a mediocre dinner, we congregated in the bar at the ... read more

Day 2: London to Paris Thursday, October 8th, 2009 So today was the official start of the Topdeck European Wonder tour. Most of the day was spent travelling from London to Paris. We traveled from London to Dover, to catch a ferry from Dover to Calais France. After arriving in Calais, France, we got to know our fellow Top Deckers on the bus ride from Calais to Paris. The majority of the tour group were from Australia and New Zealand with a few individuals from London , Thailand , Venezuela , and Malaysia. The three of us, were the only individuals from North America on the tour. We also got to know more about our tour manager, Amy and our awesome bus driver, Brad. We each had the opportunity to introduce ourselves at the front of ... read more