I was up early this morning to get ready for our day in Florence. Our first stop was at a viewpoint overlooking the city. Here we got some great photos of Florence, and we also got our official group photo taken. Unfortunately, the sun was shining so bright that half of us are all squinty-eyed in the photo. Still looks pretty good though! There is a replica statue of David at this viewpoint too (there are a few replicas throughout Florence). Souvenir group photo (11,50 euro): Join the group for a photo in one of Florence's famous piazzas or with one of the city's stunning panoramas as a backdrop. Our next stop was a leather shop where we got a demonstration. This is another Contiki sponsor, so the main point was to try to get us ... read more

I was up at 8 am today for our full day in Venice! After breakfast, we all got on the ferry that would take us to the city. It took 45 minutes to get there. It's not actually that far of a distance, but there are really strict rules regarding the speed of boats as they come close to the city. Apparently the waves created by ferries are actually eroding the sides of the buildings. Another thing to be aware of in Venice is the prevalence of pickpocketing. With all the tourists and crowds in such a small space, it is easy for thieves to grab whatever they want. Just be careful not to leave your purse or backpack open, and don't flash around expensive jewellery or watches. This is also true of any big European ... read more

I slept in this morning, and when I woke up at 8:30 am, I felt great. The antibiotics worked like a charm! This morning I took it easy and did some laundry. There aren't a ton of places to do laundry while you are on tour, so it's good to get it done when you have a chance. Usually your best bets for laundry are at bigger hotels or at Contiki's special stopovers. It can be really expensive though. At 10 am, me, Karly, Sharna, and Debs decided to take the train into Nice. Part of our group had gone on an included tour of a perfumery this morning, but I had opted out, as I've heard that it is a Contiki sponsor and all they try to do is get you to buy their stuff. ... read more

Today we had a full sightseeing tour in Barcelona! Unfortunately I didn't feel too much better when I woke up, but I determined to see all that I could. We had breakfast at 8:00 and it was onto the coach for the drive into the city at 8:30 am. First we got a tour of the city from the coach, including a drive up Montjuic for some excellent views of the city and the water. The sun was out and it looked like the weather would be great today. We were also driven to the 1992 Summer Olympics complex. Finally we drove into the center of the city and stopped at the Sagrada Familia cathedral. This is an enormous church designed by architect Antoni Gaudi, and the design is extremely intricate and beautiful. They began building ... read more

I woke up this morning at 10:26 am. I'm not even sure how I got back into bed last night, but I had fun so that is all that matters! We had a hike to the "top of the world" scheduled for 10:30 am. My initial thought was to skip it, as I had about 2 minutes to get ready, and I was very hungover. But then I thought better of it and lugged myself out of bed, threw on some clothes, and met everyone outside. We got wicker baskets with a picnic lunch that the reps at the chateau had prepared for us. Inside were baguettes, ham, cheese, water, and even Mars Bars! My favourite! The hike started out okay, but then it became quite steep and rocky. I definitely wasn't wearing hiking shoes, but ... read more