Topdeck - Day 7 to Day 11

PISA - FLORENCE - ROME - VATICAN - VERONA - VENICE

Italy was beautiful but hot.  So much history.  It would take a long time to properly explore everything Italy has to offer.

DAY SEVEN:  Drove to Pisa and took cliche pictures by the leaning tower.  I had no idea the leaning tower was not the only building in the town square, but merely the bell tower to the cathedral and baptism chamber that stand alongside the tower.  Online you usually only see photographs of the leaning tower.  The weather was around 39 degrees so the pool at the hostel in Florence was well utilised.

DAY EIGHT:  A lot of time was spent on my own two feet today, starting with a walking tour of Florence.  As with most cities on our stop there is a beautiful church and plenty of stories to go with the various bridges, statues and buildings.  We went to a leather factory to see some examples of products made in Italy as leather work is one of the traditional industries.  On the coach and of to Rome where we launched straight into the second walking tour of the day taking in most of the major central monuments including the Colosseum.  Once we finally reached the accommodation it was around 9pm and I was absolutely exhausted.

DAY NINE:  The Vatican City tour was good but not great.  The ceiling art and buildings were amazing, but the number of people and the seemingly disinterested guide put a bit of a dampener on the entire experience.  After the tour we proceeded to the Colosseum where we had a guided tour amidst the thunder storm.  I had anticipated to building to be more intact and require a bit less imagination to picture it as it once was, but it was incredible nonetheless.  The city view from the top of the Victor Emmanuel Monument were really amazing.  That being said, the actual building stands out from the surrounding monuments for all the wrong reasons.  It almost seems too new and white for Rome.  Back at the hostel things kicked off a little thanks to 5 euro bottles of wine at the "Beauty and the Geeks" themed party.

DAY TEN:  Back on the bus and on route to Venice, via Verona.  Romeo and Juliet supposedly lived in Verona and Juliet's balcony is a popular spot for people looking for an extra bit of luck in love.  At the Venice hostel the pool was awesome, but as soon as the pool party was over we were straight to bed for an early night.



DAY ELEVEN:  Venice streets are ridiculously narrow, winding and confusing.  Not to mention packed with tourists.  Felix took us on a walking tour taking in yet another cathedral.  We then went to demonstrations for both glass blowing and lace making.  When in Venice one must always ride a gondola, which is exactly what we did.  After getting a little bit lost in the city we headed back off the island to the hostel for a swim.  In the evening we had a masquerade party.

Topdeck - Day 1 to Day 6

LONDON - PARIS - SWISS ALPS - FRENCH RIVIERA

Europe's alright ae.  This post will give a bit of a rundown of the first few days of my 24 day Topdeck tour.

DAY ONE: After an early start at Wombats London and a quick introduction to our travelling group and the group leader Felix we set off across the English Channel headed for Paris, France.  A good time later we arrived at the Generator hostel.  The rooftop bar provided some great views and delicious mint mojitos.

As it began to get dark we boarded the bus for a night tour taking in the major city monuments. The Eiffel Tower literally sparkles with lights which looked absolutely beautiful.

DAY TWO: The coach dropped us at the Louvre where we proceed to take photos outside of the Louvre pyramid.  The lines were insane so we didn't proceed inside, instead heading across the Love Lock bridge (which no longer holds the millions of love locks) to Notre Dame Cathedral.  The lines were super long so we didn't go inside and instead took the underground towards the Arc de Triomphe.  Had some absolutely amazing macaroons from Laduree.  We then climbed the Arc de Triomphe and took in the phenomenal views available from the top.  It's really cool how there are no modern buildings or skyscrapers close to the central area so your view is not obscured in any direction.  Of course we visited the Eiffel tower again before doing a bike tour of the major monuments.  I hadn't eaten enough throughout the day and had to get the tour to stop because I couldn't see where I was biking and almost fainted.  But besides that it was fab.  The full on day continued with a picnic under the Eiffel tower where I ate frog legs! We then went to a cabaret show which was mostly like a strip club, complete with a carousel of motorbikes ridden by topless girls.  I had anticipated more can-can than we witnessed, but it was a pretty fun night regardless.

DAY THREE:  Switzerland.  The Swiss Alps looks like a postcard or a computer generated image.  I really want to return in the winter.  The drive from Paris to Lauterbrunnen was ridiculously long.  We had a red and white party at the hostel bar where everyone drank too many sperm shots and just alcohol in general.  My cabin mates were 2 Kiwis and a girl from the Gold Coast, Emily.  While standing in the snow melt stream one of the Kiwis managed to make Emily sit in the water which sent the rest of us into fits of laughter.

DAY FOUR: Train to the summit of Jungfrau.  More incredible postcard perfect scenery.  At the top of the mountain I did a zipline which was super fun and provided a different angle to view the mountains from.  The gopro footage turned out great.  Everything in Switzerland is ridiculously expensive which is the only negative thing about it!

DAY FIVE:  Woke up and had breakfast in Switzerland.  Stopped for lunch in Italy.  Dinner in Nice, France.  3 meals, 3 countries, 1 day.  Once in Nice we took a walk down to the beach which has neither Waverley's black sand or regular white sand, but instead stones which hurt your feet and make climbing in and out of the ocean an issue.  After dinner we went to a pub called Wayne's Bar which had a live band and awesome Long Island Ice Tea.  After a few too many beverages and sweating so much it was beyond ridiculous we headed back to the beach for a cheeky night time dip.

DAY SIX:  Nice is a lovely relaxed place.  All morning we soaked up the sun at the beach and enjoyed the water.  I ticked off another "to do in France" item and had snails for lunch.  They were so covered in garlic sauce you couldn't taste the actual flesh, but the texture was comparable to overcooked mussels.  Monaco was the next stop on the itinerary.  Visiting for the evening made me feel like a peasant. I have never seen so many flash cars in one place.  The casinos charged an arm and a leg (16 euro) for a cocktail, which was nothing compared to the bets some people were throwing down on various tables.

The next blog update will cover my adventures in Italy!

LONDON

Arrived at the Wombat's City Hostel around 11pm on Wednesday 29 July. Crashed out to sleep as soon as I climbed into my bunk.

The view from the hostel

In the morning I walked down to the river Thames and went onto the HMS Belfast which was actually surprisingly interesting.  The ship has been turned into a floating museum, so you can see what the ship looked like when it was operating as a war vessel while also having the opportunity to read about some of the histories and stories associated with the ship. The boiler and engine rooms which sit below the surface of the water were quite claustrophobic, and if you aren't good with ladders then this is not an activity for you.

I then went up the tower bridge and shocked a terrified lady by walking across the glass floor as if it was a normal floor.  The poor women hadn't even stepped foot on the glass and was already shaking like a leaf.  The view from the bridge is pretty cool, even though the Wanganui river is probably a lot cleaner than the Thames.  The tour price includes seeing the mechanics behind lifting the bridge as well.

In the evening I participated in a pub crawl which started in the basement bar of the hostel.  The participants were mainly Australians which I guess is to expected when the name of your hostel is Wombats.

Friday the 31st I ticked off most of the big bucket list London locations; Buckingham Palace, the St Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben/Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey.  I also managed to get my head around the London public transport system which is far less complicated than I had imagined so I was able to avoid walking for miles to reach these destinations.

Saturday the 1st of August (Aaron's 25th birthday) I had a pretty chill day packing and preparing to depart for my topdeck tour the next day.  Rode the London eye in the evening as the sun was setting which provided some fantastic views.  The pod next to the one I was riding in only had 3 people, a couple and someone serving wine.  As expected when they reached the top of the wheel the man dropped to one knee and proposed.  It was quite adorable.

Ready for a full on 24 day topdeck tour!

TOMORROWLAND

It would literally be impossible for me to do justice to Tomorrowland 2015 by merely using words to describe my experience.  But I'll give it a go.

Incredible. Insane. Just indescribable.  If you have never attended the Tomorrowland festival in Boom, Belgium I highly recommend you go.  The entire weekend is absolutely mind-blowing, from the campsites, to Dreamville, the music, lights, fireworks and the food.  That pizza was love in every mouthful. No words are big enough to describe the magic, wonder and excitement of Tomorrowland.

I can't pick one particular highlight, but Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, David Guetta and Steve Aoki all spring to mind as having been amazing sets.

We met some pretty cool people despite the language barrier.  New Zealanders should really start learning languages outside of English because most of the rest of the world is at least bilingual.  It is amazing how music can bring together people from all over the globe who you have a fantastic weekend with and then sadly have to return to your normal lives after four nights of insanity.

I have thrown together a few gopro clips I took during the day at the festival because I didn't take my gopro at night. I was far too focused on jumping around and enjoying the atmosphere to stand with a camera.

On another note, after walking round with a New Zealand flag for 4 days and having people yell "AUSTRALIA!!!" while pointing at us, I am firmly all for the flag change now.

Tomorrowland was phenomenal. I would return again next year and every year after that if I could.

Oldenburg

Yesterday we ventured to Oldenburg for a late lunch and a little bit of shopping.  Again I was shocked by the speed of drivers on the autobahn.

We had lunch at a gourmet burger place called Hans Im Glück.  The interior was set up to look like you were sitting in a forest with floor to ceiling tree trunks.  It is very strange to see people with their dogs inside a restaurant or even clothing stores, but apparently that is normal.  I can't imagine taking Richie into the city and having him sit under the table while I eat my lunch and then dragging him from store to store.
I really enjoyed Zara and could have spent a lot more money in there on clothing.  In Europe you can wear their preppy style clothes without looking like a twit.  Much of what they sell would look out of place in New Zealand unless you were off to watch the polo.  Kiwis dress a lot more casually.  Other stores we visited included H & M, NewYorker and Mango.

Tomorrowland is fast approaching and I am very excited about my upcoming adventures in Belgium. Hopefully the weather is a lot hotter there than here.  The overcast days Germany has to offer are not what summer is all about.

Hans Im Glück - Oldenburg

I MADE IT

After a ridiculous number of hours spent in various airports and on planes I have crossed the globe from New Zealand to Germany.  I am excited for the adventures ahead of me, particularly my Topdeck tour and Tomorrowland in Belgium.

So far this journey I have learnt:

1.) US customs are intense, even if you're only in the country on route to somewhere else
2.) All long flights seem to have at least one screaming child
3.) Aeroplane toilets are scary
4.) The in flight breakfast is usually pretty average
5.) Pack sleeping pills if you plan on getting any sleep on the plane
6.) German drivers are nuts

I'll keep this blog up to date, more as a diary to myself than anything else :)

Making friends... but people scare me

In six days I depart New Zealand headed for Europe.  I am extremely nervous and excited for this huge adventure.  Not only will I have the opportunity to tick off some of the big bucket list destinations and events, I will have the chance to meet a variety of new people.

This is the part of my trip which excites me the most but also makes me anxious.  Sometimes I am socially awkward.  In our relationship, Aaron often takes the pressure off of me by talking so much it doesn't matter if I'm silent.  But Aaron won't be there to talk on my behalf which makes me rather nervous.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who walks into a crowded room and suddenly gets anxious when I don't recognise a single face.  No one is paying me any attention, yet I still feel like all eyes are on me.  Do they think I'm some weird loner? Are they judging my outfit? Is my hair a mess? Do I have something in my teeth?

To repel the idea I'm a loner I usually take out my phone and open an app just to close it again.  Yes, see that people who haven't even noticed I'm by myself... I do have friends.  I'm on my phone pretending to text them right now!  I might even flick on the front camera to reassure myself that my face looks acceptable.

I know it's silly and I really do hate being anxious around people, but I can't help myself.  People scare me, but I love people.  It's a pretty complicated mindset.

Hopefully this trip helps me throw away my insecurities and open up to the idea of making new friends.