Random is Good, Random is Life

Hey All…

Partied my bum off in Budapest 2 nights ago, got hammered on Absinth, man that stuff is AWESOME! It’s only like 80% alcohol. It is banned in most countries as it has hallucinagenic qualities. I did’nt notice anything myself… Just danced with a few sheep and kangaroos singing Kumbayah in a river minced meat with a backdrop of the back of the Sistine chapel depicting the last judgement under a sky of marshmellows… perfectly normal really. It was a good night and my first night out in 2 weeks. I have enjoyed slowing down a little.

In my ‘home’ town of Vienna now, just had a Sacher coffee & a Sacher Torte in the Sacher hotel.. very nice. The coffee is worth the €7! Austria Rocks… But I must admit though a couple of us headed to an Aussie Pub last night, had coopers and a very nice roo… Vienna is excellent, so much history, monuments etc. Have been learning alot about the Austrian & Hungarian relationship signified by the two headed eagles which can be seen all over Hungary & Austria.

Our campsite here is one of the best we have had… Very clean facilities and we can even flush the loo paper here… bloody luxury!

Today we have a free day to do what ever we like so I’m gonna check out Schbrunn Palace (I think that’s how it’s spelt) which is very impressive apparently. Tonight we are heading to Prater for some rides & and we have been tempted to try ’schturm’ which is wine 2 weeks before it becomes wine so it tastes like grape juice but is apparently potent as hell. Pete, the Tour Manager advised that us that we should only have 1/2 a bottle each… So the challenge has been set!

I’m finally getting over the Contiki bug, but unfortunately more people are getting sick. This thing has mutated on the bus, gonna need a preist to get rid of this thing I reckon! Hopefully people will be getting better really soon as we hit Prague in 2 days!!

Keep those emails coming guys!!

Aufweidersen

Paul

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Hey Guys,
Yep just another quick update. It is simply to f&*king hard to keep the site updated with piccies etc with the time and expenses involved, so I have decided to say “Bugger it, it was a good idea at the time”. Next time I will travel with a lappy which will make things much easier! I am keeping a brief handwritten diary and will update the site entirely with piccies when I get back… I will also be planning my next trip… I have been severely bitten on the bum by the travel bug. I have even been chatting with a few people on tour about travelling together… I have a room sorted out for a coupla weeks in London too…

Left Bulgaria today, very nice place, very different. My god the people there are very vain, not necessarily attractive but they are all fashion and gym junkies, was entertainting for a while!

Hit Romania today… can’t wait to see Dracula’s castle tomorrow!! Well whether it actually is or not is debatable.. but I don’t care!! Beer is cheap, everything is cheap… I am finally starting to get over the Contiki Tour bug. I am the worst affected… must have been all that drinking which kept my immune system a little sensitive eh??! I hav been crook as hell for about 8 days straight now, sleeping all the time I can, coughing my lungs up daily and I have even begun to snot out of my eyes (I’m NOT kidding). Slept heaps last night in Bulgaria, we are in hotels from last night and the next two nights which is grouse! So feeling like a good night in Romania tonight, never know I might even get a cheap wife eh?!

Apart from being quite ill, I am still enjoying the trip… Really looking forward to Prague etc… can’t believe we are over halfway on the trip, but still looking back at where we have been and all the fun we have had it’s like half a lifetime!

Don’t forget guys I am hardly lonely on tour, but I still like to hear from you too… so don’t be strangers now…

Love ya’s all

Paul

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I asked Pete how do we go about charging all our toys, cameras, phones mp3 players etc. He advised me that we have “charge parties”, which basically means we get a few people in the bathrooms at the campsite, grab a few beverages, chat and watch our status bars climb and make sure that no-one steals our stuff… Everything is a party in Contiki!

We visted tine Palace of Versailles, Eiffel tower (again)… The palace was amazing, saw the bed of Louis the 14th’s wife (sorry forget her name). On this bed she gave birth in full view of the public, this was to ensure the people that the baby was in fact royalty and there was no baby swapping etc going on! I bet that would be fun, giving birth in front of tonnes of your public!

The Arc de Triomphe was cool, such an excellent view of the entire city. Also watching the traffic was hilarious. The Arc de Triomphe is basically a big-arse round about with a huge arch in the centre. Now this roundabout has 12 streets leading into it, there are no lanes marked on the road. These French drivers are bloody insane. I will put a photo up of the ?raffic once I get a chance to squash my pics down to size.

Also saw the Notre Dame, had a crepe (mmmmm the best!). Hate this weather though, one minute it’s raining, then BANG out comes the sun an the humity reaches about 50%, well at least that’s how it feels.

Sat in a cafe in the Champs Elysees with Sam and Linda, saw the prices of a sprite (5.50 euro!) and bolted. The waiter was not impressed, but bugger the French!

Saw the Mona Lisa, umm woohoo. I can die happy now. I understand the history and the intrigue around the painting and everything, but who bloody cares?

People on the tour are beginning to show themselves now, always takes a while I guess. I have 2 mins left, gotta go… more to come I promise!

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26th July 2005
Hi all actually day on day 20, in Corfu at the moment and still having an awesome time. I am trying to play catch up a little with my posts, so here goes!

Flew from Barcelona to London, flight was delayed by about 45 minutes, then were stuck in a holding pattern for about another 20 minutes in Gatwick. Not happy, flight finally got in about 1am. Took the Gatwick express to Victoria station, then a cab to the Royal International. So here I am at the hotel and it’s 2:30am, have to be up about 5:30am to checkin and be ready for the coach. Paid $79 for the bed for about 3 hours and go MAYBE 1 hour’s sleep!! yikes.

So here I am Contiki Day 1.
Met the tour staff:
Pete, Tour Manager
Hans, Driver
Sean, Cook.

Drove to Dover and saw the White Cliffs and onto the Ferry to France.

We have a few mascots on our trip.

Constable Kenny Koala sits right on the dashboard to scare away the nasty power tripping coppers all over the world.
A moose who is simply called “General”
and a Pikachu hat, which I eventually discovered is to be worn by the “dickhead of the day”.

Passed through the beautiful French country side to our campsite in Joinville Le Pont. After we setup camp we were introduced to snails! The guides asked for a volunteer to be the first snail eater, so I happily obliged. They gave me a beree, a monobrow and a curly moustache just to make me a little a more French. You stab the snail with a toothpick three times, first to kill it, the 2nd to make sure and a third to pick it up. The snail was surprisingly tasty, lots of garlic and the texture is quite rubbery.

That night we went on a driving tour through Paris, I missed climbing the Eiffel tower as the queues were massive and it was bloody raining too!

We drove past the Champs Elysees, very nice and pretty. That’s were you get your Versace this and Armani that…

Paris is stunning, everwhere in the main city is beautifully detailed and artsy fartsy.

We headed to the “Snack bar” in the campsite afterwards and consumed a few pints of snacks… nice.

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Bonjour!

Guys, I am in Antibes at the moment. Having an absolute BLAST! Partying every night, I have not had so much fun or laughed so much in 8 days in my entire life.

Our days on the tour are chockablock full, so unfortunately I have not been able to update the blog as much as I hoped.

We have gone from London to Paris, Paris to Barcelona (EXCELLENT DRINKING!), Barcelona to Antibes, tomorrow we head for Venice. Some of us went skinny dipping in the French Riveria last night, much fun!!… until we met some French dickheads who ruined our fun, but more on that later.

I’ve always wanted to go on Big Brother and this is exactly what this tour feels like. 40 people (3 staff) living in each other’s pockets. Life is very interesting at the moment, meeting heaps of people seeing tonnes of sites and beautiful cities.

I am keeping a brief written diary so when I have time there will be tonnes of interesting reading for all.

Hope you are all well and you are all in my thoughts…

Au revoir

Paul

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