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Europe 2016

June - September 2016
A 113-day adventure by Marnee Read more
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  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 9

    When in Prague...

    June 9, 2016 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We got up for our included breakfast at around 8am, then went out the front of our hostel to meet Tamara, who took us by tram into the city centre to go on a guided bike tour around the city. Between our walking and bike tours, we'd pretty well checked off all of the main sights, so we decided to head off in search of food and beer. We made our way to a bar called the Pub. This bar would have been really cool, as you sit around tables and you're able to pour your own beers. There was such a bit group of us that they made us make a reservation to come back at 1pm, so we went out in search of food. We found a little burger place called Meet Burger. These were about the best burgers I've ever had, and the strongest cocktails too. Before we knew it, it was 2pm, so we settled the bill (a massive task for 15 people) and tried to find a tram to take us back to our hostel. We found it, but headed in the wrong direction for a few stops, before realising and jumping off and getting on the right one. We made it to our stop, found a little convenience store to buy some drinks, and headed back to our hostel. We had about an hour to get organised and head back into the city. We jumped back on the tram, and after a short walk, we made it to the Intercontinental Hotel, our meeting point before our boat cruise down Prague's main river.
    Dinner and 3 drinks were included on this cruise, so we ate on the main enclosed level, then grabbed drinks and climbed up to the rooftop. The views were, of course, lovely, and it was another fun trip, getting a chance to chat to some people I hadn't spoken much to as yet.
    From the cruise, Tamara walked us to a bar near the main square called Coyotes. Some pretty potent cocktails were had there, and we stayed for about an hour before heading to our next destination, The Golden Tree.
    This place was kind of cool, it was almost cave like as you went down numerous levels, with a light up dance floor at the bottom. They also sold buckets of different alcoholic mixes, again quite potent.
    It was about midnight when we left in search of a club we had heard about called Karlov Lanze which had 5 levels of music - oldies, dance, rnb, top 40, and an ice bar. We lost about half the group on the way, but once in, it was pretty epic. Everyone had such a fun time dancing the night away, I couldn't even tell you what time we got home, only that we all left together in cabs.
    When I walked into reception, there was a sign about Vegemite toast being on sale for 25 krona. Well of course I had to buy some! The guy on reception was from Australia, and said he was trialling it out to see how it went. Delicious!
    T, Daniel, Cam, Travis and I had a bit of a night cap outside before heading to bed around 4am.    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 10

    The Lovely Bones

    June 10, 2016 in Czech Republic ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    This morning's wake up was a tad difficult... We headed out with our bags around 8.30am. We had around an hours drive to a small town called Kutna Hora, population 20,000. This town is famous for a small church called the Cemetary Church of All Saints. More commonly known as the 'bone church', the site is the final resting place of around 40,000 people, and the Ossuary is full of skulls and bones. Some are decoratively displayed, in other areas there are just mountains of skulls. I overheard someone describe it as morbidly glorious, and that is absolutely the best description.
    After we left the church and cemetery area, we grabbed some snacks and water, then jumped back on the bus for a 3 hour drive to our next service stop.
    Arwen chucked on her playlist on the bus. There were some real gems in there (the Bloodhound Gang and Linkin Park) with plenty of variety (Bieber, Elton John), very enjoyable!
    We stopped at the most random place, it was pretty much a theme park... with a restaurant inside a plane, an Excalibur themed section, and lots of arcade games.
    Ebony and I wandered around in search of the pizzeria which was mentioned on the sign out the front, but got a bit lost, overwhelmed and confused... Eventually we found a restaurant which sold pizza, just a short walk away, and headed there.
    Pizza was delicious, and service was super speedy, which we later found out was not the case for everyone else. Best bit, free wifi! Whilst watching some rather embarrassing snapchats from the night before's festivities, I got a call from Mum and Sam! "Happy day before your birthday, Marn!"
    We wandered back to the coach, and headed on our way to Vienna!
    We only had about 20 minutes to check in, get organised and dressed up for the night's optional extra, a Mozart and Strauss concert, so we ran in and really hussled to get ready!
    We jumped back on the bus and headed to the old Stock Exchange Building for the concert, found our seats in this beautiful building, and were ready for some amazing classical music.
    It was only a small orchestra, but they were incredible. There were no amps or microphones, just incredible, live music. When they first began I got goosebumps... There was also 2 opera singers and some ballet dancers, and the costumes were stunning.
    During intermission we actually got to go and speak to the performers and take photos with them, so that was really cool!
    From the concert, we jumped back on the bus and headed to Prater Park, a massive theme park in Vienna. A few of us had dinner at a little restaurant there (burgers!) and then went for a bit of a wander around the park. T, Ebony, Sharnne and I went on a ghost train - it was bloody scary, T and I had to hold each other and we all screamed like little girls, it was hilarious.
    From there we headed to the meeting point so we could get a lift on the bus back to our hostel. I would have liked to spend more time there, but we were all pretty tired. The plan was to head up to our rooms, get changed, then head down to the hotel bar, but I laid down on my bed and pretty much passed out. I woke about half an hour later, just got changed and jumped back into bed. I think the big days (and nights) have caught up with me!    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 11

    HBMK

    June 11, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We got up for breakfast at around 8.15am, and then Jo dropped us into the city for a guided walking tour with Tamara. Vienna has some beautiful statues, monuments and buildings, and of course history. Amongst other things, we stood in a courtyard area where Hitler gave one of his speeches stating Austria would be joining Germany in WWII. Bit surreal imagining that we were standing in the same spot as supporters, imagining all the nazi flags and chanting, wondering if there were also people in disbelief at what was actually happening.
    We ended our tour at the main Swarovski store in Vienna, where we had a 5 minute talk about the crystals and how the company came about, as it began in a small town just outside of Vienna.
    T and I waited outside for Charli and Jess, as the plan was to head to St. Stephens Cathedral, then for some traditional Vienese chocolate cake, Sacher Tout.
    We arrived at the Cathedral, walked inside, and I got a bit lost in its beauty, I nearly cried. Being the first Catholic cathedral/church I'd been to in Europe, I started thinking about my Nan, and a few other personal things that had happened just before (and at the beginning) of my trip, and it was all a little overwhelming.
    I went a lit a candle, then the 4 of us headed up one of the towers to get a view of the city.
    Incredible views. A lot of these cities we are going to don't have towering skylines, as they're so old, which makes the views even prettier.
    We probably stayed up there for about 20 minutes, before coming back down and exiting the Cathedral.
    Somehow T and I lost Charli and Jess, but we knew they were both headed for a pharmacy so we headed in the direction of Hotel Sacher.
    We got a little table for two, and ordered our cake and drinks.
    Free wifi at the cafe, so I got to call Dad and have a quick chat to him, the first since I'd been away!
    Our cake came along, and I'll be completely honest, it was kind of disappointing... I think it had been talked up too much, so whilst it was good, it wasn't the best I've had... It was no 'OMG Cake' like we've had for Specsavers birthdays! The hot chocolate, however, probably was the best I've had. It was silky smooth and perfect!
    From there we decided to head for a birthday drink at an Australian pub we'd passed earlier. It was packed with people watching the rugby. We found Tamara, Arwen and Craig there, so grabbed a drink and sat with them. The bartender was Australian, so when I tried to just order midi's of cider, he gave me a whole lot of crap and pretty well forced me to get schooners instead. Typical Aussie peer pressure!
    We stayed there probably just under an hour, before walking back to the pick up point with Arwen and Craig.
    We got to the bus and it was time for our first goodbye. Tareisha was leaving, off to work for Sail Croatia for the next 3 months. That was pretty devastating, I gave her a massive hug, thanked her for spoiling me on my birthday (she bought me Swarovski earrings, a rose, and paid for my birthday cake!), and got a little teary - but we were all planning to head out later, so it was see you soon, not goodbye.
    We jumped on the bus and were taken to an Old Vienna Schnapps Museum.
    We learnt all about the company, how to make Schnapps, and of course got to have a few tastings! I tried butterscotch, cherry liqueur, and chocolate hazelnut, my favourite!
    A few people made some purchases, then we jumped back on the bus to head to Maria Theresa's summer palace.
    The building itself was pretty impressive, with approximately 2000 rooms, but we didn't get to go inside, so it was the gardens that were most impressive. They were so vast, you could spend a good couple of hours exploring, a lot more than our 45 minutes.
    We jumped back on the coach, back to our hostel, where we had about an hour and a half to relax/get organised for our included dinner.
    We headed a little outside of the city for a tradtional Austrian dinner - a beef soup with stips of pancakes in it, and chicken schnitzel and chips, pretty tasty!
    We headed back to the hostel, where we were struggled to decide on whether we wanted to head out or not. We knew we were heading to Auschwitz the following day, so noone wanted to be hungover, but we still wanted to have a birthday drink. A couple of us ended up finding a little bar around the corner from our hostel, where they barely spoke any english. We had a few drinks and played a game of pool. I had my birthday Sash on and the lady behind the bar gave me a free Jaeger shot!
    As we were heading out, we realised there was a group of people who had a dog with them. He was HUGE and so so beautiful, I couldn't even tell you what breed he was. Apparently his name was Jango, but he didn't speak any english, only Serbian!
    We left around midnight and headed back to the bar at the hostel. I only lasted about 5 minutes - it was like a box of cigarette smoke.
    I'm really struggling to deal with the fact EVERYONE seems to smoke here, and you can smoke everywhere. It makes me super grateful for our smoking laws back home, because I'd never be able to go out - my asthma has been playing up massively, when I normally never get it back home.
    I called Mum, and possibly woke her up because of the time difference, and then went up to bed.    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 12

    Those Who Forget... Condemned to Repeat

    June 12, 2016 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today was an early start to our driving day, 8am bags to coach. We had a quick brekkie, then jumped on the bus. We had a 2 hour drive to our first stop, a shopping centre back in the Czech Republic. On the way we got stopped at the border for a passport check. Afterwards, Tamara said that doesn't happen often, in fact it's usually that they're bored and want to see some pretty girls... Creepy..!
    Once at the shopping mall, we checked out the supermarket for snacks and tissues, then headed for some healthy lunch... KFC... It was actually delicious, and fresh!
    We jumped back on the bus for the 2 hour journey to Auschwitz. We arrived at about 3pm, and I headed in with Brooke and Ebony.
    I don't really know how to describe what we saw, only that I still cannot fathom the atrocities that went on there. There were different exhibits in all the different buildings, and in one, there was a few pictures drawn by young children whilst they were in the camps. Most pictures are colourful and of rainbows and butterflies and families all being together as they were drawing their happy memories, however there were a couple of exceptions, such as one all in black crayon of a man being hanged, with the jewish star on his clothing. How is a 5 year old supposed to deal with seeing that kind of thing happening?
    Another exhibit showed a woman before she was arrested, and she was quite... not plump... but voluptuous, and then another photo of her in 1945, when she was liberated from the camp - naked, being held up by another person. She was nearly skeletal, no fat anywhere in her body. It was seriously disturbing and confronting.
    We walked back to the bus after just over an hour, and spoke to a few others about their experiences. It seems we missed some of the main exhibits, such as rooms full of hair, glasses, shoes and prosthetic limbs, although part of me is glad we missed it, what we did see was awful enough.
    We left there and jumped back on the bus, and someone found out about the news that there had been a shooting at a gay club in Orlando, now America's biggest mass shooting in recent history. It was a really sobering moment, having just been at the site of the worst mass murders in the world's history, and to know it is still happening in today's day and age. Why is there so much hate in the world? What kind of person thinks they have the right to decide who lives or dies?
    The concentration camp we were at was called Auschwitz 2, so we headed to Auschwitz 1, which was a working camp. We saw the gates where the trains entered, and as people got off, one man had the decision of whether they were fit enough to work, and if not, they were sent to the death camps. Truly horrific stuff.
    We jumped back on the bus, and Tamara asked how we all felt, then told us to msg our parents and loved ones, and played a few songs to remind us how lucky we really are.

    ...

    Onto Krakow! We did our rooming list on the bus and as we were staying in a hotel this time, and there is an odd number of ladies, one lucky person got a room to themselves... Me! In reality, everyone else found a buddy, and by the time the sheet got back to me... I was actually totally fine with that though, so much space for activities!
    We checked into our rooms - not only did I have room to myself, I was also on a floor of my own...! I got organised for our included dinner at the hotel.
    We then got dolled up and met Tamara in the lobby at 10pm to walk into a club in town.
    I actually think we might have been supposed to head somewhere else after this bar? But it was pretty good so we stayed all night, drinking and dancing. I managed to get Tamara to have a Jaeger-Bomb with us, and got Jorge to buy my belated birthday drink. We also ran into TJ who we'd met at our hostel in Prague - how random!!
    It was only a 10 minute walk there from the hotel, so it should only have taken the same amount to walk home, and whilst I do pride myself on my sense of direction, I reckon it took more like 40 mins to get home... I definitely walked a different way, but I got us home, and that's the main thing!    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 13

    Poland Wins!

    June 13, 2016 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Maybe it was because Poland had beaten Northern Ireland the night before in the Euro Cup, or maybe something else, but I woke up definitely feeling like Krakow had defeated me. I had boring plans for the morning of getting my washing done... But decided sleep was more important.
    I got a message from Carly at around quarter to 11 asking if I was around and wanted to get food... Probably a good plan, so I got up, showered and we headed across the road to the shopping mall. We passed a few people we knew, and I think everyone was feeling a little worse for wear. I grabbed a (massive) slice of pizza, which I couldn't finish... And then we headed in search of lip liner and a power adapter for Carly, and a memory card for my phone. It only took about half an hour and then we headed back to the hotel. Carly moved into my room for the night, and we got ready to head to the salt mines.
    It only took around 40 minutes to drive there, and we began our 2 hour walking tour. We entered the mines by walking down 54 flights of stairs... We were assured it was a lift back up at the end!
    We learnt about the history of the mine, how the miners used to work, and how at one point, horses were brought down into the mines and spent their entire lives down there, pulling barrels etc around, never seeing daylight again - so awful!
    There were some beautiful carvings and statues around the mines, and some absolutely gorgeous chapels and cathedrals. There were also a couple of glorious lakes inside, all salt water of course.
    By the end of the tour, we were all exhausted, so it was a pretty quiet ride back to the hotel.
    We had about an hour back at the hotel, before most people were heading for a parogi dinner. I opted out of this one and was heading to dinner with Arwen and Craig.
    Arwen is celiac, so we headed to a restaurant with a gluten friendly menu called Pod Baranem. The restaurant was a bit fancy, and the food was delicious!
    After dinner we decided to head in search of the castle area, and a dragon statue which breaths fire. We did a lap of the entire castle, and somehow managed to miss it... We didn't have enough time to keep searching, so we headed off to the main square, where we were meeting the rest of the group to head out for some more drinks. Tamara had organised for us to head to a bar, with a free shot on arrival for our group. I wasn't really feeling like going out, but you can't say no to free shots!
    The bar was ok, it was down in a bit of a dungeon, which I've found has been the case on a lot of bars around Europe.
    After our shot, there were a few of us who wanted to head home, so Tamara walked us back at around 11pm.
    I got back to the room and wrote some blogs, before heading to sleep around midnight.    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 14

    Do Widzenia Cracow, Szia Budapest

    June 14, 2016 in Slovakia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Big driving day today, 3 countries, 3 currencies, breakfast, lunch and dinner in 3 different cities! Bags to coach at 8am, my bus buddy today was Tyler... Unfortunate for him as I was feeling a bit snotty and gross! I was equipped with tissues and cough mixture, and the plan to sleep the whole way, so it wasn't too bad.
    Our first 2 hour stint flew by - I slept pretty soundly through it. A quick toilet stop on the border of Poland and Slovakia, and it was back on the coach to our lunch stop in Slovakia. The scenery through Slovakia was stunning, and we were back to using euros (rather than the Polish Zlotti).
    I third wheeled with Arwen and Craig again, and we went to a small restaurant near the meeting point. I had some pasta which was a little bland, but it had chilli and garlic in it, so was a tad spicy.
    We headed back to the bus for 4 more hours of driving, with a small toilet break on the border of Slovakia and Hungary.
    We arrived at our Wombats hostel, found our rooms, I was sharing with Terryanne and Charlotte.
    The girls wanted to quickly check out the shops, so once they left I had about an hour's nap, ready for a big night out in Budapest.
    We got dolled up and headed down to meet Tamara in the lobby. We jumped onto the coach, and met our tour guide for the next couple of days. As we drove through the city, she showed us around and told us about the history of the buildings.
    We finally arrived along the river Danube, where we left the coach and jumped on a dinner boat cruise.
    This was an absolutely stunning way to see the city, the beautiful buildings and statues along the river at dusk.
    The food was traditional Hungarian food, with goulash, and beef and chicken dishes. Wine was also included, but I could only handle one glass of champagne and one glass of white - Marnee plus wine equals bad (we later learn in Florence) so best to avoid.
    After plenty of photo ops, we left the cruise, and Tamara walked us to a bar in the city, called Morrisons.
    When we first arrived, everyone was watching a match of the Euro Cup, so it was a little boring for those of us not interested in sport!
    The game was only on for about another 15 mins, and then the music was turned up, and the drinks started flowing.
    We found one room of the bar had karaoke, so a lot of time was spent down there, I cleared the dance floor when I sang Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know - I forgot most of the tour is under 25 and don't know who Alanis is... We headed back upstairs for a boogie with the locals and eventually we all jumped into cabs and headed home.
    Next door to our hostel is a pizza shop, with kebabs across the road, so once we'd all had some food, we headed to bed!    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 15

    Rainy Budapest

    June 15, 2016 in Hungary ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    We got up early-ish for a guided walking tour with our guide from the day before. We saw some beautiful buildings and monuments, a statue of Ronald Reagan, and a really cool set of fountains, which have sensors and turn off when you walk through them so you can avoid getting wet - much like the rain room in the States. Wouldn't have mattered if we did get wet - we were already saturated as mother nature decided to open up the flood gates throughout the walking tour. This didn't help the fact I was already feeling a little worse for wear...
    We jumped on the subway, which is exactly like NYC's subway, in look and smell - I loved it! We got off after a couple of stops, and headed towards the House of Terror museum.
    This building was home to many atrocities throughout the 20th century. First occupied by the Hungarian Nazi's Arrow Cross Party, then between 1945-1956 it was home to notorious communist parties, ÁVO and ÁVH. Many people were tourtured and/or killed here, and the museum serves to commemorate the victims of terror, and to remind all of the awful acts of terrorist dictatorships.
    The exhibits were really well organised, however it was good we had a tour guide, as everything was written in Hungarian!
    Once we left the museum, a few people were heading to the baths, and a few of us headed back to the hostel. I was feeling truly awful at this point, so my plans for the afternoon were washing, eating and sleeping!
    I put my washing on, then sat with Ashleigh for a little bit and ate some more pizza from the shop next to the hostel (it was just as tasty sober, so that's a win!), before she headed off with Tani and Divya to the baths. I had a couple of naps, between washing and drying my clothes, and once I took them back up to the room, realised the dryer had done virtually nothing... So I had to hang my clothes up all over the room!
    Terryanne and Charlotte got back from the baths and we chilled in the rooms for a bit, before I decided I'd better go for a wander and head to a pharmacy and get some food.
    Most people were planning on heading out with Tamara, so I said goodbye and have a good night to the girls, and went in search of a pharmacy. It was a nice evening to be wandering our area solo, everyone needs a night to themselves sometimes. Helpful that the area we were staying in was quite busy, so I felt pretty safe, even as it was starting to get dark.
    I found a pharmacy, and although there was a slight language barrier, the pharmacist was really helpful, and she gave me some cold and flu tablets, but told me I couldn't take any tonight as they'd keep me awake. I assumed that means it's the good stuff, like the phamacy strength Codral back home!
    Next mission: food! There were so many bars and restaurants in our area, and I headed for one I had seen which had chicken soup... No deal, they'd run out... I figured that was a sign not to try and eat healthy, so headed to a pasta place instead. It was super tasty, and a good hearty meal was probably what I needed anyway!
    I stopped at a convenience store on the way back to the hostel for some tissues, and got back at about 9.30ish, packed my bags, and listened to some music for a while.
    Terryanne got in just as I was about to go to sleep, and she wasn't feeling well either, so we went straight to sleep!    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 16

    Szia Budapest, Zdravo Ljubljana

    June 16, 2016 in Slovenia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Sadly, I got organised and headed down to the bus to leave Budapest. Really sad I didn't get to explore more from being ill, but this is probably the first city I've really felt like I need/want to come back to, so there is always next time!!
    It was about 3 hours of sleeping before our first service stop. I shared a ham baguette with Ashleigh, and we grabbed supplies for our next stop, Lake Bled.
    Lake Bled is GORGEOUS. It was a little rainy when we arrived, so Arwen, Craig and I headed into a cafe for coffee/hot chocolate, and it was perfectly timed that the sun came out as we left.
    We found a little park bench near the water, and cracked out Arwen's Amsterdam cheese, Hungarian cherrys, and my German potato chips (in place of crackers). I really brought the fancy food to the party........
    It was delish, and we had a couple of swans and a few ducks try and join our little picnic. So much so, that once we'd packed up, the swans followed us on our way back around the lake to meet up with everyone else.
    We jumped back on the bus for the hour drive to Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana.
    After rocking to some Alanis and Blink 182 - to educate the younguns on the bus - we arrived at our hostel (Terryanne and I were roomies) and had about an hour to chill before Tamara walked us into the main city square, only about 10 minutes away. We all separated into groups, and Terryanne, Jorge, Cam, Nicole, Jono, Colin and I headed in search of a bar with a TV, to watch Germany v Poland in the soccer. We ended up at Tokyo Piknik, a faux-japanese restaurant (they had pad thai and french fries...) and had a meal and some drinks. It has become apparent that the countries with names beginning with 'Slo' are named so for a reason... Slow-venia and Slow-vakia both had very slow service at their restaurants!
    From there we all decided to head home. Terryanne and I were still feeling worse for wear, so we just chilled on our beds checking the old facebook... And fell asleep about 11pm.    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 17

    Venezia

    June 17, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Up early for a big day in Venice. We were on the bus by 8am, and began our 2 hour drive to services. This was just a quick toilet stop, then we had another hour until we arrived at our boat onto the island of Venice!
    The boat ride was a little rocky and windy, but we arrived at around 1pm.
    Tamara showed us where our meeting point would be for the day, and we had about 2 and a half hours until our gondala rides.
    I went off with Jorge, Jono, Nicole, Cam, Charli and Terryanne in search of our first authentic Italian meal. We found a lane a couple streets back from the main square and found a table.
    We all ordered our pizza and pasta, and received a free belini each (a peach wine mix). My pizza was delicious, as expected, however it's not all that different to what you can get at somewhere like D.O.C. back home, so I'll just have to keep trying it throughout Italy to see if there's better anywhere (I plan to eat ALL of the carbs in our 5 days in Italy!)
    We wandered around for a while, found some gelato, and then headed back towards the main square for our gondala rides.
    Tamara walked us to the canel where our gondalas were, and we made our groups of 6. I was with Jacinda, Terryanne, Alex, Alli and Colin. Our Gondala driver could have easily been mistaken for a young Peter Andre. It was a really peaceful journey, and how cool to say I've been on a real gondala ride in Venice!
    From there I went for a walk with Ebony and Brooke, for a bit of a window shop. We had about 45 minutes until we had to go back to our meeting spot, for our Tastes of Venice tour.
    We walked to meet our guides, and split into two groups. Our guide's name was Roberto (because of course it was), and he took us for a walk through Venice, and told us a little about the history. We went to three different restaurants, had red or white wines at each, prosecco at the final place, and also got some small nibblies at each place (beef and tuna croquettes, calamari and octopus, etc). It was cool to see more of Venice than we would have if venturing out on our own.
    During the tour, Ebony and I had seen one of those places where you get a fish pedicure, so we went in search of that.
    Managed to find it, and it was €10 for 10 minutes. We decided to do 20 minutes each, which seemed fine until we put our feet in and were worried that would be too long! It tickled heaps at first, but then it just became relaxing - plus they had free wifi, winning! The looks we were getting from passersby was hilarious, some looked disgusted, some intrigued, others amused!
    The 20 minutes passed super quick, and we had about an hour to find our way back to the meeting point, so we went in search of a takeaway pasta joint Tamara had suggested. Venice is like a maze, so after finding a few dead ends, we eventually found it and ordered.
    Delicious, as expected, and we ate on the walk back to the meeting point.
    So it seems Venice often floods, and as we got back to St. Mark's Basilica, nearly the entire square was flooded. The 'going on a bear hunt' song went through my head... Can't go over/under it, have to go through it! Pretty gross in my flats, but it seemed too difficult to find another way around, the water was about ankle deep.
    Our meeting time was 9pm, and for once everyone was actually on time! A bit of a miracle for our group! However, the boat was not... We had to wait around 40 minutes for the boat to arrive to take us back to the main land, and I think Jo was a bit mad as he assumed it was our fault. We zoomed to our hostel (there's a lot of laws in Europe about how late drivers of coaches can be out, and the rest that they need) and checked into our rooms by about 11pm.
    I was sharing with Ebony and Charli. Eb and I got ready for bed, and Charli headed out with some others - that little party animal!
    We called our mothers (what good little girls haha) and went to sleep about 11.45.    Read more

  • Marnee KrohnEurope 2016
    Day 18

    Buongiorno Roma

    June 18, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    I managed to get up for breakfast today, not that it's really worth it... Europe doesn't know how to breakfast..!
    We jumped on the coach about 8.30am, and it was about 2 hours until our first service stop.
    We actually stopped at a contiki campsite on the outskirts of Florence - Jo needed to have a few days rest, so we're leaving him for a couple of days, and have a new driver in the interim, Dave!
    Another 20 minutes and we arrived at proper services, a few of us grabbed some pizza, stocked up on lollies and what not, and chilled off the bus for around 45 minutes.
    We jumped back on the bus and had some interesting political conversations with some of our American friends, both explaining Australia's system, and talking about both countries impending elections.
    After another service stop, I had my first nap in the isles of the contiki bus. I'm surprised it's taken this long, I remember often sleeping in the isles on my US tour in '09!
    Arwen put her playlist on again, and I moved toward the front to discuss it with her and Sharnne, and we finally arrived at our hostel at around 4.30pm, which left us an hour to get ready for a walking tour with Tamara and our included dinner.
    We jumped on the bus, and got dropped near the Altare della Patria - a massive monument (so huge it looks like an entire building) to celebrate the first King of unified Italy, and was completed in 1925.
    Tamara told us some of Rome's history, and we took a group photo, then headed on a small walking tour through the city. We stopped at the Trevi Fountain, threw in our coins (One to return to Rome, one for love, and a third for Roman love... I only threw 2 coins..!) and took some good photos!
    We also walked past the Pantheon, then made our way to a fancy Roman restaurant for our included dinner. We had a 5 course meal with bread, vegetables, pasta, a chicken dish and finally tiramisu. Delish, but we were so full at the end!
    We jumped on the coach and headed back to the hostel, where we headed to the hostel bar for a few (too many) drinks, and danced the night away with those of us who weren't continuing on with the rest of the tour. Some I forgot to say goodbye to (sorry Ebony! Love and miss you!!!), others I said some highly intoxicated and emotional goodbyes to... Big night!    Read more

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