Sankt Goar... here we come...

August 31st - September 1st

The drive to St. Goar was very scenic. We saw tons of mountains, castles, and beautiful houses along the river which was a nice change compared to driving through the flatlands of Belgium and the Netherlands. St. Goar is a very quiet and scenic little place on the edge of the Rhine River.

First we went shopping... one thing I love to do!! I bought the cutest pair of black patent leather one strap Birkenstock sandals for 33 Euros which is so cheap compared to the price you would pay anywhere else. I also bought two beer steins for my Brother and Dad at Montags.

After shopping, we took some pictures by the water and had dinner – wine tasting was next. We wine tasted in the basement which looked like a cave. The Rhine Valley is known for white Riesling wines... we tasted a number of dry and sweet wines and we had the opportunity to try some ice wine.

After wine tasting we headed to the Romerstuben Hotel for some drinking festivities. The bar closed early so we took the party to the Bondi Boys room for Vodka, Redbull & some Uno. The Romerstuben Hotel had by far the largest rooms – our room looked like a mini apartment but the washroom was connected to a septic tank which had a funny smell.

The largest free standing Cuckoo Clock in St. Goar

Montag's - where I bought my beer steins

Tiny little St. Goar

The picture's we took before dinner... How beautiful!

St. Goar is full of Churches and Castles

Looks like the bat cave - wine tasting


The whole contiki group at the wine tasting...


Paul, Me, Hannah, Neil & Mark... all my Aussie friends!

At the hotel bar

Jo, Mark, Neil, and MK

Drinking and playing Uno in the Bondi boys room...

Munich is next...

En Route to Amsterdam

On our way to Amsterdam...

August 30th - August 31st

The first day of our tour included a lot of time spent travelling by ferry and bus. We travelled through England, France, Belgium & the Netherlands to arrive to our first destination… AMSTERDAM.

Dover (England) - Ferry Port

We see land... it's France!

Our accommodation in Amsterdam was probably the worst in my 3 weeks in Europe – 4 per room... I could barely squeeze my ass in the washroom. Oh well besides the shitty accommodation, Amsterdam was a great place to see…and I saw a little of its guilty pleasures.

We arrived in the evening and headed to the canal cruise… and all you can drink might I add! It was a great way to meet the 50 some odd people on the tour. (Pictures below: Bus ride to the canal cruise - Hannah and Vem & views from the canal cruise)

After the canal cruise everyone walked over to the world famous Grasshopper Café – we stopped in for some drinks and a few tokes and with all that money spent… we still had to pay to use the restroom (this is common in Europe). (Pictures below: Me smoking a dube and the grasshopper cafe)

After the Grasshopper, we all wandered to the red light district where we saw a live sex show…

something I would never bother to see again! It’s pretty pathetic actually. (Piture below: one of the many sex shows in Amsterdam)

The next morning we saw Amsterdam at our leisure. We went to a “normal” café, walked through the red light district (they were in the windows with their coffees at 8am) and we went to the Anne Frank House. (Picture below: shot of one of the many canals in Amsterdam)

I can’t even describe the way I felt in the Anne Frank House… Its an amazing historical site – it makes the story of Anne Frank feel so real… the house is Eerily cold and quiet can’t even describe it… just amazing!!!

P.S. I tried those Dutch pancakes (Pannekoeken) were the most delicious tasting pancakes I have ever tasted… sorry Mom!

In the afternoon the bus left for its next destination – Sankt Goar, Germany (Rhine Valley region)

London

August 27th - August 29th/30th

London is a glorious place to travel solo. The transportation was so quick and easy to use. I travelled to London where I checked into the Imperial Hotel ($160 a night for a shoebox)

I checked out a local laundry mat where I got all my clothes clean and ready for my Contiki tour... it is really expensive to do laundry in London (3 pounds per wash and 3 pounds per dry) - It cost me 15 pounds for everything including the soap.

After I did my laundry, I explored London solo. I went to Covent Gardens... I was under the impression it was an actual English garden... well it’s not! haha I actually asked some people “where’s the garden” which they found hysterical. Covent Garden’s is full of shopping & street performances... it was pretty awesome! I went shopping and went to my fav shop (Marks and Spencers) for some English snacks P.S. they have the best ready-made sandwiches minus the mayo and prawn sandwich.

(Left: Covent Gardens)
(Right: Me on the bus tour)

My second day in London was super busy! I went on the Original Sightseeing Tour in London. The Original Tour is a hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tour visiting all of London’s biggest and most famous attractions. I won’t go into detail about all the attractions but I will post some pictures with captions.

Having Tea with the Queen: Buckingham Palace

Big Ben Baby!

St. Paul's Cathedral

I have my eye on the London Eye

London Bridges Falling Down

I want to live in the London Tower

My first night with Contiki

After my full day of touring London, my migraine & room service... I met up with my Contiki group at the Royal National Hotel (and where I stayed for that night). I was pleasantly surprised to see so many others were travelling alone! A bunch of us single Contiki ladies went out for a night in London.. but not to late because the departure of our Contiki was horrendously early the next morning.

England: Machester to London

From August 22nd to August 27th

The first portion of my Euro trip was spent with my Dad, Mom & Aunt. We went from Manchester to London by a rental car (which was scary) visiting family all over.

The flight to London Heathrow was not the greatest experience - my worst actually. It was a night flight with no working TVs and I was harassed by the passenger sitting beside me. The flight was delayed, we almost missed our connecting flight to Manchester & our luggage was lost for 2 days.

A lot happened during my family vacation in England - there is a lot to share and I will add more to this post once I can figure out how to attach pictures.

K -xoxo