Showing posts with label contiki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label contiki. Show all posts
I'm 99% sure all my future vacations will take place in Mykonos.
After all the rain we endured in Rome, we deserved a mini holiday within our holiday. And boy did we ever get one!


We had three days in absolute paradise. We spent all day on the beach relaxing in the sun, swimming, drinking 2 for 1 cocktails, eating pizza and gyros and spending time bonding with our crazy contiki family. The hotel was directly on the beach and had cats everywhere! And, just for Mike, there was even a dog that roamed the grounds as he pleased. But back to the cats. I'd be lounging on their amazingly cushioned beach chairs and all of a sudden hear meowing at the bottom of the chair! It was basically heaven on earth.






 We got to tour the main town of Mykonos (which is legitimately all white buildings with blue roofs and windows but I made the poor choice of not bringing my camera onto town because it was super hot out and I wasn't thinking) and explored the nightlife of the island. The resort we stayed on had two competing bars, one of which gave out free shot vouchers all day so all of us were pretty keen on staying at the resort and having a good time!







When we got to Athens we experienced an amazing Greek dinner with all kinds of delicious food. The restaurant even had dancers come out and of course I got pulled up by one of them and had to learn a bit of their dance with them! It was such a fun, layed back night. The next day we visited the Olympic Stadium and the Acropolis which was extrodinary. The view alone was incredible but to be there and to see what's left of it was mind boggling. There was even a cat lingering around that we can only assume is a king reincarnated.


Were currently in Albania just for the day on our way to Croatia, and I really miss sitting on Paradise Beach laughing away the days!
Although I just quickly want to through this little cafe we discovered in Albania out there for all you fans out there:


Natën e mirë !
You know the saying "When in Rome"? Well, when we were in Rome it rained. A lot. Rain is kind of an understatement, it was pouring so bad half our first day got cancelled!


However. We saw everything we needed to see, and we all bought ponchos and umbrellas off the random men walking around yelling "Lady Gaga! Poncho! Free for you! €2!". It was quite the experience in itself.


Trevi fountain has apparently been under construction for over a year and I was pretty choked, but I guess that just means well have to come back! We got to see a bit of it at least? Although it was drained other than the collected rain water so it was kind of pointless.


The Roman Forum was super cool to see! We had a guided tour and got all kinds of information on every pile of brick and column. However what I really enjoyed was the Colosseum. Our tour guide explained how it worked; they had criminals being tortured as a show, wild animals such as elephants or lions fighting against each other or humans, gladiators fighting and other very violent performances.


The next day we went into the Vatican City, which is the worlds smallest country. Unfortunately there were no Pope sightings, but we saw everything there was to see! It was quite the day. And of course, it rained for us.



(Yes I took a picture of the Sistine Chapel.. And got yelled at. They're very strict on no-pictures, hence the mans head in the way..)

I was pretty choked to leave Italy- I mean, I was excited for Greece but Italy was super cool and I definitely want to go back someday. Maybe when it's not raining, that'd be a bonus!
We were in Italy for a week, and I probably could've spent triple that in Florence alone.




We started Florence off with a really cool leather making demo, and learned how to tell real leather from fake. Leather is literally everywhere in Florence, so it was awesome to know what to spend your money on. Mike and I both picked up really cool rings from the jewelry section of the leather shop; mikes has three parts to it and the center ring spins, which definitely keeps him entertained. And mine is what is called a puzzle ring, so its four bands entwined to make one ring. The only problem is if you let them fall out of their hold on each other, its a fricken puzzle to get back together. It took us nearly an hour the first time I accidently dropped it!



After our demonstration we went on a walking tour of Florence and got to see all of Michaelangelo's sculptures, which are incredible. The entire tour we were starving, so a few of us asked our tour guide where to get the most authentic Italian pasta to which she directed us on our little maps to a hole in the wall restaurant down an alleyway with no other tourists. We stuck out like sore thumbs- the waiter took one look at us, said "English menu", and came back with dust-covered never been looked at menus. So basically, you know we found the right place. It did not disappoint.


I unfortunately didn't take nearly as many pictures as I should've in Florence, but I'll upload more when I get some actual functional WiFi and not this work-when-it-wants-to WiFi we've been getting lately!
Were in Italy!


Upon driving into our final destination we stopped in Verona to see the most well known balcony.




Yeah, we all touched Juliette's boob. And read the letters! Verona was a cute little stop, but its Venice that's stolen my heart.





The floating city welcomed us with a floodless day full of pizza, gelato, gondola rides, espresso, mask shopping and other very Italian things (did you know Venice floods 200/365 days a year?). We had a walking tour to start off our day then visited a glass blowing demonstration which blew all our minds and definitely made me question what I do with my time. The Glassman(?) made this horse in under one minute!


We spent the day doing super touristy things and experiencing Venizia to the fullest, we even sat off the edge of a canal and dangled our feet for a while.


In the evening we went off for our gondola ride, and our amazing tour guide Rex surprised Mike and me with a private romantic gondola tour separate from the group which was absolutely lovely of him. The entire time people were snapping pictures of us from the bridges and windowsills, but we had such a nice ride and really loved the experience.




Tomorrow we head into Florence and I'm so excited to continue this week through Italy! Next week were in Greece and I'm so happy the two places I was most excited for are finally happening!


Ciao!
Hola from Barcelona!


Tomorrow we head off to Nice, then were off to Monacco, then to Italy, and apparently we won't have much WiFi at all anywhere we go. Its currently 2am here, and I have to be up at 730 for the 10 hour trip back to France but I realized I should update you all before we leave here as we probably won't be able to for a week or so!



Barcelona has treated us well. The night life here is absolutely insane as they free pour alcohol and clubs don't even open until midnight, and no one even shows up till 2am. People are super passionate about where they come from here and wear their flags so proudly, so everywhere you look there's culture and authenticity.





We explored a lot of the touresty things (like, how amazing is Sagrada Familia?! Pictured above) but we mostly tried to see the area like the locals, going to their food market, walking their outdoor shopping centers and best of all searching for the most authentic paella. Our amazing tour guide Rhett (better known as Rex) told us to not settle at a restaurant until they charge us around £30 for two people and tell us it'll be at least a 45 minute wait, and although most places charged £6 per plate we trecked on and finally (after what felt like forever of searching) found a place to settle in.



We found out the chef was someone's grandmother slaving away authentic cuisine in her puny kitchen in their 20 seater restaurant, and considering we took up half their capacity we felt horrid and had to wait over an hour for the poor lady to make 10 massive seafood paella dishes but oh my god was it ever worth the wait.
We also sat down as a whole (37 of us) and shared tapas and saw a Flamenco show, and drank way more sangria than I thought physically possible. I'm so sad to be leaving Spain tomorrow, but I know they'll be more amazing cultures to come.


Adios, Barcelona!
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