First off I need to say that Topdeck Travel is an amazing group to book with! My tour guide, Alex, was amazing! She showed us so many neat and interesting places in all of the countries we went to. Would not have seen half of the stuff that I did if it were not for this trip so if you are in need of a Europe fix then I suggest this trip.
Right, let's get onto it!
PARIS
Day one started in London as we made our way to Paris. No traffic thank goodness, unlike last time I went to Paris. A funny comment I got while going through border patrol was that the man checking my passport told me he knew the Sarnia Sting... was not expecting that! We got to the hostel in the afternoon and had dinner with the entire group, our lovely chefs brought out this amazing dish called...Escargot! Yes I ate a snail and yes I actually did quite like it. Now if I were asked to eat another one I would say "No thanks I've already tried this."
Day Two we got to explore the city! Started by driving by the Moulin Rouge! (another thing off the bucket list) and then once dropped off in town we got the whole day to explore. My friends (Gill, Naomi and Gurtej) made our way to the Louvre and thanks to some lovely backpackers Gill and I met the night before we got to use their Museum Pass and go into the Louvre for free! The "Mona Lisa" was a celebrity that day, or felt like it anyways - had to go on my tippy toes and hold my camera up just to see her, she is quite beautiful though. The rest of the day we walked along the River Seine and made our way to Notre Dame (another things off the bucket list) and looked around inside.
For dinner that night we got to try another thing France is known for...frog's legs! I ate them as well and liked them as well but yet again if asked I would say "No thanks I've tried it already."An early morning as we then made out way onto.....
SWITZERLAND
Ten hours on the bus! Way too long but so worth it! While in Switzerland I finally got to see the thing I've been missing most, snow :) On our second day in Switzerland I took a train to "The Top of Europe" a mountain called Jungfrau. It took two hours to get there by an old fashion looking train but the sights along the way were just beautiful. When we got to the top we explore the station they have which included a "Lindt" chocolate store, food court, shopping area, ice palace, viewing deck and an area called "Snow Fun" where we got to go out onto the mountain and walk in the snow. Of course we had a snowball fight and made a snowman.
On the bus again we went too....
VENICE
Going from the cold to the heat was such a funny feeling. It was ridiculously hot in Venice when we went to explore. Our tour guide warned us that if you don't get lost in Venice then you are doing something wrong. So for once, since being away, I put away my map of an area I knew nothing about and made my way around the town.
We went on a gondola ride through all of the canals and got to see the city from another angle. Afterwards we walked around and explored the city for all of it's many wonders. Such a beautiful city with very elegant architecture, just amazing to see with my own eyes and just try to understand out people can come up with buildings that look like this.
MUNICH & RHINE VALLEY
We only stayed in Munich and Rhine Valley one night for each place but we did well with our time. In Munich we went to the Hofbrauhaus (pronounced Hopera House - by our tour guide anyways) for a stein and some German sausage, such a delicious meal!
In Rhine Valley we got to go on a river cruise and were shown demonstrations of Coco Clocks and Steins. Lots of green areas in Rhine Valley and filled with old houses, churches and castles!
AMSTERDAM & BURGG
Finally our last two stops! While in Amsterdam I got to go to the "Anne Frank Museum". My friends (Chloe, Drue and Steph) and I got up at 6am in order to be at the museum before it opened, and good thing we got there when we did! We arrived around 7:45am and it opened at 9am. By time it was 8am the line up was starting to curve around the block. Once we left the museum the line up was 3hours long and around two blocks and part of a building! If you are ever in Amsterdam and can make it to the "Anne Frank Museum" do it! Even if you do not know her story that well, it is still worth seeing and being in place where History took place.
That evening we had a farewell dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then off to the River Cruise!
On the last day of the tour we made an hour stop in Burgg to eat chocolate and have waffles.
Sorry these descriptions are not in very much detail but I have pointed out my favourite parts of the trip and shared my favourite photos from it. If you do have any questions or want to know more stories just comment on the post and I'll reply back.
Next post will be about my sister visiting, which she is at this very moment, and then a finally farewell England post the day before I return home - September 2nd. Hope you all enjoyed reading about my travels.
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