Day 9 - Prague to Munich
Got up and on the bus. Long drive day!! Stopped for lunch then stopped again downtown Munich. Went to a pub with Amanda, Gabby, Miles, Tom & Toli. Ate a pretzel and "chips" (fries) then left to find a CD for Brian, no luck. Went back to watch the Glockenspiel. Ended up holding both my video camera and Aaron's camera so he could hold the umbrella. My camera died before the clock even finished. Back on the coach to the hostel. Quickly changed for the Beer Hall. Had chicken schnitzel and a Radler (1/2 beer, 1/2 Sprite) it wasn't awful but not good either. I drank about 1/2 of it. Watched the show, everybody got pretty drunk. The bus ride home was incredible. Everyone was rowdy and hysterical. Everyone went to the club that was under the hostel. So much fun! Danced with Luke, Aaron, Andy, Jason, Miles and all the girls.* * * Left the club and headed to the computer found Amanda and Tom there. Went outside Luke came out and in his drunkenness told me I was his favorite American on the trip because I was the most real, down to Earth and he felt like he could actually enjoy a conversation with me. Made me feel good about myself because I wasn't trying to be anything other than who I am. Joel joined us and we talked about his past. Then I went to bed.
* Things left out.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
7/19/11
Day 8 - Prague
Up early for trip into town. Went shopping with Amanda, Gabby, Katie and Miriam at the mall. Bought a new camera, YAY finally!! And went to H&M, got 2 dresses, a pair of shorts, a dress and 2 belts. Dustin would be proud. Wandered around a bit, ran into the Zimbabwe's then met up with everyone for the lunch cruise. Sat with Sarva, Gabby, Tom, Amanda and Toli. After we went back to the hostel, I read and called Mom again. Finally got through and talked to her for about 5 minutes. Then went inside and found Tom & Toli and hung out with them for a bit then went to dinner downtown with Amanda, Gabby, Katie, Miriam and Miles. Had some fried bread thing with garlic sauce and cheese (I didn't get ketchup on mine, eww) then went to the Bed Bar where you get to lay in bed and drink! I had a mango smoothie ("frappe") then went back to the hostel.Sang Wagon Wheel with Amanda and Miriam and wished we had someone with a guitar! Tried to go to the pool but it was closed. Sat outside of the bar with Katie and met 5 Irishmen. Funny story, I was talking about music with one of them and somehow he brought up Wagon Wheel!! I told him how we were singing it earlier and he said they had been too, that they left their guitar in the car though. So instead we just sang it together! :D Went to be shortly after.
Up early for trip into town. Went shopping with Amanda, Gabby, Katie and Miriam at the mall. Bought a new camera, YAY finally!! And went to H&M, got 2 dresses, a pair of shorts, a dress and 2 belts. Dustin would be proud. Wandered around a bit, ran into the Zimbabwe's then met up with everyone for the lunch cruise. Sat with Sarva, Gabby, Tom, Amanda and Toli. After we went back to the hostel, I read and called Mom again. Finally got through and talked to her for about 5 minutes. Then went inside and found Tom & Toli and hung out with them for a bit then went to dinner downtown with Amanda, Gabby, Katie, Miriam and Miles. Had some fried bread thing with garlic sauce and cheese (I didn't get ketchup on mine, eww) then went to the Bed Bar where you get to lay in bed and drink! I had a mango smoothie ("frappe") then went back to the hostel.Sang Wagon Wheel with Amanda and Miriam and wished we had someone with a guitar! Tried to go to the pool but it was closed. Sat outside of the bar with Katie and met 5 Irishmen. Funny story, I was talking about music with one of them and somehow he brought up Wagon Wheel!! I told him how we were singing it earlier and he said they had been too, that they left their guitar in the car though. So instead we just sang it together! :D Went to be shortly after.
Monday, July 18, 2011
7/18/11
Day 7 - Berlin to Prague
Up, breakfast, on the coach. Stopped for lunch in Dresden, Germany. I had an Irish Coffee and a waffle with chocolate sauce. Lots of people also ate there. Rushed back with Gabby, Miles, Amanda, Katie, Andy and Aaron to the statue we were supposed to meet at only to find out Miriam was late. So we got pictures of the group in front of the statue after being in lots of peoples pictures of it. :P * Back on the coach to Prague. Once we were there we walked through the palace and cathedral then down the bridge where we went to get good luck from the 5 point stars. On the way back to the coach I stepped wrong and hurt my foot. :( Good thing I brought my wraps! Once back to the hostel I tried calling Mom, didn't get her. Then I wrapped my foot and went to dinner at a traditional Czech place with Miriam, Amanda, Katie and Gabby. Had what tasted like barbecue chicken and fries. We talked about the guys on the tour and who we though were the most attractive. Before we left, the Zimbabwe's came in! Went straight to the hostel bar and hung out with Aaron and Andy. I got a drink and walked to the club (CrossClub) with about 1/2 of the group. The club was very industrial/steampunk. I didn't like it. We walked in and had to walk through a pitch-black room which was super creepy and stayed by the bar just to have enough light to see the person in front of us!! Not my kind of place, so Katie and I walked back to the hostel. Stopped by Tom & Toli's room to find Amanda and Gabby, Katie stayed there and I went to bed.
Up, breakfast, on the coach. Stopped for lunch in Dresden, Germany. I had an Irish Coffee and a waffle with chocolate sauce. Lots of people also ate there. Rushed back with Gabby, Miles, Amanda, Katie, Andy and Aaron to the statue we were supposed to meet at only to find out Miriam was late. So we got pictures of the group in front of the statue after being in lots of peoples pictures of it. :P * Back on the coach to Prague. Once we were there we walked through the palace and cathedral then down the bridge where we went to get good luck from the 5 point stars. On the way back to the coach I stepped wrong and hurt my foot. :( Good thing I brought my wraps! Once back to the hostel I tried calling Mom, didn't get her. Then I wrapped my foot and went to dinner at a traditional Czech place with Miriam, Amanda, Katie and Gabby. Had what tasted like barbecue chicken and fries. We talked about the guys on the tour and who we though were the most attractive. Before we left, the Zimbabwe's came in! Went straight to the hostel bar and hung out with Aaron and Andy. I got a drink and walked to the club (CrossClub) with about 1/2 of the group. The club was very industrial/steampunk. I didn't like it. We walked in and had to walk through a pitch-black room which was super creepy and stayed by the bar just to have enough light to see the person in front of us!! Not my kind of place, so Katie and I walked back to the hostel. Stopped by Tom & Toli's room to find Amanda and Gabby, Katie stayed there and I went to bed.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
7/17/11
Day 6 - Berlin
Mom's Birthday!! Up early for the walking tour. Learned a lot about the history of Berlin. Afterward Amanda, Gabby, Katie, Bo-ra, Jenny and Michelle went with me to go shopping aka get a new camera since mine is screwing up. Ate bread with Edam cheese at a place called Oasis then we went to go shopping. Turns out everything is closed on Sundays. I got really upset. Called Dad to let him know about the bad luck and I got really excited cause I saw a Dunkin' Donuts... got a 3/4 filled Iced Mocha that tasted like water and what I thought was a giant brownie ball. Nope, it was a rum ball and I got buzzed just from the giant bite I took of it. Then we retraced our steps of the walking tour (Holocaust memorial was absolutely incredible. Do depressing.) cause Amanda wanted to find a CD for Brian and we had passed a music store. Wandered our way through the Underground trams (wrong day for wearing a skirt!! I am pretty sure I flashed quite a few people), got back hung around the quad where they had about 6 bunnies just chilling there!! Wasn't really hungry for dinner. Got ready and went for the Eye-Spy tour. It was pouring so bad that we kind of canceled the whole Stazi part of it and just hung out at the bars instead. Had a white wine (gross, so I handed it off to Sarah) at the first one. Met Aaron, Andy's friend, spent a lot of time with the two of them, Gabby, Amanda and Katie. At the second bar I had a B-52 shot, YUM! Hung out with all them plus Tom and Toli. After a while the guide of the tour gave us pretzels and sent us off on the Underground back to the hostel. Went to the club called Matrix for a little bit, Chantelle got in trouble for turning up the music at the abandoned sound board so we all mixed in with the big group. Stayed for a little while with Katie then headed back to go to bed.
Mom's Birthday!! Up early for the walking tour. Learned a lot about the history of Berlin. Afterward Amanda, Gabby, Katie, Bo-ra, Jenny and Michelle went with me to go shopping aka get a new camera since mine is screwing up. Ate bread with Edam cheese at a place called Oasis then we went to go shopping. Turns out everything is closed on Sundays. I got really upset. Called Dad to let him know about the bad luck and I got really excited cause I saw a Dunkin' Donuts... got a 3/4 filled Iced Mocha that tasted like water and what I thought was a giant brownie ball. Nope, it was a rum ball and I got buzzed just from the giant bite I took of it. Then we retraced our steps of the walking tour (Holocaust memorial was absolutely incredible. Do depressing.) cause Amanda wanted to find a CD for Brian and we had passed a music store. Wandered our way through the Underground trams (wrong day for wearing a skirt!! I am pretty sure I flashed quite a few people), got back hung around the quad where they had about 6 bunnies just chilling there!! Wasn't really hungry for dinner. Got ready and went for the Eye-Spy tour. It was pouring so bad that we kind of canceled the whole Stazi part of it and just hung out at the bars instead. Had a white wine (gross, so I handed it off to Sarah) at the first one. Met Aaron, Andy's friend, spent a lot of time with the two of them, Gabby, Amanda and Katie. At the second bar I had a B-52 shot, YUM! Hung out with all them plus Tom and Toli. After a while the guide of the tour gave us pretzels and sent us off on the Underground back to the hostel. Went to the club called Matrix for a little bit, Chantelle got in trouble for turning up the music at the abandoned sound board so we all mixed in with the big group. Stayed for a little while with Katie then headed back to go to bed.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
7/16/11
Day 5 - Amsterdam to Berlin
Showered at 5 up at 6:30 to stay, on the bus by 8. EVERYONE slept on the coach til about 10am when some of us started waking up. We stopped at services in Germany and I got a chicken schnitzel sandwich (basically a breaded & fried chicken sandwich) then quickly departed again. Stopped a few hours later at this neat place that used to be a checkpoint into Berlin. I got this awesome cake thing and texted Cody cause we were getting attacked by bees and I felt it was appropriate. :P Once back on the coach we all had to come to the microphone and introduce ourselves, say what we did then we had to say which celebrity we wanted to: 1. Marry, 2. Have a 1 night stand with, 3. Stab. (1. Justin Bartha, 2. Jake Gyllenhal, 3. Casey Anthony-I had to explain to the Aussies who this was). Every time any of the Aussies said someone that Amanda and I didn't know we'd look to the guy next to us (Miles) and he would explain who they were. Finally got to Berlin. Stopped at a cool building to take pictures then quickly got back on the coach. Then we stopped at the Berlin Wall memorial to take pictures. Then we went to the hostel. I roomed with Amanda, Gabby and Molly Room 158). Had awesome pasta for dinner and I got the vegetarian main course cause it was pork... ew. Then we walked to the Berlin wall murals. They were gorgeous! And, really interesting. Got a picture straddling between East and West Berlin. Then headed back to the hostel. I opened the window cause it was getting hot and heard an American guy's voice... Brian! lol He was with Chopper and Chris. Pretty quiet night for everyone.
Showered at 5 up at 6:30 to stay, on the bus by 8. EVERYONE slept on the coach til about 10am when some of us started waking up. We stopped at services in Germany and I got a chicken schnitzel sandwich (basically a breaded & fried chicken sandwich) then quickly departed again. Stopped a few hours later at this neat place that used to be a checkpoint into Berlin. I got this awesome cake thing and texted Cody cause we were getting attacked by bees and I felt it was appropriate. :P Once back on the coach we all had to come to the microphone and introduce ourselves, say what we did then we had to say which celebrity we wanted to: 1. Marry, 2. Have a 1 night stand with, 3. Stab. (1. Justin Bartha, 2. Jake Gyllenhal, 3. Casey Anthony-I had to explain to the Aussies who this was). Every time any of the Aussies said someone that Amanda and I didn't know we'd look to the guy next to us (Miles) and he would explain who they were. Finally got to Berlin. Stopped at a cool building to take pictures then quickly got back on the coach. Then we stopped at the Berlin Wall memorial to take pictures. Then we went to the hostel. I roomed with Amanda, Gabby and Molly Room 158). Had awesome pasta for dinner and I got the vegetarian main course cause it was pork... ew. Then we walked to the Berlin wall murals. They were gorgeous! And, really interesting. Got a picture straddling between East and West Berlin. Then headed back to the hostel. I opened the window cause it was getting hot and heard an American guy's voice... Brian! lol He was with Chopper and Chris. Pretty quiet night for everyone.
Friday, July 15, 2011
7/15/11
Day 4 - Amsterdam
Got up at 5 to shower, then back to bed until 7:15. Breakfast of sliced turkey, cheese and bread with jelly and cucumber with apple juice. Such a weird mix...We got on the bus at 8 to go to Edam (the town that's made backwards. ;) haha!) We got there and saw a GIANT bunny and what looked like a mix-breed chicken/duck. Then we got to see how cheese and clogs were made! I tried some clogs on, and then tried some of the cheeses. Yum! Then we got back on the coach to go to our bike ride through Edam. It was my favorite part of the trip so far! I loved it! It made me want to go get a leisure bike and just ride around all the time. We rode through Edam and got some history about the town then went back to Amsterdam around noon. Once there we (Amanda, Stacie, and Katie) went to the Anne Frank House. Almost everyone else in the group went as well but somehow they got ahead of us. It was a 1.5 hour wait, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. It was so incredible. I was stunned to see how small it actually was. After that Amanda and I navigated the streets of Amsterdam to go to one of the markets. I stopped at McDonalds (the Aussies call it Maccers) because I was starving and knew I could find something to eat there. The lady I went to didn't speak any English so I had a really hard time ordering!! FYI If you're in Amsterdam and they ask you if you want it 'menu' it means a combo... Just so you know. :P After I ate we finished looking through the market and decided to head back. we walked to the central station via Dam Square where there were a bunch of people dressed in crazy costumes, it was a bit freaky. We got to the station only to find out the train we needed didn't go through there. So we took #13 to Marco Polostraat (yes, Marco Polo Street!!) where we got on #7 like we needed. Amanda showered, I got on the internet to check email, FB and try to update my blog (epic fail). I grabbed a protein bar for diner then we met up with Erin, Liz, Luke, Joel, Lauren, Casey and Jason to go to the canal cruise. I navigated (thank goodness). We stopped one stop before we needed to so they could grab dinner then I navigated to the meeting spot where we arrived 5 minutes late. EEK!! Luckily Miriam was expecting us and held the cruise so we could catch up. The cruise was fun but I started feeling sick! I gave my drink tickets to Lauren and Joel since I didn't want them. After the cruise I went back to the hotel instead of going bar hopping with everyone. I packed my bag, checked my email then went to bed early.
Got up at 5 to shower, then back to bed until 7:15. Breakfast of sliced turkey, cheese and bread with jelly and cucumber with apple juice. Such a weird mix...We got on the bus at 8 to go to Edam (the town that's made backwards. ;) haha!) We got there and saw a GIANT bunny and what looked like a mix-breed chicken/duck. Then we got to see how cheese and clogs were made! I tried some clogs on, and then tried some of the cheeses. Yum! Then we got back on the coach to go to our bike ride through Edam. It was my favorite part of the trip so far! I loved it! It made me want to go get a leisure bike and just ride around all the time. We rode through Edam and got some history about the town then went back to Amsterdam around noon. Once there we (Amanda, Stacie, and Katie) went to the Anne Frank House. Almost everyone else in the group went as well but somehow they got ahead of us. It was a 1.5 hour wait, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything. It was so incredible. I was stunned to see how small it actually was. After that Amanda and I navigated the streets of Amsterdam to go to one of the markets. I stopped at McDonalds (the Aussies call it Maccers) because I was starving and knew I could find something to eat there. The lady I went to didn't speak any English so I had a really hard time ordering!! FYI If you're in Amsterdam and they ask you if you want it 'menu' it means a combo... Just so you know. :P After I ate we finished looking through the market and decided to head back. we walked to the central station via Dam Square where there were a bunch of people dressed in crazy costumes, it was a bit freaky. We got to the station only to find out the train we needed didn't go through there. So we took #13 to Marco Polostraat (yes, Marco Polo Street!!) where we got on #7 like we needed. Amanda showered, I got on the internet to check email, FB and try to update my blog (epic fail). I grabbed a protein bar for diner then we met up with Erin, Liz, Luke, Joel, Lauren, Casey and Jason to go to the canal cruise. I navigated (thank goodness). We stopped one stop before we needed to so they could grab dinner then I navigated to the meeting spot where we arrived 5 minutes late. EEK!! Luckily Miriam was expecting us and held the cruise so we could catch up. The cruise was fun but I started feeling sick! I gave my drink tickets to Lauren and Joel since I didn't want them. After the cruise I went back to the hotel instead of going bar hopping with everyone. I packed my bag, checked my email then went to bed early.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
7/14/11
London to Amsterdam
6:00am we had to meet up to have our bags weighed and get on the bus. I was about 18kg, so I was completely fine. (The limit was 22kg). On the bus we got our instructions. I sat behind Morgan and Michaela from Australia, in front of Sarah and Brenton from Perth, beside Bo-Ra from South Korea. *After a little bit of a drive we got to Dover where we got our passports stamped and got onto the ferry to take us across the English Channel. The boat was HUGE! On the boat I met Lauren and Casey (Luke's "mates") and Jason P. (Aussie) and Brian from Chicago. The 4 of us ate lunch together. I got a watery coffee and a muffin as well as a Chicken wrap. After eating we went to the top deck to look around and met Luke's other mate, Joel. * After the ferry we got back on the COACH (not Bus) and headed through Belgium to Amsterdam. About 1/2 way there we hit traffic and stopped at SERVICES (not rest stop) where I got an "iced coffee" aka frappuccino and a bar of Belgian chocolate. About an hour later we stopped again where I got another "iced coffee". On the coach Miriam (our tour guide) had the people on the inside seats move counter-clockwise for 3 minutes at a time to meet people. (She called it 'speed dating'). My favorite person I talked to was Andy, an Aussie who made it SO easy to talk even after having talked to about 15 people already. He was fun, I hope I can talk/hang out with him again. After that we hit traffic and got to Amsterdam kind of late. Went straight to dinner (fries, broccoli and pasta for me) and quickly had time to change before we went to the Amsterdam Cultural Experience excursion. Amanda decided to stay in. * Afterward I headed back while the rest went to The Grasshopper (a 'coffeeshop') with Stacie (one of my roommates for this night) and Miriam. On the way back I talked with Miriam about possibly being a tour guide. She said after this was all over, if I still wanted to she would help me out! Got back to the room, and went to bed.
6:00am we had to meet up to have our bags weighed and get on the bus. I was about 18kg, so I was completely fine. (The limit was 22kg). On the bus we got our instructions. I sat behind Morgan and Michaela from Australia, in front of Sarah and Brenton from Perth, beside Bo-Ra from South Korea. *After a little bit of a drive we got to Dover where we got our passports stamped and got onto the ferry to take us across the English Channel. The boat was HUGE! On the boat I met Lauren and Casey (Luke's "mates") and Jason P. (Aussie) and Brian from Chicago. The 4 of us ate lunch together. I got a watery coffee and a muffin as well as a Chicken wrap. After eating we went to the top deck to look around and met Luke's other mate, Joel. * After the ferry we got back on the COACH (not Bus) and headed through Belgium to Amsterdam. About 1/2 way there we hit traffic and stopped at SERVICES (not rest stop) where I got an "iced coffee" aka frappuccino and a bar of Belgian chocolate. About an hour later we stopped again where I got another "iced coffee". On the coach Miriam (our tour guide) had the people on the inside seats move counter-clockwise for 3 minutes at a time to meet people. (She called it 'speed dating'). My favorite person I talked to was Andy, an Aussie who made it SO easy to talk even after having talked to about 15 people already. He was fun, I hope I can talk/hang out with him again. After that we hit traffic and got to Amsterdam kind of late. Went straight to dinner (fries, broccoli and pasta for me) and quickly had time to change before we went to the Amsterdam Cultural Experience excursion. Amanda decided to stay in. * Afterward I headed back while the rest went to The Grasshopper (a 'coffeeshop') with Stacie (one of my roommates for this night) and Miriam. On the way back I talked with Miriam about possibly being a tour guide. She said after this was all over, if I still wanted to she would help me out! Got back to the room, and went to bed.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
7/13/11
Day 2
London
We joined the two on the two block walk to the Contiki basement from the tube station. Where we checked our luggage and sent out emails to everyone at home. We bought tickets to the Original Bus Tour. Took the blue bus to a stop in Piccadilly Circus (aka circle) where the 4 of us found lunch at the Imperial. I had fish and chips with bottled water! Our two new friends are a brother and sister from California! After lunch we caught the yellow bus tour where we took tons of pictures then got off at the London Eye. They had tickets so we headed back on the bus to finish out the tour. Amanda fell asleep during it, and my camera died. So I took hers while she was asleep. After that was over I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks and we headed back. The coffee was disgusting. Even Starbucks!!! It was watery... We ran into 4 girls on another Contiki tour on the bus back to the hotel they left a few days after us. Once back in the room I showered and then it was time for our 7pm meeting. We got our info and met Erin and Liz from Connecticut, Luke from Australia and Katie from Virginia who I met and talked to on Facebook beforehand. We went to the pub next door to the hotel for diner and they got drinks. I had a southern fried chicken burger... aka burned chicken lol We hung out there til about 9 then went to the room. After 10pm we went to bed. *
*info left out... :P
London
We joined the two on the two block walk to the Contiki basement from the tube station. Where we checked our luggage and sent out emails to everyone at home. We bought tickets to the Original Bus Tour. Took the blue bus to a stop in Piccadilly Circus (aka circle) where the 4 of us found lunch at the Imperial. I had fish and chips with bottled water! Our two new friends are a brother and sister from California! After lunch we caught the yellow bus tour where we took tons of pictures then got off at the London Eye. They had tickets so we headed back on the bus to finish out the tour. Amanda fell asleep during it, and my camera died. So I took hers while she was asleep. After that was over I grabbed a coffee from Starbucks and we headed back. The coffee was disgusting. Even Starbucks!!! It was watery... We ran into 4 girls on another Contiki tour on the bus back to the hotel they left a few days after us. Once back in the room I showered and then it was time for our 7pm meeting. We got our info and met Erin and Liz from Connecticut, Luke from Australia and Katie from Virginia who I met and talked to on Facebook beforehand. We went to the pub next door to the hotel for diner and they got drinks. I had a southern fried chicken burger... aka burned chicken lol We hung out there til about 9 then went to the room. After 10pm we went to bed. *
*info left out... :P
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
7/12/11
Day 1 Travel Day
Orlando. Miami. London.
Got up at 6:30am showered went to tan one last time then finished getting ready. Left the house at ten. Half way to Miami I woke up from a nap and noticed a rash on my arms. great... just my luck. I break out in hives Im so anxious and nervous. well its better than throwing up.
got to the airport at 2:45 and breezed through security meaning we are sitting in the terminal waiting for six thirty. at five fifteen we started boarding. once on the plane i started watching country strong. for dinner i had chickenwith some sort of rice with salad cheese crackers and a brownie. after that i took two benadryl and tried to sleep. it didnt go so well. the benadryl didnt knock me out or help with the hives. i got about a total fo two hours of sleep. in the morning aka seven am on the plane two am at home they served breakfast of a biscuit with cheese and egg a banana and orange juice. after we arrived we spent an hour and a half going through customs then went for our bags. once on the tube we met a girl studying in london from the us after we got off we overheard these two people asking directions to the hotel we were staying in. they were here for contiki as well just not our tour.
posted from my kindle. i apologixe for mistakes amd all that good stuff...
7/12/11
Okay... so we are leaving for the Miami International Airport (yes it's abbreviated MIA... I know. Funny...) around 10am. We have to be at the airport no later than 3:30pm for our flight at 6:30pm. We get served dinner for sure and possibly breakfast on the plane! Huzzah! :P
I'm nervous as all get out, but I'm trying not to think about it. When I woke up at 6:30am this morning the first thing I thought about was "OMG in 12 hours I'll be on the airplane! Holy crap!"... but for some reason it still seems surreal to me, like something's gonna happen to make us not go, or some random thing is going to make us miss meeting up with the tour group or something. I know, I know, I'm paranoid... always. lol
But we've got a 4-5 hour car ride down to Miami which I will be filling with reading (to calm my nerves) and randomly pointing out airplanes over us and saying "OMG Look! We'll be on one of those in (insert appropriate amount of time here) hours!!" To which Amanda, Dad and Melanie will all roll their eyes and laugh at me. :P But I'm okay with that.
I'll try my best to post as soon as we get to the London-Heathrow airport to let everyone know we made it, but if you don't hear from me right away, don't freak. ;)
P.s. It'll be 3:30am Eastern time when we arrive there, so I don't expect anyone to be awake. Oh!! Don't bother texting me while I'm gone. My phone will be left here. If you want to talk to me send me a MESSAGE on Facebook. I'll be more likely to respond to that when I find internet vs. any other means of communication. Much love and I'll see you all in a few weeks!!! <3
I'm nervous as all get out, but I'm trying not to think about it. When I woke up at 6:30am this morning the first thing I thought about was "OMG in 12 hours I'll be on the airplane! Holy crap!"... but for some reason it still seems surreal to me, like something's gonna happen to make us not go, or some random thing is going to make us miss meeting up with the tour group or something. I know, I know, I'm paranoid... always. lol
But we've got a 4-5 hour car ride down to Miami which I will be filling with reading (to calm my nerves) and randomly pointing out airplanes over us and saying "OMG Look! We'll be on one of those in (insert appropriate amount of time here) hours!!" To which Amanda, Dad and Melanie will all roll their eyes and laugh at me. :P But I'm okay with that.
I'll try my best to post as soon as we get to the London-Heathrow airport to let everyone know we made it, but if you don't hear from me right away, don't freak. ;)
P.s. It'll be 3:30am Eastern time when we arrive there, so I don't expect anyone to be awake. Oh!! Don't bother texting me while I'm gone. My phone will be left here. If you want to talk to me send me a MESSAGE on Facebook. I'll be more likely to respond to that when I find internet vs. any other means of communication. Much love and I'll see you all in a few weeks!!! <3
Monday, July 11, 2011
7/11/11 -- 2
So... had another mini-heart attack this morning...
One of the girls posted something about their kick-start meeting TONIGHT. I started freaking out thinking There's no way the meeting can be tonight! I'm not in London yet!! So I pulled out my travel documents and sure enough, everything said our departure date (the date we LEAVE London) is the 13th, theirs is the 12th... Sooooooooo long story short, we called Contiki to verify that there wasn't a misprint and come to find out, all the people that I THOUGHT were going to be on the trip with us... aren't. Lovely. :(
One of the girls posted something about their kick-start meeting TONIGHT. I started freaking out thinking There's no way the meeting can be tonight! I'm not in London yet!! So I pulled out my travel documents and sure enough, everything said our departure date (the date we LEAVE London) is the 13th, theirs is the 12th... Sooooooooo long story short, we called Contiki to verify that there wasn't a misprint and come to find out, all the people that I THOUGHT were going to be on the trip with us... aren't. Lovely. :(
7/11/11
So, yesterday I was on my way home from Church when Amanda texted me "My plane will be arriving there at 3." So I was like, "Okay, Cool!" Then headed off to drop off lunch at the house, tan then go to Barnes & Noble for a travel journal and to check on books to download on my Kindle. I didn't think anything of her text until I was sitting in the Starbucks waiting on my coffee when she texted again, "I lied. It'll be more like 2:30. The flight is about 58 minutes long and we're leaving here in like 5. lol" Now after this one I got a little confused. She wasn't supposed to get here until tomorrow. It was now 1:30 so I said, "Not today right?" and she said "...Yes today." Here is when I started freaking out. I called Melanie and let her know and booked it home. We quickly googled how to get to the airport (She was flying in from a smaller one than OIA) then headed there to pick her up.
Of course there was squealing, hugging, and all that normal excited stuff. :)
We packed our suitcases last night (finding out Amanda could actually fit all her stuff in a smaller one! :O Surprise, surprise!!) and today we just have last minute stuff. I'm getting my hair cut, phone unlocked (so it can go international), and then a Target run so we make sure we've got all the little stuff we will need.
Excited is a HUGE understatement at this point. (Yes, I did get up at 7am when I don't have to be up for another couple of hours... :P)
Of course there was squealing, hugging, and all that normal excited stuff. :)
We packed our suitcases last night (finding out Amanda could actually fit all her stuff in a smaller one! :O Surprise, surprise!!) and today we just have last minute stuff. I'm getting my hair cut, phone unlocked (so it can go international), and then a Target run so we make sure we've got all the little stuff we will need.
Excited is a HUGE understatement at this point. (Yes, I did get up at 7am when I don't have to be up for another couple of hours... :P)
Saturday, July 9, 2011
7/9/11
I'm testing this to see if I can post from my Kindle. If so, it will make updating about my trip so much easier. Fingers crossed!!!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
6/26/11
I got my packet from Contiki the other day! But, just today did I get the time to read through it. I bookmarked the pages in the travel guide for the cities and countries we're going to and I highlighted some of the suggested places to visit in free time. The more we talk about it, the more excited I get!
Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks before we leave for London! I'm counting down the days!
On a side note: my foot is way better. I'm done wrapping it, and it hasn't given me any trouble yet! :D
Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks before we leave for London! I'm counting down the days!
On a side note: my foot is way better. I'm done wrapping it, and it hasn't given me any trouble yet! :D
Friday, June 24, 2011
6/24/11
There are now 11 people in the facebook group, and I'm waiting to hear back on how to find 2 more from the Contiki website! :) The closer we get, the more excited I am to meet all these people.
One girl has left already for one of her tours, a few others will leave soon to start their trip. I can't believe we have only 17 days until the plane ride to England.
I'm now in Florida working at Pyrospot Fireworks where I've spent most of my Summers and Christmas vacations over the last 4 years. It's a lot of fun once we get busy, but until then it's a lot of sitting around reading, talking and thinking.
My foot is a lot better than it was last time I posted. I am now able to walk normally, but I still keep it wrapped for good measure. Hopefully soon I'll be able to stop wrapping it too!
Last night Dad & I checked on sim cards for my phone so I'd have something for emergencies while I'm traveling. I don't much care for it, seeing as I won't use it much (if at all!) but since he says I need it, then I'm game. I'm so thankful for everything he and Melanie have done for me so far, this is going to be an incredible experience that I'll remember forever.
I got a really cute pair of walking sandals. I'll be taking them with me to wear with nicer outfits. I tried on both pair of shoes Dad ordered before, neither of them worked, so we sent them back to hopefully find something else that does work.
While we were out shopping for shoes we stopped at the currency exchange place and I got 60 British Pounds and 60 Euros so I won't have to worry about exchanging money right after I get off the plane in London. Awesome!!
One girl has left already for one of her tours, a few others will leave soon to start their trip. I can't believe we have only 17 days until the plane ride to England.
I'm now in Florida working at Pyrospot Fireworks where I've spent most of my Summers and Christmas vacations over the last 4 years. It's a lot of fun once we get busy, but until then it's a lot of sitting around reading, talking and thinking.
My foot is a lot better than it was last time I posted. I am now able to walk normally, but I still keep it wrapped for good measure. Hopefully soon I'll be able to stop wrapping it too!
Last night Dad & I checked on sim cards for my phone so I'd have something for emergencies while I'm traveling. I don't much care for it, seeing as I won't use it much (if at all!) but since he says I need it, then I'm game. I'm so thankful for everything he and Melanie have done for me so far, this is going to be an incredible experience that I'll remember forever.
I got a really cute pair of walking sandals. I'll be taking them with me to wear with nicer outfits. I tried on both pair of shoes Dad ordered before, neither of them worked, so we sent them back to hopefully find something else that does work.
While we were out shopping for shoes we stopped at the currency exchange place and I got 60 British Pounds and 60 Euros so I won't have to worry about exchanging money right after I get off the plane in London. Awesome!!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
6/15/11
The group on Facebook is now 9 people, so that is really exciting! I can't wait to finally meet all these people, and I've also learned that the whole trip is full, meaning we have 50 people going! The more I talk about it, the more excited I get.
Dad ordered my shoes for the trip, great walking shoes apparently. I'll get to see them on Saturday when I get to Florida. I had to pack up from my dorm room and go to Mom's today, so hopefully I didn't forget anything important!! I grabbed my passport, and ID as well as my 2 cameras and chargers. I'm getting a Kindle on Friday, and I'm sooo excited! I'll have something to keep me busy while on the plane/train/bus while on the trip!
Two weeks ago I hurt my foot at work, I came down on it wrong while goofing off with Randi and Charity, but since I was working the whole 2 weeks I didn't have time to get it checked out. I went this past Monday to the athletic training room on campus and Flick (who is amazing by the way) has me doing a hot soak, a few exercises, a few stretches and a good tape job daily and he said by the time all the tape he gave me is gone I should be all healed up. Apparently it's the tendon that I pulled on the outside of my left foot. No fun! But it's getting better and should be 100% by the time I leave for the trip, thank goodness!!
Dad ordered my shoes for the trip, great walking shoes apparently. I'll get to see them on Saturday when I get to Florida. I had to pack up from my dorm room and go to Mom's today, so hopefully I didn't forget anything important!! I grabbed my passport, and ID as well as my 2 cameras and chargers. I'm getting a Kindle on Friday, and I'm sooo excited! I'll have something to keep me busy while on the plane/train/bus while on the trip!
Two weeks ago I hurt my foot at work, I came down on it wrong while goofing off with Randi and Charity, but since I was working the whole 2 weeks I didn't have time to get it checked out. I went this past Monday to the athletic training room on campus and Flick (who is amazing by the way) has me doing a hot soak, a few exercises, a few stretches and a good tape job daily and he said by the time all the tape he gave me is gone I should be all healed up. Apparently it's the tendon that I pulled on the outside of my left foot. No fun! But it's getting better and should be 100% by the time I leave for the trip, thank goodness!!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
5/11/11
So I was thinking about making my usual playlist for my drive down to Florida and realized I'll probably end up making on for the flight over to London. Then while talking about this, my friend Cody suggested I add some Beatles for when I'm in London... which gave me the idea to try and get music that correlates with the country I'm in!! So, that's my next project. :) If you've got suggestions, let me know!!! :)
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
4/20/11
This past weekend at the One-Act play festival I was out in the lobby with a friend, Isaac, and we were whispering so we weren't being too loud. Well that wasn't a very good idea because we couldn't hear each other really well. ... I said "87 days til I go to Europe!" and I thought he replied, "Who's going to Europe?" and I said "Me!! With Amanda!" and he then said "Come over here now and repeat yourself." ... apparently he thought I said "87 taste like Cody Eurum!" and then he said "Who's Cody Eurum?" and I said "Me! With Amanda!"... It was pretty hysterical. :D Just thought I'd share this little update. :)
Friday, April 1, 2011
4/1/11
I've met a few people that are also going on the trip with us! Kylee from Australia and her friend and Sean and his friend from South Africa! I'm excited to have met them am excited to get to meet them in about 100 days! I'm hoping I get to meet a few more people soon. I'd like to be able to talk with them ahead of time and hopefully make some connections before we head that way. Anyways, we shall see!
Sunday, March 27, 2011
3/27/11
I just joined the Contiki website community to be able to chat and meet up with other Contiki travelers as well as hopefully find some of the people taking the tour with us!!
Here's my PROFILE.
So far, no luck, but then again, the trip is a LONG time away. :P (105 Days until we leave the airport to be exact.) I'm not excited at all.... ;)
Here's my PROFILE.
So far, no luck, but then again, the trip is a LONG time away. :P (105 Days until we leave the airport to be exact.) I'm not excited at all.... ;)
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
3/22/11
We're booked!!
As of today at about 2pm our trips have been booked. We'll be taking the European Whirl trip with an additional 3 Day London Explorer add-on through Contiki Tours.
We will be departing out of either Orlando or Miami on July 11th and arriving at the London-Heathrow Airport on July 12th ("Day 1" on the itinerary.)
We'll be traveling to 10 countries, and stopping in too many cities to count! With the option of so many extra excursions our trip will be one we'll never forget.
I'm sure there is still a lot of stuff left to do, but as of now, I'm just stoked that this is really happening. I started working out tonight so I can hopefully be in better shape for all the walking and bike-riding we'll be doing on the trip. We'll see how this goes. :)
Additional Info:
European Whirl
3-Day London Explorer
Contiki Tours
As of today at about 2pm our trips have been booked. We'll be taking the European Whirl trip with an additional 3 Day London Explorer add-on through Contiki Tours.
We will be departing out of either Orlando or Miami on July 11th and arriving at the London-Heathrow Airport on July 12th ("Day 1" on the itinerary.)
We'll be traveling to 10 countries, and stopping in too many cities to count! With the option of so many extra excursions our trip will be one we'll never forget.
I'm sure there is still a lot of stuff left to do, but as of now, I'm just stoked that this is really happening. I started working out tonight so I can hopefully be in better shape for all the walking and bike-riding we'll be doing on the trip. We'll see how this goes. :)
Additional Info:
European Whirl
3-Day London Explorer
Contiki Tours
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)