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.
Friday, July 15, 2011
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)
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