Final stop, Amsterdam. But first we spent a night in St Goar.

St Goar is a beautiful town in the Rhine Valley.

Home to these beautiful beer steins. Also home to the cuckoo clock and some very sweet wine.

On the way to Amsertdam we stopped at Edam.

We had a lovely cycle tour and got to taste cheese (of course).

We also got to see a clog being made, very fun.

Then it was on to Amsterdam...

The first night we participated in some of the nightlife that Amsterdam is well known for.  We saw a sex show and then chilled at the Bulldog, one of the most well know coffee shops in the city (and no coffee is not the main item on the menu ;))

Day two we went for a beautiful canal bike ride, the best way to see the city in my opinion.  The downpour of rain only enhanced the experience ...well sort of.

I spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Amsterdam before jumping on a canal cruise and then onto the final Contiki group dinner.  The night was completed by watching the Netherlands beat Costa Rica in the football.  The game went to sudden death, but boy was Amsterdam thriving.  A great night to be out in town.

Now I am sitting at Heathrow airport saying my final goodbyes to a trip of a lifetime. It has been a blast.  I have loved immersing myself in the British culture and Contiki was an absolute joyride.  If any of the fanastaic people that I have shared the journey with are reading this, thanks for the good times.  Now I have to dry the tears and say the last adieu.  To those of you back in NZ I look forward to seeing your beautiful faces again.

This will be my final post, so goodbye and thanks for preserving :)

Next stop is Switzerland, home of watches, Swiss army knifes and yummy chocolate.

Our first stop was this statue. It is absolutely stunning, carved into the surrounding rock face. The lion is meant to represent the Swiss Gaurd who fought to the death defending the French royal family when they had already left through a back door during the French Revolution.

This is the pretty town of Lucerne where we looked at lots and lots of very nice (but expensive) watches. This bridge has a chapel midway across.

The beautiful Swiss alps

We went up the Jungfrau, the highest rail track in the world. At the top was plenty of snow and mountains.  A snow fight ensued, of course

The weather was unfortunately not in our favour. The top picture is what we should see, the bottom is the view I got.

We also visited the Snow Palace, a room made out of ice and hosting a whole range of sculptures. This is me with Sherlock.

The snowman's name is Nutty. The birds loved the dried fruit and nuts that we attempted to use for nose and mouth.

And we found this, a €37,000 watch :O

All in all a very good day in the snow!

Munich has been one of my favourite cities, more because of what we did than what we saw in the short amount of time we got in the city.

This is the town hall.  Believe it or not but this is the 'new' hall.  The old hall is actually newer but only because it was rebuilt.

A brave Bavarian soldier with his unimpressed lass.

The government buildings. It looks like a glass house because the glass was meant to represent transparency after the events of WWII. However, there are three levels underground...

This is what made Munich so good. We went on a bike tour which was great fun (and the bikes were very retro).  The tour ended in the English Gardens which have a fast flowing river. The whole group jumped in the river, freezing but huge fun!  To top it off we got rained on on the bike back and warmed up with a pint of the best beer I have ever drunk in the beer garden. Best experience on tour yet!  The picture above is of surfers in the gardens, the portion of river we went down was a little more tame :)

Almost as good was white water rafting on the way back into Austria.  It was still raining on us but it was nonetheless a great time.  We got thrown around and soaked :) Although, it was a little tame given what I was expecting.

The next stop was two nights in a special Contiki hostel in Hopfgarten.  It's been a cruisey day, we went paragliding this afternoon which was outstanding!  Beautiful views, and we even got to do a bit of swooping and diving.  Contiki stopover also means Contiki party, so I had a good time getting loose with the 'tight, white and bright' theme, ugh!  Always provides for some entertaining costumes.

This is the hill I ran off to get started paragliding.  It was gorgeous.

I didn't feel like I saw a lot of Vienna, but I did have a very enjoyable lunch with friends and we got to experience schnapps at the schnapps museum.

The journey into Austria was very beautiful

Maria Theresa, a big figure in Austria (and the whole of Europe) back in the day

Outside the summer house of the Habsburg family (that is the ruling family from which Maria Theresa is descended)

Huge numbers of people gathered in this square to see Hitler talk. A sobering experience.

On a happier note, the schnapps museum was very good. I loved learning about the different types and how it is produced. The drink was pretty good too :)

Venice, absolutely beautiful even in a thunderstorm!  I did a walking tour, got lost (as everyone does in Venice), saw the splendour of the Doge's Palace, went on a gondola ride, and finally ate gelato :)

Oh so pretty!

St Marks and the bell tower.

Market Bridge, best place for souvenirs. Plenty of Venetian glass and the famous Carnival masks.

The Doge's Palace was another sumptuous building with its rooms teeming with artwork.  The Doge was the president of Vencie back when it was a city state, and was really just a figurehead. When the Doge was elected he held the position for life and had to move to the palace. He wasn't allowed to leave except for formal occasions.  The Venetian public embraced this form of governance despite the aristocracy holding all the power.

The gondola ride was very gentle but a great way to see the city.

One of the things I loved about Venice (other than the beautiful canals) is the strong identity that Venetians have.  People from Venice call themselves Venetians, not Italians. With a tiny population of only ~50,000 but an average of 23 million tourists each year, it is brilliant that the Venetian culture is still alive and thriving.

I'm in love with Firenze (Florence).  The arts, the culture, I'm in heaven!

The day started with a visit to a local leather and silver shop. Next was a walking tour.

I got to see fake David (the real is in a gallery)

And the town hall where the Medici family used to live. The Medici had a huge influence on the architecture and culture of this great city. The second gallery above Ponte Vecchio was built so that they could avoid mingling with the common folk, and the exceptional collection of renaissance art in the Uffizzi gallery was started by the Medici.

I was super excited to finally meet Ponte Vecchio. The bridge is lined with beautiful jewellery stores. They used to be butchers but the Medici hated the smell so one day it was goodbye butchers and jewellers were forced to move in.

The stand out of the day was the Uffizzi gallery. Seeing paintings by Michelangelo, Botticelli, Da Vinci, Gentileschi... Absolutely fantastic. I was blown away!

The day ended with a Tusan feast (so much food) and a visit to a nightclub.  All in all a good time.

First impressions of Roma? HOT!  I am caught in the middle of an Eurpoean heat wave. Putting this aside, Rome is a city filled with ancient buildings, a long history, and continuing significance in the world.

On the first day we walked around the ruins of the ancient Roman Forum and explored the Colosseum.

I found te Colosseum particularly spectacular. That something on such a gigantic scale was built more than 2000 years ago is astounding, even if it's purpose was less than savoury.

We also found the Trevi Fountain, under conservation sadly, but you could still see the splendour. I had no idea it was so large!

The Spanish Steps were thriving, used nowadays for concerts and as a meeting place. They used to connect the Spanish embassy with...?

Annnd the Pantheon!

Day two involved a trip to the Vatican.  I found the crowds very difficult, but it was fantastic to finally see the Sistene Chapel (no photos allowed sorry, but I'm sure you know what it looks like), and St Peters Basilica was very impressive!  What did surprise me was the the Sistene Chapel was just a room (albeit very crowded) in the middle of a building. I always envisioned it as a standalone building.

The famous dome of St Peters from the inside

It's one of those buildings that having seen it so many times on TV, it is very surreal to experience it for real.

I completed my afternoon with a coffee outside one of the many cafés, very nice :)