Quick update.
Been in berlin since Saturday, heading to munich on Tuesday night, arriving Wednesday morning.

Not certain where I´m going to after that, but I´ve still got a few days left on my eurail pass (which is only valid for italy, austria, and germany) so I’m probably still going to cruise around germany for a few more days.

Pizza is great, don’t get me wrong… but c’mon, Pizza, followed by Pasta (of 25 different varieties), followed by Lasagne, for various meals is just a little too much for me.

BTW: Non, I found the place you’re getting your minestroni from in Rome(kidding), I swear it tasted just like how you make it… yum

Arrived in Vienna yesterday, and I’ve just spent today goign through the Schönbrunn Palace and surrounds.

The train trip from Rome was… weird. Ian, what was that movie we watched, umm… Road Trip (Eurotrip?) the “Oh, mi scuzi!” scene… well… it definitely wasn’t like that, but there were some weird things going on… like the people that didn’t actually have tickets, still cramming onboard… they sit in the corridors (there’s fold out seats in the corridor walls) and just pay whenever the conductor comes around, and then if a seat is vacant, they jump into it.

All in all, got very little sleep.

Had lunch/dinner yesterday in a nice little pub hidden away in some small street. Schnitzel (Veal?) and Potato Salad (very much like the potato salad Yvonne and you make, Non — no mustard that I could see though, and had green shallots on it). Yummy.

There’s no great abundance of signage as to where the Underground stations are, which makes it interesting trying to find the cloest one without a map.

Thinkgeek needed to bring out the Will Return Clockbefore I went on Holidays, it would’ve been very appropriate for me to hang on my cubicle at work right now.

I’ve found that I can go direct from Vienna to Berlin, so thats what I’m doing Friday night, not sure how long I’ll be there - probably Monday/Tuesday at this stage. Looking for hotels/hostels right now…

Oh, and X-Men 3 starts tomorrow … I don’t want to know how it goes, or how good it is, or anything like that…

PS: Brad, re “you’re in ROME. the home of good food, good clothing, good football and lovely ladies.”, you can have the football and clothing, but the rest I’ve noticed in abundance (and in Nice too)… Aiee! Warm Weather!

Only a short update, currently in Rome until Tuesday afternoon, going
to Vienna via Eurail (not sure the exact carrier)

I’ll be in Vienna from Wednesday morning until sometime Friday
atleast… depending upon when I can get a train to Germany (not sure
exactly where I’ll be going in Germany, but Berlin is a goal.)

I left the tour yesterday, but those continuing on for longer trips
are staying in Rome for 3 nights, so I’m still seeing them around a
bit (eg, at the Colluseum)

Anyway, off to find some dinner… something that’s not pizza or pasta…

A bunch of people went out last night (until 3-4am), and were looking pretty poorly when the bus got underway at 8:30.

The breakfast available in the hotel was as cruddy as yesterday, so when we stopped for a walk around an old town/fort about 40mins from Prato, we all descended on the local caf.

The place was like heaven — rows upon rows of all sorts of pastries, cakes, and various other goodies… Photos were taken by some (me included).

The hot chocolae certainly delivered a heck of a punch too — Very dark, almost strong enough for the spoon to stand up on it’s own. My first taste of real hot chocolate.

A few hours later, we stopped at a wineryfor a great tutorial on how to drink and taste wine properly.

I now know why the expensive restaurants serve small-ish amounts of wine in those gigantic glasses.

Finally, we got to rome right on 6pm, when the tour officially ended for me, and 9 others. The remaining people were joined by 9 more, all bar one of which were couples.

…just why all those ‘old’ posts are starting to show up: they’re the ones I’ve written on my PDA, and the wireless access in the hotel in Prato was free. It might take a while to get them all posted.

btw: Internet access here in italy is bizzare… they require photo ID (which they either photocopy - like the hotel did - or scan into a PC - like this internet cafe did) before they’ll let you use it.

No, I’m not spending all my time online, it was just that I’ve got an hour to spend in Florence (Firenze, as they spell it) - and my feet are killing me (2.5hrs to get in to see the statue of david, in the sun)

Despite what the tour info said, we don’t actually stay in Florence… We stay in a place called Prato, about 45mins drive from Florence (Firenze, as they write it).

The coffee served at the hotel breakfast in Prato is damn strong… 1 part coffee to 2 parts milk is still pretty damn strong according to the regular coffee drinkers.

We had a local guide for florence, who spent about an hour talking to us about the various works of art on display, the history of florence, etc.

Most of the afternoon was spent queueing to see the statue of david.

Very impressive work of art, an amazing amount of detail is in it… From the way veins are shown in the neck, arms and legs, though to the dimple in his ass-cheek (thanks Sarah and Belinda for pointing that one out)

Michellangello must have worked on it like a galley slave to get it done in 3 years.

Last night of my organised tour, so I’ll be all on my lonesome once I get off the bus in Rome. Partly thankful it’s over, partly wanting to continue on.

Changed languages again — French in Paris, German in Switzerland, back to French for Annecy and Nice, now we’re all trying to learn the basics of Italian.

The easiest thing most people have found is just to point at what you want, try (and usually fail to) pronounce the name, hold up one finger, and nod/smile.

It gets a bit more tricky when you get asked a question, especially if the waiter/cashier doesn’t speak english…

Latte = hot milk
Caf au lait = coffee made with milk (aka Latte in Oz)
Tea au lait = confused waiter.

The leaning tower of Pisa isn’t all that impressive, really… It’s probably about 80-100m tall.

It’s really just an example of how badly someone can stuff things up if they forget to check a few basics of their trade.

(Post Update #2: lost it all before, so re-writing it)

Heya All, thanks for everyone’s comments, good to hear from home.

Curently in Nice for the second day, yesterday we went for dinner in Monaco, and for a little wander around Le Grande Palace (well, outside, since I wasn’t going to be paying 10 EUR to get in)

Got a whole bunch of photos here, but I still don’t think I’ll be getting them online any time soon (There’s about 900 now, excluding the first lot I put up — yeah, a real shutterbug)

I’ve been ripping through the memory cards pretty darn quick, _VERY_ glad I’ve got the 60GB portable with me (It’s certainly been getting a heck of a workout).

By the way, Lindt chocolate is much better when it’s fresh. Almost everyone on the bus spent their time in Switzerland buying and eating chocolate.

For the real sweet-tooth traveller, Annecy puts in a damn fine showing. Litterally every second shop in one of the bigger streets had either a soft-serve machine out the front, or had a full-blown icecream counter.
The sweet shops are also fantastic looking… Fresh nougat of a dozen varieties…

I’m, amazingly enough, doing pretty well at avoiding it … for the most part. Everyone was feeling a little queezy after leaving Geneva, so we all did a big splurge at buying fruit in Annecy.

The one little corner mini-mart had the best fruit I’ve tasted for ages (it’s easily comparable to home). Grapes from Africa, Nectrines from Spain, Cherries and Pink Lady apples from France, rockmellon and oranges to die for. It’s all good, and amazingly enough very reasonable prices… I think I had about a kilo of various fruits for about 6 Euros.

enough about the food, I’m off outta here… booked my hotel for Rome for two nights (21st-23rd May), and then I’m off to Vienna.

Also, Updated the Itinerary, see here for hotel details

Nothing much to say, everyone was doing laundry for the first half of the day, then wandering around the beaches and relaxing.

The fruit bought in Annecy made a very pleasant change from the regular food we’ve been eating (in general, not just roadside food).

Arrived in Nice pretty late, so only just had enough time to change shirts before we had to be back on the bus for a group dinner in Monaco.

Billy (our hoarse-voiced funny-bastard Scottish coach driver) took us for a spin around part of the racetrack which was set up for the upcoming monaco grand-prix.

Some people also went to one of the casinos (Le Grande, iirc) for a quick spin.