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.

Left Interlaken at a pretty reasonable 9am, heading to Geneva (Genev as they write it) for lunch before crossing the french border and heading for Annecy.

We only spent a few hours in Geneva, so didn’t see too much of it, mostly just sitting in the park eating lunch.

The afternoon was spent browsing Annecy, a medieval/gothic village.

Howdy Guys,

I’ve been all over the place… got a few detailed posts written on my PDA, but I don’t have wireless internet access at the moment, so it’ll be a while until they get posted, and probably even longer until I get photos posted.

In summary, the tour group I’m with are great … there’s 46-ish people in total on the tour, and all bar three of them are either Aussie or Kiwi (even split), the others are one Londoner, and a Welsh couple.

Spent two nights in Paris, France, and currently on the second day in Interlaken, Switzerland…
Went up the main mountain here … uhm, Mount Jorgenfrausomething… (yeah, it’s only 5:30, and I’ve already forgotten the name of it) … it’s the tallest mountain in Europe, Jungfraujoch covered in snow, has an Ice Palace, and all sorts of other interesting stuff… Went on the Cog Railway to get up there, which took us through some very nice places.

Tomorrow we get back on the bus and head to Annecy, France(?), with lunch in Geneva (sounds fancy, eh?).

Anyhow, off to do other stuff, some postcards should be on their way shortly (I need to find somewhere to get stamps, forgot to do that when I bought them… in Paris), just a few people, sorry — it took me over an hour last night to write them (yeah, I prefer tapping on my PDA to writing, much neater, and gets to lots more people quicker too, sorry).

It’s all very busy, even though we have lots of “free” time, we end up going to various different places (too many to name right now… wait for the detailed posts)

Hope everyone’s good.

Bye!

Caught the Cog Railway up Jungfraujoch apparently the tallest mountain in Europe, with the highest railway station in europe, at about 3,454M.

Wonderfully clear and bright day, and not that cold outside in the snow lots of great skiing to be had if you’ve got the gear, even if it is coming into summer.

The only real cold places are in the Ice Palace, or the tunnels leading outside (the wind blows down them and really chills you fast)

It’s pretty expensive to get all the way up, but well worth it. 138 Swiss Francs (Approx 150AUD) with a group booking, or 170 CHF (Approx 180 AUD) on your own. Despite the price, I’d love to see it again in winter.
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It’s probably not something people would normally talk about much, except to complain… But the water from the tap here tastes so much better than anywhere else, and definitely much better than all the bottled water you can buy (even locally bottled stuff)

Other interesting things about Switzerland is:
- All males between 20 and 40 must be in the army or reserves. And are required to keep a gun at home.

- They’ve got atleast one years food and water supplies in bunkers in the hills. (the bunkers are everywhere)

- They can mobilise their army in under 24hrs, and completely seal their borders against almost any possible land invasion force.

So, the moral of the story is… if you’re thinking of dating a local girl, make sure the father is ok with it… He’s bound to have a gun, and know a few blokes with access to a bunch of old tunnels or bunkers.

Left the hotel in Paris very early and spent most of the day driving, arriving in Interlaken at about 6pm.

The first night in any city always includes a group dinner, this night we went to a place called “Moo Cow” (iirc)…

All the waiters and waitress’ were wearing Cow-patterned lederhausen/pants.

If that wasn’t bizarre enough for you, they do these dances when bringing out the various dishes.

‘Course, since we’re in Switzerland, there was the obligatory cheese fondue. Not really my thing.
The chief waiter guy (Hans, in his cow lederhausen) brings around a glass of “Glacier Water” just before the fondue is finished and encourages some people at each table to try soaking their bread in that first before dipping it in fondue…. Ofcourse it’s some very stomg alcohol of some sort (metho, according to some), and the volunteer/victim ends up with their eyes bugging out when they bite into this concoction.

Before dessert they get the various parts of the restaurant to compete for a few jugs of beer, by shouting along to some song.

Dessert is ofcourse, chocolate fondue, with some fruits to dip in. Much better than the normal fondue… But it stays hotter much longer… And you can easily burn the roof of your mouth, as I did.

So, thats my first night in Interlaken…

BIG Day… after breakfast and the initial ‘orientation’ tour at 9:15 was over at 11, I joined up with the same group as yesterday (Margaret, Jo, Jodie, Mark and Richard).

Went to the Louvre initially.

Saw a bunch of sculptures (great), and paintings (ho-hum compared to the national collection in london), saw the obvious tourist-y things like the mona lisa (I dont see what all the fuss is about, tbh… It’s rather drab). Overall definitely worth seeing though.

For lunch we went to the latin quarter.
The street we walked down were lined with small restaurants, each having a maitre’d (i think) trying to convince you to go inside. Think Kings Cross’s stripclub fronts, and you’e got the general idea… Except add about 10 or so languages to the mix, the most likely being tried on you in turn.

Our waiter was great, very friendly, helping us learn a little french. Good food too, and reasonable prices (10 euros for a 3 course meal)

After lunch, headed off to Notre Dame Cathederal (it’d started raining by this time) and queued to go up the top… Climbing it is slightly better than st p_____ in london. Also walked around inside the actual cathedral too, amazing stained glass windows and other architecture.

Tried getting into the museum D’Orsay, but it was already shut (5:30pm, even though our info said open until 6pm). Took a train up to the Arc De Triumph, saw an accident on the round about around it.

Speaking of that roundabout, it’s a complete free-for-all… And legally you’re not insured while you’re on it. Theres an accident every 8 mins on average… Anyone stupid enough to try walking across the roundabout will most assureadly be eligible for a darwin award.

Finally, we went to a Caberat show at Nouvellex Eve (near the Moulin Rouge, cheaper too)

The there was a female acrobat doing all sorts of amazing things on a trapeize bar… Eg hanging by the back of her neck, and holding on with one hand to a rope and being spun around very fast.

The other between dance performances were great too— one guy who go an audience member involved to help with a few balancing tricks…

Anyway, yet more photos. I swear I have atleast 4GB of photos to upload.

Early morning, all day driving to Interlaken, Switzerland.