EURO TOUR; part 5. Lido di Jesolo & Venice

next, it was on to ITALY!! i was most excited about this, as i wanted to go to Italy on exchange, but i couldn't. im so glad i had the chance to go there though! we were staying in a beachside town called Lido di Jesolo. This town is very famous for its beaches, although most of it was covered by yellow chairs. there was about 4 metres between the last chair and the water. Our "4 star" hotel was terrible. I do not believe that it was 4 star (4 out of 100, maybe). Some of us had to wait two hours for our rooms to be ready. The owner was grumpy, and quite scary and itwas a pretty crappy hotel too, some people had toilets quite literally in their showers, the 100% necessary air-con sounded like a jumbo jet andour dinner that night was the worst of the whole trip. out first afternoon, we had free time to explore, so most people headed down to the beach, but jacqui and i decided to hit up the (cheap) italian shops. That night, we went out to celebrate one of the girls birthdays. we went to a beachside club, and it was a really fun night.

Our first full day in Italy we had entirely free to do with what we pleased. We were in Italy, with gelato, pizza and beaches, and what did we do? we washed our clothes. most of us were running low on clean undies, so we all put in and did some washing. Jacqui and i went and bought inflatable things for the beach. After we had finally finished with that, then we headed straight for the beach. I have not been to the beach that much, as i do not live near it, but it was good to be swimming in the ocean again. The water was the perfect temperature, and sparkling blue and we swam for a good few hours! We then headed out to get some lunch. oh my gosh, the food was sooo good. i had some pasta, filled with mushroom and bacon. it was delicious! after lunch, 2 other australians and i decided to look at some more shops, before heading back to the beach again. We then went out for tea, and this time i ordered a pizza. Cheese, tomato, sausgage, and chips. Yes that right, i had a pizza with hot chips on it. it was soooo good. The next day, we were off to Venice!!!

we headed off to Venice quite early. Ive always wanted to go to Venice, its very pretty and interesting. we began with a gondola ride through the canals of Venice, with a striped shirt wearing gondola driver and everything. Sadly he wouldn’t sing for us, and when i asked why, his reply "we only sing when we are drunk!" I said back "can we get you drunk?" to which i got a foul look, so i stopped asking him to sing. The buildings, bridges, the crumbling steps were amazing. it was all like i had imagined! Our Gondola ride finished, and Jacqui and I headed off to explore the city. We walked around, had a bite to eat, and then met up with some others. We wondered around a bit more, before meeting everyone and heading back to the hotel. We got ready, and headed out for dinner. The last night was just a quiet one at the hotel. tomorrow, FRANCE!!!

EURO TOUR; part 4. Salzburg & Zell Am See

Next morning, bright and early, we set off for Austria!(480km) Driving through the Austrian Alps is quite an experience, it was beautiful! We watched The Sound of Music, which everyone was singing along to! We stopped for a few hours in Salzburg, the city from the movie, and also the birthplace of one Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. We got to have free time to explore the city, so a few other and i decided to visit the castle on top of a gigantic hill! it was quite a hike up there (and then we found out we had to pay to get in) so we just admired the AMAZING view. We then headed back down, and got on the bus to travel to a small town called Zell Am See. The first night was a lazy one, with not much happening, but with 78 exchange students, we still had a lot of fun.

the next morning we were up bright an early to go on a hike up the alps. it tooks us about 3 hours up. it was very hard work, and the last hill to the top was VERRY steep. i tried to run up, and got 3/4 of the way before someone jumped out in front of me. i was pretty proud of myself though. the view at the top was amazing! we were 2000m up (i think). we ate lunch and took some photos, and then headed back down. some of us then went to swim in the lake. i think this could have been the highlight of my trip. swimming in a lake surrounded by the austrian alps, it was beautiful. i want to go back there some day. we then headed back to the hotel, and it was an early night.

EURO TOUR; part 3. Prague

The next morning we headed off to Prague, Czech Republic. It was the most beautiful city i had ever seen! The first night we had dinner at the hotel, then had our own celebration for the 4th of July.

our first day started with a three hour guided walking tour, which was probably the best way to start exploring this incredible city. Beginning up on the hill of Hradcany, where Prague Castle is located and slowly walking our way down through the town. Prague Castle is one of the biggest castles in all of Europe, and it filled with architecture from many different eras, it was amazing! And from the castle, you could see the most spectacular view of the whole city. The view was amazing, all the different coloured roof tops, and the beautiful scenery. We continued our tour through the city, with our truly wonderful guide eventually making it to the Charles Bridge. The entire bridge is covered in statues, the most famous being the statue of St. John, who was murdered right on this very bridge. The statue also has a touch of magic about it, as you can make a wish on the spot where he was killed. The bridge also had romantic history, as the entire bridge is covered with padlocks, on which couples have engraved their initials, locked their love and thrown the key into the Vltava River. We finished our walking tour at the famous astronomical clock, which is a wonderful piece of very old engineering, and watching it ring. After our guide left us, we had free time to go eat and explore the city of our own accord. We had a wonderful time eating lunch and exploring the city, watching street performers, and just generally enjoying Prague. That night in Prague we ate dinner on a boat on the river! It was a really wonderful to eat dinner and watch Prague pass us by. Of course there was a lot of singing and dancing going on, and we even did the Haka, with the help of the New Zealand exchange students. After our beautiful evening on the river, we had the night to head into the city and explore the nightlife Prague is most famous for. I and many others headed to Karlzony Lazne, the biggest music nightclub in central Europe. This club had five stories, each with a different theme of music. We danced up a storm all night, singing at the top of our lungs.

EURO TOUR; part 2. Cracow

very very early next morning we set off for Cracow, Poland. I had never really thought of going to Poland, but it ended being one of the nicest places. We arrived after a long bus ride, (600km) and after quickly dumping our things in our hotel rooms, we headed out for a traditional Jewish dinner in a restaurant situated in the former bathhouse of the historic Jewish quarters.The dinner was absolutely delicious, and what made it such a memorable experience were three musicians playing traditional Jewish music as we ate.After, we got to explore the city on our own, and being exchange students, we headed out to a bar. Then, we caught a taxi back to our hotel. After dinner we had the option of returning to the hotel, or remaining in the city and making our own way home.

The next morning, although it was cold and rainy, we headed off for our guided city tour. We saw many wonderful things, beginning back at the Jewish Quarters, which I learnt was the birthplace of Roman Polanski, among others, and heading then up to Cracow Castle. This castle was built in an Italian style, and was incredibly beautiful. We eventually made our way down in the main square of the city, which was when we came into the truly beautiful part of Cracow. The main square is one of the biggest and oldest in all of Europe, and contains many amazing buildings with beautiful architecture. This church was by far the most ornate and colourful which we saw in all of Europe. We also then had a lunch of traditional Polish dumplings before spending a little more time out exploring the city. That afternoon we left Cracow to visit the concentration camp Auschwitz. I cant even explain what i felt going there. Its so hard to imagine, that all these terrible things happened, right where you are standing. The weather was terrible, which i think made the experience more real. We were walking through mud, freezing, and complaining, but what the people who lived here went through, was so much worse. Hearing peoples stories, and what had happened to them, everyone was very emotional. The bus trip back, no body spoke. I think we all are a little different after visiting Auschwitz.

EURO TOUR; part 1. Berlin

we headed off for Berlin, Germany on the 30^th of June. We crossed 3 countries, and drove about 420km. First night in Berlin we had a traditional German dinner of bratwurst and sauerkraut, with a dessert of apple strudel. The sauerkraut was not really my favourite food i have ever tried, and not many of the other exchangees either. After dinner we had time to go out and explorethe city. the group i was with decided to 'try the local brew'.

Next day we began with a guided city tour, and a visit to the Berlin Wall documentation centre. After this we had free time to explore the city by ourselves. We first headed to the Brandenburg Gates, and saw an amazing group of street dancers perform. Then 3 other girls and I, went and had sushi for lunch and looked in some shops. I wish i did some more touristy type things, but i guess i will just have to go back one day. we then headed back to the hotel, had dinner and got ready to go out. there were a few girls who decided to get crazy dressed up (in cow cuits, and others in crazy coloured shirts) but that made it more fun. we headed to a bar, and made our own dancefloor. it was a fun night :)