I saw the Contiki people off at 7:30 in the morning. My roommate slept through it. Most were hungover. I hope the ferry crossing to England isn’t too choppy. (Or do I?) When I took a farewell picture and said goodbye to the crowded bus, they chanted my name. I felt special.
I am now alone in Paris and I noticed the leaves starting to change color. I’m going to return to Canada in a different season.
I only started functioning after noon. I went to a nice internet café and caught up on my email and a bit of blog transcribing.
Then the Paris catacombs. Because those monks in Rome did not sate my need to see skeletons. The site was near my hotel so I walked there. Then down some stairs, quite deep. It starts out as a standard dungeon crawl then you come to where the bones are stored. And there are a lot of them; Stacked all along the walls. Not much of an artistic attempt but there are occasional moments. No flash photos, so it is hard to take pictures. Before the bones I got someone to take my picture. She then dropped the camera, lens first. It seems all right except for a small dent.
No rats.
The exit was a third of the way back to the hotel. Then I still had four hours to kill.
I walked. I saw. I climbed.
The Eiffel tower. It took an hour to walk there. (Along the way a pigeon relieved itself on me. They are the lackey’s of the Pope. Just look at Venice.) Then I paid and started climbing.
329 steps to the first level. 671 total to the second level. 18 steps between the two floors of the second level.
After the climb, there wasn’t anything else to do. So the metro to the hotel. I grabbed my suitcase and then took the metro to the train station.
Right now I’m hurtling to Berlin. My coach is a poorer one. The ones with beds were already taken. My roommates are two Americans and three women from former Soviet states. They talk to themselves in a language I don’t know.

Yesterday evening there was a cabaret show and dinner. It was an optional excursion and easily the most expensive. I decided to pass on it. Most excursion meals have been more drinking binges, and the actual food isn’t always that great. You have to draw the line somewhere.
I had doubts when the bus driver said it was the best of all the excursions.
I still did something. After the cabaret they were going to go to an Irish pub and have a farewell drink. It was even next door to the Moulin Rouge. I would have dinner elsewhere and then meet them at midnight.
That was the plan.
It was also the night the Irish team was in Paris for the world rugby match. It didn’t matter who won or lost, the bar was filled with drunk Irishman. Real authentic ones too. Imported direct from Ireland.
The bar was way too crowded for the Contiki people to have a farewell party. It was a wall of people. Some got in and went to the back. Others fled to another bar across the street (where they charge 7.70€ for a Coke. We were split up and I wasn’t having a good time.
I guess this proves the vacation hasn’t worked yet. I haven’t loosened up. One thing goes wrong and I just want to leave. We were on the other side of town so we had to leave in groups via cab. So I waited with all the drunk people, slowly getting cranky.
I didn’t get to bed until 4:30. After falling asleep, my drunk roommate, who for the first time had his own key, knocked to be let in and then snored loudly as he got to sleep and I didn’t.

I might have enjoyed today more if I had not spent a large chunk of it queuing in line and trying to figure out the subway system But now I have my train tickets up until October 8th. I’m going to be using the Chunnel to go to Britain, and it is a LOT cheaper if I return from whence I came. So maybe I won’t go to Portugal but instead spend time in the Netherlands or Belgium.
I went to the Louvre today, but I left before I got overwhelmed. (I saw a few masterpieces, but there are many I missed.)
Arc de Triumph. Champ des Elysee. Pont Alexandre III. Notre Dame cathedral. I saw them all today. Now I am tired.
While on the Pont Alexandre III bridge, this local girl found a gold ring near me. It didn’t fit her, so she offered it to me. If someone had dropped it, I thought it should be left there so the original owner might be able to find it. So I put it back. The girl then asked for money for cigarettes.
Then, half an hour later, I watched almost the exact same thing happen to a co-tourist. Except my grifter spoke better English.
I’ll try and see more tomorrow. My train doesn’t leave until 8:00 PM. I think I’ll try for the catacombs. Maybe I’ll climb the tower.

We had a surprise today. After dinner we were given a tour of Paris in the bus. It was dark enough so that it was near impossible to take a decent picture from a moving vehicle. We did stop off at a telecommunications tower to get out and take pictures. It is quite pretty at night. And on the hour, it sparkles. I got stoked about the plan to come back tomorrow to go to the top. I was looking forward to climbing the stairs of another civic monument.
That plan is now shot to hell.
After we got back on the bus, the tour guide made an announcement. We were going up it now! At night when the lights of Paris are beautiful. At night when they don’t allow people to climb up the stairs.
Well worth it.
It’s a lot like a bank. You wait in line to go to the second level. There you wait in another line to get in the elevator to the top. Spectacular view! You can’t see distant landforms, but it truly is the city of lights.
After lingering at the top, I took the elevator back to the second floor. From there I could take the stairs down. You do get an interesting view from that perspective. I took a lot of pictures.
Then we continued the bus tour.
The next “stop” was the Arc de Triumph. Which was described to us as the craziest roundabout in the world. Then the William Tell overture was played in the stereo and the bus charged into the circle. We cut off several “lanes” of traffic as he headed for the inside. (That may have been how we are supposed to drive it…) A few circles and then out again.
We took a wrong turn on the way back to the hotel. So the bus did a poor U-turn. We sort of got stuck in it so our headlights beamed into a parked white van where some people were having sex. They waved back.
Apparently white vans with candles are the Parisian equivalent of Amsterdam’s red light district.

Our bus driver got lost coming into town. He drove around in circles in a roundabout while the tour guide phoned for directions. He is still an amazing driver and has gotten the bus through places I wouldn’t think it could.
He was stymied when he drove us back from dinner. The narrow gate into our hotel was made a little narrower because someone had parked their car poorly. It got poorer for the parker when a bunch of guys off loaded from the bus and bounced the car out of the way.
We think it may have been a gendarme’s private car.
Lyon looks pretty. We aren’t staying for long. It is the gastronomical capital of France so we went out to free dinner. I.e. We choose whatever restaurant we want. No herding us here. We got an authentic French meal. Right down to the expectation of a lot of time. Our main course arrived twenty minutes before we had to run to catch the bus. We didn’t really get a chance to enjoy it.
I wanted the French onion soup but my mother makes a fantastic one, so I should try something new: Salad Lyonnaise; Cesar salad with no dressing and a poached egg on top.
Frog legs. I can now say I have tried them. Tastes like chicken. But also cooked in too much oil. I felt too greasy to have more than two.
I don’t remember the salmon or the mousse. I was inhaling them so we could get to the bus.

We stopped in Avignon for lunch. This was my second time here. The first time was about twenty years ago. Although I remember it being bigger and more crowded.
They still haven’t fixed the bridge.
Have I been to Nice before? Shrug

Why would they even have a raw egg in their hotel room?
It was a Russian tour group though, and a pair of girls was responsible: I have not been compensated or apologized too. No surprise.
Our tour guide was mostly getting angry with the other one to amuse himself. He had no expectation of money.
We stopped at Fragonard to see how perfume and other scents are made. Cute women work there.
I bought some cologne. Apparently I need another souvenir/thing to carry. I’ve never used cologne, and I’m not even sure how.

A thoroughly unpleasant day is over. I’m not saying it was totally bad, but enough happened
Monte Carlo was nice enough. We had a lovely French dinner, and two bottles of wine at each table. (That may have been a mistake.)
Afterwards we went to the Grand Casino. I went though the motions and gambled. I hate gambling, but I felt I needed the experience. I had 25€ to spend, and I gambled it all away, winning only 10€. I’m not a lucky person, so this was expected. I kept one chip as a souvenir.
I also crept out at one point to take pictures of fancy cars and an important turn in the Formula-1 race. We left at 10:30 on the tour bus. That was an important bus to catch because a taxi back would cost 70€. One couple did stay behind to keep gambling. I hope he gets lucky.
In the financial sense of the word.
When we left, the bus driver took us along the course, acting like a Formula-1 car. (Not very well.) Peel away from the start, and do heavy shifting.
When we got back to the hotel we spent some time talking outside the entrance. Apparently too loudly. The practice here seems to be different from where I’m from. Instead of yelling at people to be quiet, you are supposed to throw water out the window (oh god, I hope it was water) followed immediately by an egg.
Did I mention we had dressed up in our finest clothing for the night?
I got the egg all over my dry-clean-only pants. My new leather shoes also smell eggy now. I have no idea how to clean leather shoes. A later volley hit the hotel manager. He was not happy.
I watched my tour guide arguing with another tour guide over compensation, but I’m not holding my breath. It’s still nice to see.
I’m just glad this day is over with. The tour is nearly done, so I’m feeling maudlin. And upset.
I shouldn’t have sunned on the beach. I spent too much time thinking. No good can come of that.

I took out six bicycles today. At least that is what I was told. I wasn’t paying attention. I was lying on the pavement trying to asses my current medical condition.
I was rollerblading with co-tourists on the promenade. There is a bike lane but it is only marked by paint on the road. I believe I was trying to go around a crowd of people and drifted into the bike lane, where I met a convoy coming the other way. I avoided the first but impacted the second. I saw my sunglasses fall under a car and the next thing I know I’m lying on the ground.
I was the only person to rent protective padding in our group.
My back looks the worst I’m told, but I barely feel that. Although it does look like there is a tire tread on it. My shoulder is sore from muscles being pulled the wrong way. A few knuckle scrapes, and otherwise fine. The bike riders looked mostly okay. One had a lip that was bleeding. They spoke French to themselves and ignored me. After awhile they moved on. We continued on ourselves to the end of the promenade and then back again.
I got up early today and went for a jog along the ocean. It was cool, but a few hours later you wouldn’t be able to say that. Then back to bed.
After the morning accident I had a crepe lunch. I think the restaurant owner thought I was American because I was overcharged 3.50 Euro for a small pitcher of tap water. Same as a bottle of Coke. Crepe Suzette was the main course and a citreon crepe was dessert. Lunch of champions.
In the afternoon, apart from doing laundry in the bathroom (with detergent this time) I went swimming. The water was nice, but choppy. It was hard to float and my shoulder was hurting. The beach was made of smooth rocks, so it wasn’t too pleasant to walk on. I still laid on it for half an hour.
Now off to Monaco.

Yesterday, to get to Nice we had to keep going up and down huge cliffside roads. My ears kept popping worse than an airflight. On arrival everyone conked out. I’m surprised I didn’t. They almost all went for a nap. I had four hours of semi-sleep and I wanted to do stuff.
So I set out and climbed the Le Chateau park. It’s a large hill next to the sea with the remains of fortifications at the top. The best part was the cascade; a series of waterfalls on the western side. I also got some decent photos from up there. Someone was practicing the flute in the park, so for most of the time I was hearing the tones of “Meet George Jetson”. I came down on the other side and walked through the old town. I got back a bit before dinner. It was just at the hotel but it was easily the best meal of the whole trip: Salad, quiche, potatoes, carrots, a spiced chicken, and a sundae. Fantastic.
Then a tour of the old town and drinking. I packed it in early because a group of us planned a run for the next morning.

The coastline here is so beautiful. Then I asked the tour guide about it. He said it was an awful place. Dirty, smelly, and the people are rude. A port city.
So all the worst qualities of France and Italy in one place.
I tried to take pictures, but those through a window from a moving vehicle are almost always poor.
Hopefully Nice will be nice. I’ll blame the tour guide for that pun.

If it weren’t for the tower, this place would disappear off the maps. I took pictures, but I never got the one I wanted: The tower standing straight with a decent amount of myself in the frame. I got random passersby to take pictures, but you can’t really tell them that their photo skills suck, do it again, and do it right.

Like jet-lag, hangovers appear to be something that happen to other people. Mind you, I drank a lot of water. I also don’t recall sleeping. For four hours I was awake. I just felt too wired.
I expect the crash to happen in an hour or so.
The South African was asking me details of what happened last night.

So this is drunkenness.
I believe I’ve sobered up by now. I’m alert, but I am noticing a bit of trouble writing. I didn’t feel more confident, but the proof is in the pudding. I was much more forward, but only with women I already knew.
I only had a brief moment of buzz. To do it, I had a shot and three drinks: A bacardi breezer, an orange juice and vodka, and a JJ special (a local bartender’s creation.) All within an hour, all tasted bad.
But the observations I’ve made are really convincing me not to do this again. I watched a large South-African co-tourist try to pick a fight with an American before being escorted out by security, and keep telling the non-English speaking cab driver how great he was. Outside my room, at the hotel, another co-tourist was sleeping in the hallway. A pretty Australian co-tourist with a boyfriend back home was drunk and flirting with all the boys. What annoys me the most is that her cousin seems to hate me, and I don’t know why. When I try to find out how she is doing, the cousin won’t even speak to me, except for “The Hand.” This pattern of behavior hasn’t just been for tonight.
It looked like pretty girl was going to get overly friendly with our lone American male in the hallway. I broke it up (killjoy) and tried to get her into her room.
She has a boyfriend. She is off-limits. It may be inconvenient but it is what is right.
I remain just as stupid when I am inebriated.

I like this town. Rome overwhelms you with culture to the point where you feel like you’re drowning. This town has an interesting, easy to follow, history that I feel I can grasp. If I spent a week here I would be content. Rome, I could spend two weeks there, living in fear, and still not feel like I’ve scratched the surface.
We had fifteen minutes of free time in a piazza that only had two minutes worth of culture. I wandered into a leather store, Toskana. They told me to ignore the prices on the tags. Take 50% off them. The inflated prices are for tour groups that are taken there and a commission goes to the tour office. Interesting.
Our tour group then went to another leather shop and were given a demonstration of leather manufacture. Then offered a 10% discount for our group…
Hmmmm….
They didn’t have a jacket I liked.
I went back to Toskana and tried on some jackets. There were two I liked but I couldn’t decide. I wanted a women’s opinion. I eventually got the three Canadian girls into the store and made a decision. They then bought two jackets themselves.
They blame me.
All the cultural museums are closed due to a strike. So I can’t seen the original David. (I did see a good replica in the square where he originally stood.) It’s Sunday so I couldn’t climb the cathedral dome. I did pay 6 euro to climb the bell tower. 412 steps, with 4 free ones. Magnificent view from the top.
I wish I had been wearing more than Birkenstock sandals.
Tonight we go to Club Space Electronika, a dance club. I have promised people to get drunk. Let’s see how it turns out.
This may be my last entry.

After the events of today, I can conclude that the pope is evil and will rot in hell. Mr. Infallible doesn’t allow shorts in the Vatican so when you visit the museum you have to wear long pants. When the day is in the high twenties to low thirties in temperature, those jeans become a sauna. I didn’t bring light pants because I figured I would wear shorts on hot days.
The organization of the museum is the second reason the pontiff is evil. We lined up at 8:00 in the morning and got in at around 10:15. (The line cutters really started working at ten o’clock.) I got in and I thought I was taking the logical route which led into the Egyptian exhibit and on. Bad move. I took too long in that side adventure (A lot of statues of ancient Rome. I mean A LOT!) so that the main route which leads to the Sistine Chapel was filling up. I didn’t have much time, I had to meet the others at noon. So I rushed through the important exhibits. (I liked the map gallery.) And I recognized a few other important paintings that I would have liked to ponder for more time. In the end, I was sprinting. I spent more time looking at a big brass sphere in a courtyard than I did at the Sistine.
Overall, it would have been nicer to spend more time there. It was my first real museum in Europe (not devoted to sex or booze.) The placed oozed with so much culture that I got overloaded. It began to lose meaning. Especially when you are actually running.
I missed St. Peter’s Basilica. That is something I will regret.
I actually ran through the streets of Rome to get to the meeting spot. Then a pizza lunch followed by a tour of ancient Rome. It is a lot smaller than I expected. All of the major ruins fall within a few large blocks. I suspect it is roughly the size of the West Edmonton Mall. I’m probably wrong.
Then we had free time. I used it to go to two spots recommended for a good view of the city. One was by peering through a keyhole. The other in a nearby park.
I then went to the Mouth of Truth followed by a walk along the river. The river isn’t much a part of Rome. They have walled it up so you don’t see it until you cross.
I saw a building and thought, “That is an amazing example of architecture, probably unique in all the world.” And I couldn’t be bothered to take a picture.
I did not have any gelato today.

Part of me doesn’t want to write much because it is a pain to transcribe this into the computer. But this is my major record of memories. After my camera.
The camera I totally expect not to have in the next few days. I am not trusting of the Italians, and our tour guide gave many warnings about pickpockets. I’m not even bringing my wallet into the city. And every night I will download all pictures from my camera to my iPod.
Thieving Gypsies.
If Montréal is littered with cathedrals, it doesn’t have anything on Rome. Ancient ruins are everywhere. You turn a corner and, chances are, there is a famous monument there. And they love to turn them into churches.
My favorite on our whirlwind tour of Roman ruins was the Pantheon. I loved the big globe ceiling. The Trevi fountain was also quite well done.
We also, briefly, snuck into the Vatican to take a picture of St. Peter’s Basilica. We will be back for more tomorrow when we will see the obvious sights.
I enjoyed the Crypt of the Capuchins. It is amazing what they can do with dead bodies these days.

I didn’t particularly care for this town. It just didn’t appeal to me. I’m coming down with a cold and liable to be cranky.
This is a town for women. Rich women preferably. Or men with girlfriends. Every store caters to the feminine demographic. High fashion or Venetian glass. Too many people (95% are tourists) and too many pigeons. I went and got a slice of pizza and a gelato. Then I toured St. Mark’s basilica. Then back for more gelato.
I did take part in a gondola ride, but I wasn’t really into it. You do get a different view from the water though.
The others are off partying now, possibly bowling. I’m going to try and sleep myself better. (I blame the very little sleep last night. I was up late updating this blog with a keyboard that had “Y” and “Z” swapped.)

After the rafting, I still felt cold. I could feel it in my bones, even though the day was quite warm.
We stopped in the town of Innsbruck where the river Inn presumably flows. It is famous for several things.
First fame was a gold plated roof over a balcony which was rather boring.
Second was the cut glass of Swarovski. My god, crystals everywhere. We had cards that would give us a free gift if we bought something. I looked and couldn’t find anything. I wanted to use it. Ideally I would have gone for the piles of crystals they used as decor for the cash registers. Not for sale. I could have gotten a cheap pencil with a colored crystal instead of an eraser. Then someone showed me the ideal thing. Something I actually wanted, not just tolerated.
Third is schnapps. I got a bottle. It continues my tradition of a sample of a region’s specialty alcohol on each vacation.
Fourth, Sachertorte cake and apple strudel. I went to a cafe and got them. The cake wasn’t that much better than garden variety cake. Maybe a bit richer.
There was also a tower that was a tourist attraction. 148 steps. I couldn’t find it and went four blocks in the wrong direction before returning to the meeting place under the gold roofed balcony. Which was also where the tower actually was. The tour guide has been looking for an excuse to abandon me so eight minutes was not a lot of time to tour it. I still did. Pay the entry, sprint up the steps, (I needed exercise after all the sugar from fame number four) take a few pictures and back down.
I didn’t even get to enjoy the view.

This morning was beautifully clear. It would have been a great day to go to Mount Titlis. But instead we hit the road. It was two people’s birthdays. They played two birthday songs. One was the standard song. The other was, surprisingly, the Arrogant Worms. It gave me a craving to hear them. So for the first time in two weeks I listened to my iPod. Not just a picture repository anymore.
We stopped in Liechtenstein. Apparently the place is famous for stamps. They do look nice. So I bought a postcard and a stamp and sent it off.
This afternoon we went white water rafting. Unfortunately you can’t take pictures because they have a staff photographer who will do it for you and then charge you money for the privilege. I am a sucker so I got them. Now I have to keep them safe until I can get someone to scan them.
The rafting was in the Inn river, a glacial river. So a bit cold. But our raft was “Team Canada”. With a few honorary members from South Africa and the states. It is common for someone to fall in. I never did except on purpose. Maybe I was showing off?
I did tire myself. When I woke up this morning my muscles were aching. And the pillow I had was too soft. No support. They did not appreciate being made to paddle hard. Especially when the women in the raft were barely paddling.
I’ll feel it tomorrow.

If I’m on a sled, going much too fast, and I’m yelling at you to get out of the way, I’m not doing it for my health. Well, actually I am, but yours too.
We’re staying in a small ski village in the Swiss alps, nearly dead centre of the country. This will be our second night here. We were up late last night partying because we got to sleep in this morning. EU regulations give our bus driver a complete day off. No driving. So we have to walk everywhere in this small village.
This morning we set out for Mount Titlis (no sniggering). It was not looking good for the expedition; the weather was very cloudy. And when you’re this high there is very little difference between cloudy and foggy. But the trip up was fantastic. It started with a small cable car that could hold six people. Part of the way, we thought we heard wind chimes, but we figured out that it was the cowbells. Surprising because the cows weren’t moving.
After some time we transferred to a bigger cable car that could take the whole tour group. Then to a smaller one, but this one rotated. (Less thrilling than it sounds.) The view might have been spectacular if it wasn’t cloudy.
I was with some Australians who did not dress for the weather. Thongs were the only footwear they had. I loaned one my fleece and reveled in my Canadian powers. I hope I get the fleece back some time.
At the top it was a lot clearer; We were above the clouds. Well on one side of the mountain, clouds were forming. It was chilly and I’m glad I had a jacket. But there wasn’t much to see, yet. At 12:30 the glacier run would open.
I spent time seeing some of the heated sights. Namely the tunnels inside the glacier. You could set the music and there were colored lights. There was also a tunnel carved through the mountain to the next county on the other side. But the view was nothing but clouds.
To get to the glacier run, a small group of us took a ski-lift. There, it was a hoot. They had a toboggan area and that’s about it. You pick a sled, slide down into the embankment that prevents you from getting a thousand feet of air, get up, dust yourself off, and take the conveyor belt back to the top. That belt made the trip because climbing back up at the high altitude would be exhausting. We did many runs as the sun was warming the place. Best of all was when we hooked the sleds together and went down as a group. When we had eight in our caterpillar we lost the guy in the back to a bump. The next time we had 12 in a row. Of course high altitude and reflective snow have given me a rather red face.
When we had tired out we headed down the mountain. It had cleared up a bit so you could get a nice view.
We didn’t go all the way to the bottom. When we were near, we got out and rented some trotti bikes. Basically skateboards with 2 large wheels and tall handlebars with brakes. We coasted down the rest of the way on those.
After that I relaxed a bit, then tried to take a walk. I had a poor map that sent me not where I wanted to go. But it was a nice jaunt.
Dinner was in the same place as yesterday and rather disappointing, considering the place looked so fancy.
Everyone seems very tired. The big excitement was a game of UNO in the laundry room.

We travelled out of Germany this morning. I didn’t get a picture of the speed limit signs for tanks. At the Swiss border we had to stop for some time. Nothing untoward happened but there were very cute Swiss border guards.
In Lucerne we were given a tour of a monument to Swiss soldiers who died in the French revolution. Then souvenir shopping.
I could have gotten a Swiss army knife for a good deal but I couldn’t justify it. I already got one 20 years ago and I barely use it. Free engraving is nice, but then it is just an expensive souvenir and/or gift. Or USB drive.
If I really wanted pricey, they we’re giving a discount on watches. But I’m a digital person and wouldn’t use it.
I still feel I should have gotten them. But I’m glad I didn’t. I’m still wondering why I got a beer stein.
Instead I got chocolate (although I got a Toblerone earlier that nearly put me to sleep), a t-shirt (I’m running low on clean ones) and a few other knick-knacks.
I wandered through Lucerne and saw the church bridge. Then there was a cruise across the lake. Nice views from there, but they would have been spectacular if it wasn’t cloudy.

Today was a good day.
We went into the Rhine where we got onto a ferry and started cruising. From there we got to see the valley of the Rhine, The cruise itself wasn’t that great but they had me at “valley”. I love topography and there was plenty of it. I took too many pictures. There are some castles in the pictures too. The most impressive was the Rhinefels, a huge one on top of a hill. It was converted into a hotel. Apparently there are 4km of tunnels underneath it.
We stopped at the small village of St. Goar where we got to hear how beer steins are made. I’m beginning to suspect that the tours we go on are designed to get us to spend money because afterwards they showed us the collectible Contiki stein. Limited quantities. Or the valuable Berlin Wall stein with a piece of the wall mounted on the lid. As a historical collectible, it’s great, but as a mantle piece of art, it’s rather ugly. They also introduced us to the largest handcrafted cuckoo clock (currently out of order) and tried to sell some clocks to us. They looked great and it would be nice to have, but I don’t read analog clocks and the noise would annoy me quickly. I would have purchased the display model in a heartbeat. Made of clear plastic so you can see what is going on inside. How cool is that? Not for sale.
We’re staying the night in this village. It’s got no night life with less than 400 people, but the best hotel! It’s 300 years old and has been slowly added on to in the past three centuries. There is no real organization, it is confusing, and it is easy to get lost.
Then I went touristing. I got a beer stein (although maybe I should have gotten a horn) and a pair sandals from the Birkenstock store. They are cheap when they are direct from manufacturer.
Many of the others were going to a wine tasting. It didn’t interest me so I decided to wander the village with no real agenda. That was the best idea. I went up to the Rhinefels castle. On the way down I met some co-tourists who said the castle was closed. But I needed a walk so I continued up the hill. I passed the castle. At the top there was nothing interesting but a field of sheep who baa-ed expectedly at me.
Going down I passed a suspicious staircase. I had time, so I took it and was led down to the battlements of the Rhinefels. It felt like a secret area except there were German sightseeing signs. I found two entrances to the tunnels with nothing to stop me from crawling in. Nothing except it was really dark and scary. There were paths that led to cliffs that looked like dry moats. Beautiful scenery too.
All in all, a cool tour that gave lots of excellent pictures. I even got back in time for dinner (barely).
After dinned (spatzle!) several of us went back to the castle in the dark for the view. I spent way too long trying to take a picture of another castle, lit up, across the river.

We’re passing through the Rhine valley. The tour guide gave a good recap of German history.
Earlier today everyone stood up, introduced themselves, and let us know about them. Best line: “I came on this tour to meet Australians.” I now know that we’ve had two Americans secretly walking amongst us. There are only six single guys in the group of 50.
My roommate is one of them, and also Canadian.

At dinner today we went to the Sea Palace restaurant. I’m not sure if it floats or if it is on piles, but it is over a major canal. I thought I was lucky when I sat down and found that the rest of the table consisted of six women. It didn’t work out though. They complained about the men on the tour: There wasn’t enough of them, and several are in couples already. They seemed jealous of the table with the other Contiki tour that was just ending; It seemed to me to consist of drunk college age men.
I felt it was a little rude and insulting with me right there.
There was the canal cruise afterwards. I tried to drink, but I still don’t enjoy it and I don’t feel like it loosens me up. So I started ignoring the party and enjoying the scenery. After it was over I didn’t go to the clubs where the women previously mentioned were going. Instead I went to the sex museum. Interesting displays there. Some of which are moving. For example there was a flasher that actually flashed you.
No free trials though.
I considered going to a club afterwards. I should party in Amsterdam. I was waffling about it while walking down the street. My stomach was acting up a bit which was giving me a strong incentive to go back home. In the end, it was decided by me seeing the tram to the hotel coming up the street. I turned around and ran back to the square where it picks people up.
I have other nights to party. Hopefully with better digestion.

This morning we went to the village of Edam, famous for its namesake cheese. There we took a bicycle ride around. Quaint place. Then we had a demonstration of cheese and clogs being made. I couldn’t justify getting clogs for myself. I won’t wear them and they take up a lot of room.
In the afternoon we had free time in Amsterdam. I went to the Heineken museum. Fun place. It even has rides. And they give you free drinks. I chugged the first to get it down without tasting it. The second was a lemonade. I ignored the third.
Unfortunately my stomach is starting to act up. I blame the British water.