Aussie, Aussie, Aussie!

It's been a while since my trip to Eruope, and the daily grind of school, work and the job search for after graduation is wearing on me. Not to mention the crazy weather here in Ohio. Monday it was 60 degrees and downpour, and today its back to the 30's with snow flurries.

But there are some things to bring light to the end of this tunnel. In about a month, I will be going on Spring Break with my girlfriends to Florida. I can not wait for the debauchery on the beach and spending a lot of time with my closest friends one last time before we all graduate and move to god knows where.


Also, in the summer, I will be heading back to Australia! I can't wait to be back in the land of surf and sun eating kababs and drinking mass amounts of VB. I get giddy just thinking about all the friendly accents and beautiful scenery in my second home. I am going to Australia with Contiki. Last time I was there was for study abroad. I had such a great time on my Contiki in Europe, I can't wait to see what they have in store for me in Australia. I am really excited because we get to go to Fraser Island and the Whitsundays (where I will hopefully go sailing). I haven't been to either of those places before, but I have heard great things. I am also looking forward to doing the bridge climb in Sydney. I wanted to do it while I was there for study abroad, but I never got around to it. I'm definitely not passing this up this time! Oh! and skydiving! I am so doing that this time. AH! I can't wait!

Praha, Czech it out!

So our last two days were spent in Prague, otherwise known as Praha, which is more fun to say anyways. When we got there, our tour manager took us on a walking tour through "old town" and "new town." Basically one part of the city is from the 500's and one part is from the 900's, and since none of it got destroyed in WWII, the entire city is just really really OLD! But beautiful. Some friends and I walked around and found a place to buy absynth for the night ahead. Hey, when in Prague...


After we walked around, we had a free night to do whatever we wanted. I took this opportunity to take a nap. After my glorious uninterrupted sleep, I got up and got ready to go to the biggest club in Europe. But first, the absynth. It was actually not that bad...but very powerful. After about 4 shots, I was ready to party! And I did. We went to the biggest club in Europe. It was fun, but a lot of people got things stolen/lost.

The next day, we had the entire day free. It was our last day, and frankly, I was completely out of money. So I slept in late, then took the train to the city with some friends. We just meandered around the streets, taking in the sites. It was really nice, but so bittersweet knowing it was our last day.

That night, we had our last big meal together at another folklore show. When we sat down, there was a shot awaiting our arrival. Nice. The meal was good, made even better by good conversation with what were now great friends. We also got espresso at the end of dinner. After two shots of espresso, and all the wine, I was in a great mood! We all ended up going to a bar, and soaking in every last drop of time together. Life as we had known it for the past 2 weeks was ending, and soon we had to go back to our normal everyday lives. What a bittersweet night.

Suasages, sour kraut, beer...must be Germany

When we got into Munich, we had some free time to walk around the city. At this point in the trip, I felt I had done enough historical sight seeing, and I was happy to just hang out and try the local cuisine. I had a bratwurst for lunch with sour kraut and mustard on it. It was wonderful. Then I went with some friends to the beer garden, which was completely packed at 3 o'clock in the afternoon on a Wednesday. Makes me proud to be German. After that, we got some cheap beers from a convenience store and just walked around the streets of Munich since it is legal to have open containers.

That night, we went to the Hofbrauhaus, which I had been looking forward to for the entire trip. We ate dinner, and enjoyed a folk show upstairs. I was amazed at just how many 40 oz. beer steins our waitress could carry around. She has guns! I drank big Dunkels and it was everything I thought it could be. After the show, a lot of us went downstairs to drink some more until closing time around midnight. I also took some time to buy myself a HB beer stein. Germany was really cool, and I wish we could have spent more time there.

Do one thing everyday that scares you

The morning after the Pimps and Hos party was pretty brutal. But there is no time for feeling ill on this trip. We were up bright and early, and on the coach heading off to Munich. Before we got to Munich, our tour manager and driver had a few surprises for us. First, we stopped at the Swarovski Crystal Factory. A lot of people loved it, and dropped a lot of money of pretty crystal things.

Then, we went to Dachau, the concentration camp. On our way there, our tour manager gave us a long history of the second world war and the holocaust so that we would all be refreshed on our history going in. I learned that every German student has to go to a concentration camp at some point during their schooling.

I didn't know how I was going to react to seeing the concentration camp. I have read a lot about the Holocaust, and just reading some of the things I've read had a big impact on me. I was actually pretty frightened at the idea of actually seeing it with my own eyes.

When we got there, our tour manager set us loose and gave us a time to be back at the bus. I decided to walk around alone. I noticed right away that there were many people walking around, but the entire place was completely silent. All-in-all it is something that I'm glad we got the chance to see, but it is not something I would ever want to see again.

When we got on the bus, the vibe was completely off. There was no joking and silliness like usual. Our tour manager handled it very well, though. He talked a little bit, and then played "The Sunscreen Song." It fit the mood perfectly, but was humorous enough to raise everyone's spirit's.

Pimps and Hos

So, after an eventful day of mountain biking and trout fishing, the hostel we were staying in threw a pimps and hos party for us and another Contiki group that was staying there. I could write about how much fun the night was, but I think this night can be better explained in pictures. Enjoy.

Beginning of the party...playing battle of the sexes

Briana looking like a Ho

Oh...Mark

Kevin and John...looking ridiculous

Kevin's big Pimpin'


Hannah, Becky and Chris dancing the night away

The Hills are Alive!

From Venice, we headed to the Austrian Tyrol. When I saw on the itinerary that we were going to be spending two days in this place, I was a little confused. I had never heard of Tyrol before let alone the town we stayed in, Hopfgarten. But, nevertheless, I was excited to go to Austria because I am abnormally obsessed with The Sound of Music, which takes place in Austria. A little lame, I know. Don't judge me.

So, first order of business in Austria? White water rafting. We get off the coach, and are handed wetsuits, helmets, lifejackets, boots, and waterproof jackets. Quite the get-up. We slpit up into groups of 8 or so, and hop into the boats. Once in the boat, our 21 year old Scottish guide began giving us instructions for what to do to keep us from dying in the freezing cold water we were about to enter. He spoke so fast and in such a thick accent, I caught about the first 20 seconds of his 5 minute spiel, and then I was lost. So, when we picked up our boat and headed out to the waves, I was slightly nervous about what lay ahead.

After the first set of rapids, my fears subsided, and I began to have a lot of fun. The course they brought us on was not so difficult, and our guide gave us instructions along the way. After a few tricks on the boat and tipping the boat over at the end, I felt great. When we got out of the water, we were greeted with a tray full of shots. One for each of us. I like Austria. After peeling off our wetsuits and warming up in the sun, we were given a bowl of goulash. Delicious. I really like Austria.

That night, we went to a bar called the Silver Bullet in Hopfgarten. Hopfgarten is about the size of Fort Recovery, my home town. So, our group of 30 or so people basically took over the bar. They had a special that was 10 beers for 20 euro. Perfect. I split the ten beers with a friend, and spent the night getting to know my fellow travelers and our tour manager. 'Twas a wonderful night.

Mountain biking and trout fishing

On our second day in Hopfgarten, we got to go mountain biking in the Alps. Talk about the perfect cure for a hangover. The air is so fresh and clean. It's invigorating. We biked for 25 kilometers, half of which was up hill. Going up hill was a little rough at times, but the views made it oh so worth it. We stopped at one point to get water from a spring. It was the best water I have ever had. Hands down.


Once we got to the middle of the bike ride, we got lunch. Lunch consisted of sausages with honey mustard and a baked potato. SOOO GOOD! After lunch, the rest of the bike ride was down hill. It was so fun to just fly down the mountain especially after a hard ride up the mountain. On our way down, there was a cow just chillin' by the path, so we stopped for some photos.


After the biking, a few friends and I went to the trout farm, which is a place that enables you to not only catch a trout and kill it with a club, but also cooks the trout up for you on the spot. This was probably the funniest experience of my entire trip. I will tell you why, and illustrate it for you, but I guarantee it will not be nearly as funny as it was in person. Anywhoo, here goes.

We get to the trout farm, and just walk around like idiots for a solid 15 minutes trying to figure out where we get tickets/fishing poles and bait. After finally finding the ticket counter, I decided to just be a photographer for the day and not fish. The boys got their poles, some corn for bait, a bucket, and a wooden club. After baiting the hook, Kevin (having not fished since childhood) was a little confused about how to cast. I told him what to do, and the big fishing day was off.


After about 3 minutes of fishing, John caught his trout. He reeled it in, and having no idea how to go about killing the fish, held it up on the string and swung at it with his club like a pinata. Having very little luck with this method, he then attempted to lay the fish on a pedestal and hit it that way. But the fish kept jumping around. Then, out of no where came an old Austrian man to take care of business. The man held the fish down with a cloth in his hand, and whacked the fish with one fail swoop. Lo and behold, the fish was finally dead. After the killing, the old man was kind enough to put the dead fish back on the hook so John could take a picture with his catch. Too funny.

Next up is Kevin. After all the drama with the first catch, we had learned how to do things properly. Or so we thought. Kevin catches his fish. He puts it on the pedestal. As he goes to hold it down, the fish jumps, and Kevin jumps too...and screams...like a little girl. Giving up on holding the fish down
he just begins swinging. First he just knocks the air out of the poor fish. Then, one more hit. Yeah. It's dead. But wait! The old Austrian man couldn't let the Kevin have the final blow. He creeps in again to give the fish one last hit, sending blood flying and knocking the fish into the gravel on the ground. Now, he takes the bloody,
gravel covered fish and puts it back on the hook for a picture.

All of this happened in the span of about 15 minutes. It was a whirlwind of jumping, screaming, laughing, and fish beating. After all this commotion, we sat down for a beer while the fish got cooked. I tasted a little bit of it, and it was uncommonly good for cooked trout.