Roma

So here I am in Rome and I am loving every minute of it! We arrived yesterday at what I like to refer to as heaven in cabin form. Honestly, when you are used to showering in a room that either has the toilet and the shower as one spot or showering in a spot that is about the size of a tin can it is truly amazing to be able to shower in a bathroom that not only has a proper size shower (the same size as an ensuite...) but it has a toilet that HAS a toilet seat AND there is even a sink with some counter space!! It is a miracle I swear. Anyways we really are in wonderful cabins though, they have the cutest little dutch doors where the top half opens up, HUGE windows everywhere, a little loft with two beds, and then two more beds on the main floor off the kitchen, and when I say kitchen I really just mean a sink and a little camping stove type thing and also a mini fridge! So needless to say we were really excited when we saw what they looked like. However we did not get to see them until about 930 in the evening because, when we left Florence, we drove to Rome in about 5 hours, we had a one hour or so stop at a service station on the way and then we got to Rome and had things to do immediately, so we had a bit of free time and then after that we had a guided walking tour of the Roman Forum and then the Colusseum (which we got to skip the line for, which was awesome!) and then we did another walking tour with our tour manager, so we saw the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon and also the spanish steps, I can not remember the proper name. So that was a really wonderful day. Got up this morning which I have to admit was pretty difficult, cuz those beds are super comfy, had a breakfast that ACTUALLY tasted like real breakfast, toast that was perfect, cold milk and no stupid eggs. There were fried ham and cheese sandwiches for brekfast today, though I skipped that and went for the cereal, toast and orange. Anyways, today was an afternoon of Rome, all free time so we started off by going to Vatican City and went in to see the Cistine Chapel which was amazing and only 8 euro actually since there was a student rate, yay! So that took us about two hours and then afterwards we went to see the Scala Santa which are the stairs that Jesus himself climbed when he was being condemmed by someone...I cant actually remember who..but either way that was kind of cool and then we navigated our way over to the Colusseum so that from there we could try and find the S. Pietro something, something, because its this little church that houses the chains that were used to bind St. Peter when he was being held prisoner so that was really cool to see! After that me and Jaimie managed to get home vie the metro and then a train and then a shuttle bus, but we found our stops and everything so that was awesome since I have no directional skills whatsoever (just ask Curtis) and also when we were on our final train we were sitting across from a little Italian man and we were looking at our metro map to check how many stops we had to go and then we were just chit chatting and he put a little map of Rome over it, so that we would have one I guess haha, and then he didnt do anything after that for a bit, but then he noticed my necklace which has a music note on it and asked me something in Italian about music so I just said I like music haha and then out of nowhere he pulls out his wallet and starts rummaging through it, obviously looking for something so we just sat there and waited and then he pulls out this little picture and I dont even know how old it was, but it was of him when he was young as a Marine, and then he goes rummaging again and pulls out another picture of the men he was stationed with I suppose, standing in front of the Colusseum. Im not really sure why he felt like showing us but it was really cute, kind of a highlight of my day. Anyways, its almost dinner time and I am definitely starving so Im going to go and see when that will be!

Cheers!
-Holly

France to Italy!

Well I am currently in Florence right now. We got here at about 5:30 this evening and we're out in the heart of Florence at the moment, we were supposed to be at a karaoke bar but me and some girls left because it was ridiculously crowded and noisy and just not fun at all, so we're here at an internet cafe instead! The ride from France to Italy wasn't too bad, I tried to sleep through most of it, but it didn't quite work.

Anyways, in the few days before we left France we went from Ville Franchee to Antibes and got to stop at Baune and Lyon on the way :) Lyon was kind of neat to see, and Baune was pretty fricken cute! Um, once we got to Antibes we went to a bowling alley which was kind of funny, that's really the only thing to do there! But it was good fun!

We got to go and see Monacco as well as the Montecarlo casino which was quite the sight but even Monaco and Montecarlo just themselves are awesome to see! Lots of nice cars :P Also we got to see the palace of the royal family that has been ruling the country for 700ish years, which is cool, amazing view from the top!

Day after that we went to see Nice, so we took the train in and did lots of shopping and we saw the chateau that's there and that was a really great view from the top, had ourselves some lovely French food :) and then we went over to the beach which sadly was rock, and went for a swim in the mediteranian sea and YES everyone, I did in fact go topless for a little bit, maybe like 10 mins, not even, hah but at least I can say that it's something I've done!! It was lots of fun that day, the only shitty bit was standing on the train platform for a half hour :( but oh well, that's part of the adventure, anyways I'm quickly running out of time so I best hop off right about now, I get to spend the day in Florence tmo and then it's off to Rome, the Eternal City, can't wait!!!!

Cheers!
-Holly

Ville Franchee

Ville Franchee is where we're staying tonight, and stayed last night as well. It's a pretty small little place with not a heck of a lot to do except go bowling. Today was good though, we went up to the Chateau du Cruix for wine tasting and I actually enjoyed it!! Imagine that! Then I went and sat on the grass in the sun and essentially didn't move for quite a few hours, minus a dip in the freezing cold pool. I am payind dearly for not wearing sun screen though, but at least I didn't end up with sun stroke, though I do feel like I'm getting a little bit sick because I think I'm not really used to these 14 hour days and its hard on my system. Tomorrow we're headed for Monaco where it'll probably be warm, and with my lovely burn that should be just wonderful...not. That's about it for now, ttyl!!

Cheers!
-Holly

London to France

I arrived in London safe and sound after the lovely 9 hour flight. There was great entertainment on the plane which was nice, I watched Inkheart and the Princess Bride ad bits and pieces of other movies, so it was good. I didn't manage to sleep which kind of sucked but what can you do. London wasn't too exciting really, mind you we didn't get to see anything and we were tired and cranky so we didn't really enjoy ourselves there but thats ok. Then it was off to Paris, and we got to do a bus tour and saw all the wonderful places there. I managed to get myself to the top of the Eiffel tower which was really cool! Saw lots of really great things there, though some of the panhandlers are a little nerve wracking. But all in all I'm having lots of fun here, we're currently in Beaujolais and we're doing wine tasting tomorrow which will be lots of fun I'm sure. Anyways I'm borrowing a friends computer to type this so I'm going to give it back because I'm sure she wants it back! So I'll do a proper update later, cheers!!

-Holly

Pre-Departure!

Well here I am, it's the night before I jet off on my big adventure!! I can't even believe it's finally here!! I feel like I waited forever for it and now it's FINALLY happening! I'm really excited but it all just feels so surreal, I can't believe I will be flying for the FIRST time ever tomorrow night!! Scary! lol! It'll be lots of fun though, and it'll be nice to see Erin tomorrow afternoon. It's going to be a very long day tomorrow, I have to get up around 7ish I suppose, then take the 9am ferry to the mainland, and then it's off to the airport and we'll get there at about 12pm or so, and then meet with Erin at 2. Then after that we'll check in and then we get to play the waiting game! Our flight leaves at 5:30 and is a 9 hour flight. Now the part that makes this day even longer is that when we get to London...it'll be 10:30 in the morning, meaning that we'll have to stay awake for another whole day! Since I'm told that the best way to fight jet lag is to NOT sleep until you're actually supposed to sleep! Then to top that all off, we'll be on a bus by 6:45 the next morning...sounds like a lot of fun right? Haha, it will be an adventure for sure. I'm just praying that they won't loose my luggage, that would be an awful way to start!

Last night was really fun, we did a bit of a send-off party, starting at Peacock Billiards and that was lots of fun, had some food, played some pool, spilled a pitcher of beer all over a friend of a friend lol. Then after much ado we moseyed on over to Retro Night at Evolution which was an absolute blast!! It was so much fun, I was really pleased with how the night turned out. I did have a whole lot to drink though so I definitely wasn't feeling so hot this morning but it turned out alright, no puking so that was a plus! Haha! Then I spent the day with Yasmin and that was lots of fun, didn't shower until like 3pm LOL!! Yea, all in all it's been a good day, I'm finally all packed up and ready to go so I guess my next entry will be from London...hard to believe!!

Cheers!
- Holly

7 Days and counting!

Well I've hit the 7 day mark now! I honestly felt like it would never come and now it has and I'm pretty much prepared now I think. Just have to do all my packing on Sunday and then it's just a matter of getting through the last little bit of work and making it to the airport where my lovely travel companion will be meeting me, at a jade statue of some kind in the food court of the international flight area. Apparently this statue is famous and yet...I've never actually heard of it, I can't even remember the name of it!

In other news however I think I've got all my school stuff set up. It's a bit of a pain because my registration date is when I'm on holiday so my parents have to try and get me all signed up for everything so me and my dad spent about two hours working on my time table so that they would know what to sign me up for and when. So hopefully everything works out alright! We'll see what happens I suppose :)

Cheers!
- Holly

10 Day Countdown!

Well folks, it's only a short ten more days until my butt is on a plane and off to Europe! I can still hardly believe it! I'm really proud of myself though I have to say, I never thought that I'd be able to pull this off so quickly I mean, I decided to do this trip not all that long ago, right around Christmas I think and here I am, all booked and ready to go. Well...not REALLY ready but I'm working on it! I only have a few more small things to get for my suitcase, a bit of money to exchange for some pounds and euros and just make sure that I have absolutely everything I need. So I'm thinking that doing a practice pack is in order so that I can see how everything is going to fit plus I'm hoping that throughout my trip I can keep my suitcase under 44lbs because I can't take it on the coach otherwise which would be a problem obviously! But yea, I'll be Europe bound very soon and I absolutely can't wait!!

Cheers!
- Holly

Debt and Other Thoughts.

I have to admit, the idea of debt freaks me out! Haha, I'm so paranoid that I'll end up with some huge amount of debt after I get out of school and what not, so I tend to watch all those silly debt shows like Maxed Out and whatever the other one is.. I don't remember what it's called! I figure maybe if I watch them then I can try and keep myself prepared for the stage of my life when I'll be needing to avoid debt as best I can lol! I mean, I'm not awful with money but I'm not exactly good with it either! Maybe I'll get lucky and whoever I end up marrying will be good with money and make sure I'm kept in line!!

Apart from that I'm getting REALLY stoked for my trip and absolutely can't wait! Through the Contiki website I've managed to get in touch with a few of the other people on my trip which is kind of neat. I just picked up all my flight info an all my papers from Contiki and there was lots of really neat little things in there. Lots to look at for sure! I can't believe I finally get to go to Europe considering I've wanted to go since like the 8th grade! So yay!! But that's about all for now I suppose, I only have 9 more shifts of work left and I'm off! (16 more days!)

Cheers!
- Holly