As a continent, Europe never ceases to amaze. Regardless of
where I was or what I was doing I always managed to experience something new,
meet someone great or just generally enjoy myself, and the practical embodiment
of this concept was felt no more than the second half of the Contiki tour of
which I found myself a part. I pick up where I left off in my previous post
titled Contiki European Experience Part One (go figure), following a wonderful
time in Venice we headed for the Austrian Alps, Hopfgarten to be more specific,
where I was to have what I consider the greatest day of my life to date.
Picture this; waking up and following a spot of breakfast heading up the alps
on a mountain bike before venturing to a beautiful lake which featured crisp
waters as well as a submerged trampoline and inflatable iceberg, and then
hailing a cab back up into the alps to go paragliding with a view of the entirety
of Hopfgarten. As far as individual days go, it simply cannot be beaten, and I
am certain that as long as I live I will hark back to that day in Austria where
I did experienced things beyond my wildest dreams and enjoyed myself to a level
I was unaware possible.
That night we partied in true Contiki style, with a soiree
in the theme of tight, white and bright and true to form I donned my tightest
pair of jeans and danced the night away surrounded by members of my Contiki
family as well as some new faces. In the morning we headed off to Munich by way
of Dachau Concentration Camp, a different experience for myself having
previously only experienced holocaust related attractions in the company of
fellow Jews. However, it was rather the museum and presentation of the camp
itself which slightly upset me rather than the company. As I wandered the
museum’s 15 rooms I felt conflicted as the historian in me called for a more
detailed history which was better structured and less tedious whilst the Jew in
me called for a less matter of fact tone and more sympathetic narration towards
the victims of Nazi atrocities committed upon the ground on which I stood. I
just couldn’t win. I put it to the back of my mind, thankful that Contiki actually
cares enough to send its groups to such a historical site and encourages its
participants to feel the meaning and acknowledge the suffering related to one
of the worst episodes in human history.
Any who, Munich was all I expected it to be, a bike tour in
the rain showcased the cities monuments and perks before a visit to the
Hofbrauhaus, a traditional beer-hall, gave most what they came for, all the beer
they could drink served litre by litre ice cold. A fairly drunk bus ride home
made for a cool addition to the memory bank, before an early night was had by
most as we prepared for the longish ride to Switzerland’s Lauterbrunnen nestled
deep in the alps. We visited Luzern on the way through, and a Swiss army knife
and watch emporium therein which sported some rather nice albeit exorbitantly
expensive products. Eventually we arrived in the alps and were greeted with cottage-style
rooms which were uh, cosy, yes that will do. That night featured a swiss themed
party in which fun was had by all. In the morning much of the group headed up
Europe’s highest accessible peak without climbing, Jungfrau via steam railway.
Being somewhat short on funds in addition to my hangover I forgoed the honour
in lieu of what I soon found out was roughly a 7km round trip walk to the ‘nearby’
waterfall system. It was nice, but then again my splitting headache wasn’t.
Eventually I headed back to bed for four hours directly in the middle of the
day. I emerged a new man and a quiet day and night followed.
In the morning we departed for Germany’s St Goar with a
stopover in Heidelberg. St Goar is a city which houses literally one street of
stores, albeit two or three of those stores aren’t too bad! With a roughly halfprice
Birkenstock store the majority of the girls were satisfied and some of the boys…
but who am I to judge! The beer stein store was also rather entertaining aside
from its price tags. That night I wasn’t in the best mood as I battled an
illness which would stick with me for the rest of the tour. However, it was no
worse than the next morning’s departure as I felt as though someone was
literally holding a lighter to my forehead. I valiantly forged on and soon
enough we arrived in Amsterdam, the stoner’s city of dreams. Not being a smoker
I had no expectations of a city I figured would be much like the rest of Europe’s
major cities… boy was I wrong. The red light district proved that with
precisely one walk up the street as prostituted one and all emerged from their
small glass rooms to attempt to lure me and my friends into an hour of ‘fun’
which would no doubt shortly be followed by a long and embarrassing stint in
the doctor’s office. Regardless, if that didn’t disturb me enough we were soon
taken to a sex show, where the joyless faces of the show’s ‘performers’ had me
edging towards the exit with a grimace on my face. Nonetheless, Amsterdam was
interesting?
Our final night out in Amsterdam was spent bar hopping and
the like and it was an adequate ending and farewell to the 50 people who I had
grown unbelievably close to in the preceding 20 days. Contiki was an experience
which I would recommend to literally anyone. If you want to explore the world and
do it in a way that will make you loads of friends and new experiences then
Contiki is for you. Next stop London.
Thanks for reading,
Jake
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