Day 4-Florence, Italy

Although today we were heading to Florence we had one final morning stop…the Swiss Alps of course! We began our way to the top on a vertical railroad. We even had an extra traveler with us, a dog, who was brought along by some hikers. At the end of the line, gondola cable cars were waiting to take us the rest of the way up. At the top the views were amazing. There was a platform that hung out over the valley, so we checked out the mountains and it was the perfect place for group photo-op. After some more pictures and a little souvenir shopping we headed down the mountain to start our drive to Florence.

As we approached Florence in the afternoon Ryan gave us all maps of the city to show us where the highlights were, like the David and the Duomo. Florence is a tiny city with skinny streets so it’s not exactly made to have a Contiki coach driving through, so because of this we stay just outside the city limits. Contiki had dinner set up for us tonight so we headed straight to the hotel to get ready for a night out in a new city. Dinner was in a restaurant that reminded me of an underground wine cellar. As my first Italian meal of the trip the food was great, but it just kept coming and coming. There was salad, then trays of pasta, ravioli, and meats. To finish off dinner and get the night started Ryan and Andy got us Limoncello, a dessert shot which was really delicious.

Those of us, who wanted to stay out, went to a place called the Red Garter. There were other Contiki tours hanging out there too, so we got to mix it up with even more travelers. Tonight was a really chill night and a lot of fun, we had some drinks, danced, and there was even karaoke. The guy working karaoke was hogging the mic, but James and some of the girls were able to sneak in some Spice Girls, great throwback. A group of us then headed back to the hotel. **Travel Tip: arrange with your roommate who will have the key, if you don’t both have one, my roommate and I got confused and ended up not realizing who had the key; if possible leave the key at the front desk and whoever gets back first can pick it up.**

Tomorrow morning we have an included walking city tour with a professional guide. Ryan has been an amazing tour guide so far, but in Italy you have to be a professional guide in order to do tours. Time to get some sleep, tomorrow is going to be a day of exploring Florence!

Day 3-Lucerne, Swizterland

After another late start due to alarm clock issues, Christa and I made it to the coach just in time to head to Switzerland. Since it was our first real travel day on the coach Ryan went over some basics like rest stops, and crossing over borders, and then pretty much everyone took a nap. As we approached our first stop of the day we learned Ryan’s fun way to wake us up. How does blasting Budweiser’s Real Men of Genuis commercials sound? Haha, I guess its better than some alternatives.

As we crossed over the border Ryan took time to give us a little more info on our destination of Lucerne, Switzerland. Basically the Swiss are rich and paranoid. Everyone is issued a Swiss Army knife, tunnels are all curved to prevent bombs from traveling through them and airports are covered in grass for disguise. We got dropped off in town with some free time to explore or purchase some quality Swiss souvenirs like watches, Swiss Army knives, even cuckoo clocks and of course chocolate! **Travel Tip: Even though Switzerland isn’t part of the EU most places will accept Euros, and then you can even get change in Swiss Franks** I decided to get a Swiss Army knife because those can always be useful and engraving on them was free! **Travel Tip: Its good to keep souvenirs in your carry on in case your luggage gets lost, but if you get a Swiss Army knife make sure you put it in your checked baggage, you don’t want to have security issues at the airport!**

Desiree and I met up to do a little chocolate shopping and then took a wander through town down to the river. Entering this part of town was like a fairytale, it was so quaint and picturesque. This wooden bridge was beautiful, lined around the sides with overflowing with flowers, swans on the river below; it was like the front of a puzzle box. After crossing over the bridge we had views of the Swiss Alps and ran into some more of our Contiki travelers. Krystina was getting ready to jump in with the swans because there were steps leading right into the river. She settled for just getting her feet wet. Tonight was our cultural dinner; as we entered the restaurant we were greeted by staff in their traditional dress and live entertainment. Our meal was started with bread and cheese fondue, which is how Jen learned that Swiss cheese is from Switzerland. Haha what a clever name for it! During dinner the action got started on stage; it started off with the Alpine horn (think of the Ricola commercials) which is apparently harder than it looks according to Dan, Becky, and Kevin who gave it a try. Then it seemed like they went to a closet and just grabbed anything because they began playing the cow bells, broom, glass bottles, and even the saw. Kyle and John showed off for Contiki, by getting up for a yodeling competition and they were pretty good. However they did even better when it turned into a chugging contest, but who would have thought two college guys could be out done by a middle aged woman? Haha.

After the music came the dancing. First it was a traditional Swiss dance, which Erika and James perfected on stage. Then when they figured out a lot of people were Americans they did a conga line and the chicken dance. All our guys were quickly out done when a man of about 80 started rocking it with all our girls, especially Daniella.

After we wore out the old man, Ryan’s local friend took us to a really nice bar with a dance floor downstairs. He also gave us the inside scoop that buying a bottle of alcohol was cheaper then all buying separate drinks. So Dan, Jen, Erika, Desiree, and I split Citron Absolut for the night. Then everyone started heading downstairs, but someone learned the effects of mixing beer, wine, and liquor, so I headed back with some other to the hotel early for the night. After relaxing for a bit, my roommate Christa came back with some people and we all headed up to the roof for some views of Switzerland. I found out they headed to a beach club after the first bar, and there was real sand on the floor of this club. I’m definitely keeping that in mind for my next trip to Lucerne.

Overall I loved Switzerland; the people were friendly, and the sights gorgeous. Tonight’s dinner was amazing because I really got to know my new Contiki friends, from opening up and doing silly things like the chicken dance together. I’m excited to see the rest of Europe with them, so tomorrow its off to Florence, Italy!