Amsterdam bike tour

The big finale of our tour came in the evening, when we visited a floating Chinese restuarant and then took off on a canal cruise in a glass-topped boat. I know we then went on to a club but as the wine on the boat was free and unlimited, everything is rather hazy from this point on...judging by my photographs we ended up at McDonalds in the early hours. Just classy.

River cruise, final night

The creation of clogs

It can only be Amsterdam!

In the evening, we experienced another Topdeck 'tradition' and one of the things that defines Amsterdam: a sex show. It had more of a comedy feel to it for the tourists, and some of the guys were pretty pleased to be called up as volunteers...
We spent the night at a bar known for its **completely legal in Amsterdam** special cookies.

written by  lucy3119 on August 21, 2008 from Amsterdam, Netherlands
from the travel blog: Eurotrip 2008
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Imposing Nazi architecture

In the afternoon some of us forked out on a bus tour of the city, stopping off at the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag and the Holocaust memorial.

Berlin bus tour

Holocaust memorial

Holocaust memorial

In a spending mood, some of us ate at a great steakhouse in the evening.

written by  lucy3119 on August 20, 2008 from Berlin, Germany
from the travel blog: Eurotrip 2008
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The Princes mural

Our first stop in Berlin was, predictably, the Berlin wall and Checkpoint Charlie. They were two of the sights on our driving tour that passed the early evening.

Berlin wall

Checkpoint

St Vitus'

St Vitus'

Gothic Tyn Cathedral

Astronomical clock

Some of us took a chance on the Torture Museum in the afternoon, which was just delightful....!

In the evening we took part in the Topdeck 'tradition' of drinking as much watery Czech beer as possible at Beer Factory: there's a screen on the wall that keeps track of how many pints have been drunk by each table....thereby making alcoholism into a competetive sport! Incidentally, our group beat the Topdeck record, although some members were probably regretting their contribution by the end of the night...and the three Brits left on the tour (Sarah, Hannah and I) apparently started to feel a little bit outnumbered at this point and decided to proudly assert our nationality with the help of the marker pen used to keep the drinks tally.

Outnumbered

Charles Bridge

We spent our free day wandering the beautiful old streets and grounds of the castle, glimpsing the red roofs of Prague and seeing an ironmonger at work. We watched the changing of the guards as they marched right past us.

From the castle

Walls of Mauthausen

Inside Mauthausen

R.I.P

Steps at Mauthausen

In the evening there was a definite change of mood (and weather: it started raining torrentially) as we arrived in Munich and headed straight for sausages, pretzels and beer at the famous Hofbrauhaus beer hall.

Obligatory beer shot

Obligatory pretzel shot

written by  lucy3119 on August 16, 2008 from Munich, Germany
from the travel blog: Eurotrip 2008
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Schonbrunn Palace

Streets of Vienna

Tiled roof

The Schnapps Museum gave us an insight into the history of Vienna's famous beverage, and the different types available...we even got a free tasting session thrown in. While a couple of the guys headed straight for the absinthe, the rest of us were drawn to the 'gold' schnapps...it's made with actual gold dust, which has some great health benefits (apparently, though the thought of actually drinking gold was enough for me!)

Gold dust schnapps

Schnapps man

In the evening some of us decided to embrace Austrian culture by indulging in...shnitzel and strudel. Naturally.

written by  lucy3119 on August 15, 2008 from Vienna, Austria
from the travel blog: Eurotrip 2008
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The group

We had a day's drive to get to Vienna, so when we finally arrived Prater amusement park was just what we needed: famous for it's very old and slightly rickety ferris wheel, it has everything you could want in an amusement park, and looks great all lit up at night. The group finished the night by commandeering the dodgems for a few rounds of bumper car carnage.

Inside the ferris wheel

Prater amusement park

Vienna's oldest ferris wheel

written by  lucy3119 on August 14, 2008 from Vienna, Austria
from the travel blog: Eurotrip 2008
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St Mark's square

Gondola ride

We took the obligatory ride on a Gondola which was a good decision as it allowed us to see Venice from a different POV...from the water. And that's the best way to see Venice, in my opinion.

Winding waterways

Venice balcony

Standard

A group of us took a vaporetto along the grand canal, the plan being to make our way back to our campsite...after quite a few minutes, however, we managed to figure out that we were actually heading the wrong way up the canal. We weren't sure whether our tickets would allow us to switch to the right boat, so after a lot of confusion we finally made it back to base, and spent the evening unwinding and bonding in the pool and over a great meal provided by the campsite.

Venice