Tour day 20 - back to the UK

Bags 7.45, brekkie 8, we left @ 8.30.

It was completely foggy for hours, but we stopped @ Maccas for brunch @ 10am, crossed the Belgian border, crossed the French border (then the fog lifted) and we got to Calais about 1pm-ish. Shell had given us a summary of the trip, which was good.

The ferry ride was OK. I wrote a note to Shell and Reubs and tipped them £100, coz I think they deserve it. Reubs's speech was so funny, coz he said he hated asking for tips, coz he'd much rather talk about nudity ha ha.

At Dover, we had to go through immigration, and Jacob and I sailed through the EU line, and got through before Reubs was there to pick us up. I got his CDs to look at here. BJ did the awards ceremony, and Sue's quotes got read out by Conrad and Paul (Conrad makes me laugh so much!).

Reuben's CDs are AWESOME - not only does he have James Bond themes, he's got Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Lenny, Mozart, Metallica, Beatles, smooth jazz + other good stuff. It's just so eclectic like me, and stuff that I like too. I told him he's got the best collection I've ever seen.

We got near London, and Shell said how much she loved our group - GET THIS - she was actually going to give up tour managing coz the last bunch were really horrible, but we've restored her faith - YAY! She said we were great. Reubs also told us how nice it was to have us along, coz we looked after Shell like he asked us to on the first day.

We pulled up @ the Royal National and got bags etc. - Conrad left. I dumped my stuff in my room and stayed with Matt and Alicia until they left @ 6. Stayed in the bar for a while, but got sick of waiting for dinner, so went off with Rolee, Shanna, Jacob, Melissa, Linda and Russell to another pub - had cannelloni - it was great.

Came back to the London pub, but Reubs wasn't back. Went with Sue to ring up. When I came back, he was there, so gotta pic of him and Shell. YAY. Went to bed 12am.

Tour day 19 - Amsterdam (full moon)

Woke 8-ish? Anyway, breakfast was @ 8.30 and we left @ 9. 

We all went to a diamond factory/exhibition - didn't learn that much - saw some fucking awesome pieces of rock, and felt very poor when the prices of the rocks I liked were announced in 5 figures.

After the diamonds we went down to the canal and hopped on paddle boats and tried to navigate our way around. We ended up lost and not knowing who to follow, as we had blindly tagged along in the first place and not taken any notice of what we were doing. I steered - they're cool little beasties - I want one for the lake.

Anyway, we found the farmer boys, who actually knew were they were going, and followed them back to the start. They were fun (the boats, that is).

Sue and I went back to the hotel and got organised before making an onslaught on the town. We got a tram from Baerlestraat up to Dam and walked to Anne Frank's house, getting lunch from a stand on the way (and seeing manky pigeons). The house was so amazing, and the story so stirring that I bought the book to read. I'm very glad I went.

After that, we headed to Kalverstaad and did the shops - MAN there are some funky clothes in Amsterdam - it was cool. I bought some bracelets.

After shopping, we got a tram back to Baerlestraat and went back to the hotel to find out about the tattooing that had happened. We got ready, and met for drinks in the bar @ 6.30. At 7.10 we left for the Tai-Hu Indonesian restaurant. Food was great. I was very responsible and didn't stuff myself - mind you, I had a vodka and orange and a carafe of wine to myself.

Reubs was doing the rounds of the tables, and although he sat directly behind me and knocked my coat off my seat, he didn't sit with us. :-( I was at a table with Edwina, Bec, Sarah, Nicole, Lisa, Natalie, Shanna, Rolee and Graham. We had heaps of laughs, and Graham and I had a wine drinking contest - I won.

We got back to the hotel and all went to the bar (Shell had to put her trackies on coz of the bloat). I took some photos and had a dance. Had 3 bourbon and cokes with Sarah.

I finally tied down Reubs to ask him bout minidisc players - the short answer? He doesn't have one, and doesn't know that much about them. He suggested looking on P&O Stena, and if I do buy one in HK, to check if all's there. But anyway, he sat next to me on a big soft lounge, and I asked him about his CD collection - he put it together in about 15 mins in a Russian shop - 117 of the bastards!!! I asked him bout the Beatles one and he said I could have a look @ them the next day. I think he might have talked about something else too, but I can't remember...

Anyway, a rep sat down with him and they started talking, but then he turned to me after 5 mins to ask what time we were leaving the next morning and we talked about packing the coach. Then he went to bed.

I went back in and soon began to feel bad - my pulse was racing, my face was bright red, and there were big blotchy red marks on my shoulders, chest and back. Sarah told me to go to bed, so I did, but it was scary when I actually saw it.

Anyway, I later realised it was prob all the caffeine I'd had + tiredness + being sick. I didn't sleep well - Sandra and Matt woke me up.

Tour day 18 - Netherlands: Edam and Amsterdam

Breakfast 7.30, we left at 8am. I bagsed the front seat the night b4 (with Reubs having no objection) so I made sure I was early to secure it with Sue.

It was a great driving day - sunny and happy. It was also very cool to be up the front and to hear Reubs carry on @ the traffic and tell jokes, i.e.  What's green and looks like a bucket? A green bucket. Why did the truck crash? Coz the driver was a tomato.

We had a services stop at the German/Netherlands border and changed money, then had a proper stop a bit further up the road at Shell's 'sexy' buffet. I didn't think it was that great. . .

Shell's Plucka duck had gone missing earlier this day, and she had immediately suspected Stix (correctly) and so she was constantly asking him where he was - he just kept saying that Plucka was in safe hands.

We kept driving - just before Edam, Reubs put the Beatles on, which was SO GODDAMN COOL! I miss them so much - there was Revolver and a bit of an early one. I told him it was a good choice. Also, when a new duvet/doona fight broke out, I said it was a QUILT and Reuben looked up and smiled. YAY.

We got to Edam and all got bikes. Stix had his backpack set up so that Plucka's head was poking out of the top. She saw it and said 'you bastard!'. She then chased him for 30 seconds, but gave up and threw a stick at him. We had a half hr ride, which was very cool - taking in a windmill and a dyke. Shell got Plucka back.

We pushed on again, going to see cheese and clogs. We got a very speedy explanation on how cheese is made, before being able to taste some. It was yummy - I got a piece of Gouda to take home - Shell said I could take it through customs. We then had another speedy clog-making demonstration where a guy hacked a clog out of a very green piece of wood in about 2 minutes. I wanted to buy some cow clogs, but they weren't really practical, and wouldn't have packed real well. Instead, I got some cool black fashionable clogs to wear out - 50 guilders.

We got back to the coach - Reubs was getting a bit edgy and jumping up and down up the front. Someone had taken Plucka again, and Brett wrote a ransom note saying that if Shell wanted him back, she had to buy a round for all of us, and excuse Stix from the public humiliation she'd set up for him at the sex show that night. Needless to say, she didn't buy it.

We left there at 5pm and pushed on for Amsterdam, arriving at the hostel @ 6.15ish. We had a cool dinner of chicken, ribs, chips and salad, with yummy custard stuff for dessert. We got ready then, and headed off for the sex show @ 7.40. Reubs dropped us off and we wandered in.

The show was pretty tacky, but it was worth it to actually see that full-on sex happens on stage like that. It was also worth seeing Stick get his comeuppance. A dominatrix came out and asked for him by name, then put a dog collar and a blindfold on him, and led him around the stage. It got worse, though, when she got her gear off, and shoved her arse in his face, and then strapped a dildo on his head and had him use it on her. When he came off stage, quite well humiliated, Shell stood up in the balcony and laughed and clapped. It was so funny. She was completely merciless about it too - later on the coach, she said 'Don't fuck with Plucka.'

After the show, we were let loose in the red light district, and I followed Sarah and some other girls into a shop - the videos there were VERY SCARY. We then went to the Grasshopper (yuck) and ended up @Teasers - where Shell was. I met up with Matt and Alicia, and we went (as a threesome, hehe) in search of Maccas, but came back arm in arm to the pizza place. It was pretty much time to go after that, so when we got back on the coach, it was clear that some harmful drugs had been smoked.

We got back in time to see the musos leaving after a show at the Concertgebouw, and I lasted about 10 minutes in the bar (after hearing Prisoner of Society - cool) before I went up, showered, wrote and crashed.

Tour day 17 - Heidelberg and St Goar

Woke 6.40. Bags 7am, brekkie 7.15. We left at 8 - I felt like absolute SHIT. Reuben came and took my bag from me - dunno if I was coz he felt sorry for me, or if he was sick of waiting for me.

Had a cuppa tea for brekkie - did a bitta dishies, but dashed after that. Sat up the back (again) of the coach, and slept a fair bit. Stopped at the German border for services, then at Heidelberg for lunch - we had Chinese, which was pretty good.

After seeing a bit of the city, we headed off again to St Goar - I slept more. I'd said to Reubs the night before that he should play the r'n'r CDs on the coach through the day, and today he had two of them on. COOL STUFF. It was groovy.

We arrived @ St Goar @ 4ish, looked at stein, teddy bear and cuckoo clock shops. We had dinner @ a hotel, had a wine tasting of riesling - very sweet - too sweet for me. We then went to the hotel we're staying at. I had a shower, did the diary, got warm and I'm just about to go to bed, after taking a KO cold and flu tablet. Mmmm - bed. Night.

Tour day 16 - sick in Lauterbrunnen

Breakfast was supposed to be @ 7.30 and we were supposed to be meeting @ 8am for info on the Jungfrau trip, only I woke @ 8 and couldn't lift my head off the pillow - headache, sore throat, body aches - CRAP! - Contiki cold.

I went back to sleep and got up at about 10. A shower made me feel a bit better, and then Sarah and I walked into Lauterbrunnen town and had lunch (cheese on toast with ham and egg - mmm) and would have shopped only there was nothing open. I bought postcards and stamps and headed back to get my glasses.

We walked to the Trummelbach Falls - long walk in the rain [AGAIN] - and then a lift inside the mountain up to where we could walk and follow the water as it made its way down. It was very loud in places, and quite wet - my camera ended up quite moist. I took a couple of shots I think.

We bought a Europe map and had a hot chocolate at the bottom before walking back. As soon as we got there, we both crashed in bed for a couple of hours - I certainly needed them. The expedition from the mountain came back, and although they saw shitloads of snow, the visibility was bad, and you couldn't ski anyway, so I felt a bit better about not being able to go - I think the cold would have killed me too.

Sarah and I went to get our engraved knives and pick up some stuff from the supermarket. When we got back to the chalet, Reuben was cleaning the coach (with some help from Farmer Bob) with the coolest rock'n'roll CD on. He had a beer and was fairly happy from the sounds of it. Everyone was joining in and dancing and getting Reubs to pose for pictures.

Then came dinner - we had wedges for entree (not very nice) and then beef stroganoff for mains, and wildberry ice cream for dessert. I did the dishie thing again, and got a strawberry chupa-chup AND a Ferrero Rocher chocky - YUM.

I went upstairs and did a bit of work on the diary, before Sue came in and (quite drunk, but sincere) did the I'm So Glad I Met You speech. She's such a lovely girl, I'm really glad I met her too. We checked out the party in Conrad and Matt's room, met up with Matteo and went downstairs to the bar. This night was a lot quieter than the one before - Reubs was there, but obviously not drinking - being chased around the room by Nicki as usual.

I had a vodka red bull (not the shooter variety) and got caught twice by the barman drinking it in the wrong hand [contrary to the buffalo game]. Therefore I had to consume rapidly [not scull] the remainder of the drink - it wasn't much. Conrad took a pic of us under the UV light. I started to fade fast and so went to bed @ 10ish. Shower felt good - I slept really badly - got up about five times.

Tour day 15 - The day of four countries (Germany, Austria, Leichtenstein, Switzerland)

Got a wake up call from the hotel at just before 6.45am. Breakfast 7.15 - we left at 8.

We drove straight (through Austria) to Liechtenstein and stopped @ Vaduz (the capital) for lunch. We got our passports stamped and got these really interesting, but very nice kebabs (kebaps) in a roll. Yum.

We headed off again, and driving through Zurich, arrived in Lucerne at about 3.15. It's a beautiful city - I took a lot of pics. We walked across a cool bridge, saw where Arnold Schwarzenegger lives (NOT!), and then Sue, Sarah and I went shopping. I bought two belts to go with my new jeans and saw some great instruments in a shop window - picc trumpet - cool.

We headed off @ 5.15 and went straight to the campsite @ Lauterbrunnen. The scenery on the way was just breathtaking. Again I took lots of photos.

As a 'dishie' I had to meet @ 7.45 for duties, but I ordered a Swiss army knife first. Dinner was a cheese fondue, then hamburgers and chips. Me and Matteo cleared the decks and wiped up. By 9pm we were finished, and got chupa-chups for our troubles.

We headed to the bar pretty much straight away, and everyone partook of the Red Bull shots: putting the lid on nose or forehead, bashing bottle on table, sculling with no hands, and then spitting the lid at the box. As I had less than five francs, I just had a beer, and danced. It was pretty good - it was a 'Reuben coach-free day' so he got fairly smashed. I headed to bed at about 11.30 I think.

Tour day 14 - Hopfgarten to Munich via Dachau

Woke 6.30. Bags were 7.15 and we left @ 8am.

We drove off in more miserable conditions with the windows all fogged up - I took a tablet just in case I got sick.

After 45 mins of seeing lots of low cloud, we came to the Swarovski crystal factory and museum. The museum itself was a bit tacky - weird music and aromatherapy. Some rooms were cool though - one room was just a huge faceted crystal with the coolest acoustics. Also, we walked on some screen projections, and on a revolving tray of crystals that made you a bit sick. The shop was the best though. I bought a crystal flute, earrings, necklace, and a funky pencil. I put it on visa, and it was only 720 schillings ($75).

We moved on and crossed the German border, arriving in Munich at about 12.45. Saw the Andersen Consulting building. We had some things pointed out to us on a drive-by, but then we were dropped in Marienplatz for lunch. Being Sunday, nothing was open at all, but Sarah and I got a white sausage, potatoes and mushrooms at a food hall. It was nice, even if the guy serving me was rude because I couldn't understand what he was saying for a time. We saw buskers (crystal glass man) and I got a beesting from a bakery.

We met back on the bus, and drove out to Dachau to the concentration camp. We did the tour of the museum, looking at pictures and reading. We then watched a video, and walked around the site. It was very disturbing, knowing that so many people died on the ground we were walking. The crematorium was horrible.

A subdued group got back on the bus and we drove back into Munich to the fairly flash looking Park Hotel. Where I discovered that I didn't have the keys to open my bag. Rachel said that Reubs had broken into her bag already, and so on our way out (after a large glass of Sarah's beaujolais), and after we stopped to exchange money, I asked him to help me and he said yes.

We got to a beer hall (an albeit touristy one) and we all started on beers - I was drinking half litres. I had chicken cordon bleu and chips and salad for dinner (which was great) and I made my way quite happily through three half litres. It was a great night - there was dancing and singing and a huge dance party on the coach on the way home.

I nabbed Reubs to help me break into my bag. He started off by trying to bash the padlock and get it to let go - doing that with the room key tag didn't work, so he went to the coach and got his hammer and cutters. The hammer didn't work either (though it managed to leave a big gouge in the table), so he was reduced (with my permission) to mashing the crap out of it with the cutters. He finally got through it, and I thanked him.

I went down to the bar for half an hour, but it was boring, so I went and rang Pauline for her birthday, and then got to bed at about 12am.

Tour day 13 - Chilling in Hopfgarten

Stirred about 9.15, feeling fairly bad. Had bacon and eggs for breakfast and two cups of coffee.

We asked Reuben about the train to Innsbruck (yes, he made it to breakfast). It would have taken too long what with the shops closing at midday, and so as the optional bike ride was cancelled, we walked into the town of Hopfgarten instead.

Once again, it was raining, and a thermometer told us it was 5 1/2 degrees. Needless to say, I wished I'd put on the big coat.

I bought a pair of jeans in the trendy shop there - 998 schillings. I was going to put it on the credit card, but it wouldn't work, so I braved an ATM and got out an extra 500 schillings. Mmm, nice jeans. I bought postcards and a shot glass, and had a look at the local church - wow - and then we went to a pub (me, Sarah and Bec) and I had Weiner schnitzel and chips and salad with (orange) lemonade. Awesome lunch - 90 schillings. Bought stuff at the supermarket.

We walked back up and found a video happening in the bar, so I've sojourned to my room to regroup and write this - I'll read now.

Went to the bar just before dinner, and we all filed in. Dinner was vege soup, pork chop and potatoes. Afterwards, we retired back to the bar and started drinking. The movie (a Jackie Chan one) started @ 8.30. It was OK.

I had two shots of schnapps and then went upstairs to share my Mozart chocolate liqueur with Sarah. Got to bed early - 11pm.

Tour day 12 - Austria and rafting

7am bags and breakfast, we were on the road by 7.45 for Austria.

We had a services stop @ about 12, crossed the border, and we got to the rafting place @ about 2. Everyone except about 12 ppl all got changed into their wetsuit, spray jacket, life vest, booties and helmet, and congregated at the river Inn. We got into groups, and got taught the basics, had a pic taken and got on the river.

Our guide Simon had us jumping in the water (SO COLD!!) for practice in being pulled in, and playing scary balance games involving leaning on your paddle and standing up on the outside edge of the raft. Going through the rapids was really cool, and splashing ppl in the other rafts was also cool.

In fact, we were going along great until Simon decided to send us down the LH side of the river to avoid paddling. The raft got stuck on a rock, and we couldn't budge it. So he had us all leaning to the left of the raft (the far side of the rock) and so the raft just toppled over and we landed in the river and the raft landed on us.

I waited for the raft to pass over my head and grabbed the line around the raft. I remembered to face downstream with my feet in front of me, which is good, coz I had to kick off from a huge rock @ one stage. Simon pulled us back in, and minus a few paddles, we limped back to shore.

We were so cold, so we raced for the showers and a hot chocolate. Before long, I was feeling human again. I'd asked Reuben why he wasn't guiding us down the river, and he said it was because too many ppl were doing it. He said we wouldn't want him to guide us anyway - I beg to differ!!!

We kept on, and arrived at Hopfgarten @ 6.15. We settled in, and had a really awesome roast lamb dinner and some apple schnapps - yum. Afterwards, there was a X-dressing theme party, so all the guys made a dash for dresses, make-up and shoes, and the girls made a dash for guys clothes, hats and drawn-on beards. I borrowed Conrad's hat.

We went back downstairs and the disco started. I had a great dance - had four more shots of schnapps - 2 vanilla and 2 chocolate. Mmmm - yum. Reuben made his grand entrance in a skimpy checked number - looking gorgeous as usual. He was very drunk, and was sticking out his tongue ring @ every opportunity. He came back later dressed normally and I asked him where the dress was. He shook his head or something, and I complained, saying he'd looked gorgeous. He poked out his tongue and made a camp gesture and laughed. He did the rounds fairly well - what a slut!! He was being chased pretty hard too.

I just had a great night observing all the group dynamics - i.e. Reub's rounds, BJ and Paul, Emma and Matt etc. etc. I had 2 'lemon hooch's and danced some more, but left @ 2.15am. I slept well. . .

Tour day 11 - Venice

Woke 6.45 for breakfast @ 7.30. We met at the bar at 8am to get the boat for Venice. Once there, we saw an awesome glass making demo - both blowing and sculpting, and then a lace presentation. After that, we split up, and I went with the pigeons (Matteo, Alicia, and Sarah) to do the shop thing.

I took a helluva lot of photos - Venice is a truly beautiful city. It's unlike anything we've seen yet - a lot of eastern influences in the architecture, and so refreshing to have no car traffic. Beautiful, sunny day.

I bought some bracelets from market stalls beside the grand canal, we had pasta for lunch - Matteo and Alicia decided to get married (wow) - I saw some musos, walked in the sun, had a great time.

We all met @ 3.40 for a gondola ride, which was very nice - got a nice pic of Reuben - drank wine, took photos, aahhh.

We took a motorboat back to the campsite, and the wine + the sun made me crash when I got back. We had a very nice BBQ for dinner, went online, and everyone basically crashed.

I've got about 200,000 lira to change tomorrow. Damn. G'night.

Tour day 10 - HUMP DAY: Rome to Venice, via Orvieto

Woke 7am. Bags had to be done by 7.30 and we left at 8am?

Set off for Venice. We stopped at Orvieto and caught a cog railway up the huge hill. The town is amazing - it has a huge, beautiful cathedral, and great shops, and great pizza and coffee. Sarah and I went exploring there. I wanted to buy some marcasite jewellery, but I couldn't find anything that was right.

We headed on, stopping for more services, just as the terrain got windy and mountainous. After we got back on here, I spent an hour up the front with Shell and Reuben so I wouldn't feel sick. It was good to talk to Shell. I asked her about stuff on the tour and about working for Contiki. She and Reubs had a constant slanging match going - it was cool.

Shell asked Reubs which crops they grew in the area, and he said they were good at growing motorways. He also pointed out a clocktower that looked well fertilised.

We got to Venice @ about 6.15 and had welcome drinks and corn chips. The mozzies were feral. For dinner we had spag bol (yum) and gelato.

As there was no driving the next day, it was destined to be a big night, and there was drinking, dancing, and nudity. We started on scotch and coke and then Matt and I cleaned up my rose. We managed to get posted on the Fusina Bar website. Reuben reportedly did a nudey run and has a '100% Kiwi' tattoo on his arse, but this story remains unsubstantiated. Bed @ about midnight.

Tour day 9 - Rome

Woke up 6.30am.

Rang Mum. Ran into the breakfast room and grabbed a roll, brushed my teeth, and jumped on the bus to leave @ 7am.

We got dropped @ La Giustiniana station again and went into the Vatican. We lined up for 2 kms, but got in fairly quickly by 9am. We walked through the museum rooms and finally saw the Sistine Chapel. It wasn't as big or impressive as I expected, but the work was intricate and excellent. I took photos (um-ah I wasn't sposed to - at least I didn't use a flash like some morons). I sent a postcard to Caroline and we left the Vatican. We headed for the Basilica San Pietre and saw the incredibly impressive facade.

We headed for phones - Sarah rang Visa to try to recover her card, and I rang Dad (I was with Matt, Alicia, and Sarah). It was really funny, coz Dad told me about sailing into Venice and having pigeon to eat. The four of us are now the pigeon flock. Matt watched me for gypsies while I was on the phone. After that, we went to Amex and Sarah organised a new card, I cashed cheques. We looked around the shops - Alicia bought shoes and a skirt.

We had really awesome funghi pizza for lunch. Saw more shops and more sights. I would have liked to have tried on stuff, but it was a tad expensive, a lot to carry home, also a pain to take off belts etc. in change rooms. I'll go shopping when I get home.

We got to the station and got a train straight away. At Prima Porta we met up with another Contiki driver and got a lift back to near the campsite. We did the internet thing and had a couple of drinks and Pringles.

Dinner was roast chicken and there were a few maggotted ppl that we ignored and escaped from with scotch and coke. Me, Matt, Alicia, and Sarah sat again and chatted. They are such a good bunch of ppl - we're going to keep in touch. I can email them @ work and we're planning to visit each other. That's so cool.

Tour day 8 - Firenze to Roma

Woke 7am - bags and breakfast 7.30. We left at 8am.

Heading for Rome, we stopped for services at 10.30, and got to Rome through the rain and the traffic at about 2 (campsite).

Everyone made a mad dash for the laundry service, and we jumped back on the coach and headed into Rome city. Reuben dropped us off at the train station and we got a train to the Colloseum. We had an Italian guide show us through, and it was amazing. The scale of it and the history is great - it was started in the first century - and seeing how it used to be in model form. I now have to see the 'Gladiator' movie to see it in action.

We walked on in the rain to the Forum and all the excavation site - that was fairly miserable, but it's good to have seen it. After that tour, we met up with Shell and she took us to Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and the Spanish Steps.

We split up and had dinner. I went with Sue, Matt, Rachel, and Conrad. We had pasta and red wine - it was great. We met up with everyone again and walked back to the train - got home at 8pm-ish. I had a shower and wrote in this book, but it got too much - I had to sleep at 11.30pm.

Tour day 7 - Firenze

Woke at 6.40. Breakfast was at 7.30 with the bus leaving at 8am (?).

We drove into Florence and Reuben dropped us near the river. We went to Leonardo's leather shop to see a demonstration of how leather things are made and stamped, and also learnt how to tell if a leather product is genuine:

• check inside seams for suede
• expect uneven skin pigments etc.
• don't take any notice if they wave a lighter against it - they need to hold it still to prove anything.

I really wanted to buy a handbag, but the Leonardo's ones were too expensive and the proper shops weren't open.

After this, we had spare time, and so Sue, I, Matt, Conrad, Rachel, and Sean set off walking. I'd got by with the rain until now, but I had to put the cape on here, coz it was getting very heavy. It proved to be a major pain to get on and off, and so I was desperate to find a brolly hawker to buy one (although I wanted to find a decent one in a proper shop - no chance). We found a cafe [after discovering that the Fine Arts Academy which holds the original work of Michelangelo's David had a queue a mile and a half long], and sat down to relax. I had a pizza and a latte which were both divine. The rain cleared and spirits rose. We went for a wander through markets before making our way back to our meeting place for 2pm.

Shell organised a guided tour around the old buildings which would have been good except for the rain. I ditched the cape and got really desperate to find a brolly hawker. The rain started in earnest here, and I was getting drenched from the knees down. At the last minute a kind-looking lady waved brollies in my face and asked for 10,000 lira. I offered her 5 and she gave in straight away. I chose it, and she even put it up for me. The tour moved on and we lost half of the ppl. Sue and I bunked out and decided to adjourn to the internet cafe. I got us there by the map, but the long way, so when we got there, everyone was already there. It was so nice to sit down, dry out, and relax. Best thing is, it was only 8,000 L for two hours. I got completely up to date and then we met up again at the leather shop.

We went back to the bus and drove to a plaza on a hill to have our photo taken with the city in the background. It should turn out nicely. We drove back into town for dinner at a restaurant. We had antipasto, pasta, and chicken in tomatoey sauce and veges, with ice cream cake for dessert. Washed down with a 1.5l of really nice wine - it was very nice.

We moved on to the Red Garter pub and I had a Brown Cow and a bit of a dance to the Aussie guy singing and playing guitar with a midi player. That was fairly dodgy, esp since he had the wrong chords for Mambo no 5. The bus ride home was horrible, coz a lot of ppl were very drunk and very noisy. Got home at midnight.