Eurotrip Day 15: Sleeping inside a mirror ball

Getting up just gets harder and harder. It doesn't even seem to matter how many hours of sleep we get. I'm always tired when I get up. Nicole thinks it's because it is so dark here. At 8am, it looks like 4am, making it hard to get yourself out of bed each morning.

It doesn't help that the beds really were as comfortable as they promised to be, either. Nicole nearly wanted to skip breakfast and just keep enjoying the bed until it was time to leave! She eventually did head down for breakfast, though, saying that it doesn't often happen on this tour that we get good food for free, so we needed to take advantage of the good breakfasts when we can.

On the way to the breakfast room, we stopped to check out the sauna and heated indoor pool where two of the Aussies were busy swimming. The South African couples had also been swimming the night before. Somehow, Nicole and I had missed the memo that we needed to bring our bikinis along for a European winter tour!

Breakfast was amazing, especially compared to our hotel in Venice. Sadly, we had left the world of great coffee behind us, but we did enjoy the bacon and egg croissants that I've started making whenever all the ingredients are available. I also had a lot of orange juice, since I'm still not well yet, and took some oranges from the buffet to snack on during our morning bus ride to Vienna.

Nicole and I were the first two people on the bus that morning to ensure that we got seats together, at the very least. The seats right in the front are our favourites because they have the best views out the front of the bus' enormous windscreen, so we always snag those seats when we can.

I didn't get much time to blog before Jen started giving us the best overview and history of World War II and Hitler's reign that I've ever heard on our way to the Dachau concentration camp. I actually suggested to her that she should teach history at school because she did a much better job than any of my teachers ever did with her conversational tone.

I won't say too much about the camp itself. It was very a cold, rainy, and miserable day. I seriously can't imagine what it must've been like to stand in the courtyard in that kind of weather in such thin clothing for an hour during role call every day. I mean, I was quite warmly dressed, well-fed, and full of vitamin C, but I was worrying about my little cough. It's remarkable that any of them survived a single winter at all.

Many prisoners helped each other at the risk of their own lives, creating a strong contrast in the camp's history of both the greatest solidarity (between prisoners) and the worst cruelty that humanity is capable of. It was a great feeling to be able to willingly leave the camp afterwards and not need to wait for the Allies to come to our rescue. We had a nice, warm bus waiting to whisk use away, and I was very grateful for that!

As we were driving, it began to snow, which was the coolest thing ever! It's funny to note that while the flakes are gently falling to the ground along the road, the ones that hit the bus' windscreen tend to splat like little icy insects. Soon, the whole top of the windscreen had iced up, and that view we enjoyed before was heavily obstructed. Snow eventually gave way to rain, and we got some amazing views of the snow Austrian Alps in the distance. Bus days may be long, but we certainly get to take in a lot of gorgeous scenery (when not sleeping or blogging :P)

We stopped at a service station that, unfortunately, only had a restaurant. We were forced to sit down if we wanted to eat, and the food was not cheap! I had two bacon wrapped sausages with chips for R200! And the gluhwein we ordered was just a mug of hot wine with a seasoned teabag that we had to stew ourselves! I was not particularly impressed. There was another amazing view, though, so again we imagined that it was what we were paying for. We should've hit the salad bar, like some other savvier members of our tour did, since that was cheaper. Still, they paid R100 for a side plate of salad. Food isn't cheap in Austria!

About two hours from the hotel, I found myself up to date with my blog-writing and suddenly had nothing to do on the bus. I asked Nicole what she does to pass time and her suggestions were to look at the scenery or take a nap. Sleeping on the bus is not comfy, I discovered. Then again, neither are our hotel beds half the time. It also didn't really seem to pass much time. That might be, though, because it started getting really dark quite early. It wasn't even 5pm yet and the full moon was already out pretending to be midnight.

Half an hour later, we were in the lobby of the hotel and I was furiously trying to connect to the wifi before all the Aussies got on and made it impossible for my iPad to find the signal. Before I even knew what our room number was, I'd connected both my iPad and my phone to the free wifi. Instead of uploading photos, though, I chose to make a Skype call back home to remind myself that I'm not missing much, despite the homesickness I'd experienced before. No one seems to be doing anything cool in South Africa without me.

Nicole, meanwhile was trying to decide what to do for New Years Eve. Our options include either paying R1200 each to go on a pub crawl, which is super expensive. The other option is to do our own thing and risk a disappointing New Years. Our group seems to be divided between the two options, so we really need to choose an option for ourselves. I've left the decision up to Nicole, partly because I don't really mind what we do as long as we're together, and partly in case we are disappointed or ripped off and the blame can't be pinned on me. So far, she's told both groups that we'll be joining them, so it's gonna be a surprise for me, apparently.

We hit the streets of Vienna for a walking tour headed by Jen. She showed us the Hapsburg Palace Complex and told us about one of the Empresses Sisi, who was much loved but extraordinarily vain with her migrane-inducing floor-length hair and exercise obsession, and another, Maria Theresien, who had 16 children while progressively reforming the country by establishing a stock exchange and whatnot. Not too bad for her day. She also showed us where Hotel Sacher is, the home of the famous Sacher Torte.

For dinner, Nicole and I headed off with Kaylee and Maria to a local pub where we sampled some seasonal local fare. For Nicole and I, that included game-based ravioli and gnocchi (since apparently we can't have enough of pasta. Maria, who is Serbian (and Australian), enjoyed some traditional lentil goulash, "like mom used to make." Kaylee wasn't feeling well, so she didn't eat anything at all, opting instead just to have some tea that was presented in a very cool looking glass mug. Our food was outstanding, but service was so slow that we eventually needed to get up and walk to the card machine to pay. It wasn't cheap, either, setting us back about another R200 each again.

Afterwards, we headed back down the icy streets of Vienna to where the bus was picking us up. Vienna was the coldest place we have been to so far. Nicole commented that it was warmer than she'd expected, but she forgot to factor in that we were wearing leggings under our pants, so we were dressed warmer than normal. There were puddles on the pavement that had frozen over, making for dangerously slippery walking conditions.

Back at the hotel, Maria wanted to enjoy a nightcap at the bar before bed, which Dave and Jess decided to join us for. Nicole and I kept it mild, with her drinking a ginger beer, and me having a berry juice called something that I read as Johannesburger. It was disgusting. However, if berries did grow in the heart of Joburg's dirty city centre, I imagine thats what they'd taste like.

The bar is kind of trippy, since it is completely surrounded by mirrors. There are even mirrors on the ceiling! Back in our room, which we finally got back to at about midnight, we also had a wall of mirrors extending all the way over the sliding cupboard doors (also mirrored) and into the bathroom as well. This gave us a great view of how much weight we have gained thanks to all the multi-course meals and fast food that we've been eating since we got here. To my horror, I see that I've developed cellulite! I'll be temporarily moving into my gym when I get back to South Africa.

That's a New Year's resolution, right there!

Eurotrip Day 14: How expensive can food get?

Despite having slept badly again due to my coughing and uncomfortable bed, I woke up feeling better than I had the previous day. Everyone else on the bus seemed to be doing worse, though, but maybe they are always in that condition in the morning. It's hard to tell sinceI don't normally sit at the back of the bus.

Im my effort to maximise my expensive wifi, I didn't want to leave the hotel until the last possible moment. By that time, the bus had already filled up and Nicole and I couldn't even get seats together. I sat with Kaylee who wasn't feeling well and spent most of the morning sleeping, much like everyone else at the back of the bus. Nicole spent the morning chit chatting away to an Australian girl called Jordi, who is even shorter and chattier than Nicole is, if you can believe it!

This is the first time on this trip that I've really felt homesick. The things I miss most, though, are surprising. I really miss 3G for one. Trying to scrape by with either expensive or free but unreliable wifi has been more frustrating than anything else. I really miss my bed with its big comfy pillows. All the pillows we have had on this trip have been flat and useless, like sugar packets.

I miss the sun so much, too. We have been very unlucky with weather. If the sun does peep out, it tends to happen while we are on the bus. A good day at this point is one that is merely overcast but not rainy. I can see why people living in these climates get depressed and moody. I also miss fresh fruit and vegetables, of which we have hardly been eating any (and if we have, the quality hasn't been great). Everything else, I could still live without (for a while at least, anyway) but those are the things that I'm very noticeably wishing that I still had.

The scenery changed dramatically as we were driving through Italy towards Germany. There were charming little villages and vineyards along the mountains that got more and more snowy as we travelled on. It was super pretty, but I was feeling quite sorry for those poor little vines that were struggling against those icy conditions.

It was four hours before we finally stopped at a service station for lunch, which is probably the longest driving stretch that we have had so far. Quite a few people couldn't make it and ended up using the coach toilet, which we have been warned is very small so needs to be used as a last resort. I haven't needed to use it yet, so I have no idea what it looks like. We have also been warned that the only thing we are allowed to do in there is pee. Anything else will apparently stink the whole bus out. I'm relieved that no one has tried.

At the service station, our only food options were McDonalds and an Austrian restaurant (we had just crossed the border). Arguing that we didn't come all this way to eat McDonalds, we went to the restaurant first, but the food was so expensive that we resorted to fast food after all. It was so expensive, though, setting Nicole and I back R75 for a meal each! And that's for something we could eat at home for half the price. I wasn't super impressed. At the very least, it was filling and the view of the snowy mountains was incredible! We consoled ourselves by reasoning that we were paying for the view.

We only had two more hours to go on the bus after that, but even the shorter bus rides are starting to feel longer and longer as our tour goes on. Everyone's mood had improved considerably after we'd stopped to eat, and laughter, fun, and games had returned to the bus again. My cough has still been bugging me, and I had two really bad coughing fits, which I felt really bad about since I was sitting next to Kaylee and not Nicole. I don't mind giving Nicole back the germs that she gave me in the first place, but I do feel pretty awful spreading them to someone I'm not related to.

We finally arrived at our hotel in rainy Munich, and what a hotel it is! This is the kind of place I'm more used to staying at in South Africa. The beds are big and comfy with puffy pillows - and we get two pillows each! The rooms are clean, and the toilet has a whole basin between it and the bath/shower. The decor isn't from the 70s.

It's so unfortunate that we will only spending one night here. Nicole literally flopped onto the bed when we arrived, saying that she had died and gone to heaven. "Vicky, can we skip seeing Munich? I don't want to ever get up from this bed!" I was tempted to agree with her, since the cosy rooms really lifted my homesick spirit. I actually hugged the bed, myself.

Of course, we did get up eventually, and we boarded the bus again to head into town. There, we were met by an American guy who gave us a very amusing walking your of the city. Although it was only early evening, it was already quite dark, so we couldn't get many photographs.

Some of the highlights of the tour include the discussion about the palace in the city that was practically destroyed in the war, so they began rebuilding it but ran out of money. They ended up cutting corners by painting columns and windows onto buildings rather than actually building them, which was quite funny. You can even see where they probably ran out of money because on one wall, the first few painted windows actually had frames.

We also saw a church that was built by a prince who had trouble producing an heir and so "prayed to God for some swimmers," but kept ending up with daughters. After his sixth girl, he went down on his knees publicly and promised to build a church if God gave him a boy. According to our guide, "nine months later, God had this piece of real estate in Munich."

He ended of by telling us that his favourite place to hang out is a pool hall nearby on account of the irony that he is a "black dude with a big-assed 'fro" playing pool at a joint that was a favourite of Hitler's back in the day. We ended our tour at the Hofbrauhaus, Munich's enormous and famous beer hall, but our guide warned us that it's really a touristy spot now and suggested that we go hang out with the locals instead.

Jen recommended a place to us just around the corner where we could buy pig's knuckles (seems to be the same thing as eisbein, as far as I can tell) from a display and pay for it according to weight. It's supposed to be the best german fare in town, so we headed there with the Trio and three other members of our group.

I wasn't about to leave Germany without having sampled some of the famous Bavarian beer, which is apparently free of any additives or preservatives and is supposed to prevent you from getting hung over because of that. Of course, neither Nicole nor I were interested in having our beer "neat" so we ordered it as a lemonade shandy, which wasn't too bad.

For dinner, we weren't about to put away a whole eisbein each, or even share one as the others did. Instead, we just ordered slices of it, served with mash and sauerkraut. It was super expensive, with our meal coming to R260 each, but it was an outstanding meal. I was expecting Nicole to complain about the expense once we'd paid, but her comment merely was, "now THAT was a meal worth paying a lot for!" She's been somewhat disappointed by the quality of some of the expensive excursion meals that we've paid for.

After dinner, we headed off down the shopping street (where we were very good and didn't go into any open stores or spend any money) to the Christmas markets and ice rink. If you know Nicole at all, you already know that we didn't go skating. We bought steaming mugs of gluhwein (we kept the empty mugs as souvenirs) and watched the skaters from above. They have these cute little polar bears on skis that you can hold onto like a walker to keep you upright if you can't skate. We took some photos of the Aussie's we'd dined with doing their best not to fall!

On our way back through the shopping street, we counted four H&M stores, three Zara's and two Swarovski shops. I know it's the big shopping street of the city, but you have to wonder how many of each store they need within a few hundred meters of each other!

Back at the Hofbrauhaus, we spotted one of the New Zealand guys from our tour smoking a cigarette by himself in the street, so we went to say hi. He invited us to go up with him to the private room in the bar across from us where other members of our group, including Kaylee, were hanging out. It was super rowdy when we got there because they were putting steins of beer away as they played a drinking game. We had a lot of fun despite not having time to take part because we had to leave soon in order to catch the bus back home.

Our beds with their comfy pillows were calling to us. Our rooms even had a pillow menu where you could order the kind of pillow that you wanted! And we had that luxurious bath to soak in. No amount of fun drinking games was going to distract us from that fact at this point of our tour! #GettingOld

Eurotrip Day 13: Soaking up Venice

I woke up feeling terrible. Coughing fits had kept me up during the night, so I was exhausted. Also, the uncomfortable bed and super flat pillow had made my neck stiff and given me a headache. I felt like all I needed was nausea and I'd be feeling the same way as someone who is hung over. It has been so very long since I was last ill that I've forgotten how enormously unpleasant it is.

I actually would've rather have stayed in bed all day, except that my bed was super uncomfortable (what is it with these hotels and their super flat pillows?) and I was in Venice! I had to go check it out! The South African Trio wasn't feeling the trip either, particularly because the weather was miserable and the place is expensive, but they decided to go take a look, anyway.

The thing is, I kept telling myself, that I won't remember how crappy I felt the day that I was in Venice. I'll remember how beautiful it was and how I spent that time with Nicole. Also, on my wishlist was to buy some Venetian glass jewelry, which I couldn't very well do from the hotel, so I dragged my miserable self out of bed and headed down to breakfast.

Breakfast was even more miserable than I was. I consisted of cardboard flakes, weak mixed juice, bitter coffee, stale croissants, and bruised apples. It seemed that I wasn't the only person at the table that wasn't keen on the day. Nicole said it seemed as though the whole tour group had lost its joy. Her reasoning was that everyone was feeling homesick because they'd heard about the family Christmas everyone had enjoyed back home that none of us got to take part in.

A lot of our group also slept as badly as I did due to illness and the discomfort of the bed. It was a quiet bus ride to the ferry, at any rate. Jen put it down to the "mid-tour blues" that she says most tour groups tend to experience, since we are about halfway through our trip. Whatever the reason, the mood on the way to Venice was subdued.

We boarded the boat and headed away from the mainland towards the islands. Luckily, the trip wasn't long and so Nicole didn't get seasick. My head just felt worse and worse, though, and massaging my neck, where the painful tensions spots were, wasn't helping. I decided to take some painkillers, which I swallowed without water, since I didn't have any and didn't want to steal a sip from anyone else in caseI gave them my germs. I chased the pills with an apple I'd taken from breakfast (one that wasn't too bruised).

On the island, Jen gave us a quick overview of Venice. Basically, the island is busy sinking and bankrupt Italy is spending a borrowed fortune on trying to save it. Way back in its heyday, it was a central point on the trade route, making it rich and powerful. When the trade routes changed, it made it's money from brothels and casinos. Now, though, its only source of income is tourism, which is why so many shops were open despite it being a holiday. Very few Venetians actually live there anymore.

To get anywhere on the island, you have to walk. There are no cars or even bicycles allowed. We enjoyed a walking tour in the morning with a very amusing Venetian lady who explained the city's history to us in more detail. Everywhere you go, there are wooden ramps stacked because Venice will often flood and those ramps make it easier to cross over the water. Earlier this year, though, the flooding was so bad that people were swimming through St Mark's square.

Luckily, we didn't experience any flooding while we were there because it sounds pretty gross. Locals make their way around in gumboots when the tide is too high, and it seeps up through the ground and drains underneath the city. I've heard Venice can smell pretty bad when that happens. It didn't smell particularly offensive when we were there, but the water does smell like pond water, so I'm sure the floods make the city far less romantic.

As it was, though, the canals and narrow streets were enormously charming. The quaint little shops are all on the ground level with apartments above. Everything is expensive in Venice because things need to be transported across from the mainland via boat and then carried to the shops, restaurants, and hotels. All waste needs to be transported back to the mainland via barges. It's due to this hassle that so few locals live there now.

Our guide also explained to us that all emergency services, such as police, fire, and ambulances, get around using power boats. In order to preserve the old buildings, the boats in the area need to travel very slowly so as not to create waves. Only the emergency boats are exempted from that rule. Interestingly, even though we have seen quite a few police cars noisily racing around Italy (noticeable because the siren sound is so annoying), we didn't see a single police boat in action.

We did see many gondola's though, making their way through the canals. Traditionally, the boats were the main form of transportation used in the city. Even today, they are handmade with eight different kinds of wood and are very expensive, so fathers tend to hand them down to their sons as a family business. Traditionally, it was a man's job, but recently a female managed to qualify as a gondolier.

Gondolas used to come in different colours that would reflect the status of the person that owned the boat. Nowadays, they are all in the royal colours of black and red. There are also plain public gondolas that are used by locals to cross the Grand Canal for about R24 each way. It's quite pricey for such a short journey, but otherwise you have to make your way all the way to only one of two bridges that cross the canal.

One such bridge is the Rialto Bridge, where there is a lot of souvenir shopping to be done. All the vendors there sell cheaper knock-offs of the three things that the island is famous for: glass (which is now made on Murano, a nearby island, since a fire destroyed the Venetian glassworks), lace (which is very intricately and finely stitched), and masks (which were used to hide the identity of those frequenting brothels back in the heyday of Venice).

Nicole and I were more interested in getting our hands on genuine Murano glass, however, so we headed off the beaten track and explored the confusing, narrow streets of Venice. On our way back towards St Mark's Square, where I'd seen someone selling gluewein, and Nicole had a craving for it, we stumbled across an open store with some pretty glass jewelry in the window.

There was a man in the back of the small shop sitting at a workbench and busy making jewelry as we came in, but he ignored us until we started trying rings on and I guess he worried we might steal something. There were some gorgeous rings and necklaces for sale, and we trusted the authenticity of the unfriendly man behind the workbench, so we picked out a set from his more affordable range, which he beautifully wrapped up for us like Christmas presents.

We stopped at a little sandwich shop for lunch in one of of the twisted alleyways. In the window we had seen what looked like pizza wraps. Nicole had one with a hotdog running through the middle of it. They were hot and yummy, and it gave us a chance to sit down and take a break. Many places in Italy will charge you to sit down, but we were allowed to do so for free here on condition that we purchase both. We lingered over it, enjoying the warmth of our food, and I took more painkillers for my throbbing head.

Back at St Mark's Square, just outside the church, it had begun raining. Luckily, I had an umbrella on me that I'd brought along from South Africa. I'd got it for free at a promotional event and it was quite flimsy, so even the slightest breeze threatened to turn it inside out. Nevertheless, we were grateful for the shelter it provided. Some of the Aussies had actually bought themselves umbrellas from some opportunistic salespeople.

We were all rather hoping that our planned gondola ride had been cancelled, since no one felt like sitting on a boat in the rain. The gondoliers offered us Torre, a sparkling wine that they enjoy in Venice, which we got to drink in little plastic cups on the boat. Climbing on and off, the boat seems incredibly unstable. The gondolier actually balances the boat with his body to prevent it from tipping. Apparently only one tourist ever fell into the water from a gondola "because he was full of vodka," but I felt as though I might be next!

Luckily, the rain quietened down as our boat wound through the narrow canals and under the quaint bridges, and we were able to enjoy our boat ride. The only problem was that the rain was running down the plastic cushion we were sitting on and pooling under my bum, making it very wet. Other than that, I enjoyed our wet boat ride a lot more than I expected to. Our gondolier whistled to us, which seemed very traditional until we caught him sending a text message from his phone, which was less traditional.

The boat tends to brush up quite closely to the barnacle covered walls, reminding me of the way that the bus seems to be narrowly missing other cars every time it turns a corner. The only time the boat hit the wall was right at the end where the front of the boat hit the wall as the gondolier was turning the boat around. I don't know if that was intentional or not, since the front of the boat is reinforced with metal, but I have to wonder what his father who'd given him the boat would've said about that! (I know my dad loves to comment on my driving).

The rain had finally ended by the time we carefully climbed off the wobbly boat. From there, we headed to St Mark's cathedral since it is one of the few things that you can do for free on the Island. It was very different to anything we had seen before, with a strong Eastern influence. Nothing in the church is painted. Rather, it is all mosaic, and has a real Turkish feel to it. The floors, roof, and any pictures are all mosaic with a lot of 24 carat gold about.

While entry to the church may be free, leaving the main hall in any direction costs money. You needed to pay to go up to the roof, the treasury, or close to any statue. We decided that we'd spent enough money visiting churches on our trip, so the only thing I paid for there was a postcard to add to my collection of unsent Italian postcards. The post offices have all been closed for the holidays since we have arrived in the country, so it looks like I will be posting the Italian ones in Germany at this rate.

Afterwards, Nicole and I decided to head back to the Realto Bridge to buy souvenirs for our friends. Susan, one of the Australians, tagged along with us. We headed back the way that we had come previously but very quickly got hopelessly lost in the maze of poorly signposted streets. Throughout the city, there are yellow signs pointing you towards the main attractions of the city, such at the square and main bridges (the other other one being the Academia Bridge).

After a while, though, even these signs had dried up and we really had no idea where to turn. We stopped the next person we saw in the hopes that he'd point us in the right direction. He did more than that, though, telling us to follow him. He walked at quite a brisk pace, common for Venetians, according to our guide, but kept looking back to make sure that we were still behind him. We followed him for quite a distance at that pace, showing you how far lost we really were.

He eventually pointed the bridge out to us then went on his hurried way. Nicole reckons that the couldn't in good conscience leave us as lost as we were without having to do a ton of Hail Mary's to make up for it, so it was probably quicker for him just to help us out. Nevertheless, it was very sweet of him to help us out like that.

We didn't really buy much at the bridge, especially since the jewelry was the main thing that I wanted. Nicole did pick up a pair of pretty broaches that look like Venetian masks, and Susan got an actual mask. Other than that, though, we mostly just browsed around.

Eventually, we made our way to a restaurant where Nicole and I ordered cappuccino decaffinato, while Susan had tea. They actually brought Susan a whole bowl of teabags to choose from. Our coffee was served with dainty little bruschetta pieces and sweet whipped cream. He very sweetly allowed us to use the bathroom and sit down long after our coffee was finished, even though we didn't order any food.

Afterwards, we slowly made our way back to St Mark's where the rest of our group was waiting to meet for our Venetian dinner. Jen asked us to wait outside of a small church, while she went to make sure the restaurant was ready for us. I poked my head into a small church, where a lady wagged her finger at me for taking a photo. What is up with these churches that don't let you take photos? Especially if you don't use flash. It reminds me of those tribes that think photographs steal a piece of your soul.

Dinner in Venice had its pros and cons. The food was very average and not really worth what we'd paid for it, so that was quite disappointing. We could've had a better meal if we'd hit the streets on our own and it would've cost less. The management wasn't even Italian! What I did enjoy about dinner, though was the free wifi (of course!) and the accordionist and guitarist who played Italian music for us while we dined. Dessert was lemon gelato, something Nicole hadn't tried yet, so that was great as well. She described it as the ice cream version of lemon meringue. I must say, I am in love with it too.

After one incredibly long, cold, but fun day in Venice (with my mood improving considerably after the gondola ride when my headache finally dissolved), we finally climbed back onto the boat and headed back to the hotel. The trip away from Venice felt so much longer than the trip there had. We headed straight to bed, even though I stayed up for as long as I could to make good use of the wifi I'd paid for.

Also, some of our tour group was making quite a bit of noise, so I really needed to wear myself out completely in order to sleep through it. Nicole had no problem sleeping through all that and my coughing fits. I'm not sure if she always sleeps so deeply of if she'd just thoroughly exhausted herself. I know that the latter sure is true for me!