Finally, Snow!!!!

I was so disappointed that it did not snow here before Christmas - and think it is ridiculous that the outskirts of Melbourne had a White Christmas and I didn´t here in Germany!

It was really nice, then, to step outside and find it snowing on 27th December. It´s amazing how much the snow changes the whole city. It is so beautiful.

Of course, it has all melted now and doesn´t look like it will snow much more before I leave Europe next week, but at least I had my day in the snow.

Christmas In Dresden

I was so lucky to be joined for Christmas in Dresden by my friends Rita (from L.A.) and Craig and Brad (Cranny) from Rockhampton (and the Contiki tour). We had a fantastic day celebrating together and I was very proud to cook my first Christmas meal ever. Of course, it wasn´t a very traditional Christmas lunch as my apartment only has a stovetop with 2 burners and a microwave, but under the circumstances, I think I did pretty well!

The lead up to Christmas was pretty intense. So many people in the Christmas market and then everything closed (even McDonalds!) from 2pm on Christmas Eve. I think the restaurant I work in was one of the only places in the whole city open that night because that is the traditional time for German families to exchange gifts. Most stores were also closed for the 25th and 26th - certainly very different from at home with the rush of last minute shopping and then the start of the sales!

Rita brought a Christmas tree with her and a DVD fireplace (pictured above) to make the house look festive and the first part of the meal was laid out around the tree (pictured below) - lots of yummy German sausages and cheeses, dried fruits and nuts, dips, and apple chips - all from the nearby Christmas markets. Veuve Cliquot is quite cheap here (at least compared with home) so there was a bottle of good champagne to start off!

While eating, we played a gift swapping game using a deck of cards so everyone got 1 gift and 1 lucky person got 2 (depending on the cards! Lucky Rita!) Though these games have sometimes ended in tears, everyone was pretty happy with what they ended up with (lucky Cranny got the Natacha CD I bought at the concert in Lucerne - the dubious Swiss pop singer. I got some sleigh bells and a wooden puzzle - there are the sleigh bells you asked about Katie!)

Second course was soup. Lack of food processor meant it was a tinned Potato soup which was surprisingly thick and tasty! A good time to start on the red wine too...

For 3rd course, Rita had brought along some Christmas shaped pasta which we cooked up and added a pesto sauce. They were very cute santas and snowmen... almost felt guilty eating them! More red wine of course.

Main course was the most ambitious given the cooking limitations. Pork steaks with gravy, mashed potatoes and beans. Everything seemed to come together (though maybe we should call them smashed rather than mashed potatoes) though it was possibly the latest christmas lunch ever... no sense in rushing all this food though - and I didn´t have to work that night, so we could take our time and enjoy the food wine and company. More red wine, and starting on the absinthe and vodka by now...

Last, but not least, was the Chocolate pudding to finish the meal. Very wisely, this was also the course requiring the least preparation (after all that wine!) - prepackaged pudding with plastic spoons. Surprisingly tasty, though! I didn´t even manage to open the dessert wine that was in the fridge...

Overall, a fantastic day, despite the failed attempts to use Skype to call friends and family back in Australia (definitely need a better net connection next time...). It was so great to have company and I really appreciated all the visits, cards and emails!

I hope everyone back home had a great Christmas. All of my thoughts for the New Ýear!

Operas and Singers

In the last 2 months, I have been very lucky to see some amazing opera performances in Vienna and Dresden. I want to blog about them, more for my memory´s benefit than for your interest, so if you don´t care for opera at all, then feel free to skip reading this post! Even though I have already written briefly about the Vienna operas, I want to record the names of some of the performers and something about the productions to help me remember them better (and before I lose the cast list from inside the programmes!)

Firstly, there was Don Giovanni in Vienna at the Volksoper. Not much to say about this (apart from the fact that I missed the first half due to an embarrassing mix up with my ticket). Not a very notable performance. In fact I´m a bit glad I didn´t see it all.

Secondly, there was Rigoletto at the Vienna State Opera. Incredible. The whole city seemed particularly interested in this performance as the tenor playing the Duke was ill and a replacement tenor was making his debut at the State Opera (Unfortunately, I didn´t get his name). He did quite a nice job, too. I saw his second performance which was apparently much more relaxed than his first. The highlights were definitely Paolo Gavanelli as Rigoletto and Desiree Rancatore as Gilda. Both with absolutely magnificent voices. The design of the opera house is circular and has an open pit, meaning the orchestra sound is incredible. The singers must have enormous voices to be heard above the orchestra, though the circular design would help a little (though it doesn´t help the people on the sides see the stage - as mentioned in my previous post, my seat had limited access to the left side of the stage which is where all the action took place). The production itself was very traditional with period costumes and sets.

The final opera in Vienna was Tosca, which I have already raved about. The production was also very traditional with amazing, lavish costumes and sets and it is such a terrific opera. Eszter Sumegi played Tosca and I am fairly sure that this was the best singing I have ever heard live (though it could be rivalled by a more recent experience). Vincenzo La Scola as Cavaradossi had a shaky start (a cracked note in the first act) but sang the third act excellently (especially his big number) and the replacement Scarpia was Lucio Gallo, with a magnificent strong Baritone voice.

This month, I have been living very close to the Dresden Semperoper and was very lucky to get cheap standing room tickets to 3 different operas while here. I had read that you often had to book months ahead for tickets, so was very happy to walk into the box office on the day of performances and be able to get a ticket!

My first Dresden opera was Der Freischutz by Weber (the composer was in charge of the Dresden Semperoper from 1817 which makes it even more significant to see this piece here - though it was premiered in Berlin) I will admit that it´s really not my favourite opera, with a very silly plot about magic bullets and I wasn´t a big fan of the staging which was on a minimalist set with huge religious overtones (a giant cross is given to the hero at the end of this production) As the opera was sung in German with no subtitles or translations available (not even an english synopsis in the programme!) it was quite difficult to follow. It sounded great, though, especially the enormous chorus who shuffled on stage, stood and sang a lot with some funny staged gestures and shuffled off again several times. The visual highlight was the Wolf´s gorge scene which featured a giant smoking skull centre stage. The singing was good, but didn´t stand out as exceptional and I didn´t get the programme with the names of the singers. Possibly most notable was that the girl playing Annchen, who was extremely short (possibly a dwarf) with a huge, bright, appealling voice.

The second Semperoper visit was for Hansel and Gretel on Boxing Day with my friend Rita. Again, the standing room tickets were extremely cheap (5 Euro!!) and there is a quite comfortable rail to lean on and a great view of the stage. The plot was much easier to follow, although again, the production was quite contemporary - a bit of a cross between Into the Woods and a shadow puppet show. The shadow work during the overture was really cool and the dance later in the opera with their "shadows" was also a nice touch. The forest scenes were nightmarish (and similar to the VCA production of Into the Woods last year?!?!) and quite bizarre with Red Riding Hood and the Wolf, Snow White and the 7 Dwarves, lots of angels sliding (literally) in from heaven and a turtle that I really didn´t understand. Maybe the German children in the audience understood better? The singing was again good, though the music is not my favourite (again!) and I suspect (but am not sure) that the same short girl from Freischutz was playing Gretel. Again, I didn´t buy a programme to get the singers´ names.

My most recent night at the opera wasn´t a full performance, unfortunately. Tristan und Isolde by Wagner is one of my favourite operas and, as it is so long, it started at 5pm. I had to work at 9pm, so had to leave in the second interval and missed all of Act 3 which has some of the best moments of the score, so I was disappointed to leave. The production was beautiful, staged on a giant diamond-shape with 2 rear walls that opened in various places to create lots of different interesting shapes on stage and was surrounded by a translucent screen when the lovers drank the potion creating lots of beautiful lighting effects. The other great moment was when the diamond elevated to a steep angle during the love duet in Act 2. By far the highlight, though was Waltraud Meier, a famous Wagnerian soprano, singing Isolde. Her voice is so fresh and appealling, but also strong and dramatic and her singing sounds and looks effortless - remarkable considering the size and volume of the orchestra playing from an open pit! I was blown away by her performance and need to find some of her CDs (this could be the performance that rivals Eszter Sumegi as the best live singing I´ve ever heard). Georg Zeppenfeld playing King Mark was the other outstanding singer. A rich bass voice that filled the opera house with gorgeous sound. Alfons Eberz as Tristan didn´t really appeal to me, but perhaps his epic scenes in the 3rd act would have convinced me had i been able to stay.

Hopefully I will get to the opera in Prague this week also - La Traviata is playing on the 3rd January...

Vienna Pics

I promised these over 2 months ago, so now, finally, some pics from Vienna which has definitely been one of my favourite cities in my travels.

Mozart Statue


Museum of Modern Art


Schloss Schoenbrunn


Beethoven´s Grave


Schoenberg´s grave


Karlskirche where I heard a Mozart Mass performed as part of a normal Sunday mass.

Random Dresden Pics

I don´t think I´ve posted enough photos on my blog lately (except for the Contiki epic) so I just wanted to throw in some random photos that I´ve taken around Dresden in the last few weeks. It is a really great city, and while I´m a bit sad to leave tomorrow (and am really over packing my suitcase!) it is great to know I will be back here for August and December next year.

PS if you want an update on the Frederic the Bitten story, my friend Rita has done some research about him and its quite a funny story - check the comments

Craig, Cranny and Rita (the Christmas gang) at the Zwinger


The Hofkirche


The Semperoper (Opera house)


The Frauenkirche


One of the stalls at my local Christmas market (just outside my door!)

Book - Everything Is Illuminated
By Jonathon Safran Foer

Wow.

That’s really all I can say about this novel.

OK, well I can probably be a little more specific.

This novel was bought as a pack of 3 books at a bargain price. (kinda like falling victim to the Borders 3 for the Price of 2 deal – except I actually read at least one of them). As if this wasn’t enough of a hindrance for it, I started reading it concurrently with another book (which will get covered very soon in this blog) Surely both of these facts add up to never finishing it at all.

Apparently not.

And I still feel that I need to say, “Wow!”

I stayed up most of the night last night finishing this novel. And instantly regretted reading it so fast. So much so that I am tempted to read it again for more details. How many books have I finished and instantly wanted to go straight back to the beginning and start again? This is crazy, defeatist talk! (C’mon, music theater fans, you know where this is a quote from – and no, it has nothing to do with the novel)

OK, so what’s it about?

Ummm…. That’s quite difficult to answer.

It weaves 3 different stories together from 3 different generations of people. I guess the overriding theme is of love and honesty. The way the narrative unfolds is incredibly unique. “A new kind of novel… After it, things will never be the same again” (The Times)

I seem to be particularly drawn at the moment towards books that investigate the effects of World War II (Dresden is having an impact!) and the Holocaust is central to the plot of this novel. The author ventures to the Ukraine to find the woman that rescued his Grandfather from the Nazis. He is accompanied by a tour guide and translator that have stories of their own. But to explain the plot this simply really detracts from it.

When I started reading, I was expecting an Augusten Burroughs / Nick Hornby style bittersweet comedic novel. Several of the quotes on the cover refer to the humour of the novel. And I guess it is funny, but none of this prepared me for the depth and beauty of this book.

If this seems like a fairly vague and disordered review of this novel, then I have probably written it much too soon after finishing. Questions and ideas still hang around me and I suspect they will for a long time. I definitely need to re-read this novel. Possibly more than once. From me, that is probably the loftiest praise I can give.

Book – Freakonomics
By Steven D. Levitt & Steven J. Dubner

This was one of those books that I saw in the bookshop and really can’t fully explain why I bought it. It was mentioned in Nick Hornby’s Complete Polysyllabic Spree, but wasn’t one of the books on the list of things I wanted to read after reading that book. I think it was just the recognition that drew me in. It is definitely not the kind of book I would usually read. It is not a novel, but a description of the work of an economist. A long way from my favourite subject ever.

Freakonomics asks a whole range of bizarre questions and answers them using economic theory (about which I understand very little). The greatness of this book is that it is extremely readable and allows the reader to think that he / she actually does understand the economic theories used. Mostly they have to do with incentives. Steven Levitt believes that almost any question about modern life can be answered when the correct incentives can be found to answer them. So the questions “What Do Schoolteachers and Sumo Wrestlers Have In Common?”, “Why Do Drug Dealers Still Live With Their Moms?”, “Where Have All The Criminals Gone?” and “What Makes a Perfect Parent?” all get some form of answer in this book (and, indeed, each gets a whole chapter).

One of the quotes on the cover of the book says, “Freakonomics reads like a detective novel… has you chuckling one minute and gasping in amazement the next” (Wall Street Journal) and this was exactly my reaction to this book. I was so gripped by the astounding findings and suggestions of Levitt’s economic theories that I finished reading this book extremely quickly. Part of that, of course, is Dubner’s writing which is extremely readable (he writes for the New York Times magazine – one of my favourite publications of late – mostly because of, or despite, that damn crossword). The book raises many awkward questions about modern life and is very cautious not to draw judgements about issues (including abortion and crack-dealing) but one of the final comments struck a chord with me (and doesn’t ruin the book, I promise):

“The most likely result of reading this book is a simple one: you may find yourself asking a lot of questions. Many of them will lead to nothing. But some will produce answers that are interesting, even surprising.”

I’m a big fan of questions. Maybe one day I’ll be able to think like Steven Levitt so I can answer some of them…

Where Now?

After talking to my mother last week, I realised that I have been really slack at letting people know where I am going next.

I finish here in Dresden on 31st December. Things are then a little vague right now until 6th January when I will be in the UK (Oxfordshire I think) for my friends' Fiona and Pete's wedding (don't worry guys, the vagueness is just that i am investigating where to fly from - Berlin or Prague - I think I will spend the couple of days between finishing in Dresden and your wedding in one of these 2 places... probably Prague - the flights are basically the same price)

Then on the 7th Jan (or maybe the 8th, my flights are yet to be confirmed) I will be joining the Carnival Valor in Miami, Florida, USA to sail the Carribean until 19th March (it's a tough life, but someone has to do it!).

On 19th March, I am flying home to Melbourne and then on to Perth for Anita and Mike's wedding on the 26th. Back to Melbourne. Back to Perth for Mum and Dad's Golden Wedding Anniversary on 22nd April (though the celebration will probably be on 25th due to an Eagle's home game on 22nd!). Probably hang out in perth for a while. Head back to Melbourne at some stage. Catch up with everyone as much as humanly possible.

Then back to Europe from June until December next year.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in that time!

Frederic the Bitten

There is a large mosaic / ceramic mural thing on the side of the Palace in Dresden (very close to my apartment) that I walk past every night on my way to and from work. It depicts the line of Saxon Princes (about whom I really know very little – apart from the fact that I guess this was their palace…) from the 12th Century to the late 19th Century (finishing with Albert and George… can anyone tell me if this is the Albert and George that wound up in the British monarchy? I overheard someone wondering if it was the Albert that married Queen Victoria…I should probably Google it… or at least have a vague idea of the chronology)

Anyway, back on topic… most of the princes pictured have some description of their notable values attached to their name. For example, such-and-such the Great is at the head of the procession and also found are whats-his-name the Wise, thingemijig the Just, whos-it the Courageous, Blah-blah the benevolent… and so forth… but there is one (and I have checked that my suspect German translation hasn’t failed me here) who is called Frederic the Bitten… (der Gebissene for those German speakers reading…) He makes me giggle every time I walk past. What or who bit him? And why? And was this really the most notable aspect of his princeliness??? His portrait on the mosaic / mural thingy doesn’t show any notable bite mark. No limbs lost or anything remarkable… I really want to know (again, Google is a possible solution, but it really is so passe… do we really need that many answers at our fingertips? Sometimes the fun is in the complete lack of knowledge)

It makes me wonder what my trait would be if I were ever muralized / mosaiced… Trevor the …

Maybe that’s actually appropriate as I really have used … way too much in this particular post…

Or maybe Trevor the … (completely irrelevant) …

PS Today I visited the Gallery of Old Masters in Dresden (a very good collection – including a Rembrandt – The Abduction of Ganymede - recently restored with remarkable colours – not at all like the dark somber paintings I usually associate with Rembrandt… or the boring etchings… oh and also including the Raffaello with those 2 famous cherubs at the bottom – brings back memories of Death By Chocolate…) and there was a reference to Frederic the Wise (in German: Freidrich der Gewissene)… I searched the mural for him tonight and couldn’t find him… What if Frederic the Bitten was just some terrible misprint??? Would that mean I could end up as Trevor the Piano-Player???

PPS I will add some pics when I actually take them…

Dresden – Further Thoughts

I promised photos… Above is the skyline – the big dome is the Fraunkirche, which is just next to my apartment. Below is a picture of the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas market) in my street…

One thing I forgot to mention in my last blog about Dresden (First Impressions) was the quality of the buskers. I might be getting a slightly skewed version since it’s Christmas and every musician in the city seems to be out on the street playing carols with a hat in front of them, but so far I have seen a number of wind quartets, a few brass quartets, a horn quartet (!) and a huge range of solo instruments and duos – often including accordions and violins… The range of groups itself is impressive, but the quality of musicians is remarkable. I’m not talking about the Year 8 Clarinet student out at the local shopping strip playing some carols for money – these are fairly serious musicians (most likely University students or semi-professional players) out there making some outstanding music. Certainly a nice change from Australia, and it really makes me wonder why more excellent musicians aren’t out there busking over the Christmas period at home…

Book – Fever Pitch
By Nick Hornby

With my faith in Nick Hornby’s writing reinstated, I finally decided to read his first book Fever Pitch. This has been on my list of “Books I need to read one day” for quite some time now, so I was quite pleased to make a start on it. You may well notice that it has been some time since I last wrote about a book. This is not because I found this book uninteresting – let’s just say that the Contiki tour didn’t really lend itself to reading very much at all…

Fever Pitch is a memoir of how the author’s life has revolved around his obsession with football (The UK version that we call soccer) and his team, Arsenal. His recall of facts and figures from specific matches throughout his life is truly terrifying – this is definitely a man obsessed with the game. His writing style is conversational and very readable and his wry observations on the effect football has on his life are very entertaining. He is often self-deprecating and fully acknowledges how pathetic this obsession must seem to anyone that does not share it (including his friends – he is very realistic about how they feel when they have to accommodate his obsession when planning weddings and important events).

As much as I enjoyed the humour and fun of this book, it is his deeper reflections about the nature of people, particularly men, that I found most interesting. Hornby’s reflections on tragedies at football matches, such as Hillsborough, are very poignant and moving – especially his realizations that “they were people at a football match just like me” or “I could have been among the so-called hooligan group”. (Sedaris and Burroughs take note – it is possible to transform this anecdotal style of writing into a deeper reflection of the human condition).

Once again, I was not disappointed in Hornby’s writing – an enjoyable read that also touched me on a deeper level. Now I just need to work up the courage to revisit “A Long Way Down”…

Requests in German

Though my German does improve every day, it is still difficult to understand people while I am playing and singing (strangely!). Often someone will come up to me and ask me in German if I can play a particular song and I have no idea what they are talking about. I often feel rude when I have to explain that I don’t understand and then try to decode their English to work out what they are asking. (Often it is to play Happy Birthday for someone at midnight, so I have started looking for the all-important word “Geburtstag” – not as helpful if someone is asking for something by Eric Clapton, though.)

The funniest moments with requests often comes from the requester’s misunderstanding of the English lyrics. The other night I was asked to play a song by Bill Medley (?!?) that contained the line “Because I love you darling… woah I love you darling…”. It took me a very long time to work out that what she wanted was “You’ve lost that loving feeling, woah that loving feeling”…

Reminds me of that joke asking Stevie Wonder to play “A Jazz chord!”…

Westlife’s – The Love Album

I really don’t know if this has been released or publicized back in Australia, but I just had to write about it.

While I was in Dublin, it was difficult to avoid the posters advertising Westlife’s new album – “The Love Album” featuring their smash hit single “The Rose”. Yes, folks, it has finally happened – “The Rose” is back on the airwaves thanks to a struggling boyband.

Prior to now, my major experience of Westlife was seeing them do a live performance on Dancing With The Stars and thinking, “that guy has great hair – I want my hair to look like that” and then spending some time online hunting down pics to take to the hairdresser (yes, I know that’s a really embarrassing story).

What really drew me in this time, though, was the track list. It reads like all the tacky love songs I’ve ever had to play. The Rose, Total Eclipse of the Heart, All Out of Love (featuring Delta Goodrem – is she still dating Brian McFadden? If so, is it not a major conflict of interests to be duetting with his former boyband??? Do I know too much about this???), You Light Up My Life, Easy, You Are So Beautiful To Me, You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling… HILARIOUS – I know I already mentioned it, but – TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART!!!!

It embarrasses me even more to say that I felt that this was an album I just had to have. I am listening to it right now. It’s pretty much what I expected – bland versions of cheesy songs over-produced as much as possible. The sort of thing that makes me love pop music. I kinda like it – is that the most embarrassing thing I’ve admitted in this post? (as if the hair story wasn’t enough!)

Now I just need get my hands on Human Nature’s Motown Album Volume 2… anyone want to send it over to me? Or would it be too embarrassing to go into a record store and buy it… maybe if you’re on holidays somewhere and know you will never go in that record store again… go on guys… for me… and for boyband lovers everywhere…

Dresden – First Impressions

Wow. This really is a beautiful city. So many amazing buildings and tourists everywhere. Christmas markets out of control – seems to be one in every square and street – including the street my apartment is on. I only need to open my kitchen window to be overwhelmed by the smell of Gluhwein (a special heated and herbed wine for Christmastime), Bratwurst and other yummy things and the sounds of Carols and bustling crowds.

My apartment is right in the middle of the altstadt and is only a 5 minute walk from the restaurant / bar I’m working in. The restaurant has a really nice feel to it. It is across 2 levels and my music gets amplified through both levels as well as outside – I don’t feel like background music anymore! YAY! I’m already getting requests and tips and it is feeling really good – I can be a bit more upbeat than at the last few gigs. The old drum machine is working hard too – it works so much better with this sort of gig and an electric piano.

I’ve spent the first few days here recovering from the Contiki tour and the journey to get here, so I’m really looking forward to exploring the city more and investigating all of the sights and museums on offer. It’s definitely a great thing to be working in a city this time – I feel like I can have a life outside of work and reading / watching TV in my apartment. Tonight I was able to score a standing room ticket to the Opera to see Der Freischuetz. The opera itself is a bit crap in my opinion, but the production and the singing were good – and only 12 Euro! Apparently tickets are very hard to get, so I was pretty lucky.

I think this is going to be a great month and I am already excited that I’m booked to be here twice next year. Pics to come in the next few days.

Contiki Tour

A whirlwind tour of Europe in 16 days. At first I was really worried about this tour – worried that I’d be the oldest on the trip and that the non-stop partying would be too much, but it’s been a fantastic time and after months of solitude, it has been awesome hanging out with the same group of people for 16 days. Even though there weren’t many of us in the over-30 club (most of the tour was aged between 20 and 25) there was a really great mix of people and I made a whole lot of great new friends that I will hopefully stay in touch with and see in the next few months as they continue their travels. Before the tour I was also a bit worried about having to share a room the whole time, but I was lucky that I got along well with my roommate (Simon) and it added to the tour having to get to know someone so well. We had a fantastic tour manager (Paul) and bus driver (Ben) who made the whole trip easy and memorable and fun for all of us.

So, a brief summary of the tour with pics!…

Day 1 – London to Amsterdam. Crossed the Channel, bad weather, long bus ride, boat cruise through canals of Amsterdam – not much scenery taken in, just a lot of drinking, a bit of time in the red light district… interesting…

Day 2 – Free Day in Amsterdam. Cheese and Clogs in the morning (pic). Windmill. Diamonds. Anne Frank Museum. Van Gogh Museum. FeBo for lunch (weird deep fried things that you get from a wall of storage cabinets by inserting coins! See pic) Dinner. Sex Show. Things I really didn’t need to see…

Day 3 – Amsterdam to St Goar via Cologne. Cologne Cathedral – incredible (pic). Climbed all the stops to the top of the spire – awesome view (and not too out of breath!) End of Fashion CD playing in German CD store! Cuckoo clocks and beer steins in St Goar. Wine Tasting. Lots of German Beer… and Jagermeister…

Day 4 – St Goar to Lucerne. Cable car to top of Mt Pilatus. A bit cold. Sacher Torte at top. Into Lucerne – such a beautiful city – in my top 3 cities so far. Night out on the town – more beer and a disco in the casino.

Day 5 – Free Day in Lucerne (pic above). Lion Monument (pic above). Shopping for watches and chocolate… yum… Fondue lunch. Wagner museum. Natacha concert – German (Swiss) pop music really is hilarious… and not always in that good way

Day 6 – Lucerne to Innsbruck via Liechtenstein. Not much swinging in Liechtenstein on a Sunday (and not convinced that there’s much on other days either). Innsbruck still pretty. Swarovski showroom. Climbed the tower. Christmas market. Schnapps tasting… more beer.

Day 7 – Innsbruck to Venice (pics below). Glass blowing demonstration. Gondola ride (pic). Prada store. New ties. Pretty masks. St Marks – breathtaking (pic). Bad dinner. Lots of wine to make up for it. Beautiful photos – something about the light that is really different and beautiful here. Schnapps after dinner…

Day 8 – Venice to Rome. Immediately annoyed by big crowds and constant threat of pickpockets and street vendors. Dirty. Major sights cool, but not sure they make up for the stress of walking the streets. Lots of wine over dinner and funny attempts at holding camera still for night photos of Colliseum. Gross hotel… TV missing, everyone’s plumbing audible through our bathroom…

Day 9 – Free Day in Rome. Vatican. A bit rushed unfortunately. Saw Pope in St Peter’s Square! Raining. Great pizza. Failed attempt to get into St Peter’s – some special thing for Italians only that I don’t look Italian enough for… Climbed to top of dome – spectacular views. Sightseeing whirlwind – lots of walking. St Peter’s in Chains – kinda disappointing (not sure what I was expecting though). Capuzin monks bone sculptures – very weird and macabre. Castel St Angelo – really cool – very difficult not to sing arias from Tosca from the top.

Day 10 – Rome to Florence. Uffizi museum – incredible Renaissance art. Beautiful city, so much less frantic than Rome. Walk through other major sights. Definitely want to come back. Hotel looks a little like a jail… Tuscan dinner and Space disco. Played a few songs at the dinner – nice to play some Aussie stuff (Khe Sanh! Yeah!) Too much red wine again. But it was the Long Island Ice Teas that really did me in.

Day 11 – Florence to Nice. Worst hangover ever. Leaning tower of Pisa – too hard to care when feeling so ill. Stopped at Fragonards perfume factory – what sort of sick torture is this – great perfumes but not on a hangover… tour guide got us lost on way to dinner (first time at this restaurant) In pub after dinner, but not much drinking…

Day 12 – Free Day in Nice. Sleep in. Laundromat. Exciting! Matisse Museum closed. L. Wander streets a bit. Wish I had walked down to the beach. Dinner in Monaco – what an incredible place… need to find a Monacan to marry or something. Great dinner – champagne this time (well, we were in France!) Visit to Casino. Head out on the town back in Nice, but nothing very exciting.

Day 13 – Nice to Lyon. Stop in Avignon. Not much going on again (another Sunday!) but would be really interesting place to explore with more time (an hour and a half is not enough to see the Pope’s Palace – or to walk on the famous bridge – especially after the slow service to get some lunch filled most of that time!) Walking tour of Lyon. Hurt leg on a stupidly placed low pole – the scar will remind me... Meet up with Karen Reilly and Pierre-Yves for dinner to celebrate her birthday! Awesome dinner and great to catch up.

Day 14 – Lyon to Paris. Stop at Chateau (boring). Straight to Louvre (Venus de Milo in pic). 2 hours is far from enough. Run into Stephen Judd (ex Australian Boys Choir!). Louvre – wow! Night tour of Paris. Up Eifell Tower at night. (pic - sigh) – in love with this city already – but it feels kinda sad to not be in love here…

Day 15 – Free Day in Paris. Musee d’Orsay – incredible Impressionist art collection. St Suplice church (for a Da Vinci Code fix). Hilarious sign saying how made up the book is, especially regarding the “Rose Line” that is in the church. Notre Dame. Try contemporary art museum, but it’s closed (grrr…) Paris Opera House (pic above of chandelier)– very difficult not to be plagued by tunes from Phantom of the Opera… probably the biggest rip off of the whole tour (7 Euro entry!!), but it is a spectacular building… walk up Champs Elysee – Benetton have the suit I’ve been looking for for months but not in my size (grrr). MOULIN ROUGE!!!! (pic below - do i look excited?) Amazing night! A once in a lifetime experience and a lot of fun. Hilarious dancing – and plenty of red wine and champagne to celebrate our last night of tour. Party into the wee hours of the morning knowing tomorrow’s bus ride is going to hurt.

Day 16 – Paris to London. Farewell to my roommate in the morning (he’s staying in Paris a few days). Farewells along the way. Ferry strike almost ruins the amazingly good time we made to get to Calais. Get into London at 2.30pm and start saying goodbyes.


As you can see, it was a crazy 16 days, but I had an absolute ball and, despite my age, I partied just as hard as anyone would expect from a Contiki guy. I’m really looking forward to seeing some of the gang again in Dresden for our Orphan’s Christmas and I am going to do everything I can to stay in touch with all the friends I made.

The last thing that made me really happy was that our day song (which got played every day on the bus) was “We Built This City On Rock & Roll” by Starship… who cares if it came out the year a lot of the people on tour were born – the 80s ROCK!!!