Coming into Paris, I was still feeling the effects of The Contiki Cough. It was actually getting worse. The one place I had REALLY been looking forward to, and it would have to be experienced while sick. Not only was I sick, but I had next to no voice. I was approaching the one country in which I could speak the language, but I could hardly speak!
I could write many lines of text lauding how beautiful and wonderful my trip to Europe was, but why not create a Top Ten list instead? In no particular order, here are 10 of the top things about my Contiki tour.
ONE.
All of my amazing tourmates – Seriously, the tour was made much better by all the crazy and awesome characters we had. I think the quality of the experience depends pretty heavily on the friends we made.
TWO.
Munich…all of it – I didn’t know what to expect of this place but man did it blow me away. Bike tour in the rain, crazy beer hall experience with litre-sized beers and then a club that actually let us in (without paying cover) the way we were dressed. Blam!
THREE.
The little moments – The inside jokes and the nonsense are what it’s all about. I’m sure everyone’s got these personal times that just made the whole thing much more enjoyable.
FOUR.
McLovin – I had a guy on my tour that very much resembled McLovin from Superbad. I didn’t see it until it was pointed out on Day 2, I believe. Felt like I was in some mixture of Eurotrip and McLovin Goes To Europe.
FIVE.
Having a day song – Every day on the bus started with the same song. Looking back I’m glad we had that, which has very much come to represent the tour and the experience. It helps that I like Sweetness by Jimmy Eat World.
SIX.
The absolute debauchery – Man, I didn’t even get the craziest of the bunch but I sure did let loose. Oh to have been on this tour when I was younger…haha.
SEVEN.
Dave (tour manager) and Paul (driver) – I have nothing to compare them to, but I’m sure there are much worse people in this world that could have ended up as our guides during this trek. They treated ME well, so they’re on my list. Dave has a wealth of knowledge and Paul put in some hardcore driving hours and still remained patient.
EIGHT.
Seeing so many sights – I saw so many things along this trip that it’s hard to even keep track. In 10 days I saw things that could have been fake, as far as I knew. So that’s pretty awesome.
NINE.
Paris – The 2 days on tour were pretty nice, since I had been looking forward to Paris (despite not having much of a voice). But as some of you may know I spent 3 days after the tour, courtesy of a certain someone, and THOSE were absolutely magical for me.
TEN.
She – last but not least comes the one thing that completely took me by surprise about this trip. If not for her, I would have certainly left the tour with a different impression, and not experienced Paris the way I would have wanted to. She gave me the time of my life, that will not be forgotten.
