Bar fights, mountain bikes, and flying

Boy, did I need a full night’s sleep!! I missed breakfast again, but grabbed an apple on the way out the door and met the others next door at the place they kept the bikes! Yay for mountain biking – Yay! For an hour and a half went ascended at a slow incline until we reached the top! The view from the top of the Austrian mountains was incredible. There was a fast river running through the middle, the mountains were beyond green, and I was continually scared of following off. However, I managed to stay either ahead or behind the group where I didn’t feel like anyone could knock me off or bother me . Which was kind of nice, it was beautiful and the kind of moment where being alone was good. We headed down the mountains very quickly which was kind of scary, but was fun! I had no idea I was afraid of going down-hill fast, because the hills in Tulsa are totally not as steep as I thought. At the bottom of the mountain a barbecue picnic was waiting. Coleslaw, sausage, and baked potato – my dad and Andrea would have been in heaven lol.
The moment I had been dreading excitedly (you know what I mean) had come. I was about to jump off a mountain. I went back to Haus Lucas and unloaded all my pictures onto my computer in case I dropped my camera when I jumped. I tied 12 hair rubber bands to my camera and rapped them around my wrist and fingers as a precaution – if I was going to jump off a mountain, it was going to be well documented. I made the tour manager, the bus driver, Dana, Jess who works at Haus Lucas, and everyone in the van on the way there promise me that I wouldn’t die. At the site, an old Austrian guy walked up to me with two huge backpacks and was like, “Wanna go with me?” I felt like an old guy was maybe not as likely to kill me as a young guy and asked him how well he handled blond girls who were really scared to jump off a mountain. He said Amanda, you will be fine, and I believed him. I put on one of the backpacks and went up the ski lift with another girl from my group and her old instructor.
At the top – you could see NOTHING past the edge of the mountain – fog had rolled in and you could not see the trees below you at all. I am not sure if this was good or bad, but I guessed bad and decided I would jump anyway. My old instructor guy harnessed me in, and let me grab, push and pull on each carabineer. Since I could not get any of the equipment to give no matter how hard a pushed, I decided maybe it would be okay. He gave me a carabineer to attach my camera to my harness which was SO nice and helpful. He said okay Amanda – when I say run, you run. So the bright orange parachute went up and I ran like my life depended on it while dragging my instructor down the mountain while my heart like pounded out of my chest until I was flying. I was like “OMG OMG OMGOMG AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” And the wind picked us up high high high in the air. We went through several minutes of clouds until we could see the whole world under us. I, of course, cried. Not like a scared cry, but an OMG I can’t believe I am actually doing this, IT IS SO AMAZING and I was so lucky to be doing it cry. We glided around like birds – up and down and back and forth forever. My feet dangled below with the tiny village under us, mountains and lakes everywhere. It was beyond the most amazing thing I had ever seen. Then he was like, okay Amanda, have you heard of the roller coaster. “Yes, I don’t want to” and he said, “Okay, I will start spinning and doing tricks and you decided which way we go and how fast and went to stop” and I said, “Okay!” and we spun through the air in crazy loops and turns and spins and I thought I might die, but I loved it. He let me say which way to go and when to stop and did in fact handle blond girls afraid of dying very well. He told me to put my feet up and we slowly landed on our bottoms (we each had back packs on that made our bottoms cushy) in a huge field.

That night, there were many rounds of schnapps floating around for Schnappy Happy Hour. The World Cup was on and everyone was in generally good spirits. Dana spent wine on my dress :*( but Jess from Haus Lucas (love her) took me into the kitchen and poured white vinegar all over it AND when I pulled it out of my bag three weeks alter in America - the wine was gone. Amazing!

So I changed quickly and went to The Silver Bullet. Just imagine, 34 young people in a slightly abandoned ski village in middle of Austria at the only bar. My next post has a moment where I explain how wrong this is and how much I hate Contiki - look for it! :)

I played pool, danced, and everyone took turns signing the American, Australian, and Canadian flags (everyone is from those places, besides Cam – he’s from South Africa and he’s white – who knew?) that were on the ceiling.

It was actually a great night. . . but it seemed that some ugly-on-the-inside trashy woman aren’t happy unless they make others feel really badly.

So the group members are going to fulfill some sort of tradition by jugging Smirnoff Ices together and this lady, we'll call her WT, comes to tell Dana, Kate (love her!) and I to buy ours and Dana and I are like, oh that’s okay, we don’t want anything else and she comes back with 4 Smirnoff Ices.

I said, “Awe, thank you so much!”

WT said, “Don’t say thank you – say you’re sorry!”

Confused, I said, “What do you mean?”

And exclaimed, “For slamming my leg in the door today when we were getting in the van.”

"I was in the front row by myself and you were in the third row – how could that have happened?”

She replied, “it doesn’t matter Amanda – just apologize.” Which are words she said to me throughout the next twenty minutes of our conversation.

“Okay I’m really sorry if that happened. I didn't realize."

Later, I was sitting watching individuals dance and make mockeries of themselves when WT came up to me and I said, “You really hurt my leg today.”

I said, “I’d really like to understand what you mean. How did my door touch your leg while I was in the front seat by myself?”

She said, “it doesn’t matter Amanda, Dana told you that you hurt me and you shrugged it off.”

Then I remembered that when we were getting out of the van after paragliding – Dana said, “Hey – some lady back there said you shut the door on her.”

I was like “No, not me – I was in the front by myself. No one else got out my door.”

SERIOUSLY this woman who is twice my age is trying to fight with me in a bar? About nothing?

I explained that I had honestly just not know what Dana was talking about or who she could have meant because of my being alone in the front, but that I was really sorry if I hurt her. She continued on and on and on about how I drew blood from her leg.

The woman could not explain how I could have hurt her but decided that this was a good time to tell me "the group's" thoughts on me.

I am apparently:
self absorbed
self centered
obnoxious
and too educated

Oh and I believe I can treat people badly because I'm going to grad school.

Needless to say, I left. Others came outside and told me what a bitch WT was. She really is VERY VERY WT.

The worst part was: She hit a sore spot! I know I have really horrible spacial awareness, but I honestly don’t see a lot of what’s going on around me. It’s always been that way – in junior high, I supposedly sat next to people I don’t remember seeing. So this is a deep rooted issue of me knowing I seem self absorbed, wanting to not seem that way – and always trying to be aware and perceptive. That’s the long way of saying that she hit such a soft spot. I LOVE PEOPLE – I love helping people and being around people and getting to know people and trying to figure out people – I hate that I seem selfish. ANYWAYS so the bitch made me cry, but only like three tears.

When I came back in - Dana was fighting like the New Yorker she is. "Listen - I didn't know what your name was. Amanda didn't know what I was talking about. Your name is whatever I want it to be." She then spouted out a string of names all unrelated to this woman's.

I said I was leaving and I was done with her. She said, "Done with me, done with me?" like a WT girl ready for a bar fight. SO GROSS!

Dana jumped in and said, “What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you even here! You are twice my age and on this trip??!?!" It was mean and wrong, but she stood up for her friend. And that's always honorable.

----Dana! You are my home-girl :)-----

So, back at the cabin, I was paying 1 euro for 10 minutes to write a quick email to my man-friend about the night’s events when home-woman approached me.

I told her I didn't want to talk and she told me that we would talk whenever she wanted. I told her to go bed.

So White Trash. WT. WT. WT.

Germany to Austria!!!

Day 7
When someone said Contiki paid for us to rent bikes in Munich, I was beyond thrilled. . . but, of course, the biking was a guided-biking-tour! I HATE GUIDED TOURS!! I don’t want to have to stand still and hear about things that don’t matter to my life. Nevertheless, our guide was an Australia guy who cussed a lot and was adequately entertaining. The biking wasn’t intense and I didn’t sweat, but it might still count as aerobic. That is one AMAZING thing about the cities we have been to – biking is beyond an accepted form of transportation. Business men, women in skirts, old people – everyone bikes to get around in regular clothes. There has been biking trails on the road or on the side walk of every single major street in Paris, London, and Munich. . . but this was my first time to get a chance to ride one.
The group followed the tour guide from statue to statue and finally to the nudist park. HILARIOUS – from the elderly to the newborn, everyone was naked. I have no idea how this is acceptable, but I will prove it with pictures. Anyways, on the other side of this park, was a little outdoor kitchen that served the only things one can find in Germany to consume: meat and beer. Dana and I ordered chicken wings, chicken schnitzel, and fries to split and I got what is considered a small beer which was absolutely a 2XL beer in America. It was disgusting, but I had to embrace it – I was in Germany for possibly the only time ever.

After a few hours of free time, we headed to Austria!

FIRST STOP: SWAVARSKI CRYSTAL WORLD! This was an amazing experience. The museum was filled with modern, ludicrous exhibits made out of CRYSTAL! It was kind of like being in a crazy dream. Amazing. There countless hallways, staircases, mazes, movies, and other exhibits to explore. Each were beautiful and a little crazy. I loved it.

That night, we stayed in a very small village with just a few roads and a church in the middle. Upon arrival, I ran to find an internet café. As I walked into a bland room with hard chairs that resembled our coffee shops in no way, and said hello and everyone jumped over one another to see who was speaking English. It was strange. Know what else is strange? People keep asking me if I’m from Australia – we sound nothing like Australians or Brits, but I guess English is English to Europeans. But in real life, to us, it’s so very different. My Australian roommate and I can never understand each other – I always have to think of what she means before I can reply to anything she says to me. "Heaps" or "loads" means "a lot". "Keen" means to want to. "Yeeeaaa" is said every few seconds kind of like saying, "ummm". I love it and it’s fun, but we are so much more different in speech than I would have imagined, but anyways, I can understand how English could be English when you’re in Austria. I paid 1 Euro per 10 minutes of internet time, wrote some emails, and cried! I had been in five countries in seven days and was exhausted.

We stayed at Haus Lucas which is like a Ski Cabin Hotel that Contiki contracts out for the summer. Apparently, Hopfgarten is the number one skiing destination in Europe in the winter. This was summer, however, and in the summer Contiki takes over the town. They contract out hotels and hostels for people on their tours to stay in and the town is basically abandoned. It feels plastic to see Europe this way. [When the people working at the hotel, in the hotel bar, and giving the bike tour work for Contiki and the owner of the only bar in town is a former Contiki tour manager. . . you just have to say REALLY?!) Anyways, on more positive notes, that the village was beautiful and peaceful – and I was exhausted. I needed a holiday from my holiday and this was a place to take a break


I got back in time for dinner and Schnappy Happy hour! Dana and I went to explore Hopfgarten with the Lou brothers, Howie (our bus driver), and Brendan. Dana and I left everyone behind to run into O2 Dance Party. When you see a sign that says dance party, you have to go see. Dana gets this kind of thing - which is probably why we're friends. So we ran down two flights of stairs into a dark blue room with disco lights, jumped in the middle of everyone, dance for one song, and left.

We spent some time at a bar next door and headed to bed :) I wish I loved the Contiki experience more, but it honestly does not matter - I love Europe enough to make up for any negative about one certain part of it.

Day 6 - Germany Wormany

I made it to breakfast for the first time the morning of day 6. . . I had had a slumber party with Dana and her roomie. Because of this, I went to bed earlier and woke up on time. Yay! This girl and I handle each other so well. It’s hilarious – I feel like I don’t have to hide anything from her. She is a tough New Yorker and can handle what I really think – and she dishes it out – she does not put up with my drama. I’m really glad I have her on this trip. We stayed up talking about life, but when it was time for bed, she made me stop reorganizing my suitcase and go to bed. Love her!
This was the second day of riding on the coach for the majority of the day. I ran up and down the hotel stairs as much as possible when I had the opportunity last night, but dear Father God, I need to go running! lol
After a few hours on the coach, we stopped in the country of Liechtenstein for lunch. I wandered and around by myself for a bit, because sometimes, you just have to be alone. I hadn’t decided what to eat yet, but figured I’d find something – I went to shops with chocolate and other cute Swiss things, but nothing amazing. While walking, I began talking to a girl who spoke English (I always feel safer talking to random girls than guys – way less likely to get raped and die lol) and found out she was born in Liechtenstein, but grew up in Canada and now went to school in England. She was so much fun! She gave me free stamps for postcards and asked for my facebook! Now I have a friend in the most random country. Hilarious – while looking for a post office – I walked into a big restaurant with class doors and discovered it was a SUSHI PLACE! HALELUJAH! So of course, I ordered!. Wonderful.
Within an hour, I was on the German Autobahn, a highway without speed limits. It was quite an adventure. I was excited to get to Munich, but had possibly never been so tired in my life. Naps on the coach only sort of help. Anyways, our hotel was new – yay! It was by far the prettiest place we had stayed – modern to the point of having a mini-bar and a wall of huge glass windows. The bathroom was huge and clean and I was a happy girl. When we got into town, I decided I wanted to find the fresh fruit market. I had to find an ATM before I could buy something there and no one really wanted to do this, so I told the other’s I’d find them later. If someone else wants to do something I don’t want to do, I feel no need to make it deep - I’d rather just go do what I want. Now mom and dad, I know you are wondering why I keep going out alone, but I promise it doesn’t get dark until ten in any of these places. Plus, Munich is well populated and safe. There are always tons of other people around me AND I have a pink taser. I really am fine. Not any more dangerous than walking around Sand Springs. . .
Anyways. . . so while walking through Munich, I found an ATM, a sandwich shop, and a fresh fruit market. The guy at the sandwich shop was thrilled to practice his English, but the mean ladies at the fruit markets were so typical American-hating Germans. . . they did not like it when I asked questions or did not know what I wanted. Apparently in German, indecision is rude. Anyways - I did get lost for a bit, but during met some people from another tour and sat down at their dinner with them for awhile. Then within a few right turns, found my way to a ginormous beer hall where the rest of the group was. They were eating huge chicken legs and drinking out of 2 liter pitchers of beer. Hilarious. I wish I could tell you the name of the beer hall, but Germans put so many damn syllables in every single word. It’s like they take regular words then they add stein-en-huas-en-stein to the end of it. Anyways, it is actually the beer hall where Hitler began preaching to the Germans. I can’t help but feel that they should have torn it down or something. . . I understand it’s history, but really crappy history. Anyways, so the entire group was like on their third huge pitcher of beer lol so I ordered one and played silly drinking games like Never Have I Ever and Would You Rather. Afterward, we ran into a Austrian bachelor party who picked one girl up over the heads of the boys and it was silly and hilarious. When I said I was from America they shouted, “PAMALA ANDERSON!!” And then they chanted PAMALA! PAMALA. . . lol it was strange, but funny.
We were once again like a massive group of mindless sheep wandering slowly through the streets. No one would listen to anyone and too many people were trying to lead – so we split up again. Dana, Rosa and I found a circle of pubs around this big tower and hung out there for awhile while the group found a club that was some sort of VIP only that they couldn’t get into because of a World Cup party. Doing what sounds fun to me keeps working out for me. :) Love my life and my trip :)

Day five - Swissness

Milee, my fun Australian roommate woke me by shouting, “OMG the bus leaves in five minutes again.” Lol This was the second day I slept until five minutes to go accidentally (it took me five days to be accustomed to the time change/waking up so early). So I threw things in my suitcase, quickly decided what should go in the small suitcase that I couldn't have back until Florence, strapped my suitcases together, and ran. When I got to the bus, the door had just closed.
But – they opened it for me and I walked in. . . The bus was silent for at least three hours as we all slept. The gas station that we stopped at had the most disgusting apple I had ever had in my life. And it cost like four Euros. Between the fried food the first night and Europe’s love for things made with bleached flour – I have been searching for healthier foods. I found a 2 euro orange to eat and fell back asleep on the bus. At the next stop – I stumbled upon a SALAD BAR – HEAVEN REJOICE - I made a delicious chicken green leaf salad with olive oil for dressing, purchased a bowl of grapes, and a bowl of cold delicious green beans. YAY! To reward myself – I had crème brulee (who knows when I’ll be in France again?).
In the coach, we slowly approached the Swiss Alps. Little clusters of houses with a white steeple churches in the centers were spread across the country side with lakes speckled between them. The vast mountains created a stunning backdrop for each village. We arrived in Lucerne around 5 p.m. I opted to miss dinner to shower, but arrived in the dining room in time to see a plate of white rice with with thick gravy and chicken. At least it wasn’t fried. I ate enough to make it through the next few hours. To my enjoyment, it was delightfully warm in Switzerland. It was the first time on the trip that I was able to wear a dress comfortably – Yay! We walked through the tiny village to a boat and took a cruise though the Alps. This time – the cruise passed my standards for an excursion. I danced around and took pictures with the group. The setting was beautiful. The buildings are tall and brightly colored, the water is clear, and mountains spread in each and every direction. It was stunning. It has to be the most amazing quaint village in the world. Dana, love her – A LOT, had been begging me to partake in some Swiss fondue. She, determined to get along with all members of the group, invited everyone. As sweet as this was, it was completely impractical. Trekking with 32 individuals down the streets of Lucerne made me hate my life - only because everything took 20 times longer than it had to. I felt like I was on another guided tour.
I ran into a tiny restaurant decorated in cow print (tacky in Oklahoma – adorable in Lucerne) when I saw fondue pot on each table. The cute blond woman working there agreed to let us eat there and Dana and I sat down, but EVERYONE ELSE KEPT WALKING. Dana, still determined to be part of the group, convinced me to follow and we explored a little bit more. I explained to her that maybe some people wanted to just see the sights while we wanted to experience the culture and that we could not do anything about that . . . and that I just had to do what would make this trip special to me.
Back at the cute little cow-themed restaurant (Swiss people are very cute – there really do put bells on their cows) – the cute blond, blue eyed Swiss woman stayed open late to serve us. We ordered two HUGE pots of fondue: a mixture of cheese and spices and a dark chocolate – AMAZING! We were given all sorts of breads and fruit and went CRAZY eating it. . . I felt a little concerned with the cute woman brought us spoons to scrap the bowl with, but I went for it. While completely stuffed, we decided to order one more cheese. Delicious. This time she only brought white bread. . . but I went for it. Yum.
((Back at the hotel, some of the others said they paid 40 Swiss Franks to sit on the water and have a small pot of fondue. . . Dana and I paid 14 (the woman discounted it for us) per ginormous pot. For me, it paid to wonder off the beaten path where no one speaks your language and everyone eats really amazing food. They were happy – we were happy – all was well. As my mom says, sometimes you have to please yourself. ))

Day Four - falling in love

I’ve tried not to let on – but at this point, I hadn’t really loved Paris yet. The people were rude, the city was dirty, and the Eiffel Tower is a really hideous color. . .
Day 4, however, changed everything. It started out lame with a Contiki planned a tour for us through a perfume factory. Boring and nauseating. . . I stood outside in a courtyard and looked around until Dana was ready to go. She promised we’d see the whole city together so my group of four set out for Montmartre in search of starving artists and the best view of the city – we found both! We took pictures with the entire city behind us (we climbed a hundred million stairs) and stumbled upon painters, shops, and cafes. It was really great. I checked menus at a few cafes and picked a restaurant where one could get two courses for 12 euro! Amazing. The four of us sat at our little table and while the other three consumed their French Onion soup I decided to see if I could find a red beret . . . I peeked around the corner and saw the others were still eating the soup and decided I had time to rummage through paintings that had been created by the artists in the square. I thought if I find one black and white painting of the Eiffel Tower with a little red in it – that will be the one! Four of five hundred paintings later, I found one! I purchased it with the money that I found in an letter from this boy I know named Drew Kropff..  Drew wrote me a note to open in each and every country. I have loved it – but I honestly have no patience. It’s so hard to wait to open the next one!!! Anyways, the painting is all black and white except for one red tree – it goes with the theme Little One (Andrea) and I have going in our room and I love it. THANK YOU DREW!!! While looking at my pretty new painting, talking with locals in the courtyard, and seeing the entire city behind me. . . I fell in love. It really is an amazing city . . . they say it’s the city of love, lights, glitz, and glamour, and it very well may be. . . but for me it’s city of cobblestone roads, beautiful clothing, architecture, and people watching. Anyways, I was so glad I was there - it just took me a minute.
I sat back down at our table, had a coffee and finally relaxed. I had Salmon with veggies – it was delicious. I ordered the fruit salad for desert and despite all the cheap Contiki food and attractions – I was a pretty happy girl. Later, it started raining and Dana and Cameron headed back to the hotel, but Rose and I bought umbrellas and continued on. We walked down Champs-Élysées toward Arc de Triomphe . . . it was beautiful. Rodeo Drive aint got nothing on Champs-Élysées. While walking a group of very attractive, possibly gay men in matching t-shirts and umbrellas began talking to me. They asked if they could kiss me on the each side of the cheek (how they kiss there) while big movie cameras recorded it. And then in really bad English, the supposed producer asked my permission to be on the French news. SAY WHAT?!?!?! So, he interviewed me and recorded me with the gay guys and it was hilarious. lol I still have no idea what I may or may not be on the news for. Gay pride!?? LOVE MY LIFE.
That night, I took a chance and paid 115 Euro to go to the oldest French Cabrera. We posed in front of the Moulin Rouge while the fan blew under all of us. It was just like Marilyn Monroe – except I think we did a better job of keeping our dresses down. At the Cabrera show all the skinny French girls danced around with their saggy boobs showing and Dana, the couple from New Orleans, and I discussed life. We had limitless wine and enjoyed steak dinners. Totally worth the money.
So one of the people Dana and I met in London had apparently been begging his tour manager to find Dana’s tour. He said that they were soul mates and had to see her again – but we did not know this. . . we were told that the people on that tour had asked for us and were like whatever, let’s go! So we met them at a pub down the street from the Moulin Rouge and the boy proceeded to get my advice on how to marry Dana. Hilarous. I met tons of other great people and had a fantastic time (except for a girl who may or may not have broken my camera - keep reading for the latest lol). HOWEVER – Dana and I decided to get back on the fan and it was so much harder to keep our dresses down this time – lol it was silly. Luckily, no one was around and it will just be a hilarious memory between the two of us. We took a cab home that night and I fell asleep in my little black dress, exhausted.

Day 3 - Paris part deux

Day 3
I was once again pulling my belongings behind me on a cobblestone sidewalk except this time it was worse – 7 am in the rain! I arrived at the hotel in which we were having weight in around 7:30 in a bad mood, ready to fight. When I walked up to my tour manager she let me know that even though it was “wrong” for them to make an exception for just one person (WHAT?) that I was allowed to bring both my bags. I said that was fantastic and thanked them. Amen and amen.
We traveled through the countryside to the English Channel. I saw the beautiful white cliffs of Dover and Dana and I grabbed food and met as many people as possible. I met two cute quiet girls from Houston, a couple from New Orleans, several people from Australia including my roomie, a cute blonde former psych major now grad student. There is an South African guy, a girl from Cali, a few couples, a brother and sister, two brothers – there are 34 of us traveling together, but there were people from several other tours on the ferry.
I was a little bummed to be a part of a group, especially considering the fact that I was having SO much fun doing my own thing. . . but I was attempting to go with it. The tour manager is cute, blonde and peppy, and she really loves her job. The driver is a chill older dude. So thank God for that. . . Dana was hoping for two hot, young guys but I think we’ll have a good set up.
We arrived in Paris in the early evening and were told we had 20 minutes to be down for dinner and ready for our cruise – TOO MUCH STRUCTURE!!! UGH – so I showered quickly and went to dinner. THE FOOD WAS DISGUSTING – fried chicken, French fries, and everything covered in think brown gravy. I had so had it with Contiki at this point. . . I went to the balcony and took pictures of the view from the dining area of the hotel. To make things worse, I locked my key in the room and the French woman was NOT happy to have to let me in – LIKE IT’S SO INCONVIENT TO HAVE TO DO YOUR JOB?! AHHH! This contributed to my frustrating. Upon entering Paris, we did an hour tour on the coach to see the layout of the city and was just beyond tired of feeling like a tourist. I wanted to put on a cute dress, and go get lost amongst the Parisian cafes and fabulously dressed people. The “cruise” around Paris was a 6 Euro tourist trap that Contiki so graciously paid for us to take?!?! One flat boat of cheap orange seats and a lady giving us the history of random pointless things. . . I decided to take control.
After the “cruise”I found a local working the tour and asked were to go in Paris to get away from the tourists. I begged Dana to go explore with me and announced to the bus that anyone who felt adventurous could come – Rose and Cameron jumped off and the four of us set out into the town. We wandered down streets and squares until I saw an alley with bright Christmas lights stung over the top. It was perfect. We found a cute café full of people and sat down. Our waiter had spent a year in England and knew our language! YAY! It was wonderful. I took a chance and ordered a Manhattan. It knocked the socks of any American Manhattan I’ve had. So delicious. It came with a straw, a glow stick and a marshmallow in it. Lol Hilarous. Dana made plans to meet Cameron in South Africa later this year while Rose, who has a degree in social work, and I talked about research and nonprofits. The French waiter gave us a small French lesson and shared a pizza with us. We navigated the subway system while Dana made ridiculous games for us to pay. It was a great night. . . I feel that I just have to make sure I get the authentic experience that I am looking for a veer away from as much tourist crap as possible. It may be hard with Contiki, but I am sure I can work it out.