Italy

Ciao all,
I finally feel up for another entry, I've been a bit sick and stupid me only hung off on some antibiotics till last night after calling home stressing out! Sorry mum and dad for calling you at 4 in the morning last night!!!

Now where was I last?? France yes. Ok so after being in Paris, we headed for Chateau or Beaujolis....it's in a quaint little countryside which is full of vineyards. It's absolutely beautiful and peaceful. I had a great time here and did not want to leave. I also had a big night here.

The accommodation here is in an old building and I just happened to score a room with a view.

Now what did we do here? First night we did some wine tasting and saw how the wine was created. They make mainly reds and they are quite different to our reds in Australia...they only ferment their wine for 2 - 4 months and you can really tell. The wine is almost watery like but it still does a bit of damage if you drink a bottle by yourself! The first night though, we had a 'theme' party. We all had to dress up with started with 'p'. Now there were a lot of prostitutes, pimps etc. I was fairly boring and came as paparazzi. Now I did forget to mention about this wine they also create from the leftovers from the fermentation process. It's about 50 percent proof and is drank in shot format. Now, most people would know I like my shots!! A lot!! However, one of these and I had to go to bed!! I'd recommend trying it, however be warned one will do and be prepared with a drink in the other hand to wash it down with.

Ok, so this night wasn't big, however in the morning I still hadn't recovered from the drinks the night before and a picnic/walk had been planned to the 'top of the world'. It's up this huge, steep hill and takes only 45 minutes. However due to illness and being unfit AND getting lost two times, our group was the last to the top. We worked out that we had walked an extra 3.5+ kms up a steeper hill just by getting lost.

The view up the top was fantastic though and was well worth the trip up. Just to finish off with this, we just so happened to get lost on the way down and I had to use my fantastic french skills to talk to the locals, who in the end directed us to the local pub who could speak english and knew where we had to go.

Now it just so happened that I bought a bottle of wine for the picnic, but due to the heat and everything else, I couldn't drink it. However the bottle was uncorked for us and could not be taken into the bus the next day. So I had to drink it that night....so we all sat around in the arvo in front of the nice view and drank our wine before 9:30 (where we have to hit the cave - a pub underneath the building which is way cool). So when it was time to get up, I had one glass left and could not walk, same with everyone else. So we raced to the cave and danced the night away.

The next morning was difficult, however it's not the worst night. We did however have one of the longest trip and I sat by myself just in case.

This leads us to BARCELONA! Getting in the place looked really trashy with graffiti everywhere and we were warned to be very careful of our bags. I was getting disappointed with what it was looking like, however was still excited that the next day I would see Gaudi's Cathedral.

The next morning we started off with a bus tour that took us to Montjuic, a little castle at the top of the city to get some photos. On the way down, I got my first view of the cathedral and it was more amazing than I had ever imagined!

Next stop was Barcelona Stadium, yep it's just a stadium.

And after that...Gaudi's cathedral. We were given five minutes to snap photos and then get to the other side. Let's just say that my jaw was wide open in awe of this amazing building and I struggled to not stay there. However, I knew I would get back later.

We then got into the city and, really, I found it quite beautiful, however very busy and many beggars & gypsies. We did a gothic walk around the town which included a walk to a church surrounded by two primary schools. The church here was used to line up Christians and to shoot them during the war (I think I have this right)...over 300 people were killed here and the bullet holes prove it. It's a very creepy place which is only livened by the laughter and the playfulness of the kids in this little square around the fountain and church.

What else did I do this day? Well I did a little bit of shopping and I bought some jewellery! Yes, OMG!! I bought jewellery. But I won't bore you with this detail, however the jewellery, pearls especially are beautiful here.

Now my major thing here was of course Gaudi's cathedral, so I caught a train back there (the metro here is easy!!). Firstly, went through the museum and got to see some original pieces of Gaudi and see some of the new guy's crap new work. The reason I say this is that he has changed the style and the building doesn't really flow/ match.

However, it still was beautiful and I had to walk up the spires. This was I think is about 300+ steps and is very narrow AND scarey (especially coming down)... but the view is amazing and I recommend everyone to do it to the highest point. You get to see some of the amazing sculptural structures as well as see some amazing views of Barcelona!

Dinner here was an optional...we had vegetarian paella which I wasn't really impressed at. I don't think it's how it's meant to taste. Contiki, I think find a cheap option and sometimes you miss out on quality - don't get me wrong, it's still a great experience but sometimes shows and meals aren't what you expect. Same goes for the amateur show of the spanish flamenco. It was like a theatre restaurant. We were the only ones there and it was on a little stage with not great costumes. You could still get the whole gist, but you can tell it wasn't the real thing. I still was amazed though of the skill of the guys/ gals clapping and stomping - it is very romantic!!

Ok, that's it for now...I'm heading on a ferry tomorrow for Corfu. I can't wait as I'm pretty sick and need the rest before having some big days after....