Sunday May 10, 2009 - London, England

Sunday May 10, 2009

Hello London, England.

This is my first time ever in London, England.

This is me at 6:00am in London, which is about midnight-1am in Ottawa.

This is my first glimpse of the Underground railway system called "The Tube"

When you go on the Tube, you hear an automatic voice say "Mind the Gap" in the British Accent. Hilarious!! so I had to take a picture ;)

This is me at 6:00am on The Tube heading to my hotel in London, England.

I got zero sleep on the plane, so I look a little excited to be off the plane and in London!

...even though I'm way past over tired.

Here are some fabulous fellow Contiki travellers that I met on the Tube heading to the same hotel I was staying at!

Jessica and Cassie!! adorable girls!

Both from Saskatchewan! :) and both were just as exhausted as I was! This is outside the Tube station where I hotel was...

They did not go on the same tour that I was on, but they were on a budget tour as well - I think the 29 day tour?

This is Tim and Carrie. Also fellow Contiki mates. These boys were from Australia and had fabulous accents ;)

They were going on a three-weel tour with Contiki!

All of us were brand new contiki travellers. Exausted but really excited!

Russell Square is where our hotel was located.

The Royal National Hotel is where I stayed in my duration in London.

My trip was starting in London, but you don't see much of London. So I decided to take a few days and explore London!

The Royal Nation is a great hotel. I highly recommend it for anyone travelling in the UK. Its a little pricey, but its well worth it!

It's also where the Contiki Basement is located, where lots of young travellers go and start their trips :)



Hop-On/Hop-Off London Original tours!

One of my options for my London Explorer package with Contiki. Its an excellent way to view London. It's a little more expensive than going on the Tube to every tourist place. But the bus company offers a tour guide and its fun! A Double decker bus in London, England.

I had a great time!

Also, its handy for those who don't like to walk for hours on end, it is useful! :)





This is me for the first time on The Original Bus Tour in London, England.
it's probably close to 9-10am here. I'm way past over-tired. I'm so excited to finally be in London!

oh - what people have said that London is cold, dreary and rain all the time = All lies.
The weather on the first day was verrry windy, but very sunny and even a little warm :)
I even got some colour!! Europe tanning, here I come :)

I never found out what this place was called. I'm assuming it is a apartment building, hotel, or it might even me a museum. This is pretty close to my hotel in Russel Square. It might actually be The British Museum

** If you haven't read my blog on Pre-Travel tips, I suggest you go and do so;) I highly recommend buying a little notepad, and jotting down places names and dates - so much easier to blog/scrapbook about! ;) **

This is Jessica and Cassie on the hop-on/hop-off bus! Looking at the very handy maps of London!

You can spend 5 years in London and still not have a chance to see everything.

We were trying to see as much as possible in one day! not an easy task ;)

Michael Jackson "This is it" Show.

Advertisments were everywhere!

MJ fever was very much in affect!

I would have sold my soul to see him Live!

RIP MJ.

Again; this is why it is very handy to jot down names of places, especially the hundreds of thousands of museums, monuments, churches, etc.

I believe this is the Queens Stables in London, England.

This was one of the tour guides on the Hop-On/Hop-Off Original London Bus tour company!

He was a true Brit - sarcastic, dry-humour, very british accent! hilarious! I very much enjoyed his tour guide skills!

we rode on his bus until we reached Buckingham Palace!

Tia's European Adventure 2009 Saturday May 9, 2009 - Ottawa, ON

Saturday May 9, 2009 - Ottawa, ON

Today begins my European Adventure!

I am going on a 39-Day tour with Contiki :) My first big Europe trip - Solo.

I am currently all packed and ready to go. I am excited but also very nervous.

Not about travelling, because travel is a way of life for me, but just a little insecure about meeting all these new people for the first time!

I've met some of them on facebook, but its different in real life.

Once I'm in Europe, I'll be A-OK.

I'm just acting a little wonky "pre-flight jitters" Flying has always made me feel a little insecure. Probably all those years where I could get sick on the plane. Oh the embarassing years I will never live down from my sister and parents! Truthfully; it's been years since I've been sick on planes, BUT its always going to be a fear, I fear... but its one I refuse to claim me...

I leave at 6:30pm on Air Canada.

First stop - London, England.

I land in Heathrow Airport in London!

This is my parents house in the hallway! Saying good-bye to my house for over 2 months!

I'm on my way to the airport...

Here is me and my mom at the airport, just waiting. I'm going to miss my mom. I love travelling with her. She encouraged me from the very beginning to take this trip. She knows I love to travel. So this will be excellent opportunity for me :)

I am currently waiting at Gate 15 for my flight to Heathrow Airport in London, England.

Nervous but also getting very, very excited!

Weather in Ottawa is not great today... It's cold, wet, freezing rain, and no sun :(

I hope the flight will run smoothly. I hate turbulance...

There are drug dogs sniffing everyones carry-on package. Such cute dogs, but the concept is a little scary. Not that I would EVER bring drugs on a plane, but still drug dogs is a little intense.

6:20pm

I am currently on the plane! It is a HUGE International Charter Plane with Air Canada.

For some reason, I was not expecting my flight to be packed. Its not especially high season for travel destinations. Yet, the flight is full. Wierd...

I am always so envious when I see First Class/Business Class seats!

<< check out these seats!

They are placed in a diagonal position and they have full ability to lie on back like a bed, with feet rests and pretty big sized TV screens and lots of leg room :)

I'll never forget one of my big travel trips was with one of my very good friends, Vicky, she is over 6 feet tall! We went on a high school trip to Europe. On one of our flights home, Vicky and I scored seats where the emergency doors are places. Therefore; a ton of leg room. Vicky was in heaven!

These seats are wicked!

I landed a window seat :)

So I was able to take some pretty cool pictures :)

Good-Bye Ottawa, Ontario!

Ariel View of Ottawa from the plane!

<= I watched the sunset and sunrise... very pretty!

I have no idea what time it was here....

I tried to sleep... I don't sleep on planes. No matter how tired I am...

I did watch several movies though :) Wrote in my travel journal and just tried to stay excited instead of nervous :)

I watched Yes Man!, Bolt and Inkheart.

The flight dinner was very typical dinner. Beef and Veggies - wasn't overly awful. Ever since I was little, I was always a little apprehensive about eating dinner on planes, but I had a little. So no worries.

The flight went alright, not a lot of turbulance! which is a +10 in my books :)

For the remainder of the flight, I made sure I had all travel documents for my travels, doubled checked everything I had with me...

I had to take this picture - Sunrise on the plane, very cool cloud picture!

Welcome to London, England.

Sunday May 10, 2009

This was the view I saw before we landed...

6:00am.

How it all started...

Where to begin...

It all started with me wanting to travel all my life (literally) I was more than content to travel and not go to school... obviously my parents disagreed with that and I ended up going to university and still to this day, not completely sure what I want to do...

What I do know is, I love to travel. Live and Breath my love for Travel<3

I love everything about it.

The planning, the anxiety and excitment knowing your trip is coming closer and closer.

The uncertainty, the research of the places and things to do in new places.

The sweaty-palm feeling of going somewhere new and exciting.

I love all of it. Infact; I live for it.

Since 2004, I have been wanting to go to Australia. Unfortunately; Australia is a little out of my reach at the moment. So I wanted to go somewhere a little closer.

I love Europe. I've been a few times with family and school throughout my years growing up. I really wanted to go back. Back to my Italian roots and perhaps see a little of Ireland and Scotland.

I started planning in about July 2008, although I've been wanting to go on a big trip years before that...

Unfortunately; not very many of my friends are big travellers for many reasons - cannot afford it, don't like to travel all that much, prefers staying in Canada, and finally - cannot afford it.

So it seemed like I was on my own, in July - I was excited.

I was feeling like I was hitting a snag or a rutt and I really wanted to make sure that I didn't hit the rutt in full-swing.

So I started looking backpacking options. I have known quite a few people who have backpacked throughout the years and it was something I most definitely wanted to try.

But, I can admit it on here, I was scared. I mean I love to travel but I will admit I was a bit of a wuss and I didn't want to backpack on my own. Especially hearing some of the worse-for-wear stories about young, naive girls who backpack on their own.

I am most definitely not saying that I would not have played it extremely safe and cautious, but I was worried about getting lost, losing money, being sucked in a scam, the list can go on and on...

So after a little more research and lots of strong persuasions from my mother, the trusty and detailed travel agent, she persuaded me to look into Contiki.

**Note: for any new travellers out there - I cannot describe how much I fully recommend Contiki!! Please check out their website: http://www.contiki.com/ **

I look into Contiki Europe travel packages, and I decide that if I'm going to go to Europe. I might as well see as much as I possibly can. Not saying that I will not go back to Europe (because I most definitely will) but I wanted to know sure that I see as much as I possible can in the short amount of time I had between school and my summer job.

What was also fantastic about Contiki.com - I managed to have met several of my travel buddies months before the trip even started. Contiki has excellent forums for people who are new to travelling in Europe and those who are travelling solo have a chance to meet people before the trip begins so you are not quite so nervous before going on the trip.

So I finally choose a Contiki Package :)

Before I go into great detail about my trip, here are some good pre-trip planning tips :)

1. Save Save Save!

... and not just money either. Save toothbrushes, tooth paste, washing detergent, soap, deodorant, tissues, shampoo and conditioner, I highly, highly recommend purchasing those quick-dry towels that do not soak up water and get musty and moldy, they are thin with special microfibres that dry you fast and you can pack and re-pack and it never gets gross on you. Stock up on underwear, socks, bras (for girls), etc. The more you have prepared the less you have to worry about spending money at the last minute or worse - when your there and its twice the price. Also, start stocking up on snacks. Snacks in your home town are MUCH cheaper than snacks you will purchase in Europe - trust me on this. There can be looong bus rides/train rides in Europe - save yourself the extra Euros on fun stuff like gifts, clothes, alcohol ;)

2. Purchase as much Euros and Pounds as possible before landing in Europe.

Currency exchange is where a large part of the tourist money takes place.

Save yourself the grief of discovering the 14% exchange rate from Canadian to Euros or Australia to Pounds, or American to Euros, etc. Purchase as much in your home town before you leave because chances are it will be much more affordable then when your there!!!

**Note: Euros and Pounds make really great Birthday/Christmas presents from family before you go! also means you can save a little more as well for your trip of a lifetime!

3. Backpacking or Organized Tour

This was my biggest challenge! Like I said, I have always wanted to travel and backpack, but from what I've heard from friends personal experiences and from researching other peoples travel blogs and such, I wasn't sure backpacking alone was the best option for me. It was quite a bit more money than I had to budget. The one great thing about organized tour (from personal experience) you never have to worry about not having a place to sleep if a hostel is overbooked or camp grounds are full. You will also always have breakfast included and most dinners. Lunch and the optional excursions are at your own costs and the other little things are at your own costs. Which is why I went more with the organized tour - Contiki - than with backpacking.

Plus going the route of the organized tour gives you a better idea on how much to spend each day and how much things cost.

Although if you backpack, you learn very early on that you need to stay on a strict budget, and to spend your money wisely. Especially if you have only so much money to spend.

Travelling is an incredible opportunity that I highly encourage all to do, but it is definitely a little pricey on the bank account :)

Still most definitely worth it :-)

4. http://www.contiki.com

Contiki is such an awesome travel company! They are young, lively, very organized, have awesome staff and you meet some of the most incredible people on your travels!!

There are lots of other European Travel Companies, that I have not yet had the opportunity to experience, but I was extremely satisified with Contiki!

Contiki has a great reputation! The website is also a great asset and also very easy to use. The forums are also an excellent way to find out / advertise what trip you are taking and if there is anyone else who is going on the same tour. It is where I met several of my contiki travel friends and from there, we added eachother to facebook and then from there msn and one of my travel mates created a facebook group for our tour :)

5. Travel Agent

I highly suggest booking a Contiki tour through a travel agent. Travel agents are excellent sources of information. You should also ask and see if they have any experience with booking organized tours and not only that if they have any personal experience with Contiki or other travel companies. They usually can give you the best and most accurate information.

Also- keep in mind, everyone has different travel experiences. The whole point of this is to make sure YOU have your own experience and make you own trip the trip of a lifetime!! :)

6. Research

I've had some friends who went travelling literally bought a ticket to London, England and then just worked their way from there. With little to no research and/or preparation. Which can be all fine and dandy, but one of my favourite parts to trip planning is researching the sights to see and what the tourists do and what the locals have to offer.

So start googling, check out travel blogs, speak to friends/family members who've travelled. Ask questions, maybe even start a travel journal with everything you've researched and that way you can start looking into day trips/excursions. You can also use the things you've researched a way to set a day by day budget on your travel expenses.

7. A picture is worth a thousand words.

How true is that quote. 6 months ago I went on the trip of a lifetime. To this day, I have been looking and re-looking at my Europe pictures and just re-living the moment.

A good quality camera is exactly what you should purchase before going on your trip.

I do not recommend you purchase a camera a day before you leave. I would give it atleast 1 month to learn the camera and how to use it comfortably. Ex. It would be good thing to know the battery life, what kind of pictures it can take, etc.

Video cameras are excellent to use, but they are also clunky and often can be heavy at times.

I also recommend that you get a few memory cards (make sure you test them all before you travel to make sure they all work correctly and will not corrupt on you.

Be cautious of purchasing a memory card worth more than 10 GB, I've heard horror stories that people who've travelled bought one large memory card, and filled the whole card. When they got home, and went to upload them on the computer... nothing. Memory Card Corrupted.

10GB worth of pictures... kaput... gone.forever.

So please be very careful.

I actually travelled with some smart people who brought a USB stick with them and would upload their pictures throughout the trip so the memory card didn't get too full... this only really worked because we had a few people on our tour that had a mini-sized laptop, so they were able to use it to upload pictures.

Myself, personally, I bought six 4GB memory cards and used them all! I even had to purchase another memory card when I was in Europe I was taking SOO many pictures (which was the point for me :)

Also, I highly recommend going to the dollarstore and buying a small little note bad - something small and light. You go to soo many museums, churchs, galleries, cities, countries that its handy to have a small little notebook with you during the day so you can jot down any names you will most likely forget 10 min after hearing it. I tried to take pictures of the signs and postings, but even then you forget! Just a slight suggestion ;) Video cameras are also very handy for remembering names of things and places and people!

I hope my little tid bit of advice helps :)

Live.Laugh.Love.Travel<3