I am in love............with Valencia

You feel like the city is yours alone, even when there is people everywhere


Hundreds of little twisty cobblestoned streets that you can get lost in and find amazing little tapas bars or courtyards in unexpected places

Oranges and the scent of orange blossoms line the streets and 14km of gardens run through the city centre

The beach is a short bus ride away, full of happy, smiling, free people and feels like walking into a warm bath - where you can buy cold beer, a massage or an icecream

The church bells chime every hour and ancient ruins are housed in the city centre







People are warm, friendly - welcoming - not afraid to try their English or to make sure you understand their Spanish

I could see myself living here

Stupid questions people ask (and expect you to know the answer to....)

So how much will my bank in America charge me when I make ATM withdrawals? Gee I don't know, just let me phone them and find out

Can I take my umbrella on a plane? Might be an idea to ask an AIRLINE genius

Does this service stop have boiling water for my tea bags?

Is the overnight train to Portugal better than the other one? Well considering we offer a BUS service, I'm not going to know that much about trains am I.....

Isn't a photocopy of my passport enough for presentation at the border? Sure, the border guards are pretty relaxed

How much money do I need to withdraw for my next three days? Well that really depends, are you planning on taking me out for drinks while I think about it?!?!

Do these stairs go down? True story.

How do I get to my (non recommended, in the sticks, off the map) hostel? Heard of google maps buddy.....

Oh hi, I know its your day off but can you show me how to use a computer? Sure I can't think of anything I would rather do, after all, it is my job

What language do they speak in France? German. Obviously.

Is this bag yours? I'm not sure. What does it look like. Ummm it's red. Ok this is the only red bag so it must be yours? Ummm I don't know....

days on and days off

Prague Old Town Square

Days off in prague..........lovely Italian owners of the hostel bar plying us with free food and beer, big sleep in, massive thunder storm and lightning struck the hostel, pub crawl in the old town with 2 awesome passengers - vodka shots, beers, vodka redbull, jager shots, who knows what else........dancing like a crazy till 3.30am, finding the 5 level club but not being able to find our way up past the second level ha ha ha great night!

Another big sleep in and then back into the old town for the best goulash that i have found yet.........but as my Hungarian friend says, i havent yet been to Hungary

Had my first chucker on the bus on the way to Grunau............not impressed, i almost didnt let the 5 of them on as they were all obviously still wasted............luckily they took that hint at my "suggestion" to get off in Grunau instead of Salzburg that they were supposed to be heading to..........hopefully not the first of many........

Xavier in shock at the size of the free beer at Munich Wombats -
I mean this is the home of 1 litre steins!!

Days off in Munich were a nice change - i did NORMAL things, read my book, got a mani and a pedi yesterday and spent the whole day shopping today........not sure how my suitcase is going to do up now i have 2 more dresses and 2 more pairs of shoes (LOVE H&M!).........so i realised the other day that i have SEVEN pairs of shoes in my case. now NINE. maybe a bit ridiculous?!

Italy here i come!

What I do on my weekends

Lauterbrunnen: 2 days of fresh clean mountain air, hiking (yes, me, HIKING), cows with bells around their necks, schwarzwalderkirschtorte (black forest cake) and breathtaking views.

Raclette

Day 1: I took a cable car up to a little mountainside town with 2 colleagues who had both got a bit too excited at the bomb shelter (camping ground bar) the night before. 1 of them piked after 30 mins of walking and got the train! - and arived at the same time us the two of us that walked! Lunch (Raclette - traditional swiss dish - basically just cheese with things in, mmmmmmmm) in front of the mountains and then a nice stroll down before another cable car that cruised along before the ground disappeared and suddenly we were descending a huge cliff aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrggggggggghhhhhhhhh

Heading up to Schilltorn

Day 2: I took 4 cable cars up high in the Alps to Schilltorn and ate goulash soup in the revolving restaurant while i took in amazing views of mountains as far as i could see and checked out the James Bond movie that was filmed there. Back down to Stechelberg at the base to meet a new friend for a Stechelberg coffee - it's in the 1000 things to do before you die list - basically half coffee/half schnapps - awesome!!

Bruges: 1st night accidentally took 16 passengers to a famous little pub serving 12% beer and we all got told off for being too loud by angry locals. Ended up at a bikie bar called Crash having fire shots with a local. Day 2 unfortunately spent mainly in bed with only a short walk around the beautiful cobbled streets along the prettiest canals in search of hot chips with mayonaise and a coke

TV Tower view from Berlin apartment

Berlin: Wake up and smile at the fact that I am in our staff apartment right on Alexanderplatz. Spot of shopping, followed by a Hungarian feast (PROPER goulash, none of this fake German kind I am told) cooked up by my Hungarian driver Jo - amazing. Day 2 involved running into some passengers and taking them to one of the beach clubs along the river Spree.........afternoon beers in the sun, sand underfoot, deck chair reclined, watching boats float along..........yes please

Wachau Valley wine tour

Vienna: Day 1 went on a wine tour to the Wachau Valley - stunning Austrian countryside famous for its delicious white wine, a perfect 28 degree day spent riding through the vineyards, walking through gorgeous little towns and tasting wines, schnapps, chocolate and jams - heaven

Belvedere Palace

Then a day of culture planned tomorrow - watching the dancing Lepizzaner horses at the Spanish Riding School and visiting the Belvedere palace

Next month Prague and Munich!!

A day in the life of a tour guide



Augustiner deliciousness

Step 1 - shadow returning guide from Vienna to Munich to learn how its done. Feel safe in the knowledge that you have two more days of shadowing before you have to go it on your own

Step 2 - take passengers with you and other shadowing guides to Augustiner Beer Hall - its sociable to show them what a real stein looks like and how to order a pork knuckle


Step 3 - wake up at 7am with a *slight* headache and put on a pretty dress for a nice cruisy day shadowing on the coach

Step 4 - at 7.31am open door to hysterical guide who is supposed to be guiding the coach, find out her passport has been lost and you are now guiding the coach in 29 minutes


Augustiner happy times

Step 5 - FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUC%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So that was a baptism of fire!! I had 22 passengers, was completely unprepared, none of my equipment was charged, I wasn't quite sure how to turn the TV on for the movies and I had no idea how to authorise a credit card! Thank god for my lovely fellow shadowing guides, Carla and Xavier, and our awesome driver Matt, who helped me out and kept me calm!!!

I managed to fool them all into thinking I was a completely in control, calm and capable guide and even managed to sell a few things!

I have since guided from Venice to Rome, been told by a 20yo Aussie girl that for the first time, she found history interesting after my Rome spiel (thank you crazy emperors and JC) and then from Rome to Florence where I successfully dealt with 2 missing jetlagged Americans at our photo stop, a torrential downpour and a slight detour from our intended destination in Florence..............where myself and a shadowing guide got a bit too into the dinner and karaoke night that we took our passengers out on.........oops!!

Drive along the Cote d'Azur into Nice - an draw with the drive through the Swiss Alps to Lauterbrunnen for most beautiful

Then to Nice - the drive in along the Cote d'Azur past Monaco and Cap Ferrat is UNBELIEVABLE, i have already picked out my house - for a night (we have the best Vietnamese restaurant around the corner from the hostel - I never thought I would say this but I am sick of bread) and now in the heaven of Lauterbrunnen in the Swiss Alps - this place is like a fairytale - strolling through fields full of flowers with the cow bells tinkling and snow capped mountains RIGHT THERE.......its amazing!!!!

I LOVE THIS JOB!!!!!

I love Hamburg

St Chapelle

Must do's in Paris include the Fat Tire bike tour to Versailles - leisurely ride around the beautiful grounds, stop at the markets to pick up cheese, baguettes, dips and wine for a picnic lunch by the lake and a look inside to see where Marie Antoinette used to live - her room would definately do for me, I'll take it!

Monet's Waterlillies in L'Orangerie

A look inside the magnigicent Notre Dame cathedral, stand in the middle of a rainbow on a sunny day inside the stained glass wonderland of Saint Chapelle and take in Monet's stunning Waterlillies in L'Orangerie.

Cocktail hour at St Pauli beach club

Then NEVER take a Eurolines bus trip from Paris to Hamburg............16 hours of hell.............no paper or hand washing water in the on board toilet, no stops for toilets and only 2 stops for food.......7.45am to midnight......only redeeming feature was they started selling beer for €1,50 after the 9.30pm dinner stop.........random

Hamburg harbour

But definately visit Hamburg - it is so green and pretty - beach clubs on the harbour are a must on a beautiful sunny day, cocktails, sand, view of all the boats and deck chairs - perfect!!

I am officially a tour guide!

Best day in Venice ever

SNOW!!!

I am back in the land of the living......................i dont even know where to start........... the last 6 weeks have been some of the best and worst of my life!!!

The lack of sleep, overwhelming amount of info to learn, having every minute of your day planned and monitored, getting no privacy or space, never having enough time - having to choose beween peeing or eating...........

View over Salzburg

But then some really amazing things such as sitting at a mountain top castle in Salzburg with a view over the whole city and the Alps, a gorgeous sunny day wandering around in Venice (eating 5 serves of gelati - we were having a bit of a competition - i didn't win!), playing in the snow at Jungfraujoch Top of Europe in the Swiss Alps, riding a bike through a park in Barcelona with a guy playing spanish guitar, an amazing red sunrise over the Cote d'Azur ocean whilst driving past the stunning Monaco, sitting on the steps of the Sacre Couer with a view of all of Paris studying and watching the world go by all afternoon.............................

Family portrait

Come here little gypsy....

Then yesterday we were set free, I have checked into my OWN ROOM in paris, washed my whole suitcase of clothes, spoke to my mum for the first time in 6 weeks and met 3 of my fabulous new friends for a SENSATIONAL dinner in Paris.......just a stroll down the street from my hotel.......this is what I signed up for, NOW the fun can begin!!

Finished training and on top of the world (well, Europe)