Hi all,

Im sorry I havent had a chance to write a blog entry in awhile. I actually wrote one yesterday but accidentally deleted it...European computers are so crap. But hopefully I can remember most of it.

Since my last blog entry in Nice, France I have visited Italy and the Greek Island of Corfu. Its my 15th day on tour but feels so much longer as I have made so many close friends and experienced so much in such a short period of time. Im having so much fun, eating, drinking and partying lots and seeing so many sites. My only complaint is the long bus and ferry trips but I bought a packet of travel sickness tablets which have helped.

After Nice and Monaco we travelled up to Pisa to see the famous learning tower. We didnt stay long as theres not much to do in Pisa although I bought a fake Fendi handbag from some dodgy African man :) We then went to Florence for 2 nights which is my favourite city. I love the art, culture and feel to Florence. I saw the Petite Palace and Gardens and wandered around the streets. At night we had a traditional Tuscan 5 course meal where I bumped into Lisa Chapman by complete coincidence. She was dinning in the same restaurant with her tour. We were so excited to see each other we started squealing like kids in the restaurant. We had a good catch up and will see each other again in London. After dinner we went to "Electronic Space Disco" which is a really cheesy nightclub with lots of flashing lights and podiums. It was lots of fun as all of my tour was there. It was a Saturday night so there was lots of young Italians (the legal drinking age is 16). After lots of drinks and dancing I made I caught a cab back to the campsite in the early hours of the morning.

Following Florence we spent 3 nights in Rome. I had already seen most of the sites although it was good to experience Rome in Summer and in the tourist season where theres more atmosphere. On my second day in Rome I was feeling sick with the Contiki Flu which is going around so i stayed in and felt sorry for myself. After Rome we travelled down to Pompeii for a few hours. We did a walking tour but it poured with rain and so it was cut short. We then travelled to the coast of Italy to board an overnight ferry to Corfu. This was a bit of a challenge as I dont handle boats very well. But i dosed up on my travel sickness tablets and slept for the duration of it.

On arriving in Corfu at 430am! we drove to our hotel on the beach. Corfu is so beautiful, its a large Island and has beautiful beaches and fantastic weather. We had three full days in Corfu which was so relaxing after such a busy time travelling around France and Italy. On our first day we walked down to the beach then went out at night to a Greek dinner and dance.

The following day we went out on a boat for a tour and lunch. This also included watersports and I tried flyfishing. Basically this is large inflatable raft which you hang onto whilst the boat drags you up to 70kms an hour. It also goes up in the air about 20 metres which is terrifying. My arms are still recovering from holding on so tightly. I have some great photos which Ill post soon. Some of the others went jetskiing and parasailing. The tour took us to a few islands including skinny dipping island ;) and the coast of Corfu. That nigt we went to a Toga party with my tour and another tour. We got given bedsheets and we tried to make ourselves look as presentable as possible. One of the girls on tour actually made my toga look half decent with the help of a few carefully placed safety pins.

On our last day in Corfu we went to a beautiful beach which has caves dotted around its fringes. We went on a tour of these caves. Inside the water is a crystal clear blue and glows from the reflection of the sun. After our tour we felt inspired to hire some boats for the afternoon. I assummed that someone knew how to drive a boat but realised that no one did when the boys didnt know how to start or reverse it. The man who hired us the boats gave us odd looks but still let us take it out. The boys driving the boat almost crashed it and then didnt anchor it properly at a beach but despite a few events we had lots of fun. We visited a few secluded beaches and had a swim and sunbake.

Following Corfu we boarded a 24 hour ferry to Venice which was long and boring but I managed to catch up on som much needed sleep. On arrival we visited Lake Guada and Verona. Last night we had a party at the bar at our campsite. After only 3 cocktails I was extreemly drunk. In Europe they dont measure the alcohol and pour freely in your glass. One cocktail called a Attitude Adjuster had 4 types of alcohol and only ice. It certainly adjusted my attitude that night and I now dont remember most of the night. I have lots of bruises so I must of had fun! Apparently when i went back to my cabin I got confused and tried entering someone elses. I had forgotton my key so tried climbing through the bathroom window. As I was entering the person whos cabin it was came out to see why I was trying to get into his room! Apparently the front door was open the whole time so i didnt even need to climb through the window after all!

After last night I wasnt feeling so great but made myself go with the tour to Venice. Lets just say most of the day was spent curled up on a parkbench being sick. No more cocktails for me! Im actually writing this email tonight whilst everyone else is out partying. To make matters worse I lost my tour group today as so I missed out on my Gondola ride which Id already paid for.

Tomorrow we travel to Austria for 2 nights which Im looking forward to. The remaining countries on this tour I havent visited before and so everything will be new to me.

Thanks for all you emails and messages. keep them comming although it may take awhile to reply.

Love Sarah

xxoo