Past Austria, now in Venice

Hello one and all!! That's right, I'm now in Venice. Austria was amazing. We arrived there a few days ago, and basically dropped off our stuff at the contiki camp and went off up into the mountains on a bike ride!! It was so beautiful!! It was like I was home again!! There were mountains!! Of course, their mountains are older and less peaky, and there are fields all over them for the cows, but still gorgeous. There was one part of the ride where we went through an evergreen forest and it was like I was back in BC!! So very happy, been missing Canada outdoors. We got to the top of one of the hills and had a barbecue lunch, some ice cream, then biked back down the hill. I rode into the tiny village we were by and took some pics, then went over to the trout fishing spot hoping to fish and have a good time. Never got to fishing though. Our bus driver and two of the guys from my bus were sitting there having some drinks, so I stopped to chat before fishing (if I had gone fishing, with a piece of wood and some line, and had caught anything, they would have cooked it right there for me, so very cool) and ended up chinwagging, sharing stories and stuff. It was so cool. And the one guy from my bus, Geoff, started buying us shots of shnapps. Now, shnapps in Austria is not like schnapps at home...it's basically moonshine distilled from random fruits and stuff. So we had some from apples, pears, apricots and...get this...pine cones!!! I must say, the pine cone was the best. Strange I know, but it was. After FOUR shots (this for a girl who doesn't drink at home) me and the two boys from the bus had to get back on our bikes (the ones we rode up the mountain we got to keep for the day to get around the town and to the trout farm or pool if we wanted, tres cool) and ride across the village to the contiki camp. I did really well, think my balance was better on the bike than when I was standing after the shots. Anyways, that night we had a beach party theme at the bar downstairs, everyone danced and had a good time. My buddy Geoff who was buying the shots got into a pink tutu and tights for the dance....icky....but funny as hell. I actually got to see stars last night too!! In the cities we're in you don't really get the chance to see a lot of stars or anything, so I got my stargazing fix last night. Yesterday morning we went white water rafting, it was amazing!! The Aussies were complaining about the water being cold, but they're just pansies...the water wasn't actually much colder than green lake!! lol!! I loved every minute of it. Then we drove here to Venice and camped out for the night. Lots of people got drunk again, but me Steph and Lynn had a quiet night knowing that tonight there are four contiki buses staying at the camp...it's going to be a karioke night, and it will probably go pretty late. I can't drink like the Aussie's, they are all pretty crazy when it comes to the alcohol. But I do have a social drink with them and then just enjoy the evenings and the dancing and singing and stuff. Very fun...think tomorrow (my birthday) they are going to try and get me drunk. They have yet to succeed in that. For a person who doesn't usually drink, I apparently have a surprisingly high tolerance for alcohol. Anyways, I know this has been kind of a long ranting blog, so I'll cut it off. Tomorrow we leave for Rome, that will be beautiful too. Plus, it's my birthday!! Yay!! Love and miss you all!!!

xox Mel
PS-Mom, I finally found something souvenir-like for you!! Whoo hooo!!
PPS-Loved the post from Mindy!! Of course I will throw the ball for her when I get back!! Miss my dog a lot...there are so many dogs here in Venice, it's cute!!