Part two begins in the small town of Avignon, lets just go right ahead and skip the travelling part of the day - no one wants to hear about that. Avignon is a small picturesque and medieval town in South-East France, located right on the Rhone river.
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| Rhone River |
Our hostel was just on the other side of the river, about a five minute walk to the town. Shortly after arriving we were taken on a walking tour of the town, thats how small the town is - you can walk through the sites in under an hour. The town has a lot of history to it, but for me it was the architecture that I loved the most. Unlike anything you'd ever find in Australia.
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| Crossing the bridge into the town |
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| Carousel in the town square |
After our walking tour a few of us chose to grab some supplies and have a picnic dinner by the bridge to watch the sunset. Good decision.
Avignon was very much a pit stop on along the way to Barcelona, in the town for less than 24 hours. We left for Barcelona first thing in the morning. An hour into our trip we stopped off at the beautiful Pont Du Gard. This structure is truly incredible, built in first century AD to transport water. It's built without concrete, built at a slight incline so water would flow from point to point and is structured with jigsaw like pieces - still standing strong centuries later.
We arrived to the bustling city of Barcelona in the late afternoon, on arrival we jumped off the bus at the complex Sagrada Familia building, I can't get over how long this building has taken to construct, construction began in 1882!! You could spend hours discovering different parts to the building and thats just the outside!
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| Try to take a photo without the construction in it - I dare you!! |
We then took a bus tour of the city, stopping off right at the top with a great view of the city.
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| The birds there so you know its real |
Tonight would be my last night with my Topdeck friends, so sad to say goodbye. The night began with Paella and HUUUGE glasses of Sangria, followed by a traditional flamenco show. Lets just say the night flowed on from here much to celebrate with this being my last night on tour. At around 1.30am panic hit as I realised my phone was gone from my bag and suddenly the fun had gone from my night.
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| The straws were approximately half a metre long |
I rose the next morning praying that my stolen phone was just a dream. No such luck. It was gone and along with it came my lousy cold and a deathly hangover. Day 2 Barcelona - not so fun. I spent the day walking to places we visited the night before hoping they'd have my phone. No luck.
I know in the grand scheme of things a stolen phone isn't the end of the world, but no longer in the safety of my trusty tour guide and tour friends I did feel a little lost. My new hostel was close to the beach so I spent some time on the sand catching some rays, hopeful that this would cure my cold.
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| Navigating the metro system - who needs a phone anyway? |
On my last day in Barcelona I went back to La Rambla (the main strip) and ate at the markets, followed by a spot of shopping. For dinner - a tapas meal before heading to the magic fountain to watch the picturesque water show. There's a lot happening in Barcelona but after my phone was stolen I couldn't help constantly feeling unsafe. I was excited to meet my friends in Vienna and relax in our apartment.
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| Entrance to the market |
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| Fresh goodies |
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| Coconut ice cream - yummmm |
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| Lunch is served |
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| On the way to the fountain - the building in the back used to be a bull fighting arena, now converted to a shopping mall. |
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| The magic fountain, those little white dots everywhere isn't my camera playing up thats camera flashes - people everywhere!!! |
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| Grand finale!!! |
An uneventful flight to Vienna, followed by waiting at the arrivals gate for Brooke and Nikki - like a Mother waiting for her kids to return home. I was so happy to see them both. A 20 minute ride from the airport and we arrived at our stunning apartment - thanks Nikki!!!
After grabbing some much needed lunch we went to get some supplies; wine, cheese, nibbles to prepare for a quiet night in our luxury hideaways robes, in our luxury apartment. Bliss!!
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| The living/dinning area - my room just across the way |
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| The master suite, bathroom behind. |
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| Nibbles!! |
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| Plush robes |
The following day we took a Big Bus tour around the town - surprisingly small, but rich in history. An art lover would spend weeks traipsing all the stunning galleries and museums on offer, we were happy with the view from the outside, enjoying the Vienna sunshine.
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| Opera house |
Following our bus ride we grabbed a late lunch and took a look at the shops on the main street.
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| The main street |
That evening we found a restaurant that would cater to Brooke's gluten-free schnitzel craving. While mine did contain gluten it was undoubtedly the best schnitzel I've had in all my life - high praise.
Being Saturday night, we tried to find some bars and nightlife to enjoy - sadly it seemed there was not a lot going on, but we had fun sipping cocktails along the way.
The-not-so-big night out seemed to trigger my cold again (I know I'm like a broken record with this cold) and I knew my body was telling me to stay in and rest today. Brooke headed home today so myself and Nikki spent the day binge watching trashy television and taking turns using the massive bath tub. Before we knew it it was dinner time, so we went in search of steak. One things for sure, all the food we ate in Vienna was so delicious!!
The next morning Nikki and I went for a walk around Mozart's Gardens and the surrounds - stunning. It was then time to head to the airport, farewell to Vienna, farewell to my European adventure and back to living the London life.
So happy I can share my adventure with you all. Thanks to all my Topdeck friends for sharing your pics with me (and the world). Here's to planning my next getaway and getting healthy again!! xo
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