Contiki tour number one is now finished and we finally have time to write to you guys. We are currently in Amsterdam, but we'll start off by telling you about Venice. Venice is cool. We had to take a boat to get there, the water you travel through is pretty gross, there's tons of litter. We passed so many boats on the way too: cruise ships, motor boats and garbage boats. Once you get off the boat you are instantly attacked by pigeons. Our tour guide told us that they have ton and tons of them because the tourists come and feed them, apparently it's a cool thing to do. We personally think that pigeons smell really bad, are incredibly dirty and that there are way too many here. They are also kind of scary when there are lots (or as the aussies say: loads) so we try to stay away from them as much as possible.. which is not that easy of a task. There are flocks of pigeons everywhere in Europe, but there is a huge overload in Venice. Usually when there are heaps and heaps (another aussie word) of them in one place there is someone standing in the middle of them, with pigeons on their shoudlers, arms and hands... ssssooooo gross.
On a different note, Venice is a pretty city but there isn't lots to do. We were told that in the summer, there are so many tourists that you can barely walk around the city. The biggest attraction of Venice is that it is built on a marsh, it was built by some Italians a long long time ago as a refuge. They used tree trunks and buried the base of them deep below the water, then they did a lot of other things and eventually they had a city. Due to the fact that Venice is an island everything there is imported by boat, this makes it a really expensive place to live in. Venice is very old fashionned, all imporeted goods are delivered by men holding carriages on their backs or on their bikes. The streets are so small that it would be hard to transport many things in any other way.
Another thing Venice is known for is it's glass blowing trade. It takes an apprentice about 15 years to learn how to blow glass. It is a very dificult trade to get into, but an incredible one; glass blowing has been passed down from one Venetian to another for centuries. We got the chance to see a glass blowing demenstration, and its was amazing. In the time it would take us to make a peanut butter and jam sandwhich the man had made a vase. After the demonstration we got the chance to check out some of their incredible work, most of which was layered with a special coating which made the glass almost unbreakable. We then headed off souvenir shopping and found many beautiful masks along the way. When the masks were first made they were worn by royalty so they could gamble and have relations with prostitutes without being seen. One thing we found interesting was that prostitution was not illegal but that gambling was. Now adays, the masks are used for carnival celebrations and are e xtremely extravagant. The one last thing we had to do in Venice before leaving was go on a gondala of course. Unlike in the movies, the men paddling were not allowed to sing, however they did wear stripped shirts and hats! The ride was really nice and we shared a couple bottles a champagne with the rest of our boat. We'd say it was the best part of Venice! (obviously) After an amazing italian supper full of assorted pastas, cold cuts, soup, vegetables, seafood, gelati, wine of course and what felt like an endless amount of courses we were back on the boat and off. Next stop: Vienna Austria.