EuroTrip: From Venice to Austria

We woke up pretty hungover from the mistake of Amnesia the night before. It was the second and last time I had drank on the trip. It was a crazy early day again where we would then spend the day on the bus traveling.

I was ready though because Austria was really one of the top reasons that I had booked this trip. Phil and I had also signed up to go whitewater rafting and we were both really looking forward to doing that as a couple.

(google images)

I am not sure how neither of us took photos, but I have none from Austria. We drove for a long time before we got off the bus to whitewater raft. You cram yourself into a wet suit in a parking lot, carry your raft with your team and then listen to your guide give you a crash course in rafting. Then you got down to the river and jump in to feel the water. 

It is freezing. 

It is also the most delicious water you will ever taste. Picture the best bottled mountain water you have ever had and then multiply your like factor by ten. There is nothing like it, it's amazing. 

You then go back with your team to get your raft and begin a long hike to where you can begin. If you have a good guide then it becomes a lot of fun once you're on the river. Our's were Scottish guys that were hysterical. The one thing I found hard was when you jumped out of the raft or were thrown out. Getting back in is hard and they have to pull you up. Phil pulled me up so hard that I wound up flying into the boat, hurting my neck and landing in his crotch. Our guide promptly said, "I hope you guys are together 'cause you sure are now." Everyone laughed. I eventually was able to get up once Phil moved. I didn't get out of the raft again. 

You ride the river down, hitting some rapids and seeing some of the most beautiful scenery that you will ever see. It's over pretty quickly and then you have to get the raft and walk again to where you'll clean your wet suit and change back into your clothes. There's a place with WiFi and you can buy a pretty bland hot dog and Kraut soda which we did because it was our first of the trip. Both of which I could have done without in the end, but there really wouldn't be much of a chance to get it anywhere else. 

You stay in a Contiki property again. It's four to a room and they're bunkbeds. My bites began to get very bad here and after a sleepless night, I was really ready to kill someone. 

The next morning, it was pouring rain so paragliding was cancelled and there really wasn't much of anything to do. We did not do the bike ride and we were glad because that was when the storm started. The people who came back were miserable. 

I complained about my bites to Contiki again, but this time I went to on-site staff. There is a man there named Rob and he was THE BEST Contiki person I dealt with. He froze our sleeping bags and we had all of our clothes washed. He drove me into town where for 130 euros a doctor saw me and gave me medicine. We also got real blankets that night for our beds and I began to feel a lot better. 

See my later post about Contiki travel insurance to find out more about that rip-off. 

I got a good night of sleep and Phil really took care of me. He timed when I had to take my antibiotics, anti-histamines and would put lotion on every bite I had. I knew that Phil was the man I was going to marry before this, but it was this that made me realize I was very much right about it. They're was some crazy Contiki party here as well. I think it was a fluorescent party which we didn't go to. It seemed pretty lame. Everyone was beginning to feel burnt out by this leg of the trip. 

Phil and I spent time together and got ready for Germany and Switzerland. There really was not much to do in Tyrol other than the outdoorsy stuff that got cancelled or ruined with the rain. The town is beautiful and quant, but also closed early so there was not much to do here. 

Whitewater rafting though? Definitely worth it.