Hi all,
well i know that there WILL be other people on the tour besides myself and my cous (as its a guaranteed departure) just interested to see if anyone posting will be on it too?
our first contiki, we'll be arriving in Rome on 1st July...

Hey, I am booked into this tour as well. I am arriving in Rome on the 1st, flying from Athens to Rome. Drop me an E-mail if you like: spanconda@hotmail.com
So looking forward to this trip. I finish the Greek Island tour on the 30th June and head strait to Rome from Athens, this is my first contiki trip (I am doing 2 tours though!)

awesome! my cousin and i arrive in rome a day earlier (5.30 am!)hoping to rest up a little and get some extra sights in. My first contiki also- went to spain last year though (with my brother which sucked!) hoping to have a better time this year- we're not huge party girls, but still hoping to have a great time meeting new people!

I land in Rome at 7:25 in the evening. I have then arranged for a transfer from the airport to the motel. I have never been overseas, I am so excited about it all. I am sometimes a bit too much of a party animal but I know it will be awesome meeting everyone and having a blast over there.

yeah, luckily we arranged transfers to the hotel in rome also- i think its quite a bit out from the airport, so taxi not the best option, but getting to Barajas in Madrid shouldnt be too much of a hassle as the metro goes straight there. My one bit of advice would be to try and get the language basics down-just even a yes no, please thankyou, hello- makes a difference with the locals!

I am in the process of learning basic greek, italian and spanish. I had heard they the locals love it if you have taken the time to learn the basics. So I thought I would show them the respect they deserve and learn it. I know I don't like it when tourists don't know the basic english!!

i know, huh? it really gets under my skin!- when i was in spain last year, my bro and i were in this shop and were talking to the shop keeper. Then this german tourist came in, and started talking to the shop keeper in german! the shop keeper was trying to tell him he didnt understand, and even tried talking to this german guy in english! but this ***** just cracked the ****s, yelled at him in german and stormed out! and the poor shop keeper was just like, oh well! i was fuming for him! anyway, the moral of my story is why im definately going to brush up on my Italian (and maybe French also!!) cant wait though, sounds like it will be an awesome trip! im hoping to head out to the catacombs in Rome (indiana jones style)- god i sound like a dork!

I hate it, I live on the border on NSW and Vic in Echuca and it is a huge tourist town. We get heaps come through and alot can't speak English!! I'm like, you come here at least learn the basics. I don't know what I want to see, everything, anything!! So how old are you and your cus??

i'm 22 (my name is stef) and my cousin (veronica) is 21, and its our first trip away together.- im the sort of person who can make the most of everything, so i'll probably get annoyed with people who complain about trivial things on the trip (hope not too many of them!)

(also- sorry about the slow reply, i work in a call centre and am emailing in between calls and meetings!)

also, have you spoken to anyone else here who is going on this trip? have you found any good trip reviews?

I haven't spoken to anyone else goin on this trip. I am 23 and seem to make the most out of everything so if people complain I think I will be with you. I understand what its like working in a call centre, I just finished working in one and Don't think I could go back.

my work's pretty awesome (as you can tell im not doing too much work!)been here for 2 1/2 years, been able to do some decent travelling at the same time- every call centre is diff i guess, its a shame you had such a bad experience (im guessing you probably worked for a phone company?)

How did you know I worked for a phone company?? Yeah I did work for AAPT. Couldn't go back to that. If you want to send me thru an E-mail, my e-mail address is spanconda@hotmail.com
What are you doing before/after the tour??

before tour (arriving in rome a day before, same hotel) will try and do some sightseeing that we wont cover on the tour, after- staying on in spain for a couple of weeks, got some relos i'll prob stay with. A few places i'd like to see that i didnt get to last year..

As you know I will be doing the Greek Island Hopping tour and then heading to Rome on the 1st of July. I am then thinking of heading up to Paris for a couple of days after this tour finishes and then over to London for a few weeks with a friend.