Hi there! How are you all doing? The past few months have been crazy for me. I have been travelling way too much, be it different countries, cities in India or say within Bombay itself! But I am trying my best to share my beautiful experiences, long journeys and amazing stories with you guys. So here’s my final Contiki post for you.
I’m glad that I have this blog; it’s more like a dairy that I share with you all. I’m sure after a couple of months or even years when I’d read this post I’ll be smiling, overwhelmed & this would just make me feel so good!
So let’s start with this one! :D
After Venice, our next stop was Switzerland! This trip was all about exploring more places in a short period of time and Switzerland was no different. We made the most out of it; went up the Mt. Stanserhorn; up into the clouds, saw bunny rabbits along the way and there were a bit of a snowball fights as well! People went hiking; we drank hot chocolate and went back down the mountain to the center of Lucerne, saw how Swiss army knives and watches were made and went on a cruise at a beautiful lake in Lucerne. YES! We did all sorts of things!
The hotel we were staying at was one of the coolest and most interesting one. It was a jail! Well everyone did manage to break out of this one and party hard! Haha! Literally, we had some club hopping scenes there. What fun!
DAY 6 - Outfit Details:
Top - H&M
Sweater Kimono - KOOVS
Bottoms - Arabellaa
Shoes - Forever21
In the morning, we escaped from the jail and left for Paris... Ahaaan! My favourite city, the Fashion Capital! Although I was feeling sad about the fact that it was the last stop and the journey was coming to an end, I was excited to be in the Fashion Capital again! Paris was indeed a lovely experience. We reached our hotel in the evening, had an early dinner & headed for our Paris night tour!
Paris has its own magic at night! The city of lights is indeed magical. Everyone was excited to visit the Eiffel tower and go on the top of it but as I had already been there once, I didn't want to spend my time waiting in the queue to get to the top. So I decided to roam around & just experience the city by myself. As I was wandering, I wanted to ask someone to click a picture of me in front of the tower; well when in Paris, how can you NOT get a picture with the Eiffel tower? So I asked these two girls who were busy clicking theirs, and OMG we became friends! I'm not even joking... I met Chloe and Sophie who were from Toulouse! I feel I always end up meeting people who share the same vibe as mine! They spoke French, but we could still understand and talk to each other in English, like we understood the context we were talking about. They found me attractive and I found them to be so much fun. They were the sweetest ever, my phone’s battery had died and I was alone, just Imagine, what would I have done if I never met them?! They also let me use Snapchat from one of their phones! That's like so sweeeeet! And the best part was both of them loved fashion & boom! This couldn't get better! It was perfect! We spent like 2 hours together. Literally, I felt like I had known them for ages! We had coffee & got to know each other even with difference of languages, which was one of my best memories of the trip! I'm still in touch with them, isn't that awesome?! What if I did go to the top of the tower, what if? Everything happens for a reason, it does indeed! I believe in it so much! Saying goodbye was just not easy, I literally had tears!
From Switzerland to Paris...
DAY 7 - Outfit Details:
Jacket - AKIRA
Trench coat - AKIRA
Bottoms - SR Store
Shoes - Adidas Originals
We were in Paris just for two days making the next day was our last day in Paris! Ahaaan. Do I really have to talk about this? I'm already feeling nostalgic & I want all those moments back!! We started off with our group picture at a perfect location, in front of the tower! Ahaaan. So memorable! We then headed for some shopping at the City Centre. Oh yes, you have to shop when in Paris! After some shopping, we had some macaroons, coffee & pasta! That afternoon was just lovely. Everyone did his or her own thing and I was hanging out with Datonna, we definitely had a blast there.
In the evening many were attending the Moulin Rouge, but since I had already watched it the last time I was here, I decided to skip that. Accompanying me were my roommate Heather and a few others who skipped the show as well. We were dropped at the Rouge & we had some time to explore the city till everybody was back from the show. We went all the way to the top to this beautifully stunning church, the Sacre Coeur church...OMG! What do I say; I literally don't have words to describe my experience there. We caught a magical view of Paris; we had Nutella crepes, walked the streets and then enjoyed some live music gig from the localities there. Sitting up the stairs, with some amazing performance from the crowd with a mesmerizing view & getting to see the breathtaking sunset... I'm just so grateful to have had experience something like that. We then headed for dinner, sat at one of the cafes, good music and good food! Post dinner we reunited with the others at a disco tech right next to the Moulin Rouge, this was arranged by Contiki! Our last night... I didn't even Snapchat or click any pictures because I was busy having fun! Right from a live band to DJ, I danced to all of it all night long! I came back to the hotel at around 3:30 am, with Jeff and Steff and we were laughing throughout the way. Haha! That night though! The whole party was all about thanking everyone and giving the tightest hugs! I slept for an hour, got up and packed my bags as I had a morning flight. I said bye to whoever was leaving in the morning; many extended their trip and were heading to London. I was leaving my room, and Heather- the best roommate I could have ever had, was with me throughout and was okay with the mess I usually created everywhere! Haha! I miss her. And not forgetting, I knew I was going to miss Megs a lot! I still think about her everyday as she literally inspired me so much, she thought me how to deal with situations in a positive way & to enjoy each and every moment & feel it!
DAY 8 - Outfit Details:
Top - ONLY
Jacket - Arabellaa
Denims - H&M
Thigh high socks - F21
Shoes - F21
Outfit Details:
Dress - KOOVS
Trench coat - H&M
Shoes - F21
Bag- F21
It was indeed hard to leave. When I finally boarded my flight, reality hit me that it was over...time flies...but it's a journey I'm always going to remember & life goes on :)
My favourite part of this Contiki journey was meeting each and every beautiful soul. Everybody I met left a mark on my life, right from getting lost together to laughing until our stomachs hurt. I'm so happy that I met such a great group of people.
Jumping on to the couch every morning and seeing smiling faces was indeed a wonderful experience... Listening to our anthem song that Megs made sure played every morning, and it's still stuck in my head. When I listen to it now, I definitely think about my Contiki journey. In future when I visit different cities where I have my Contiki family spread across, I hope I get to see each one of them. I appreciate Megs and Lazlo for everything they did for us in the whole journey! So grateful to have met them without which this journey wouldn't have been as good as it was! The youthfulness in this Contiki journey is something that I would never forget, more than anything it was all about living the present moment & enjoying every bit of it. Not once did I miss home or felt like “why am I here?” or got any negative vibes from anyone. I was grateful for every moment!
Talking about the travel, and stay, everything was smooth & there's nothing I'd complain about. Thank you Contiki for giving me one of the best experiences of my life ever! And guess whaaaaat! I really can't wait to go on another Contiki journey soon! I also believe we all should experience something like this, take a break from work, make friends, come out of our comfort zone and experience life to the fullest! AND JUST BE YOU! You’ll meet people who are different from you, people who are like-minded but do things different or may be you will meet someone who is exactly like you. And somewhere in the middle of everything, you learn more about yourself and where you stand! :') #noregrets
Day 9 - Back to the Bay...
If you haven’t read my previous posts with Contiki yet, you can have a look here – PART 1 (My first post has all the details of the trip) following PART 2.
For any queries you can contact the contiki team contact@contiki.com.