The funny side of life

Here I am back in Australia! It has been about a month and a half since I landed on this vast land and not a day goes by where I don't reminisce about my life in Europe. However, I must admit that with work and this thing we call 'life', my memories are starting to fade. I am just grateful that I kept a diary and took thousands of photos. It takes me back to that moment in time where I had no need to worry about bills, car repayments, my health fund etc.

The pessimist in me worries that I will never travel over to Europe again. The now stronger optimistic me knows it is possible and that this time when I go over, I will get paid for it and greet my U.K connections with open arms! Now on every holiday there is bound to be some funny moments. Let me tell you, I had a lot of them. Some of them involve alcohol (actually most do!). I'm sure you can decide which ones they are. Below are some of my funniest moments as a globetrotter during 2010:


* Driving around our Shamrocker bus in Southern Ireland we descended upon a windy, narrow stretch of road to find sheep grazing on the lush, green grass. Suddenly, a sheep 'jumped' off the cliff. At first we thought it had jumped into the lake, but soon discovered there was another level that we didn't see. This sheep was nicknamed 'The suicidal sheep'.

* Crusing the Nile on the felucca allowed us to see Egypt as it should be seen. One night after drinks it was time for dinner. The felucca captains bought out some fried chicken. You should have seen the Australians dive for that chicken like it was KFC, McDonalds and Pizza Hut all in one. Talk about grease attack! Somehow I mananged to secure the last few remaining pieces. To this day, my Egyptian friends say I stole their chicken.

* Egypt again. We had a bonfire one night which involved dancing and singing, Egyptian style. I made my way back and stepped onto what I thought was my felucca. I lay down only to soon realise it wasn't mine, got off and then walked along a 30cm wide plank to the right felucca. This is with copious amounts of vodka in my system. I then proceeded to try and take blankets off my fellow travellers as it was quite cold. One of my captains was awoken with what I thought was a hiss of, "Ziggy, I need a blanket!". Needless to say I wasn't quiet at all as those on the felucca told me the next morning. We all had a good laugh.

*Bonjour! Paris -the city of love! Our bus driver, who we thought was calm and placid, decided to take us around The Arc de Triomf at a high speed. It just so happens that no insurance company will insure this roundabout as it is so busy. Being timid passengers we asked for another round. In the meantime we had the song 'Lady Marmalade' blaring over the loud speakers of the Topdeck bus.It later turned out that we took this experience and placed it on our souvenir T shirts and jumpers. Just imagine a bus going around the monument and on it are people sticking out their head and spewing their guts out.

* Another funny moment takes place in Krakow, Poland. We had a social gathering the night before we were due to visit the Wieliczka Salt Mine . Being the social person I am I couldn't say no to some drinks. Did I pay for it the next day! Here I was stuck hundreds of metres underground in what is meant one amazing architecture and I am busting to go to the toilet (serves me right for not going to the toilet before entering the mine and walking down hundreds of stairs!). Anway instead of admiring the mine, all I can think of is how can I escape to some corner and relieve myself. Luckily for me we came across some toilets about an hour into our tour. Phew!

* Laturbrunnen, Switzerland is scenic. The second night of the tour meant that people were getting to know each other. We mingled with the locals and were soon taught this strange nail game. Conveniently for us it was right next to the bar! I will describe this game as best as I can. In the centre is a wooden stump around waist high. Nails are then slightly placed in the stump. You then pick up what is meant to be a hammer (only this one is rectangular in shape and is hollow which means you only have about 3mm of actual hitting surface around the edge of the hammer) and try to hit the nail so it goes all the way down. It becomes funnier when there are more than two people and those who lose have to buy the others some home made brew or shots.

*Amsterdam is beautiful and just happened to be our last stop of our 24 day tour around Europe. Our cruise of 'all you can drink' ended up outside one of the local night clubs. We staggered in and continued to party into the wee hours of the morning. A group of us walked along the pebbly streets of Amsterdam in desperate search of our hostel. A taxi driver then told us we were only a few blocks away. Not my fault all the streets look the same!

As you can imagine these are only some of my funny and most memorable moments. I will add more as I remember them.

What are some of your funniest holiday moments?