EU 13 - Mt Titlis (Swiss Alps)

From St Goar, we began the drive to the Mount Titlis, Switzerland. We passed by Lucerne to check out the Chapel Bridge. Lucerne is so quaint and romantic. The river was so aqua and clear with white swans swimming around. It was like something out of a postcard. We spent 2 hours in Lucerne, checked out the watches, chocolate stores and walked around. We then made the journey up to Mount Titlis. We arrived at a gondola (cable car) station and had to get our luggage onto a 6 person gondola to make it up the mountain. I'm deathly afraid of heights so it was an experience that I was not looking forward to. The Swiss alps were breathtaking. No photo can ever do it justice. We arrived at our hotel which was half way up the mountain, and it was the only hotel up there! The ski lodge was very modern and we found out that it was solely for our group. All the views, waterfalls, lakes and alps all to ourselves! If anyone was considering a contiki, I would most definitely recommend yes! I couldn't believe that this was all included in our tour, absolutely great accommodation. After getting to the hotel, we passed out and got ready for the next full on day in the snow and alps. 

Dan had decided to do bungee jumping in the middle of the alps. Me being me, I researched all the safety standards, the company's safety rating and so on - They passed ha-ha! He jumped off a gondola at 190 metres high in the middle of the Swiss Alps. Crazy! We have an awesome GoPro video of the whole jump which is so entertaining. After the adrenaline rush, we ventured to the top of the mountain at 3200m via a massive gondola and then a rotating gondola. I have never seen anything more beautiful than the glacier up there. I have never seen snow before so it was exciting! We had snowball fights , went tobogganing and were absolutely freezing! 

Onto fatshion.. I did not pack for the cold AT ALL so I had to wear three pairs of leggings and black pants in top and layers of tops to suffice! My outfit wasn't anything to document as it was merely for comfort and warmth!

Until next time..

Xoxo

Nadia 

EU 13 - Munich

Back to Deutschland! We arrived in Munich and the weather went sour - 13 degrees and raining! I did not pack appropriately for this trip - I only brought summer clothes so I was freezing my butt off! We braved the weather and did a bike tour around Munich called Mikes Bike Tours. I had the privlege of riding the cutest vintage bike (photos below). Lucky for us it stopped raining when we started so the tour was great! The guide was great in that he mixed humour with history that kept us on our toes. Munich has some wonderful mixture of architecture - they are so talented in mixing the old with the new. 

After a few hours of exercise on the bikes, we ventured straight onto the beer halls - the german way! The first beer hall was Hofbrauhaus house, the biggest and most popular. Drinking a litre of beer is VERY hard for me so it took me two hours, whilst dan had 2! We ate there and ate traditional German pork dishes - great food! It's amazing how many steins a waitperson can carry with one arm. The waiter definitely deserved their tip just for carrying ALL 9 drinks to our table. After a full meal and alcohol, it's so easy to feel sleepy. Surprisingly, we went to another two beer halls and then headed back to the hotel. The trip to Munich was short but sweet. 

Fatshion wise - nothing amazing as it needed to be comfortable and warm! I rocked jeans, peplum top, cardigan and massive scarf. 

We're travelling across Austria on our way to Venice tomorrow and passing by Innsbruck, Austria. 

Until then! 

Xoxo Nadia 

EU 13 - Amsterdam

Departing Amsterdam now... and I feel shattered. Experienced many many interesting things in Amsterdam. We travelled from Brussels to Amsterdam on the coach for the morning, then had the rest of the day to venture around Amsterdam. When I think of Amsterdam I automatically think of prostitution, drugs and bikes... That is everything it is and more! The city is so beautiful with the canals, lane streets and amazing architecture. Wish we had more time here but that was the point of doing a tour around Europe - we could see a snap shot of Europe and pick where we'd like to spend more time in the future. So after the crazy night, this morning we headed to where they produce clogs and cheese - the greatest combination! Soooo yummy and bonus is that we can actually bring cheese back with us (Thanks Australia!) 

Onto fatshion - I knew we were going to be walking around most of the day so planned a more comfortable outfit. I wore a floral peplum top and 7/8 black pants. The top is from Portmans and one of my favourites! The peplum is longer at the back so gives a flattering view of ma behind ha-ha! (Pictures below) I also ended up wearing the same thing out on the town. I just put my hair in a bun, chucked some hot pink lipstick on, and put a peplum jacket on - easy! (A picture of this outfit was not taken due to unforeseen circumstances... Ha-ha!) 

We're now on our way to St Goar on the Rhine Valley. Until tomorrow.. 

Xoxo Nadia 

(Follow me at Instagram.com/throwingacurveball for daily pics) 

EU 13 - Brussels

Today we started our infamous contiki tour around Europe and it has again, proven to be a great decision to choose contiki! All the people on the tour are great and a good laugh! We started bright and early at 6.45 and began our journey from London to Brussels. Our first partial stop was Dover to make our way to Calais across the English Channel on a ferry. 

I have a beautiful memory of Brussels as it was one of the only stops I remember when my family travelled Europe when I was younger. Brussels was exactly what I  remembered, so rich in culture and beauty. We entered the central square, emersed ourselves in the 17th century architecture, ate the shit out of Belgian waffles and mussels, and spent a few hours at the Delorium Emporium. They serve over 1000 types of beer, so Dan was in his element! We met the most interesting Danish guys in their 40s, who go on a 'boys' weekend every year and had ventured into Brussels for the weekend. We found out that they also home brew and are have just started their own beer! We exchanged stories and they bragged about how much Denmark loves Princess Mary - Go Australia! All in all, a great first day on our tour and we'll definitely be planning to spend more time in Belgium in the future. 

Onto fatshion now..

The night before contiki we found out that we needed a backpack and it was 7.00pm. (Why did I pack so much!!!!) Slight freak but we grabbed a cab to take us to Primark and... I found this beauty of a dress (pictured below) for a small £9 or $18 AUD. The pattern is a retro green and it would be great for work when I get back as well! 

As I write today, we are currently on the bus on the way to Amsterdam for a night. So excited to get a little wild! 

Also follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/throwingacurveball for more pics! 

Xoxo Nadia 

EU 13 - London

So we had an emotional departure from Portugal and farewelled my family for another two years. Our next stop was London! I've been to London a couple of times but have never really ventured around as I was with family, so I was especially excited to see what the city had to offer as I'd heard so many wonderful things! Usually I'm super organised and plan an entire schedule but this time - we did nothing. We have very scheduled lives and needed the holiday for a well deserved break so decided that we would go with the flow! It was most definitely the best decision we've made! We ended up accidentally venturing through all the touristy things within a day, leaving the rest of the time to wander through the suburbs. We hit up the Brick Lane sunday markets, Fullers Brewery, the Australian Embassy (to vote.. argh!), Lords cricket ground and watched the Book of Mormon musical. 

Now onto the best part - shopping! I'd heard so many good things about shopping and fashion here in London. I have to ask myself a number of questions when i shop as i tend to go overboard - 1. Can i get this at home? 2. Is it worth the price? 

Unfortunately, all the stores answered yes and no to questions 1 and 2. The prices were relative to what i find in Australia, only thing was that the exchange rate made everything double the price! A dress i bought in H&M in New York last year for $19 AUD was $46 AUD in London. Fair to say I was pretty bummed but nonetheless I still found some good buys: 

1. Floral dress featured below from Primark for £13 which is around $26 AUD. 

2. Geometric skirt from H&M for £19.99 around $40 AUD. 

All in all, London was lovely and we'd definitely return. We start our contiki tour around Central Europe tomorrow so I'll be blogging about each stop we take! 

Here are a few snaps of my outfits! 

Dress: Primark $26 

Skirt: Country Road $31 (Bought this 18 months ago and it's a size small! Love the stretch!) 

Jacket: Sussan $89.95 (My go-to item on this holiday as you can tell!) 

Pants: Sussan $50

Top: Seed $28

Jacket: Sussan $89.95

Dress: Gap $17 (Bought this in Vegas last year) 

Jacket: Sussan $89.95

Top: Witchery $14

Skirt: Kmart $15 

EU 13 - Portugal

Hiya All,

It's been a few weeks and I'm already behind in posting on my blog! So to catch up, I left Australia on the 22nd of August to visit my family in Portugal and travel around Europe until the end of September. 

My aim on this holiday is to document everything we do and what I wear, as I packed 23 kilos of outfits! 

So let's begin, the first stop - Portugal! 

Portugal was great, except for some drama but nevertheless, it was beautiful as usual. We stayed in my family town, Cortes, which is 3 hours out of Lisbon. It's a beautiful hillside town and at the time they were celebrating their annual festival. There were heaps of late late nights, cerveja, vinho and so much food! 

We swam in the dam in Algrave, drank a mitro of cerveja, ate snails and enjoyed the company of my boisterous and hilarious familia! 

Here are two of my outfits whilst in Portugal. 

1. Wore this comfy outfit whilst travelling around Lisbon. 

Dress - Cotton On $19.95

Necklace - Lovisa $7

2. Wore this at Pedrogo Pequena look out.

Dress - Asos $35

Jacket - Sussan $89.95

Dan and I are currently in London until the 5th of September. I'll be writing a post about London in the next few days! 

If you want to see pics of my outfits, follow me on Instagram.com/throwingacurveball 

Until next time,

Nadia xoxo