'And one... and three... Rome is there - look' with A. Lysakovsky

I am duplicating my review from the Accord website, because there are suspicions that he is too truthful to stay there for a long time.

================================================= ==============

Hello Flight 119! I leave my review according to the already proven scheme.

Leader: Arsen Lysakovsky. For the first time I come across situations when it is impossible to form a single opinion about the leader: to say that everything was terrible - no, it happened much worse; but for everything to be perfect - also categorically not. The main problem, it seems to me, was that Arsen constantly showed malevolence, arrogance and hostility towards all tourists. I do not know the reasons for this behavior, perhaps they are objective - perhaps he was used to more "respectable" tours (more expensive) or to larger groups (there were only 22 of us), and considered himself humiliated, forced to accompany a small group (especially not earn) in a heavy tour. However, a professional must remain a professional in any situation.

The fact that Arsene has at least the makings of an excellent leader is beyond doubt: he knows Polish and Italian well, which he demonstrated; speaks well enough; knows the route. So why not use your skills to the extent necessary?! Some fantastic UNWISHING was constantly felt. It seems like he is taking us somewhere for free, and we sat on our heads and legs hung down!

What exactly were the inconveniences associated with the leader:

1. Bringing information. Arsene REGULARLY did this at the most unfortunate moments. This has never happened before in my practice. Information about breakfast, internet, check-out time, etc. in the hotel the night before, at best, half of the group received, because Arsen did this not at the very beginning, when everyone was going to the reception, but after half of the tourists received the keys and lined up for the elevator with suitcases. Thank God that our group was small and fairly organized, everyone had breakfast in advance, got ready, came to the meeting place (there was a delay once, without any special consequences).

Another point, as already reported, is the constant misrepresentation of KEY information, which reached such proportions that it was quite possible to suspect malicious intent. This also applies to transport prices (which were checked with the next porter, and were immediately called to tourists with errors), and the time of fees (10-15 minutes difference - these are such trifles!), And the content and duration of the extra. excursions (and this is a direct interest \ earnings hand-la!)

2. Flight from tourists. Yes, yes, as ridiculous as it sounds. This, by the way, is one of the signs of social phobia, which should not be expected from a guide. Arsen several times tried to literally hide from the group "pursuing" him. For example, in Venice, when he "led" us to the supermarket - and in Venice you can get lost at once. As a result of its stunning pace through the crowds of foreign tourists, the group (which included elderly people) literally had to run, trying not to push any of the passers-by and not to lose sight of the completely inconspicuous Arsen disappearing around the next turn.

3. Rudeness. Oddly enough, this also took place, although it did not manifest itself in a "bazaar" manner. Literally, for all the reproaches (rather few and completely unpretentious) of tourists, there was only one excuse: "This is your free time, I am not obliged to show you anything / inform you / remind you / show you the way, place of shopping, food, WC". Yes, this is our free time, but a professional leader (and just a well-mannered person) is interested in maintaining the group in the initial number and composition. We do not have a circle of mutual assistance, so that some tourists follow the others - this is the duty of a special hired person - the leader of the group.

The extremely unsuccessful (to put it mildly) choice of places for dignity can also be attributed to the neglect of tourists. stops. Although, perhaps, this was done at the instigation of the drivers. Every leader should be aware that the san-pause provides not only for the relief of needs, but also for drinking and eating. But each time we stopped in places where there was only a toilet - that is, not even at gas stations, where at least coffee could be drunk, but simply at truck stops. During both night trips and long day trips, tourists were kept from hand to mouth: someone ate dry food stored from the store, and someone had to turn gray on a diet. At the same time, Arsen himself and the drivers regularly ate and drank coffee with meringues in front of the whole group. So, before moving to Rome at night, during dinner time, we were stopped at such a "small architectural form" for 10 minutes, where there was not even a coffee machine, and literally after 5 km the bus was refueled at a huge complex, where there were several shops, fast food and a couple of refills. Many that evening were hungry, because. did not capture anything from Nuremberg. It was even worse during the move to Krakow: tourists were not even able to buy a hot drink from 23:30 on August 22 to 18:00 on August 23, i.e. almost the whole day. At the same time, Arsene and the drivers fell for both cheeks. This could be explained by saving time - but where is there! During the mentioned night journey to Krakow, drivers spent 4 hours looking for a gas station with cheap fuel, stopping at every oncoming one and wasting a lot of time.

In short, I would not want to denigrate a person in absentia - I want to believe that the reason for such behavior is very serious and exceptional ...

Drivers: Leonid and Vladimir. Professionals, do not say anything. We were not late anywhere, but were delayed only because of the traffic situation, this is completely objective. Everything would be fine, but the driving style of one of them strained a little - of course, on a tour where every second matters, the "minibus style" is useful, but only up to a certain point. The same driver (we will not name names) sometimes allowed himself phrases that did not correspond to his position as an employee.

Bus: Mercedes, not old, but very small. The seats didn't slide apart - I think with a shudder about how we would have survived the night shifts if it wasn't for the opportunity for everyone to occupy a couple of chairs. There was no special cleaning during the trip, but you can’t say that it was directly dirty either.

Now the approximate timing by day.

Day 1. Lviv-Semyanovice.

Transit day, at the border for the first time in all my trips, they inspected luggage individually (but not too carefully, and only suitcases). We dined near Tarnów in Grossar. The hotel was around 10pm or something, not too late.

Day 2. Wroclaw-Chemnitz.

Upon arrival, an overview of Wroclaw (rather short, no more than 1.5 hours), immediately after it, an elective took place on about. Tumsky. The trip to Ksenzh did not take place, and there would not have been much time for it. The hotel on the outskirts of Chemnitz also arrived closer to 10 o'clock.

Day 3. Nuremberg.

Early rise and departure, at the entrance to the city it began to rain, periodically turning into a downpour and continued almost during the entire survey. Literally immediately after the end of the tour there was an elective in Bamberg, during which it also rained like a bucket. As it turned out, those who rode it could still rejoice, because. at this time, a real hurricane broke out in Nuremberg. The elective in Bamberg is very good, we got there by local "trains" - electric trains, about an hour one way. Only for the sake of the railway transfer is it worth visiting this elective))) The city itself somewhat did not justify the hopes for the "medieval", but it is very beautiful, nevertheless, "baroque".

The night crossing began around 9-10 pm, went smoothly.

Day 4. Rome.

At the entrance to the city (it was closer to noon) there was not a cloud in the sky. Immediately there was an elective to the Vatican (which, it seems, everyone signed up), but as soon as we left the Cathedral of St. Peter and were going to inspect the square of the same name, such a storm began with a thunderstorm, hurricane, hail, which I, perhaps, have not yet seen. Of course, the tour had to be interrupted for a good 1.5-2 hours, if not more. As a result, the elective remained unfinished (which I personally consider a robbery - for such money one could talk about the square even standing under the canopy of a souvenir shop). The sightseeing tour also turned out to be crumpled, despite the fact that the bad weather ended pretty soon. The unreasonable common sense spending of one ticket to travel two bus stops past some key attractions remained incomprehensible. We were at the hotel around 9pm that day.

Day 5. Rome-Naples.

The elective in Naples took place, Pompeii too, Capri covered himself with a copper basin. I do not know the quality of these excursions, I did not go. However, those who wish have lost a lot, because. Rome on the eve was not actually seen, and Naples - for the whole day. Free time in Rome is much better, I think.

Day 6. Venice.

Departure was early, so breakfast - packets with dry rations. Bad, but not critical (there is something to compare with): a croissant, a couple of "spreads" such as jam, honey, nutella, cookies and crackers, a bottle of water - in fact, we could have been fed in such a volume if there was a continental breakfast in the hotel (unless it would be hotter.) Due to traffic jams in Venice were 1.5 hours later than expected, around half past three. First, we bought a voucher for the bus, then we parked it at the port, boarded the boat (unbelievable, but it was booked only for us with a much larger capacity) and moored not far from St. Mark. The sightseeing tour was not impressive (more on that below), we didn’t go to electives: the “cruise” would be ruined because of the guide, and the situation with the gondola is as follows: there are 5-6 seats in each boat, the cost of renting it is fixed - 80 euros\30- 40 min. Those. with a load of 5 people, each would pay 16 euros, with the required 26 - 10 euros net profit (gondolas are not booked in advance, there are a lot of them). They left the city at 21:30, the final departure was late - at 23:30.

Day 7. Krakow.

We got to Krakow only at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. There was a rearrangement in the program again: first Wawel, then an overview. The excursion to Wawel was frankly not impressive and definitely not worth the money - it's just a couple of halls on two floors, examining furniture, tapestries and ceilings - nothing more. The sightseeing tour was also "castrated", and ended at Rynok Square, although it should have (and so it is) - at the barbican, i.e. 1/3 of the reviews were stolen from us. We went to the hotel literally half an hour after the survey, those who wished could, after settling, go back to the center by tram (less than 20 minutes from the hotel).

Day 8. Krakow-Wieliczka.

Wieliczka was scheduled for half-1st, those who did not sign up also went to Wieliczka, but walked for 2 hours on the surface, although it would be more reasonable to allow them to walk before lunch in Krakow. The elective in the mine is very good, worth the money and memorable. Although I was there just six months ago, I went again with pleasure. We left for the border after 3 p.m., taking into account the time change, we got to Lviv at 9 p.m.

Tour guides:

1. Jozef (Wroclaw). A good guide with a noticeable accent, spoke interestingly, but drove something for a very short time - apparently, he was in a hurry to move from a free excursion to a paid elective on about. Tumsky. 8 out of 10.

2. Lada-Vladislav (Nuremberg, Bamberg). As a guide, she is quite good, the material is non-trivial, the presentation is quite professional. However, the impression of myself was greatly tarnished by obvious commercialism, which in the end boils down to fraud. VERY persistently brought me to "her" souvenir shops, in Bamberg she categorically imposed "her" restaurant, where she actually made an order herself for the whole group (without giving the waiters the opportunity to even serve a menu), and she herself did not order anything. Most of all, the situation with transport tickets to Bamberg was tense - they are included in the cost of an elective, and this is both a train and a city bus - and so, I didn’t give tickets to tourists when I met the controller on the train already on the way back - she herself showed the controller where her tourists, and where not hers. When asked directly about the fare on the train, she also directly stated that it was a trade secret. All this leads to certain bad thoughts. 5 out of 10.

3. Irina (Vatican, Rome). A very good guide with a pleasant presentation of the material, although she could "force" for a long time before each sculpture and painting in the Vatican Museums. Only two minuses were noticed: an unmotivated bus ride (this was discussed above) and a factory in “her own” store, where she very cleverly imposed expensive Catholic icons and amulets on Orthodox tourists. However, these disadvantages can be explained by an objective factor - the weather. 9 out of 10.

4. Lily (Venice). Horror-horror-horror ... It's just blasphemous - to screw up the overview of Venice like that! It seems to me that there is so much to tell about each pebble that is enough for 10 excursions. What is Lily doing? She chats all the way in Italian with her colleague-girlfriend, only occasionally interrupted by comments like: "This is some kind of house of the half ... ugh ... - the eleventh century where some people lived." She showed absolutely nothing interesting about the campaign of the Cathedral of St. Mark didn't say a word! Yes, it is fashionable to make a separate excursion about her! Lilya in my rating of guides shared the honorable last place from the bottom along with Irena from Copenhagen and Olga from Vienna. 0 out of 10.

5. Irena (Krakow). Good guide, but there are better ones. I tried to tell something like that, but either knowledge or vocabulary was not enough. The material and delivery is normal. She spoiled the impression with her departure at exactly 18:00, referring to some business - and the review should end by itself, right? 7 out of 10.

6. Teresa (Velichka). A colorful lady with a very noticeable accent. I switched to German a couple of times))) Their material is standard, it makes no sense to discuss it. She behaved rather strangely: "I'm going first! Stand in front of me! Don't talk when I'm talking!" - all this was stressful. It was evident that he leads mainly children's groups - the supply of the appropriate color. 8 out of 10.

1. Vacanza 3* (Semenovice). Pros: spacious room, good breakfast, comfortable. Cons: just that night there was a wedding, so the impressions of the overnight stay are appropriate. I understand that this is not the fault of the operator, but such moments must be taken into account. 8 out of 10.

2. Achat Comfort Messe 3* (Chemnitz). Pros: good beds. Cons: narrow, tiny rooms with windows on the autobahn; very poor breakfast and cramped conditions - special tables were set aside for us in a small number, despite the fact that only we had breakfast at such an early hour; hence another minus - disrespect for tourists. 6 out of 10.

3. Hotel Bright 4* (Rome). Pros: interesting interior with a "claim" for luxury; after the first night they changed towels and soap, made beds; good "dry ration". Cons: poor breakfast (all products are packed, nothing fresh), very far from the center, poor air conditioning in the room. 7 out of 10.

4. City Sm 3* (Krakow). Pros: quiet area-private sector; interesting "architecture" of the hotel; spacious room; very soft beds; good breakfast. Cons: long walk to the tram - you can get lost in the evening. 9 out of 10

Summary: the tour is very, very difficult, there was catastrophically little time for each city - and this despite the fact that we actually arrived everywhere on time. Changing the program did not make this tour better, now its cost does not match the quality even by half. The tour can be recommended only to physically strong and morally stable tourists. And then, you should think carefully before purchasing it.

Those interested in this route or cities can ask me questions by email. mail: svkmdel Doggy mail dot ru.

Comments (3) leave a comment

3 comments

Show other comments …