Journey from Autumn to Winter through Summer.
I'll start with general impressions. Let me remind you right away: the trip is the first, there is nothing to compare with - I write as I saw and felt. I won’t describe the beauties of cities either, everyone knows that Paris, Madrid, Prague and Barcelona are worth seeing, and a lot has been said about this.
I liked the tour, the program itself, the route very, very much, the organization - not very much. Probably I will single out “newbie” problems, and in general, in the category of problems, I would name only three points:
The first is the lack of normal nutrition. You can sit dry for a week, two - more difficult. But 18 days... not worth it... for your own health. Throwing around the city and trying to see something, buy, and the choice of what to do: eat or see something interesting wins, of course, in favor of “seeing”, but to the detriment of well-being. And the slow parade of foreign groups, with a satisfied expression on their faces, causes slight envy and the question: “well, can it be done differently? ” Although, to adapt, of course, is real, which we did. But, then it is necessary to somehow emphasize that such a bus tour is not a vacation, but a kind of extreme tourism, pleasant, interesting, with many impressions and for the benefit of the figure.
The second point: the speed of the bus and the lack of free time in the cities that are, as it were, declared, or more precisely, listed in the program (half an hour to Strasbourg is cool, but at least there was an overview). Now I already understand that this is just a publicity stunt and I read the tour programs, seeing their real picture. Tip for beginners: do not pay attention to the list of cities in which you just spend the night. You still won’t see them, well, either from the hotel window in the dark, or due to your own sleep, you can walk around the city at night. Sincerely surprised by the average speed on the roads. I read here on the forum that the bus travels at a speed of 80-100 km / h. Our speed, repeatedly calculated, was between 50 and 65 km/h between destinations. Someone said that we got lost several times, I don’t know, I didn’t notice. But the speed of movement was calculated based on the named distance and the time spent on it. Yes, and the tourist buses floating to the left of us along the highways and autobahns with merrily waving Chinese constantly reminded the song: “We are overtaken by whoever wishes”...
Well, the third, which personally touched us a little, but an unpleasant moment: country hotels in all major cities. Far countryside. (Barcelona, Paris, Prague).
We solved this problem in our own way, but not in the most pleasant way for us - a taxi. You can forget about saving money. We simply took their business cards with the address at the hotel reception and were always calm that in the evening we would get to our place without any problems.
For example, a very sociable and pleasant girl, a Russian taxi dispatcher in Prague, wondered for a long time how we were brought to such a suburb, and was it really impossible to stop somewhere closer to the center. (By the way, maybe someone will come in handy, I’ll write the number: “Merry Taxi” in Prague, Russian-speaking dispatchers and drivers. Prices are lower than the average for the city by an order of magnitude, service is fast. Phone: +42.212 29.290, +42.773 18.161)
In one of these hotels, I don’t remember in which city, people traveled for more than an hour by two modes of transport: metro and tram. To get to another hotel, the woman had to walk thirty minutes on a poorly lit unfamiliar road from the tram stop to the hotel. And in the third hotel, even trams didn’t go past - welcome to the train... It was very amusing when, giving out a map of the city, they said: “And your hotel is somewhere there, outside the map, well, about there... ”. Well, why not settle us in Bordeaux on the outskirts, there was still no time for the city, so no - in Bordeaux we slept peacefully in the center.
I will say this about the quality of hotels - acceptable. If the distance from the hotel to the city influenced our program, mood and free time, then the quality of the hotels was flawless. Some are better, even excellent, some are worse, but quite tolerable for spending the night. If we are personally talking about my daughter and me, then three times it was not very convenient: one room in the Czech Republic was terribly smoky, a room in San Remo unforgettably stank of cats, and in Austria we simply froze very much (the room was not heated) and dragged with suitcases from some then the cottage to the reception on slippery grass and stairs. Thanks to our dear companion Konstantin, he helped us out and helped us carry our things. (I know, I know - you don’t need to take a lot of things with you and the bags will be light))) but after warm Venice, I somehow wanted to change warmer clothes in snowy Salzburg.
However, I will tell about this in order)))
Journey from Autumn to Winter through Summer.
The first day. 13.10. 12
Departure. Group of 38 people. Mostly experienced travelers. In addition to me and my daughter, only one very nice married couple went for the first time. The rest had more than one exit behind them, both with the Accord and with other tour operators.
Bus - Merc, not very new, but not falling apart. There were no major breakdowns along the way. Drivers Igor and Miron. Guide - Galina Gotsman. Our guide and our drivers are on a tour of this program for the first time and drivers in general for the first time on a tour of this duration. And our Galina got on the tour instead of the promised vacation. And they made her work more difficult - they asked her to conduct in Russian, and this is not her native language, I understand perfectly well that because of this we simply did not hear half of the information and spent long journeys either in silence or to the accompaniment of TV. This is so - a sketch of the circumstances.
The departure took place on time. Back at home, looking at the tour schedule, I was scared in advance - the whole day on the road. Just ride the bus. Nightmare! But everything turned out not so sad. Once on the bus, the first thing we did was to make ourselves as comfortable as possible. This is where a blanket came in handy, it was both a bedspread and a pillow. The move was not difficult, first impressions, acquaintance, customs, everything somehow condensed time.
At 11:50 we were already at the border. Gone in a couple of hours
standard, no problem. The border guards examined a suitcase and a bag to choose from. After crossing the border there was a stop for lunch at a Polish roadside cafe. As it is not sad, it was the first and last stop on the tour specifically "to eat. " We tried the traditional Polish soup Zurek, delicious. The currency in Poland is zloty, but we did not change it either on the first day or on the way back, when paying in a cafe, we managed with a Privatbank card. By the way, in the future, very often used it.
Day two 14.10. 12
Breakfast and transfer 180 km from the hotel to Prague. Little is written about her on this tour. It is clear why, it is not the highlight of the program, but I personally was very impressed with Prague. When preparing for the tour, I managed to thoroughly draw up a program for only two cities - Prague and Paris. And not in vain. In Prague, we managed to do everything we planned and even a little more.
The review is interesting: but at a gallop. Our tick runs fast - there is no time reserve - someone is always late, not critical, but 10-15 minutes is guaranteed. We listened to the history of the Old Town Square, watched the moving figures of the Orloj chimes on the Town Hall, the majestic Church of the Virgin Mary in front of Tyn, made wishes on the Charles Bridge. In the center of Prague, almost every building is interesting for its appearance and history. You can’t rush there, all the beauty is in the details, in small patterns and sculptures. Along the way, we looked into the courtyard of the outrageous AMoYa Museum of Contemporary Art, where the famous works of David Cherny "Revolvers" and "Sharq" are exhibited. We saw his Babies both on the TV tower and in the park.
I also liked the optional excursion to Korolevskie Hradcany. Good guide, picturesque views, magnificent palaces. The proposed excursions “Shadows of the Old City” and “Dinner in a Medieval Tavern” did not take place, but we were not going to them. Then free time and meeting under the Orla chimes at the town hall. In Prague it is very convenient to meet and it is difficult to get lost. Any passer-by will point to Charles Bridge and Old Town Square.
Hotel outside the city, evening settlement, about half past seven. Part of the evening, when one could walk around the city, was lost. And due to the fact that the hotel was located in the suburbs, not everyone decided to return to the city.
At 19.50 we were in the room. Good hotel. For the evening we had planned a visit to the Krzhizhikovy fountains. We knew in advance that we would not get to the singing fountains in Barcelona - in our day they do not work. Therefore, we decided that in Prague this spectacle should not be missed. Deciding to get to the fountains and back by tram, my daughter and I did not have enough adventurism. Even in the afternoon they found out how much a taxi from the hotel to the fountains would cost, the figure impressed and did not like - 600 kroons. Then they themselves called taxi services - they found 450 kroons each. It's still not right. And then they remembered the Russian "Merry Taxi". Surprised by our choice of hotel and advising to dress warmer: “there is such a place, it is always cold”, the dispatcher girl named the price - 250 kroons. Already more fun. Moreover, she said: they will deliver you and after the performance they will pick you up from the same place, since the area there is also quite deserted at a later time, like the area of your hotel.
So it was. At 21.00 we had time butt, we decided to go to 22. Dress warmly, we arrived in 20 minutes. Prague's color and music fountains are located on the territory of the Exhibition of Achievements of the Czech Economy. We got out of the taxi on the road and then another five minutes walked deep into the park. The first thing that surprised me in the dark was large, fat cats, which somehow strangely ran between the bushes. Only returning after the performance, we finally saw them up close - long ears and black beady eyes) rabbits! And we could not understand why cats run so strangely))
But the fountains might not have taken place - at 21.00 there was a whole group, and at 22, only we came. The cashier girl said - you need at least 10 people to start. And then the locals immediately came up: a family and a couple of young guys, we were lucky! Ticket with toit 220 CZK. Then there were 40 minutes of delight. Sitting on the benches, we watched the play of water and light to the musical themes from the Titanic. At times, jets of water rose like a white sheet of a screen and shots from a film were shown on them. The impression is strong, very beautiful. The way back was a small tour of Prague at night. And on one of the bridges, we saw a girl from our group who was photographing the Vltava in the light of lanterns. Beautiful, for sure, the photos turned out.
Day three 10/15/12
Today ended with the motto: "don't forget to try Czech beer on the way back. " We managed to do everything we wanted, but it didn’t come to beer. There just isn't enough power. So many impressions in one day!
Breakfast at 7.00, check-out at 8.00. The breakfast buffet is excellent, plentiful and tasty. I watch how experienced people pack sandwiches from the table to the bus: a bun, cheese, sausage. Warnings come to mind: "taking food out is tantamount to theft. " We don't risk it yet.
We saw off the bus - most of the group went to Karlovy Vary. For the rest, the meeting time was scheduled for 18.45 under the Orla chimes. We get to the city by tram, the ticket costs 24 crowns. I would like to see Prague more, take a walk and not rush anywhere.
The day started with a little shopping, then we had a bite to eat and went for a walk around the city. We walked along the old streets of Mala Strana, fed the swans on the embankment. We reached the wall of John Lenon, the bridge of kisses, the Certovka river and the old mill wheel, where the washerwomen washed the royal linen. Slowly and tastefully repeated yesterday's route through Hradchany, sat in a cafe under the Charles Bridge. We reached the meeting place filled with pleasant emotions and with the only feeling - to sleep as soon as possible.
We got to the hotel at 9 pm. The room is excellent with climate control, clean and comfortable. In general, ibis hotels are remembered as one of the best on the route.