Visiting Germany
I decided to share my vacation experience.
Last year we decided to make a kind of semi-independent trip to Germany and the European environs. One friend promised to make us an invitation to make it easier to get a visa, the second promised to give us shelter for a while, and part of the trip on our own.
So, the invitation was already ready at the beginning of February, it came to us in mid-March, but the unfolding events and the euro exchange rate brought down our ardor, our mood tended to absolute zero every day. But we were all persuaded to go, especially in the current situation, nothing can be postponed “for later”.
Retreat 1. Last year we visited Georgia with Armenia (there is a report from Stata) by bus across the Donetsk-Rostov border. I don't think it would be possible this year.
But plans had to change a bit.
There were no problems at all with the issuance of visas, but with the choice of transport, yes. The cancellation of many flights + our own schedule led to the fact that we went on the road by bus. Kyiv-Warsaw, Warsaw-Duisburg. One joy: I bought tickets and chose seats right at my bus station, and the bus brought us right to our destination.
The bus was double-decker, there were no empty seats. I liked the bus, very comfortable seats, TV, toilet - please use it! , you can order tea / coffee / food, very friendly stewardess. Blankets are provided at night. 74 people crossed the border in Poland in 1-1.5 hours. On the way back, the bus even had the Internet and its own “cinema room” where you could watch a movie of your choice or listen to music. Of course, the trip is very long, but it is quite possible, and the savings are significant. Yes, and half of Germany drove, there was something to see. Warsaw and Berlin - a detour, of course, but a bunch of small towns drove right through the very center.
The trip turned out great, but not without adventures.
Germany is an interesting, beautiful, comfortable country, there are a lot of sights there. And she's big. One thing: very expensive internal transport. Very.
Retreat 2. When I say that it's expensive, it's expensive for my family, which has very modest incomes. For those who allow (or have already allowed? ) themselves a trip once a year from Accord - that's about it.
So we decided to buy some trips from a travel agency and drive around the area. A friend who works in such an agency helped me with this, we coordinated the list of excursions with her for a long time, but still the group didn’t get on some. So we went not so much where we wanted, but where there was an opportunity.
But it was interesting to compare "their" organization with our operators. Although, it is clear that I am comparing with Accord, I have no other experience yet. What can I say: everything is clearly organized, no one is late, if the delay is due to the fault of transport - tourists call, the bus is waiting. There is also an accompanying + guide, but sometimes he combines it in one person. In the same way, there are additionally paid excursions, but no money “from above”: if a boat on the Seine costs 13 euros at the box office, then the guide collects 13 euros from everyone. All additional costs are honestly reported directly on the sites, nothing is added from above ( see digression 2).
The guides we came across are extremely weak (in Paris and in castles), but the escort, who is also a guide, in Brussels and Bruges turned out to be very professional and very nice people.
Here, for example, was how a trip for 2 days to Paris was organized (round trip - overnight transfer).
Departure at 11 pm from Dusseldorf, then picked up tourists in Cologne, Bonn... At 7 am we stopped in a cafe to have breakfast and wash. At 8 am we were already in Montmartre. Then a bus tour of the city, which took 4 hours. Then-additional to the Defense area in the pouring rain (we didn't go). At 16 o'clock - check-in at the hotel, it is outside the city, but there is a train stop nearby - 40 minutes to the center. The hotel is great, breakfast too. At 17-00, those who wish go to the Eiffel Tower (by our bus and for free) and until 21:00 free time.
On the second day - departure to Versailles (only a visit to the palace is paid). We walked around the park, considering that 2 hours to Versailles would not be enough. And the whole park has not been inspected. I liked it (although St. Petersburg is still the best city on earth! ) The town of Versailles itself is also very pretty, we saw it from the bus, for some reason we rode it for a long time, I would have wandered there with pleasure...
Then we are driven to the Les Invalides, the tour begins there, then there will be the Rodin Museum and the Louvre. Tickets must be bought. The Louvre also plus extra. excursion. In the evening dinner and boat ride. We are going to walk around Paris on foot. We have 8 hours of free time, the Louvre and Rodin are somehow not enough for me, and this is my first time in Paris. But now I'm going to go there all the time!
What I really liked compared to our tours: you clearly know what time and where you will be picked up if you don’t want to go somewhere with a group. It was possible to “break away” from the group at 8 am in Montmartre and join it at 9 pm near the Eiffel Tower. In the same way, it would be possible to plan the next day by yourself, leaving the hotel on your own and again at 9 pm, get on your own bus already at the pier. I believe that many local tourists use such tours simply as transport + overnight stay.
The trip to Brussels was amazing, a very good guide (a friend said that we were very lucky here, getting to him is a rare success), I really liked the city, the central square is breathtaking! Mini Europe Park is just fabulous, I love toys in general, but it exceeded all my expectations. We were not ready for Brussels, we planned something else, but we did not regret it a bit.
But the trip to Bruges will be remembered forever. The city is a fairy tale, charm and pleasure in one bottle, a lovely woman guide. Gave us an extra 45 minutes of free time. And we are lucky! On the way back, we first got into the rain, then into the downpour, and then into the hurricane. True, I didn’t have time to get scared for some reason, although the bus swayed, the trees bent to the ground and broke, and the driver turned off the wipers (useless! ) And flew along the autobahn, as it seemed to me, without slowing down. True, the husband said that the speed was still less. The element is raging! Finally stopped in a traffic jam. This is what we thought we were in traffic. But then it turned out that the road ahead was littered with huge plane trees, uprooted, and several cars completely under them. No harm done. It's good that we left later, who knows, maybe our minibus would have ended up under those trees... We stood there for almost 6 hours. Everyone got to know each other, Neighbors from Kyiv conducted political information for those interested in St. Petersburg.
We met with the drivers of neighboring cars. Behind us was the pilot of the plane, which was supposed to take off from Dusseldorf airport. He was calm as a boa constrictor. Why do you think?
When we got to the station, it turned out that the trains were not running. At all. Autobahns are closed. Almost everything. There is a queue for a taxi - the Louvre is resting.
What do Ukrainian tourists accustomed to bummer? That's right, they settle down to spend the night at the station, naive, thinking that in the morning the trains will go as usual. Bummer number 2. The trains did not go not only in the morning, but also the next day. No written announcements. Only on the radio. Do you understand well the announcements on the radio in your native language at our station? I'm not always. And if German is in its infancy (I read, but do not speak)? I was hoping only for the announcements on the scoreboard...
But “In readiness for a bummer is our strength! ” (Igor Vishnevsky). “We had it with us” - a quote, I don’t remember whose. And we had with us the next excursion along the Moselle River and castles. That's where we went to. We had breakfast like true Germans in a cafe at the station, quite a normal breakfast. On the bus, we were joyfully greeted by a family from St. Petersburg (from our trip to Bruges! ), who got home by 4 in the morning, but courageously decided to go at 7 for the next excursion. Nobody else got there. (how we didn’t get there the next day and the excursion to Amsterdam passed without us....) But we wouldn’t pull the second night at the station...
Retreat 3. Late I realized about the hotel in Dü sseldorf. (Smart thought "slightly late"! ) But we were told it was still very expensive near the train station. And we returned from a tour of the Moselle at 9 pm and it was problematic to look for a hotel without knowing the language that evening. (Strictly speaking, see digression 2).
While I was talking on the phone to my friends on the bus about my experience, my husband continued political information to sympathizers from St. Petersburg.
By the way, initially we were going on a tour of the castles of the Rhine, it is one of the most popular here. But! The group didn't make it. But the Mosel is a beautiful river, and the castles are wonderful. We rode on a steamboat, tasted wine, in general, had a wonderful time, recovered from what we had experienced.
And yes, we were disappointed in the German railways.
The rest of the time was devoted to the cities and towns of Germany. Where could they reach.
If interested, to be continued.
Conclusions: 1) you need to travel no matter what!
2) do not postpone anything for tomorrow if you can go today!
3) independent tourism is not yet affordable for me. Although there are no problems with transport (and try to travel when there is no schedule, no announcements, when buses stand in traffic jams for 3 hours, change direction and simply do not arrive at their destination! ) Ticket purchase, planning, housing - no. Problem, alas! one…
