Italy Forever with Let's have a rest
I'm starting to write a review already on the bus, so I'll try to post as much information as possible. Friends called and asked to book a tour to Italy, booked. I opened a link with a promotional tour, I liked it, I remembered my friend’s dream to visit Italy and her vacation in May and constant calls asking me to help find a tour for 2x somewhere other than Turkey, I called back, said to decide quickly, booked it in 30 minutes and then thought that tour falls on the birthday and booked for myself. Everything is fine, but I forgot to open it and see who the tour operator is (I booked a good friend who has a tour agency). I come to him with my tourists : ))) and he mentions the tour agency "Let's rest. " I laughed and asked who was so unlucky with them to go, and that he convey my condolences. I look at his eyes for 5 kopecks, he says, they say he is transmitting. And then it dawns on me that I need to condole with myself. In short, I looked upset, my eyes were also depressed. There was no way back. Booked, collected documents, what to do, eat. Although they were upset that it was not an Accord. In short, she stepped on her own rake. But it turned out not to be as bad as last time. We went straight to the station, bought train tickets because the tour was announced from Lviv.
They began to wait for the information sheet, it appeared in a day. They changed Pisa to San Gamigliano in it, climbed into the Internet, found nothing worthwhile in this town. We decided to go to Pisa on our own. Since we were going to see Florence well, we didn’t even think about going to Rome, especially since we got into Google and looked at the distance from Florence to Rome, it turned out to be about 300 km, we decided to watch Florence in detail. 6 hours is not enough for Rome, you have to go there for 3-4 days. They also changed Ljubljana to Lake Bled. It was strange that they called back and said that if they call from the embassy, then they must say that they are supposedly going to rest in Slovakia, in some kind of Ruzhbach with the hotel of the same name, then they said that this is connected with the May holidays, but oh, how I doubt it.
So, in a day, an inform sheet appeared, it included an exit from Kyiv, so we could be picked up in Zhytomyr. We ran to the station and handed over the tickets. Here is the first +. The bus was late for 2 hours, but the drivers, well done to Lviv, arrived on time if it were not for 10 people who visited the toilet for 40 minutes. so we in Lviv completed the group left 46 people, the head of the group Alexander Piloyan. I want to immediately note the informativeness of the guide on the way, a lot of interesting information. In this round, the leader will be more interesting, I was really glad. Well, as always, advertising of all excursions is not without it, in short, everything is more like a beloved native Accord, a human guide.
So, in order. We left Lviv and went to the Slovak border, since the visa is Slovak. People!! ! How many times have I passed the border, I see this for the first time. They told me to get off the bus and go through with all my personal belongings for control, they opened every suitcase, bag, package... first they took everything meat and dairy. Then, somehow, towards the end, they seemed tired and only asked about cigarettes and alcohol. So if your sausage is dear to you, then wrap it in a newspaper and a couple of bags and fold it to the bottom, mask it as best you can)))) While we were passing the control, we wooled our bus. Well, in 3-4 hours we crossed the border (I’ll say that our record was 8 with the Hungarians, but they didn’t dig things, they simply didn’t give us passports). last time with a chord at the end of the tour there was more wine and tastier goulash, or maybe they were very tired and it was more of a buzz. In short, we stocked up on wine (it is most advantageous to take 10 euros 5 liters in plastic eggplants). Moving on, very late arrival at the hotel…. in Budapest. Good hotel, clean rooms, good breakfast. In the morning we went to the supermarket stocked up with water. We have a long journey to Florence ahead of us, on the way the Hungarian police stopped us, and, as they say, began to cheat in the truest sense of the word, 2 policemen paid for the drivers, and a young lady with a knife took up the suitcases. I was digging everything, cutting the packages, sniffing every bottle, apparently thinking that if we were bringing alcohol from Ukraine in unmeasured quantities, someone from the group with a special imagination had the idea that we were handed over to Interpol, and our bus was being watched (laughter and people). As it turned out they wanted to pay tribute and dug into some little things and took their 500-600 euros from the bus. And they say that there is no corruption in the European Union. we go further, according to the program of the tour, this day is purely moving. For the whole day, the guide managed to advertise all the excursions, and collect money from people. We took only Bled. There is no point in describing the day any further. Late arrival at the hotel. We saw Alexander Sklyar who came here with a group a few days earlier, we were glad for ourselves that we did not go with him.
Day 3 Florence. As it turned out, our hotel Delta Florence is located 15 km from Florence and the journey, although not difficult, is about 50 minutes, which is a certain discomfort. The hotel itself is ok, but there is a problem with the outlets. Be sure to bring adapters with you. Breakfast is monotonous: rolls, sausage, butter, melted cheese, cakes and muffins, yupi, muesli. There are 2 teapots with coffee and milk on the tables. Coffee is disgusting to disgrace, so better take your own. Yes, however, this is not the biggest problem, here the Chinese are a disaster, when you arrive you will understand, and God forbid you go to eat after them. It's like a Tatar-Mongol yoke that ran through, gobbling up everything in its path, after them you need to call someone and ask to replenish supplies. The tour of Florence was announced as free, as a result, they collected 5 euros from us: 2 for headphones and 3 for travel, giving us only coupons back for 1 euro 20 cents, we went there by train and I’m not sure that tickets were bought, although I can’t say I can without facts. The facts will come later. . . The train is much faster and more comfortable, we used the bus, we didn't know where to get train tickets. We met the guide near the church of Santa Maria Novela, took the earpiece and went to see Florence. The weather was getting worse and worse before our eyes, as a result it began to rain. We walked around the pedestrian part of Florence, the tour ended near the statue of David. We went to Ufitsa, in short, the guide decided for a long time with tickets, that is, or not, we quickly went to find out everything, bought 5 tickets at the same price (11 euros for a ticket and 4 reservations, as a result of 15 euros) and with them a occupied place in queues. After 5 minutes, the guide only brought the group to the queue and was clearly surprised that we were already standing almost at the entrance, asked if anything to join us. So, about the tickets, we bought them in line from girls in red vests, and one of them was Russian-speaking. Well, finally we are in the gallery itself, I will say right away that it is impressive, but this should be given time. Taking an audio guide, we went to see the masterpieces of world art. Botticelli: The Birth of Venus, Spring, Rembrandt, Da Vinci, why say anything else, went around 25 halls, sat down to rest and then another 25. We left at about 5.30, from the culture shock we decided that on this the 1st day of Florence should end. Having found a cafe, we began to study Italian cuisine, as they say people need bread and circuses, the spectacle was left in full bread. As a result, after wandering for another half an hour, we found a cafe with a menu for tourists. For 12 euros we could taste 3 dishes to choose from. We opted for the lasagne chop and salad. Fully ate. sat and rested, the sun was already beginning to peep through. We decided to walk a little more, took a few pictures and went home. Catching bus number 2 we got straight to the hotel.
Day 4 Florence. Early in the morning after breakfast, we left for the city. Arriving at the Santa Maria Novela station, we crossed the street and found out about the city sighting bus route (there are 2 types of buses, choose city sighting they have 2 routes), we liked it, we bought a ticket and got on the road. The price of the issue, as they say, is 20 euros, they give you a card and headphones, the most important thing is not to lose either, and they also give free drinks in some kind of cafe (we didn’t use them, so I can’t tell you where the cafe is). First of all, we let's go to Da Vinci Square (I don't remember the exact name)... It's like an observation deck for the whole city, well, it's very beautiful, all of Florence is in the palm of your hand, even the photos do not convey this view. Having bought souvenirs, we ran on the trail of the bus, which arrived exactly 15 minutes later. We went to see the Piti Palace and the garden, paying 6 euros each, which included 2 museums (silver and costumes), went for a walk in the park. We were immediately captivated by the size of the park itself, the families lying on the lawns, the kids frolicking on the grass (you can see the kindergarten), the orange and lemon gardens. The Costume Museum is very impressive with its collection of vintage haute couture dresses. There are even dresses from the century before last. There are dresses from 1900 by well-known design houses such as Givenches, Gucci and … Emilio Puchi's jewelry is also from the beginning of the last century. All sorts of bags, snuffboxes, coin boxes, shoes, fans, as well as a restored costume (I don’t remember which king)
Day 5 Florence. We left early in the morning but a guide was waiting at the exit from the hotel, as it turned out the excursion to San Gemignano did not take place and people wanted Pisa, it was offered for 30 euros to go back and forth without a guide (although Pisa and Lucca were announced in the standard tour program for 45 euros with guide) Having made an elementary mathematical calculation of 4 bus tickets at 1.20 = 4.8 (bus to Florence round-trip and to Pisa from the station and back) +11.60 for the round-trip train and 15 euros for entering the tower came out 31 , 4 already with the entrance to the tower (the guide just took the fare). Ha funny!!! ! Smiling, they went on and gave him the opportunity to do his job. As it turned out later, people didn’t buy either, they just asked to call the reception to the railway station and ask how much the fare costs, in short, it didn’t work to collect tribute, although if I had said 20, maybe we would have gone, but oh well. Arriving in Florence itself, we decided to go to Santo Croce until the morning and there are no crowds of tourists who do not know this is the tomb of many famous people such as Dante,....The ticket costs 5 euros or 8 along with the house of Michelangelo and his family. We only took Santo Croce as we were in a hurry to Pisa. So we ran to the station there are vending machines and, choosing English, found Pisa and the schedule, trains run every half hour or even 15 minutes. We bought 5 tickets for 5.80 and went on our way. We drove for exactly an hour, left the station and asked the locals how to get to the field of miracles and bought bus tickets for 1.1 euros, drove exactly 10 minutes and a tower peeped out from behind the arch. Guys, it's impossible to convey the feeling. The first minutes were breathtaking, they walked straight with their mouths open and did not say 5 minutes. Super !!! ! Having figured out on the spot what and how, having bought tickets to the tower (15 euros) and to the church (2 euros), we went to see the church until the tower had another hour. As a result, at 3.50 we went to the lockers and handed over the bags, they were not allowed to enter the tower with bags. And they began to rise, the first minutes of the feeling are unusual, the tower is tilted and the earth's gravity does not change, so you try to go straight and there is a wall))) Fun))) And then in front of you is the first balcony and your breath stops, the view is super. Guys don't listen to anyone that there's nothing to watch LIE!!!! ! We went down, took standard photos with the Leaning Tower of Pisa, bought a few souvenirs and drove back. Arriving in Florence, we hurried to take the bus to get to Carrefour (supermarket). Having bought olive oil (for 3 euros per liter), prosciutto (7 euros per kg), parmesan (10 euros per kg), pesto (according to Alexander's advice, it turned out to be a very tasty thing), a little pasta, wine and regular limoncello and cream. Oh yes, they also found powder for 11 euros for 8 kg, and all sorts of little things. We went to the hotel to celebrate my birthday. After slicing the tomato into slices of mozzarella and smearing the pesto, mentally thanking Alexander again, they chopped parmesan, washing everything down with Hungarian wine, and shared their impressions received during these days for a long time.
Day 6 Venice.
After breakfast, we got on the bus and after 3 hours we were already near the vaporetto. To be honest, I don’t remember the name of the village, but it doesn’t even stand next to the tranket (another place of departure for the vaparetto). To be honest, we drove without much desire, because the tour was imposed on us, to put it mildly. They said if we don’t buy it, there will be problems....Come on, why spoil the impressions of the trip. Arriving in Venice, we were surprised by the huge crowds of tourists (we have not seen so many there yet), as it turned out, we got on the visit of the Pope. A lot of things were closed, and preparations were made for his arrival, and our acquaintances got a little spoiled impression. It was not crowded into the square, they let us through only after a personal search, in short, it was fun. We returned to the bus and went towards Slovenia. A beautiful country with its own history and unhurried way of life. Late arrival at the hotel (can't remember the name) but very nice hotel, lounge music in the corridors, touch lights, four-poster beds. . . super! ! True breakfast let us down.
Day 7 Slovenia and Budapest. After us, the English came for breakfast, we immediately felt the difference in attitude towards ours and the British. The food is completely different, their behavior is something. Fortunately, I know English (they thought that we didn’t understand them), putting them in their place so that they opened their mouths and began to apologize (the words flew in our direction, to put it mildly, not quite censorship, although we quietly finished our breakfast). After sitting for another 20 minutes at the reception in Wi-Fi, we hit the road. Lake Bled with the castle of the same name was waiting for us. Having first visited the castle, I will say directly nothing interesting except for the view of the lake. There is absolutely nothing to see inside. Then we went to the lake, to be honest, the tour sucked from the finger. We just arrived at the lake and sat there for 1.5-2 hours. Fortunately, at least we took our covers and food. Sat down after drinking Hungarian wine and eating all the parmesan prosciutto and all sorts of goodies. People who did not dare to take either one or the other (covers and food) with them, to be honest, were very angry. In the local cafe, apart from coffee, beer, chips and various snacks, there was nothing to eat, but it was already 3-4 hours. After that, we went to the waterfall, what can I say, I was not impressed. An ordinary mountain river in our Carpathians is a dime a dozen. After that we left towards Budapest. The tour started there at about 9 o'clock, to put it mildly, it was no longer interesting. All the tired ones can hardly see anything (as always, the night illumination of the city pleased). Everyone wanted to go to the hotel. We arrived at the already familiar Golden Park (according to previous tours), quickly settled in and ran to the supermarket. The prices are cheap, the quality is excellent food and alcohol. After shopping, we went to the hotel.
Day 8 Ukraine fast border crossing. I think it's not worth it to continue as always. True, another huge +. We were brought directly to our city for which "Let's rest" many thanks.
Bottom line: the tour with a visa cost us 180 + 35 = 215 euros (promotional price) I think this money should not be paid attention to the imposed excursion to Venice (before that we were there already 3 times) and the excursion to Bled and the waterfall sucked from the finger . We examined the whole of Florence in detail in 3.5 days and saw Pisa with the beautiful Field of Miracles. + Looked Ufitsa that not everyone has time. So THANKS "Let's have a rest" we were satisfied.
