Hathwar's View: January 2014

London and Discover Europe Tour our Experience:

London Tour

We took a package tour called London tour and Discover Europe organized by Star Tours U.K. whose office is located in Wimbley London. We took a flight from Helsinki to London and landed in Gatwick Airport on 31 AUG at 4:30 PM. Star Tours arranged our pick up from Airport for which they charge extra 45 pounds. [They arrange free pick and drop from Heathrow Airport] Journey from Gatwick to London is around 90 minutes which is avoidable.

After reaching Wembly, We had dinner in a Punjabi restaurant opposite Star Tours and then we were dropped in Quality Hotel which was a reasonably good hotel. Next day, we were taken for sightseeing of London at 9 am. We were only four people and therefore they have provided us a light vehicle which was quite big and comfortable .Our co-passengers were a Jain couple from India, and they were excellent co passengers. Driver who had come to pick us on the previous day for airport pickup was the same person who was driver cum guide for London sightseeing also. Our itinerary started with a visit to SwamyNarayan temple. Since we have already seen a better temple at Ahmadabad, it did make any great impression on us. There was change of guard ceremony at Buckingham palace and our guide timed it so well that we could have full view of the same. Then we were taken to house of parliament, West Minister Abbey, Bigben, Trafalghar Square, Piccadilly Circus etc. The time given was so less we could hardly get a glimpse of such places. Of course we took some photographs near West Minister Abbey, Parliament house.

Then we were taken to London Eye. London Eye is a spinning wheel of 430 ft diameter with glass paneled trolleys fully covered, through which we can have full panoramic view of London. This is worth seeing and Star tour will arrange for fast track ticket for the same. Star tour does not offer lunch in London, read their offer very carefully before going. You are left in a place where u can have simple lunch. Our co passengers offered us some Jain lunch . There were many visiting places nearby we are not given time to see them,of course not a part of itinerary also. After lunch we were taken to Madame Tussuads. This is the only place where u are given plenty of time to see. U can take plenty of photographs with many wax models. After that if u want, u can see some horror shows, which we avoided to see. I would have loved if Star Tours had given more time in other places rather than this place.

Discover Europe Tour:

Day 1

Next day, we were asked to get up early in the morning and 5:00 AM and were taken to Star Tours office from which place the Discover Europe tour starts . There were many People who have got up at 3 am and came from far off places wanted use rest room and there was nothing nearby. Even paid rest rooms opens only at 7 am. Star Tours doesn't open at that time and advisable they make some arrangement for rest rooms for the convenience of the tourists. We are not given any time to take breakfast also. Better u take something for eating on the way. Our Guide, J.Patel arrived very late and therefore our tour started very late. Wembly to Dover it takes 90 minutes. From Dover we have to take a cruise to reach Calais. There was so much rush at this place u have to wait for Ur turn to get into cruise. J Patel somehow managed to get some priority.

Lunch is arranged on the way in some convenient place. Normally catering vehicle will follow the tourist vehicle and stop at a place where rest room and wash facility are available. Star Tour provides good vegetarian lunch, and therefore there is no need to carry any extra food except if you like some light refreshments.

We reached Brussels around 3:00 PM and we were taken near Grand palace area. Grand palace area is visually very impressive where u can take some photographs. This is voted as the best square in Europe and actually the main market place in Brussels. After we were taken to Mannekin pis, which has some story attached to it. This is nothing but a boy pissing from the top. The story goes the Belgium used this trick to distract enemy attention and thereby they could win the war! In India it is a common sight therefore it cannot work, where as in foreign land pissing in public is prohibited, like wise India kissing in public is prohibited!

Brussels is known for good chocolates and if u wish to buy, u can purchase few of them. Our next stop was at Atomium which is large steel structure of 102 mts height with nine spheres attached to it. It was established during EXPO 1958. Few photographs can be taken at this place. In the evening we were taken to Golden Tulip hotel which was quite decent hotel, and about 90 minutes driving from this place. Next two nights we are going to stay there.

Day -2

Second day of our tour, first visit was to Mudurodam model village [during March to May month this visit will be replaced by visit to world famous tulip gardens] Mudurodam model gives in a nutshell the entire picture Netherlands. It was must visit place and u can spend useful time learn the various activities of Netherlands in single place. Then our next visit was to a place called Volendam where they demonstrate, how the cheese is made in Netherlands [75% of world cheese market is captured by Netherlands, and it is famous for dairy business. U can see hundreds of cows gracing the land throughout journey through Netherlands. It is great sight to see. After extracting Cheese from milk they feed the milk to cows. Even cows are lucky to be born in this country. In our country cow grazing area taken over Land mafia and cows are left on road to eat plastic bags!]. In the same place they demonstrate how the wooden boot called clog is made. If anybody wants to buy the same it is available for sale and is very expensive.

After lunch we were taken to model fishing village and the village is below the sea level and a wall has been built all along the sea to prevent sea water entering the village. This is a very beautiful village and where u can sip wine, if one wishes, in front of the sea.

Our next destination is Amsterdam one of the very modern and beautiful city in Netherlands. In Amsterdam whole city can be seen by tranquil cruise. On both side we see the buildings all along the river. Amsterdam once upon a time known for shipbuilding and Dutch businessmen are very rich and city is very liberal in nature.

One of the specialties of Amsterdam is Night life. This city, legally permits use marijuana. The beautiful girls are displayed [almost close to nudity] in showcase like dolls. Perhaps nowhere in the world we have seen such a thing. No photographs.

Day-3

On this day we enter Germany,city of Cologne .In this city one of most beautiful church, called cologne cathedral[ Dome church], which is having doom 157 feet height. Almost all churches in Europe are of similar design and like our temples they are decorated beautifully. Architecture of each church is unique and beautiful. Almost all cities in Europe surrounded by rivers and invariably beautiful Cruise will be there to enjoy scenic beauty of the surrounding area. We reached Bopard from where we had one hour cruise in River Rhine.During these cruise u can have beautiful view of surrounding area of vineyard and castles. Rhine is the biggest river passing through Germany. U can have hot tea on board cruise [courtesy Star tours]. From here we were taken to hotel Residenz Limberahof for stay and this Hotel was very ordinary. Germany was very hot and unbearable during this time and, none of the hotels are provided with air conditioning. Small fans they provide were very ineffective. I had to sleep on the floor the whole night.

Till Day four we had Mr. J.Patel as guide. He was not very responsive and co-operative also. From next day onwards we had new guide Mr. J.J. [Mr. Mohammed fazal] who was an excellent guide and enjoyed his company through out the remaining period of tour.

Day-4

On the Day four we left for Heidelberg. The way to Heidelberg is surrounded by forests that are called as black forests. The very tall pine trees never allow sun light to fall inside the forest. U can take the photographs of surrounding area of the forest and also castles situated on top of a hill. By noon we reached a place where cuckoo clocks are made. These clocks are made in wood and are very expensive. Unless u have real interest to buy one and also your purse permits you can buy a clock of Ur choice. I was given to understand even in Bangalore there is shop which undertakes repair of these clocks. However, one can buy simple piece as souvenir. Now time has come to leave Germany to Switzerland,and after entering Switzerland we were taken to see Rhine falls. The entry fee for reaching falls has to paid by us. It is not a very great falls when compared any some of the great falls u might have already seen like Jog falls or Niagara falls. But u can go by boat near the falls and take few photographs. One can sip masala tea with lot of sugar after seeing the falls. On the way u will shown Zurich city for which u have to pay extra five euro. All European cities look almost alike and Zurich also is also a beautiful city. U can relax for some time before proceeding to Hotel Ramda in Engelberg in Switzerland. This hotel is an excellent hotel where u will enjoy Ur stay here.

Day-5

Once U enter Switzerland the weather pattern itself changes .It is a very a beautiful place and weather is very comfortable. It was also raining and all mountains were covered with snow. Switzerland is having border with five countries and Switzerland has three official languages. All rich people from all over the world visit this place at least once in their life time. Nobody need to say it is a must visit place once in anybody's life time. Our bus will pass through U shaped Lauterbrunnen valley with either side snow covered mountains almost 1000 mts height. On either side of the road u can see beautiful villages. U can also see thousands of cows grazing on the mountain. All of us were given an option of visiting a beautiful waterfalls namely Trummelbach waterfalls world’s only glacier water falls that is accessible by lifts, galleries ,tunnels and paths and platforms. [15 euro]. One has to climb the steps to reach the top of the falls. In this magnificent falls u can see the beauty of water 20000 liters/sec falling from a great height , with roaring sound, through the craters created by nature.

After this we were taken to railway station from where we took cog wheel train to reach top of the Mount Jungfrau [3454 meters] above the sea level. At this level oxygen is very low. One need to very careful that they will not exert too much, and tire themselves. It was extremely cold also. On the top there was a ice palace which has statues formed by ice. One has to have right kind of shoes to walk on the ice. We could not go out and see the view of Aletsch glaciers because of poor visibility. We were given packed food before leaving to Jungfrau . After seeing Jungfrau our train brought us back to base station from where we proceeded to tourist resort Interlaken. We came to hotel and it was raining heavily. Weather was excellent and food was very good.In Switzerland and shopping is very expensive. U can see watches from few thousand rupees to several lakhs .Window shopping is good a thing. However, Switzerland is famous for chocolates and one will not miss buying it.

Day-6

On the sixth day of our tour we were taken to climb Mount Titlis which is 10000 ft high. Here cable car rotating type will take to the top in three different steps. U can have excellent view of surrounding mountains covered with ice. U can take beautiful photographs of Swiss mountains, and landscapes with pine trees. Word cannot explain the beauty of this place.U will have extraordinary feeling of some new world which u have never imagined. Now I may know many people throng this place through the year . After reaching top u can do skating on the mountain if u are an expert in skating. Otherwise u have plenty of opportunities play on the icy mountains. U can also take photographs with statues Sharukh Khan and Kajol of Dilwale Dulhaniya fame [ some scenes of the movie was shot here].

There is very good restaurant on Mount Titlis where u can have snacks with wine if u wish. Weather is ideal for this purpose. All beautiful moments must come to an end . We came down from Mount Titlis and proceeded to see the Lion monument. The monument has a story. Monument was carved by Swedish sculptor , who was not paid for his work by SWISS[ Swiss people are always known as misers] then the sculptor carved a pig as background meaning Swiss are pigs. This is the story told by our guide JJ ,we do not know how far it is true. Anyway it is not a great monument except for this interesting story. Then our bus reached Geneva at around 5 pm. We were taken to UN building,which is a very ordinary building .One can take the photos outside the building. Mahatma Gandhi statue outside the building is the real attraction for us. JJ has given sufficient caution about Geneva known which is known for theft of Passport, Wallet etc. U need to be extra careful in this place. We went around Geneva city and finally dropped at v Geneva lake, where u can see many interesting things, like flower clock, boating and fountains. A festival was going on in this place, like our car festival in our place. After city tour of Geneva we were taken to business park hotel on the border of Switzerland and France. This is an excellent hotel and we enjoyed the stay here. Tomorrow 7^th day of our tour involves long drive to Paris.

Day-7

We reached Paris around 4 pm in the evening. Throughout the Journey we can see beautiful of landscapes and villages of France. In the Bus JJ has arranged many games and competition for the inmates for which he announced some prizes also. JJ also played some movies on the request of inmates. There is written test arranged for u on your general knowledge acquired during the tour. If have not heard him carefully through the tour then u are bound to fail. Through out the tour he gives good explanation of the places, geographical details, language spoken, important stories associated with it. JJ is a very interesting ,affable and good guide. We learnt later he is good Driver also. We enjoyed his company through out.

At this time it is appropriate to tell something about our bus driver Mr. Bill, who is six foot tall sturdy personality. He has good temperament and conscious of his responsibility. Very safe driver. Every alternative day he has to unload and load luggages of 35 peopl;, but never feels worked up with such jobs. He took lot of pride in doing this job, which rarely see in the drivers of our country.

Our team had only few youngsters, rest all are above sixty. We had people who even had open heart surgery. There were few aged women who were not accompanied by any young people. Some of them even cannot walk quickly. In Europe there are many places u have to walk a long distance. We should appreciate STAR TOURS to accept such people on international tour .

As regards to food many of us were vegetarians and a few of them were non vegetarians. There were Jains also. Food is catered to all types of people. Throughout the journey we had good food.

We reached Paris at around 4 pm. Paris perhaps is the only city in the world every body like visit at least once in his/her life time. Europe tour remains incomplete if u do not see Paris. Once u reach Paris Ur original itinerary will change depending on the rush in each place. Our Paris tour first started with viewing Paris by cruise in Seine River, which approximately takes one hour. Cruise is perfectly designed to view all important structures like Eiffel tower, Musec d’ orsay museum, Notre dame cathedral [400 feet tall], National Assembly, Les Invalides etc. After that we had a early dinner in the Hotel Novotel ,Palaiseau , where we were going to stay for next two days; we left for seeing Paris by night. Paris is a charming city to see at night with all its beautiful structures illuminated during night of Champs Elysees[largest square], beautiful Arc de Triomphe[ war memorial of Napoleon],palace de la Concorde and finally Eiffel tower illumination at exactly 11 PM. We can enjoy seeing in full grandeur of Paris and one can’t but get mesmerized by the beauty of this city.

Day -8

Next day our first visit was to Louvre Museum. This is such a large museum, the time given 90 minutes is just not sufficient at all. May be this requires one full day even to walk through the entire area. Even the painting section where famous painting of Monalisa is kept requires more time than what is given. One can not enjoy this place in hop in hop out type of tours. After noon we were scheduled to see Eiffel tower therefore we had to rush back. Eiffel tower is a world famous structure [ 300 mts tall weighing 7300 tons] there are Three stages[ 58 ,115,276 mts] which u can reach by elevator and take 360 degree picture of Paris and also enjoy the visual beauty of Paris. We spend about 2 hours over this structure and it is once in life time opportunity for anybody to see Paris. Night may still bebetter we do not know. After reluctantly descending from Eiffel tower, we were taken to Fragonards perfume museum, where we were explained how perfume is made. U will also have opportunity to buy perfume there. Of course I suggest u purchase perfume on the way back in the cruise from Calais to Dover, where in u have plenty of varieties at affordable cost is available [duty free shops inside the cruise]. U get plenty of Swiss Chocolates also on the cruise. The day ends with a visit Avenue des champs – elysees, where u can relax for some time.

Day-9

The final day of our tour will start with visit Versailles gardens and Palace. Visit to palace is not possible due to paucity of time. However u can visit a portion of this large garden by taking golf cart on rent. U have to drive yourself. Do not forget to take your driving license. I have driven this golf cart with two old ladies who could not walk to see the garden. They also provide u a map. It is not possible to see this garden of 800 hectares by walk in the limited time available. Construction of Versailles garden as well as Palace costed so much for French citizens, they were taxed beyond their capacity to pay, due to which they had to starve. This led to French revolution and the king was assassinated by people.

After visiting Versailles garden we were taken for lunch in Bhojan restaurant and then we left for London through Calais, channel crossing and bid farewell group. We reached wimbley by 10 PM. Star Tours offered us complimentary dinner, after which we are back home, with very a nice feeling of having enjoyed nice tour of Discover Europe with team of unknown but friendly people. We thanked our guide JJ and the bus driver Mr. Bill for their co-operation and made our tour memorable one.
General: Star Tours is the ideal tour operaters for specially for vegetarians. It is better u strictly follow the advise of the guide in terms of safety of Ur Passport,wallet and personal effects. You need on an average 30 euros per day for meeting contingency expenditure.Major Shopping extra.

West Minister Abey and Bigben LONDON