The Beautiful Memories of My Europe Trip are Imprinted in My Mind for a Lifetime
“I don’t want to live in the old memories, which is why I tend to make new ones”
The Europe Trip of April (13th-27th) 2018 was one such tour, with some beautiful memories to save, not just in the albums, but also in our mind.
The 15-day tour that covered 9 countries (including the Vatican) gave us a great orientation and a subtle experience of this tiny but oh-so-beautiful continent’s richness and culture.
We were a group of 42, all hailing from the city of Hyderabad. Though there was a homogeneity in terms of geography, the age groups were quite heterogeneous, the youngest being 11 years old while the oldest traveller aged 77.
A challenge that seemed so obvious-the time constraint-to cover so much in such little time, was overcome easily, thanks to our time-efficient tour manager Mr.Vincent Quadros. His efficient ways of time management, clarity of instructions, sharing abundant information about the places we were visiting, and tuning himself to connect with every age in the group, made the travellers as comfortable and entertaining as possible (his sense of humour could be confused with a serious fact he’s sharing, beware! LOL! :P)
We were also very lucky to have Mr. Bartik as our coach captain, who safely drove us from country to country, for almost 4,500 kilometres. He’s quite a skilled driver, and a very patient human being, who dealt with loading the luggage every morning and unloading the luggage every night from the coach, with very little help from others. We saw him work, and we truly understood how hard of a task it was to manage the luggage of a group of 42, travelling with families for 15 days! No words of appreciation would suffice the hard work he put in, especially after long hours of driving the coach.
Some of my favourites in the tour are:
- Ride in the London Eye
- Louvre Museum
- Keukenhof Tulip Garden
- Beautiful Alps of Switzerland
- St. Peter’s Basilica and,
- Sistine Chapel
The kid in me loved the visit to the Maestrani Chocolate Factory, and the girl in me loved the Swarovski showroom. Most of my family’s personal favourite remains the beautiful Tulip Garden, and I have to agree with them. The colourful gardens, maintained so beautifully, mesmerise you in a way nothing else could. Getting to exit from the garden, parting with such mesmerising beauties, was truly difficult.
The lunches and dinners, as promised were Indian cuisines. They were usually delicious, and don’t let you miss Indian food. Those who wanted to try the local cuisines were also not disappointed, as there would sometimes be a dish or two, which was the city/country’s local recipe.
For those who’re looking to tick off as many countries as possible from their checklist of countries to visit, these Europe tour package is the best possible way. However, be prepared to walk (sometimes run when you’re late) miles and miles. If you’re someone who enjoys travel as much as I do, you won’t know any pain, as you explore the streets and lanes on foot.
This tour gives you just enough time to acquaint yourself with the city for a day, visit the famous places, and then head out the next morning to a new city. If you’re looking to experience and explore a certain place more than just being a tourist, this package does not provide you the time for it. However, you’ll have enough knowledge to understand and plan another trip by yourself again. 🙂
