Monday, November 20, 2023

Europe Trip 13July 2023 to 24Aug 2023

Sometimes the best laid plans go awry, but if you are lucky one gets to enjoy their travel to the hilt, provide weather god's permit, health is stable for long period ( in fact our EURO trip was almost 42 days ) and finally all the logistics and accommodation is taken care of by a travel agent ( Apna Holidays ) relatives and friends in the destination.   The trigger for planning Euro Trip was 20% tax was to be levied from August, but however it was postponed, it does not make any difference to tax paying individuals, since the amount deposited gets into the income tax kitty pertaining to PAN quoted.  The process of getting the visa through APNA holidays was smooth enough even though it was neck of the moment.  Later we had to get the Euro currency required for the trip through money exchangers, we had to pay premium @ 92.25 per Euro, now it has scaled downwards.   So it is better to plan trip at least 3 months ahead to avoid paying higher premium for Euro or Dollar as the case maybe.  



Majority of the tour operators prefer to undertake Euro trip during the month of June, July and August.  Primarily because the days are longer and night is shorter.  The sunset can be as late as 11 pm and as usual Sunrises at 6 am.  This provides the opportunity to undertake more sightseeing as per itinerary.  It makes sense from the angle of travelling light with summer clothing except in Switzerland and Scandinavian countries.   We just managed with one set of thermal clothing the entire trip.   Secondly there are no fans in the room & only some 3 star hotels are having AC facilities.  Since the climate is mostly salubrious one can manage without fan too.  During our tour only 2 Hilton properties had AC facilities along with two other properties!


 We boarded the flight at BIAL @ Bengaluru on July 13th 2023.  The check in process was smooth along with security check in.  Anush was our tour organizer along with Slyvester Kunder from Mumbai who boarded the flight from Dubai.  The flight duration was 3 and a half hours to Dubai from Blore.  The non veg meals was pretty good.  The crew served limited drinks to passengers on the flight, the variety of choice in the form of whisky, vodka, wine, Champaigne, beer etc were available for the passengers who would like to spend time.  I had a miniature peg of Jack Daniels with water.










PROLOGUE
Our travel agents were frequently warning the group that we should avoid talking to strangers who seek out for information or curious about seeing Indian Currency in your wallet.  The ladies were warned to be careful regarding purse snatchers.  Obviously it is understood that you should take care of your valuables, passports and currencies along with credit card.  
Generally it is better to avoid swiping credit cards abroad for the fear of hacking or because of the service charges levied on transactions are sometimes hefty.
Another important advisory was usage of toilets one has to shell out upto 1.5 EUROS, so our guide advised us to order coffee and use the toilets in supermarkets and restaurants. I used a hack of carrying a pee pouch which turns urine into a gel, which can be disposed of easily in dustbins.  Lol guys, seriously with diabetes and need to be hydrated one tends to drink lot of water.  One has to avoid the embarrassment of peeing in the pants, which some people have experienced according to our guide.
Finally all our electronic items, chargers, power banks, mobile phones, tablets etc are supposed to be carried in our hand baggage.  Furthermore we should avoid locking check in baggages, in case any suspicious items in the baggage are checked by security.  Only travel medicines are to be carried inside hand luggage.




The in flight experience with Emirates was literally great from Dubai onwards, i was given a special tour of the upper deck of first class & business class by the Crew members Anu George and Mario.   The meals and drinks service was excellent, except that i had issues with getting my non-vegetarian meal because all passengers were listed as VEG by the tour operator, which did make sense, since i ended up being served beef which i realised later and left the portions, once i had consumed some small of the meal.  We were treated with white wine and Jack Daniels miniature bottles.  Never make the mistake of over drinking and get into piss trauma.  Luckily A 380 was not packed, and it has thankfully 15 toilets.  



The entertainment console is named as ICE !  meaning information, communication and entertainment.  The flight tracking is one of the highlights, which tracks our aircraft online, with time and distance updated every minute.   The front and body camera gives us a 3 D view.  

FRANCE : After a smooth landing of A 380 aircraft, in Charles De Gaul airport, we were transported to Mercure Hotel near Orly Airport in the suburbs.  As soon as we, entered the hotel in a tired condition, a Palestinian or Middle east scamster approached me along with consorts and tried to hypnotise, somehow i broke the spell cast by him and retrieved my 800 Euros handed over to him in goodfaith.  He knew i was about to scream  POLICE and luckily there were a bunch of police patrolling personnel who checked in for next day BASTILLE day security.  I would strongly not recommend this hotel since it lacks security coverage as well as staff maybe involved in leaking information about tourists talking a walk.  Next morning we were trolled by two cars, luckily it was raining but day break was still away.  My sneaking suspicion is that information was being leaked from reception.  Guys don t go for walk, maybe in groups it will be safe.  Anyways this hotel is not in my bucket list, and i hope the travel agent takes note of  safety concerns, apart from me another senior retired banker too was targeted, he outsmarted them.

Bastille Day happened to be revolution day when France were freed from Aristocratic rule of  Nicholas lineage.  It coincided with the visit of our PM Shri Narendra Modi as a guest of honour, and we were able to see the television coverage and air show on display while on cruise over river Sienne.  



Eiffel tower trip was cancelled due to security cordoning of the area for the Bastille day celebrations, instead we were taken on river Sienne cruise for one hour and ten minutes.  The weather was pleasant due to cloud cover but photography suffered.  We were guided through the commentary on various monuments located on both sides of the river was pin pointed.  Even the Almac underpass where princess Dianna and her hubby lost their lives in a horrendous crash is located on the other side of the river.

We bargained and bought Eiffel tower mementos on river Sienne platform...and our bus proceeded for a good Gujerati bhojan at Bhojan 3.  The best part was of the luncheon was that we were served Sona Masuri instead of  Basmati rice in all other places.  My nephew came and picked up the Masalas and Momentos so that we are unburdened of carrying extra luggage during the entire trip.