Europe Tour
-My Firsthand Experiences
We are always engaged in
seeking happiness.
And going for Europe Tour was one of the attempts in that direction.
Being a senior citizen, the criteria before me for opting for Europe Tour were -
- sound financial back ground
- sound physical health (albeit with dependence on medication)
- intense desire to experience healthy climate
- intense desire to have glimpses of foreign culture and life styles
- intense desire to enjoy natural beauty
- observe the attitude of common people in the developed countries
And you know what, this motivated me and my spouse to pay due attention and make sincere efforts to maintain our sound physical health.
Recently, ie in April 2019, I along with my spouse had been to the Europe Tour conducted by Veena Wold.
Here I share my fruitful experiences of the same with my avid readers.
Europe Tour
-My firsthand Experiences.
I was initially very much curious about the tour. Because when one travels abroad, one gains invaluable experiences and knowledge about that particular country and culture. And this becomes more significant when shared with others.
And this Europe Tour was my first foreign trip in my life hence I was very excited.
This Europe Tour covered three countries, France, Switzerland and Germany (brief coverage).
Initially, in introductory meeting conducted by Veena World, the Travel Agents, the need was emphasized to behave appropriately in the foreign countries keeping in mind that we represent our country, India. And that is exactly true !
A few things emphasized were -
- Paris is just like Mumbai, India. Beware of the passport, visa, and other valuables while travelling.
- It was also explained how to carry the passport and visa along with the cash securely, especially while in Paris. (This proved very significant. Because, a couple in our group lost their passport and visa on the very first day.)
- Do try to experience the glimpses of their life and culture.
- Detailed idea of crew baggage and cabin baggage.
- Explained the importance of the process of check-in, immigration etc.
- To carry two sets of the required medicines each one kept in crew bag and cabin bag along with the Doctor's prescription.
- Not to carry hair oil, aftershave lotion and other liquids more than 80 mls. in both baggage.
- importance of optional health insurance while in travel. This is more so in case of senior citizens.
- importance of adhering to the time schedule during the travel, especially during site seeings.
 |
| From the Mount Titlis Revolving Cabin Cable Car |
 |
| Ascending the Mount Titlis |
 |
| JUNGFRAUJOTH - THE TOP OF EUROPE |
 |
| Passing Through Black Forest Region |
 |
| Cuckoo Clock from the Cuckoo Clock Factor, Drubba,Titisee |
EUROPE TOUR
My Firsthand Experiences
My wonderful experiences and observations :
- Discipline - throughout my Europe Tour this aspect caught my immediate attention.
- Cleanliness in public places- to the highest degree !
- Public Toilets - very much clean and hygienic, provided with hot and cold water and dryers.
- No one I interacted initiated the conversation but ready to converse when approached.
- It seemed that the general attitude of the people was 'you mind your business, I mind my own business'.
- If asked explicitly, people offered help immediately.
- Great respect for privacy.
- No body was willing to interfere in the privacy of others.
- Every one appeared to be capable to perform independently.
- People in general appeared very much healthy,enthusiastic and cheerful.
- The roads were very well maintained, no potholes, no gigantic(?) speed breakers.
- Truly deserve compliments for beautifully maintained not only gardens and trees but also the forest region.
 |
| BEAUTIFUL ROADS ! |
- Throughout my Europe Tour, except Police Van sirens and two-wheelers passing on in speed, I never heard any vehicle horn while travelling.
- Once or twice only I could see Traffic Police, that too simply keeping an eye on the traffic.
- All vehicles observed strict lane discipline.
- I saw not a single overtaking by vehicles even while on the highways.
- Even in peek hour traffic jams, vehicles could keep on moving slowly. This delayed the travel only by 10 to 15 minutes. This happened only once.
EUROPE TOUR
My Firsthand Experiences
SCENIC BEAUTY
I share below some of the scenic natural beauty - one can easily guess the imagination, the synchronization, the display and the hard-work applied therefor.
 |
| BEAUTIFUL TREES |
 |
| BEAUTIFUL TREES |
 |
| BEAUTIFUL TREES |
 |
| Beautiful Landscape ! |
 |
| BEAUTIFUL PRESENTATION |
 |
| Beautiful Trees ! |
 |
Beautiful Nature !
|
Some general knowledge I collected before going on the tour, which I hope, will be interesting to know for the readers-
EUROPE TOUR
My Firsthand Experiences
MAIN INDUSTRIES IN FRANCE -
- Energy
- Manufacturing and technology
- Transport
- Agriculture
- Tourism
In fact, Tourism is the main industry, France being the most visited destination in the world.
France is the major exporter of machinery and transportation equipment, air crafts, including fighter air crafts (remember Rafael ?), plastics, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel, petroleum, and automobiles. France is also famous for perfumes.
MAIN INDUSTRIES IN SWITZERLAND -
- Precision Engineering - Swiss made clocks and watches are world famous !
- Scientific instruments
- Heavy Engineering
- Tourism
- Dairy products (Swiss Chocolates are world famous)
EUROPE TOUR
MY Firsthand Experiences
Movie shootings and Switzerland
The enchanting natural beauty with snow covered mountains, lush green nature make Switzerland the most preferred choice for film shooting both for Hollywood and Bollywood.
Many of Hollywood spy thrillers have been shot in Switzerland.
Sangam, the most popular Hindi movie, starring Raj Kapoor, Rajendra Kumar and Vaijayantimala was the first movie when the Indian movie industry ventured beyond India for film shooting. This movie contains a few locations in Switzerland, the other locations included London, Vatican, Rome, and Paris.
An Evening in Paris, starring Shammi Kapoor and Sharmila Tagore was shot in France, Lebanon, Canada and Switzerland.
Dev Anand's Prem Pujari - several scenes were shot in Switzerland.
Yash Chopra proved very significant in his efforts to introduce the natural beauty of Switzerland in his very famous movie - Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge. (1995). The films was so much popular that it proved instrumental in starting a new trend of the visits by Indians tourists to this beautiful country, Switzerland.
The Tourism Industry of Switzerland started developing so much that Yash Chopra's work was acknowledged by nominating Yash Chopra as the Ambassador for Interlaken. The Lauenensee lake where Yash Chopra shot many of his scenes is now popularly known as Yash Chopra Lake.
 |
| Yash Chopra's bronze statue- Ambassador in Interlaken |
No wonder, Europe, especially Switzerland is the most visited popular destination in the world. The overall experiences I gained are really memorable. In fact, they are motivating me to put some efforts on daily basis to not only maintain financial ability but physical ability also.
Both my own and that of my spouse !
Our Tour Manager aptly instructed us not to sleep while travelling in bus, but to enjoy the natural beauty of Europe outside. Because, for a common man, the Europe Tour is once in a life time.
Enjoyed ?
Next time .......
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment