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Post by tiffany on Sept 25, 2014 14:09:44 GMT
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Post by chech on Sept 25, 2014 15:22:26 GMT
Wow. Can't believe she didn't let you loose in Graz. Everything is very close to the main square. We had similar timings there and even though it was festival time (thousands in the streets), our TD let us loose for an hour. I saw everything I wanted including the castle on the hill - only a five minute walk to the elevator from the main square.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 25, 2014 15:43:18 GMT
Chech, she didn’t want to let us go off on our own anywhere. Someone must have gotten lost on a past tour, making them late for their next stop, which is why she discouraged everyone from going off on their own. I can’t think of any other reason she’d be like that. I liked Graz and really would have liked to have seen more of it.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 25, 2014 17:30:42 GMT
Day 8 is posted.
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Post by purvis on Sept 25, 2014 21:49:20 GMT
Day 9 - ST. MORITZ – STRESA – ZERMATT I know what you mean about a dinner being held in a barn that smelled. On my last European tour the BMG dinner was held in a barn on the outskirts of Amsterdam and the smell was bad. The only other BMG meal I attended was in a field at an organic farm in Hawaii and it was not great unless you like tofu and bean sprouts which I don't. Where was McD's when you need something to eat. I hope Trafalgar didn't pay to much for these included BMG meals as they were possibly the worst I had experienced in 14 Trafalgar tours. Trafalgar seems to feel their clients need to dine with the locals in rustic settings but I prefer better surroundings. The hosts were lovely people but the food was questionable.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 26, 2014 11:21:54 GMT
Hi Purvis, in Portugal, our BMG lunch was in a barn, however, it was a clean barn and didn’t smell at all. On this tour, the meal was very good, but it did smell bad and it was a little cold. We all had to eat with our coats on. Miranda told us that she brought a group here on a cold Spring day, and everyone was shivering and no one wanted to stay. I understand wanting to having dinner in a local home, but they should at least provide us with a warm environment that doesn’t smell like cows.
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Post by purvis on Sept 26, 2014 15:41:07 GMT
It seems this tour director really doesn't know how to ration time. She gives too much time to restroom stops and not enough for wandering around sites. Your tour sounds like it is rush,rush,rush. I have been on a tour which covered most of the sites you have been visiting and was given much more time to wander around .
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Post by tiffany on Sept 26, 2014 15:57:41 GMT
That’s exactly how I felt Purvis, which is why I didn’t enjoy this tour as much as past tours. I felt like we wasted too much time at useless coffee stops in the middle of nowhere, and not enough time seeing the major sights.
Day 10 is now posted.
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Post by californian on Sept 26, 2014 16:05:26 GMT
Tiffany, sometimes those stops in the middle of nowhere are due to the mandatory rest for the driver, I understand that they have to stop for 45 min, but not sure how often, we were told in our last tour, that is a must, the driver could be held responsible and the penalties are enormous, over 1000 euros sometimes. We were told that the driver can break the 45 min in two segments: 15 and 30 min. Our driver used the time, not to rest, but to wash the windows, etc. Of course the distances on a regional tour are not that great that can't be scheduled better.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 26, 2014 17:31:17 GMT
Hi Californian, I understand that the driver has to have mandatory stops during the day, but I don’t understand why we had to stop for 45 mins in one place and 30 mins in another in the span of one morning (and this doesn’t include the lunch stops). Why couldn’t we have one 20 min break, and another 25 mins break. That would have be sufficient time for the driver’s mandatory breaks, and it would have gotten us to the major cities earlier. While in Portugal, we never stopped for more than 20-25 mins at our comfort stops, which meant were able to have an hour and a half for lunch in a town/city. This meant we had time to both eat and see some of the sights. I’ve been on 11 tours, and I’ve never been on a tour that stopped so often and for so long at coffee stops in the middle of nowhere
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Post by purvis on Sept 26, 2014 17:49:32 GMT
Day 11 - ZERMATT – GENEVA – LAKE GENEVA (EVIAN) Tiffany: I was the only one on my tour not to go up The Matterhorn not because I didn't want to but with no eardrum in my left ear and heights giving me a bad earache on occasion I decided it wiser to stay away from this option. I instead went and had lunch at a not so great tiny restaurant and paid approx. $25.00 for a hamburger , coke and chips only to later that evening locate a McDonald"s on the main street. Glad to hear that the weather was good so that you could take pictures of the mountain as I can only imagine the site was gorgeous. I twice took cable cars up the mountains outside Lucerne (just a wee bit of pain) and the views were amazing. Looking forward to the rest of your tour tales. Purvis
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Post by tiffany on Sept 26, 2014 17:55:22 GMT
Hi Purvis, it’s too bad you weren’t able to go to the Matterhorn, but I can understand why. Did you at least get good views from Zermatt? Because it was a clear day, we had good views from the town, and a couple of people got a view of the Matterhorn from their room.
We located the McDonald’s downtown, and it was one of the prettiest McDonald’s I’ve ever seen. We actually considered going there for dinner before we found the pub. It was a last resort for us.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 26, 2014 19:59:17 GMT
Day 11 is posted. I'm not sure if I'll have time for writing this weekend, but if not, I'll continue on Monday.
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Post by purvis on Sept 27, 2014 3:53:48 GMT
Day 12 - LAKE GENEVA (EVIAN) – BERNE – INTERLAKEN – LUCERNE I have now come to the conclusion that your tour director did not know how to handle time but in fact was also was a control freak. Trafalgar I hope from clients assessment forms understand that this tour director is a liability rather than an asset to the company. When people spend their money for a tour they should have qualified TD's who give the clients a bit of freedom to do their own thing if it doesn't interfere with the schedule or others enjoyment of the tour.
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Post by purvis on Sept 27, 2014 4:01:32 GMT
Day 11 is posted. I'm not sure if I'll have time for writing this weekend, but if not, I'll continue on Monday. While on the balcony of my son's room we witnessed 2 jets circle the top of the Matterhorn leaving a vapour trail. I have photos of this and they are great. Zermatt was a lovely little village very expensive but then that's Switzerland.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 28, 2014 22:51:56 GMT
Hi Purvis, I think you are right, and Miranda was a bit of a control freak. Some people on our tour really liked her though, and thought she was excellant. Of course, these were people who had never been on a tour before, so they had no one to compare her with.
On another note, I've uploaded a few photos, but they are small. Does anyone know how to make them bigger?
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Post by chech on Sept 28, 2014 23:48:53 GMT
That's how the photos come up. We can click on them to get them full size. Sweet pic of the Matterhorn!
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Post by tiffany on Sept 29, 2014 0:45:18 GMT
Thanks Chech. We got lucky with the weather the day we went to the Matterhorn. The sky is grey in a lot of my other pics.
I also noticed that we can't upload more than 3 photos per post. At least if you click on them you can see them.
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Post by californian on Sept 29, 2014 1:15:22 GMT
Great pictures Tiffany. I have been to Innsbruck a couple of times, and I really don't think there is much more to see, except walking around and popping in and out of stores, buy then again, there is always some "hidden gem" in every city. Now Vienna, in the other hand...love the city, could spend a week or two easily.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 29, 2014 12:30:06 GMT
Thanks Californian. I really liked Innsbruck, and would have liked to have seen a bit more of it. We really didn’t seem much while there. I’m sure there’s not as much to see there as there is in Vienna, however, I think there was more to see than what we did. I agree that Vienna is a great city though, and I plan on going back there someday.
On another note, day 12 is posted.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 29, 2014 18:14:01 GMT
Day 13 is now posted. I should be able to finish the rest tomorrow morning.
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Post by purvis on Sept 29, 2014 21:15:25 GMT
Day 14 - LUCERNE – EXTRA DAY IN ZURICH
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Post by purvis on Sept 29, 2014 21:26:05 GMT
DayI 13 is now posted. I should be able to finish the rest tomorrow morning. I really can't understand why you got so little time in Bern as it is a wonderful little town to wander through. Sorry you didn't get to take pictures at Mt.Stanserhorn as the sights over the mountains are magnificent but weather is something beyond anybody's control. . I find that your TD really was in error in not scheduling time properly. Even with such poor timing it seems you had a good tour which is all that really matters. Looking forward to your final tour tale. Purvis
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Post by tiffany on Sept 30, 2014 11:33:16 GMT
Hi Purvis, Miranda advised us that Berne was just a coffee stop, which is why we didn’t have much time there. Personally, I would have rather made Berne our lunch stop, giving us 2 hours there, and then not stopped in Interlocken. I could have skipped Interlocken, or just had a 20 min coffee break there. Oh well.
Yes, it’s too bad we couldn’t see anything from Mt. Stanserhorn. Based on the postcards i saw, I can imagine how beautiful the views are.
Overall, it was a good tour, and I had a good time, despite the issues I had with Miranda. I met some great people, and we are even talking about meeting up for another tour in 2016. WE all already have travel plans for 2015. It will be nice if it happens.
I’m getting started on my last day now. Hopefully I’ll be able to post it this morning.
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Post by tiffany on Sept 30, 2014 14:04:57 GMT
Day 14 is posted, and the tour tale is now complete. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read it! I’m looking forward to reading some of the other tours tales myself now that this is done.
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Post by purvis on Sept 30, 2014 15:21:43 GMT
Welcome Home Tiffany: Enjoyed your tour tales. Brought back some lovely memories of my tour to Switzerland and Austria. Purvis (Edmonton)
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Post by tiffany on Sept 30, 2014 15:39:03 GMT
Thanks Purvis. I’m glad it brought back good memories of your trip, although I get the impression that the timing was better on your tour than mine.
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Post by Boop on Sept 30, 2014 21:33:05 GMT
Thanks for a great tour tale and pictures tiffany!! I really feel I need a do-over on the Best of Switzerland....would love to go again but with my luck I'd get Miranda as td!
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Post by chech on Sept 30, 2014 23:27:03 GMT
Insight has a 15 day tour of Switzerland...imagine how much one can see with a full two weeks in that country!
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Post by Boop on Sept 30, 2014 23:47:41 GMT
Insight has a 15 day tour of Switzerland...imagine how much one can see with a full two weeks in that country! Does part of this tour journey by train? Does the quality of Insight compare to equally to Trafalgar?
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