Our trip to Europe Sep 2024

 27 September, 2024

           

An idea of visiting Europe had taken roots many years ago. We were supposed to go to Europe last year. However, in view of delay in getting our new passports with recent residential address in Mumbai, that visit did not materialize.

In January this year, our German friend visited us with his family. He was keen to host us during our stay. It was his long awaited wish to visit Germany. Initially we hesitated for fear of inability to do it, partly because of our age. I recalled as to how old ladies in 1995 were staying at hostel in UK and touring around. We resolved to go ahead, as if it is not now, it will never be. Abhi nahi to kabhi nahi.. So, we started preparing in March for our visit in September. September is pleasant in Europe. The summer is fading out and so is tourist rush as the schools and colleges in Europe start opening.  We also hoped that hotel prices will come down. A rough sketch was to visit Berlin, Mainz, Paris, Venice, Pisa, Rome and Istanbul. A search for flight was mainly restricted to Berlin, Rome and Istanbul, as we thought this round multiple cities itinerary will fetch us a good deal from airlines. As far as Europe travel is concerned, once we start from Berlin, we can plan other cities using Schengen Global Eurail pass until Rome. Further, we did not want to visit many cities in hurry, day in and day out; but rather had a bit leisurely approach to visit tourist places at our own pace. One of sticking points that we wished to, but could not add in our itinerary is visit to Switzerland, especially to Interlaken, a picturesque town between two lakes with ropeway, on our way from Paris to Venice. The reason was mainly due to long time to travel by rail and increased duration of total tour. So, finally it was decided to drop visit to Interlaken. And instead of travelling from Paris to Venice by rail, we preferred air travel to save time. We purchased 4-day global rail pass which we used for travel from Berlin to Frankfurt-Mainz [1^st day], Mainz-Frankfurt to Paris [2^nd day], Venice to Pisa via Milan [3^rd day] and Pisa to Rome [4^th day]. We reserved our seats that costs us depending upon train types, like regional, intercity/IC or superfast/ICE. In brief, our visit was now of 22 days, viz., Berlin 3, Mainz 4, Paris 4, Venice 2, Pisa 2, Rome 3 and Istanbul 4. In the hindsight, this [22-day] too was a short duration to explore well places of tourist importance, especially museums, palaces, towers, churches, cathedrals, modern icons, historical-archeological and political buildings, and occasionally shopping malls.

Our outward flight Mumbai to Berlin via Istanbul, Rome to Istanbul and return flight Istanbul to Mumbai were of Turkish Airlines which cost us Rs 1,50,000/-. Paris to Venice flight costs us Rs 31,000/-. So, our flight tickets for two cost us Rs 185,000/-. Eurail pass costs us about Rs 40,000/- and seat reservations about Rs 10,000/-. We purchased tickets-bus or train for local travels on days other than that Eurail global pass allowed us for 4-days. Alternately, you may buy tickets for each journey which may turn out to be cheaper if well planned in advance. But this is wishful thinking as many factors chip in with regards to prices. You do not need seat reservations in some regional trains.

Once, we got our tickets; we started booking for hotels. The most convenient sites were booking.com and Airbnb. So, we booked our accommodation in Berlin, Paris, Pisa, Rome and Istanbul through booking.com and Venice through AirBnB. We preferred hotels or apartments/studio apartments near city centers or railway stations. We booked apartments in Venice and Istanbul, as these gave us freedom to cook our meals and wash our clothes. We had also purchased our medical insurance with tickets too. Unfortunately, I was later informed by Reliance General Insurance that I was not eligible as I had crossed 70 years of age. So, I had to buy new policy that costs me about Rs 5000/-. Unfortunately, I could not get refund from MMT airline aggregator as I failed to reach them through their free toll call. They did not seem to have customer service in the form of talking to an agent. So, a word of caution is to make sure that you apply for right medical insurance and ensure that the policy clearly states name as in passport, age, and other details. We struggled a bit to revise policy to include detail or two that we missed earlier while generating policy. This was not our fault, as flight aggregating company failed to include requisite information for the Reliance General Insurance. Later, I set out for Schengen visa through VFS.com. Fortunately for us, with the longest duration of our visit being in Germany, we applied for Schengen visa through Germany Consul-General in Mumbai. Our first application was rejected leading to loss of Rs 20,000/-probably because we did not provide our earlier passports. Later, we again applied for Schengen visa annexing all our previous passports that showed our visits abroad especially visit to Germany in 1995 and 2014. Fortunately, we got visas. So, we finished visa formalities in July. Immediately, we applied online for Turkish single entry visa which was instantly generated as we already had B1/B2 US as well as Schengen visa. Total visa costs were about Rs 45,000/- including medical coverage. The medical coverage was about Rs 7,500/-. A word of caution for visa application is needed. Read carefully while applying for visa. VFS website is very good to guide you for visa application. The VFS also offers visa guidance service. Germans are a bit finicky, as it appears. They seem to reject visa applications on the minor ground, as I found out on the internet. If not sure, seek the professional help for applying for visa. 

In the meantime between purchase of flight tickets, hotel booking and visa, we also booked visits to museums and other places of tourist interests. One needs to be careful while booking entry tickets for tourist spots, as there are many commercial sites which claim to be official, but are not official in the sense that they belong to the Government or institutions that own these tourist places. Besides, in some cities, there are combined passes for all museums. A due diligence will help in getting a better deal to visit many places in the time limit set by you. In some tourist places, you need to do advance booking. For Eiffel tower, Versailles palace or Vatican city, advance booking opens two or three months before the scheduled visit.

Nefertiti in Pergamon Panorama museum in Berlin    

Dom in Berlin

Brandenburg Tor [Gate] in the back ground

We visited Berlin from 2^nd to 5^th Sep and booked visit in advance visit to Parliament building [free], Pergamon panorama [Pergamon museum under renovation]; Paris from 9^th to 13^th Sep Louvre museum and Eiffel tower in Paris, Pisa from 15^th to 17^th Sep museum complex including Leaning tower, Rome from 17^th to 20^th Sep visit to Colosseum and Vatican City.  In some places, we had to stand in queue for more than 2 hr to buy tickets, as in case of our visit to Saint Chapelle in Paris. We realized this folly [not buying combined museum pass] in Istanbul where combined museum pass could have been a better deal than buying separately for each museum or tourist place.

Statue of Gutenberg, inventor of printing machine, in Central market of Mainz

Cathedral in Mainz showing paintings of Marc Chagall

A village in Rhine/Mosel valley near Mainz

 

Eiffel tower in Paris

At the entrance of Louvre museum

In front of Versailles Palace in Paris Metropolitan area

Mona Lisa in Louvre Museum in Paris

        In front of Pantheon in Paris 

After an initial hesitation, it is easy to move on our own within cities to visit places of tourist importance. Often these are well connected with bus, tram, metro and trains. A combined ticket for bus and metro is good enough to travel. We preferred buying ticket for each journey rather than buying one day pass of travel, since we could visit 2-3 spots in a day and preferred to be back in hotel by 5 pm. There are several tourist shows on youtube.com that may help in deciding your places that match your mood. And hence, decide what to see each day, before venturing out.

It is a good idea to buy sim card or have roaming phone. Most hotels as well as tourist places offer wifi so that you are connected and can make best use of GPS map for limited time. Before venturing out, place each day itinerary and accordingly visit on foot or by public transport which is the cheapest in most countries.

Venice

        In front of St Mark Square in Venice

In front of leaning tower of Pisa

In front of Trevi fountain [ancient acqua duct] restored in the 17th century in Rome

        Inside the Vatican City 

        In front of Vatican Square where Pope appears once in a year

        Inside the Colosseum in Rome

        Roman forum in the Colosseum complex

In front of Victor Emanuele II [king who unified Italy] building, also nicknamed as typewriter building 

Inside Blue Mosque in Istanbul

 

In front of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul

Entrance of Grand Bazar [Kapali Carsi] over 4000 shops, about 575 year old

 

At Taksim Square, celebrating 100 years of independence of Turkey [1925-2025] Istanbul

In front of famous Hafiz Mustafa shop selling Baklava and Istanbul delights etc 

 In brief, we visited tourist places given below in each city

Berlin-Deutscher Bundestag [Parliament building], 3-day museum pass for Pergamon panorama [Pergamon museum under renovation], Deutsches historic museum, neue museum, Futurium museum, Dom [Cathedral], Humboldt Forum; cruise along the river Spree, dinner at Thai restaurant and rickshaw drive that included old time division between East and West Berlin, check-point Charlie in the evening with kindness of our host, Susanne. Enjoyed nick names that Germans are fond of to remember some dirty buildings. Their washing machine however pale dry in comparison to ‘ours’.

Mainz-Visit to Roman remains, St Steven Cathedral showcasing Marc Chagalls’ painting, Rhine and Mosel valley full of vineyards, walked along the beautiful villages with our kind hosts, Joerg and Kristin.

Paris-Visit to Sacre Cour [sacred heart] Cathedral/Basilica and view of Paris at Montmarte, purchase at Aldi, cruise along the river Siene, Eiffel tower, Louvre museum, Arc de tromphe, Saint Chapelle showcasing beautiful Marc Chagall’s paintings, Pantheon [could not locate Pierre and Marie curie tomb], Versailles palace, and Faisal eatery near our hotel at Paris east railway station. Not St Micheal Notre Dame Cathedral as it was under renovation.

Venice-Venice to St Mark Square, St Mark Cathedral, Marco Polo exhibition, St Mark tower, Ali’store that helped us to cook in our Studio at Venice Mestre.

Pisa-leaning tower of Pisa, museums inside this complex.

Rome-Vatican city-museum and Vatican square, Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain [ancient acqua duct], Typewriter building [Altare della Patria or Monumonto a Vittorio Emanuele], Spanish steps, cathedral.

Istanbul-Blue mosque, Topkapi palace, Hagia Sophia mosque [from outside], one-day visit to Princess island, Grand Bazar and Taksim Square.

Important points to remember for travel abroad

1.      Keep hard copies of passport including visas, museum passes, hotel reservations etc. readily available for use.

2.      Do not solely depend upon printed tickets or screen shots of travel. During our train journey from Milan to Pisa, we were unable to retrieve our tickets from the Rail planner app; and screen shots or printed copies were not acceptable to the train supervisor, who insisted on app based mobile tickets. We were charged about Rs 16,500/- for the tickets. Later, we represented our case to customer care to get refund. Please insist on refund rather than alternative options like extended period of global pass, etc. It was just our bad luck that day. Otherwise, our travel with global pass was very pleasant.

3.      Stay connected if possible. Some trains or/and train stations do not have wifi and hence, you find it difficult to stay connected. Keep a watch on the platform number as they change within short notice of 10-15 min.

4.      Istanbul is costly and most charge in euros or dollars rather than in Turkish lira. Taxi driver cheated us by charging more on the alibi that there is traffic jam while travelling from airport, after driving a short distance from airport. Stay calm at the airport and then decide what mode of travel you want. Most airports although far off are well connected with the cities. This should not deter you from visiting Istanbul and other cities in Turkey which are worth seeing.

5.      Negotiate hard at every place including restaurant as owners do not purposely show prices of menu especially in Turkey. Negotiate even in Europe, since it is your money. Most kiosks show the lowest price starting from. Do not assume it to be the same for all goodies in the basket or shop.

6.      Use public transport as much as possible as it is often done by most others.

7.      Carry your water bottle as well as food once you leave hotel in the morning. Relieve yourself before going out, as toilet facilities in many places are chargeable as much as 2 Euros per person.

8.      Stay away from crowd to avoid pick pocketing. In Rome, you are warned while purchasing ticket about pick pockets. It is an official acknowledgement of pick pocketing menace.

9.      Carry your ID especially your passport everywhere as they are used to lend you audio-guides, or luggage cubicles or gain you entries into iconic buildings. Ensure to collect your luggage and passport. Most museums and other places have luggage cabin free of cost.

10. Do not hand over your mobile while seeking directions. Confirm direction again as some may not understand what you wish to know due to language barrier.

11. Be careful while buying airline tickets as often they do not include luggage in their lowest price.

12. Use credit card for booking air tickets, hotels as well as tourist spots well in advance from India. Make credit card amenable to use abroad by informing customer service that you will be abroad for the specific period. For all our sundry expenses abroad, we preferred to use cash rather than credit card. In some cities, you need to use credit card for travel by local bus or metro. Credit card is essential abroad.

 

We returned to Mumbai on the 25^th Sep safe with satisfaction of having completed successfully our visit which was joyful, entertaining and educative. In brief, this visit of 22 days for two of us costs us about Rs 6,50,000/-.