This is an overview of the Europe trip!Places we went (might've missed a couple):
London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Cologne, Frankfurt, Lucerne, Innsbruck, Vadus, Salzburg, Vienna, Graz, Venice, Florence, Rome, Lucca, Pisa, Monte Carlo, Nice, Avignon, Lyon, Paris.
Favorite places:
London, Salzburg, Italy, Paris
Tour guide - 8/10 stars.
She was fairly nice and knew her stuff, but a lot of us felt like she could've dealt with some things better. Also, it's obvious that she gets commissions for stuff (ex. if we buy something she recommends, she gets part of the profit bc she discussed it with the store owner beforehand)...but I felt like she should've done that better, too. For example, she told us about this "bloody orange juice" that was darker than normal orange juice and delicious, so we all ordered it. But when it came, it was just regular orange juice. The tour guide later apologized and said that they had run out of the special oranges, but I think she should have told us earlier because she knew :/ And I know she knew because she had already drank one before most of us bought it.
I mentioned this briefly before but during the beginning of the trip, our bus couldn't seat enough people so people had to stand. A lot of people were angry at her but I know it wasn't her fault. Still, I felt like she could have come up with some sort of solution.
Bus driver - 10/10 stars.
He was really nice and his driving skills were on point! The bus was brand new and the bathroom was locked so he let my family put this cuckoo clock that we bought inside of it so we wouldn't have to carry it back and forth everyday when we reached a new hotel.
People:
I only talked to a few people, and two actually lived close to me (met them on the trip though). One of them is a year older than me and our badminton team actually played against his that same year! We didn't see each other though, but that was cool to know.
I got annoyed sometimes because some people didn't always cooperate. We had to sit three rows back each day so everyone got a chance to see everything differently, but some people refused to do so and stayed in their seats or just took a random one so they messed the system up. Arguing happened because of it, but oh well...
If you read the France post, you'll know that something happened at the end of the Eiffel Tower night. What happened was that we were supposed to meet up at 11:30 (I think), and my dad and I got down right after 11:00. People began coming, but after 11:30, some people weren't here yet. Turns out, twelve people had gone up to the third stage (we were only allowed to go to the second one b/c of time, and it's fine since it's basically the same as the se cond stage) and were STILL waiting in line.
We couldn't call them because there wasn't reception up there, so our tour guide became upset. No one blamed her. This wasn't part of the program; she didn't have to take us here. She and our bus driver took us instead of resting in their hotel. We paid the bus driver ten euros to get us here, actually, but money wasn't the issue. If the driver didn't get enough sleep and something bad happens (ex. falls asleep while driving), those twelve people would be responsible.
Around 11:50, she decided for to return; those people would have to call a taxi to get back. We were almost back at the hotel when the bus turned around. Somehow the phone call had gone through, and the people up there were making their way down so we had to go back and get them. One of the adults up there (a dad) collected 10 euros from the people that were late, but money can't suffice for time and sleep.
However, what made me mad was that NO ONE apologized. One of them even said, "It wasn't our fault, we didn't know the line was that long." But you weren't supposed to go to the third stage at all...that's the point.
But aside from that, the trip was absolutely amazing and I'd love to go to Europe again and see more places! This trip was probably 9/10 stars for me, and it's definitely unforgettable.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
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