08
EUROPE: wintER tOURs
Prague – as
amazing as it is
made out to be.
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night, lost, with a crippling backpack tour to see historic buildings in a city like
and an empty stomach. No unfriendly Vienna. Having Julia as our guide gave
desk clerks at youth hostels telling us us a valuable glimpse into the lives of
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all the beds were taken. the people who once lived in the ornate
On a coach tour, the hard work is palaces and the nobility who married
taken care of. You cruise into unfamiliar and mourned in the churches, as well as
cities and get dropped at your hotel, a sense of Vienna’s importance before air
where a hot shower always awaits. The travel robbed it of its prime position at the
modus operandi was the same in each crossroads of Europe.
city – after arriving, our bubbly Canadian
tour leader Julia or a local guide would Days 3-4
take us on an orientation trip; the next Our third day included our first long
day we were let lose and on our own. coach trip, but by lunchtime we were in
Some people have concerns about Budapest, a city which has a reputation
travelling en masse, such as being stuck for being more vibrant and sophisticated
with a bunch of strangers for up to than some of its Eastern bloc neighbours.
More than 20 years after their first visit
eight hours at a time. But some of those I remember reading a guidebook in the
strangers became friends, and for us, our ’80s that said you’d never go hungry in
to Europe, Kiwi Leanne Moore and her tour had just the right amount of group Hungary. From the moment we arrived
husband returned, trading their backpacks
activities and solo days. we dined well. Shopping was cheap, too.
for a 12-day Kumuka coach tour.
Day 1 Days 5-6
Our first stop was Vienna. It turned out We ticked another country – Slovakia – off
h, how times change. When Both experiences enriched our lives. I that we’d be in town during the 175th the list on our way to the Czech Republic.
O
my Chris and I first travelled treasure the memories from our first trip, birthday of the world’s first chocolate Then it was on to Prague and its jaw-
through Europe in the ’80s, the times we were welcomed into the cake, the Sachertorte. It was quite a dropping beauty. Unlike many European
we took a backpack and tent, homes of people we met along the way, coincidence, as days before we left for our cities, Prague wasn’t bombed in WWII,
and set off on an adventure including a lovely Finnish woman who long-awaited trip, I heard three words on so stunning buildings are everywhere.
that involved trains, boats, buses and invited us for dinner and a sauna, which the radio: chocolate, cake and Vienna. It Prague’s good looks are almost too much.
hitchhiking. Fast forward 20 years and included the local custom of sprinting does not disappoint. It’s like over-indulging on cake and longing
our second trip to Europe couldn’t have naked into the freezing cold backyard. for the simplicity of a water cracker. But if
been more different. Opting for the ease However, having always travelled Day 2 you’re going to splash out on a nice dinner
and comfort of a Kumuka tour coach, we independently, I was surprised how One of the things that hits you when in Europe, Prague is a good city to choose
ate in fancy restaurants, stayed in hotels quickly we became coach tour converts. you fly directly to Europe from New because it’s still relatively cheap. My beef
and traded in our backpacks for suitcases It was just so easy. There was no Zealand is how young our country is by goulash came with a savoury or sweet
(on wheels). walking around strange cities late at comparison. You don’t have to go on a option. In a daring move, I chose the latter,
CALL Us tODAY! UK 0800 092 9595 iRE 1800 946 843 UsA/CAn 1800 517 0867 sOUtH AFRiCA 011 881 5765 OnLinE www.KUmUKA.COm
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