Cosmos European Jewels, Day 10 (6-25-2009): entering Switzerland and visited Lugano 第十天 (2009年6月25日):游览 Lugano,夜宿瑞士

When we left America for Europe, I checked the London weather and found that it was about the same as in Salem, Oregon. During all the trip, the days were bright most of the time, and no rain gear was needed. What was more important, the temperature was very moderate. Air conditioning was not available in all the hotels we stayed, but it was hardly needed either. So, traveling to Europe in mid to late June appeared to be free from heat. But if you intend to go to Taiwan or mainland China, as we did back in 2007, you will see hot days almost every day. One of our other concerns was swine flu, for we would be in crowded places with people from all over the world. Luckily, we did not catch swine flu, and we did not see anyone with masks on their face either. We were just exhausted after our two-week trip. Our traveling agent, Cosmos, claimed that these "jewels of Europe" travel would be an unforgettable memory. To us, what is unforgettable was all the inconvience and extra charges they imposed. They advertised this travel as 12 days 7 countries without as much as including a guided tour on the first city/country (London/UK). Then for each of the 10 days, their "included" tour was only for one morning. For the rest of the day, they did have afternoon and evening "excusions", but you had to pay extra. So, look closely and compare wisely. Also, they provided only 4 dinners in our 12 hotel nights. So for the rest of the 8 dinners, you had to pay extra to dine in the hotel dining room. There was usually no way for you to go else to dine, as the hotels were usually far away from other dining facilities.

Hoerbrt, Cosmos appeared to be a reputable agent, for they have crew and establishments all around Europe. Besides, their staff appeared to be professional and caring. I was quite touched when I saw our lady tour director rushing, red-faced, to the rescue of a follow tourist whose purse had been snatched by a thief. Needless to say, our driver was also first rate.

All pictures posted here were taken by us. Those from Google, brochure, and the web were duly noted. Most of my posted photos are still missing captions because I do not have time for them yet.

Day 2 (6-17-2009): Arriving in London, visited Big Ben and Parliament Buildings
Day 3 (6-18-2009): city sightseeing, Windsor Castle, & Cruise on the River Thames
Day 4 (6-19-2009): Taking coach to cross the English Channel, then to Amsterdam
Day 5 (6-20-2009): sightseeing in Amsterdam, and canals cruising
Day 6 (6-21-2009): Cruise on the Rhine, and a stop at Rothenburg
Day 7 (6-22-2009): Passing Austria from Munich, then a stop at Cortina
Day 8 (6-23-2009): Visiting Venetian glassblowers, then Tuscan (Venice-Florence area), and a Gondola boat-ride
Day 9 (6-24-2009): Visiting Florence and Pisa the leaning tower
Day 10 (6-25-2009): entering Switzerland and visited Lugano
Day 11 (6-26-2009): a Swiss town Lucerne and a cruise on Lake Lucerne ；group picture before heading for Paris
Day 12 (6-27-2009): Visiting Paris, including the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, and the Palace of Versailles.

Note: Day 1 was flying from PDX (Portland, Oregon) to JFK (Kennedy Airport in New York), then to LHR (London), while Day 13 was flying home from Paris.

去欧洲之前，我曾查了伦敦的天气，结果跟我们所在地(俄勒冈州 Salem 市)很相近。果然，在整个旅程中天气都好，不冷也不热。我们所住旅社有的有装空调，我们临睡前还特地把它关了。所以，六月下旬去欧洲旅游还是不热的。(但如果去台湾或大陆，六月就已经太热了。)我们的另一个担心是猪流感，因为我们去的地方人群多，又来自世界各国。幸好，我们谁也没事，一路上也看到人载口罩。只是旅行的确太累了。旅行社的广告说，这次旅行将是人生一次难忘的经历。对我们来说，难忘的是旅途的各种不便和劳顿。

承办的旅行社名叫 Cosmos 看来倒很正规，每天接团送团很多，到处可以看到他们的专车。但他们的广告名不符其实，存在额外收费，隐性收费。我们的这个团名义是13天去7个国家。但在第一个国家和城市(英国伦敦)根本没作任何不再另收费的安排。另外，去到各地，往往只安排半天活动，下午和晚上的节目则另外收费。12天的旅社，只供应4次晚餐。而所住的旅社，离其他餐饮点又太远，劳累一天的旅客，只得在所住的旅社吃，另外收费。所以，看一个旅行团的报价，一定要多加比较，看他们到底哪些需额外收费。

所有放在这里的照片，凡是网页摘取的都另有声明，其他的都是我们自己拍的。但许多照片没有加注释，因为我尚没有时间查证资料。