Retired couples who don't know foreign languages travel all over Europe (Part I)

You know, people who don't understand foreign languages

How do retired couples travel abroad and travel all over Europe alone? (1)

The first time we traveled abroad to Europe alone was in 20 14.

At that time, the husband and wife had retired for several years, and they always wanted to visit abroad, but they didn't want to join the group. They felt that it was not enough.

What we yearn for is that the two of us are free to go abroad.

But it is very difficult for us, because we don't know foreign languages, and because we are busy with work, we have hardly been abroad and have little experience in going abroad.

We struggled for a long time and finally made up our minds to go out. After making this decision, we immediately began to do "homework" online, starting with learning the necessary knowledge of going abroad, and eagerly consulting and collecting relevant information.

For example, how to apply for a visa, how to buy an international air ticket, what kind of hotel to book abroad and so on. We didn't know anything about these problems before, but we became familiar with them by doing our homework.

Later, even the details such as which channel to take when arriving at a foreign airport, what signs there are, how to enter the country after arriving at the destination, and how to leave the airport by car were collected and saved on the ipad.

At that time, the websites we visited the most were "Poor Travel Network" and "Travel All over Europe", and almost all the related articles above were found to be very helpful, which increased our confidence in going abroad freely.

At that time, there was just an online translation called "Your secretary went abroad". Seeing be in heaven was really a gift in the snow, whether it was practical or not, I bought one at once.

Another time, when we were surfing the Internet, we came across a program called "The Ambassador Show You around", and one of them was a Latvian female ambassador.

Her program immediately attracted us. From the program, we learned that Latvia is known as the "lung of Europe" and "the most beautiful daughter country" and is one of the top ten countries worth visiting.

This aroused our strong desire to travel to this country, so Latvia became our first destination for traveling abroad.

Start applying for a Latvian visa immediately. This is the first time for us to apply for a visa, and we don't know how to entrust an intermediary. We all run around by ourselves and prepare all kinds of application materials, which costs the boss.

After being sent to the embassy, it was a long wait. Every day, we are surrounded by anxiety and worry about being refused a visa.

It was not until one day that the Beijing embassy called to tell us that the visa had been passed that a hanging heart fell to the ground.

It turns out that we have been worried that we will not get a visa if we are old and don't know a foreign language. When he actually got a visa for free travel, his excitement was beyond words.

We immediately booked two Lufthansa tickets online and transferred from Frankfurt to Riga, the capital of Latvia.

The first time I booked a plane ticket online, I didn't know which one to choose in the face of many airlines. Later, I looked at who bought the plane ticket online and who praised it.

In fact, after several trips abroad, we learned that there are many other tips for booking air tickets, which will be introduced in detail in future articles.

The day of departure has finally arrived. The first time I went abroad for a free trip, I was nervous and fresh. I told each other carefully along the way for fear of making any mistakes.

I didn't relax until the plane arrived at the transit airport in Frankfurt, Germany.

As soon as I entered the terminal, I saw that, although the scale was very large, all the passages were posted with Chinese tips, the main passages were equipped with Chinese-speaking tour guides, and China tourism teams were everywhere.

This makes us feel like we are at a domestic airport, and we don't have to worry about connecting flights.

Therefore, we have been very relaxed during the connecting flight, and even visited the duty-free shops and tasted free coffee at the boarding gate.

Looking back on those worries along the way, I feel really unnecessary.

Soon we boarded the plane to Riga. Different from the domestic flight to Frankfurt, there were many compatriots on the plane at that time. Now, among all the passengers, only my wife and I are from China, which makes us feel a little proud.

After more than two hours, we finally arrived at our destination Riga. This is the first time we have set foot on a foreign land alone, and we are soaked with excitement.

Out of the airport, I saw beautiful buildings with different styles under the blue sky and white clouds, including trees and red tiles. There is an illusion of coming to the fairy tale world.

It was getting dark when we arrived at the hotel that day. We had planned to find a local restaurant for dinner, but considering that we wouldn't order or joke, we simply bought some bread, sausages and lettuce in the supermarket. When we returned to the hotel room, we ate a homemade western food with sausages and lettuce. Although simple, it has a unique flavor.

Riga is a city with rich cultural and historical background, and its old city has been listed in the World Cultural Heritage List, which has long attracted us to see it. So the next morning, I had a free breakfast buffet in the hotel and went straight to the old city.

But we dare not go by car. It turns out that there is a bus stop in front of the hotel. I walked around and didn't see the ticket booth or the ticket seller. I don't know how to take the bus, so I think I'd better walk.

Along the way, we stopped to ask for directions. Every time I ask for directions, I always show the pictures of scenic spots on the ipad first, and then gesture like a mute. This method is very clever, and the other party immediately understood the meaning and responded to us with lively gestures.

In this way, you rowed with me and found the ancient town of Riga not too far from our hotel without much effort.

The old city is very charming, with low buildings and narrow streets, which has strong medieval city characteristics. In particular, every roof has a shiny metal rooster-Fengxin Chicken, which is unique.

Before coming to Riga, we had seen the introduction of Fengxin Chicken in many materials, saying that it was a unique symbol of Riga City, and it could be said that it was "a chicken that I didn't know about", which was quite impressive. Now, I have witnessed the Phoenix standing on the roof with my own eyes, and I really feel deja vu.

All day, we wandered around the old city. Stepping on the bluestone pavement, I came to the city hall square and the surrounding Blackhead Palace and the home of three brothers for a while, went to the Sunguanding Cathedral and St. Peter's Church for sightseeing, and then went to the Swedish Gate, the cat house, the Freedom Monument and so on. Every time we go to a scenic spot, we will look at it and compare it with the pictures and text descriptions on the ipad to understand its ins and outs. At the end of the day, we gained a lot and had a good time.

The next day, we were a lot more sophisticated, and with a little taste of "old Riga", we easily found the city canal, the Taoist Wada River and the Riga Central Market. Both sides of the city canal are picturesque, and the Dogava River makes people linger, but what impresses us most is Riga Central Market.

This market is one of the largest farmers' markets in Europe, covering an area of 72,300 square meters. It is also the most famous building in Latvia in the 20th century. Like the old city, it is also included in the world cultural heritage list. We walked into the market, just like walking on the streets of the city, spacious and tidy.

The goods in the central market are very rich and fresh, ranging from vegetables and fruits, chicken, duck and fish to cheese and honey, food and cakes, and even wonton in China and jiaozi. There are 3000 stalls in the market, many of which are "hereditary" and passed down from generation to generation.

We saw a long line in front of a store that is selling almost the same as a pancake shop now. Queuing to buy cakes is new. We also went to buy two. As soon as I took the first bite of the hot cake, I immediately felt that it was really delicious, fragrant and crisp, and I wanted to eat it again.

Later, we specially went to the central market several times to buy this cake. I haven't eaten such a tempting cake since I left Riga. I really want to eat it again when I have the chance.

One day, when we were having breakfast in a hotel, we met a China girl who looked like a student, about 20 years old. When you meet your compatriots abroad, you are naturally very kind and chat with each other. I learned that she came to Europe to study, just a few months ago.

She said that when she arrived in Europe, the first thing she did was to buy an off-road vehicle from second-hand mercedes, which cost less than 654.38 million yuan+RMB, and she drove this car to many places. She also said that she would go to Julmala after breakfast and invited us to take her car.

We know that Julmala is a famous seaside city and health resort in Latvia, where the seawater white sand beaches, virgin forests and villas are all very distinctive. We're going there, so we're glad to get in her car.

In fact, the girl doesn't know much foreign languages, and she navigates all the way by Chinese. She said that with this navigation, you don't have to worry about getting lost anywhere. It is the first time that we have seen girls at a young age, and it is impressive to have such courage abroad.

After returning to Riga from Julmala, we went to Caisse again. Seth is more than 70 kilometers from Riga. It is one of the oldest and most beautiful towns in Latvia and a famous tourist scenic spot in Europe. Every summer, it also holds city festivals and beer festivals, attracting many tourists from all over Europe.

That day, when we arrived at Kaiser by train, it was already more than 10 minutes in the morning, and we felt a little hungry. We happened to see a big supermarket and went in to buy bread.

I gave a bill with a face value of 500 euros when I checked out, because I didn't have any change, and I wouldn't use a domestic bank card at that time.

Before going abroad, when we exchanged money in a domestic bank, the bank gave us euros of this denomination.

Who knows that the cashier immediately called two security guards after receiving the euro. She put the money in the tray, held it carefully, and under the escort of the security guard, let us follow the bank in the supermarket, change it into euros with small denominations, and then go back to the cashier to pay for us.

This makes us feel extremely surprised. A 500 euro bill made them so grand, as if something important had happened. I remember reading it online. It's best to bring more euros in small denominations when traveling to Europe, otherwise it will be very troublesome. This time we really experienced it.

Later, we also went to Sigur Grand Scenic Area. The scenery here is beautiful and charming, especially Gu Erda Castle, with elegant architecture. The ruins such as moat, gate and watchtower are spectacular, which makes people feel the breath of the bonfire years.

To our surprise, we made some friends in Riga. One of them is a middle-aged woman whose hometown is in Zhejiang. She came to Riga from Italy to do business, and she was very enthusiastic. She told us that after graduating from junior high school more than 20 years ago, she came to Italy from China to work hard and got an Italian green card. Now her husband and children are here. She also said that more than 100 people in her village went to Italy, and the place where she lived has now become the "China Villa Village" in Italy.

Her words made us sigh. A rural woman with only junior high school education can make a living and start a business in a foreign country, which is impressive.

Before we knew it, our trip to Latvia was over. When we left Riga for home, we were not as nervous as when we came. I thought it was difficult anywhere before I came out, but I didn't know it was difficult anywhere until I came out.

The outside world is really wonderful. On the plane home, we began to plan our second free trip abroad.