FRIENDLY WORLD

Once in Tokyo, my family and I went to a small park that only the locals know, and according to the descriptions, it was quite attractive - there was beautiful scenery, outlandish plants, and places to relax. But the best part was that this park was very close to our Prince Hotel. So, we went on foot. But whether we took a wrong turn or our navigator doesn't know Tokyo very well, we were walking for about an hour, but we didn't find the park we were looking for. Being tired we finally found ourselves on a wide pedestrian bridge and started asking the passers-by how to find the park. We met a crowd of about 20 people around and everyone was pointing in different directions, getting very emotional: they were throwing their bags everywhere, running around the bridge, even shouting at each other, as it seemed to us). So we called and sent our coordinates. A few minutes later we called again. You will laugh - but the entrance to the park we were looking for was situated right below us, under the very bridge we were standing on) All we had to do was to find a ladder to get down to it.

The nicest thing I remembered about Munich was its charming courtyards, hidden from tourist eyes but accessible, often containing small cafes, for 2-3 tables. And if Helmut hadn't told us about a few - we would hardly have been able to find them. These tours through the "courtyards of dreams" as I call them, added a unique zest to our, in general, standard tourist trip)

I was flying from Rome to Budapest. There was plenty of time before the plane, with only one backpack, so I decided to take the train to the airport instead of a taxi. At the Termini station I looked at the schedule - either Leonardo Express, or regular train, twice cheaper. I was not late, so I bought a ticket on the normal train in the ticket machine ... From that moment the problems started! First - I had a hard time finding the track where the train was leaving from, but with the help of the train station staff this problem was solved relatively quickly, I found the train that was on the right track for me. Judging by the time of departure - my train, but confused the information on the sign of the place of destination. I checked with the passengers, made sure the train was mine, boarded it and headed for the airport. However, the unfortunate destination sign did not give me any peace of mind, and the time before departure did not seem to be enough. I decided as a backup to call FW's assistant Tony, whose contact I got before the visit to Rome. It turned out that I wasn't going to the airport, but in a completely different direction, oh, the horror! Tony told me to get off at the nearest station, go through the underpass to another track and take the train indicating the airport, which I did. I made the plane in time. But if I'd called earlier, I wouldn't have had to run around the train tracks, torture the station staff and passengers with questions and risk missing my flight. Thanks FW!

While in Hong Kong, we decided with a friend to go to Shenzhen for a day. It was easy to get there by subway, and we could get a visa at the border crossing. Which we safely accomplished. The day flew by quickly, it was time to return. Here the quest began, but we realized it only after we got into a taxi and asked the driver to take us to the border with Hong Kong. The driver nodded. After 20 minutes of the ride, we found ourselves outside a nightclub in the middle of the city. It was certainly fun, but we needed to get back to Hong Kong! We caught another taxi, made sure the driver understood us, and off we went again. And we arrived, but not at the Hong Kong border, but at some restaurant! Then we entered the restaurant and as the driver didn't understand us we asked the employee to call us a taxi to Hong Kong. Then something interesting started, some kind of fuss. Several other people arrived and we kept explaining for 15 minutes where we should go but the dialog in Chinese and English did not give us the desired result. Having left the restaurant and looked at the night sky, we thought about an overnight stay in Shenzhen and about the one-day visa obtained at the entrance... And then I remembered about Vlad, FriendlyWorld's assistant from Hong Kong. While I was trying to reach Vlad, my friends had caught a taxi - I quickly handed the phone to the driver. Vlad explained him in Chinese where to take us. We exhaled with relief. To everyone's joy, an hour later we returned to Hong Kong.

Flying from Chicago with a long (18 hours) layover in Reykjavik. While waiting for my flight at the airport, I read about Iceland's attractions and excursions. I visited the blue lagoon (near the airport), the Valley of Geysers, and Reykjavik itself. The average price tag - 500 euros, well, that's not a cheap pleasure, but the worst thing is that the beginning of any excursion - not from the airport, but from the city 50 kilometers away. In addition, the time was not convenient for me (I arrived early in the morning, and to spend a few hours waiting for the excursion did not want). In the end, went to FriendlyWorld, got Steve's contact for $10. Called him directly from the airport in Chicago. You'll laugh, but I didn't book a single tour! Steve helped me rent a car for a day, for $ 100 + gas. The result was a visit to the blue lagoon, geyser valley, waterfalls, lakes, a drive through a tectonic shift site and, of course, Reykjavik itself with a visit to a local restaurant of delicious food! Of course, there were moments when I was confused as to where to go, but Steve was spot on! Thanks FW!

It was our first time in London. Our assistant Dave from FW told us where to rent a car inexpensively. Unfortunately - as we found out later - we hadn't asked the question about parking. And it's strict there, as it turned out, very strict. So one day we came to the centre to have a walk and found a free parking. To tell the truth, we did not pay attention to the sign with the inscription "For residents only" hanging at the beginning of the block. (It was full of Indian gentlemen and ladies, ladies were in saris and gentlemen in turbans.) They smiled at us nicely but turned out to be malicious! Knowing full well that we are tourists and don't know all the rules, instead of explaining to us that you can't park an "unauthorized" car here, they called the police! The police were not just there, they arrived in a minute, before we even had time to move. And the dialogue began... Apparently, we were not expressive enough to ask for forgiveness, because we are tourists and don't know the local rules - we had already been given a huge fine. This is where we decided to enlist the help of our go-to guy - we called Dave. He was on the phone with the police for what seemed like an eternity. Since then, we don't trust the Indians, not even in London. And to Dave and FW - huge thanks!