Visa Scam Awareness for Traveler

For those who want to travel and need to require a visa to go across Europe just need to be more aware of the agency that only take a benefit of your money.

I experienced myself when me and family wanted to go to French for Easter holiday. We planned to booked the visa appointment on March. We knew that it was very last minute to do the visa appointment but we thought we still could manage it.

It turned out that no visa appointment until June in official website and our option was had to go through via agent to make an appointment. My sister started to search via internet to look any good agency in Manchester.

We found the website visa agency called "Frances Schengen Visa" here was the scamming story begun.

This website was the first website that come out on the internet when you type of a trustworthy French visa agency in Manchester. We looked on the website, it seemed really professional and have the logo of certificate by tourist link that made us think it was a good agency and also they even have good review and ratings to make us even more wanted to use this agency for our visa appointment.

So my sister emailed them and told about our situation and they agreed to help us but we needed to pay around £200 for using their service.

They guided us about all the requirements for visa such as you need to book the plane ticket, hotel reservation and etc. We followed all the instruction and after all managed in terms of buying the plane ticket, pay for hotel and gave £200 to them, we never heard from them anymore.

We bought the ticket for 15th of April and we could not cancel anything after we found out that we got scammed. My family already spent around £1,500 and we still did not have a fix status for our visa appointment, we tried to contact the agency again and not a single replay come to us.

We were going to lost big amount of money if we decided not to go to French. After all the drama, we looked again for other agency but all of a good agency based in London. We found the agency called "Sta Travel". This agency was our last option that we had to go to London otherwise we were going to lost all that money.

We went to London on the 1st of April to go to French embassy and finally chose the right agency even though we had to pay more for this agency was around £380 and also the cost for travelling to London.

We sent our documents to the agency a couple days before we went to London to make sure everything was fine and booked our places with the embassy. As we arrived at French embassy in London, all we had to do was taking a photo for our visa and just waiting to get approved.

After a couple days later, we finally got our visa and be able to do our Easter holiday. The lesson for all the travelers that want to hire an agency is you need to be more aware about the scamming process that is always happened on the internet. Even though the website seems legit enough, we still need to think that they can create a fake review or fake rating to make everything look professional and make us to believe them.

Although with all the complicated situation with the visa's process, I am glad that I visited Paris because I had good time in Paris.

Paying Respect After the Tragedy

People from around the world gathered at the site of the Notre Dame fire.

It is Monday afternoon, the 15th of April 2019 and it is the start of a bad memory for French citizens as they witness their finest cathedral on fire. The cathedral was in the middle of large scale renovation work when the fire broke out weeks before the cathedral was due to host Easter celebrations.

The day after the tragedy, people from around the world including media, tourists and local people came to see the result of the blaze that tore through one of the most historic buildings here in Paris.

The situation on the spot was crowded full of people, media and police as they all wanted to capture and be updated on the newest situation after the tragedy.

Most people are concerned about the most valuable things that were kept inside the cathedral, but luckily they have been able to save most of these items, but not all the treasure that was kept in the building was saved.

Even though the building still looks the same from the outside, most of the inside it burned and many locals think it would not be the same anymore if they rebuild it. They believe it will become a new building not the same as the old Notre Dame before the fire.

Due to the seriousness of the incident and the number of police securing the area, people were only able to take pictures from a distance. This included the Pont de la Tournelle bridge and the bank of the River Seine. This shows how enthusiastic the people were about the incident.

Source: Twitter.com

Hashtag #PrayforParis and #PrayforNotreDame are all over social media such as Twitter and Instagram and became a trending topic. Many people give their sympathy and support towards French people because of this incident.

French citizens expressed their feelings towards their historical building which has been destroyed by the fire.

Francois from Paris spoke about his feelings regarding this tragedy as a local, he said "Old monuments are very fragile, it is a life like us, we are very fragile, nothing is eternal".

He added "I heard from a friend of mine, who called me" and then when asked if the cathedral would be rebuilt "yes of course, it has happened many times in history. The cathedral was built in the twelfth century and then in the nineteenth century was rebuilt from the beginning almost".

Arnold also from Paris expressed his devastated feeling by saying "history has gone, and it is kind of nightmare".

He knew the news from his son, who called him that the cathedral was on fire and he thought his son was joking because he is just fourteen years old and he could not believe what was happening.

When asked if they would rebuild Notre Dame Cathedral he said "yes they will, of course! The point is though, the wooden structures have gone, it is a 1000 year old structure, so it is completely gone".

The picture gives a glimpse of the cathedrals history since it was built, until the devastating fire.

The reconstruction after the incident needs about one billion Euros and estimates for how long it could take have ranged from 5 to 50 years. Not only will the money be spent to rebuild it, but also some of the priceless treasure in the building need renovating also.

The French government are now raising funds for Notre Dame and people from around the world are willing to donate their money in hope they are going to see the historical building rise again.

If you would like to donate, please visit: https://www.notredamedeparis.fr/friends/donate/

Do Marathons Boost Your Stamina?

Running a marathon can benefit your physical and mental health such as increasing your bodies stamina and controlling your mindset.

The Manchester Marathon of 2019 had almost 20,000 participants including people of different abilities.

The finishing time of about two and a half hours for the runners and one and a half hours for the wheelchair racers, with this kind of non-stop and long distance running, the runners need to be physically fit, as well as mentally fit to keep running until the end.

The preparation needs to be done way before the event to make your body get used to it and to prevent any injuries that might occur.

David 36 from Hull, who has loved running since he was a teenager has finally had the chance to be involved in his first marathon.

He talked about the preparation for the marathon, he said "in last few years i have been running again and I start running fifty miles a week at the beginning of the year".

This preparation really helps and makes him confident to stay until the finish line in this marathon.

Tony 43 from Worcestershire, who had done four marathons previously but was doing the Manchester marathon for the first time.

He said, "I followed the ACE 6 training plan".

Training plans are an excellent way to get in to shape for a marathon as they are created by experts who have experience of long distance runs.

The advantages of running include loss of weight, but this does depend on how long you are running for. It has been proven that for 10 miles of running, runners can burn one thousand calories and for 15 miles there is extra five hundred calories that could be burnt.

For a marathon of 26 miles, people could burn more than two thousand calories in a single day. This is the equivalent of a healthy adults recommended daily intake of calories.

It is also linked to other benefits such as a stronger heart because the heart keeps pumping at a higher rate while you are running and can extend your life. Running has also be proven to prevent blood clots and reduce blood pressure and cholesterol.

For mental health, it builds your mental strength by pushing your limits and also pushes the synthesis of a brain derived protein, meaning it is boosting your brain for analytical thinking, learning and decision making.

By achieving your limits, it also builds your confidence and toughness by doing such a hard exercise as a marathon.

The video shows the situation at the finish line of the Manchester Marathon 2019, most of the runners are seen celebrating with their family and friends.

After long running, the body system will show the effect of tiredness or some runners have bruises on their feet.

The recovery after hard exercises like marathons needs to be done correctly to prevent injures that might happen, such as cellular damage and skeletal muscle.

One activity for recovery is massages that relax your muscles. At the finish line area there are lots of stands that offer free massages for the runners and another activity is to lift up both legs to keep the blood circulation running.

The most important thing is to keep drinking water and stay hydrated.

Although marathons can increase your stamina and show lots of positive health benefits for your body and mind, you still need to pay attention to your preparation, such as stretching and staying hydrated. After running you need to keep in mind to stay healthy and safe.