Final Thoughts
“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.” James Baldwin
It's now late October, we've been home for five months and had time for it all to sink in. Europe seems so very far away now. But we still have our memories, photos and videos to remind us of those fantastic 21 days in May when we experienced the sights and sounds of a culture and history very different from our own. We shared our adventure with 26 others who were diverse yet had that same sense of doing something great and timeless. In a three week trip through several countries there’s a lot of lessons to be learned. But there’s three major take-aways we’d like to communicate here. The first is the resilience of the European people. This is the 100th anniversary year of WWI and the 70th anniversary of the Normandy invasion but Europe seems to be thriving. It’s hard for an American to realize the death and devastation that Europe has endured during the last century. Still, Paris, Rome and Amsterdam seemed to be as prosperous and as exciting as any American city and in many ways they appeared cleaner and safer. The locals we met seemed upbeat, highly educated and grateful that Americans helped in the liberation of the continent twice but also helped to rebuild much of Europe after WWII. Although they seem to have a more “relaxed” work ethic, their quality of life rivals or exceeds ours. Our second take-away concerns our traveling companions and the efficiency of traveling with a group. All participants on Rick Steves' Tours sign a “no grump” pledge and that was apparent on our tour. Although the participants were of different ages and ' |
backgrounds, we all shared the same love for travel and a sense of adventure you don’t find in the general population. This was evidenced by the fact that no one in our group was ever late for anything, not once and not one single person. Everyone was pleasant, friendly and excited about our travels. The tour was run amazingly well. We almost always arrived at a destination on time, covered all planned locations, museums, dinners, events, and all hotels were as advertised. Reid made this look easy but you could frequently see him on the phone or the internet firming up the next days itinerary. When you work in business most of your life, you know things just don’t “happen”, you make them happen. Reid and the Rick Steves' staff made this trip “happen” and happen well.
Our third take-away was that the history of Europe is deep and rich which makes traveling in a different culture fun and exciting. History in the United States mostly goes back 250 years to the American Revolution. On our tour, we saw structures and buildings that frequently were 1000 years old and even saw Roman ruins that were more than 2000 years old. You come to realize that much of what we are today had it’s beginnings in ancient times and that the ancient and medieval cultures were more sophisticated and advanced than we could have imagined. The Horses of St. Mark’s are 1800 years old but are magnificent even by today’s standards. The Colosseum was built in 80 AD and held 60,000 spectators. The Pantheon dome was not duplicated until the 15th century and a Vermeer looks like it could be a modern photograph. This tour showed us where we came from, hopefully it will help us get to where we’re going. |
Great Group Shots of a Great Group
RICK STEVES (Who is That Masked Man?)
We’re sure you’ve noticed pictures of Rick Steves throughout our scrapbook (including modeling the masks in Venice). Once each year, Rick signs up for one of his many tours as a participant, going so far as to use a secret name on the tour list. This trip then becomes Rick’s vacation, although there’s a bit of work included, sampling new restaurants and other tour venues, note taking, blog updates and visiting with the many people who notice him along the way. At our initial group meeting we were surprised and thrilled to see that he had chosen our tour this year.
Rick was a great “fellow traveler” and as nice as he seems on TV! We had a lot of fun and learned a lot from him. To honor Rick’s privacy, we have included pictures of him, with his
permission, as he appeared along with the others as a regular member of the group.
Rick’s presence made an already marvelous tour truly the travel experience of our lifetimes.
Rick was a great “fellow traveler” and as nice as he seems on TV! We had a lot of fun and learned a lot from him. To honor Rick’s privacy, we have included pictures of him, with his
permission, as he appeared along with the others as a regular member of the group.
Rick’s presence made an already marvelous tour truly the travel experience of our lifetimes.
Pam's Sketchbook and Source Photos
We have included larger copies of my drawings that you have seen on the daily pages along with the source photos I used. We took all of these photos (and 7,400 others) on our 21 Days Best of Europe Tour. I hope you've enjoyed looking a little closer at some of my favorite places through my eyes. Drawing these pictures keeps the memories fresh for me forever! The remaining pictures will provide drawing opportunities for years to come. Note: Historical photos used in our "Then and Now" feature were obtained from public domain sources, for example, The Library of Congress.
Three Weeks in Three Minutes
We hope you've enjoyed our "Visions of Europe"as we took you on our tour through both places and time. Just to show you how much fun we had, we tried to pack all of the adventure and excitement into a three minute video. Click below and enjoy the ride.