Decisions, Decisions

(A quick overview of why we chose "Europe Through the Back Door" and "Venice, Florence & Rome in 10 Days" instead of going it alone)

Almost there!  My family's first European Dawn!

So, one night, in utter frustration, I turned the channel on their TV and there was Rick Steves, talking about just how EASY it could be to travel to Europe.  "See," I said, "you could do that too! See how he can get around without speaking more than a few words in Italian?  See how he can see the REAL culture by getting away from the main tourist zones?  See how he can avoid Cruise Ship crowds like the plague of locusts I've always believed them to be?"

Well, I guess I was persuasive, because they immediately ordered a "Europe Through the Back Door" Tour Catalog.  I have to admit, though, that this was not what I had in mind...  If I had been in a Therapist's office and he said "What do you think of when I say 'Tour Group,'" I would have immediately thought of cramped bus loads of sweaty, obnoxious tourists who poured out over historic sites, like the Normandy Beaches, only to try and talk louder than their droning, beleaguered guide, trying disinterestedly to tell them about how much money was spent each year re-seeding the grass, blah, blah blah.  Like I said, I'd been to Europe before, and I thought I knew better!

Once I conceded this fact, we started looking at WHICH of the many tours we would like the most.  Seeing as none of us had ever been to Italy, and Italy was the land of my Mom's ancestors, we decided on the best overview of the country we could think of- Venice, Florence and Rome in 10 Days.  We decided to go in early April, called ETBD for our Reservations, they sent us our Tour Books and our Gear and, to make a long story short, we were off!!!

To Venice!

Our Family, in Southern Oregon pre-trip

( the dog didn't come, but she would have enjoyed the food....)

When the Catalog and Tour DVD arrived, however, I realized that I had been wrong.  Rick, it seems, has managed to make a Tour Company that follows a similar philosophy to the one I myself have always tried to follow: Travel Light, Get off the Beaten Path, and keep away from those dang Tourist Jungles that everyone else seems drawn to like magnets.  "Huh," I said, "maybe I COULD bear a 10-day tour, if it was run by this guy."  I would come to find that I would not only be able to bear it, but I would become a big fan!

It all started because my family– my parents Bud & Linda, my brother Brian  I– wanted to go to Italy.  For some reason, my original plan of making plane, hotel and transportation reservations on the Internet seemed to give my parents, well, reservations...  But they had dreamed for DECADES of going to Europe, and both my Brother and I were finally in jobs where we could take a few weeks off and go as well, like Pied Pipers leading the way to the wonderful European wonderland we had both visited and wanted to share with our parents.  

My first trip to Europe as an adult– Ireland, June of 2000

Lisbon’s Monument to the Explorers– Like them, I can’t wait to see new places!