To commemorate the Smithsonian Presents Travels with Rick Steves magazine — now on sale online, and at newsstands nationwide — Rick is blogging about the 20 top destinations featured in that issue. One of those “destinations” is actually a collection of Europe’s best eating experiences.
If you are what you eat, I am the best of Europe. But my appreciation of good food was slow in coming.
On my first solo trip to Europe — just after my high-school graduation — I packed along a big plastic tube filled with a swirl of peanut butter and strawberry jam. I figured that bringing this along would let me get my nutrition free (or, at least, on my mom’s grocery-shopping dollar). When the tube was finally squeezed empty, I resorted to jam. I remember being thankful that I liked baguettes, because that was the foundation of most of my meals. I became expert at spreading just a film of jam on the bread to give it some flavor, then washing it down with Fanta.
(I’m in Spain as I type now, and just the other day the wonderful, crusty local bread roughed up the roof of my mouth. I experienced a happy déjà vu of those early vagabond trips, recalling how the roof of my mouth was perpetually tender from the hard crusts.)
When I returned home from that formative first trip, I was literally sick. I had some kind of physical/nervous breakdown, and the doctor declared me “chronically undernourished.” When I started college that fall, I took a nutrition course. And I’ve never had a jam sandwich or Fanta in Europe since.
Today I provide my office staff free drinks in the cooler, but no pop. When we’re planning our tour itineraries, I always speak up in the interest of good eating — our travelers must experience the local cuisine at its best. And my passion in my research these days is to find great places to eat.
I’m currently in Europe updating guidebooks. My favorite thing about the rhythm of my 12-hour research days is the last three of those hours — blitzing the restaurants on my list to check existing recommendations and consider new ones, and then returning to my favorite place at the very end of the evening. Body aching as if I just ran a marathon, mind spinning with new ideas and additions to the book, I sit down and let the chef/owner cook me up whatever he wants me to experience. At the end of the day, good chefs (not pretentious ones…just good ones) seem to thoroughly enjoy taking off their apron, washing up, and sitting down to share a glass of wine with their last customer of the day — that’s me — eating their favorite dish.
So I went to my local Barnes & Noble this weekend hoping to find the magazine. No luck. Anybody know where we can buy it w/o having to order it online?
I can remember living off bread on my first trip to Europe too–couldn’t find much peanut butter those days but lots of nutella. Rick, I thoroughly enjoy your blogs and am so ready for another Rick Steves tour. My trip in 2006 with my niece through France, Austria, Germany, Italy was fabulous with our guide Lisa French. Take care and continue to feed us lots of information.
I DID find it at B&N, Alderwood, WA. And Rick, we enjoy “following” you around as you do your research.
Found it here in our small town bookstore in Michigan the day Rick announced it was released. Check around – you’ll find it. Love watching your shows, Rick. Looks like you eat in some nice restaurants, but I prefer to pick up local eats at the market or grocery store and make my own meals. I find it’s healthier, and a whole lot cheaper. I find our family of 4 can often buy a weeks worth of food for what we would spend on 1 or 2 meals. And nothing beats a family picnic on vacation. We did this often on our recent trip to Ireland. There were so many idyllic little places to stop.
Who ever thinks peanutbutter and jelly is good nutrition should have their head examined! Lol. I am glad that you learned to appreciate good food!
Reminds me of my childhood. I spent my summers as a kid with my grandparents in Germany, and if given the opportunity I would have had Nutella at every Meal. :)
your early days in Europe remind me of my early days in Europe – eating copious quantities of pasta because it was cheap – put on 22lbs – never did take it off. have just been watching you on Create – we sit down to lunch with you every day. i recently gave up my travel writing and so i let you keep my interest in the subject. take care, go safely and continued good luck to you. cheers Kate and Mark
On my second trip to Europe, as a 16 year old in Spain, my funds were running low towards the end. I bought a bag of Valencia oranges and helped myself to a few extra breakfast rolls at the hotel, and these sustained me the last 3 days. I still remember that the oranges had a LOT of seeds, but I wasn’t famished enough to eat those, too. Thankfully I’ve been able to return to Europe, with a bit more money available than in 1977. Two years ago in Belgium was an experience – the dollar vs. the euro at an all-time low and every restaurant meal rather pricey. A surprise, too, to find every Belgian meal came with frites – even pasta comes with a side of fries! Bon apetit!
Rick, Remember that through your success you’ve become privileged enough to be the one that the chef cooks for….and of course, with your celebrity status, he/she ‘wants’ to sit and have a glass of wine with you! Most of us travelers are not so lucky as to regularly enjoy this sort of culinary indulgence.
I certainly am not a 100% fan of Rick’s and I don’t agree with everything he has to say about travel, food, sights, entertainment and politics, but I don’t think he ever pretends not to be aware of his status as a travel writer who influences the opinions of many, many people. Of course, he knows that his dinner at the close of the day with the chef is not an experience most of us will share, but that’s why he describes it for us. That’s why he describes everything for us, so that those of us who won’t be able to travel as he does will have at least an inkling of what it’s like.
How about some commentary on the Greece/debt/Euro situation?
Here’s my commentary–Is it our turn next? When will the United States stop the madness of spending more than we take in? Don’t think it can’t happen here.
DB, I found it at B&N in the back row the travel section. Just keep looking. It’s worth it.
Just bought the mag online. Keep up the good work. Still use your roll-aboard bag. Held up well these years.
We had the experience of eating and getting to know the chef in Sorrento called Trattoria Miccio this March. We were fortunate in that we stayed in Sorrento for nine days and we ate at the same restaurant many times because the food was so good. After our second time there our waiter, Rob told us of a great dish Anna had made with polipo. It was divine and my husband got the grilled fish, also divine. After that when we came in we were treated like old friends. Can’t say enough good about it, except we would highly recommend it to put in your book for places to eat in Sorrento.
Louisa always is incisive in her comments. That comes with the wisdom of experience. But two or three generations weaned on the foibles of marketing also realize that what Steves does is part of what rocks their world. They love being sold and they tune out the hype. Keep on poking Rick, Louisa. It helps keep him honest. But also take one of his tours because it points up the values of his company-and puts in perspective what he writes. Bill Kester
How about some comments on the Greek debt situation. Holy smokes, why not take care of your debt (in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Britain, Spain, Portugal, US) by issuing MORE debt? — You see what govts do is push the problem down the road to your kids and grandkids and it’s called inflation. But what can you expect from countries like Greece which has some people who can retire at age 53 because they are in hardship jobs like hairdressers (because they are on their feet all day and work with chemicals). It’s no coincidence that la dolce vita in places like Italy is because more industrious countries like Germany and the US thru the IMF bail them out. You can always count on people to vote themselves money from the public treasury.
Actually, I am going to take one of Rick’s tours later this year. After hearing so many good things about the tours (and nothing negative), I have decided to give it a try. I’ve always traveled on my own in the past, so being taken care of by Rick’s famously efficient and delightful staff should be enjoyable.
Louisa, I do not agree with any of Rick’s political or social agenda’s BUT his tours are THE BEST. I have been on 3 and will be on more I am sure. You will not be disappointed, I promise. I have been on Cosmos, Globus, Brendan, Insight and trafalgar tours and they are a blur with no memorable moments. With Rick’s tours I can still remember back to 2000 each day of my trip to Scandinavia as if it was yesterday.
I usually come to the commenting table late, but I had the same problem as Rick when I returned from my first summer in Europe alone. My meals consisted of bread, cheese, and a little sausage every now and then. I had to lay on the couch for a week when I got home because I was so weak! That experience inspired me to place a priority on food. Yum! :)