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Posted on by Rick Steves

Looking Back at a Thrilling 2013

As we wrap up 2013, I’m enjoying travel memories of a richly rewarding year. It has been a year of getting out of my comfort zone and broadening my horizons. While I’m thankful for this thrilling year of travel, I’m also thankful for you — my Blog and Facebook fans. Social media has added a dimension to my travels that I couldn’t have imagined just a few years ago. Not only do I get the joy of turning my insights into guidebooks and television shows that travelers will use for years into the future, I now get to have you as my real-time, virtual travel partners. Reading your thoughtful comments is an enjoyable way to end each day while on the road. Our online conversation makes my travels all the richer. So thank you!

I hope you enjoy this slideshow of some of my 2013 highlights.

A horse cart took me through a grove of Egyptian reeds and into a time-passed Nile village, where I drank tea with a proud old hajji who had just returned from Mecca.
A horse cart took me through a grove of Egyptian reeds and into a time-passed Nile village, where I drank tea with a proud old hajji who had just returned from Mecca.
In nearby Israel, I celebrated that country's 65th birthday with Jewish friends at a city-park BBQ, complete with pork-free "bacon."
In nearby Israel, I celebrated that country’s 65th birthday with Jewish friends at a city-park BBQ, complete with pork-free “bacon.”
Across the wall in Palestine, I hiked "Biblical Terraces" through an ancient olive grove and joined a local family for the harvest. At the end of the day, I watched the golden olive oil spill into their buckets at the village press.
Across the wall in Palestine, I hiked “Biblical Terraces” through an ancient olive grove and joined a local family for the harvest. At the end of the day, I watched the golden olive oil spill into their buckets at the village press.
A continent away in St. Petersburg--as brides and grooms posed for wedding portraits, filling city parks with hope and happiness--I realized why President Putin is so popular in Russia: It's a land where dreams of stability trump dreams of democracy.
A continent away in St. Petersburg–as brides and grooms posed for wedding portraits, filling city parks with hope and happiness–I realized why President Putin is so popular in Russia: It’s a land where dreams of stability trump dreams of democracy.
In Scotland, I read a poem scrawled by "Robbie" Burns on the chimney of a village inn, then helped to stomp the paint off the neighboring pub's floor thanks to a rockin' folk band.
In Scotland, I read a poem scrawled by “Robbie” Burns on the chimney of a village inn, then helped to stomp the paint off the neighboring pub’s floor thanks to a rockin’ folk band.
In France I found new ways to make history come to life--from strolling into the world of medieval stained-glass symbolism with Chartres scholar Malcolm Miller.
In France I found new ways to make history come to life–from strolling into the world of medieval stained-glass symbolism with Chartres scholar Malcolm Miller…
… to touring the lavish Loire Valley palaces of financiers of pre-revolution France with my France guidebook co-author Steve Smith. More than just climbing through châteaux, a tour of the Loire includes prancing horses, towpath bike rides, and pulling escargot out of their shells literally by the dozen in small-town restaurants--where even a Yankee traveler is fed like a prince.
… to touring the lavish Loire Valley palaces of financiers of pre-revolution France with my France guidebook co-author Steve Smith. More than just climbing through châteaux, a tour of the Loire includes prancing horses, towpath bike rides, and pulling escargot out of their shells literally by the dozen in small-town restaurants–where even a Yankee traveler is fed like a prince.
Comments

3 Replies to “Looking Back at a Thrilling 2013”

  1. Thanks, Rick, for a great 2013 — your thoughtful insights from different parts of the globe have given me plenty of ways to reflect on our common humanity, wherever we may live. Here’s to a wonderful 2014 filled with many happy travel memories!

  2. Rick,

    It has been a very busy, interesting and rewarding year for you. Thanks so much for keeping is abreast of your awesome adventures. It’s so much fun to read your posts and watch your informal video clips.

    I also enjoyed your collaboration with the symphony. It was a very smart idea.

    We miss you here in Florida. Come on down….

    Keep on Travelin’!

    Your Doppelganger

  3. Thank you Rick for years of inspiring great adventure. I am not sure that we could of had as rich an experience with travel without all your guide books and DVD’s. I just sent off for the guide book of England, starting to spend January and February planning a trip in May! Makes winter go by faster! We planned our very first trip in the winter of 2001 to Italy.
    Thanks again
    Happy New Year, can’t wait until we see what you have in the works for 2014.

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