Just after crossing from Switzerland into France we made a quick lunch stop at a modern mall next to the expressway. In this clip, one of my tour members (Jill) explains her clever souvenir tradition (buying frames for her glasses), and I cap my welcome-to-France lunch with a Nutella-and-banana crêpe. It’s fun to be in France.
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I’ve been leading bus tours since the 1970s. Back then, my groups were nearly all women. (My theory: Guys were comfortable having a travel adventure on their own. But the women, just as eager for excitement on the road, felt safer in a small group.) They would fill the bus with girl talk as if I weren’t there. I would just put on my earphones, listen to my favorite playlist, and drive. I drove countless hours and listened to the same short list of tunes on my Walkman over and over. Today, so many years later, I satisfied the urge to play one of those favorite and well-worn tunes that take me back to those minibus tour days. It’s decades later, and I’m guiding a tour on a big fancy bus with a great sound system filled with young-at-heart travelers. We have a fun music-sharing game called “Tour Member DJ Party Party” (invented by tour guide Trish Feaster). It’s a great way to help pass a long drive — open mic and any traveler gets to share a personal favorite. It’s my turn, and we’re rocking out to the great road-trip groove of “Bang a Gong” by T. Rex.
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We’ll do just about anything to give our travelers memorable cultural experiences when they join us on a Rick Steves bus tour. And this passion for creating memories goes way, way back. In my student days, I’d both drive and guide minibus tours — groups of 7 or 8…nearly all women — around Europe. I did the same 3,000-mile “Best of Europe” route that I’m doing this month. Once — I think it was in 1979 — while driving my group through the Swiss Alps, we approached a Swiss hitchhiker. He was cute, and the women on my bus said, “Pick him up.” I said, “Only if he’ll teach us to yodel.” They agreed. We stopped and I told the man — whose name was Christoph — I’d give him a ride on two conditions: 1) He’d be OK sitting with seven American women, and 2) If he would teach us to yodel. Christoph agreed. We gathered around him, and — arcing his back and as if singing in the towering distant Alps — he yodeled. We learned…and I’ve never forgotten. Now, every time I drive that stretch of road in Switzerland, I feel a strong urge to sing the yodel Christoph taught my group so long ago. The other day, I passed it with a big bus loaded with 28 travelers. Unable to resist, I picked up the mic and did the Christoph yodel. (Don’t listen to this if you’re a music critic!)
(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)
Every guide dreams of having his or her group enjoy the happy moment when the farmers bring their cows down from the high meadow. They don’t announce the event, and even locals are taken by surprise when it happens. The Swiss will empty out of their shops and homes to smile at the farmers and their cows — all decked out in flowers and clanging bells — as they lumber by. You can’t plan it, but you can jump into the streets when you hear that bovine parade approaching. I was just settling into my room after a long and demanding day’s hike when I heard the cowbells in the distance. My first thought: “It must be something different.” But they got closer and closer and suddenly I realized, “This is it!” Grabbing my shoes and sweater and camera, I ran out to enjoy this ancient Swiss ritual. So did most of our tour group. Here’s the clip of a moment that capped a wonderful day in the Alps.
(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)
I love Switzerland’s Lauterbrunnen Valley, which is named for its many “loud waterfalls.” The loudest of these waterfalls is Trümmelbach, which for eons — like God’s bandsaw — has been slowly and steadily cutting its way deeper and deeper into the mountains. I always feel the power of nature here, so sharing this with our tour groups is really a joy. Follow me with this clip for a peek at this powerful example of the wonders of nature — so accessible in Switzerland. Where have you enjoyed the raw power of nature in your travels?
(Thanks for following along here on my blog and on Facebook as I guide our Best of Europe in 21 Days tour.)