Yesterday I bragged about my son Andy’s talents as a tour organizer and guide. Today I wanted to show him in action. In this clip, Andy is leading his Weekend Student Adventures gang from the Spanish Steps to their dinner stop. For many of these students, this is their first time outside the USA…and it’s clear that they’re having a fantastic time. Because it’s a special “Easter in Rome” tour, this is an unusually large group. But that can be a plus for college students, as the social fun grows with the size.
Having a Weekend Student Adventure in Rome
My son, Andy, runs a successful tour company that offers American students doing a semester abroad educational, economical, and efficient three-day tours for around €200. Andy and his guides lead his “Weekend Student Adventures” in cities all over Europe. While working in Rome this Easter, I got to join his group for an evening.
Here I am with one of Andy’s typical tour groups: lots of energy…and lots of girls!
Andy’s Easter tour is his biggest of the year: Three groups (two different weeklong tours, plus a three-day weekend tour) overlap so that everyone can be in Rome for the excitement of Easter.
Andy has a favorite student-friendly restaurant in Rome (Miscellanea, just behind the Pantheon) where his tour members can enjoy an affordable yet quality Italian meal. With a happy gang this size, Andy needs to stand on a chair to make announcements.
We took our kids to Europe every year for about 20 years. I didn’t realize Andy was paying much attention. And now, as a 28-year-old entrepreneur, Andy is employing guides all over Europe, developing an amazing website (WSAEurope.com), and giving literally thousands of American students great travel experiences. I am very proud of my son. And when I happen to cross paths with him in Europe and see the hard work and passion he puts into his Weekend Student Adventures, that pride swells.
Andy’s students (which, on this “Easter in Rome” tour, are mostly from Catholic universities) got up at 6:00 a.m. to line up for the best seats at St. Peter’s Square and see Papa Francesco. This photo was from Palm Sunday (shot from our press vantage point atop the colonnade). Sadly, Easter Sunday in Rome was a morning of pouring rain. And, while our TV crew was completely rained out, being there was a lifelong memory for Andy’s tour members.
Rick Steves’ European Easter — Coming to Public Television in 2016
In 2007, we produced the Rick Steves’ European Christmas public television special, which has become a mainstay on the public airwaves during the holiday season. This year, we’re filming a bookend to that special: Rick Steves’ European Easter, which will air across the USA next year. Click the images below to learn more about our shoot in Italy this Holy Week.
We’re learning that Europe celebrates Easter in ways both familiar and delightfully exotic. For example, a charming tradition in Rome is that a man will bring a small treasure for his loved one (like this necklace) to the local chocolate shop, where it will be encased in a big, decorative chocolate egg. Later, he’ll pick up his completed gift, which is certain to add cheer to someone’s Easter morning.
The thought of preschoolers brightening the day of seniors in a retirement home with music, dance, and homemade gifts touches my heart. And to experience that in a different hemisphere reminds me of how much we all have in common. For our Easter special, we dropped by a senior center in Siena just in time to witness an ambush of eight-year-olds-meet-eighty-year-olds fun.
Many of my friends are at the same stage of life as I am, with a surviving parent in assisted living. Seeing such joy on faces that have lived through so much history added an extra dimension to my Easter.
My favorite Tuscan guide, Roberto Becchi, is our “fixer” for this Easter-in-Tuscany shoot. After a long day of blessing olive branches, filming sumptuous art telling the story of Christ’s Passion, making Easter pasta, and watching kids chop open big eggs, we drove home with dinner. I never considered “pizza to go” in Italy — from a small-town pizza chain based in Romania.
Tossing a Coin in Rome’s Trevi Fountain…Sort of
Rome’s beloved Trevi Fountain is drained and covered with scaffolding. But so many people come to Rome to do the fabled “coin toss over your shoulder to guarantee a return to the Eternal City” that the city has provided a small temporary pool…which, I’m sure, has the same magical powers.
When we travel, we need to celebrate the fact that 10 percent of what we’re going so far to see will be closed or out of sight for restoration. Try to see this as a blessing — it’s the reason why everything else is looking so beautiful these days. Keeping Europe’s patrimony in good shape is a big and ongoing job.
Day 1 of 100: I’m in Rome, Kicking Off My Trip with Some Photos
I just landed in Rome to embark on a 100-day trip. And already, I’ve learned so much.
Join me, if you dare, on what I have a strong hunch will be an unforgettable ride. My goal: to make mistakes (painful as they may be), learn lessons (the hard way, if necessary), and share my experience on this blog. I’ll be posting daily from now on. Be sure to invite your traveling friends to join in the fun.
A big part of travel is eating well. And the last place you want to dine is a place on the most high-rent square in town, with a printed menu in five languages (clearly designed for tourists and serving edible clichés regardless of the season — bad news all around) and a big, if hard-to-believe, promise in English: “No Frozen Food.”
Italians aren’t really into “foreign” or “ethnic” restaurants because, as they see it, each region of Italy provides a distinct local cuisine. Especially in Italy, a smart eater will go for the local specialties. Lasagna is simply not a Roman dish — it’s better farther north. Rome is more about hearty, working-class food, such as beans and lentils. And the neighborhood butcher sells favorite salamis such as coglioni di mulo and palle del nonno. (Pardon the crudeness, but that’s “donkey’s balls” and “grandpa’s balls.” Can you guess which is which?)
I’m noticing that a nice dessert plate, when properly enjoyed, leaves you with a lickable Jackson Pollock-style masterpiece. I will be eating very well in the next few months. Why? Because of my devotion to your travel guidebook needs.
This year at Rick Steves’ Europe, we’ll be leading about 900 tour groups around Europe on 40 different itineraries. Whenever one of our groups is in town, I enjoy surprising them with a visit. When possible, I join their group for a little sightseeing. I crashed this group’s Villa Borghese tour.
Our tour groups have great guides, who manage the tour from start to finish, and equally great local guides, who meet us at the top sights to be sure we are properly wowed. Unlike standard tour groups, we don’t just hire just the next guide on the list. Our local guides are friends, like Francesca Caruso (shown here explaining Bernini’s David), who teach history, art, and cultural insights with a skill for bringing the sights to life and giving them meaning in ways our tour members never forget.