Each week we share a random video clip to fuel your travel dreams. This week, we take in the sights, sounds, and experiences that reward a curious traveler in Jerusalem’s Muslim Quarter.
(Watch the complete Holy Land episode for free on our website.)
As a tour guide, it’s fun to show off Europe’s gargoyles. But it’s rare to actually show them in action — not scaring away evil spirits, but spewing rainwater away from their buildings. Yes, gargoyles are actually storm drains in disguise. When we designed our building here in Edmonds 15 years ago, we included eight of these ugly guys — which I believe are the only functioning gargoyles in greater Seattle. Here’s a little clip showing them actually working like the rest of us.
Finally home now after a hundred days in Europe, something occurred to me. I posted 100 blog entries in 100 days on my Facebook page. These generated about a hundred comments a day…and I read all 10,000. It’s fun to be in touch with my readers, and to able to share experiences like these in almost real time:
In Greece, when the Orthodox priest explained to me how he used incense to change the mood at Eastertime — from sadness to anticipation to joy — and then gave me a fragrant tour of his stash to make me a believer.
In Florence, when the chef giving one of our tour groups a cooking lesson coached me to knead the flour with more love and more determination, even as I doubted that a little egg could turn that dry wad of flour into usable dough. (Shortly after that, we ate our delicious homemade pasta with an unforgettable sense of triumph and accomplishment.)
In Nürnberg, when, standing at the doorway Hitler walked through to address the masses at his tribune, I saw and smelled the rot caused by Germans who, 75 years later, still urinate on that door.
In Wales, when craning my neck to enjoy the broken Gothic arches in the sky of the remote and romantic Tintern Abbey at the border of Wales and England, it suddenly got even more romantic as a harpist began strumming and an angelic bride and her happy father walked by me, arm-in-arm.
What can you both treasure and share? Travel memories. And when you make them, you become richer.
Now that I’m back from Europe, I’ll be sharing a random video clip each week to fuel your travel dreams. This week, we visit Prague and take a close look at Alfons Mucha’s Art Nouveau masterpieces.
(Watch the complete Prague episode online for free on our website.)
I’ve been on the road for four months out of the last five. It’s been a great year of traveling, with 3.5 hours of new TV produced (Easter — airing next spring; Martin Luther and the Reformation — airing in the winter of 2016/17; and three new public television shows on Germany — part of our 10-episode Season Nine, airing in October of 2016). I also enjoyed researching and updating our guidebooks (in Greece, Rome, Florence, Tuscany, South France, and South England), which helped me scout new TV episodes (for Tuscany and South England) and refine our newest Rick Steves Europe Tours Villages of South England itinerary.
My “welcome home” celebration: a day at the ballpark to watch the Mariners win one. Home run!
Photo: Rosie Leutzinger
After all that travel, it’s a joy to simply be back home. No more toiletries kit, no more rationing clean clothes, no more crummy connections with family and loved ones. With this post, I wrap up my “Hundred Days of Europe” blogging project. (I think I was about 95% successful — sorry for those five missed days.) It’s been fun packing you along through all these great travel experiences. I hope you’ve enjoyed the trip. And to all my new friends: It’s great to have you on board.
Stay tuned for more travel fun, as we’ve got lots of great projects in the pipeline, and I enjoy giving my friends here an inside peek at our work.