Great Guides Party in Edmonds

Last week we were very busy, as well over a hundred of our guides gathered for our annual guide summit for Rick Steves’ Europe Tours. In addition to the reunion festivities, “Test Drive a Tour classes,” and busy brainstorming sessions (designed to perfect each one of our itineraries), a great dimension of the gathering was the opportunity for guides from all over Europe and the USA to socialize. Each night, after hours, tour guides party. Here’s a little series of photos that capture a few of the countless wonderful moments that filled this week.

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

For me, a highlight of the guide summit is having the entire gang over to my house. We set up a tent to extend the garage, hire a food truck to feed everyone, and open the doors. Having 100 European tour guides take over your home is an exhilarating exercise of gathering 100 fun-loving, high-energy, fascinating people under one roof. Thunderous! My favorite night of the year.

 

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

While guides are good at getting the attention of a group of tour members, getting the attention of 100 guides can be a challenge. We finally settled down to enjoy our annual tour guides’ talent show, during which guides from various countries share a fun little act from their homeland.

 

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

The big buzz among our guides is the election of our new president. In one of the talent show acts, our Slovenian guides did a skit parodying our new first family, with a hilarious peek at what people from her homeland think of our new First Lady (who happens to be a Slovene).

 

Photo: thetravelphile.com / facebook.com/thetravelphile

This year was a bit bittersweet, as we celebrated the retirement of Steve Smith — one of our first guides, who, for the last 20 years, has worked to assemble and manage our guiding staff. Steve is my right-hand man in so many ways (as the co-author of our France guidebooks, in addition to his brilliance at developing and managing our tour guide staff). Thanks, Steve, for the years of fun and wisdom, as you have been so instrumental in building our tour program. The love and respect you have earned from our guides is testimony to the excellence of your work.

 

Photo: Colin Mairs

Each year, during a workshop break, we all gather in the street for a “family of guides” group photo. To be in the middle of this crush is lots of fun. Our Art Department staff — standing on a rooftop above us — designed this mosh pit of travel teachers to take the photo.

 

And here we are, the Rick Steves’ Europe tour guides…class of 2017.

 

Photo: Jorge Román

It’s so much fun as we host our guides to see how they make the most of their free time here in Seattle. From going to trapeze school, to making a pilgrimage to Bruce Lee’s grave (Bosnians celebrate him rather than political or military leaders, as their country has suffered so horribly because of nationalism and tribalism), to exploring marijuana stores (they’re sleek and so normal here in Washington State — but pretty wild if you live in Europe or a state here that has yet to legalize), to simply enjoying a little bowling.

 

Photo: Seumas Macletchie

Several of our guides (including Liz Lister from Scotland, shown here) were at Seattle’s big Alderwood Mall when there was a stabbing. The entire place was shut down, and our guides got a little taste of America and its jitters.

 

A very important dimension of our annual guide summit is the chance for me to sit down with our amazing guides in our radio studio for interviews. This week, we recorded about 20 hours of interviews for Travel with Rick Steves, which airs for an hour each week on 400 public radio stations all around the USA. Over the next year, we’ll be airing these interviews — ranging from Siena’s Palio (talking with a woman who lives in this year’s winning contrada) to getting a variety of views on Brexit (from English, Scottish, and Irish guides who voted either yes or no) to a celebration of Bulgarian cuisine (all of our guides know how to share their country’s cuisine as if it’s the greatest in Europe). In this photo, I’m talking with Irish guides Stephen McPhilemy and Cathie Ryan about all the latest on the Emerald Isle.