As we prepare to host our tour guides in early January, I was thinking about how deeply rooted our tour program’s passion for teaching culture is. It actually goes back to the only other job I’ve ever had…piano teacher. That was back in the day when I hand-drew coupons for a maple bar at the corner bakery as an incentive for a well-prepared lesson.
I’ve always taught what I loved. I spent my high school years as a piano teacher. I was known among parents in my community for taking boys with tear-stained cheeks to my piano bench, starting them out with boogies and pop songs, and eventually getting them turned on to Bach and Beethoven.
I had a piano studio with a recital hall. In 1980, while I was teaching a piano lesson, a truck dropped off 2,500 copies of my first guidebook — Europe Through the Back Door. I had no idea then that those 256 typewritten pages multiplied by 2,500 would provide the teaching foundation of everything we’ve done since.
During that year’s Christmas recital, some parents sat on boxes of travel guidebooks while their kids played their carols, boogies, and Bach. By the next Christmas, I had let my piano students go. People were still sitting on boxes of guidebooks, but now that recital hall was a travel lecture hall — and students were preparing not for their sonatas, but for their European adventures.
From that point on, I would be teaching European culture off the keyboard…to smart people who thought Toscanini was a pasta and Botticelli was an intestinal problem.
For 25 years, I led our tours while apprenticing our tour guides — sharing ways I had developed to help people who’d never considered writing a poem, to do just that (at least in their mind), while in the presence of Europe’s cultural wonders. We carry on that passion-for-teaching tradition to this day, and that’s one big reason why, on January 14, we’re flying fifty of our guides to our headquarters here in Edmonds, where — on the same street where I taught piano — we now teach travel. (See our website for details on the public dimensions of this festival.)
I know our tour guides teach an appreciation of European art and culture in the same fun and inspirational way I strove to. And that’s one reason why I know anyone hopping on a Rick Steves’ Europe bus tour this next season will enjoy glissandos of rich memories and trills of travel joy.
Hello, I enjoy the cultural aspects of your Tours. Wanted to tell you about my experience at Reims, France. I was an Army nurse caught between two wars. we had been in England after arriving on VE day and were sent to Mourmelon le Grande where we joined another hospital to go to Manilla. while we were at Mourmelon we went to Reims and toured the Cathedral. It is spectacular. Also Champagn cellars, Pommery and Greno. Your tour there was such a fun reminder of my own tour. We landed in Marseille and while we were waiting for our ship the was was over, VJ day and we sset up our hospital there and took care or returning troups. What memories. thanks, Marilynn
In the spirit of internationalism, multi-culturalism and goodwill towards men during this Christmas season 2009, I recommend reading the carefully researched and non-partisan new book titled: The Healing of America by T.R. Reid subtitled A Global Quest For Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care. In his global quest to find a possible prescription for our ailing system, the author visits wealthy, industrialized, free-market economies like our own – including France, Germany, Japan, UK and Canada where he finds inspiration in example. In case you come down with a bad case of Botticelli as you travel with Rick Steves in 2010, you will know that these countries offer insights to health care that we can cherry-pick and apply to our health system. As we say in the business world, never be ashamed to learn from others’successes. Bill Kester, South Carolina
I am living and working in Sarajevo, Bosnia with my husband and our three children. None of us had ever been to France so we decided to pile into our car and drive there for our Thanksgiving holiday. Armed with a GPS, plenty of snacks, and your tour book, we started our journey. Nine countries and two days later we arrived in Paris. We saw so much more in the three short days we had using your book than we ever would have on our own. We were able to fit in Versailles, two wings of the Louvre, walks along the Seinne, the Eiffel Tower and the night tour by taxi (excellent). We caved on day three and took the kids to Disneyland, so that they could say they had been to Disney on three continents. While wickedly expensive, it wasn’t nearly as crowded as California or Tokyo. I asked my kids what they loved best from Paris. My 8 year old Jacob said the Louvre. My heart swelled with pride that I had raised such a culturally aware and curious young man. I drifted off in my thoughts for a moment, wondering what hidden artistic or creative talents he might have yet to be discovered. Then he brought me crashing back to reality when he followed up with, “Yeah, the Louvre was cool, it just had too much art and naked people in there”. Sigh. Oh well, he is only eight so I suppose there is still hope. Thanks for the wonderful memories!
Rick! I KNEW there was some reason I appreciated your approach to travel on your TV tours! Discovering in this blog that you are a musician, now I understand perfectly. Being a lifelong musician myself and associating almost exclusively with musicians I had bonded with your travel approach without knowing why. My wife and I are recent retirees and are devoting our time and energy to travel adventures. Our next biggie is to Europe and we’re absorbing your wisdom now with more intense vigor. Our European trip will be to Paris, Stuttgart, Italy in general and places in-between in September, 2010. Today I ordered your book “Europe Through the Back Door”. Bravo Bob & Cathy Smith, Bowling Green, Ohio
For me I am glad you changed from music teacher to travel teacher. I know I would never have been able to go to Europe and see all that we have without you. This was what I wanted to do since I was a college student and didn’t have the confidence for it. I have already asked my husband to take me back to Paris for a week for my 55th birthday!
To Annie Tuiasosopo, I think that’s so interesting that you’re living and working in Sarajevo. I’d love to hear more about your experience there and how Sarajevo is holding up these days. I think it would be a good idea if Rick could develop a section on his Web site where we could all share our own stories/essays about our travels and living in other countries. Glad you enjoyed France.
Rick, you better take some penicilini for that case of Botticelli you caught…
Sure wish I had had you for a piano teacher! Back in the 1960’s, I was made to take piano lessons for 14 years and was being groomed for becoming a concert musician. But all I was allowed to play was classical music. I desperately wanted to play a little rock and roll, but it was forbidden. So, at 16 yrs old, I refused to every play again. And now, sadly, I can’t even play chopsticks! I guess I blocked it all out of my memory.