Here you can browse through my blog posts prior to February 2022. Currently I'm sharing my travel experiences, candid opinions, and what's on my mind solely on my Facebook page. — Rick
People are always curious about the intimate side of packing light. At the risk of “too much information,” I’d like to give you a tour of my toiletries kit. We’re up in North England, halfway done with an exciting new TV show on the Cumbrian Lake District, but holed up for awhile until the rain passes. If you don’t care to peek into the baggage part of my personal hygiene, don’t watch this video.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
Before flying to England to meet our TV crew, I had a great couple of days in Berlin. This simple little video expresses the joy I feel in Berlin when I’m there. (It just occurred to me that joy is probably a major reason why I like Berlin so much.)
There is so much potential for horror and violence in our world. Yet the vast majority of the time, in the vast majority of places, and for the vast majority of people, we live with peace, opportunity, and affluence (relative to any time in history)… even though we are taught not to be content.
These young musicians are playing uplifting music in the shadow of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, on ground that was once a nightmarish no-man’s-land. They are playing under warlike chariots on a gate that once called a mighty nation (Germany) to battle, then symbolized an ideological divide that denied hundreds of millions their freedom, and now calls for peace.
Today, when we sit at home and let the media shape our worldview, bursts of sadness can cloud our understanding of just how happy our world is. Politicians, talking heads, and angry neighbors can say America is broken and the rest of the world is even worse. They can say we are in crisis. They can be threatened by forces that don’t even exist. It’s as if that’s their livelihood or purpose in life. The boring truth is: Things are really good, if we let them be.
Of course, there are serious problems that must be dealt with. But most of us — especially Americans — are richly blessed. While we have our distribution challenges, there’s more than enough goodness, energy, love — and stuff — to keep everyone happy.
And here on what was the Berlin Wall, with young people making beautiful music, for the same reason a baby yelps with joy, I just want to take a moment to say let’s embrace the world constructively and positively, remembering how much is not wrong.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
It seems that all my life, I’ve been in Europe when news of tumultuous events over here hits back home, causing people to worry about me — or even to consider cancelling their own planned trips. Of course, the riots in London are tragic. But I’ve been in London the last week…and only read about the violence in the newspapers. I’m sure that if you’re out in the working-class suburbs, you can feel the anger in the streets. But filming our new TV show all over London as the rioting was going on, there was not a hint of tension downtown. Personally, I would not hesitate to do the typical tourist activities in downtown London.
As it generally does, the media is making the problem seem more general and widespread than it actually is. And to bail out of a travel dream and add to the difficulties in London by cancelling a planned trip here would be an unfortunate move for all involved.
On a political note, England is enduring “austerity” programs and deep cuts in government services as it struggles with a budget crisis similar to the USA’s. Recently many programs for young people, minorities, and the disadvantaged have been cut for “lack of funds.” And that turns blue-collar suburbs into tinderboxes, with young people feeling hopeless and screwed by the system. To vent their frustration and anger, they loot, pillage, and burn…not the upper-class districts, but their own neighborhoods. As if violently scratching a wound, it only makes things worse.
To restore order, England is sending in thousands of police and locking up lots of looters. But my hunch is that the decisions in the last year to cut corners in programs for the working class are now actually costing that society far more money than they ever saved. I believe the USA would be wise to take note.
-Rick Steves (enjoying my travels in England)
To film Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, we had to get there at 7:30, before the public opening hours. As the crew was downstairs filming the lower section, I realized what a lucky person I was to greet the sun through glorious medieval stained glass. My coffee that morning was the light that bathed me, all alone, in the most exquisite Gothic space ever created. I had to share it.
In my excitement as I videoed this, I flip-flopped one of my tour-guide facts, saying that they “paid more for the chapel than they did for the crown,” when the truth is much more striking: The king actually paid more for what he thought was Jesus’ “crown of thorns” than the entire cost of building this luxurious chapel to house the precious relic.
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.
In filming the pipe organ bit at Paris’ St. Sulpice Church, we needed to get a bunch of visitors to climb the spiral stairs, “scampering like little sixteenth notes up to the organ loft” for our camera. To get out of the shot, I had to climb higher up. In my travels, spiral staircases are a land of promise. All over Europe, they evoke intimate slices of medieval life and bring me special memories. And many come with a great “Wow, look down there!” effect. Looking down this one, with people’s hands working ever higher, made for a fun view. Here’s a silly video clip that will perhaps resonate with other lovers of Europe’s spiral staircases:
If you can’t see the video below, watch it on YouTube.