Magical Moments!

I was very excited last week to be able to check out the new book, For the Love of Europe, by travel guru, Rick Steves. Steves has been sharing his love of Europe for years with readers of his travel books, watchers of his PBS show, and folks who have traveled on his European tours. I count myself lucky to say I am all of the above, especially for having traveled on five Rick Steves tours.

Steves newest book is subtitled, “My Favorite Places, People, and Stories.” And that’s what he writes about as he relives favorite, unique experiences from his European travels. If you’ve ever watched his PBS show, Rick Steves’ Europe, you know he’s a bit of a ham (see photo below) and he’s a great storyteller. And that’s why I highly recommend reading his new book as he will regale you with delightful stories of his favorite places and the folks he's met along the way. He’s spent three or four months a year, every year, since he was a teen-ager, in Europe, so he has a lot of great experiences from which to draw.

Back in the day, Steves used to lead a lot of his tours himself, but he now offers 48 different tours to different locations every year, and most of these tours will run about 18 times per year. Therefore, Steves does not lead the actual tours anymore, but rather he has found many talented and wonderful tour guides to lead the way. These folks are amazing and so good at what they do, and they are one of the reasons Rick Steves’ tours are quite popular and a great way to travel.

Colin, Alfio, Stephen, Virginie, and Helen. I’ve been on five Rick Steves’ tours and these are the first names of my five great tour guides. They stick with you. For the duration of your tour, they are your leaders, storytellers, historians, and simply great people who are fun to spend time with.

I could go on and on about how good they all are and all that they do, but I want to tell you what it is about these tour guides that is my favorite thing. Each one of them create magic moments in their tours, moments that amaze you when they happen, and moments that stay with you forever after. These are the moments, that if pushed to name my favorite thing about each trip, are the ones I’ll mention. Because they are....magical. 😊

Now, I’ve already share one with you. It was in my June 20 blog post about the European masterpieces that I have seen on my travels. It was a site in Paris. Do you remember? Don’t worry if you don’t, I’m going to cover that one again, as I go down my list, and tell you the top magical moment from each of my Rick Steves’ tours.

Let’s start in Greece, May 2008. This trip was a celebration for my daughter, Laura, and I. She was graduating from college: Go Blue! And I was graduating from library school, a Master’s Degree earned at the age of 50. It was Laura’s idea, and I went along for the ride! Little did we know that this was just the beginning of our travels together. 😊

We went on what is called, “The Athens and the Heart of Greece 14 Days Tour.” We began and ended in Athens, and in between we traveled to Delphi, Dimitsana, Olympia, Kardamyli, Gythio, Monemvasia, Napflio, and the island of Hydra. Plus, a lot of interesting stops and sites in between. We were a group of 27, traveling the roads through the heart of Greece, with a bus driver who could maneuver a monster of a modern bus through the tightest spots of an ancient country.

This trip had two magic moments!! The first was on the road, three days into the trip, and we were traveling between two small towns, Kalavryta and Dimitsana. We were really in the middle of what I will call, respectfully said, the middle of nowhere. And then we stopped, in a tiny village that was really just a main street; as they say, blink and you’d miss it. I’m sorry to say I don’t even remember the name of this town we were in.

We ate lunch at a small taverna – I think it may have been the only one in town. Lunch was served in an outdoor pavilion. The best part of all? The fresh trout we were served had been pulled that morning from the small stream that ran under that outdoor pavilion. Lunch started with many delicious appetizers, including the tzatziki and Greek salad that we had already come to love. The main course: two trout each, heads included. Colin gave us a lesson in how to debone the fish, and then we dug in. We were got pretty good at it, and they tasted great!

Oh yeah, and many carafes of the local wine were brought out, and Colin said it would be “churlish” of us not to drink up. So, we did. Even I had a glass. (I’m really not much of a drinker.)

After dinner, we had a bit of time to kill before hitting the road again, and so our group took a short walk around the local countryside. The was the first chance we had to talk with some of our fellow travelers at length, and some solid bonds of traveler friendship were made that afternoon; both on our walk, as well as during that special lunch.

And that is what made this a magic moment. The spontaneity of a simple, perfect, unexpected meal combined with bonding with new traveler friends. This afternoon really kicked the trip into high gear for me.

And the word churlish. I don’t think I’d ever heard it used before and it quickly became of favorite of mine. Love to use it to this day, and when I do, I think of Colin. It would be churlish of me not to. 😊

The second magical moment of this trip was a delightful evening in the second week of the trip. Halfway through each tour, the guides check in with the tour members to take stock of the trip. How is it going for them? Are they having any issues? Is there something they’d like to do they haven’t done yet? Several fellow travelers said they’d love to see some Greek dancing. It wasn’t on our agenda, but Colin said he’d see what he could do about it.

And did he ever! Cue up the magical moment. One of our scheduled group dinners went from a really good meal to an exciting, fun, and memorable evening. First, we enjoyed a delicious meal at “O-Qeipae,” a quaint tavern in Napflio, a harbor town on the southern side of the Peloponnese Peninsula. After dinner, four locals, wearing traditional Greek garb came in to dance for us.

It was amazing! First, they danced several dances on their own. Then, they brought up individuals to dance with them. And then, we pretty much all joined them on the floor and danced along. It was such good fun, and an authentic cultural experience of life in Napflio. We asked for it, and we got it. It wasn’t part of the official itinerary, but rather a spontaneous magical moment created just for us. 😊

I was still doing scrapbooking after my Greece trip. I filled three scrapbooks for a 14-day trip! It took me almost a year to create those scrapbooks and so, I’ve moved on to photo scrapbooks from Shutterfly ever since. But, check-out the last page of my Greece scrapbook, "Reflections on a Wonderful Trip to Greece." I had lots of final thoughts about this trip, but interestingly, my first one is that I would take another Rick Steves’ tour in a heartbeat. And I sure did…

Our group photo in Greece. Colin is third from the left in the front row.

Our group photo was taken at the top of Monemvasia. Colin told us we were his first tour group to all make it to the top for their group photo. Yeah, us!

In 2011 Laura and I headed for Sicily. My paternal grandfather was born in Augusta, Sicily, before immigrating to the United States in 1917 as a young man. I’d long been drawn to the idea of traveling to Sicily to see the land where my grandpa was born, and so that’s where we traveled on our next Rick Steves’ tour. From May 22 – 31, we were on the “Best of Sicily in 10 days” tour. (By the way, check out the photo of my Grandpa and me on my First Communion day, circa 1966.)

Alfio was our guide as we traveled around this island, an autonomous region of Italy. I’m not going to lie; Sicily was everything I thought it would be and more. And this trip gave me three magical moments!

This tour began and ended in Palermo, with time in between spent in Monreale, Cefalu, Taormina, Mt. Etna, Catania, Siracusa, Agrigento and points in between. My first magical moment took place in Cefalu, a seaside village on the northern coast of Sicily. We spent two nights in Cefalu, and after our first dinner, our group went on a walking tour of the village.

Walking tours are staples of Rick Steves’ tours as you take to the streets of a new town to get a feel for the neighborhood you’re staying in. As we set out from the restaurant, we saw many of the locals also strolling the streets. This is something familiar to Italians all over Italy. It’s what they call passeggiata, meaning a short walk taken purely for pleasure, usually in the evening.

As we walked the neighborhood like locals, Alfio pointed out local highlights and gave us some history of Cefalu. Our walking tour ended with a perfectly-timed stop by the water at sunset. Nice job, Alfio! We saw a newly-married couple taking their wedding photos by the shore, and Alfio led our group in a chant of, “baccia, baccia, baccia!” Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! We had made an instant connection with the people of Cefalu. It was such good fun followed by a beautiful sunset. One of the most wonderful moments of our trip. (I'm sorry to say we didn't get a picture of the newlyweds.)

Sunset over Cefalu.

Fast forward a few days and we’ve now traveled to Siracusa, another scenic seaside village, only this time we’re on the east coast of Sicily. And guess what, we were once again out and about, taking our orientation walking tour of Old Siracusa, the part of town we were staying in. Alfio led us on a rather circuitous route to reach the main square. The reason soon became clear as we entered the main piazza and had an absolutely spectacular view of the beautiful cathedral.

Alfio told us that, since you can only see a building for the first time once, you have to make sure to do it right. And I think we certainly did. This is the wisdom displayed by all Rick Steves’ tour guides, and their experience ensures you get the best take on all the sites. Magic!

Our last group meal of the Sicily trip came on the road, headed back to Palermo. We had just left the very well-preserved Greek temples of Agrigento, some of the finest examples of Greek ruins anywhere. (Photo above.)

I haven’t talked much about the plethora of delicious meals we’ve had in Sicily, because my focus has been on my magic moments. But as you can see from above, we ate non-stop on this trip, and we ate so very well. Of my five Rick Steves’ tours, Sicily wins hands down for having the most delicious food! So, when I say our final feast was the best meal of them all, that is really saying something.

Alfio referred to our final meal as a “Sicilian Wedding” feast. That's because this wasn’t any normal meal, but one liked they would serve at a wedding. There was an incredible amount of food. And it all was very yummy.

For appetizers, we had a local fish called spatula, smoked swordfish and tuna fish, assorted other fried fish with onions, and bread.

For our primi (first course), we had two pastas: a homemade fresh penne with fava beans and ricotta, and an involtini of spaghetti (basically spaghetti wrapped in eggplant.)

For our secondi (second course), we had an entrée of swordfish and side dishes of caponata, fried calamari, grilled veggies and Sicilian salad. I firmly believe the calamari is one of thee best foods I’ve ever eaten. And I would normally never order calamari. But it was out of this world good! (A mini-magical moment unto itself. 😊)

And for our dessert, we had two cannoli – one traditional and one with a chocolate – pistachio shell – plus an after-dinner drink. And the wine was flowing throughout the meal. This was indeed a culinary feast and a meal I’ll always fondly recall.

But the kicker was the toast Alfio gave us at the end. Final tour meals are always a bit melancholy as you say good-bye to your travel buddies, tour guide, and bus driver. And the tour guide always gives a nice little speech at the end to send you off. Alfio’s did not disappoint.

His speech to us included a toast that went something like this:

“Here’s to lying, cheating,

stealing,and drinking. If you lie, lie to help a friend. If you cheat, cheat death. If you steal,

steal the heart of the one you love. And if you drink, drink with friends.”

Oh my gosh, I remember tearing up, it was so lovely. And thus, another magical moment was born.

Group photo in Agrigento.

Would you like to read more about our trip to Sicily? Follow this link:

https://laurainsicily.weebly.com/index.html

It will take you to the website Laura created for the annual Rick Steves’ scrapbook contest that year. She won first prize! Her reward? She got her choice of any Rick Steves’ tour, and she chose a two-week trip to Ireland. Which is a perfect segue way to my next magical moment. 😊

But, you’re going to have to wait just a little bit to read all about it. This current post is getting quite long and so, I’m going to save Ireland, France, and Scotland for next time. I promise you the wait won’t be too long.

I’m going to leave you today with some beautiful flowers from Greece and Sicily. It was springtime in both countries when we visited and the flowers were lovely. And, if I haven't mentioned it yet, my daughter loves to photograph flowers. 😉

Happy Labor Day to you all. Be safe! Take care.