Maria and Rebecca's Europe Trip March 2017: Final Reflection

Eighteen Days: Two close friends, living in close quarters, experiencing London, Oxford, Paris, Montreux, Florence and Rome! What an adventure this has been. We learned much about multiple cultures, about our own friendship as we navigated through all of the cities and experiences and about ourselves. We also learned how to plan our own trip, what is successful and not so successful. We met incredible people along the way who contributed to our whole experience. This was a very special trip and I'm grateful to Rebecca for inviting me and to both of us and our supportive spouses for making this happen.

People we met along the way:

London: Margaret! The tour guide for "Free Tours by Foot: London in a Day tour" When we first met her we thought, "She looks like Adele" She actually was from the United States, Vacaville, CA! She came here as a student and graduated from a University in London. She is a manager for Free Tours by Foot. She is passionate about London and knew both her history and present culture. She married a man from India, that marriage was too strong a culture chasm in terms of expectations for both of them to overcome. After a rocky divorce, she found her true self, married her long time partner and is very happy now. She shared with us much about living in London, what it is like for her. We shared information. I invited her to Brookings!:) She was a first encounter with our experience in Europe, welcoming us to this new adventure.

Oxford: Jos! He was the "go to guy" at the conference. He handled several behind the scenes tasks and also handled all the technology. He also took us out to the two pubs ON THE CAMPUS each night. He was so funny. He taught us the meaning of a Dry Brit's wit. He did NOT want his picture taken and pretty much thought we all spend too much time trying to capture a moment on camera rather than living in the moment. Both Rebecca and I connected with him very personally. He encouraged us each in different ways. He encouraged Rebecca to write books! He encouraged me to write, period. He was such a kind person.

Oxford: Several of our fellow Professors. Marybeth from Canada. Her birthday is only 5 days apart from mine, she is also adopted. She had our back in the presentations and we had hers; we just were instant friends. She said, "we will always be connected" and meant it.

Oxford: Wilma! from Racine, Wisconsin. She runs a "wrap-around model" for students in which the community engages in students' education. We connected over NUA! I am going to get her in touch with Yvette for sure, we also instantly bonded.

Everyone participating in Oxford found a way to validate each other; providing a true authentic experience in which we all acknowledged that we were a little bit in awe of being invited and presenting at Oxford. No matter where anyone was from; we all had that same feeling.

Paris: There was not one person with whom we made that particular personal connection but there were standout moments: White Stone Moments (a phrase from Oxford, Lewis Carroll, meaning an outstanding, stand out moment). There was a "sentry" in one of the exhibits in Orsay (Van Gogh). I was trying to take pictures, I thought the flash was off but the flash went off. She approached me to tell me that the flash needed to be off, but then she told us about the special traveling exhibit of impressionist art downstairs because she seemed to feel that she needed to reach out to me for having to correct me. The exhibition was wonderful!

Montreux: Clemont! HANDS DOWN! Clemont was a waiter in "Le Restaurant 45". Clemont was delighted because we were trying to learn French. He proceeded throughout the meal to teach us different phrases and give us advice about our experience in Montreux. His eyes and his smile lit up our whole experience. He was passionate about all things Montreux.

Florence: Martina! Our tour guide for Cinque Terre! She was a true "Bad Ass" (sorry, Mom, but that is how she described herself as well). She travels to India all by herself for example. She is a biologist who loves to lead tours through the five villages of Cinque Terre!. She leads a mean pace through the trails, she was knowledgeable, invited us to come stay with her with her husband and three cats:)

She was funny and warm. She stops traffic with her umbrella, daring those crazy Italian drivers to disobey her as she led us safely across busy crazy streets. She gave us a spectacular tour, all the while worrying about her mother about to undergo surgery.

Experiences:

Hotels - Either because of our planning or because we were just lucky, every hotel we stayed in offered us what we needed when we needed it.

London was a Marriott. We loved that because we were new to this whole experience and it was good to have a hotel with whom we had both had experience. It was comfortable and comforting. PLUS we had free breakfast and happy-hour dinner, of which we took full advantage.

In Oxford we stayed at the Harris Manchester Dorms. The rooms were lovely and we each had our own room!!! They have these amazing hot water pots that heat water to boiling within a minute! We had to be taught how to turn them on, LOL. One of those clueless American experiences, of which we had several.

Montreux Fairmont Palace of Montreux was our luxury spot (thanks to Rebecca) but oh my! The service! Margo was the Hotel Manager and she was IN CHARGE! Nothing missed her attention. She was there when we checked in, she was walking through to make sure our meals that we ate in the hotel were beyond our expectations. She oversaw the concierge to make sure we were being taken care of properly. We had asked for a recommendation for a restaurant; we were going to go to a pizzeria we found on Trip Advisor, she said "no, no, no". She directed us to a different restaurant and we had a window seat.

The people who took care of the rooms were also engaging and warm. We were spoiled and catered to; which was perfect in the middle of our trip.

La Scaletta in Florence. The STAIRS! and you could get lost! But the hotel was an absolutely authentic experience right in the heart of a wonderful neighborhood close to "Ponte Vecchio" (Old Bridge). I LOVED this neighborhood. There were little local restaurants, no more than 20 tables at most. A little supermarket, wonderful little artisan shops. The Old Bridge had music every day and was our landmark. No matter how far away we were; if we could get to the river and the Old Bridge we were good.

The Grand Hotel de la Minerve: This hotel was just a God send!! We were staying right behind the Pantheon. This, in and of itself, was great. The thing about Rome is it is all organized around Piazzas. Each Piazza has a large church, a large open area, often a cultural focus (ie:The Pantheon) that all serve as neighborhoods but also landmarks. We quickly found out that all we had to say was which way was the Pantheon and we were pointed home, back to our hotel! The hotel itself was also wonderful, offering a safe haven at the end of each full day.

Trivia:

We walked an average of between 15,000 - 20, 000 steps each day. Shoes: I brought a good pair of tennies, one pair of with a dress shoes, my chacos and a pair of boots.

We gave up trying to research restaurants. They are on every corner. We just went with our gut instincts and tried to choose small places that felt "just right". For the most part, that worked for us.

We worked hard to use common courtesies/greetings in each country's language that went a long way for having good experiences.

It is way worth it to get tours lined up before heading to each country; one to two a country.

Trip Advisor is your best friend and well respected in each country we visited. Every single tour and several hotels/restaurants asked us to review them on Trip Advisor.

Google Maps only works as well as the operator. We regularly got lost because it was just hard for google maps, plus our interpretations of said directions, to make sense. Much better to use the map each hotel gave us.

Trains! They are well organized, you do have to navigate said train stations with all of your luggage. PLEASE learn from our mistakes. Pack LIGHT! We had the added challenge of having to bring professional clothes for Oxford trip but still we should have listened to Judy, our facilitator at Oxford. "Put everything out on the bed you want to take then put a third of it away" Dealing with luggage was a challenge, both on the trains, on taxis and getting settled and re-packed in our rooms. Take less, much less.

Money. ATMs are everywhere and easily used. Take two credit cards, in case one doesn't work due to funky machines. I used one credit card most of the time but we used Euros for incidentals and all trains.

Electricity: Get country specific adaptors. You don't need anything else, but you do need these.

INternet: sketchy but available

Phones: Get the 10.00 a day International Pass. You need your phone. Worth it.

Expenses: Count on a hard 100.00 a day. I bought very few souvenirs, mainly that money went for food, which is not cheap when you are eating out three times a day.

Language: Really, language is not an issue anywhere. English is readily available, but do learn basic polite interaction language: please, thank you, good morning, good evening, all goes a long way. Ask if person you are addressing speaks English, be polite and appreciative, self-deprecating even. Don't just launch into English.
Airlines: Norwegian was the best! Our flight over and back was comfortable, with professional service, new planes. They said that they adjust the air and the pressure to alleviate jet lag. I think it is true because this is day two home and I feel good!

Sleep. We didn't get any. LOL! Here are some pics

"Opera Singer" at the Pantheon Piazza.