Travel Nuggets, Misc
Our Travels in Europe
The Eye can See and
The Heart can Love, What the Word cannot Describe
Misc Travel Nuggets
By Jim Humberd
A clerk in a grocery or bakery in Europe, is thrilled to meet an American. A waiter and a bell hop are thrilled to get a tip.
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A good traveler can adapt to necessary changes in plans, to unexpected conditions, and will remain courteous and keep his sense of humor, when cold, hungry or tired.
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A large “tube” of “normal” colored baloney had a “Happy Face” made from a darker meat, extending through the “tube.” Each slice includes a smile.
A vacation is not a destination, it's the Journey. Turn here, explore there, relax and enjoy.
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We asked for directions to the campground, a customer said, “follow me.” A phrase that is our favorite when directions are perplexing. (Several times, several countries!)
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A wrong turn can result in serendipity: “… the gift of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.”
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All that is needed to build a cobblestone street or walkway, is a man, a bucket of sand, a pile of stones, and a hammer.
Among the problems of driving on the “other” side of the road, is that each morning we must figure all over again, how to do it.
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Artists with easel and palette, and photographers with a neck full of camera straps, attempt to capture the charm of these venerable European cities.
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At many places we found no canes, no antiques or the flotsam and jetsam often seen in a flea-market.
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At some places we keep taking pictures because it is so beautiful. At other places, because it is so terrible.
At some places we saw a special filigreed, gilded, decorative wrought-iron sign extending over the sidewalk, with small Golden Arches conspicuously displayed.
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Breathes there a man with soul so dead … That he is not gratified by another's appreciation of his home, his city, and his country.
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Can you imagine finding an European hotel room 600 times, and finding a couple of thousand restaurants to replace the bedtimes and mealtimes we have enjoyed in our RV in 968 days and nights, during 9 trips from 1970 to 1995? We did spend 23 nights in a hotel, over 300 nights with Sweetie’s Cousins, and a few nights on cruise ships and ferry boats.
Can you imagine the billions of dollars spent at McDonald's restaurants each year, by people who just stopped to use the “McDonald's.”
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Cathedrals in Europe really are very beautiful, and different to the eye. But the English language doesn't know that.
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Clothes on a hanger; Goodies in the refrigerator; We know who used the toilet last. That's the seal of approval for RV travel.
Color changed half way between the front and back legs of the goat in Switzerland, as exact as if it wore white pants and a black shirt.
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Curiosity as to how people live and work, is just as intelligent as the curiosity that leads to the study of the contents of an art museum.
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Don't know which looks the most gloomy, the weather, the town, or its people, it's so depressing. (Many places in Eastern Europe.)
During all of our travels, even the greatest problems have been solved or forgotten within the hour!
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Each and every Nugget is true, we lived them all, wrote each and every word.
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Early closing hours, exhibits and buildings closed for repairs, bank and religious holidays can appear at the most inconvenient time and place.
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Food is a means to an end, not an end in itself. You should eat to travel, not travel to eat.
Everyone we met likes American and the Americans, especially when we were spending money. No problems at all with the people, it's their Government that's the problem
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For us, an hour is better spent in a supermarket or a furniture store, than in any nightclub or fancy restaurant.
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Going to a college in New York City to learn about the political health of the USA, is like going to a Doctor for a physical exam, and he only looks at your armpits!
Guess who won a Gold Medal for a prize winning performance in a campground near an Olympic Stadium? One in The Netherlands, the other in Poland.
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He said that for 40 years they were occupied by the Socialists from the East, and now they are being invaded by the Capitalist from the West.
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How do we describe these captivating, exceptional buildings? Words like Romanesque, Gothic, Baroque, and Rococo describe specific architecture styles, we have yet to discover words to define the beauty.
I had an awful ache in my back, in the muscle just above my wallet. (True.) I thought it must be from reaching for it so often. Sweetie thinks the soreness is because my wallet muscle just hasn't been exercised enough
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I held up an index finger and someone handed me two of something - the clerk thought I just had a lazy thumb. In Europe, a thumb means one.
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I strongly suggested that we be among the first off the boat, to beat the crowd. “Strongly” you can believe, but the word “suggested” might be a little hard to accept.
I was the driver and my responsibility was to find the most beautiful, scenic place to park at mealtime.
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I'm the RV driver, Sweetie is the cook, but cooking is the least important of her real duties. I mean her enjoyments!
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If these Nuggets give the impression we are cheerleaders for travel in Europe, that is correct.
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If you cut a tree, plant a tree. If you dig a hole, fill a hole.
If you want to see an antique, just look in the mirror.
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In the RV, in any Country, it is amazing how quickly we can get settled, fix a nice meal, then relax, read a book, then go to bed.
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It is remarkable to see the fine condition of many buildings built so many centuries ago, and even the ruins are so remarkable.
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It would be nice to describe the difference in the people and their land. We “feel” and “see” a difference, we do not know the words needed to describe that shade of difference.
It would be nice to make these trips deductible, if not profitable.
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It's amazing how many fantastic, amazing, fabulous, marvelous, sensational people you will meet, when you are in a GOOD mood.
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It's amazing how many ridiculous, stupid, ignorant, inefficient, obnoxious people you will meet, when you are in a BAD mood.
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Many major tourists sights are so crowded, no one goes there any more.
It's hard to imagine so much splendor, so many paintings, sculptures, and works of art, the myriad of palaces and cathedrals, the multitudinous ruins of the ancient architectural art.
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Most Countries have “Traffic Laws and Regulations.” Italy has “Traffic Hints and Suggestions.”
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Museum buildings house beautiful works of art. Many European museum buildings are themselves a beautiful work of art.
Name and picture catching. The everlasting joys of travel, an added reward for years of exploration.
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Often a huge trailer contains the luggage, tents, and the kitchen for 30 or 40 college age kids. They sleep in tents, but we were assured they didn't sleep in the same tent every night.
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On a summer night, there must be more Europeans in campsites, then there are in hotel rooms.
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Once in a while our driver (me) did make a mistake. He thought he was wrong.
Once you know which country you are in, you must now drive with their rules, and their driving habits, or else.
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Once you decide what it is you want to see and do and what your schedule and budget will permit, don't make changes without a good reason, and then come home disappointed that your initial travel purpose was forgotten.
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Our European trips proved, “It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there,” is not a cliché, it's the truth.
Our favorite place to eat in Europe is the “Street-side Cafeteria.” A wonderful place to buy food, and eat as we continued to walk in these fascinating, beautiful cities in Europe.
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Our Travel concept includes: If we have no schedule, we aren't late. If we don't care where we are, we aren't lost. If we have no itinerary, we're exactly where we ought to be.
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Our usual rule was: (almost) never a reservation, (almost) never a problem.
Remember, a country has two things, and two things only - a border and a culture. If you violate either, out you go.
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Since they took hundreds of years to build, few cathedrals were ever completely built and completely clean, at the same time.
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Since we now had a map, we knew without a doubt, we had just missed our off ramp.
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Sometimes during the night, I wake up and wonder. Where are we now? Are we really! Is this for real! Isn't this wonderful!
Some people travel from restaurant to restaurant and see hotels in between. Others go from scenic spot to scenic spot, and see the towns in between. We travel from town to town and see the scenic spots between.
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Sunday is the best day of the week to introduce yourselves to any large city in Europe. However bad the Sunday traffic, it's a great improvement over the rest of the week.
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Sweetie is known to ducks and swans all over Europe as the “Stale Bread Lady.”
Sweetie managed to buy 99% of a towel rack with glass rods and brass brackets. Now if we only had the missing 1%.
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Sweetie managed to find a cute something (other than the driver) on which to spend her money.
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Sweetie usually agrees with me in what we see or where we go, but sometimes it appears that agreement is just her easy way out. If she agrees with me, she doesn't have to present an alternative.
Sweetie said she felt wonderful after her hot bath at the hotel. I checked and said she felt more than just wonderful.
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Take half the clothes and twice the money. Fill your suitcase with clothes from the Salvation Army, and Goodwill. When something becomes dirty, leave it, use that space to carry items home.
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The amount of renovation needed to keep buildings beautiful over the centuries, reminds us of the 100-year-old hammer that has had ten new handles and five new heads.
The applause we heard was for my Sweetie as she descended the ladder. Do you wonder who led the applause?
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The camping and the RV equipment are not important. The convenience and the sightseeing are all important.
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The European cities are very different to the eye, but the English language doesn't know that.
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The eye can see and the heart can love, what the word cannot describe.
The airplane flight was just like any other 12 hours spent like toothpaste in a tube, sardines in a can, peas in a pod.
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The most important rule of flea market shopping: “Once you have 'it' in your hand, do not put 'it' down for any reason.”
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The shopping rule was; “If my Sweetie wants it, I will buy it.” I am lucky that the only ridiculous item she ever wanted was me!
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The waitresses couldn't tell the difference between elderly travelers from California, and members of an Italian motorcycle club.
THE RIGHTS, THE DUTIES, AND THE PRIVILEGES PROTECTED AND GUARANTEED BY THIS SOCIETY, DO NOT (AND MUST NEVER) INCLUDE THE RIGHT TO DESTROY THIS SOCIETY!
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The ship's tour director said most of the passengers, when the ship sailed in the Caribbean, were Americans, so much friendlier, and so much easier to get along with, than the Europeans.
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Their driveway was an excellent Campsite, and it included breakfast in their dining room.
There is nothing but horror at any of these dreadful places, but if a tourist is near, he must visit one of these monuments of the revulsion of WW II.
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There was a good reason the nearly strangulated, cliffhanging Norwegian mountain road had no safety rails at the downhill side of the road. There was no room for rails. For us, this was an hour of terror, interrupted by moments of sheer panic.
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There was bad news at the Brussels Hilton Hotel. The brunch would cost $22 per person (+34% tax and tip). The good news, the buffet was closed that day.
There were dozens of building cranes visible above the city of Assisi, repairing earthquake damage. I said, “The crane must be Italy's national bird.”
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There were signs and bumper stickers, with the name Bonn spelled with a lipstick kiss as the “o.”
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Thousands of years ago European craftsmen produced works of architectural enchantment, that appear to be beyond the abilities of today's engineers, architects, and financiers.
To the European traveler, the beautiful little towns and villages, the shopping centers, flea markets, and street markets, are truly living museums.
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Travel-lovers feel the urge to explore, to know what is over the horizon, or just around the next corner.
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We are not Pollyannish about our travels, but there is no place where we have visited in maybe 75 countries and Islands that we would not be happy to revisit tomorrow.
We are often asked, “What is your favorite country, what is the best place to visit?“ There is no best, each is unique, each has wonderful differences.
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We bought gambling chips for our friend’s collection. For the Casino it was pure profit. Well, come to think of it, had I gambled, they would have gotten the chips back too.
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We are sight seers (at least part of the time), not vacationers.
We bought two brake-light covers, one to replace the broken one, and since we still had the same driver, one as a spare - but we never needed it.
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We can see and enjoy a hundred “aged” buildings, but one spotless, immaculately cleaned Cathedral will outshine them all.
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We don't know if this custom is a way to keep the restrooms clean, or to keep the old ladies employed - it does both.
We couldn't imagine the horror and the time required to find 87 hotels and 261 restaurants, rather than rest and relax in the RV, during our 1983 visit to Europe.
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We discovered the real reason we liked to travel, and we talked about the “things” of most interest. “The people, the geography, and the architecture.”
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We don't remember any extensive disagreeable circumstance, or any incident that had a lasting negative effect on our travels, for more than an hour or so at best.
We find European cities fascinating. The people are friendly, helpful, smiling and good natured. We see and “appreciate” the beauty, and never notice the negatives seen by the tourist who comes to “criticize.”
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We had a fresh baked bread, butter, and peanut butter snack in our RV, sure was delicious.
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We never got to visit the Earthly Holy Land. But we will be in the Heavenly Holy Land together, in the near future.
We remember very few people who did not treat us friendly, during our visits in Europe.
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We try not to tell everyone that our home and our culture is best, even though we are positive that it is. We are there to learn about their home and way of life.
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We visit the countryside and the market place, exploring towns and cities, and talking to cabdrivers, farmers, gardeners, shopkeepers, and our seat mate on the bus or train.
We visited a thousand cities and towns in a host of European countries and found that whole towns, and considerable parts of others, have not only been preserved, many have been freshened and revitalized, thousands of ancient buildings, bridges, and streets are in everyday use.
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We watched while a large battery-driven floor sweeper kept the Cathedral floors clean in a manner not envisioned by the original builders
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We will visit and revisit throughout Europe, and we will never see enough to satiate our travel and sight seeing appetite.
What a fascinating place for these people to live! What a fascinating place for us to visit!
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Whatever you saw, you missed the rest. (Good one, not mine!!)
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When people asked to go with us, we quickly changed the subject. The two of us completely filled our tour group.
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When someone volunteers to take your picture, make sure the photographer is elderly or handicapped, so you can outrun him and retrieve your camera, if you have trusted the wrong person.
When we see lovely old towns with beautiful homes, churches, castles, bridges, and shopping streets, we wonder, did the builders specifically design the elegance, or did they just build in the style of that day, and --- the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
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When we travel we know it is their home, if we don't like it we can leave. We have never been mistreated. We have never rushed to get away from anywhere.
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When you travel have your purpose, budget, and overall schedule well in mind.
Who knows, it may rain for a week straight.
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Why did the Customs Agents check those other people so carefully, and not check us at all? We aren't complaining, just wondering
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Why is it that steep streets always go up the direction we want to go, but not down?
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You could travel anywhere in Europe with only your wallet (filled, of course) and purchase everything needed to live well.
You must demand some reasonable association between effort and excitement.
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Young East German guards, high in a gun tower, held their guns in one hand, and threw kisses to the Lindas with the other.
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Your adaptability can make the difference. Plans may be changed by factors outside your control.
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Your spirit of adventure will be modified by your gumption for walking.
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