Tour Tales
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| The Best of Europe, class of August 29, 1994, gathers for a reunion portrait at Portland's Rose Garden on September 13, 2008. The guides' three post-tour kids have become honorary members. |
Every month we feature funny or inspiring anecdotes from Rick Steves' tour alums. If you have a true tour tale to share, send it to stories@ricksteves.com. If you have a photo that illustrates it, please attach it. Don't forget to tell us which city and state you live in. We'd love to hear from you!
The longest-running reunion?
On August 29, 1994, twenty-four individuals gathered in Haarlem to begin a Rick Steves Best of Europe tour. On Day 1, the buddy system was established, individuals became pairs, and our bonding as a group began. And we are still doing "buddy checks" as good friends — even traveling across the country to do it — fourteen years later.
What brought on this cohesiveness? That's hard to pinpoint. Could it have been the night our group cruised the canals of Venice in a flotilla of five gondolas? Or could it have been the walk through Rome, the birthday party for one of our gang in Vernazza, the clubhouse atmosphere at Walter's Hotel in Gimmelwald, or our "temporary farewell" dinner in Paris? It was not one event, it was all of these and more. A tribute has to be made at this time for the leadership of our guides, Rich and Risa, along with the great work of our Heidebloem bus driver, Raymond Moors. For without them, we might not have been able to share in the making of such magic memories and experiences.
What is most special is that our memories and friendships have not faded in the least. Since our group flew home from Paris and scattered fourteen years ago, we have continued to gather in places like Seattle WA, Vancouver BC, San Diego CA, Atlanta GA — and last month in Portland OR — just to reminisce and renew friendships. And there will be more to come.
— Don in Portland, OR
Fine print: We reserve the right to edit and post all Tour Tales submissions. Please provide us with your full name and city/state. We will not print your last name or email address in Tour News.