Just a few short lines if we may about some thoughts we have about our Rick Steves’ “Best of Italy” tour. Would we visit Italy again? The answer is Yes with a capital Y! Would we take another tour? Once a gain, the answer would be yes. Did you get our monies worth? Yes. Did the tour meet our expectations? It far exceeded them. Does this sound like a blatant plug for the Rick Steves' Europe Through The Back Door gang? What can we say, we had a great time, and don’t mind saying so.
From the very first moment we saw one of Rick Steves’ television shows, we were hooked. It became our dream to go on one of his tours. We watched his shows, read his books, attended one of his seminars, all so that we could prepare ourselves for the realization of our dream.
The sights, the sounds, the food and the people of Italy are wonderful. Easily enjoyed on your own, but made so much better touring as we did this time. When you have two knowledgeable guides, a highly skilled bus driver and 23 wonderful traveling companions as we did, Italy becomes so much more. It quickly becomes a family outing. Family that you may never see again, but none the less, family never to be forgotten.
Several months have come and gone now since Maria and I returned from our “Best of Italy” tour. The memories created will be life long. We are reminded of the good time we had as we glance at some of the pictures we took or shuffle through a brochure or two from the trip, maybe recalling where we slept at the end of a fun filled day. From time to time, a memory will pop into our head and the recollection will be so strong, that you can smell the food just placed before you at a special restaurant. Or maybe a street scene will come to mind and you can hear in your mind, the sound of an approaching scooter warning you to jump back on to the curb. For a moment or two, we once again feel as if we were in Italy with our “Buddies.”
A trip like this or memories like these don’t, for the most part, just happen. It takes planning, it takes money, it takes research, and it takes time. Is it worth it? Most assuredly, yes. Will we do it again? Just as soon as we can. We hope, as we said at the beginning of this scrapbook, our experiences as shown through these pictures and words, will inspire you to give into your desire to travel. Be it here in the United States or some far off land, it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that you dig in and enjoy to the fullest extent wherever you are.
With best regards for you all,
