First Trip to Europe

When I was a little girl, my mother enrolled me in an educational program from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.  They sent a packet of information each month about different art museums in the world and the works of art that could be seen in them.  I pored over these materials for hours, and carefully, so carefully, put the stickers in my booklet in their little frames.  My favorite was the "Winged Victory of Samothrace."There was something about her power and grace that spoke to me.  I imagined myself transported from my little room in Selma, Alabama, to Paris, to the Louvre, and standing in front of her.  And then, over the years, I forgot about that dream.

Many, many years later when the children were grown and we had more time, we started investigating the possibility of more travel.  And, by then, we had the internet.  I was able to investigate sites like Travelzoo that searches out great travel deals and sends them to you in an email each week.  I happened to see an entry for “European Destinations,” which offers packages that include airfare, accommodations and, sometimes, ground transportation or connections when necessary.  For example, in 2007, this was available: Fly to Rome, spend 2 nights, take the Eurostar train to Florence, spend 2 nights in Florence, take the train to Venice, spend 2 nights in Venice and fly home for an unbelievable $955 per person.  Allowing ourselves $1000 for meals, fees for attractions, and shopping, we could have 6 nights in Italy for just under $3000.

I emailed our travel friends and sent them the link to this amazing package.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out) they were on vacation at Hilton Head and had no computer access in their condo.  Days crept by with no response from them and the longer we waited, the higher the price went as the less expensive hotel spots were taken.  

Note: as I remember this now, I realize that 10 years ago, not everyone had a cell phone, a data plan, an iPad, and Wifi everywhere.

When we were finally able to speak with Bill and Verda on the phone, we discovered another glitch.  They had recently been bumped from a Delta flight and were given a voucher for a free flight as long as it was the same price or less than the flight they’d been bumped from.  When Verda checked the voucher, she saw that it expired in two days!  Therefore, we had no time to work out an itinerary with European Destinations since there are options to choose from - including length of stay in each city; 3, 4 or 5 star hotels; which mode of transportation ( train, bus, or car) -  so planning was imperative.  We were on our own as far as planning this trip.

The next thing we knew, Bill and Verda had booked tickets to Amsterdam!  I was surprised, to say the least.  Amsterdam is quite a ways from Rome, Florence, and Venice.  And they booked their flight on May 30th without thinking that, if we traveled from Amsterdam to Rome, it would put us there right at Easter, which that year was on April 8th.  Trying to find an inexpensive hotel in Rome on the holiest of days in Christendom?  You guys do know that the Vatican is in Rome, right?  

True to their adventuresome character, Verda said

“Don’t worry.  Wherever you guys fly into, we’ll just take a train and meet you.”

So, with that in mind, we started searching online for airfares.  As I looked and looked, I was getting discouraged because I couldn’t find anything - not to Amsterdam, Rome, Paris, Munich, anywhere - for less than about $800.  Too much for us to spend.  Finally, one night, my husband was standing by the computer while I showed him what the fares looked like.  He suggested that I look for the previous day - the 29th - instead of the 30th.  Lo and behold!  Flight to Amsterdam for $478 each!  Instead of European Destinations to Italy, this was Cross Your Fingers to The Netherlands. 

More to come.