Donald White, Tour Guide Extraordinaire
We first met Donald White at our hotel/retirement home in Trier. From his accent, we could tell that he was from the UK. We later learned that he had grown up and gone to college in Scotland. He graduated with a degree in European History and History of Art from Edinburgh University. From that first evening, Donald instilled a sense of calm in the tour group. He made us feel that he was more than up to the task of being our guide for the next 14 days. The more we talked with Donald and the more we learned about his background, we realized that he not only had studied places we would visit but he had lived in a lot of European countries. We knew he would able to answer all of our questions and there were many. He would be able to keep the group calm and under control. Sometimes dealing with tour groups is like herding cats but he appeared to be up to the challenge. We especially liked Donald’s stories about his college years. He had even been a “snow bum” in Murren, Switzerland during breaks from school. He and his friends would ski all day and then work in the hotels at night. He told us stories of eccentric hotel guests and some of his friends’ escapades. For example, Murren had an annual hockey match among those that worked there during ski season. Donald and his friends competed wearing their official work uniforms, despite the frigid temperatures.
During trips on our bus, of which some were several hours long, Donald would walk up and down the aisle visiting with the tour group and dispensing knowledge geared to each person. Although he has probably answered the same questions over and over, it was apparent that he wanted our trip to be the best it could possibly be. |
Donald never seemed flustered by any of the unexpected events of the tour. When Jos, our bus driver, had to back down a narrow, windy road on the way to Burg Eltz, Donald was calm and that made us calm, too. When one of our tour mates fell while hiking in the Swiss Alps, Donald accompanied her to a doctor and on to a hospital to have her broken arm set. When traveling to a foreign country, it was comforting to know that Donald was there for us.
One of Donald’s best qualities was encouraging us to go out of our comfort zones. Sure, things were different than back home but we travel to experience the differences. And Donald gently prodded and encouraged us to take the plunge (sometimes literally) and to embrace our new surroundings. He supplied the information we needed and told of his personal experiences but left the final decision to us.
To summarize, Donald has all of the qualities needed to make the perfect guide. The tour would not have been as enjoyable or educational or relaxing without his leadership. Thanks Donald!
One of Donald’s best qualities was encouraging us to go out of our comfort zones. Sure, things were different than back home but we travel to experience the differences. And Donald gently prodded and encouraged us to take the plunge (sometimes literally) and to embrace our new surroundings. He supplied the information we needed and told of his personal experiences but left the final decision to us.
To summarize, Donald has all of the qualities needed to make the perfect guide. The tour would not have been as enjoyable or educational or relaxing without his leadership. Thanks Donald!
Our Heidebloem Bus Driver or A Tale of Two JosNASCAR drivers have no better mastery over their vehicles than our driver Jos had over his bus. Following an early morning coffee run on the third day of our tour, we were amazed to see Jos backing the bus around a hairpin turn and planting it squarely in front of the hotel. This was an easy task compared to our trip to Burg Eltz. Upon encountering an unexpected road closure, Jos confidently backed the bus down the twisty mountain road while avoiding the steep drop off at the edge of the road. He seemed to do this with ease, causing us to wonder where he had learned this skill set. That is the point that we dubbed him Jos, International Man of Mystery.
While riding the cable car to the top of the Schilthorn a few days later, the reason came to us. Jos was clad in black and wearing designer sunglasses while the sun was glistening off his flaxen locks. He appeared to have stepped off the set of a James Bond film - and not in the role of 007. It was obvious that Jos has been honing his skills by maneuvering European sports cars through congested city traffic, scraping through narrow alleys, and careening down steep mountain roads. Driving a Heidebloem bus is simply his day job. We also enjoyed seeing Jos's warm relationship with our guide Donald. Because we had an even number of tour group members, Jos and Donald were "travel buddies." They even participated in our tour group's "two truths and a lie" about our buddies game. That's where we learned that Jos is a grandfather and that he loves hiking. Even with this increased knowledge, Jos will always be an International Man of Mystery to us. |
Local Guides
Our whole family has been on multiple Rick Steves tours. After each tour, we rave about how much we love the local guides that show us around each city. These aren't your typical "professional" tour guides reciting pre-rehearsed patter. Many of the local guides have other careers and only do tours specially for Rick Steves groups. Nearly all of the guides grew up in the city we are visiting, and they offer an impressive combination of pride for their hometown, passion for sharing information about its unique culture and history, and warm, funny or sarcastic personality. A few of the guides we met on this tour were:
- Elka from Trier showed us the Roman side of Trier, sharing her passion for the city's history as a potential Roman capital and taking us through major landmarks like the Roman baths, Imperial Throne Room and city gate (the Porta Nigra).
- Elvira in the Black Forest Open Air Museum helped us focus on the details that really told a story about traditional German life, including the thickness of thatched roofs, the painstaking work done to prevent house fires, and the adherence to superstition because of the uncertainty of life. She was sharp, precise and made her own clothes.
- Franz from Munich had a warm personality and two major interests to share: the importance of beer to Bavarian culture and learning lessons from Munich's role in the Holocaust. He told us stories about how special Munich's beer gardens are to the city's way of life and even helped us tap a keg in a neighborhood brew house.
- Helga from Salzburg enjoyed humorously pointing out details like envisioning what it would be like to ring Mozart's doorbell, joking about a fountain where live fish were kept for a restaurant run by monks (talk about a catch of the day), and showing us some favorite alleys to see everyday Salzburg.
- Gerhard from Vienna had a wry sense of humor and what Donald told us was a typically Austrian skepticism for authority, including Germany, the Allies after World War II and the mighty Habsburgs. Our whole tour group chuckled along with him. We also inadvertently broke into St. Stephen's Cathedral and only realized it after 15 minutes of standing in there alone.
Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone: Elyse & The Tiniest Hotel Room Ever
One of the most common questions I get about our Rick Steves tour experience is "What are the hotels like?" I normally answer with a noncommittal, "It depends." But the truth is this: The first time we ever travelled abroad, three of us stayed in a tiny London hotel room (that was probably recommended by Rick Steves). The room was barely larger than the double bed and rollaway that sat in it. We could only open one suitcase at a time and, if a suitcase was open, you could not get through to access the phone booth-sized bathroom. Rather than worrying about hotels each time we go to a new city, I simply assume that my hotel room will be the size of that room. Without fail, I have been pleasantly surprised. Some hotel rooms are huge and have luxurious bathrooms like the room we had in Hallstatt. Others are up four flights of stairs, and have a sloped ceiling and a tiny bathroom where you shower "Buddy the Elf" style like in Murren. Most are somewhere in between. But each hotel is located in the heart of the village or city we are visiting with easy access to everything we want to see outside the hotel. I love getting up early to walk around the neighborhood, having breakfast in a crowded dining room with the tour group, and staying somewhere unique and local. Because of that, the hotel rooms are wonderful.
|
|
Reading the SignsAs you may have noticed throughout this website, we have some quirky interests: our need to put pictures of food on almost every page and our love of falcon caps and imperial hat boxes are two examples. Another favorite interest from our travels abroad is seeing and interpreting street signs in foreign lands. We'd love to try to put this in the context of a bigger picture, like saying that it represents the different cultural traditions and ways of life we see while abroad. But really, we just think it's fun to see how people around the world tell those in their neighborhood to "meet here" or "don't smoke pipes in the shop." At left are a few of our favorites from Germany, Austria and Switzerland along with some silly interpretations of what they might mean.
|