Our Rick Steves' Tour Group

As you may have already read, we split our time in Europe between an organized tour with Rick Steves' Tour company and some time exploring on our own. We couldn't be happier with the results, it was a perfect way for us to travel through Europe especially with it being our first time. One of the main reasons we choose to do a Rick Steves' tour was because of the ample independence it gives you to go off and do your own thing. However when we weren't doing our own thing we were fortunate to have a great group of people to share the experience with. Better yet we had a wonderful guide, Colleen, that did a fantastic job of making the journey educating, stress-free, and most importantly FUN!

Colleen & Ronnie (guide & driver)

Our fearless leaders. As already stated we couldn't have asked for a better guide in Colleen, or as my wife called her in Italy—Coleena. We really loved her bus ride history & language lessons, we learned so much from them. She also made sure we utilized the most out of our time both with and without the group. As for Ronnie we could always depend on him to get us to our next location safely and well ahead of schedule. Plus he was a great person to sit down with and have a chat with over a beer. He is from Belgium but has traveled all over the world and speaks many languages.

The Wisconsins

Of everyone on the tour, it's safe to say we spent the most time with the group I collectively called the Wisconsins. As you may guess this group hailed from the great state of Wisconsin. Individually they are made up of Kristy, Lisa, Kelly, and Caitlyn. Lisa is Kelly's mother, Kristy's aunt, and Caitlyn is Kelly's friend. On a Rick Steves' tour you have a "buddy" system were you pair up with someone you didn't come with to help ensure no one is accidentally left behind.

Caitlyn, or "Minnesota" as I called her since she lives there for school, was my buddy and Kristy was Shan's buddy. While we had a great time with the entire group, we definitely spent a lot of time with Kristy as the three of us got along so well and had similar desires for spending our free time. We're very glad she was on this trip! Although parts of my body aren't thanks to her snowball throw.

Dennis & Jean

We also had some great times with Jean & Bill! We found out early on that they too enjoy good wine so we ended many nights enjoying a bottle of wine that one of us would have picked up along the way. They're from Chicago so of course they're good people, although they lose points for not being big Cubs fans. Hopefully we'll see them again while up in Chi-town sometime!

Tom & Robyn

Something tells me that we'll be seeing Robyn & Tom again after this trip. Ok well it helps that Robyn's daughter lives 10 minutes from us, and in fact Shannon (I was out of town) has already met Robyn for dinner when she flew in from Ohio to visit her daughter so I think my prediction holds true! We really enjoyed chatting with this couple. Robyn is just so easy to talk to and was really the first person we got to know when we sat next to her at our first dinner. Tom has led a very interesting life in the music business so it was great to hear some of his stories, in fact I wish I heard more. Oh and some of the pics on this particular tabblo are thanks to Robyn.

The Wine Tasting in Beaune

I point this out in the group tabblo as I'm convinced this is where the group turned the corner and everyone got a little more friendly. Sure this was day three of the tour and most had started to get to know at least a few people by then, however when you add some tasty free wine into the mix the barriers come down and everyone opens up. Well at least I can say this is where I had some of my first meaningful interactions with "the others" so it must be true for everyone else, ..right!?

Group Meals

Half the tour dinners were included and for the most part we had great experiences every time. Because Rick Steves' tours are half the size of most other tour companies we were able to eat at regular "mom & pop" type restaurants and have true dining experiences. Food was usually local specialties and always very good, as was the company. Even when it wasn't a group meal night we found ourselves many times eating with at least part of the group anyway.

A Drinking Group with a Touring Problem

We had our share of beer & wine lovers in this group and we put that to good use in many different ways. Whether it be a small group getting together for a nightcap of wine in someone's room. A big crew drinking the night away with locals in an Austrian bar with Colleen begging us to talk softer ("shhh..") while the young waitress gets a kick out of watching it all. A relaxing impromptu afternoon delight of wine and snacks while sitting out enjoying the Tuscan scenery. A wine tasting in a small cave in a beautiful southern French town. And of course the potluck wine tasting in Tuscany where our group enjoyed many a bottles of fine Italian wine while enjoying wonderful local cheese. We definitely enjoyed the tastes of the region and hey no one got thrown in a pool so we must not have gotten too rowdy.

Cathy, Cynthia, and The Girls

They didn't arrive together but by Switzerland you could barely tell. Kathy and Cynthia are friends and came together leaving their hubbies at home in Texas. Lisa and Ainsley, aka the girls, are a mother daughter tandem from California. These four always seemed to be together and they always seemed to be laughing so they were always very fun to be around. Plus I found a great beer drinking partner in Cathy, she was a BLAST!

One of the "wow" moments of the trip had to be the first time I saw that the girls only traveled with one backpack each! Considering how nice they dressed it was an amazing feat for which I give them my utmost respect! Not to mention their amazing Switzerland activity day. Maybe that's why I now envision them being on Amazing Race with the promo calling them The Girls.

Mark, Rebecca, and Andrey

We enjoyed our time with this family that hailed from Louisville, KY. Mark gave us his music, Rebecca her laugh, and Audrey was just plain fun. My wife especially had fun with her on the Tuscan wine tasting night, that's for sure. In Austria I found out Audrey is a techie geek like me so I think that makes her uber cool, ..right!? Mark brought his travel guitar and after some urging was gracious to play some great bluegrass music for us in Austria, it was a real treat.

Walking Tours with Colleen

We got great knowledge, rain or shine, from our guide Colleen as we walked the streets of all the cities we visited.

Walking Tours with Local Guides

Many times though we would meet with a local guide who gave us a tour of their city from a European perspective.

Life on The Bus

I had to devote a section to the bus considering we spent a decent amount of time on it. But really it wasn't bad at all, in fact Shan thought the bus trips were a blessing in disguise as it provided some downtime from the hectic pace we kept. We had a great bus driver in Ronnie who got us to our destinations ahead of schedule. We had an excellent bus that was comfortable, clean, and Ronnie even stocked a cooler full of water, soda, and beer all for only 1 Euro! But what really made the bus trips nice though was all the room you had to spread out thanks to Rick Steves' Tour policies that limit tour groups to small sizes. Our bus I believe could hold 56 people and there were only 28 of us so everyone got two seats.

Lori, Julianne, and Christine

This group hails from California and is made up of another mother-daughter tandem (Lori & Julianne) plus Lori's friend Christine. Lori, who doubles as a CFO in real life, is the type of person where if we had to elect a leader of our group for whatever reason, she would be the one I would vote for hands down. Christine was nicknamed "Smiles" because her buddy Jean pointed out how she always enjoyed buddy check time because whenever she would look for Christine she would find her with a big smile on her face and it would make Jean happy. Personally yellow shirts make me happy, but who am I to judge.

Unfortunately I found out too late in the trip how Julianne shares a very similar taste in music as I'm sure I would have gotten to know her much better. I do know she speaks fluent French (although is too modest about it) and may actually move there sometime after she is done with school at Berkley, and yes that means she also very smart. :)

Frank & Tammy, Steve & Kathy

These two couples came to the tour separately but really hit it off and almost immediately seemed inseparable. Steve and Kathy hail from Colorado while Frank and Tammy join the ranks of many others from the Golden State. Kathy is a retired teacher while Steve was the resident expert on just about anything and everything. And if he didn't know the answer he probably had a good story instead. Tammy no doubt had to be the sweetest person in the group while Frank made sure we all knew what it was like to star in a reality TV show. You could always count on Frank to have his video camera on red, and I suspect at some point in the future we all may reap the rewards of his work!

Don, Faye, & Reggie

These were our "single" travelers. Don is yet another from California, Faye is from Illinois, and Reggie from Vermont. I found I don't have many good pictures of them unfortunately. Don is another guy that I suspect has lead an interesting life and has some interesting perspectives. Faye decided to come on this trip as a gift to herself for graduating with a degree in some kind of biomedical type field, that's a pretty good reason to celebrate. She helped implement the "Faye" rule early on in Paris that helped teach us not to walk away from Colleen until she's released us. Reggie if I remember correctly is an avid art fan so she undoubtedly enjoyed the many museums we visited in France & Italy.

The Youngins

It's worth noting the age distribution of this group, Colleen said it was one of the youngest she has ever had. And while we had a great time with the "older" tour members, obviously we were thrilled to be on such a young tour group!

page 11 of 12

This is one page in a 12 page series of our Europe 2007 trip. Links to other pages:

London - Paris - Beaune - Swiss Alps - Austria - Venice - Tuscany - Rome - Munich - Weisbaden

Group Pictures - Favorites & Thoughts

Related Links:

Europe Trip Page - Our Family Site