Do you miss the old Europe?

I think Italy will always be very Italian. And Germany will always be very German. And France will always be French. And Spain will always be Spanish.
To me, that is an interesting aspect of Europe : all those countries, close together, are so different. Each country has different people, a different language, a different culture, different architecture, a different atmosphere ...

Ah Furnacefighter, I can find you LOTS of places where you will still need your phrase book if you are not biligual..LOL, I have not noticed everyone speaking english , except of course other tourists.

I really like the euro too, I hated having to constantly refigure out my money when I travelled through multiple countries years ago.

I do miss passport stamping though, it is kind of fun to look back at old passports .

The first times I traveled to Europe where the summers of 1971 (studied in London that summer), Summer of 1972 (did pensions in France, Switzerland, and Italy), and the summer of 1974 (Backpacked for 6 weeks, got an Eurail pass and stayed at youth hostels all over Europe and even went under the Berlin Wall to get on an overnight train to Poland. Have now started traveling again these past few years with my husband. Now I can afford to stay and eat at nicer places. Some things have changed and some have stayed the same. It is more crowded and costly. We love to find special places in the countrysides on our trips that are not as touristy. Our trip to Italy in Sept was very expensive because of the exchange rate. We had to do the touristy things because this was my husband's first time to Italy and I wanted him to see Rome and Venice. The crowds are so much larger in both places. Quiet things I had discovered in the 1970's are now part of regular tours. Time marches on.

I agree totally with you Marie. It just means you have to look a little harder. Harder it will get as the world "gets smaller." Yet,there still are many off the beaten track European places that even Rick hasn't discovered. I love change. It's a good thing! I know you're not complaining FF or anyone else, but isn't great to communicate with different people easily and learn something from them personally? In the good old days, it took days, weeks to get there. Only the very rich good was able to do that! Now look at today, isn't it wonderful! I agree with Ron, the basic culture of a people will never change. Nothing wrong with the memories, but I always look forward.

I sure don't miss the old days of getting ripped off every time you exchanged one currency for another. And I sure don't miss the soldiers toting sub-machine guns at the border crossings. I don't miss their "tourist" hotels, dingy little rooms infested with cockroaches. And I sure don't miss the dirt that covered most European cities 35 years ago and more. I go there to meet the people and see their history....that doesn't change!:)

I am really glad that theer are no borders anymore. it was a pain travelling by car or bus and stop at each border to get a stamp and have your car/luggage search. I will never forget these times. travelling by bus was even harder. Everybody had to get off the bus and lighne dup for passport check.
I see a problem with Western Europe now. A lot fo Eastern European "invaded" certain countries such as Italy and France and comit crime. What a shame!
The Euro is very powerful in comparation with the $, which makes it very expensive for us to go to europe now days.
I personally like the multi-currency. It made it more challenging, besides that I collect coins. :)

Ten years ??? Try 30 !! It has changed and to a degree I miss. But everything has changed. Our first trip was in 72. It was Wednesday when we were offered two seats on a charter plane headed to London on Saturday. Got a passport in less than three hours. I think a pound was .50cents. Could still see World War II damage in London, the soda and beer was warm - no ice anywhere. It was over the 4th so went to Wimbleton and got standing room tickets at Center Court. I doubt if we could do that today. But I cannot visit the Spain that Hemingway wrote either or sit in the sidewalk cafes in Paris of the 30s. Would like to back but I cannot. It is changing so hurry up and go. Fifty years from it will very different.

FF - I stumbled upon my travel journal that I wrote on my first trip to Europe (England, France, Spain). It was the summer of 1969 - I was on a summer study trip for highschool. I arrived in London ahead of the group (that was a long story) along with several other students. The sites, smells and experiences of that trip set my life's path. I remember visiting Stonehenge - I was actually leaning on the stones - not allowed to do that these days. Yes, the old is gone, but my recent visit to Italy after being away from Europe for 14 years rekindled a fire. So, I will return to Italy this December.

Don't forget the internet! Or travelers checks! When I first lived over here, the mail was a vital link to home and the daily checking of the mailbox was a big deal. Now, who cares? I'm in daily e-mail contact to family and friends in the States. And every cable channel at least has CNN in English. The world has definitely gotten smaller. And it is easier to get lazy and never really learn the host language. (Careful! Every big European city now has an "American Ghetto" filled with Americans who almost exclusively socialize with each other. Nothing wrong with that, but is that why we moved to Europe?) As for travelers checks --good riddance! But Europe is a little less of an adventure these days. Though I agree that once you leave the big cities you can still find places where no one speaks English and they hardly ever see a tourist. I do regret that the old flipping destination boards in train stations are being replaced by television screens and electronic displays.

When you have to spend between $500-$2000 per person on airfare just to get to Europe before you've even stepped one foot on the ground, I'm all for making Europe more efficient and cost effective without taking away the basic charm. I went to Europe for the first time in 2000, and the language and cultural differences are enough for me to still enjoy the charm.

I guess I'm the "senior" poster on this subject so far. In Fall, 63, took the Queen Elizabeth from New York to Southampton with 3 guys in "steerage". Came back in December on Queen Mary. Cost: $360 rt. Carried the book "Europe on $5 a Day." Not uncommon to stay at a hostal for $2 a night including bfst. We were four guys in our 20's and looking for girls, cheap eats, and cheap drink. Found all of them. Went to a dance club in London where they were all talking about some group called the Beatles. We were from Southern California and were into surf music. Had a wonderful time in Europe and that trip started my "travel Jones" that I still have today. I regret some of the things are not the same as in the past, but change is inevitable. I believe Rick's tours started with one star hotels and have upgraded to several more stars due to our requirements. Remember, "It ain't the destination, it's the journey.

To answer the question do I miss the "old Europe"
NO ----- BECAUSE

I believe that the fact that I don't have to worry about currency,borders etc means that I can concentrate on the differences in customs, history, cuisine etc.

The great things about Europe is the fact that it's SO OLD!I can remember going on a tour of Gdansk and the guide said "This place(in a row of a lot of buildings)is the newest one -- it was built in the late 1400's!" WOW that's NEW? - in parts of Europe it IS -- unlike Australia and USA.

Having travelled in USA I also found that the "same" language has words which CAN mean rather rude things between Australians and Americans SO maybe the language thing is overrated. I have used "sign language" in small villages all over Europe over the last 5 years and have had NO problems.

This is why I'm trying to see more of Eastern Europe now. I heard how great Prague was in the late 80s, but when I was there earlier this year I was disappointed at how overrun with tourists it had become. Just visited Bulgaria, which is slowly starting to change with its EU membership, and had some great experiences because it isn't a tourist trap yet - and few people we encountered spoke English, which makes for a fun challenge.