What attracted you to Europe for the first time?

It was Ancient Greece, for me. Given that the Romans copied the best of Greece, I wanted to start there. I did a cruise, the compromise for the parents as I headed over on my own at 19. Cruise also went to Rome where I was hooked with Italy. Slightly less so with Palermo and Sicily, but that was more due to the grittiness and soooo much roadside litter. But that only meant that the enjoyment was at 8 on a 10 scale....still loved every introduction I had to the Med and ancient history. All my choices were archeological sites, come to think of it; except when city drive arounds was part of the trip.
It was very much an 'if it is Tuesday, it must be Italy' type trip, but it worked for me to realize in the end, Italy had the upper edge. I have returned to Italy, but not Greece. It may be one of a handful of countries I would happily return to numerous times - and move to if I could do it without all the bureaucracy.

My first experience was an overnight in Paris connecting from Icelandic which landed in some godforsaken place (which is why it was cheap) to a morning flight from Orly to Tel Aviv. All I remember is unisex bathrooms and laborers having a cognac and coffee at the local cafe before going to work. But Paris was still magical.

Next, I went to London because my sister was living there (and it was a cheap flight from Tel Aviv), so I had a place to crash. For some long forgotten reason, I included a 48 hour stop in Amsterdam on the way home and fell in love with the city.

After that, I took vacations to Paris, England, Netherlands and Belgium a number of times over the years. Italy was never on my radar, though everybody I knew had been and raved about it. I finally went in 2008 for 12 days - Milan>Venice>Florence>Riomaggiore>Milan. Since then I've been back about every 2 years.

The other country that I should have visited years earlier is Greece. I went the first time mostly because there was an RS tour. I couldn't wait to get back. It took 2 years. That was last October and I've been dreaming of returning ever since.

I think deep down I wanted to see where my ancestors had come from, England, France, and The Netherlands. Enjoyed them all. Then we found Italy and have taken ten trips there so far. It is my favorite place in Europe now. However, Asia also calls and when I land there, I get such a rush of adrenaline, so much to see and take in!

His name is Tony.

My college sweetheart. He was promoting his family business in Europe so I went with him.

Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Nuremberg, Munich, Vienna, Brussels, London. Quite the eye opener as far as food and transport for a California native who’d never thought of traveling to Europe.

Thus my love for European travel began and continues till this day.

He’s married and lives in St. Louis.

I took Latin in high school and set a goal of making a(as in one) visit to Europe, especially Italy. I grew up in GA and at the time, there were no regularly scheduled international flights out of Hartsfield ! I met that goal at age 30 and have been 14 more times since then!

The Kinks. I wanted to be a member of the Village Green Preservation Society.

Growing up, my street was a kind of "Little Italy". Some of the parents didn't speak any English at all. It made me curious about Italy. The Italians moved out, then the Greeks moved in. It made me aware of a world outside my own little sphere. I didn't get to Italy until my 4th trip to Europe. When I found out we were finally going to Italy, (it was tacked on to a business trip my husband took to Siberia), I literally cried.

Always fascinated by history and, in particular, European history. First trip was very spontaneous. Had an opportunity to take a cancelled seat on a charter flight to London. Had three days, to pack, make arrangements, get a passport, and get to the airport. Had no trouble sleeping on the plane going to London. That was '72. Could not return until 93. Since then it has been close to every other year and frequently every year. History is the draw.

Fun thread, Allan, it is fun reading everyone’s experiences.

For me I guess it was a little bit Andrea’s “living in little Italy” in reverse. When I was 5, my dad’s work took us to Scotland, where I started first grade. I liked being there and feeling special because I was the only American child in my class. Then after a little more than a year, we moved back to Oklahoma. Try being understood by your new Okie classmates when you have a thick Scottish brogue!!!

I don’t know if that sense of feeling foreign first in Scotland and then at home is what motivated my interest in other countries, but I think it’s likely. I couldn’t wait until I could get to high school to be able to take foreign language (we had a choice of Spanish or French; I took Spanish. Not that our classes allowed us to achieve really any level of proficiency— there were only two years available in either language.)

I'm second generation born in the US from Poland. I grew up in an Italian/Polish/Puerto Rican neighborhood in Chicago. For me the draw was that connection. Many years later ... I married a guy, a wine judge who had a dream of traveling to Italy to taste wine. We visited Piemonte and Tuscany. Our love of traveling through Europe began. We drink wine (and beer), hike & bike through Europe. The only museums I can get my husband in are wine or beer related. (He will join me at resistance museums but then I need a glass of beer or wine to recover.)

I did get to Poland on a Baltic cruise. To my surprise when I got off the ship in Poland I cried. Who knew it would hit me like that? I was overwhelmed. We went to Gdansk. I bought amber jewelry for me & my sisters. My mom wanted nothing from Poland as she was happy not to have born there and really discouraged us from traveling there.

I cannot wait to travel back. Let's hope a good vaccine comes soon but I expect we won't be traveling until 2022. :(

My first trip was different than most peoples. My husband was there for a port stop (US Navy) and the kids and I decided to go visit him. We had less than a weeks notice. I had absolutely no idea what to expect and we only had hotel reservations. It was perfect!

Books have always been my strongest motivator for travel, starting with my love of the Paddington the Bear books at around age 8 that nurtured a life-long love of all things English and when the time came to venture overseas at age 46 it was to spend a week in London...since returned twice, and wish I was planning my 4th visit for late summer but that will have to wait. Anne Frank's diary at around age 10 started my interest in WWII and the Holocaust and I finally got to visit the huis in 2017. After my first trip to London I decided to visit the countries of my ancestors, so next up was Tallinn, Estonia, then finally to my most beloved place of all, Budapest.

I was an art history major in 1976 when I first traveled to Europe. I chose Paris, Nice, Venice, Florence and Rome. I guess, in hindsight, it was the classic first trip to Europe. It was wonderful.

I can't remember ever not wanting to go to Europe. For me it was the history.

Had it been up to me, my first trip would have been to France because I took French in high school. My second choice would have been Rome because I was raised Catholic. However, when I finally had the money to go, I was married, and my husband refused to go anywhere they didn't speak English. So off we went to England and then Scotland the next year. I am happy to report my husband had such a great time on those trips that he was willing to consider going to other destinations in Europe.

We've been to quite a few countries since then, and even ventured beyond Europe. Taking all these trips has been a dream come true for me, and my husband has enjoyed them as much as I have.

It was the Navy that first sent me on a "cruise" to Italy. Years later the civilian company I was working for sent me to Germany for 3 months. Then our son was in the Air Force and we "had" to go to Germany multiple times to see our grandkids.

Like many of us, my family roots (going back to the 1700's) were from England and other places in Western Europe.

In addition, like many of us, the culture I find myself here in western America has roots in England and other parts of Western Europe, as well as other parts of the world. It helps me understand the world we live in, to experience western European culture, with its history and the arts (music, painting) going back hundreds of years before those of this country and especially the western part of the US.

I say the above while feeling respect for the importance of other non-European cultures that define the US today: Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe, and other places. In fact, even though my parents and I are Caucasian, I was actually born in Japan and treasure that borrowed heritage, as well as my European inheritance.

Queen in concert at the 02 in London in 2008. I was able to score tickets by getting up at 2AM, from there we just started planning and made it happen. We spent 10 days JUST in London with a few day trips. We rented an apartment through VRBO and had a blast. We always said we wanted to do a BIG Europe tripe, the years passed, then my husband got cancer and we realized we may not have a "later". So after his recovery and he had the all clear we did a BIG Europe trip in 2015 and another in 2017.

Growing up my parents weren't travellers - we had some trips within the Maritimes but that was about it (having 4 kids will put a crimp in things). My mom's dad had some wanderlust (he had an RV and we went to Ontario with him one year) so perhaps I got it from him.

I know as a teenager I had a yearning to see Scotland (maybe because I'm in 'New Scotland'). Funny because I've been over 8 times since '08 and still haven't been to Scotland - was going to remedy that in May but we all know how that worked out.

Italy was our first destination - why? Well, because of travel shows and I can def point the finger at Rick Steves! Our first trip wasn't the typical first visit to Italy (which I think of as Rome-Florence-Venice). We did Rome, Cinque Terre, Genoa, Bologna, Venice. I didn't really have a dream location - I guess Rome for all the ancient stuff, but I fell hard in love with Venice and have been back 4 more times.

Two years after breaking up with my long time partner, and being in my late forties, I was finding the dating scene to be be an absolute disaster. Found out that an old girl friend from college, had moved back to the West Coast. So I cold called her. We caught up on 20 years, and I found out that she was also now single. We emailed each other for about a year. Romantically it wasn't going anywhere. Her dating activity was just as un-productive as mine. Both of us seemed to be stuck in a mid-life rut. Somehow I got the idea that I needed to double down . So in email conversation I asked her if she knew about Rick Steves. I always liked watching his show on PBS. She said she loved Rick Steves, especially his trips to Italy. "God, I wish I could go to Italy," she said.. Hummm.... So I asked, " If you could go to Italy, what would you like to see?" And she gives me a very detailed list. Mostly in Florence, Rome and Venice. I spent a month figuring out an itinerary that covered nearly everything on that list that could be done in two weeks, So I asked if she would like to go to Italy, cause I'm going this springtime and I'd rather not do that alone. I was actually going to go alone if she said no. But if she did say yes, everything would be covered by me, as sort of a payback, because she did support me for a couple years back in the '80s when I was starting my software company. Emailed her a copy of the itinerary. So we went to Florence, a day trip in Rome, then ending up in Venice. It was a whirlwind tour. "You are really fun to travel with!" She said after our second trip together to New York City. A year later we got married, and have traveled to Europe almost every other year for the last 14 years. Each trip seems to be better than the last.

Like cala, high school and college Latin sparked an interest in Italy. In 2014 (age 41 for me), a friend and I decided to do a 3-week trip to Italy in May 2015. Since we had not traveled much together, we decided perhaps a shorter trip in summer 2014 was a good idea. With poking around, I found the previous year's trailer for the Salzburger Festspiele:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV83RAZJ_BA

And... for a couple of classical music lovers... a week in Salzburg during the Festspiele it was, with a couple of nights tacked on in Hall in Tirol. Great trip.

Italy is where my grandparents are from, so it was a 'no brainer' as the first trip. My wife's great grandparents village is 120 miles from my grandparents, so it was an easy choice to make for us.

Getting stationed in Spain for over 3 years while in the military many years ago. Fell in love with the country.

I am of German descent and have always wondered when my family came to America. Family tree has always intrigued me. I took German in high school and for 3 years planned on going on a trip to Germany with my class and German teacher, then we moved in my senior year and I couldn't go.
FINALLY, 30 years after graduating h.s. my husband took me to Germany/Austria/Italy for our anniversary.

The day after we arrived we went to Erhenberg Ruins and I stood there and actually cried!!!!
I am hooked on travel. The following year we went to New Zealand and (hopefully) in 2022 we will be heading to Greece.

When I was fourteen my Welsh maternal grandparents took me and one of my brothers to Europe in the early seventies, the year my grandfather retired here in Canada. Spoiled, hooked straight away. Most of the summer. Some of south Wales, the Midlands and a week on a lake in Scotland. First trip to mainland Europe as well. My gran's close childhood friend married a bit later in life, a Frenchman she met in England after the war, and she moved to his family farm in Lorraine. I was baling hay for a week or so and almost loving it. Just north of Metz, don't remember the name of the closest town but it had a combination park/small zoo.

A couple of years later, the same older brother and I went back and took in Amsterdam (whoa), then went to Bern with an amateur football (soccer) team a year after that. I'll never forget the invigorating air which hit me on my first crisp morning in Bern. Later we lived in England for a couple of years and my brother eventually moved there. Another of my brothers recently retired to England with his English wife. Hmmm?

My daughter was graduating from college back in 1995 and said to me, " My friends and I want to go to Europe, but we don't have any money! " Duh! After thinking about it for awhile, I asked if she would go with me if I paid for it! Can you believe that she agreed! We took a group tour and added three days each before and after the tour. I had never considered that I could go to Europe, but that was the first of many trips. After that trip with my daughter, my husband traveled with me. I love traveling!

I'm not surprised by all the comments about tracing a family tree and going to a place where you came from, but for me it was the opposite. I never really paid attention to my family roots until I had been to England. It was then that I started taking an interest in my family history, the history of the UK and also Canadian history and how it ties in with European history.

My immediate family didn't travel. I think my parents felt that it would be a nightmare with 5 kids. But my father's cousin traveled and I was mesmerized by that. She is still my role model. She will be 94 soon and only stopped traveling 7 years ago when she had a major stroke while in Turkey. Anyway, I dreamed of going to Italy for many years. France was also a country that intrigued me. Although my roots are European, no one in my family had immigrated from those countries. Finally, in 2006 at the age of 49 I was able to take what I assumed would be my one and only trip to Europe. Where did we go? Italy? Nope, it took until my 4th trip to get there. I traveled to Germany with my husband, sister and her husband, and my 3 brothers to have a family reunion with our 1st cousins. They have lived there since they were very young children with their German mother. I wasn't particularly interested in going to Germany, though I do have German roots. I fell in love with the country and have been there 6 times. On that first trip after seeing a handful of places in Germany we also went to Amsterdam, Paris and London. I returned home knowing there were so many more places I wanted to see. After 2 trips for a combined 6 weeks I find that as much as I enjoy Italy, the country that speaks to me the most is France. We were supposed to have our 10th trip to Europe this fall. An 8+ week adventure. Obviously that is no longer happening, but fingers crossed it will in fall of 2021.

I had a long FaceTime call with the family in Germany yesterday. They are enjoying a two week holiday at one of their favorite places in the world, a car-free island in the North Sea. They promised to take us there. I can't wait!!

As well as my first trip mentioned above, I have visited other cities or regions in Europe - often as long stopovers enroute to somewhere else on the globe. My heritage is Scottish and Swedish - and not that far back in the family tree. But my parents, though travelers, were not particularly attached to their 'roots', so I am not either. Scotland has more appeal than Sweden, but I realize I might not visit either. I do sometimes feel guilty about demoting them every time I think to travel; but my list is much longer than my life expectancy, so....

The USAF motivated me to go to Europe with orders to Southern Italy. San Vito Air Station to be exact, located between San Vito dei Normanni & Brindisi. My family and I spent four years there and loved every minute, we would have extended our time there if it wasn't for the base closing in 1994. I tried for Germany or England after that, but was sent to Holloman AFB, NM (Alamogordo - Two Miles from Water & Two Minutes from Hell). Been doing my best to get back to Europe every other year since 2014.

The women, particularly in eastern Europe. No, not the East Germany steroid women, often named Helga, stout and strong. Irish women, too, for some reason.

I even married one and we're still together 36 years later! I call her "little potato."

During my sophomore year in college (1971 - 1972) I contemplated transferring to another school. Instead of doing that, plans arose for an adventure during the summer of 1972 in order to have a change of scenery. I enrolled in a summer program at Trinity College, Oxford University, and spent a total of 10 weeks overseas. Before the class started, I travelled solo through England and Scotland. At the end of the session I joined three classmates for a trip to France, Switzerland and Austria.

Life got in the way, and I did not travel to Europe again until 2004. We visited our daughter who was studying in Rome. I rekindled by love of European travel, and have taken an additional eight trips.

I even married one and we're still together 36 years later! I call her "little potato."

This is too easy... the kids are "tater tots"?

It was fate (and the US Air Force) more than anything that attracted and sent me to Europe for the first time.

In July 1970 I arrived at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls TX fresh from Air Force basic training in San Antonio. Then after a 10 hour bus ride I had to immediately fill out my "dream sheet" about where I could submit a list of places I would like to be assigned later on in my air force tour of enlistment. In the USA I picked some bases near my home. For an overseas base I picked England. Germany and Europe. It was 1970 and Asia might have been a good place they could have sent me out of their need . Also I had taken college history courses about Germany and European Civilization. So I knew more about Europe than any other place in the world. This gave me an idea about places I might like to visit.
By the time I finished my tech training Vietnam was over. So the Air Force apparently needed me in Europe. I first was assigned to England and after a few months that work site assignment was closed and I was transferred to Germany.

I had just gotten married so we ended up having a two year honeymoon in Europe. During that time we traveled as much as we could. We returned home in 1975.
Then in the early 90's we started watching "Travels in Europe with Rick Steves". While watching each show we would say "We've been there". So that is how we found out Rick Steves. It was another 20 years before we returned. It was a few more years before we took our first Rick Steves bus tour. After living in England and Germany for 2 years any trip is like going home for another visit.
Plus my high school foreign exchange student was from The Netherland and I have visited him in his home several times.
And during this pandemic I don't have a lot else to do except planning a possible return visit for next summer.
Thanks to fate and the US Air Force Europe attract me another time.
But Europe is not my only travel destination I have been to all 50 of the United States in my life time. But Europe is still the place that calls me to return.

My immediate family didn't travel.

I know that story. Growing up in the 70's we went to the same place-Sicamous, BC, to the same campground-Falling Rock Campground, to the same camp spot every year. As we pulled out to head home, my Dad would stop at the office and book the same two weeks with the same camp spot for the next year. My oldest brother goes to Maui every year, my middle brother heads to BC every year except once when he went wild and took a Caribbean cruise...once. I think I'm adopted.

It was work. I was asked to help land a new project in southern France and had to go to our closest office to work with our team there and travel to the site.

I don't know why, for sure. that I never went before. I guess, considering how I was raised, foreign travel was frivolous and mostly done by the wealthy. I definitely was not raised in a wealthy family. Far, far from it.

We could have gone earlier, I suppose. but there were always more important and pressing needs -- save for our kids' college, save for retirement -- that dissuaded us. We certainly (and thankfully) had the income for it. But I guess, the way I was raised, it was to put stuff like personal enjoyment or enrichment on the back burner and pay (save) for more pressing and important things first.

And there's almost always something more pressing and important than something as frivolous as travel. Especially if one has children.

But, as I said, it was a business trip -- a few actually -- that led to our interest in Europe.

And now we live here. Have for almost a decade. And we're getting ready to buy a house here.

I would say the dining, totally civilized.
-No cheery waiter saying, "I'm taking care of you tonight"
-No time limit on your table
-Bring check when you ask
-Because of language barrier, I can't understand (or listen) to some idiot conversation on politics or religion at the next table
-Typically Europeans are quiet at dinner.

My oldest brother goes to Maui every year, my middle brother heads to BC every year except once when he went wild and took a Caribbean cruise...once. I think I'm adopted.

My sister told me if I move to France she would never see me again.... TOTALLY ADOPTED!

Donna

A free airline ticket. My sister was a flight attendant and she arranged tickets for our mom and me and 2 brothers. Our little sister had to work. We enjoyed 2 weeks in the beginner Italy tour-Rome, Florence and Venice. The trip was by the seat of our pants-no real advanced planning. That was 40 years ago. I can’t say it was the best trip but it was the first to Europe. The second trip was to Sweden which was my current husband’s fathers native country. It took place 15 years later. We have been back to Europe many times. Also all over the world to 75 countries with independent travel for most trips. Have a whole book shelf of RS books starting with Italy in 2001. Shame on us, we have used it 3 times over 10 years. I can’t throw away our travel books. They hold memories of past trips and hopes for future travel.

Although I was already interested in visiting Europe, my motivating factor for my first trip was that my daughter was doing a 4-month college study abroad program in Berlin in about 2008. She convinced me to bring her 16-year-old sister to visit there for a week. As she said, "you should visit while I'm here to show you around". We had a great time visiting museums, eating and drinking, and just seeing the sights. A highlight of our trip was having dinner at the home of her "host mom" who was a docent at a local museum. I'm hooked on Europe now and have been fortunate to go 4 or 5 more times.

My love of the French language brought me to Paris....and it still is my favorite European city, although I love the smaller, quaint European towns and villages.

Joe33F. Hahaha. Such a cute response! I needed to laugh.

I've always wanted to go to Europe, I had a designated piggy bank in Junior high. But what finally made it possible was my college roommate becoming a rotary scholar in England. So I was trying to figure out how to join her for a low budget trip to England, hitch hiking in Ireland, and Paris. But how to pay for the plane ticket??

I kid you not, I was rear ended at a red light, and the settlement check was exactly the price of a round trip air fare to London and a ferry ride to France

My husband had never traveled out of the US so I needed somewhere easy to introduce him to the wonders of travel. We ate our way through southern France and worked it off on multiple short hikes in gorgeous settings. On the flight home he asked where we were going next and I was so thrilled because I already had our next trip planned!

My plan is to get him comfortable enough to agree to go anywhere with me because I want to go almost everywhere on this planet. I’ve learned his limits for culture shock and am gradually pushing them... I have long term plans but I only roll them out to him one year at a time. 🤣

My husband and I sailed a lot, and he was particularly enthralled with the Patrick O’Brien maritime novels. Being of French descent, he noticed that there didn’t seem to be any novels written from the French point of view, so he set out to write a novel. Several chapters in, we decided that we really should do some research- in France. 3 weeks, Paris and the Côte d’Azur, and so much fun. That was 2004. Paris and all things French struck a cord in me; I became typically enamored and still am. Sadly, Paul died in ‘06; I’ve been back twice (and left some of his ashes) and hope to go again. I also visited Greece (and left ashes- I promised I would do our traveling and take him that way) and really REALLY want to get back there. World events allowing, I hope to go in ‘22- for my 70th birthday, Fun thread!
Thanks!

doric8--

Divine intervention.

I applied for three month-long study abroad programs my sophomore year of college-Theater in London, Biblical Studies in Greece and Turkey, and Tracing the Rise of Western Civilization in Rome. Due to conflicts with course schedules, it would be my one chance to study abroad in college. However, as a sophomore I was lowest on the totem pole, with professors typically giving preference to juniors and seniors for their programs. I was accepted into the Rome program, and that was that!

I wanted to go to Wacken Open Air festival in Germany. Its the premier heavy metal festival in the world and kind of a pilgrimage for a metalhead like myself. So I went in 2013. Had an amazing time there, Hamburg, and Munich. Planned poorly, wasted too much time, and all together did a lot wrong. But I had so much fun. So then I went to the UK(Belfast, Scotland, London) in 2014, and Italy(Venice, Florence, Rome) in 2015. Then France (Normandy, Loire Valley, Paris) and Ireland (Dublin) in 2018. I was supposed to go to Belgium and Luxembourg in the spring but Covid destroyed that. So my vacation till keeps growing and when I can I'll be jetting across the ocean again. Would love to do some more big Euro metal fests but not sure when those will start up again.

I was an Anglophile since I was a little girl watching the Royal Wedding(Chuck and Di) at 5:00am. It morphed into loving the literature as a Holmesian geek and the TV shows(Prime Suspect, Sherlock Holmes etc. I never did a study abroad program in college(stupid stupid idiot) so for my 30th birthday, my mother took me to London-reluctantly as it was a month and a half after 9/11 and I had used guilt to finally get her to go. The global catastrophe theme plays a big part in my travels as I traveled to London a month after 7/7 and went to Istanbul two months before the big crackdowns and demonstrations.

However, for a first trip London was wonderful, back before selfies and crowds, we lived like Londoners in our flat, visited museums, did some pub walks and generally made me fall for London and make 5 more trips there and Paris.

Then decided to branch out to use my quite poor language skills in Spain-and then went twice more. I was supposed to go to Germany/Austria to use the language but first time I almost died of pneumonia two months before my trip. The next year I was let go from my job and this year I finally had everything planned for a fall trip and then the virus hit. I'll get there one day!

Amen, Joe. Amen.

I fell in love with her Irish skin with freckles.

blue39: The Kinks! Love 'em. Favorite is probably "I Need You."

hey hey all
moved to california 2000 from a small town of 5,000 on the big island of hawaii. transferred with same company that i stayed with 30 years and retired 2 years ago. my boss. same age, asked to join a women's card club that went on for years once a month. took a 4 day mexican cruise, RCL monarch of the seas, with all 12 of us, from long beach. that was an experience. my only other cruise ship experience was in honolulu where my friend's husband was a musician on inter island cruises. every saturday got on as VIP guests for dinner and before sailaway. it was a "wet your whistle moment".
old boss and best friend now asks me to do a 17 day transatlantic, rome to fort lauderdale on a new ship, carnival splendor, in 2008. are you kidding, europe was more than a world away fror me. i had 3 weeks vacation on the books, she booked us a mini suite for like $1100, one way flight to rome for 5 days before cruise. that bug bit me royally. wanted to ride "fast train" for a day trip and went to naples which i really loved. rome was fabulous even though there was a student protest, with thousands and thousands of people walking to piazza navona where we stayed, that closed streets down with italian police with tanks, gas masks, rifles and uzis everywhere, was stunned pulling our luggage to find a way out. found an empty taxi for 140E to port which was heaven to us back then and boarding this brand new ship, OMG.
had a fabulous cruise, loved my days at sea, eat whenever we wanted, met other cruisers thru cruise critic, shared port tours with them, learned and instilled in my brain about packing light (WOW), packed an outfit for everyday, and bought souvenirs for family in hawaii and where would you like me tp pavk that??? so many laughs, planned onboard activities with other cruisers, enjoyed the hot tub and pool, crazy shows and entertainment, sittinon aft balcony with appetizers and cocktails, was halloween time and had "dressed best, cabin crawl, slot pull"
next year she asked if i want to do a greek island cruise from venice with MSC. do ducks make noise in water, does smoky bear leave his business in the woods? spent 6 days in venice, went to bardolino lake garda for annual wine festival, another WOW moment. learned thru store customer from that area about festival. eat drink and be merry.
with the bug biting and another friend from french basque area that loves paris and france, have gon e every year to different areas of europe and absolutley love seeing the way of life of other countries, what there is to see and love doing my research about areas.
still have lots to see and do when it's safe to continue my travels.
thanks for the post, a few chuckles for other posters
aloha

History is the draw for me. I find the time between the Viking Age and the Renaissance most interesting - nations being formed. Key individuals and battles decided which countries would survive and in what form?

His name is Tony.

My college sweetheart. He was promoting his family business in Europe
so I went with him.

Reminds me of a story of my friend's first trip to Europe. In 1987 my friend was 22 years old and had fallen hard for a girl. He was convinced he was going to marry her and would possibly pop the question in Paris, but apparently the feelings weren't mutual. He and she were on the plane on their way to a 3 week European adventure and as soon as the plane took off she told him she was breaking up with him. She had waited until they were in the air because she thought he wouldn't have gone if she told him before the trip. She was right and it made for an awkward and bitter trip. He finally got back to Europe a couple of years ago for his 25th anniversary-different girl, better result.

But if a long story but it’s mine. Both (still living ) parents, one born in Riga, Latvia , 1925;and Mom born in Vienna, 1930. Both survived WW2 to immigrate to England, meet, marry and have a child and then set sail to the most uncharted and foreign place, Canada, where I was born. So, grew up with many Latvian/Austrian stories, from the folks and friends and I can assure you, they were not always good stories. Anyway, I always knew I needed to go to Europe and see these places for myself. The folks not feeling much love towards their former homes, I had to wait some time for this to happen. Both managed to return a few times but not in a holiday sense. I wanted to go with them, but wasn’t going to happen. Mom has made peace with her past, sorta, and we have gone to Vienna a few times now to visit her Mothers grave. Dad, has a younger sister and My cousins in Germany now and we are able to see them every few years. So, it’s not always about holiday I guess, but trying to build your past and find your future when you have a very interesting and complicated background. For interest sake, my folks are 90 and 96 and their stories are amazing. For them, that’s why I and my brother travel to Europe.

The Christmas Markets on our Danube River Cruise and our very first cathedral in Vienna - St.Stephens.

Aah. I love reading everyone’s stories. Like another post, I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to go to Europe. In middle school, there was a trip to Italy you could pay for - I made my parents spaghetti for dinner and made and hung Italian flags around the house. Alas, it wasn’t in their budget. But, in college, I managed to do a study abroad in Ireland. I was there for a semester and loved it. Managed to take lots of trips while there and want to go back whenever I’m able.

When I met my husband, he had never been outside the US and I was so worried he wouldn’t like it. We took our first trip together- to Spain and Portugal and luckily, he was hooked also. Once our kids were elementary school aged, we felt ready to take them and I’m so happy they also love it. Can’t wait for travel to resume. The thing I long for most is sitting at an outdoor European cafe, drinking delicious coffee and nibbling on pastries.

I have been fascinated by other cultures ever since I was a little girl growing up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin. A relative gave me a box of note cards that pictured "children of different lands" (in costumes) and I was intrigued. I didn't make it to Europe until I was about 50 years old, but I loved it! I was hooked. Went every 2 years until 2016! Then other things interfered. This was to be my year to return and I was very excited about it. Sadly, the virus has made it impossible to go. Now I'm hoping for 2021. I'm not getting any younger!

A fiction book series, set in major European cities during WWII, sparked my initial interest in Vienna and Prague. This was in the late 80s. When I finally made it to Europe in 2010, it was to the UK. Last year, I made it to Prague! It was my first time on The Continent. Prague did not disappoint.

Mainly, historical interest, first and foremost. Secondly, linguistic interest in German, since they were both subjects of university study.

The first time, this big Europe trip, was in the summer of 1971 when I was 21 as a college backpacker. I planned the trip of 12 weeks based on the longest charter flight offered by that charter company, spent seven weeks in Germany (West in those cold war days, starting in Lübeck-Travemünde. The so-called "must-sees" then were Vienna, London, and Berlin, which was unimaginable without seeing Berlin when in Germany.

Two years later I came back, it seemed as though these first two trips were parts one and two with the summer of 1972 as a break in between. This second trip included Paris as well as Berlin again.

Like some others here, I grew up knowing elders had come from Europe. My father and his brothers belonged to the Hungarian Club in Allentown. My grandfather had immigrated to the US in the early 1900s from an Austrian town that is now one of the Lost Villages claimed by Hungary. My maternal family identifies as PA Dutch (not Amish). Smatterings of Hungarian and German were frequently heard. In junior high, I had a friend whose church still held German services.

Early on, I was given the opportunity to learn snippets of German and other languages in school. In 7th grade, they offered us a choice of French, Spanish, or German and divided the classes up by languages. I chose German and continued with it through high school and into college. In college, though English was my major and I considered myself something of an anglophile, changing my major to German seemed one way to get to travel. As the child of a single working mother at that point, there seemed no other way. I diligently researched (thank you college library) and applied for a junior year abroad program in Munich through Wayne State, Michigan. The program is still active.

That immersive year away when I was on my own (with other American students in a cohort) was when I learned to cook, to really use a bank and budget, and to travel (yikes, sometimes no one knew where I was). The experience was foundational to adulthood. I returned to the US reluctantly and a different person.

While a number of years intervened as I learned to support myself, European travel has since become a frequent must in my life. I still return to German speaking areas as often as I can, and while my brain gets a little twisted the first day or two, after that, I manage passably well in conversations - at least in touristy ones. One of the proudest days of my life was when a resident in Oberbozen, Italy, asked me what an American woman was doing in his corner of the world speaking German with a Bavarian accent. I virtually hopped down that mountain to Bolzano muttering: Yes, Yes, I've still got it! Good times! I pray for plenty more to come. A trip through Colmar, onto Switzerland, and then Innichen is my next plan - ending in Venice, of course!

The motivating factor that sent me off to Europe in 2013 was when a high school classmate died in late 2012. I kept thinking - what did Tony always want to do but didn't get the time? I went home for the funeral and my parents were talking about traveling to Germany with my brother the next summer to reconnect with my extended family. (My grandparents, both long gone by 2012, were German immigrants and the only two people to leave their small towns.). My parents said they suspected my brother and his wife would back out. I asked on a whim - what if we went with them? By we, I mean my husband, me and our two kids (ages 8 and 13). It just took off from there! We visited family in Germany and then did a tour of Germany (down the Rhine, the Alps, and ending in Munich). at that point, we parted ways with my parents as they went on a Danube River Cruise and we proceeded to do Paris (5 days) and London (5 days) before returning home.

After that trip, I was hooked! Been back in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and this past January.

As a sidenote, I had been to Europe as a 14 year old with my parents. Didn't really appreciate it so and it wasn't my choice, so I really feel like my first time going where I WANTED to go was in 2013.

As a result of taking the kids with us in 2013, 2018 and this past January, we have created kids who long to return to Europe. Our 20 year old was going to study abroad this past May/June but obviously that had to be put on hold. Hopefully summer 2021 or after she graduates in 2022 she can go. She was going to Spain to learn to teach English to non-English speakers in Madrid.