No Tour Buses

When I was young, I traveled a lot with my parents. A lot. All over Europe. Quite a few places in Asia. Middle East. South Africa. My Dad was on the international lecture circuit, teaching other doctors how to perform cataract and refractive surgery. My mom and brother and I would tag along on these big eye conferences. We would stay at Hiltons, Marriotts, Intercontinentals. The meals were always the same, and for fun, my mom would sign up my brother, me and herself up for "the tours" arranged by the the conference. Jetlagged, we would board a giant bus early in the morning, and go see all of the essential sights of that particular place...statues, parade grounds, rivers, buildings, "on this date in history" places.

Many years later, my husband and I lived in Germany for several months while he was in business school. Before we left, my Dad strongly encouraged us to "take a bus tour" whenever we arrived in a new city. Here's what he said about bus tours:

    "You sit up high. It's air-conditioned. Someone tells you what to look at. If you're tired, you can go to sleep."

To this day, that is still an inside joke between my husband and me....those are all the reasons NOT to take a tour! If you're up high, you're missing the sounds of the city, the feel of the cobble stone under your feet. If it's air-conditioned, you don't know what Rome feels like in the summer -- and you won't get hit by the smell of garlic as you pass by a restaurant. I don't want someone telling me what to look it. I'll look at something, maybe read the plaque, maybe find it in the guidebook, maybe ask someone nearby...maybe not. If I'm tired, I'll sleep in the hotel or apartment I spent hours searching online for, or in a city park on a blanket.