Reflections

There are some general conclusions that we have come to over the last two months while we have been in Europe. In that time we have been in 5 countries, Norway, Finland, France, Germany and Poland. We have met many people, stayed in many hotels and guesthouses, eaten in many restaurants, and driven on many roads. So far, we can say that the Europeans have better: toilets, showers, windows in their homes/hotels, and highways systems (signs, road surfaces). They LOVE 60s and 70s rock and roll. We have had dinner every night to The Beatles, The Stones, Neil Young, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, etc. etc.!!! (sometimes we quietly sing along or just laugh). They also are more relaxed and considerate in their actions. Many times total strangers have stopped what they were doing to help us, sometimes for extended periods of time. We have heard little horn honking, yelling and have not seen rude gestures or expressions of anger as they make way for each other on the streets and without fail they have treated lost Americans with patience. We have seen virtually no litter. We have seen graffiti but almost no vandalism. In France we saw a very multicultural population, although they are struggling with discrimination as we do in America, according to our friend, Laurence. Each country has had more people of color than we expected and many more ethnic restaurants from around the world (Japanese food is the latest thing in Paris, for example). We have been able to find English speakers of various ability everywhere, although we've noticed that the younger folks are more willing to attempt our language much like our younger folks are better with the language of the internet. Kids are kids too. Low slung pants, tatoos, piercings, wild dyed hair, Ipods and cell phones are all universal, as is an ice cream face on a 5 year old, an 8 year old with a soccer ball and the ability of a newborn to stop shoppers in the stores. It is, indeed, a small world after all.

We have met some new friends along the way. Among them, in no particular order, are Laurence and her girls Anouk and Clara (our Parisian apartment neighbors), Edo (our Introduction to Berlin tour guide from the Nederlands), Inga (a college student from Warsaw who has already spent time in NYC at Columbia and who told us how to cope with the central train station), Dieter and his family (our newly found relatives in Gernsheim, Germany), Jim (our expat Minnesotan who was our Third Reich tour guide in Berlin), Isabella (our fantastic, friendly waitress in Warsaw), the two Martas at the Victor hotel in Warsaw (who worked so hard to translate our driving directions for us), the young American female student who helped us with the train to Versailles, the French man/Korean woman couple we enjoyed talking to on our way to Chartres, and Roy (the young Israeli college student on the Berlin tour with us).

We have felt safe, welcome and appreciated by everyone we have met (except for one or two surly hotel front desk folks). We have learned SO much about history, art, culture and people, and about ourselves and each other. Although we have had tense moments (mostly while driving), we have had many more moments of awe and inspiration. It is what we expected of this trip and yet it is so much richer and deeper. We anticipate these emotions continuing as we visit other countries and meet other people. What a wonderful beginning we've had!

We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog so far and thanks for your patience when I get a bit long winded! Happy Halloween and All Saints Day to you all!