Senior Citizen’s Only!: My First Trip Abroad.
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009I love to travel!!!
Weeks don’t pass where I am not fantasizing about traveling somewhere in the world.
Recently, I have been trying to trace back where my addictive attitude towards travel came from and all roads seem to point towards my Nana. Margaret Weber.
I had been sleeping on her couch for a few weeks in Somerset, New Jersey and sharing traveling stories earlier in the month. Fittingly, my first overseas traveling experience was with my Nana, when I was in the 7th Grade. She loved traveling and set a goal to take all of her grandkids somewhere outside America. Yeah, I was a lucky dog!!! I was the oldest grandson, so right after Christmas as all my friends were headed back to school, I was backing my bags for Portugal.
Portugal is in Europe, east of Spain, right on the Atlantic Ocean. Less traveled than Spain, England, France, or Italy, so it is a bit cheaper and less touristy. It is for this reason that my Nana fell in love with the place.
“It was like going to another world.” She tells me over dinner recently.
“The people acted almost…child-like. In a good way!” She recanted a story of driving up a mountain, when it began to snow. It never snows in Portugal and the people just stopped their cars on this narrow mountain pass and were dancing in the snow, opening their mouths and catching the flakes as they hovered.
She took me with a guided ten day tour through the capital city of Portugal, Lisbon, and then south to the Algarve. The Algarve has beautiful beaches and is like the Florida of Portugal. BUT, what I did not realize was that this tour was only for senior citizens.
I wish I had a photograph to share, but you will have to visualize the scene. Picture me less than 5 feet tall. My hair is thick brown and parted to the left. I have a fanny pack around my waist where I keep my supplies; notebook, money, etc. Around my neck drapes a Polaroid camera. Don’t forget my glasses.
Now, picture my Nana and I boarding a mini-bus to start the tour and all the eyes look towards me. They don’t seem happy. I can see them visualizing me ruining their peaceful, enlightening trip. On the other hand, I am thinking of how boring this trip is going to be.
Well, the trip turned out great!
Looking back on the trip, it wasn’t the beaches, castles, or great food that I remember. It is the people.
Cy, was the jokester. My Nana despised him. He would tell off-color jokes and hit on young waitresses. Andy was a history teacher who shared a birthday with me. We would fake battles in some of the historic castles.
My favorite time was the evenings. We would see the sites during the day, then at night we would meet up to play games. Bingo, bocce ball, or trivia were some of the activities. My Nana would nap most of the time, so I would fraternize with the folks. Sometimes alcoholic drinks were the prize, so I would pass them out if I was the winner.
It is all about the People. This is a theme in my life. I am much more interested in the people around me, than anything else.
Create Our World,
Ben.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people, than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you.” – Dale Carnegie
