This was a doozy of a month: lots of international travel, some firsts & an incredible coincidence 25 years later!
Argentina observations: Fabio & I took an early boat from downtown Buenos Aires across to Colonia. Given my tourist status in Argentina (stays of 90 days max), trips to Uruguay were sometimes necessary to obtain a new passport stamp… when I wasn’t traveling to Europe for work. However, this first visit was for vacation. Morning light reflected off the water as we sailed away from Catalinas Norte, & I love the pic of the boat with cranes. Very Quinquela Martín!
Uruguay observations: Hello to a new country! While these are not fantastic pictures, the 1910 bullring fascinated me. Going inside wasn’t allowed, but no fence had been erected & others were doing it soooo… in we went. Reopened in 2021 as an event venue, I never imagined the Plaza de toros Real de San Carlos would ever be saved.
Observations: My first lead tour! Well, co-lead actually with Lisa Livingston. We had such a blast. No doubt there were things I could have done better, but I was always out exploring, learning & trying to increase my knowledge of each country. Hence, the trip to Oostende. I’d also bought a shutter release cable & brought my tripod along… hoping to learn about exposure by taking sunset photos of Parliament in London. Fun times.
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Rick Steves’ favorite castle deserves special mention this month. As I got comfortable with the Best of Europe II tour, I always enjoyed taking groups to Burg Eltz. By coincidence, I returned there 25 years later… almost to the day!
I rediscovered Germany in 2024 thanks to a Rick Steves guidebook assignment; Rafa & I have been returning ever since. I try to plan the basics of every summer trip in December of the previous year —for better prices on airfare & hotels— so imagine my surprise while scanning August 2001 photos recently. By my calculations, we were scheduled to go to Burg Eltz exactly one day after my tour group from 25 years ago. Insane.
I did a quick then & now comparison as best as I could. Certainly not the best photos I’ve ever taken but a fun project nonetheless:
What’s changed? Lots of trees are missing unfortunately, & crawling ivy has been removed from most of the exterior. But by far the biggest change is the number of tourists. Bigger groups, longer lines & hotter weather took away some of the charm Burg Eltz had 25 years ago. Still a beautiful & impressive place, we’ll have to look further afield for a more peaceful alternative. And as Rafa noted, the red, wooden trash can container at the exit remains intact.
But honestly, what are the chances that I’d be in the same place almost to the day 25 years later??!!
Hope you’ve enjoyed this glance at the past. Read about the genesis of this project, & please leave a comment below if you also remember this particular time & place.