Many years later I went on a cycling tour to Austria, cycling from Passau in Germany to Lintz. The tour organisers booked the hotels and transported your luggage from hotel to hotel, so you had to arrive at the hotel in time for dinner, but otherwise were on your own. All the others on the tours were couples, and we all went at different speeds and took different detours (the route along the Danube was flat, but side trips often meant climbing up the side of a steep valley). So all I saw of anyone during the day was when I cycled past as they sat outside a pub (or vice versa), the weather being very nice.
It was good being able to cycle at my own pace but to know that the alarm would be raised if I did not arrive at the hotel.
I was able to stop and chat to locals, though their accent was often pretty thick.
Many years ago, I had just finished my 'A' levels, including French, and was very wet behind the ears. To celebrate, I booked a package tour to Paris. My parents were OK with that as I'd be with the other people on the package tour, right?
Wrong.
At the Paris airport we all got on a coach with the tour rep. We stopped at a hotel, a few names were called out and those people got out. Same at several other hotels, until I was the only one left to get off at my hotel. Apart from one get-together over drinks, that was the last I saw of anyone until the trip back.
I underwent many new experiences, from asking for non-alcoholic drinks in bars to being propositioned on the Metro and being flashed at in the Bois de Boulogne.
I'd hoped to practice my French, but back then many Parisians were keen to show off their English, so I took trips to outlying places that took my fancy.
All in all it was a fascinationg trip and a great learning experience.
In contrast, on a short works trip to Paris, everyone else spent the whole morning discussing which restaurant to have lunch at. In the end I was very antisocial and left them to it to go out and explore.
Many years later I went on a cycling tour to Austria, cycling from Passau in Germany to Lintz. The tour organisers booked the hotels and transported your luggage from hotel to hotel, so you had to arrive at the hotel in time for dinner, but otherwise were on your own. All the others on the tours were couples, and we all went at different speeds and took different detours (the route along the Danube was flat, but side trips often meant climbing up the side of a steep valley). So all I saw of anyone during the day was when I cycled past as they sat outside a pub (or vice versa), the weather being very nice.
It was good being able to cycle at my own pace but to know that the alarm would be raised if I did not arrive at the hotel.
I was able to stop and chat to locals, though their accent was often pretty thick.
Another great holiday.
Many years ago, I had just finished my 'A' levels, including French, and was very wet behind the ears. To celebrate, I booked a package tour to Paris. My parents were OK with that as I'd be with the other people on the package tour, right?
Wrong.
At the Paris airport we all got on a coach with the tour rep. We stopped at a hotel, a few names were called out and those people got out. Same at several other hotels, until I was the only one left to get off at my hotel. Apart from one get-together over drinks, that was the last I saw of anyone until the trip back.
I underwent many new experiences, from asking for non-alcoholic drinks in bars to being propositioned on the Metro and being flashed at in the Bois de Boulogne.
I'd hoped to practice my French, but back then many Parisians were keen to show off their English, so I took trips to outlying places that took my fancy.
All in all it was a fascinationg trip and a great learning experience.
I never did tell my parents, though.
In contrast, on a short works trip to Paris, everyone else spent the whole morning discussing which restaurant to have lunch at. In the end I was very antisocial and left them to it to go out and explore.