Travelers — and those who accommodate them — make interesting acquaintances. Experiencing local culture reaps huge benefits, and unique travel experiences can make a trip memorable. I’d suggest we all take small risks in engaging people we meet along the way. You never know how we may enrich others — and they enrich us. Here are a few of my husband’s and my favorite serendipitous moments from recent travels to Europe.
A Captivating Dinner
Several years ago Pop and I took a two-week tour in Europe. With some time to spare one evening in Naples, Pop checked out TripAdvisor for a restaurant near our hotel. Incredibly, it turned out to be quite an evening to remember. It was a restaurant that boasted about 12 tables and was run by a family. It was located on a back street with laundry hanging out to dry from apartments 3, 4, and 5 floors up. Dad managed the front of the house by greeting and seating guests, Mom cooked, and the grown children served.
Close Quarters
As you can imagine, the tables were placed close together to maximize the number of diners, thereby boosting revenue. As we were finishing our dinner, we noticed the couple next to us was finishing theirs as well. Being one who invariably starts up conversations with others, I asked them about where they lived. It turned out they were a couple from Germany on holiday enjoying a warmer respite in southern Italy. He spoke English, but she did not. We shared some of our stories and they treated us to an after-dinner drink. We continued the conversation and reciprocated with another round of drinks. As you’d expect, the conversation flowed a little easier with each additional sip.
Gracious Hospitality
What made this place unique was the way it was managed. Since it could accommodate a limited number of diners, Dad locked the door to prospective patrons once capacity was reached. The eager diners simply formed a line outside. Every once in a while, Dad took a carafe of wine and some glasses out to those waiting. Once a table opened up, he unlocked the front door, let the diners out, let the next group in, and relocked the door. He was quite strict about who and how many people could enter his restaurant. So we were happily locked in enjoying the food, service, and atmosphere.
Had we used a guidebook to find recommendations, we would have missed out on this unique neighborhood spot. Luck was with us that night as we found a gem of a restaurant. We enjoyed a delicious home-cooked meal and were entertained, too.
An Anniversary to Savor
My husband and I traveled to Provence for a milestone wedding anniversary a while ago. We stayed in a small centuries-old town, la Cadiere d’Azur, while enrolled in a week-long cooking school led by Monsieur Rene Berard, Maitre Cuisinier de France. Because Mr. Berard did not speak much English, he had an interpreter who translated his directions and recipes for us. Miriam was a temporary stand-in for the regular interpreter away on holiday.
We began cooking in the morning and savored our hard work during a late lunch under the home’s arbor dripping with fragrant vines. Just beyond the arbor sat an extensive herb garden and olive trees. By the way, every bite in this gorgeous, relaxing setting was magnifique!
One day while cooking, my husband and I chatted about how we were celebrating our anniversary and looking for something fun to do that evening after the cooking school ended. Mirian overhead our conversation and suggested a drive to Cassis, a small Mediterranean fishing port. She explained where to park, how to pay for parking, and how to rent a boat for a short excursion. Well, what did we know about all that? It was certainly helpful of her to explain the details of this short trip, but it might prove more challenging for us to do alone — pre-GPS.
When Three’s Not a Crowd
So, you guessed it, we invited her to join us on our anniversary celebration! (She was a widow and lived nearby.) We had many anniversaries together, so why not mix it up, and have a local show us how the French would enjoy the trip? She navigated us to the perfect spot, and we sat at a waterfront cafe, sipped some relaxing beverages, and whiled away the time people watching with her. Then, when we decided to rent a boat, she did insist that we enjoy that alone — which we did.
On another day of the cooking school, the interpreter offered to show us around Aix-en-Provence, a town a short drive from our cooking class site. We walked around the town while she shared a running commentary on what we witnessed. Then we offered to drive her to her home — and then another great experience occurred. She lived in a renovated servant’s quarters on a small estate owned by one of her sons and his family. It was a delightful small stone cottage, just to the west side of the main house, the inside of which showcased antiques handed down from generations past. She cooked us some rich eggs and accompaniments and we chatted into the evening. We sleepily drove back to our hotel several hours later. Wow, what a day!
A Private Dinner with a Roman
When we were enjoying an al fresco supper in Matera, in southern Italy, someone at the neighboring table engaged us in conversation. For once, it wasn’t me. An American working in Rome, she was enjoying a weekend in town to celebrate a friend’s wedding. I had a few connections with her because she worked in the same line of work as my father. So we chatted back and forth for a while about specifics relating to that field. When she heard that we were returning to Rome in a few days and that my husband enjoyed cooking, she gave us an idea. Why not contact her friend who gives private cooking lessons in her home and has a cooking class/tour guide company?
We did just that. After returning to the Eternal City, we called her friend and a few days later, took a cab to her neighborhood. After climbing up a few flights of stairs, she welcomed us into her compact, but tidy, apartment. Her kitchen capacity was reached with just my husband and her. Therefore, I happily listened in and watched them create a meal to remember. She shared recipes, techniques, and a wonderful meal with us.
We would never have taken the risk to go to her place if we had been alone. But we got a good feel for the person we met in Matera and quickly came to trust her based on our conversation and our shared connections.
Another Group Anniversary
We often rely on locals — be they concierges, wait staff at restaurants, or clerks at stores — for inside scoops on great places to dine or visit. When in Copenhagen recently, we were guided to spend our anniversary dinner at a lovely restaurant along the canal. The concierge made the reservations and we were set.
After we settled down at our table, the couple next to us sparked a conversation with us. They were quite the talkative kind and our tables were placed so close, so Pop and I quickly realized that there would be no personal conversations between the two of us. (After a while, we learned that they were fellow Americans who were picking up a Disney cruise. Up to that point, we thought Disney cruises were just for Caribbean ports.)
One Thing Leads to Another
But after some more discussion, we realized that Disney cruises would be great fun for our children and grandchildren. It’s a way to vacation at different ports in Europe while having the youngsters entertained on the ship. For example, if the kids are too young to take to the Uffizi Museum in Florence, they can remain happily on board in the care of Disney cast members.
An Italian Cabbie With U.S. Relatives
When in Rome recently, we signed up for an early morning walking tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican. (By the way, we highly recommend walking tours as they offer detailed commentary and insights.) After an enlightening look at the treasures of the Vatican, we left St. Peter’s Square in search of bottled water and a cab ride back to our hotel. We looked for a cab with a mature driver (some drivers looked like they might offer a quintessential high-speed Italian drive), and the one we chose did not disappoint. Although he spoke very little English and we spoke very little Italian (basically just the greetings when meeting or thanking others), we attempted a conversation.
We told the driver how much we enjoyed exploring his city and we told him where we are from. Amazingly, he told us he has relatives in the U.S. and showed us an address book (in his glove compartment) listing some of his relatives living within an hour’s drive from our home. What are the odds of that happening?! We cobbled together sentences with each other for the remainder of the short ride to our temporary home in Rome. If he hadn’t needed to get another fare, it would have been fun to have him join us at a cafe to continue our pieced-together conversation.
Local Girl Marries a Frenchman
While visiting Normandy and Brittany, we stayed in a lovely hotel in Bayeux, France, and chatted with the person checking us in. It turns out she was an American who had met, fallen in love with, and married a Frenchman who was a tour guide whom she met while studying abroad in college. What was incredible to us was that she had studied and graduated from a college in our town! Digging further, we realized we knew someone in common — a friend of ours who happened to be an instructor at the college. Pop and I offered to hand deliver a note from her to our friend when we returned home — which we ended up doing. It is a small world indeed. That seemingly mundane introductory conversation led to quite a unique experience.
Final Thoughts
In our wildest dreams, we would never anticipate such amazing times with others. My husband and I have had these and other unforgettable experiences that were hatched after striking up conversations with locals — or European travelers on holiday — we met along the way.
Comments?
What unique experiences have you had while traveling? How did they happen — were they planned or did they just happen? Share your tips on finding unique experiences while traveling. 🙂
