05/22/2025
A Travel Story
When I was 24 years old I took the opportunity to stop everything I was doing and get a flight to London and a 10-ride Eurail pass to go wherever I desired in Europe and see what I could see.
I went with no real plan of what to see or where to go, and I chose to go in early March since it was outside of the traditional tourist season. When I arrived at Heathrow I took the train to the station with Eurostar to the continent, had lunch with a good friend there (Anit Bashar - filmmaker, hire him), and went to Brussels because it was one of the destinations and I didn't want to go to Paris quite yet.
I also brought a European languages phrase book so I could know the basics in each language and culture I encountered.
Then I proceeded to wander through the peoples and cultures of Europe with many other travelers in hostels and budget hotels. (I also didn't do the traditional big backpack/rucksack because I travel with books and wheels are much nicer to utilize.)
Because, perhaps, I did have an objective in mind to experience culture and people, I didn't set out on a tourist path, but that led to some beautiful experiences. Someone said to visit the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and I wanted to read while waiting in line so I took the one against the wall and it was the special exhibit line which led me to see Rembrandt compared to Caravaggio. An Italian suggested I go to Uffizi Gallery in Florence, so I arrived 2 hours early and waited 3 to get in, again leaning on the wall, which happened to go to the special exhibit of DaVinci's Workshop where I spent a day taking notes and writing stories.
Because someone suggested in Rome I may enjoy sitting at the top of the Spanish Steps and watching the sun set and the people-watching, I went and there was a food cart with an Indian man selling to tourists. The lady in front of me was yelling at him about stealing, but he was just grabbing change from the change box. (Cash was more common.) When I got to the front he apologized that he had to get change, but I said no problem I have all the time in the world and I trust you.
We struck up a conversation from that. He took a 10 minute break and we chatted sitting on the wall looking over the city. He also gifted me one of the great holy foods of humanity found in Europe and not the USA --> Paprika-Flavored Pringles chips.
On my recent visit to Rome, I revisited the Spanish Steps and meeting this man was the inspiration that led to some of my thoughts here. Pardon the blurriness, we were having nighttime camera issues.
Thank you for listening.
Dr. Kyle
