First trip to Europe alone proves travel is worth the risks | Mike Strange

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

I’m not sure who originated those words, but I believe them.

“I don’t know if I can handle this trip alone at my age without my daughter or someone to guide me.’’

Those words definitely originated with me leading up to a recent European adventure.

Last month I lifted off at McGhee-Tyson for a trek that would include a few days solo in Switzerland, then a week’s Rhine River cruise to Amsterdam. There, I would be joined by daughter Alice, my frequent and incomparable travel guide.

My mantra: Just get me on the ship and I should be OK.

I landed early on a Wednesday morning in Zurich, Switzerland, braced for challenge and confusion. There was neither. Within 25 minutes, I was on a train to Interlaken. I even had my bag, unlike a 2019 trip to Paris when my bag shipped to Jacksonville.

Saturday afternoon, I boarded the ship in Basel, Switzerland. Still in one piece.

We’ll skip the daily itinerary. Let’s just say that over 17 days, I read some interesting pages in the book of the world.

This was my fourth trip to Europe, my first on my own. And my first cruise of any kind. The ship? Picture a floating, four-deck yardstick, thin and long — too long to fit in Neyland Stadium.

Capacity was 166 passengers, but we had only 60. COVID still cramps the river cruise industry. Good for us, though. It made our voyage more comfortable. We were mostly Americans, with a few Brits and Scots.

It wasn’t all floating. I traveled on planes, trains, bicycles (in three countries), cars (Uber), one cable-rail funicular on a Swiss mountainside and even a cable-car gondola in Koblenz, Germany.

I did forgo the jump-off-a-mountain paragliding, a popular activity in Interlaken.

The food was wonderful, four-course dinners on the ship. My daughter booked exceptional dinner spots in Amsterdam. A culinary highlight, though, was basic sausages and kraut with mustard, a brewery lunch in Germany.

We visited wineries in Germany (good whites) and France (good whites and reds). The beer was impressive everywhere, except the $14 American pint at O’Hare Airport on the leg home.

The biggest hazard were the bicycles in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of them. Keep your head on a swivel. The biggest surprise: a Hooter’s in Interlaken (pop. 5,500).

Travel tip: a Visa card works for almost anything. But a couple of times I needed euro change to pay to pee.

This trip was a refreshing reminder that, for good or bad, the American way isn’t the only way. I wish we had European-quality trains and public transportation — and bicycle paths. Sidewalk café options have improved here in the States, but it’s a relaxing staple of life over there.

Speaking of relaxing, do as the locals do. Alice and I often chuckled and described situations as “absolutely no sense of urgency whatsoever.’’

I visited two cities — Rotterdam in the Netherlands and Cologne in Germany — that were bombed to rubble in World War II. Both rebuilt and persevered. Thankfully, our cities have been spared that character test.

Character comes with age. While in Heidelberg, Germany, I found the city’s Wikipedia page on my phone and scrolled down to the “Modern History” section. It began with an item from 1421.

Even in 20th century history, borders were negotiable. Our guide in Strasbourg, France, said her grandmother was born in 1898 as German, changed to French, then German again and, in 1945, French once more. All without moving.

The world is an interesting book. Glad to be home, but glad I ventured out to read a few more pages.

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: First trip to Europe alone proves travel worth the risks | Mike Strange