The Trip That Wasn't

When I was in the 5th and 6th grades I had the Best.Teacher.Ever-Mr. Sell. If memory serves me correctly, Mr. Sell was an ex-patriot Brit, now an American citizen who was a very patriotic American, but still had deep admiration for his home country. No common core in those days, teachers could teach however they saw fit, and Mr. Sell gave us an education heavy on history and literature. In the 5th grade we read Dickens' Tale of Two Cities and A Christmas Carol. In the 6th grade it was Homer's Iliad & Ulysses. Hence my lifelong interest in mythology, history (Especially English), and literature. Around the same time PBS, my parents favorite station, was showing on Masterpiece Theater "The Six Wife's of Henry VIII" and "Elizabeth R" By time I was 12 I was an anglophile of the first order.

 One day I came home from school and my mother was hanging up the phone, and I could tell she was very excited. "Guess what Laura?"  "We are going to England!" Well, I started screaming and jumping up and down for joy until my startled mother realized I took "we" to mean all of us, and not what "we" really meant, her and my dad. I was crushed. To make matter worse, they were going to be gone for several weeks, and would miss my birthday. Like any girl who is 12, but thinks she is a teenager I sulked and pouted. My mother's assurances that one day we would go as a family fell on deaf ears (Turned out that never happened). Needless to say I poured on the guilt. It worked, my parents came back laden with gifts. What I really remember though were the postcards. About a week after they flew across the pond came the first one; a photograph of the current Queen. Then came one of Henry VIII, followed in order by Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr. And finally, a copy of a portrait of the first Elizabeth.

I would finally make it to England in 1981. I was there the day of the official engagement between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, I remember hearing the name Lady Diana and thinking "who??' Kind of amazing looking back, as she only became one of the worlds most famous woman, but then I thought Madonna would be a flash in the pan. Anyway, my first trip to England is a rather good story, but it will have to wait until another time.

My Grand Tour, In Segments

I love to travel. That's not uncommon, many people enjoy traveling; the opportunity to experience another culture, or try new foods, and see amazing sites. And while I am opened to traveling to almost any destination, Europe is where I most want to go. I want to see the great art, the magnificent churches, the fairy tale castles & palaces, and explore the cities and villages that just abound with storybook charm.

Just like the aristocrats in the 17th & 18th century, and later upper-middle class Americans I want to bring home treasures. Don't get me wrong, I have no plans on pilfering ancient artifacts from the Acropolis, but I want to bring back the small Objet d' art, or small painting to clutter my house. I had managed one trip across the pond, back in 1981, but after that there was a long dry spell. Finances were mostly to blame, but there were other factors as well.

Fortunately in 2004 I married a man that loves to travel as well. but he really had no desire to go to Europe. Finally in 2013 I got him to agree, and with the exception of the plane flights he is enjoying our annual forays as much as I.

Bit by bit I plan of seeing as much as Europe as I can. Six times I have made the trip across the Atlantic, with numbers 7 & 8 planned for next year. I've been amazed, delighted, spellbound, and amused, but never bored.

I am writing my adventures down so as I get older, and my memory starts to fade, I can look back and remember of a life that traveled.

The Grand Tour-A Defintion

The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transport in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage. Though primarily associated with the British nobility and wealthy landed gentry, similar trips were made by wealthy young men of Protestant Northern European nations on Continental Europe, and from the second half of the 18th century, by some South and North Americans, among others. The tradition was extended to include more of the middle class after rail and steamship travel made the journey less of a burden, and Thomas Cook made the "Cook's Tour" a byword.
The New York Times in 2008 described the Grand Tour in this way:

Three hundred years ago, wealthy young Englishmen began taking a post-Oxbridge trek through France and Italy in search of art, culture and the roots of Western civilization. With nearly unlimited funds, aristocratic connections and months (or years) to roam, they commissioned paintings, perfected their language skills and mingled with the upper crust of the Continent.

—Gross, Matt., "Lessons From the Frugal Grand Tour." New York Times 5 September 2008.

The primary value of the Grand Tour, it was believed, lay in the exposure both to the cultural legacy of classical antiquity and the Renaissance, and to the aristocratic and fashionably polite society of the European continent. In addition, it provided the only opportunity to view specific works of art, and possibly the only chance to hear certain music. A Grand Tour could last from several months to several years. It was commonly undertaken in the company of a Cicerone, a knowledgeable guide or tutor. The Grand Tour had more than superficial cultural importance; as E. P. Thompson stated, "ruling-class control in the 18th century was located primarily in a cultural hegemony, and only secondarily in an expression of economic or physical (military) power.
After the arrival of steam-powered transportation, around 1825, the Grand Tour custom continued, but it was of a qualitative difference — cheaper to undertake, safer, easier, open to anyone. During much of the 19th century, most educated young men of privilege undertook the Grand Tour. Germany and Switzerland came to be included in a more broadly defined circuit. Later, it became fashionable for young women as well; a trip to Italy, with a spinster aunt as chaperon, was part of the upper-class woman's education, as in E. M. Forster's novel A Room with a View.
For me, I thought of the Grand Tour more in a "If this is Tuesday, this must be Belgium" kind of way, Americans trying to cram seeing all of Europe in 2-weeks. I would love to take 2-3 years to live in Europe, but funds just won't allow, nor is a "Gap Year" 3 to 5 month sojourn possible-not with careers, mortgages, and other responsibilities. So I will have to do the Grand Tour My Way; 7-14 days at a time, one, maybe 2 trips a year until I see all of my must see items. The list is long, so it will take years. How fun!