Bert and Lou's Excellent Adventure Take 2!

6 years ago, my hubby 'Bert' and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with our first trip to Europe.  We trekked with backpacks on a small group tour from Paris to Rome.  There were only 6 of us, and the trip  focused on seeing the villages and cities in an authentic way.  There were no big tour buses,  we used public transportation, (trains, metro, city buses)  which also helped to lower our carbon footprint and stayed in small family owned accommodations, eating in great local spots, not generic chain restaurants.  We met great artisans, local restaurant owners and incredibly welcoming people wherever we went.  The trip was a bucket list for me and a highlight in both of our lives,  much thanks to our tour leader whose knowledge, language and organizational skills  were matched with his zest for life and love of food and travel. So, when we decided to do something similar again this year and booked again with Intrepid, we knew it would be hard to top and prepared to adjust our expectations realizing you can't recreate that original magic...that wonderful experience. Well, here we are home again after 5 weeks travelling from Paris to Madrid and Barcelona to San Francisco, and I am happy to report it was absolutely fantastic and everything we could have wished for and more!  Another amazing tour leader, and another small group of like minded travellers to share the adventure with. Over the next few days and weeks I will start downloading my pictures and videos in this blog.  I have realized it's a slow process for me, and I can't rush it.  I need time to  ponder my thoughts, relay my memories and empty my very full travel brain.  I am also way to 'wordy' for my own good....or anyone who happens to read this darn blog, I know!  I weirdly relate most of my best life experiences to smells and sounds more so than visual ques.  It's like pairing a great wine with good food. For me, it's a way of retaining the essence of every highlight of the trip and allows me to instantly recall and recapture that wonderful feeling.  So here it goes, and cheers!