Destination: Europe : There’s Always a First Time

Of the 8 million or so Americans who board jets for European vacations this year, a goodly number will be first-timers: Eurailpasses at the ready, guidebooks in hand, too much luggage and acute writer’s cramp from signing all those travelers checks.

The novice independent traveler may not know just what to expect on arrival, but most are convinced that a combination of high-school French and Davy Crockett determination will see them through just about anything the Continent can throw at them. And, bless their abiding faith, it usually will.

Herewith, however, is a small and random collection of hard-core facts, assorted trivia and blatant personal opinion gathered during our five years of living in Europe, plus returning several times yearly since 1957. None of it will armor first-timers against occasional culture shock, but it may help you maintain a sense of humor on the road. And that’s half the battle right there.

Just bear in mind that things can be very different over there, often startlingly so.

For example, brace yourself for the bedside lighting in many European hotels. It usually falls into two categories: 5- and 10-watt. We’ve seen feeble fireflies that radiate more lumens than a Continental reading light. Thomas Edison would roll over at the state of his invention, but there’s nothing to be done short of carrying a good flashlight for studying your maps after sunset.

Hotel showers can be just as mystifying. Demented engineers have designed hot-and-cold shower controls that may resemble the instrument panel of a 747, yet no two seem to be alike. The result can range from liquid icicles, to what seems very much like live steam, almost instantly. It really gets you going.

Then, take money: Let’s start with the chiseled-in-stone fact that most of Europe is now very expensive, and that’s only an estimate. Take away Eastern Europe, Greece, Portugal and the absolute boondocks of a few other countries and, despite the dollar’s recent modest revival, dining and lodging costs in much of Europe can curl your hair.

But don’t despair. We’ll try to lessen the financial jolt with a few suggestions, plus a tip or two on how to make any European trip more enjoyable and rewarding.

Get Prior Help: One of the most inane notions held by many first-time European visitors is that they will simply step off the plane and all the spectacular scenery, innumerable joys and cultural attractions of Britain and the Continent will unfurl like a pageant before their eyes. Nothing could be further from the truth.

So get in touch with the national tourist offices nearest you for the countries you plan to visit. (Most countries with well-developed marketing efforts maintain foreign government tourist offices in Los Angeles and New York.) Ask them for brochures and other information on your itinerary, say, of France’s Loire Valley or Cote d’Azur, Austria’s glorious Salzkammergut lake region, the hill towns of Tuscany or the delightful fishing villages of England’s Cornwall. It’s a marvelous travel tool and one that even veteran travelers often fail to take advantage of.

Get Train Facts: Rail Europe (800-438-7245) will send along a 44-page brochure outlining all the Eurailpass, Flexipass and individual countries’ rail passes, including costs, for a no-toll telephone call. It’s your ticket to travel by train, bus, ferry and lake steamer in 17 European countries.

Some will still prefer to travel by rental car, and our very strong suggestion is that rentals be booked before leaving home, since the rack rate at the overseas counter will certainly be considerably more than the pre-booked cost. Another sensible idea is to select nothing larger than a mid-size car, since a huge sedan can be nothing but trouble on many European roads and most city streets. And gas is still hovering in the $3.50-per-gallon range wherever you tank up.

Avis, Hertz and Budget also have toll-free 800 numbers for comparing rates or booking. Check them out at 331-1084, 654-3001 and 527-0700 respectively.

Pack Super Light: If there is one thing that has ruined more trips than bad weather, the common cold and assorted other adversities, it’s too much luggage. The Grand Tour days are over, and with them the steamer trunk, so try to make do with one medium-size suitcase (hard or soft) and a generous shoulder bag. With a careful selection of contents, this will get you through several weeks of European travel dressed as appropriately as anyone you’ll meet, not counting those in Queen Elizabeth’s box at Ascot or at the Vienna Opera Ball.

No matter how sensibly you pack, make room for a couple of downright necessities. Purloin at least a dozen of those flimsy plastic vegetable bags from your friendly supermarket. They’re great for soiled and damp clothing, perhaps for gathering film rolls or wrapping the special herbal shampoo that could end up lathering your luggage if it leaks.

The second must is a roll of your favorite T-paper, pressed flat to save space. While European scientists are making great headway in this vexing tissue technology, some of the stuff you find in the loos of budget hotels and on trains still resembles Johann Gutenberg’s original parchment. So let the fastidious be forewarned.

Two other staples in our personal kit bags have long been the oft-praised Swiss Army knife and a one-liter plastic flask. The latter (ours is an indestructible and leak-proof hospital I.V. bottle) allows a relaxing draft in your hotel room after a hard day of travel or sightseeing prior to sprucing up for dinner downstairs. Our decades-old knife’s uses are daily and innumerable, and tuning a piano is just about the only thing we’ve never tried with it.

Shun the Movie: Never, but never, watch a movie when flying to Europe. When the meal is over and the lights go down, that’s your cue to slip on the eye shades, get as comfortable as possible and put a few hours sleep in the bank before arrival. Jet lag being what it is, this won’t make you feel like going discoing on your first night in Europe. But you also won’t be walking into doors for the first two or three days.

Dawn Patrol: Leave an early wake-up call and be off on your city sightseeing right after a fast cafe au lait and croissant. Athens’ Acropolis is practically deserted before 10 a.m., when the first phalanx of tour buses arrive. The Louvre, British Museum and other culture stops become equally inundated by mid-morning. With an early start, you may not have the Elgin marbles, Rosetta stone and Mona Lisa to yourself, but the noontime hordes won’t stand 15-deep before them either.

Our favorite crash-course introduction to a city is an early morning visit to one of its markets. An hour or so in London’s Smithfield or Leadenhall markets, perhaps the same in Barcelona’s colorful La Boqueria at city center, will tell you more about a country and its people than a library of guidebooks. Just look, listen and learn about local food and folkways from the colorful costermongers and their customers.

If you know nothing about a large city on your itinerary, or are overpowered by it all, don’t hesitate to take a half-day American Express or other local tourist company’s morning tour. It will highlight the city and give you numerous points of reference for later navigation on your own. Vienna, Madrid, Athens or Istanbul will slip into focus a lot faster this way, so don’t feign the sophisticated-traveler guise by ignoring this time-saving tip.

Trains in Europe are marvelous, and the Eurailpass surely the best thing to happen to European travel since World War II. Yet few people know how they can save even more money with the pass: Just book a couchette.

A couchette is a no-frills bunk in a second-class compartment for overnight travel, complete with clean blankets and pillow. The cost is $24 this year, no matter the distance traveled. For instance, a crack express leaves Paris every evening and arrives early the next morning in Munich, just in time for a hearty Bavarian breakfast of wurst, black bread and beer in the train station. Compare the $48 cost for two persons with the price of a double room in a moderate hotel in the pricey cities of Paris and Munich, and you’ll see the savings, which of course include transportation across Western Europe with your Eurailpass.

Diners in Mediterranean countries, particularly in Spain and Greece, prefer their vegetables at room temperature rather than steaming hot. Flavors and freshness become more pronounced as plates cool, and it begins to grow on you. So don’t send the tepid turnips back until you’ve tried them.

On the other hand, sensible Southern Europeans often chill their red table wines during summer. Gourmets and oenophiles may blanch, but it’s very refreshing and wards off the afternoon blahs after a long lunch.

English Everywhere: While that high school French could stand you in good stead at times, the lingua franca all over Europe today is English. It’s very difficult to find a Scandinavian, Swiss or Hollander who isn’t near-fluent in our language, and plenty of English rises from the polyglot in hotels, restaurants, train stations and the like all over Europe.

This isn’t to say that it’s not a good idea to learn a few civilities in the language of the country, such as please , thank you, good morning and so forth. Anyone anywhere is likely to appreciate your giving their language a shot, even a short one, and their smile is your reward.

By and large, people throughout Europe are very friendly and helpful to their visitors. The waiter, cabdriver or hotel clerk with the disposition of a wounded leopard is a distinct rarity these days.

Terrific Trams: Taxi fares in major European cities can burn through a budget as fast as anything we know. Yet trams offer a quick and economic way of getting around without going broke. Amsterdam’s hum along at just under the speed of sound and will get you anywhere in town within minutes, albeit sometimes skewering a pedestrian or unwary Volkswagen along the way. Paris’ Metro system and London’s Underground are also time- and money-savers and, contrary to misbegotten tales of woe, very simple to use.

While our itineraries are usually fairly firm, we almost never nail down the exact dates we will be in a city or town. What if a London play or favorite Vienna opera opens the day after our planned departure? A layover can present problems for the next town’s hotel reservations, hence the telephone.

Long distance rates are reasonable in Europe, so just call ahead for a room. Or, if languages aren’t your forte, have your present hotel’s desk make the call for you. We’ve done this dozens of times and always with success.

Summer Scarcities: This is particularly important during the June-through-August tourist months, when everything from hotel rooms to Venetian bel canto gondoliers are at a premium. Now throw in a large city’s trade fair, music festival or convention, and seeking a place to lay your head can be, as Zorba said of his marriage, “the full catastrophe.”

Sure, some first-timers pull off a trip that ticks along like a fine Swiss watch, with nary a glitch in sight. Others come home aware that a first trip to Europe should be one of life’s most exhilarating and rewarding adventures, yet they are vaguely dissatisfied. Planning beforehand can’t guarantee your inclusion in the first group, but it will go a long way toward keeping you out of the second.

One last suggestion for a successful trip. If it’s for three weeks or longer, make every effort to take a two- or three-day break around midpoint and relax from the heady pace. Just pick a small town or village that suits your fancy and hang out with the locals, with no thought to maps or guidebooks.

A few days in a rustic village of Belgium’s Ardennes forest, on a small Greek isle or amid the wildflowers of Italy’s lovely Abruzzi hills will bring home the true meaning of recreation: to re-create one’s strengths and lift one’s spirits. Chances are very, very good that it will also be the most memorable part of your trip.