I was a single mom of a 4 year-old at the time. I was working for a semiconductor company and had two weeks of vacation time accrued. I have siblings in Europe, children of whom I had not seen, and had never been to Europe. I thought this was the time. I started planning and wanted to see as many places as possible. I learned it is reasonable to travel by Eurail Pass but did not want to compromise on hotel rates. Remember the days when the ‘U.S. Dollar’ had value? I went to AAA (American Automobile Association) and obtained a complete train route map of Europe.

The Wonderful World of Brothers Grimm 1962

I would begin the journey in Germany, the one place I always dreamed about visiting since I had seen the movie, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm in1962,which was filmed in groundbreaking Cinerama format. (Does anyone still remember Cinerama?) Rothenburg ob der Tauber! I wanted to see this little old town, well-known for its well-preserved medieval town. Germany would be followed by Salzburg, Austria, to sing with the Von Trapp Family, Venice, Florence & Rome, Italy, for mangia, mangia, then to Switzerland, where many of my family members live, and finally, off to PAH-ree! Decided!

One month before the trip, my employer went through a massive lay-off, and I was affected. Though it was not a pleasant experience, I thought of it as a blessing in disguise. I extended my trip to 3 weeks.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Travelling with a child, barely four years old, may sound somewhat daunting. However, Ken was already a veteran international traveler. All I had to do was put a few of his little toys and snacks in his favorite backpack, which he would have it with him at all times!

This time, my story covers a fortune-fated train ride Venice/Florence, and how a lovely encounter comes into play later in our journey.

Ken in dining car

It was five days into our trip and we had already covered Germany, Austria and part of Italy. We were on board the train, half-way to Florence and it was lunch time. Ken was hungry. We decided to go to the dining car. We were ushered to the side of the train with two-seat tables. On the other side of the train were tables with six seats. Right across from us were two of these tables, occupied by middle-aged Japanese tourists. Both Ken and I had very colorful clothing on. As soon as we were seated, one of these Japanese ladies told the other (of course in Japanese), “What a colorful sight, lovely mother and child; I am going to take their photo”. As she was taking her camera out, I whispered what the lady had said, to Ken, in Farsi. I told Ken, as soon as the lady was ready to photograph us, we would both look at her and say, chee—se! The lady took our picture, then turned to her friend and said, “They posed for my photo. It was as if they understood what I said”. And they laughed together. A few minutes later, one of the other ladies said, “I am dying  for a cup of green tea”.

Well! I am a big tea aficionado! Years ago, varieties of tea were available anywhere you traveled in the West. However, green tea was not one of them, and I mean green tea worth talking about. I never travelled without a stash of my quality green tea bags. Now, what are the odds that a Japanese woman would crave/die for a cup of green tea and a Westerner understands her language and offers her one?

Charm-bell

Yes, I did! In Japanese! I got up from my seat and said, “douzo, korede yokereba” (please, if this is good enough). Six Japanese looking at each other, and simultaneously said, “Eh? Eh?” The six Japanese at the other table also noticed and were dumbfounded. I said, “Yes, I do understand Japanese!” The conversation started. A lot of questions came from all directions, but, first things first! The waiters were asked to bring 12 cups of hot water! I had six tea bags in my purse for everyone to enjoy! They also got a kick out of the fact that Ken was half Japanese. We spent a couple of hours chatting, until the waiters asked us to leave. Before we parted, the Japanese were talking amongst themselves that they must reciprocate my gift of tea with something. They all started looking in their purses and came up with two items worth giving us, a roll of candies for Ken and a bell-charm one of the ladies un-tied of her wallet. In Japan, it is very customary to tie decorative bell-charms to their wallets or key chains (now to their cell-phones, too). As soon as it was presented to me, I tied it to my purse zipper’s slider.

Ken and I continued our trip to Florence, Rome, and Switzerland. Twelve days later, we arrived in Paris. We had planned for three days in Paris. We met with my dear friend, Fariba’s sister, Ferial and her husband, who were newlyweds. The plan was that we would do touristy things in daytime by ourselves and meet them in the evenings, to enjoy nights in the “City of Light” (not ‘City of Lights’… originally because it was a vast center of education and ideas during the Age of Enlightenment. In 1828, Paris began lighting the Champs-Elysées with gas lamps. It was the first city in Europe to do so, and so earned the nickname “La Ville-Lumière” or The City of Light.). Needless to say, the food in Paris was Magnifique! Mwah!

One set schedule every morning was to go to La Tour Eiffel. It was Ken’s request. And yes, we did go up and down every time. We took organized bus-tours and covered Château de Versailles, L’Hôtel national des Invalides, Arc de Triomphe, Musée du Louvre, Centre Pompidou, Sacré-Cœur, Notre Dame de Paris, and more. Tout était super et fantastique!

Ken at Château de Versailles

On our last day of this European Journey, after Ken’s visit to the Eiffel Tower and a scheduled bus tour, in the afternoon, it was my turn to indulge. I wanted to go to Place Vendôme and check out (mainly to window-shop) the high-end Paris fashion shops. The area was not too crowded and everyone was strolling, including two statuesque, fashionably dressed-to-the-nines women, both wearing large stylish big hats. It was quite an entertaining picture.

Place Vendôme

Fashionista 2

Fashionista 1

We were walking at a relaxed pace and came to a red stop-light. As we were waiting to cross on the green light, suddenly, I heard the sound of the charm-bell on my purse. How I was able to react so quickly, to this date, I cannot figure. Just as you see in movies when everything/time slows down (as seen on Six Million Dollar Man!)… I had my shoulder bag/purse hanging at my left side and I had Ken’s hand in my right hand… as soon as I heard the bell, my left hand went to my purse and felt a hand, which I grabbed. Both those statuesque women were directly behind us. Wow! How could I not hear/feel them behind us? The woman was desperately trying to pull her hand out of mine, as my grasp tightened. The other woman helped pull her hand out of mine. The two fashionistas, holding their hats, ran away as quickly as they could, awkwardly in their high-heels. It all happened so fast that I still had Ken’s hand tight in my right hand. The zipper of my purse was open only three inches. If it was not for the bell-charm, I would not have felt the pick-pocket.

We got together with Ferial and her husband for the evening and went to an elegant, seafood restaurant. After all, it was our last night. I was handed a menu, all in French. The lobster (le homard) looked awfully reasonable. I ordered the largest lobster in their tank, a kilo-and-half, to be shared by four of us. In addition, we each ordered a full-course dinner. The dinner was délicieux! We did not order alcohol. When the bill was presented, the total was US$300! My eyes couldn’t get any bigger. This was over two-decades ago! I questioned the bill and the menu was brought to be compared with the bill. My five years of school French and practicing just a few words here-and-there did not help. The price of the lobster was per 100-grams, and not US$10 each. Ugh!

My earlier linguistic skill had brought me luck, but a lack of linguistics needed in Paris… pricey!
Was I glad that I traveled with my ‘fortune green tea bags’!