Not an Extreme Adventurer? Try a Weekend in Europe

The other day I was recollecting the subject of crazy things my friends have claimed to have done. I recall my adventurer buddies describing, with great detail and enthusiasm, extreme behavior such as parachuting, hang gliding, and desert survival hikes. Not being an outdoorsman, I have a bit of a problem relating to these grand exploits.

First, I’ve never really understood parachuting; if not being pushed out of a plane as part of a military exercise, it seems only the truly insane would voluntarily jump from an aircraft. Hang gliding? If God had planned for man to fly we’d have wings. My hang gliding friend said that if God had intended us to remain on the ground, he would have provided each of us with a set of roots. The closest I’ve come to hang gliding was attempting to windsurf in Hawaii. The south Pacific temperature was eighty four degrees and the bay I was in was described in travelogues as the mildest in the islands. Still, I was at sea level and despite several falls until I got the balance/mast thing going, I was virtually safe. Hang gliding is for those unsatisfied souls who need to experience smacking head-on to the side of a mountain. As cautious an individual as I am, I would absolutely select either of these aeronautical endeavors before I would go on a survivalist hike in the desert.

Hike the desert? What’s that all about? Going to Death Valley with 40 pounds of water on your back, another 20 pounds of gear, dodging literal armies of rattlesnakes, 120 degree days and 90 degree nights – are you kidding? For three and four days at a time?

I’m sorry, but “roughing it” for me is staying at a Sheraton. The only thing I’ve done that might compete with my friends adventures was traveling to Europe for a weekend, which I’ve done on three occasions.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines crazy in two ways: “insane,” as it relates to my friends, and “extremely impractical,” as it might relate to me. Still, I would recommend a European weekend to anyone who wants the feeling of an extreme adventure without the probable visit to the emergency ward or the possible visit to the morgue. Two days and two nights in Milan, Paris or Amsterdam is as crazy as it gets for this un-extreme urban explorer.

The first step in planning a weekend in Europe is insuring that you touch down in your destination city as early in the a.m. as possible. Leaving the west coast for Paris in the mid-afternoon gets you to DeGaulle in the mid-morning; plenty of time to take the RER directly from the airport into Paris and get settled before deciding where to lunch. To Milan - which required an early morning flight and a change of planes on the east coast - I arrived in the early morning, which allowed me to get settled and still be sitting in a Via Dante caffe sipping an espresso by 10:30 a.m.

Next is to have a tentative schedule for the two days. Not a tour outline by any means, but more a priority list of places you want to visit during your limited amount of hours. Think of it as a goal sheet – what you don’t accomplish this time you’ll place at the top of your list for your next visit. This should also include restaurants and cafés. Take my word, if you don’t plan this portion of your trip you’ll inevitably end up eating at American fast food establishments or tourist places advertised in those ever-present city guides in your hotel room. You only have five to seven dining opportunities during a weekend, so don’t blow it. Get recommendations from friends and/or the web. There is no better way to wreck a trip than to have bad dinning experiences.

Any short trip to the great cities of Europe should include a visit to one of a number of magnificent museums. I’ve known people who have traveled to Europe exclusively to visit museums such as the Louve and Musee D’Orsey in Paris, the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh in Amsterdam, and countless treasures in Rome, Florence, Venice, London, Barcelona, et al. Do not underestimate the time it takes to visit these fabulous places nor the amount of energy expended during a visit. Museums can be a tiring proposition, given the physical size of the buildings, the crowds and the time spent on one’s feet, often moving at a snails pace. Although you might think you can visit three to four museums a day, the truth is you can’t; nor would you want to.

To actually see the Louve, it would take you two to three days. I’ve gone there on two different trips and wouldn’t suggest that I’ve even come close to seeing everything the museum has to offer. My recommendation is to attempt no more than two different museums per day – one preferably. Pick the one that’s highest on your list and enjoy as much of it as you can. On a weekend spent in Paris, we dropped our bags at the hotel before a room was ready and high tailed it directly to the Musee D’Orsey, which was a must-see for that trip. The Marmottan, Orangerie, and Carnavelet, plus the afore-mentioned Louve had to wait for subsequent trips.

Shopping is another must, and is usually reserved for the entire second day. The ancillary benefit of shopping is the adventure of discovering interesting and unique shops, side streets, people, and, if you’re lucky, amusing “you had to be there” incidents. In short, it’s fun to get lost, as long as you know generally where you are. Take your hotel’s business card with you just in case you do get lost.

If Paris is your destination, steer clear of the hyper-touristy Avenue De Champs Elysees and Rue De Rivoli and discover the gems that are Rue Faubourg St.Honore (8th Arrondissement), Rue Saint Dominique and Rue Cler (7th Arrondissement), Rue Passy (16th Arrondissement), and Rue Saint Antoine (4th Arrondissement). In Milan, the famed Via Monte Napoleone will have nothing that you can’t find at any high-line shopping mall in the U.S., so instead head over to Corso Buenos Ayres, the busy main drag for Milanese. A walk around center city and up and down the canals of Amsterdam will provide a bevy of shopping and interesting sites and smells (yes it’s true; if you so desire you can legally purchase small quantities of marijuana in certain coffeehouses - let your nose lead you).

Shopping trips have led me to minor but interesting museums that I never knew existed, patisseries, boulangeries and restaurants I never would’ve found (try Dalloyau and Le Pain De Marie in Paris, Garbagnati in Milan, Kobalt Cafe in Amsterdam), and sites I recognized from artwork depictions. You’ll never know what you’ll find unless you get out among the locals.

Last suggestion, and probably the most important to keep in mind for a weekend excursion to Europe concerns traveling companions. You will have no time to sit around and negotiate compromises, so unless you and your traveling partner are completely on the same page, go alone. You won’t feel any stress, with apologies to Joni Mitchell, “going from café to cabaret” alone; you’ll be seen as a mysterious stranger.

So next time your more adventurous friends shame you for not partaking in their choice of death-defying antics, tell them you’re going to travel to a foreign country, fly six to ten hours, deal with a six to nine hour time change on top of the flight, and only stay for a little more than 48 hours. They’ll be both impressed and envious.