I went to Europe 4 times between 2002 and 2015 and it was much less crowded than my last 2 trips in the last two years. Those first 4 trips were on our own and not rushed at all. We spent 2 weeks in Rome and many great days just wandering down side streets and visiting the churches, historical buildings that we ran into besides the well known ones on our agenda.

Now being older my friend and I took a tour both times which we enjoyed but the experience was very different. I used to say I would never take a trip to see 4 countries in 11 days but that’s exactly what we did. Plus being older who knows how many more times one can travel so since the countries were all close I saw them all which were on my bucket list.

The last two trips my friend went to places she had seen in the past so I told her to pick where she wanted to go and we would do it. She picked a tour to France in 25. That’s my last overseas trip.