My favorite European Co-Traveler
I met my German girlfriend, whom I’ll fondly refer to as B.B., in Israel on a kibbutz just outside of Old Akko in 1990. Like me, it was her third or fourth summer experience in Israel. She’s not Jewish, but fell in love with the country in much the same way I did and, as much as it pains me to admit it, she ended up mastering Hebrew much better than I. However unlikely our meeting sounds, I believe it was kismet because we forged an immediate bond. And now, a whopping 32 years later, without ever having lived on the same continent, we have preserved our friendship through our shared love of travel.
I hate to keep reminding my readers how old I am, but when B.B. and I met and became friends, the global neighborhood invented by the internet didn’t yet exist. So, when we returned home after our summer of fun on the kibbutz, I to my senior year at Penn and she back to her graduate studies in Germany, we wrote letters to keep in touch. We may have placed an occasional overseas call, but if so, we talked really fast because that was expensive! It was through letter-writing that we began formulating plans for what was to become the crux of our relationship that continues today: traveling.
Since 1990, we have traveled together extensively through Western Europe, Israel, and even Cairo, Egypt. In the spring of 1991, when it was less expensive to fly from Philly to Paris than it was back home to L.A., thanks to the first Iraq War, we enjoyed a week of carefree fun together like only students in their early 20’s can. We spent some time in Paris, partaking in art museums, sidewalk cafes and night clubs equally. (Oddly, one of my lasting memories is of us sharing a croque monsieur from a street vendor in the Tuileries Garden, and so now I must do that whenever I find myself there.) Then, we decided to head to Germany so that I could meet her parents and see where she grew up. On the drive, we stopped in the unforgettable cities of Ghent, Düsseldorf, and Amsterdam -- where her car got booted because we took too long wandering around the charming canals and snacking on frites and mayo. (It’s much funnier to recount 30 years later than it was that day.)
A year after my wedding and immediately after I took the Bar exam, B.B. and I decided it was time to add our significant others into mix. Thankfully, our husbands bonded as easily as we girls did. It was our first excursion as a foursome, and although it’s taken us 26 years to do it again (see, Danube), I expect that we’ll be planning many more now that all of our kids are grown. On this trip in 1996, we met them in their hometown of Berlin, which was then a modern and historical city of stark contrast since the East and West had only recently been reunified. From there, we drove through the charming Alsace region, Switzerland and down to South of France, where we settled into a week of relaxation and exploration. When we weren’t lounging in the sun sipping local wines, we visited the sleepy countryside towns of Orange, Avignon, Manosque, Aix-en-Provence; and the teeming and touristy seaside cities of Marseilles, Cannes, Nice and Monte-Carlo. It was a wonderfully busy/relaxing vacation that would end up having to satisfy our desire to travel overseas for almost 20 years!
The most wonderful development was that, in the interim, B.B. started traveling to Chicago biennially for work, providing an excuse for us to see each other regularly and offering the chance for her to forge meaningful relationships with my whole family. It has also provided me with the unexpected opportunity to become a tourist in my home city. This last weekend was one such whirlwind weekend in Chicago with my very favorite European co-traveler.
In the course of these jaunts, we’ve embarked on walking tours of the Loop that can rival any of those found in Europe’s grand cities. My favorite is the Gangsters and Ghosts Tour, which exposed some of the ghastliest occurrences of Chicago’s dark history. We learned of mobster carnage at various locations around the city and walked in Al Capone’s footsteps along the maze of tunnels right under the Loop used to illegally transport liquor during Prohibition. We visited Death Alley, where over 600 people perished in 1903 when there was a massive fire in the fully packed and locked Iroquois Theater (today, where the Nederlander stands). The details of this disaster are truly horrifying, like the fact that the exit doors (after being unlocked) opened inward trapping hordes against them, the frozen and non-functional fire escapes forced people to jump to their deaths, and that bodies were piled six feet high in the notorious alley when all was said and done. We also stopped along the Chicago River where the S.S. Eastland sank in 1915 killing a staggering 844; and, at the tour’s end we were informed of the gruesome killing spree of H.H. Holmes during the World’s Expo in Chicago in 1893, the subject of The Devil in the White City. This tour of horrific facts was captivating. If you ever find yourself in Chicago with a couple of hours to spare, I most highly recommend it!
Moving away from the macabre, we also enjoyed the Dazzling Interiors of the Loop walking tour, which showcased some of the grandest interiors of iconic Chicago Landmarks: the Chicago Board of Trade Building, The Rookery, Marquette Building, and the Chicago Cultural Center. We’ve also shared dishes at some of the highest acclaimed restaurants in the city: The Purple Pig and Fig & Olive on the Magnificent Mile; the chic rooftop eateries of Peruvian Cabra and Mediterranean Aba in the West Loop; and most recently, Yardbird of River North. We’ve strolled and shopped along the vibrant Michigan Avenue and State Street, stopping to refuel with the famous banana pudding at Magnolia Bakery and admiring the festive holiday lights as we go. We were among the first patrons to visit the impressive five-story Starbucks Reserve Roastery when it first opened in 2019. And we have frolicked on a freezing Navy Pier. I find myself amazed anew by all that I discover in my own city on these whirlwind weekends.
Never discount chance encounters. Never write off unlikely or seemingly impractical friendships. What started off as a summer “fling” for my German girlfriend and me has deepened into something neither one of us could’ve predicted at the time. We grew up a world apart, we came from different backgrounds, in fact, from two groups of people who had been at war. But a common love of Israel brought us together, and a passion for travel has kept us together through the decades. We’re still young; we have the freedom now of being in our 50’s (which rivals only that of being in our 20’s). It’s a great big world out there with lots of places yet to explore. There is no one with whom I’d rather chart those territories than my favorite European co-traveler (and our hubbies). Who knows where we’ll decide to go next. I’ll be sure to bring you along!