{"id":872157,"date":"2023-02-17T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T06:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/?p=872157"},"modified":"2025-03-04T14:10:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T13:10:33","slug":"imperial-europe-pandemic-honeymoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.trafalgar.com\/real-word\/imperial-europe-pandemic-honeymoon\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Imperial Europe was the perfect tour for our pandemic-delayed honeymoon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luiz and Jonathan met at a friend\u2019s birthday party back in 2010, moved to Canada and got married before the pandemic, but it was only recently that the pair escaped to celebrate their love with a vacation abroad. The duo, originally from Brazil, joined our Imperial Europe<\/a> tour as a delayed honeymoon trip<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Luiz, who works for Trafalgar at our head office in Toronto, it was his first time taking a guided tour. For his husband John, it was his first guided tour and<\/em> his first trip to Europe. Let\u2019s hear about how it went\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

EXPERIENCE IT: <\/em><\/strong>Imperial Europe<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For your belated honeymoon you both joined Trafalgar\u2019s Imperial Europe<\/a> tour. Can you share a few highlights from the 10-day trip?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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We had never been on a group tour before, but it really makes a difference having an expert Travel Director and the Local Specialists as our guides. You don\u2019t just get to know the place as you see \u2013 you actually hear about the whole history of why something is the way it is. Even in between cities while on the bus, our Travel Directors do an outstanding job of explaining and contextualizing everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything is really taken care of \u2013 from the transfer from the airport to the hotel, to having all check-ins managed for us. It was really those things we never knew we appreciated (or needed) because we had never experienced them before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We loved getting to know people from all over the world and seeing things through their perspectives too. All the exchanges and relationships are so valuable. There were people in our group from New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, USA\u2026 and for people like us, who enjoy making friends and learning more about other cultures, just by spending time with them (be it at breakfast, dinner, or during the excursions) was its own rich experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG:  Life is short, have more fun: Trafalgar guests Jim and Keely on celebrating their 28th anniversary in Italy<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tell us about some of the stops on your Imperial Europe tour?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Munich was a great welcome to the whole tour. The old centre was beautiful and I loved to see everyone gathered to watch the Glockenspiel. Regensburg was also so lovely! We had free time, but at the end everyone from the group met up at this place that had a signature sandwich \u2013 which, according to the Travel Director, they have been serving for centuries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prague was our favourite place of all. It\u2019s hard to just name one reason because it is absolutely captivating in all aspects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Visiting Slovakia<\/a> was wild. No one ever expects to say \u201cOh, I went to Slovakia this summer\u201d. The capital (Bratislava) really feels like a small town, but it\u2019s so charming in its own way. Day 4 is super cool because you start in Prague, pass by Bratislava and sleep in Budapest. So three different countries, three different languages, and three different currencies all in the same day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Budapest also had our hearts. Just staring at the Parliament from across the river was so magical. While we were there it was St. Stephen\u2019s Day (the patron of the country). The place was packed, but it was so incredible to participate in that special moment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On to Vienna \u2013 I mean, there are really no words. Schonbrunn Palace is just an iconic sight. We got to do their garden maze \u2013 we love mazes, haha! Vienna is picturesque. Every turn is a piece of history\u2026 and to think that, at some point in history, Hitler, Stalin, Trotsky, and Freud were there at the same time. Wow! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Salzburg needs no comments or introduction\u2026 As Sound of Music <\/em>fans, you can imagine how excited we were to see some of the locations where the movie was filmed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Innsbruck was a perfect way to close off the trip. We spent time together with a handful of other guests and we really bonded. I stay in touch with them to this day! We walked up the City Tower, sat at a caf\u00e9 to watch the town\u2019s police band playing. It felt like just being with friends on a Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG: <\/em><\/strong> Girls on tour: Meet the best friends who chose Italy for a joint family adventure<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What types of activities do you like to do while travelling?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We really like to feel as if we\u2019re locals. We enjoy taking public transportation, eating local food at local places, visiting any and every attraction we read about online in anticipation of the trip, and taking lots of pictures. In general, we just really want to feel what it\u2019d be like if we actually lived there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And we always try to get as much done as possible. We get very tired and never rest because we walk all day long looking for something else to discover. We really need vacations from our vacation, haha!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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EXPERIENCE IT: <\/em><\/strong>Imperial Europe<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was it like joining a group tour for honeymoon? Did you get enough time to yourselves?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You know when you\u2019re in school and you love being part of a group, but you also love having your best friend there sharing everything with you, and knowing what they\u2019re thinking by just looking at each other? That\u2019s what it\u2019s like. You go through amazing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but you get to do it with your best friend right there sharing every minute of it with you. And trust me \u2013 being in a group is NOT a downside. You make friends in ways you would never imagine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People saw us as a couple, and they treated us respectfully. We originally come from a country where there\u2019s a lot of prejudice for being gay, and on all past trips we\u2019ve felt self-conscious of whether we\u2019d be accepted or if we had to act as if we were \u201cjust friends\u201d. But in this environment, we never had to worry about it. We could simply enjoy it knowing we were being respected as we are \u2013 and really, we were. People liked us, we made lots of friends, and we got to connect not only to the destinations we were visiting, but also to all the stories of the people who were travelling with us in the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There\u2019s free time built into all Trafalgar trips \u2013 and for people like us, who also like to do some exploring on our own, that\u2019s a perfect combination. We got to see everything (and some more) with the Travel Director and the group, but then we also had some moments for ourselves to just go around town and explore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also extended our trip for four days after the tour, rented a car and drove down to Switzerland<\/a> so we had some extra time away just the two of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

RELATED BLOG: <\/em><\/strong> Family on tour: Trafalgar guest Sandy on the joy of exploring Italy with her daughters<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luiz, you work at Trafalgar HQ and know the brand well. Was there anything that surprised you? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lots of things! We obviously trust the product we sell, and we hear a lot about past guests returning and saying how our service and our Travel Directors make a difference \u2013 but the only way to really experience it is on a tour. Some nice things were \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n