An unexpected trip

(Larry Hegerle of Kasson was a long-time Kasson-Mantorville teacher and volleyball coach.)

On July 29^th Jamestown University, in Jamestown, N.D., volleyball players (Jimmies) and 28 supporters (mostly parents) made a ten-day pilgrimage to Europe, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, and Italy to practice their athletic skills and increase their cultural awareness.

There were two seats still available so I was fortunate to be one of the supporters, and the father of Jimmie’s head coach, Jon Hegerle, who is in his 16^th season at Jamestown. My wife Deb, was also able to go and be one of the supporters

Our first tour was in Vienna, Austria. Some first impressions were of clean narrow streets accented by graffiti on walls and bridges. Beautiful old buildings and churches and people walking and riding bikes. The towns we visited each had city centers and a large open area with shops and restaurants all around, with ornate statues in the middle.

One surprise was that our tour guides recommended that we do not tip. They said the government guarantees all restaurant workers a “living wage” so there is no need to tip and other workers get jealous. I found it amusing that the Europeans are critical of the obesity of Americans, but yet a large portion of them smoke.

One treat that we discovered, to our delight, was Gelato. There was a Gelato shop on almost every street and sometimes two and we made time to visit many of them. Gelato is of Italian origin and like our ice cream but richer and denser. Along with the historic architecture and culture, Gelato is one of Europe’s great treasures.

You may have wondered what they do with all the ski slopes during the summer. The answer is alpine sledding. This is a one-person sled attached to a single rail and you are strapped in and go back and forth down the ski hill on the rail like a luge. If you like roller coasters you’d like the alpine slide.

One hint if you have limited mobility and a flair for excitement, rent e-scooters. Most of the towns we visited had e-scooters for rent, and they can get you around faster especially if you want to get off the beaten track and explore some of the city outskirts.

Gardening is a preoccupation in this area of Europe. Almost every house had a garden of some sort. Few garages but lots of fruit trees and vegetables.

The roads were good but narrow with few shoulders. The people drove small cars at a fast rate and there were roundabouts everywhere. As part of the European Union, the Euro is accepted everywhere and going over borders was no problem at all. The people were friendly and helpful and most of them spoke English very well. Our tour guide said that all Slovenian children begin learning English in grade five.

The Jimmy volleyball team did quite well (15 wins and 3 losses) taking into account the European teams were mostly professionals. Since they do not have athletics in school, they have a robust club system, and they recruit players to the top clubs by offering the players money. Our tour guide began getting paid to play when she was sixteen.

Overall, we were very pleased with our visit and would highly recommend this area of southern Europe to anyone who is looking for a vacation. It is a mixture of modern amenities with rustic beauty. The cathedrals, forts, palaces and Roman remains are enough to keep a history buff intrigued for many days.

One caution, the air conditioning in many of the restaurants and hotels are not up to USA standards so you might think about bringing a travel fan.