The Victoria Napolitano Bookstore Europe Travel Log web | Page 2

DAVE STORTON
Robby and I had been planning this trip
to Europe for quite a while. I planned and
saved for 3 years, and it was worth every
penny. I wanted us to have a special and
unique experience - one that would allow us
to spend quality time together doing some-
thing we both loved. We knew we wanted to
visit historical places and learn more about
history as we traveled. Being a student of
history and a fan of the HBO series, Band
of Brothers, Robby listed all of the plac-
es he wanted to visit as we traced the route
of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion of the 506
Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st
Airborne Division, the “Screaming Eagles”.
We would follow their route from the beach-
es of Normandy, across Europe, to Hitler’s
The Eagle’s Nest at Obersalzberg in Bercht-
esgaden, Germany.
Our guide, Ray Pfeiffer, took us to places that
many people never get to see. Ray is an ex-
perienced guide who has taken many World
War II veteran groups on tours back through
the areas they had previously liberated. Hav-
ing Ray all to ourselves gave us greater flexi-
bility with our itinerary. He is a knowledge-
able guide who taught us a lot about the war,
the people, and the places where ordinary
people did extraordinary things. Though
on many occasions, Robby surprised Ray
with his in-depth knowledge of the people
and places of this pivotal time in history. I
learned as much about Ray as I could before
we went, as I did not want to spend 17 days
with a guide who was difficult to get along
with. As it turned out, Ray was not only an
outstanding guide but a great traveling com-
panion. He struck the right balance between
guiding us and letting us loose to explore on
our own. There were times in the evenings
when we could have gone off to dinner on
our own, but we enjoyed Ray’s company so
much that we invited him to join us. Ray’s
wife, Cristy, handled the logistics from afar.
Everywhere we went, she would call ahead
to confirm everything was in order prior to
our arrival. We did not encounter one prob-
lem the entire trip!