Europe Bound Journeys

Welcome to Spilling the Tea on History Friday: The Battle of Orléans, Queens Edition

Forget the TV show Succession! The Valois family of France, did royal family dysfunction for centuries!

Imagine you're Catherine de’ Medici, the Queen of France, circa 1548. You have a royal household to manage, ten children to marry off to make alliances, a husband who is the king, and a rather complicated family business to manage back in Italy. Your hands are clearly already full.

Then one day your husband, Henry II of France, says:

“Oh, by the way, we're taking in that little Scottish queen to marry the boy.”

Say what now?

Meet Mary, Queen of Scots, the five year old daughter of King James V of Scotland. Who, because of the Auld Alliance agreement between France and Scotland, is now fleeing her home country because Henry VIII is being a bully and is now about to land at Catherine's castle door.

Fleeing her country because one of the most tyrannical king's on the planet is trying to kidnap you? Yeah, Mary might of only been five, but the girl was already bringing enough baggage to sink even a boat built for a tiny queen!

AND now, because of this Auld Alliance business, the king insisted that the child queen be treated as the official Queen of Scotland which meant she would be treated better than Catherine's own children because they were mere princes and princesses. This, of course, did not set well with Catherine.

So poor Mary was already off to a rocky start. She finds out she's engaged before she learns her ABC's. Barely escapes being kidnapped by her great-uncle the madman, nearly drowns on rough waters just getting to France, and now arrives to a welcome so frosty even her Scottish woolen layers weren't enough to save her!

But now see it from Catherine's perspective. You're already balancing all you can. You've got family members back in Italy going to war with Sienna. Another set are building the Roman equivalent of the Taj Mahal! And now what, you're supposed to bow to her tiny Highness every time she walks into the room? Where does it end?

Well it ended with the King reminding Catherine that Mary wasn't just the daughter of the late King of Scotland. Oh no no no. This child's mother, Marie, was also a member of one of the most influential Catholic houses in all of France, the House of Guise.

This mattered because the Reformation started by Martin Luther and then added onto by none other than Henry VIII himself, was raging throughout Europe and Catherine was so Catholic, she had actual pope's in her bloodline! Trust us, it mattered!

Marie de Guise, was also the one running things in Scotland while her daughter was in France. While defending Scotland against the aggressive proposals of Henry VIII, she was also dealing with the very unfriendly to all women in authority, Protestant reformist, John Knox. Marie was no slouch in her own regard and Catherine knew it.

For years, Mary grew up fairly happy in the French court with Catherine's children. She became very close with Francois, Catherine's oldest son. Which was good because she had been practically engaged to him since birth.

April 24, 1558, at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, Mary and Francois married and Mary became not only Queen of Scotland, but also Dauphine of France! Finally the sun was starting to shine on the young queen.

Then, just over a year later, Francois' father died, leaving him to become King Francois II and Mary the Queen Consort. This now left Catherine as the Queen Mother and worried how much influence the Guises would now try to have at court.

But fate had another hand to deal the young monarchs. Because just shy of seventeen months after losing his father, Francois II also passed away, likely from an ear infection, leaving Mary a widow at just 18.

Catherine wasted no time taking advantage of her chance to regain control of the throne appointing her ten year old son, Charles the new king and claiming the role of regent for herself. No longer would she have to worry about the House of Guise! She was the new Ruler of France, at least for a little while.

Catherine would continue to have great influence on France and Italy all throughout the Renaissance. Leading with the cutting precision you would expect of a matriarch.

After a few months to ensure Mary was not pregnant, Catherine politely, yet firmly, advised Mary that she might better serve her time running her own country back in Scotland.

In August 1561, Mary made the arduous journey back to rule a kingdom she did not know. She had just lost her mother, her husband and her crown. She, too, would have many runs in with Knox and other Reformists and her life would take many twists and turns. Eventually it landed with her losing her life beneath the blade at the order of none other, than Henry VIII's paranoid daughter, Queen Elizabeth.

The irony.

That's quite the story in and of itself, but that, dear reader, is tea for another day! If you'd like to learn more about Spilling the Tea on History, you can join us over on our webpage, www.EuropeBoundJourneys.com where we dish it out every Friday!

Welcome to Travel Agent Tip Thursday!

Today we're going to talk about the noisy topic of AI.

Let's be honest, AI is getting very good at everything, but it's REALLY getting good at putting together itineraries. It can find flights. Compare hotels. Suggest restaurants. Build a 10-day itinerary. Explain the difference between Florence and Venice. And it doesn't even need coffee!

So if a client can get a perfectly acceptable itinerary with just a few prompts on a computer, what makes YOU, the travel agent, so valuable?

Answer: The story.

AI can tell your client to visit Edinburgh Castle and can give them a dry historical background of said castle.

But YOU can bring the destination to life by telling the stories of the people, places and events that shaped it, helping your client feel connected to the destination before they ever arrive!

That's Narrative Consulting!

Think about it this way, Scotland was filled with the same castles and legends well before there was the movie Braveheart and the show Outlander. But suddenly, with the help of Hollywood, EVERYONE is flocking to Scotland because they felt a connection. Same castles. Same legends. Same beautiful scenery, but Hollywood told a story and people couldn't wait to experience it for themselves. That's what we're talking about when we're talking about Narrative Consulting.

And that's precisely where Europe Bound Journeys comes in!

Europe Bound Journeys helps travel agents bring destinations to life through the stories behind the places their clients want to visit using humor to tell stories you'll want to remember! Our destination courses explore the people, history, culture and events that give Europe its character, with new courses continually being added.

Have a specific destination you'd like to learn about? Travel agents can request a course, too! Contact Europe Bound Journeys or visit our website to explore what's available, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram or join the Europe Bound Insider newsletter to stay up to date on new courses, destination stories and travel insights!

www,EuropeBoundJourneys.com
[email protected]
(503) 290-4513

A TASTE OF EUROPE: PORTUGAL

Oh sure, Portugal has castles, cobblestone streets, dramatic coastlines and enough history to keep a historian happily occupied for years!

But let's be honest... it's the food that is going to get you first!

Start your morning with a pastel de nata, Portugal's dangerously delicious little custard tart. Have one with your morning coffee. Then, if you want, have another because you are on the vacation of a lifetime and everybody knows there's zero calories in food eaten abroad.

After breakfast and a ride on one of Portugal's famous cable cars, pop into one of the city's restaurantes and move on to lunch featuring fresh seafood, grilled sardines and a glass of Portuguese w**e.

Finally, as a fun day of sightseeing comes to an end, gather around the table for dinner and pass the petiscos, Portugal’s delicious little tradition of sharing small plates. Order a few, pass them around, try a bit of everything, and enjoy the meal the Portuguese way: together, slowly, and with plenty of conversation.

History. Food. W**e. Castles. Coastlines. Custard tarts.

Portugal. Come for the history and sunshine, stay for the free calories! Ready for your own taste of Portugal? Europe Bound Journeys can help you turn the inspiration into a delicious itinerary!

There's More to Turkey Than Hot Air Balloons and Baklava

Turkey is a bit of a geographical troublemaker.

Part of the country is in Europe, part is in Asia, and Istanbul itself famously sits on both sides of the Bosphorus. So when we talk about European history, Turkey brings more to the table than meets the eye.

Let's talk about the Byzantines. Who exactly were they and why the funny name?

Here’s where history gets a little confusing.

The Byzantines weren't actually called Byzantines at all!

The 'Byzantines' of Constantinople were Roman. Yep. Toga wearing, road building, Romans!
They woke up every morning in their little Roman houses and went to their little Roman jobs at the chariot factory, completely oblivious to the fact that hundreds of years from then, their names would get changed by historians to "avoid confusion."

The name ‘Byzantine Empire’ came much later, after the Roman world went through what we might politely call a very messy breakup. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, and the Western Roman Empire eventually collapsed in 476. But the Roman Empire in the East carried on for nearly another 1,000 years and this is when historians rebranded them.

Byzantium, where the name comes from, was the ancient Greek settlement that existed on the site of modern Istanbul before Emperor Constantine transformed the city and established Constantinople as his imperial capital in 330 CE.

Over the centuries, Greek became the dominant language and culture and the name stuck as a quick and easy way for historians to distinguish between pre and post breakup.

So imagine spending your entire life proudly calling yourself a Roman, only to have historians centuries later essentially say:

“Lovely. We've decided you're a Byzantine now.”

I suspect the Romans of Constantinople would have had opinions.

And that's history for you: making things unnecessarily complicated since approximately forever!

Want to go check out all that Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul has to discover? Give us a call and we can put together a beautiful package just for you! (503) 290-4513

DESTINATION OF THE WEEK: SINTRA, PORTUGAL

Just outside Lisbon sits a town that looks as though a fairy-tale author was handed an unlimited budget and absolutely no adult supervision.

Welcome to Sintra.

Tucked into the hills of Portugal, Sintra is a glorious jumble of palaces, castles, forests and mysterious gardens. It is, quite frankly, showing off.

At the top of the hill sits Pena Palace, a wildly colourful 19th-century royal retreat that looks rather as though someone couldn't decide on a single architectural style, so they just used all of them at once.

Nearby, the medieval Moorish Castle winds along the mountainside, while Quinta da Regaleira offers tunnels, grottoes, gardens and mysterious initiation wells. You know, because apparently an ordinary garden simply wasn't mysterious enough.

But Sintra isn't merely pretty. Its history reflects centuries of Moorish, medieval, royal and Romantic influences, giving nearly every corner a story. Come for the castles. Stay for the stories. That's what we say!

Are you ready to make your Portugal dream a reality? Europe Bound Journeys can help you build an itinerary that brings Sintra's stories to life. Contact us today! 503-290-4513

EUROPE TRAVEL AGENT TIP: “Shoulder Season” is not the same for everyone!

Just because someone tells you, “Oh, that’s shoulder season!” doesn’t mean Europe has agreed.

October in Italy? One experience.
October in Scotland? Potentially a completely different story.

April in Greece? Lovely. April somewhere else? You might want to check the weather before promising sunshine and sandals.

Before you sell that “perfectly priced” European trip, check:

Local school holidays Festivals & major events
Actual seasonal weather
Attraction opening dates. Seasonal transportation schedules
Cruise-ship arrival days

Because knowing when to go is just as important as knowing where to go.

Your clients may never know you checked all those details…

…and that’s kind of the point. Follow for more tips!

Europe Bound Journeys is in Los Angeles? At a Dodgers game? We’re not in Paris anymore Toto!

It's Spilling Tea on History Thursday!

The Pope, The Castle and a Really Convenient Secret Escape Route

Rome has no shortage of dramatic stories, but this one isn't just rumor and whispers in the confessionals. This one has high stakes with real life consequences!

Back in the 846, things were getting a little heated in Rome. The Saracen raiders were threatening to attack and anyone who could, including Pope Leo IV, was getting the heck out of town.

Fortunately for him, Pope Leo had had the foresight to have a "Get Out of Rome Free" tunnel-like system installed in the Vatican just in case of this very thing.

I mean, with Roman soldiers roaming the country sides all over the world conquering everything that moved, there was bound to be some backlash at some point!

This passage, known today as the Passetto di Borgo, was added onto it's original form and connects the Vatican to the ancient fortress, Castel Sant’Angelo. This is awesome for the popes because the ninth century wasn't the only time things got toasty in Rome.

And this wasn't just theoretical. In 1527, during the infamous Sack of Rome, Pope Clement VII used the passage to escape to Castel Sant’Angelo while the city was under attack. And I'm sure he really appreciated that the pope's before him had had a plan!

Clement VII remained trapped inside the fortress for about seven months. Eventually, he negotiated with the forces holding Rome and agreed to pay a huge ransom and make political concessions in exchange for his release.

After that, his papacy became deeply entangled with Henry VIII's attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. But that, dear reader, is a tale for another day!

So, there you have it! St. Peter's with a right proper dose of drama!

And the next time you're thinking about visiting the Vatican, remember, you're not just visiting the Vatican. You're visiting the scene of one of histories greatest escapes!

And that is exactly why the history behind a destination matters.