Call me predictable.
But when my daughter suggested a little European sojourn from her place (she lives in Berlin), I thought Paris, Venice or Rome.
In Europe, you can fly to most of these tourist hot spots for about $15. I was favouring Venice, but Rome had me in its grips as well.
My husband however had different ideas. “What about Schmallenberg?,” he said.
When his suggestion was not greeted with the enthusiasm he felt it so clearly deserved, he then suggested Sauerland. I had to remind him of the two-way battle currently occupying my mind.
He on the other hand was having his own mental dilemma, based I believe on obscure__German_towns_no_one_has_ever_heard_of.com
He suggested instead Wroclaw in Poland. It took me a while to find this place on google as his pronunciation (something like fraatzzzzlaughzzz) defied phoenetics. Since when did a simple ‘w’ sound like someone with a severe throat infection?
We went to Wroclaw.
My husband convinced me to go when he told me that his grandmother hailed from this city when it was in fact named Breslau and still part of greater Germany before being bombed in 1845.
Gondola rides and ancient Roman ruins were replaced by imaginings of his grandmother skipping the cobble stones. Afterall, this sort of personal history cannot be found on any tour bus. - Linda Muller
