Facebook is reminding me of our trip, 7 years ago, to Europe for the Women’s World Cup plus some more. I had recently tracked down where my french last name came from (My grandfather was British as far back as anyone knew) and found that the first Renaut came to England from Dinant, Belgium, in the early 1600’s. I looked it up, and it’s a gorgeous little town on the Meuse River. So that’s one of the places we visited on our trip, along with some more common tourist spots (including watching a USWNT win from the front row).
A few years later, the wife and I were on a food tour in Copenhagen during my daughter’s soccer trip, and met a Belgian couple.
Making conversation, I said to them, “We were just in Belgium a few years ago!”
“Oh, where did you go?”, he asked.
“We went to Dinant…”, I said, doing my best to pronounce it properly (I don’t speak French but my wife lived in France for a while and I heard her pronounce it).
“That is… NOT what I was expecting you to say.” He said.
I explained the connection, which of course made it make sense. I love having that kind of interaction with strangers. That couple will likely remember the Americans with an unusual trip to Belgium, and I will always remember the look on his face.
Another reason to go on food tours when you travel. They’re a great way to meet people, plus you get to see parts of the city and stop in places you might have missed otherwise. The food is really just an extra bonus.