I have always been a backpacker kind of girl--I liked to arrive and find my way on my own. I thought tours were for grannies. But last year, I was lucky enough to get a familiarization (fam, to us in the biz) trip with 23 other STA advisors. We went on a Topdeck tour, going through Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. I had the most fantastic time, and realized that a tour is simply a way to take away the stress of planning the logistics so you can maximize your time while traveling--particularly in Europe, where things are so crazy expensive nowadays. We got an authentic, adventurous look at those three countries all while making friends for life. Here is my story:

I arrived with five other agents who were on the Boston - Zurich flight on Swiss Air. Some of us slept; however I didn't catch a single Z as I had somehow ended up with the middle seat and it refused to recline. The gentleman in front of me reclined into my lap. So, with my new best friend resting comfortably in my personal space, I watched "You, Me, and Dupree" in a bleary stupor.

Upon arriving, we discovered that we had to wait three more hours for our compatriots arriving from further afield. To pass the time, we found a bar/karaoke/kebab shop at the front of the airport, and availed ourselves of some Budvar (the genuine Czech beer that Budweiser is a sad rip-off of). Katie, our fantastic tour leader, had told us that the group that had arrived the night before on the Los Angeles flight was "a crazy group of people, just so much fun;" we joked that we would be the grumpy and introspective Bostonians. We went back to the arrivals gate, and a family that was celebrating the arrival of more of their family gave us their leftover champagne, and so only three hours into our trip we were already two drinks deep. Finally, the second group arrived, the Topdeck coach bus pulled up with the already arrived Los Angeles and Australia peeps, and we were on our way.

We got on the bus to some nervous and shy greetings, and then took our seats and watched the scenery roll by in silence. Our first stop was Lucerne. It's a lovely city, but not much sticks out, as I was paralyzed by the crippling insecurity with which jetlag always waylays me. I spent a lot of time in my own head, tongue-tied, wondering why everyone hated me. I also felt deep shame because of the boisterous Australians, who seemed to be suffering none of the deleterious effects of jetlag that the rest of us had. "F'ing Australians!" I thought unkindly, "How are they doing it?!" I found out later that night that they had actually arrived two days before the rest of us and thus had already shaken their 'lag.

We finally arrived at our hostel atop Mt. Rigi, accessible only by "cog railway." (The oldest in Europe!) It's more like a chalet, and my roomate Kelly and I had an enormous room--she was up in the loft and I was downstairs (so I could be close to the bathroom...those who know me know I have a bladder that would have been better suited to a hamster). We had a gorgeous view over the mountains, and the place had the required warm wooden beams, thick blankets, and exposed brick walls that any self-respecting mountaintop chalet should have.

That night we had an appetizer of fondue with a main course of cheese and bacon--the first of many meals that celebrated pork and dairy. Ah, continental Europe and it's love of meat products! I managed to have a few normal conversations before retiring at 9:30 pm.

I didn't get much sleep that night, but it was enough to shake the paranoid jetlag of the previous day and I was able to have pleasant conversations and generally make eye contact. We made our way to Jungfraujoch via Lauterbrunnen. This particular Alp has the highest railway station in Europe. The high altitude made us all giddy, and we rushed about the glacier giggling and taking an inordinate amount of group photos. On the way home we kept the buzz going with some Prix beer (only 75 cents and a funny name). When we got back to the chalet, the Swiss proved their mettle by staying up and drinking with us all until 4am. Needless to say, the group bond was thus cemented, only twenty-four hours into the trip.

The next day was a bit dark, literally and figuratively. Many of us suffered from vicious hangovers, complemented by the day's chilly grey drizzle. We had lunch in Lichtenstein (reminded me of that scene in Wayne's World Two: "Or imagine being magically whisked away to Delaware. Hi, I'm in...Delaware." That's what Lichtenstein's like. Only less compelling). From there, we went to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial, which was incredibly difficult to be in and walk through, but of course totally necessary.

It was actually life-changing, as since I got back I think about this place every time I am feeling lazy, or inclined to be judgmental. It's not like I wasn't sympathetic to the Holocaust or moved by it previously, but something about being there and really seeing it helped me understand it more fully (although I know I won't ever truly understand).

When we got back to the bus, we sat in silence until an an Australian named Jot, whose birthday it was, managed to lighten the mood: "Just what I always wanted on my 25th birthday! I feel great!"

So, slightly uplifted after a good chuckle, we made our way to Munich. We had a whirlwind city tour and then some levity was injected into the evening at the Hofbrauhaus beer hall. It was enormous, and even though it was just a regular ole' Tuesday night, the place was packed. I would say there were about 1,000 people there--Germans and tourists alike--rocking out to the Oompa band. Most of us ate pork knuckle, which sounds weird but was delicious. Soothed by the Oompa, the pork knuckle, and the steins of delicious beer, most of us retired at the reasonable hour of midnight.

After a heavy meal and an early bedtime, we all woke up refreshed in Munich the following morning. Then it was onto the bus for the 250 mile drive to the sweet and refreshing Rhine Valley.

It was lovely--just oozing charm from every Teutonic pore. We went to a stein shop and cuckoo clock shop in Sankt Goar, heard their respective speils and spent some money. The cuckoo clock speech was actually kind of interesting, but in the end cuckoo clocks are ugly and no one bought one (no offense to any cuckoo clock aficianados out there!) Most people did get a stein, though, because beer is fun.

We ended up at a mid-size hotel somewhere on the Rhine River. At first, it didn't seem promising, as when we arrived there was some sort of conference going on and the main dining room was wall to wall with octogenarians. But by the time we went down to dinner, their strange gathering had dispersed and although there were some rude comments and gestures from the elderly guests against our personages as they grouchily made their way to their rooms, we ended up with the place to ourselves.

I completely misjudged the place, thinking it would shut down early and we'd all be tucked in by 10 pm. Instead, the bartenders vowed to stay open as long as there were people buying drinks. I was sitting at a table with five other people, and we decided we would each buy a bottle of reisling one at a time.

As you may or may not know, Germany is known for its Reislings. The grape is from Germany and produces a sweet white wine that is fruity with hints of spice but still very crisp. If you are a wine novice, incidentally, I would recommend starting with Reisling, because it's so refreshing and light. It pairs well with spicy asian food.

...Sorry, I digressed a bit there. I love wine. OK, so we thought that surely we would all buy one bottle at the most and then be plenty drunk. Well, we ended up buying nine total for the five of us. We did give a glass to our tour leader, Katie, and a sixth eventually joined us, but we were already 4 deep by that time.

STA Advisor Ed was actually the star of the show this particular evening, toasting the tourleader Katie about 12 times, lifting people off the ground, and instigating a limbo competition (which sadly, I don't have any pictures of, as I was holding up one end of the limbo device).

I kept trying to take candids, which I spoiled by announcing that I was trying to take candids (hey, I was drunk). There's more, but I won't go on about "And then, he was like, "Just the tip!" and we were like "OMG That's so funny!!!" Etc etc.

After an ill-advised jaunt to the Rhine River (which was across the street from the hotel) which resulted in much injury and falling down, I went to bed at about 4 am, only to get up at some godawful hour in order to go onwards to Amsterdam.

In Amsterdam, we had dinner at a Chinese restaurant which was a very welcome change from all the pork and cheese. Everyone was in exceedingly high spirits, trying to mask their dread and morbid curiosity about the live sex show we were about to see.

I work at STA Travel, so I will be discrete here and just say that it was not sexy at all, but very funny.

And so, we eventually all went to bed, and the next morning we had a lovely biking tour through Amsterdam. It was nice to do something active and rid my body of the many toxins I had put into it over the week. We had the day to ourselves, and then a dinner cruise.

When I got back to Boston I felt really sad and lonely, as I was no longer with my 25 (the other advisors and two Topdeck tour leaders) new best friends. What I've described above is a trip where you partake of each and every optional excursion--you can just as easily use the tour as your source of transportation, accommodation and food and explore the cities on your own. I myself am planning on doing another Topdeck trip to Greece--they were so professional, fun and committed to providing a real European experience that I feel confident I will enjoy my Island-Hopping tour.