While America celebrates Deaf Awareness Week, the Netherlands celebrates World Deaf Day. During my recent trips to Europe, I’ve been fortunate to develop relationships with people in Europe and as a result, I was asked to come and present in two different forums in the Netherlands for WDD.

I have heard that Roberto Wirth was like this, a superb hotel manager who spared not a single detail. Sure enough when I first met him got a glimpse.

Over my last several days in Europe after Paris, I was truly exhausted and started to turn my sights on home. I was sad to see that my trip was coming to an end, but at the same time two weeks was long enough for me to be away from my home, my job, and my daily routine.

The next stop on my tour was a classic “must,” with Paris being a destination I wanted to spend several days in before flying home. Paris is an enormous city, and I was very fortunate to be able to stay with some friends while I was there in a fantastic location in the heart of the city.

After a week filled with a lot of walking in my travels through London, Amsterdam, Groningen, Peiterburen, Rome, and an adrenaline-filled weekend in Interlaken, I have to admit I was getting pretty exhausted.A

Interlaken is extremely beautiful and it has an interesting and in my opinion, inconsistent economy. The Swiss do not use the Euro as well, and instead they use the Swiss Franc (CHF).

When I flew into Rome, the first thing that hit me was the fact that it was so hot. I have to admit, my first impression of Rome wasn´t so good for several reasons. The first is not only is it an unbelievably hot and crowded city (think NYC in Florida), but…

When I was in the Netherlands, I had the opportunity to travel further north to Groningen and Pieterburen to get a true taste of the Dutch life. While taking the train through the Dutch countryside, I was rewarded with spectacular and unique views.

During my trip here, I’ve had the opportunity to meet several deaf people. While in Groningen, I had a terrific dinner with several deaf people from Amsterdam and perhaps some of the most enjoyable conversations I’ve had in such a long time.

My first four days in Europe has been truly a whirlwind. True to my wishes, I spent the beginning of my trip familiarizing and taking full advantage of the outstanding train infrastructure.