Rick, Rick is that You?

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I suddenly realize that this may in fact be THE Rick Steves, in person. I am so excited, I can't wait for Emily to come back to her seat. When she does I ask her if she knows what RIck Steves looks like, she says no and I tell her that I think it may be him! I debate for a few minutes to approach him and finally decide that if I don't, I will regret not knowing for sure. So I get up, walk into his car (he is the only one in there) and say, "umm, excuse me, are you Rick Steves?" I know, I know, not the greatest opening line ever, but still, I was NERVOUS and I could have just run up to him screaming, "Rick, Rick is that you?" (jk, mom). He said, yes that he was, and I told him I was a big fan of his. We talked about a bunch of stuff including, my trip, being robbed in Provence, mom and dad meeting him in Spain last year, and the rail strike in Germany. He was such an easy guy to talk to! I got my picture with him (it's a self portrait, I hope it turns out, because we have a regular film camera) and he was just really cool. At the end of the conversation he mentioned that when I graduate I should contact him and be one of his tour guides! How AWESOME is that? Afterwards, I was so excited, I sat with a grin on my face for the rest of the day. It's funny, I've met/seen much bigger celebrity (George CLooney, Brad Pitt) and I've never been so excited as I was to meet Rick...seriously, one of the coolest moments of my life. :)