As I work as a tourguide around Neuschwanstein Castle, I always have some anecdotes to share. So just like last year (click here for last year’s posts) and the year before (for the 2013 posts click here), I kept a little “Diary of a Tourguide”.
Diary of a Tourguide, May 25th:
Dear Diary, today we had good weather and a lovely, but huge group of people (58 in total). Lots of friendly and smiling people, including a family with a 5 year old girl. I made a few jokes with her throughout the day. When we were at the castle, the family walked towards me after hiking up the mountain, and the little girl came to stand real close to me. Then she started to give me a hug. Awww, so sweet I thought… Then I heard her mom say: “No, she is also not going to pick you up…. nice try though!” Hahaha!
Diary of a Tourguide, June 1st:
Dear Diary, sometimes you just have one of those days. Where the whole group of tourists is just enjoying themselves, loving every bit of the day and having a great time. My mouth got dry from all the chatting with the various people (the lip getting stuck to teeth kind of dry) and never laughed so much in a work day. These days are just a pleasure and give me so much energy! Okay-okay, I still feel knackered right now from all the biking and hiking, but somewhere deep inside there is plenty of energy! 😉
Diary of a Tourguide, July 4th:
Dear Diary, this morning started pretty rough. Knowing we do a bike tour, it is pretty annoying to see that on the ground in front of the garage where the bikes are stored, about 3 or 4 glass bottles had been smashed (I blame the drinks supplier that puts drinks in a fridge next door). So instead of being able to take bikes out of the garage for the bike tour, I spent about 20 minutes picking up glass pieces, sweeping and all, in the blazing sun. I was tired before even starting the tour today… But then everything was put into perspective. There was a man on our tour, about 70 years old, who survived a hand grenade thrown at him in the Vietnam War. He was missing one eye, has had 30 surgeries to restore his face, still has a metal plate in his head, and on top of that survived cancer 3 times. He and his wife travel a lot right now, they have visited all 58 National Parks of the U.S. (one of his bucket list items) and are living life to the best of their abilities… He also told me his wife is his best friend, she stood by him through all the surgeries and never gave up on him. Just such an amazing story, I had to share with you all. Happy 4th of July!!
Diary of a Tourguide, August 8th:
Dear Diary, today, right at the end of the day, someone in our group found a 5 euro note on the ground. He wanted to give it to a girl who was on our tour. She and her family went to see both castles, so we had barely seen her all day. He said that he saw she was wearing a Make a Wish-button on her shirt and thought she took donations for the charity. She and her family sat in the front half of the bus, so I saw the guy giving her the 5 euro, commenting on the button. “No,” she said, “I am here on a wish” …… I teared up the second she said it…. It was great to hear she had a great day here.
Diary of a Tourguide, August 13th:
Dear Diary, at the end of a workday, there is no better feeling than when we say goodbye to a group and see a customer mouthing at the same time ‘Thanks so much, it was wonderful!‘
Diary of a Tourguide, August 14th:
Dear Diary, today was a lovely birthday for me. My wish when I blew out my candle this morning, was to have a great workday. It started with having 50 tourists jumping of the bus wishing me immediately a Happy Birthday, and it was such a great group. So many lovely and friendly people who were kind enough to tell me how much they enjoyed their day and how much they appreciated me and my work (I never got so many compliments in one day on my personality and doing my job that I love). And at the end of the day, before the bus left, the whole group sang Happy Birthday for me. Seriously, so grateful for such a great workday on my birthday!
Diary of a Tourguide, October 5th:
Dear Diary, today was our last workday of this work season, and just 2 days ago I got a lovely compliment from one of our guests. She told me: “You look genuinely happy doing your job. Plenty of people who deal with customer service put on a fake smile, because their boss told them to smile. But your caring is real, your smile is real and the happiness shines through.” Yes, I love doing this job!
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