FainaAgain

Orcas, sorry I can't advise (unless you want to hike through Switzerland!) but I have 2 sons who went through the same stage of guitar playing. Just want to tell you: IT WILL GET BETTER.

The older one surprised me by asking if I know of any interesting exhibits in museums, and "museum" was a curse word for him. The younger one is majoring in history.

Just build the trip around his interests - are there music museums? music stores? Hard Rock cafe, LOL (sorry couldn't resist)Restaurants or bars where he can listen to the type of music he likes (now, this may be major headache for you! load up on aspirin!)

Edward2005

Orcas, let's say you spend the 4 days in Paris. First thing you do is stop by the TI and ask them where to Parisian teens hang out? Where do they listen to music?

Find out if your boy likes any bands in particular, go to their website and see if they are touring Europe while you are there. That could make for a fun highlight. I would have loved to have seen Depeche Mode in England the last time I was there but checking never occurred to me.

And don't forget, Disneyland-Paris is about 30 minutes away from downtown Paris.

Does he like roller-blading? I think a couple times a week Paris closes down some streets and thousands of people (lots of teens) roller blade through town.

Most importantly, get his input on this trip and make REAL concessions to him. Otherwise, if he was like me when I was 16, he will look on this trip as if it were a death march.

suze

Maybe someone can suggest where you can find calendars for various cities to see what special is going on? I have seen absolutely amazing music in the street in Europe on different trips (Paris and Montreux come to mind). Where stages were set up in the closed-off streets, town squares, etc. and most defintely frequented by teens and 20's types. I saw one spectacularly edgy street performance duo fire eating, juggling, dancing at Leidseplein square in A'dam.

mikemo

Iwould suggest a solo trip to Iraq or Afganistan for the Neanderthal.
M

fun4all4

Orcas,

I applaud you for wanting to take your 16 year old's interests into account on your trip.

I have 2 sons (11 and 14). I think said 14 year old is actually physically attached to his guitar! If I have to say "turn down that amp" one more time...... He can be sullen and a pain, but he is also a fantastic, smart and witty kid who has straight A's at the moment.

Anyway, this is mostly just a note of moral support. We parents of teens hear you.

I know you have been there, but London has a big music scene. A concert or other live music venue is a great suggestion. On trip advisor there is a guy on the London forum who is very knowlegeable about the music scene and gives great info on upcoming events. Maybe try to post a question there.

Also, I don't know what type of music your son likes, but we are going to take an afternoon rock n'roll tour in London - he wants to see Abbey Road and where Jimi Hendrix died (a bit morbid for me, but he is thrilled). We are also going to a football match (he is a soccer fan). He is also dying to go to the Montreux Jazz festival one summer.

Rome would be awesome, but is a bit far. The ruins are cool, the girls are hot, and their is a real vibe in the air.

Most of the big cities have tons of internet cafes that I plan to let my son use to touch base with friends at home.

I also find that he is the most sullen the first couple of days of a trip and then "settles" in. He even sometimes forgets not to walk ahead and pretend not to know us. ;-)

Edinburgh might also be cool. The weather may not be ideal, but it doesn't sound like you've been there and might be really fun!

Besides music in Paris, he might really like the Segway tours.


Good luck and have fun!

Shane

Send him to a monastery so he can get his act together. Discipline will do him good. If that suggestion is too severe, two weeks serving the sick at Lourdes may be uplifting to his spirit.

FainaAgain

Shane, were you ever 16 years old?

LoveItaly

Oh Orcas, please ignore the rude comments. I can't help but think even if some people have never had teens certainly they themselves were, I would think? I certainly can remember what it was like to be 16 years old, no doubt many of us can. And just be thankful that your son is into his music. I can sure think of worse interest. And know that your son will acquire more interest as he matures. Take care.

Shane

I was 16 a long time ago. And, yes, I am kidding about the monastery. Sadly, and I include myself when I was a sixteen year old, most American teens are not cultured or intelligent enough to enjoy a vacation to Europe.

shandy

Just as a thought, have you considered Spain. It would cut down the travelling time as compared to Italy, has lots of bars and music, guitar playing is a big cultural thing there of course, and is probably considered a destination more likely to appear to the younger generation.

MaureenB

We traveled to Amsterdam last June, along with our then-16 year old son, who also loves nothing more than hanging out and playing his guitar with friends. We also had our just-turned-20-year-old daughter along with us, so we felt perfectly safe letting them go to the Paradiso in Amsterdam for a concert. They really enjoyed the venue and the music.
Amsterdam is a great city for teens, so lively and contemporary. If you click on my screen name above, you will find my trip report of london-paris-amsterdam, with specific names of restaurants we liked, and our hotel we liked.
It would be nice to have another teen your son could attend a concert with, but that may not be possible. But I'll be you could find lots of music in Amsterdam you would feel comfortable sending him to. We felt perfectly safe in that city, so I don't think that's so much your concern as just letting him go into an unfamiliar city. Maybe the university has some concerts or other events going on.

Orcas

I am appreciative of the many good ideas I am getting and am planning on following up. I will suggest my son cruise the internet for ideas of where he might want to go (He is playing trumpet at an interschool jazz festival right now). I will look for info, as well, including into the music venues mentioned in Amsterdam. With the ideas here, I'm thinking we may be able to find things closer to the Netherlands and save ourselves another plane trip. I wish we had more time!

Tis true that he will not appreciate Europe for the same things I would, but he should be able to appreciate it in his own way, if we arrange the trip right. Europe has its own sound and youth scene we need to figure out how we can connect.

As for Neanderthals, Wow! They are getting a bum rap! From what I hear, they coexisted with modern humans and lost out for unknown reasons.

alya

orcas,

does he use the word 'huh' when answering your questions

We've almost figured out whether the 'huh' is a positive or a negative by the tone of his 'huh'.

Sometimes he starts to talk to me in the car and I'm tempted to drive round in circles to extend the conversation.

16 year old males - gotta love 'em

StCirq

Orcas:

Tell your son to go to www.whatsonwhen.com and plug in the countries and the dates you think you might be interested in visiting. He can get some idea of what musical events are going on in April in Italy, Spain, wherever you think you might like to go. The listings are pretty comprehensive and include every kind of music you can think of (as well as festivals, exhibitions, etc.). Maybe if he finds something in Europe he'd really, really like to go to, or an event where he might hook up with other like-minded, similarly aged people, he'd get excited about the trip.

beanweb24

The Time Out guides might also be helpful.

http://www.timeout.com/

I second the idea of having him research some of his favorite bands to see if any are playing when you are in Europe. One of my most fond memories is my first trip to Europe in 1995 when I stumbled upon tickets for sale for the Ramones in London...it was a pretty amazing experience for a 21 yr old female on her own, and the people I met during the show were so friendly.

BTW...have been to Europe many times now, and still don't like museums, shopping or art -- so count me in as a Neanderthal, too. My parents might think it's an upgrade from when I was a vampire during high school.

Samsaf

Orcas, I can SO identify with you! We have two older daughters, and a 16-year-old son. Daughters have almost always wanted to talk to us, be around us, etc., but our son only wants to practice in his band (he's a drummer and also plays the guitar). He, too, is a great kid, but lots of days his answers are grunts, and he says I ask too many questions!

We've been talking to him about places he would like to see in Europe, and things that he's interested in are mostly World War II sites (Normandy, etc.) That might be something your son would like, too.

Have fun planning.

Orcas

whatsonwhere is a great website! Thanks, StCirq. I'd tried to find something like that, but hadn't come up with anything.

Definitely get a lot of "I dunno." It is interesting in the car, isn't it? I have to insist the headphones come off, and then we reconnect, if only briefly. It's interesting to see your kid is viewing you like some sort of senior citizen with early onset dementia, to boot. Well, I'll get smarter with age, I'm sure.

bob_brown

Hopefully your son will react like my son did when he was 16. We went to London, and he came alive with interest.
We let him go on day tours without us but with others in our tour group. (air and hotel only; other events optional)
And we took him to two plays as well.


I don't know if he was getting ready for a growth spurt and the trip to London triggered it, or if the trip caused it, but it was a good thing for all.

I recall his wide eyed stare when we were standing on a tube platform and nobody around us was speaking English.
His reaction, "Geez look at all the foreigners." His mother replied, "Right, and I am standing next to two of them."

Then we all had a good laugh. The "in" thing among the sub 25 set was to wear American college sweatshirts. We saw one sweat shirt on a bushy headed fellow that read University of Michigan. One problem. The shirt was green and white.

Our son finally figured it out. The shirts were counterfeit and the people who made them did not know X from Y. We started looking and found a few more combinations out of whack. I think second prize went to the red UNC Chapel Hill costume.

At least no garnet and gold U of Florida showed up, but a green and gold U of Colorado shirt did as did a maroon Ole Miss.

It was either ghastly or funny depending on the point of view.

dorkforcemom

Orcas - your post gave me a chuckle while the memories came swishing back. We spent many vacations dragging our teenage son around Europe. While he was tolerating us in Paris, he came upon a shoe store on the Champ d' Elysses (sp?). The trip was a success because he found a pair of shoes in that store that were the same kind that Justin Timberlake wore with the N'Sync band. Of course, we bought them and the trip was salvaged. That said, if it's all the same to you, I'd let him choose where to spend the 4 days. We let our son pick Scotland for a vacation destination one summer. Of course, this was right after Braveheart came out. Keep us posted...

mvor

How about Berlin? It has a thriving jazz and music scene and there are cheap flights on Berlin Air or Transavia from Amsterdam (see whichbudget.com).

Best of luck~