 |
Greetings Fellow Travelers!
In just a few weeks, the Untours 2006 fall catalog will be hitting mailboxes.
Since we have been so busy putting the finishing touches on it, we decided now
would be the perfect time to do a ‘Favorites’ Eurozine this month. Check out favorite
articles that you, our readers, have said you enjoyed as well as see what travel
books and European drinks your fellow Eurozine readers recommend. Finally, don't
miss some great sales on select apartments at the end of this newsletter. It's not too late to book
a 2005 Untour and there really are some great deals listed below!
Happy Travels,
Kim Paschen and Marilee Taussig
Co-editors, Eurozine
PS: The new catalog promises to be full of beautiful photos and interesting articles
and it will introduce you to our *NEWEST* Untour to Sicily as well as a whole new
venture for 2006 offering even more destinations than ever before. If you are
not yet on our mailing list, click here to sign up for your copy! |
August 2005
How to reach us:
888-868-6871
|
|
|
Undulating Tuscan hills stretch as far as the eye can see
Photo by Jean Oskner |
The following excerpts appeared in the November 2004 Eurozine entitled “Only
on an Untour” in which clients recounted experiences that could only have happened
on an Untour.
Only on a Provence Untour...
One of the reasons we use Idyll is to have our own "home" where we can do our
own cooking using local foods. We could step outside our door and pick fresh rosemary,
mint, sage. The produce in the area was fresh and so good. We love the lettuce
in Europe. Our nightly salad was lettuce, tomatoes and fresh mint with olive oil
and vinegar. Shallots were so inexpensive we used them in everything. And, of
course, olives.
Lunches were usually wine, cheese, bread and fruit (or a sandwich from "home")
alongside the road. You can always get a sandwich at the local bakery. Rather
than hunting for a restaurant and then having a casual (but sometime lengthy)
lunch, we would rather picnic. One time we were serenaded by a herd of goats,
their shepherd and his dog. Their bells were an interesting contrast to the speedway
we heard far off!
Only on a Tuscany South Untour...
Having seen Italy on both a bus tour and an Untour, we prefer the latter. We
worked harder this time, what with driving, getting lost and finding our way around,
buying groceries, stamps at the post office, medication at the farmacia, preparing many of our meals, etc. But we really felt a part of life in Italy,
not separated from it by a bus window. We enjoyed the freedom to decide each day
when we would awake, where we would go, how long we would stay, where we would
eat. We spoke more with local people in our fractured Italian, and found them
generally very kind and helpful. Perhaps the best feature of an Untour is not
having to pack up and move on every other day. It facilitates the "slow travel"
concept. Instead of rushing from place to place to check off each item in our
guidebook, we took time to enjoy the moment and make time for the unexpected.
We are looking forward to our next Untour. There’s still so much more of Italy
to experience... will it be Tuscany North? Umbria? We know whatever we decide,
we won’t go wrong.
|
The natural beauty of Switzerland, completely inimitable
Photo by Phyllis Browning |
The following submission comes from the Eurozine entitled “Spotlight on Switzerland”
which focused on the recipe for success of the Swiss Untours and why people keep
coming back year after year.
After 7 Untours to Switzerland, Elliott and Susan Vorce explain why they keep going back:
-
Switzerland is like going home. There is nowhere else we have experienced, from
Lebanon to England to Greece to Morocco, which imparts the ambiance of a friendly
home-like atmospheric welcome quite like Switzerland. Their particular brand of
hospitality is not to be found in any other experience we have had…the Swiss landlords/landladies/Untour
staff are at once caring, concerned, warm, friendly, instructive, and interested
in all we do. Reason number one for us is, in a word, "people!"
-
The spectacular beauty of the scenery, the cleanliness of the cityscapes, the
freshness of the bracing mountain air, the purity of the mountain streams and
rivers, and, of course, the majesty and spectacular panorama of the mountains
and their ever-changing vistas. It’s difficult not to sound verbose or trite when
describing Swiss scenery, but it is simply incredibly beautiful, no matter where
one looks next.
-
The Swiss lakes are also high on our list of attractions. When one considers
Switzerland, of course one considers mountains. Yet, one of the most alluring
facets of Swiss life, for us, is the lake attractions from the way the Swiss
have transformed them into gorgeous tourist attractions (and not something just
to be "gotten around") to the charming villages and attractions everywhere…on
every lake.
-
The intangibles best described in phrases, not sentences…so bear with us! The
baleful look of the magnificent Brown Swiss cows when you meet them on the trail…the
pungent wonderful odor and taste of mountain cheese…the satisfaction in "picking
up" a little German (even though most Swiss speak better English than some Americans)…never
having to drive a car…713 years of democracy!
The entire experience is magic it both pushes and pulls you to return. We will
be back; and we will be back again.
|
Eurozine Readers Recommend...
In two separate Eurozines, “Books you’ll want on your shelf”, a Eurozine dedicated
to travel books and, “European Mixology 101”, an issue that explored drinks on
the Continent, we asked Eurozine readers to share some of their favorite books
and beverages. Below are some of the comments we received.
Favorite Travel Books
Michael Crichton has written a non-fiction book called Travels. The first portion of the book is about his experiences in medical school.
That in itself is interesting. But then he writes creatively, very insightfully
and sensitively about many wonderful experiences in many far away places. This
book is rich in content and encourages reflection about the many ways in which
travel opens us up. It is available in soft cover but may be out of print. I
have found several copies on eBay so it is still quite accessible. Should you
follow-through on my recommendation you will be thanking me later!
Jackie Walker
Just finished Too Much Tuscan Sun by Dario Castagno—great humor mixed in with lots of information about Siena
and Chianti.
Linda Babineau
As an avid travel book reader I have my favorites:
The Back of Beyond, Lost Worlds by David Yeadon. His travels stimulate my dreams.
Travelers' Tales Series. They give you the flavor of a region.
My Family & Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Not quite a traveler's book, but you can't read this &
not put the Greek Isles on your to-go list.
Penny Holeman
I love travel essays and fiction set in Europe. Here are some of my favorites:
Without Reservations and Educating Alice by Alice Steinbach. An independent woman travels, learns and writes some great
descriptions of her experiences and adventures. She's a Pulitzer Prize winning
journalist, which shows in her observations and writing style.
The Journey's Echo by Freya Stark -- the must-read classic by a lone traveler who lived every second
of her long life.
An Italian Affair by Laura Fraser tells the story of her affair with a married Frenchman whom
she would meet in Italy; they explored the landscapes and she tells interesting
stories about some more obscure destinations.
A Thousand Days in Tuscany by Marlena de Blasi, the sequel to her excellent A Thousand Days in Venice. The author and her husband moved from a sophisticated life in Venice to the
Tuscan countryside and she documents their lifestyle (and the Tuscan village lifestyle),
and her recipes will make you hop the first flight to Tuscany, drooling all the
way.
ANYTHING by Andrea Camilleri, an Italian author who lives in Rome but writes
mysteries set in Sicily. His Inspector Montalbano loves food, hates crime and
gets involved in great plots.
Susan Satterlee
Anyone who travels to France might be interested in Ina Caro's The Road from the Past...Traveling through History in France. It is just that: It starts in Provence (Arch of Triumph in Orange), and traces
French history through Languedoc, the Dordogne, the Loire Valley and, finally
the Ile-de-France. It is really a quite wonderful read for folks who like their
history/art thrown in with tourism.
Jackie Every
Favorite Drinks
ONE of my favorites is caffe correcto con sambuca or grappa in Italy...a wonderful after dinner drink! Also, sambuca on the rocks with 3 coffee beans is delicious after dinner!
Debra Swartzfager
A draft German beer, ANYWHERE in Germany. Superb! When I went over I intended to try some of the noted German white wines also---but
after my first beer I was hooked!
Bob Rodney
Spezi in Germany. It's half Coca-Cola and half Fanta orange drink. In the 70's it
was blended by hand; then in the 80's it was canned.
Chicki Atwell
|
|
|
|
Culture Bridge: At a loss for words no more
The article Culture Bridge: ”At a loss for words no more” originally appeared
in an August 2003 Eurozine. The article explores the phenomenon of ‘niche words’
that exist in languages other than English.
For those few who accomplish real fluency in another language, an extraordinary
discovery awaits them. Fluency in another language is not just a practical tool;
it is a door into the deeper workings of culture. Being able to use another language
really well introduces us to an entirely different way of thinking. Language,
it seems, does not just allow us to move through the world; it changes how we
understand that world. In 1956, Benjamin Whorf, an expert on American Indian languages,
wrote in Language, Thought and Reality:
We dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories
and types that we isolate from the world…we do not find there because they stare
every observer in the face; on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic
flux of impressions which has to be organized in our minds--and this means largely
by the linguistic system in our mind. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts
and ascribe significances as we do, largely because [it]…is codified in the patterns
of our language.
Whorf believed that language was not merely a neutral tool for conveying one’s
thoughts, but instead a mold that shapes people’s thoughts and perceptions. Whether
we are fluent in a second language or not, many European travelers have been sufficiently
exposed to a variety of languages to find Whorf’s idea quite credible. On our
travels, we have discovered highly useful words in other languages that do not
exist in English. Often, bring them home with us, adopt them and use them with
great delight in the first conversation that offers us an opportunity. At last…a
word for this situation! Here are a few of the favorite “untranslatable words”
I have collected over the years:
Doch: A German word that means ‘yes’, but not merely yes. Rather, one uses this ‘yes’
only in response to a ‘no”. It is, in fact, an argumentative yes. The nearest
equivalent in English is “Is too!”[in response to “it isn’t”] or “Uh-huh!” [in
response to “Uh-uh!]. In the middle of an argument, this word is invaluable. Other
languages also have this emphatic yes (In French, one uses “si”.) but the short,
sharp sound of ‘doch’ seems to pack a little extra punch, when you are looking
for extra heft for your disagreement.
Comische: Another German word, this one means ‘funny’, but not in the amusing sense.
Comische means odd or unexpected. Next time you have to clarify in English, “Do
you mean funny--ha-ha, or funny--weird?” you’ll appreciate having a word for each
concept. When an object has been inexplicably mislaid, I find myself wandering
around the house mumbling, “Das ist comisch!”
Here are several other words that we found delightful in Howard Rheingold’s wonderful
book They Have a Word for it; a Lighthearted Lexicon of Untranslatable Words &
Phrases:
Tire la carretta (Italian): to slog through the everyday dirty work [verb; literally: to pull
the little cart]
Faux frais (French): items you are likely to forget to include when making a budget. [noun]
Zalatwic (Polish): using acquaintances to accomplish things unofficially [verb; as in
asking your brother-in-law the car salesman for a special deal]
First-time Untourists often worry about these language differences increasing
the difficulty of European travel. Usually they find their worries unfounded:
a surprising number of Europeans speak English as a second language quite well.
In countries where that is not true, our customers report that most people are
willing to help even when no one has a common language. Having the ability to
gesture is useful in these cases. In addition, a sense of humor, a phrase book
and a lot of patience are invaluable for bridging any language gap. Marilee Taussig is co-Marketing Director at Untours.
|
|
|
Untours End of Summer Sale!
Check out these great sale prices for some of our most popular programs. It is
not too late to book for 2005! For additional Deals and specific details on the
sale, visit our Deals Page. To sign up for special notification of future sales, click here for our Deals Alert sign up page. These prices apply to new bookings only. Please mention the Eurozine when booking to receive your discount. |
|
This brand-new 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom cottage, located just outside of Isle-sur-Sorgue,
is now reduced for the rest of the season ($200 off per person plus 2-person supplement waived!). Airfare included price: $1719 per person based on 2-person occupancy for October
5-19.
|
This 2-bedroom vacation rental was originally the farm's chapel. Charming vestiges
still remain today including arched windows. Save $400 per person if you book this property from October 19-November 2. Airfare included price
$1789 per person based on 2-person occupancy. |
Save $690 per person starting November 2 in the off-season (departures every two weeks until the
end of the year). All apartments including the Van Gogh have been recently refurbished. $1299 per person based on 2-person occupancy.
Note: Limited on-site support available during the off-season. |
|
|
|
|
Idyll, Ltd.
415 E. Jasper Street
Media, PA 19063
www.untours.com
P. 888-868-6871
|
|
|
|
