The Pantheon, the largest building from ancient Rome that survives intact

Have you ever come across something that you had never really thought about before, but that piqued your interest once you learned about it? The following assortment of facts on some of our favorite places in Europe (in no particular order) might just do that for you!

• All gondolas in Venice, Italy must be painted black, unless they belong to a high official.
• Europe has no deserts - it is the only continent without them.
• The first city to reach a population of one million was Rome in 133 B.C.
• The Vatican's Swiss Guard still wears a uniform designed by Michelangelo in the early 16th century.
• The colors of the French flag symbolize 3 things: blue was the color of the republican army uniform just after the French revolution, white the color of French royalty, and red the color of the royal army uniform before the French revolution.
• Corfu, unlike much of Greece, never fell to the Turks.  Venice, on the other hand, was much more successful in its attempted conquests of the island.  As a result, Corfu has an Italianate influence in its culture and architecture that is unlike most of the other Greek islands.
• The region of Alsace changed nationalities 4 times in less than a hundred years with its neighbor, Germany.
• Today's modern Italian language originated in the region of Tuscany.
• Despite being a small country, Austria shares its borders with eight nations: Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
• Commercial beer making was established in 1200 AD in present-day Germany.
• The ice cream cone is an Italian invention.
• The Fontaine de Vaucluse in Provence is the mysterious source for the Sorgue River. In the summer, the water all but disappears, while in the spring, the torrent of gushing water is a sight to see. No one has ever been able to trace where the water comes from, despite explorations up to a depth of 1,010 feet.
• Holland's capital, Amsterdam, is a combination of the words, Amstel and dam: in early times a dam was built at a fishing village on the Amstel River. Today, Amsterdam has 160 canals and over 1,200 bridges.
• The national anthem of Greece called "The Hymn to Freedom" has 158 verses.
• Spain has more birds, mammals and reptiles than any other EU country.
• One of our apartments in Dordogne is set in the valley of seven châteaux.  The nearest of these is the Château des Milandes, home to Josephine Baker, one-time St. Louis native,  star of the Folies Bergère, hero of the Resistance, a black performer who refused to play in segregated halls when she returned to her native land, American darling of 1920's France, and mother to 12 adopted children. She went broke trying to turn the château into a showplace for racial harmony, and ultimately had to abandon it. Bought and restored in 2001 by a private owner, it is now a museum dedicated to her. 
• The Swiss Museum Pass offers you free entrance to 400 Swiss museums.
• The streets of Prague contain colorful and unusual house signs, especially on older houses. The inhabitant's initials along with a symbol of their trade or other symbol of distinction served in place of an address until 1770 when signs were replaced with street numbers. Nerudova in Malá Strana is the best place to see these vestiges.
• In Hungary, people always use their last name first. Titles come at the end of the name as well (i.e. Mr. John Smith would be Kovács János úr in Hungarian).
• To understand the Danes, you must understand hygge  -- loosely translated to mean "a pursuit of the sense of cozy well-being when all the cares of the world have been set aside" Hard to define, and easy to love, hygge is what makes the residents of Copenhagen add a candle to the simplest meal and look you straight in the eye when toasting a glass to your health. Hygge is part of what makes Copenhagen one of them most liveable cities in the world.
  

Untours founder, Hal Taussig, in one of his favorite places (Switzerand)
with his favorite mode of transportation (a bicycle)

The Uncommon Story behind Untours

Since most of you don't live in Media, Pennsylvania, you've likely never been to the Untours office. Here's your chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at daily life here at Untours and have a look into our history as a company as well.

• Untours founder and president, Hal Taussig, used to be a cattle rancher and college history professor.
• At 81 years of age, Hal rides his bicycle to work nearly every day.
• The first Untour office was in a one-bedroom apartment in Media, PA, and had one cardboard file box of files, and only one desk, the kitchen table.
• All important phone numbers were kept on one sheet of paper that the staff passed between their desks for at least the first 5 years of the company.  It is now framed and hangs in Hal's office. It is known affectionately as "the mangy sheet".
• There were no suitable apartments for the Holland Untour when Hal wanted to start the program there, but when he told the Leiden Tourist Office that his goal was to make his guests feel like they were living in Leiden, they decided to create apartments for Untours using charming medieval town houses near a canal.
• Nearly all of the profits from Untours go to the Idyll Development Foundation.
• In 1999, Untours won the "Most Generous Company in America" award given by Paul Newman and John F. Kennedy Jr. through Newman's Own and George Magazine.
• Untours offsets its employees' daily commutes and business travel through NativeEnergy. With the purchase of their "green tags", which fund the development and implementation of renewable energy sources, carbon dioxide emissions released into the air can be offset with alternatives to fossil fuels such as wind and methane farms.
• Untourists have the option to purchase these "green tags" for their own travels.
• The Untours office features a worm composter and a battery-recycling center, and uses only non-toxic cleaners.
• The Untours catalog is printed on 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
• Untours staff are experts in their regions. Many speak the languages of the countries and all have traveled extensively overseas to research accommodations and activities.

Le Pigonnier: quaint and quiet in Dordogne, France

It goes without saying that accommodations for Untours and The RIGHT Vacation Rental are all private, comfortable dwellings situated in some of Europe's best spots. However, some of our properties have a little something extra that makes them unique. Here is a listing of some of them:

Martyrs apartment in Paris, a delightful apartment in the very heart of the city, complete with a trompe l'oeil painting on the bedroom wall and a stunningly painted red bathroom.

The spectacular view from the Esther apartment in the Swiss Oberland is not the only feature that makes this chalet apartment special. A model train circles the entire perimeter of the house!

Le Chiuse 5 in Tuscany South, a cozy apartment in a vineyard that formerly was a chapel. The arched windows and mahogany woodwork are testament to its former function.

The RIGHT Vacation Rental's Pigionnier apartment in Dordogne looks like a giant birdhouse from the outside, and while modest in size, it is perched next to a lovely stream in one of the prettiest regions in all of France.

The Tirokomio 2 in Greece used to be cheese factory and is now a sunny apartment, complete with a pool, in the midst of an orange grove.

Any apartment in our Bavarian Castle is an experience...complete with a baron, a moat, and a dungeon, how could it not be?