Our new Italian UnTour Director Amber Martin recently returned from a visit to all six of our Italian UnTours. It was the only one of our UnTour areas where she had not spent time before. Here she shares her first impressions of the Amalfi Coast. The very moment I stepped off the bus in Amalfi,…
Category Archives: Food and Drink
Three Kings Cake: A European Tradition for Epiphany
Our colleague Anne in Provence has shared one of her favorite traditions with us, the galette des rois, a sweet enjoyed for Epiphany (just after the new year). The guest who finds the fève in his or her piece is thought to be lucky. Make your own! Here’s how. Almond Filling 1 cup almond flour 1/2…
Eating Greece: What to Savor on the Ancient Peloponnese
The origin and the beginning of all good things in life lies in pleasing the stomach. – Epicurus 341-270 BC Greece has one of the oldest and richest culinary traditions in the world. Anyone who has taken the Nafplio UnTour can attest to that. (The restaurant scene in Nafplio is great.) Greek cooking uses ingredients…
Eating Switzerland: An Alumni Guide to Swiss Food
This post comes to us from Swiss UnoTur alumnus Jerry Nolan. Because my wife Sandy and I went to Switzerland summer after summer for many years before age and circumstance grounded us, I often find myself pining over memories of Swiss food. We always traveled with UnTours, that estimable travel company founded on the idea…
A Taste of Burgundy: A Canal Cruise in Pictures
We love France, as you probably can tell by the way we tout our popular UnTour programs there in Paris, Provence, and Alsace. But we love all of France, and some areas are best explored by water. That is why several years ago we started partnering with Savoir Vivre to offer barge cruises in France….
Kinsale, A Center of Ireland’s Naval History
Tucked into the southern coast of Ireland in County Cork, Kinsale is a pretty little seaside town located at the mouth of the Bandon River. It can be reached as a day trip from our Ireland UnTour in Kenmare. Once a main port for the Royal Navy, Kinsale is a treasure trove of naval history. …
To Châteauneuf du Pape with Anne: A Trip to the Vineyards
We miss travel. We miss France. We miss the the vineyards of Southern France. Our UnTours at Home series has helped us bridge the time until we can return to Europe. Our Provence UnTour staff person Anne Plomb has helped bring France to us on Zoom. Before travel was suspended, Anne hosted Wine and Food…
Bringing a Canned Ham to Tuscany
This guest post by Carol Yee is adapted from her book book Welcome Back to Abuja Once Again: How I Became a Citizen of the World. When one thinks of Tuscany, one may think of Florence, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the Palio in Siena, but also of pasta, wine, and gelato. And this is…
Swiss Cheese: A Vocabulary Lesson
It pains me to think that I spent more than half of my life laboring under the delusion that Swiss cheese had anything to do with those shrink wrapped plasticky yellow bricks from the supermarket dairy case. I fondly remember the first time I smelled apenzeller. After experiencing the smells of the cows and the…
Valentine’s Day Gifts for the Homebound Traveler
You’re stuck at home, right? No romantic getaways or imminent departures in sight. No one feels your pain more than we do. (Trust me on this one.) While we are all in a holding pattern for a return to Europe and some of the most romantic places in the world, we have some Valentine’s Day…