Photo by Gabriel White CC Almost like clockwork, a week (or less!) after booking my airfare, I am struck with an overwhelming sense of buyer’s remorse. I don’t grieve because I’m not excited about my trip, but because I find cheaper airfare for my itinerary. Now, don’t ask me why I was even looking for…
Photo by Frente a Aratiri Until recently, I thought that Hal was one of a kind, but a recent BBC report has given me pause. I now suspect that Hal and Uruguayan President Jose Mujica were separated at birth. President Mujica, dubbed the “poorest president in the world”, donates 90% of his $12,000/month salary, lives…
This is post number 3 of 6 in a series covering my 5 weeks in Greece, Istanbul and Italy. The other posts are linked at the bottom of this post. Touching down at 7:45 am in Rome meant that I had a full day to work and explore despite the exhaustion of having gotten up…
Hal shocked many of us by showing up at a holiday event wearing a tie! Even Hal’s student of 50 years ago, Tom Hibberd, AND long time friend, Mary LeFever, had never seen Hal in a tie before. Wonders never cease! Happy New Year!
Back in August, Dodge Amaral, Director of the Buenos Aires UnTour, made a trip to Argentina to contract new apartments and connect with our local staff person, Graciela Nealon. At the time, the seasons were the reverse of now. “Though being there in early August meant relatively cool temperatures, it was honestly a lovely respite…
Brian and Jan, the ultimate pros for the Swiss Heartland, on one of their many train trips throughout Switzerland. Brian and Jan nearly always stay at the Buetikofer chalet up on the Hasliberg in the village of Reuti on their Swiss UnTours. Tell us a little bit about your most recent UnTour. Our favorite…
Tosheka Designs has won our hearts for its job training and job creation in Kenya, its recycling program, and its beautiful purses created out of plastic bags. Nyokabi Mwangi, Tosheka’s associate director, was recently interviewed on a Kenyan television arts program. Here are the first two five-minute segments of that interview. Here’s segment one of…
Photo by Pit Thompson It is hard to think of tango without conjuring images of Buenos Aires, the dance’s birthplace. Indeed the culture of the dance and the national identity are intertwined like, well, like dance partners in a smoldering embrace. Though danced around the globe, the development of tango weaves in and out of…
Tell us a little bit about your most recent UnTour? When Marilee asked me some questions about our experiences with UnTours, the review of memories turned out to be fun for the most part, funny in some aspects, and always enlightening. A bit of background: we have completed 19 UnTours, with the 20th to be…
To continue our “meandering month” on the UnTours Blog, Wednesday finds us plucking a “Culture Clue” from the wonderful tripblog written by Norm and Barbara Graca on the UnTours Cafe of their Quebec UnTour. This excerpt is from is their Day 7 entry. We particularly like this day because they highlight how the dramatic geography…