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Best apartments in Swiss Oberland Tour
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Untours Café Scavenger Hunt: First 5 Questions
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- What is your favorite place in Europe so far?
- Bavarian Castle and Paris
- Where would you most like to go next?
- Provence, Alsace, Greece, Austria, Croatia... everywhere there's an Untours apartment!
- Tell us about one of your favorite places to stay on an Untour. A favorite host? Apartment? Village?
- Susi Bartlome of the Bartlome apt in Gwatt, Switzerland. She was the sweetest person and I truly felt a friendship with her.
My favorite apartment: the Gabriele in Sommersdorf, Bavaria. It was located inside Schloss Sommersdorf (the castle) and made me feel like a fairy princess. By the way, Baron von Crailsheim is my next favorite host!!!
Instead of a favorite village, I will pick a favorite street in Paris. It is the Rue Montorgueil where our apartment was located. Peds only street, it is lined with fruit, meat, fish, wine and bakery shops. When I walked out on the street, I felt transported back in time when there were no chain grocery stores and Ma and Pa ran the best shops.
- Do you have any special interests or hobbies that you follow when you travel?
- Photography is my love. I always wished I could paint then I discovered I could use my camera as my paintbrush.
At home, I have a hobby of genealogy which I have been able to supplement by going to family towns on our untours trips.
I also enjoy writing but don't seem to have enough time for it.
- What is the funniest thing that happened to you on an Untour?
- We love to have fun on our trips and intermingle with locals. Last June in Paris we went to dinner at L'Escargot near Rue Montorgueil. The waiters were very jovial and teased with us all evening. I noticed when they brought coffee to others they also brought some chocolates on a small plate. We didn't order coffee but later I teased him and said, "They had BonBons and they had BonBons" pointing to each table next to us. "But we have no BonBons!". He looked at me and said, "No caffe! No Bonbons!" In a couple minutes, he returned with a two tiered silver tray with many chocolates and set them down next to me with a big smile! What a great moment in Paris!
- Which Untours have you already done?
- Swiss Oberland; Tuscany South; Rome; Bavarian Castle; Paris.
- What advice would you give others considering an Untour?
- 1st: Expect to live like the locals not a "guest" in a 5 star hotel.
2nd: Be friendly. Try to get to know the locals. They respond back in extraordinary ways.
3rd: Do some pre-trip planning. Know what there is to do and see and have some type of game plan with choices, but leave lots of space for spontaneous experiences.
4th: Take pictures. It's hard to remember a trip a few years down the road without visual stimulus.
5th: Make your own fun, don't wait for others to create it for you!!
- What is your favorite Untour? (so far)
- I think Bavarian Castle. Only because I was able to visit the towns where my Mother's family came from in Europe.
Marlene Hench's Blog
BAVARIAN CASTLE UNTOUR -- A PLANNING GUIDE PART I
Frank and I decided to do the Bavarian Castle Untour in 2005 and we were delighted with it. I think every little girl has dreamed of living in a castle and I was no exception. My dream came true at Schloss Sommersdorf. We stayed in the…
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Posted on February 1st, 2008 at 9:17pm —
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UNTOURING TUSCANY SOUTH – a planning guide
Untouring Tuscany South - a Planning Guide:
Winter is planning time for our Untour trips. Since people have been asking me questions about what there is to see and do while on a Tuscany South Untour, I…
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Posted on February 1st, 2008 at 5:01am —
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Poggiarellino Wine In California
I think the world or at least the West Coast has discovered Ludivico and Ana Ginotti’s wines. After returning from our Tuscany South Untour in 2005 where we stayed at the Ginotti Farm/Vineyard/Winery, we found that a local distributor in San Francisco…
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Posted on December 12th, 2007 at 5:14pm —
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Rail Europe Ad
A cousin of ours who shares our Swiss heritage (Meiringen) sent me this link to a really funny Rail Europe Ad. It is adorable and since we all go to these countries, I thought you all might enjoy it. It plays a little music from each country. Sorry, I don't know any way to display it except as a link. Hope I don't get in trouble for posting this. If so, I'll delete it and you can email me for the link.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, everyone!!
Now must get back to decorating.…
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Posted on December 6th, 2007 at 7:16pm —
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Oktoberfest 2007 Is Here- Started Sat Sept 22nd
The festivities have started in Munich (Bavaria, Germany). The first keg of beer was tapped and the festival began. It runs for two weeks ending in October. To celebrate the event, I have posted pictures from our trip to the Oktoberfest in 2006. You can view them as an album with descriptions from my home page. Hope you e…
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Posted on September 28th, 2007 at 3:07pm —
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Gordon
Ed
Thanks again.
Ed
My travelling buddy, Fran, just won't fly anymore unless
she just must. She and her hubby and 3 others are
scheduled for Tuscany South in May and I'm just hoping
she doesn't have to cancel (bad ears and swelling feet).
Depending on how she is feeling, we'll keep options
open for the Fall. Thanks for keeping me in mind.
meal, let along prime rib!
Got a quick question for you. I know you're a camera buff and have taken some great pictures. Do you have/bring one of the cameras that's about the size of a deck of cards or do you have a more elaborate model. The reason I ask is that I have a Canon XTI, which is not a huge camera, but it is much larger than the deck of cards camera. It takes great pictures and I enjoy using it. That being said, I can certainly see the advantage of carrying a pocket one instead. What's your opinion?
Thanks! Dave
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