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(Part 2 of 3) We spent six weeks in England, July-August ’03, basically exploring the Cotswold area. We were based in Cirencester (May ’04, pg. 82) and, apart from a side trip to Wales to visit friends, we returned there every night. In Wales, incidentally, we visited Powis Castle. If you go there, make sure you visit the “Clive of India” collection.
Four of us, who were spending the week of Thanksgiving 2003 in Budapest and Prague, were annoyed that we couldn’t escape popular American music playing everywhere. Also, while we weren’t surprised to find McDonald’s, Burger King and KFC, in Prague we were caught off guard to see pizzerias on every block.
Although it dates from Roman times, Budapest is basically a 19th-century city. Most of the public buildings, apartments and monuments date from this period.
For Christmas 2003, my husband, Bernie, and I decided to give each other an extra-nice present: we would take a 9-day “Hot Air Balloon Flight Over the Alps” tour in January ’04. Two days of the tour would be spent at the International Balloon Festival in Château d’Oex, Switzerland.
by Steve Venables, Contributing Editor
My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed a tour of Sicily and southern ITALY with Perillo Tours (577 Chestnut Ridge Rd., Woodcliff Lake, NJ 07677; phone 800/431-1515).
Our 14-day tour, Feb. 26-March 11, ’03, began in Palermo and ended in Rome. The total cost for two, including airfare from Seattle, was $5,685. This did not include travel insurance or three optional tours which I would highly recommend ($40-$80 each).
We went on a wonderful trip to Australia, Dec. 19, ’02-Jan. 13, ’03, with Overseas Adventure Travel (Cambridge, MA), adding on their New Zealand extension.
On June 6, ’03, we left on the 13-day “Real Affordable Costa Rica” trip with Overseas Adventure Travel (One Broadway, Ste. 600, Cambridge, MA 02142; phone 800/955-1925). We paid $4,235 for two persons, including air from Las Vegas. The price also included $368 in trip insurance.
The trip was advertised as an adventure trip, and adventure we got aplenty. We had never taken this kind of trip before. We really did not know what we were getting into but have to admit that we enjoyed it tremendously.
My husband and I went on a magnificent 16-day trip to Quito, Ecuador, and the Galápagos Islands, Jan. 6-21, ’03, with Galapagos Travel (783 Rio del Mar Blvd., Ste. 49, Aptos, CA 95003; phone 800/969-9014, e-mail info@galapagostravel.com).
I do not recommend the “Italy-Austria: Cultures and Landscapes” biking tour to anyone who is a strong biker or who wants to experience some adventure. The 14-day tour, offered by Elderhostel (11 Ave. de Lafayette, Boston, MA 02111; phone 877/426-8056, e-mail registration@elderhostel.org), placed great emphasis on biking safety. However, in my opinion, this emphasis was quite extreme and created a very rigid, boring biking experience.
In August ’03 I joined a 15-day Iceland and Greenland tour with Explore Worldwide, the arrangements made through their U.S. contact, Adventure Center (1311 63rd St., Ste. 200, Emeryville, CA 94608; phone 800/227-8747, e-mail ex@adventurecenter.com).
This was a very interesting tour. The weather was warmer and drier than I’d expected, and the guide, whose name was Pietro, was well informed.