Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear Student travelWhere they went: A tour? Not really
By Diane Daniel, Globe Staff, 2/17/2002
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Sensible traveler Destinations Where they went Travel gear Student travel |
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In 2000, Berry retired early after a career in education. She used to go abroad with tour groups, but not anymore. One reason is that "you stay in American hotels and you mingle with other Americans." She says she'd rather get a sense of the place and the people who live there.
For her, Idyll Untours (www.untours.com) strikes the perfect balance. The company sets up travelers in local apartments. Local guides are on call and there are a few group events, but for the most part, tourists are on their own after a group orientation.
Berry's first Untour was to Portugal in the spring, where she had an apartment in Sintra, outside of Lisbon. Her most recent trip, in October, was to Prague, Budapest, and Vienna. (Tour price covers air fare, lodging, and ground transportation. She estimates a similar trip this year would cost about $2,500, including air fare.) Her next Untour will be to Switzerland and Austria, and she's planning a trip to Britain with a friend. Berry spends much time volunteering at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and with other historical groups, and enjoys learning about European history.
In Prague, she and her traveling companion, a New Englander she'd met on a tour the year before, had a "gigantic apartment. We were in the old section and I liked it a lot. It was very quaint." A highlight was the one Untour group outing - a concert held at the Dvorak Museum, near a "charming Baroque jewel, the Michna Summer Palace." The musicians performed a variety of Dvorak compositions, and "knowing there were Americans in the audience, they ended with Dvorak's arrangement of `My Country 'Tis of Thee."' (This was a few weeks after Sept. 11.)
Berry had read and heard warnings about pickpockets in Prague, and, sure enough, she was a target during a tram ride, though she wasn't carrying anything. "I felt his hand in my pocket. I turned around and started yelling at him."
She and some other Untour travelers next flew to Budapest, "a much more urban area, with old high-rises. Our apartment lacked the charm of Prague's but was more convenient." A special outing was a night cruise on the Danube to see the buildings lit up. The group trip was an evening of Hungarian dancing.
There were many remnants of communism.
"We visited a factory town outside of Budapest. It was all so grim. On the streetlights were old loudspeakers used for spouting propaganda." She also visited "Statue Park," where statues of 42 communist leaders stand as reminders of the past.
The tourist hazard in Budapest was restaurant overcharge. Even worse, her friend one night used a credit card to pay for dinner and recently saw charges from around the country on her bill. Whenever the two women found a restaurant they felt was fair, they kept returning. One of their favorites was the city's "first and oldest" vegetarian restaurant. "We ate there four or five times in one week."
To their final destination, Vienna, was a three-hour train ride. "You can tell you're leaving Hungary for Austria. The towns are cleaner, the fields better tended, cars are nicer."
Their tiny apartment (Vienna has a much higher cost of living) was a few blocks from St. Stephen's Cathedral, considered Austria's Gothic masterpiece. Berry toured the cathedral and also attended a two-hour High Mass at St. Augustine's Church. She also visited Demel, the famed coffeehouse.
She found beauty everywhere.
"Every time I'd get in the apartment elevator, I'd just keep staring at it - the glass, the woodwork. And there was a spiral staircase. Austrians believe that art is good for the soul, and they tuck it in to all these little places. No matter where your eyes land, there's always something beautiful to look at."
Send suggestions for Where They Went to ddaniel@globe.com.