[Culturechat] A cultural "untour momen" from Ann Cricchi's trip to Umbria
Marilee Taussig
marilee.taussig@untours.com
Fri, 04 Apr 2003 10:15:26 -0500
<html>
We occasionally post Untour moments on Idyllchat....gems of experience
that we glean from our questionnaires, mail and the wonderful trip logs
at
<a href=3D"http://www.untours.com/triplogs/index.htm" eudora=3D"autourl">htt=
p://www.untours.com/triplogs/index.htm</a>.
Here is a particularly "cultural" one that we found in Ann
Cricchi's record of her trip to Umbria. As a parallel to the Untour
moments on Idyllchat, we thought from time to time, we would post
customer's reflections on the cultural aspects of their trip. We
invite you to send us any such memories....of ways in which you
encountered the cultural differences while on an Untour....both the bumps
and the delights are welcome. If you send them to me at
marilee.taussig@untours.com, I'll be happy to post them
periodically. Or feel free to send them directly to
culturechat@untours.com. Here's Ann's moment in Umbria: <br>
<br>
<dl>
<dd>There were many lovely "Italian-style" experiences that
delighted us during the two weeks. This included Sunday mass at the small
local church near the farm where everyone,but us, knew that mass was
always 25 minutes later thanposted because the priest came from another
parish. The single man in the chapel told us this and we enjoyed our wait
as everyone eventually arrived, followed at last by the elderly
priest. On a Sunday afternoon, a woman in a small art mseum in
Trevi, answered my inquiry about the whereabouts of an internet cafe, by
insisting that I use the museum computer send our family an email.
One morning, we came upon a group of small school chldren in a bookstore
in Spoleto and when my husband asked them if they spoke any English, the
teacher had them sing a song for us which consisted primarily of many
musical variations of the word "Hello." They were very
proud of themselves and we were charmed, as was the bookstore
staff. One afternoon, we had lunch at a local trattoria that had no
menu (in any language). Some how we managed to order a very tasty
pasta dish and then had three desserts each. We first selected one
each, then the owner suggested we try two more and when we told the baker
how delicious they all were, she gave us each a third, followed by a
small galss of grappa, gratis!
</dl>
<BR>
Marilee Taussig, <br>
Marketing Director<br>
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<br>
Untours - Independent Travel With Support!<br>
Tel.: 888-UNTOUR-1 Web:
<<a href=3D"http://www.untours.com/"=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.untours.com</a>><br>
<br>
Join IdyllChat, an email discussion group on European travel!<br>
Visit:
<<a href=3D"http://www.untours.com/idyllchat/"=
eudora=3D"autourl">www.untours.com/idyllchat/</a>><br>
<br>
"Most Generous Company in America, 1999" awarded by
Newman's<br>
Own & George magazine. For information on the Idyll Development<br>
Foundation, visit:
<<a href=3D"http://www.untours.com/idf" eudora=3D"autourl"><font color=3D=
"#0000FF"><u>www.untours.com/idf</a></font></u>></html>