[Idyllchat] Best of the Untours Cafe - November 8th

[Marilee Taussig]

Hi everyone,

I think that Idyllchat and Untours Cafe are a great complement to one
another.  It is terrifically heart-warming to me to see that both
conversations continue to thrive.  I hope by posting some of the best of the
Untours Cafe contributions, I can tempt Idyllchatters to join the Cafe.  I
also think that the email format of Idyllchat is simple, straightforward and
stimulates great conversation between people who are geographically distant
and busy.   They really are two excellent channels of communication that
complement one another.

I would also love to have some of the rich discussion that is in Idyllchat,
get put on the Cafe as well, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet.
Don't worry, wait five minutes, and someone on the Internet will have
figured it out.  Wow, things change fast these days!

Here is our latest "Best of the Cafe" digest.

*Blog postings we have liked lately*


*Autumn in New England<http://www.untourscafe.com/profiles/blog/show?id=676822%3ABlogPost%3A21581>
* - the quaint seaside village of Rockport, MA.  Doris M works her magic on
a US destination. .....you did know that you can share all your trips with
other on the Cafe....not just the Untour trips, right?

*Tales of Andalusia - Part
Two:*<http://www.untourscafe.com/xn/detail/676822:BlogPost:17183>
Gabe & Liss  promised to blog while they were in Spain. They did -- in a big
way -- Liss's two blogs with Gabe's 200+ photos. We dare you: see if can
view them and not want to go to Spain!

*"What comes first?": duty as understood by an Alpine
villager:<http://www.untourscafe.com/xn/detail/676822:BlogPost:17183>
* Our fearless leader, Hal Taussig waxes philosophical about the role of
work and duty as seen through our European staff legend, Margrit
Winterberger. and speaking of Hal....I heard a good quote from Elizabeth
Killough, our staff person at the Untours Foundation, "*Justice is love,
with its sleeves rolled up*." Spoken like a guy who gives away all him
money!


*Swiss Wine<http://www.untourscafe.com/profiles/blog/show?id=676822%3ABlogPost%3A19832>
:* Some of our overseas staff have jumped on the Cafe bandwagon. Jessica,
who is the person to greet you in the Swiss Heartland, is an American and
long-time resident of Meiringen. She brings a California nose for wine to
the topic of Swiss wine. I think you'll be impressed.
*
One Family, Four Points of
View:*<http://www.untourscafe.com/profiles/blog/show?id=676822%3ABlogPost%3A19821>Joanne
Roczniak came back from a big family trip to Switzerland a few months
ago, joined the Cafe and told us she would soon be posting. Well, here are
just some of the results. Joanne is a wonderful chronicler of her family's
adventures. If you have even rolled your eyes at your family's antics while
on a trip, you will enjoy Joanne's observations.


*Videos we like:*

*Greece*:<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A22166>These
folks JUST joined the Cafe , and right away they post this great video
of their trip to Greece in October. They even went swimming this late in the
year...and have the footage to prove it. (or is that an anonymous swimmer
they caught on tape?) This video is in addition, and helpful to the lively
discussion about Naplio that has been perking along on the Cafe.(I wish
Idyllchatters could eavesdrop on that conversation and Cafe members could
eavesdrop on the Euro discussion here.)
*

Do you speak English?<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A20135>
* Eleanor Kover found this one on YouTube. I have watched it about seven
times and I still laugh out loud.


*Switzerland through the eyes of a
12-year-old:*<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A19586>Joanne's
at it again with another posting of her family's trip to
Switzerland. I really really like that she took all the pictures from her
son's camera and turned it into a video. Her skills as an editor are
considerable, but what I think Cafe members might particularly appreciate is
the way she gives careful recognition to how a 12 year old sees things.
Wouldn't it be neat if when all the kids traveled, they could assemble, via
photography, all the new experiences that make an impression on them? It is
so important to help kids find their own voice, and so easy, on a family
vacation, to let that voice get lost in the shuffle. Bravo again Joanne!

*
Feeding the "wild"
boars*:<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A18532>Hard
to imagine that having wild boars in your backyard would be a GOOD
thing....but this video from Liss and Gabe in Spain show us it can be a
surprisingly pleasant experience.


*Musicians at an organic
festival*:<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A17472>Powen,
our  Untours Cafe colleague, was on assignment in Austria and snagged
this little section of music. Is it my imagination or do the Germanic
countries really know how to throw a festival? Seems almost as if the more
sober, orderly aspects of their culture have a flip side that allows them to
really love their fun.

*Top Local Phrases in
Switzerland:*<http://www.untourscafe.com/video/video/show?id=676822%3AVideo%3A17444>This
is great stuff...everyone should bother to learn a few words of the
language of the country they hope to visit. It is a way of showing the
people you meet that you are interested and appreciative of their home (and
if some of those words are Please and Thank you....it shows your mother
brought you up well.) Never does the new video capacity come in handy more
than when you want to SEE and HEAR that new word, in your efforts to master
a new pronunciation.

*Photos We Like:*

Rockport, MA<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A21761>Doris
M

Shelburne, Nova
Scotia<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A21648>Marlene
Hench

Minnie<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A21321>wishes
you Happy Halloween. Marlene (again!)

Close up of a mountain top near
Meiringen<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A20024>taken
from the Malchplatz Apartment in Sept. 2007 at sunset. Ruthie and
Harold

Iznajar - a pretty little hilltown in southern Spain is the town of the
month!

   - Doris M's picture<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A19941>
   - Gabe Small's pictureS:
one<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A19096>and
   two<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A18922>

Berit in Spital<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A19464>Vance
Roy posted this...great to see everyone's favorite Swiss hostess on
the mend!

THE HAT<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A17466>Look,
if Idabelle can post this hilarious picture, what is with the shyness
of all you Cafe members with no profile pictures?

Hallstatt Boathouses<http://www.untourscafe.com/photo/photo/show?id=676822%3APhoto%3A17466>:
When Powen isn't solving our technical glitches on the Cafe, he might be one
of the best photographers we have on staff here (and that is a stiff
competition!)

So, Idyllchatters, , along with enjoying all the great words here on
Idyllchat, you can feed your visual brain by just clicking on any of the
links above.


Marilee

-- 
Marilee Taussig
Program Director
Untours

"Forgiveness is abandoning all hope for a better past."  Unknown
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.dca.net/pipermail/idyllchat/attachments/20071108/e860627c/attachment.htm