Educational European Tours

To prepare for our upcoming Emerald Isle Tour, I'll be posting each month from now through April 2018, with Ireland travel ideas (some specific to our tour and others more general).

Featured Travel Notes ...

To prepare for our upcoming Emerald Isle Tour, I'll be posting each month with Ireland travel ideas (some specific to our tour and others more general).

For more information on the May 2018 Emerald Isle Tour, contact me at jessicadebra@gmail.com or visit our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/2018EmeraldIsleTour/

If you missed my previous posts, check out the blog archive for these great topics:

March 2017 - Free Time in & near Dublin Ideas
April 2017 - Free Time in & near Galway Ideas
May 2017 - Food in Dublin, Killarney, Limerick & Galway
June 2017 - Live Irish Music
July 2017 - Irish Souvenir Ideas
August 2017 - Irish Castles, including Dublin Area Castles & Galway Area Castles
September 2017 - Irish Genealogy
October 2017 - Preparing for Our May 2018 Tour, including Passport Questions
November 2017 - Day 5 Itinerary Options

~ The Purpose of This Blog ~

My purpose in composing this blog is to share my travel experiences with others, get the word out about our annual tours and connect with people who have had great travel experiences.

I hope this blog will help others who are planning trips to Europe by offering ideas of great tour sites, and maybe even help our groups gain participants for our future tours.

Also, if you have a great travel story or photos to share, please e-mail me at jessicadebra@gmail.com. Please include your name so that I can give you a byline credit should I choose to post your story or photograph.

Who Travels with Our Tour Groups?

Our tour groups began as an alternative to longer, more expensive study abroad programs for students at our local university. Over the years these tours have evolved to include anyone 18 years and older with an interest in educational travel. We have also allowed younger teenagers to travel in our groups provided that they are accompanied by an adult relative.

Past participants have ranged in age from 17 to 80 and come from all across the United States. Our participants include college students, university alums, university faculty & staff, family members of students and community members both locally and from other states.

It's wonderful not only to be able to explore the world on an educational tour, but also to meet so many diverse people with the similar interest of educational European travel.

Special Thanks to ...

Jamie Lackey Stefko for all of the great pictures from the Berlin, Prague and the Alps tour, the Grand Tour of Italy tour and the Grecian Odyssey tour. She has a special knack for getting great shots of our tour participants, as well as, some breath-taking scenery images.

Christie Brook for some amazing pictures of Ireland. She takes some of the best sunset pictures I've ever seen, and even a few pretty amazing ones from a moving bus!

Dr. Marvin Thomas, professor of European history, for being our nearly fearless group leader on all of our travels abroad. Thanks to him we're never at a loss for great travel stories. He's been a great sport, trecking around the world with a bunch of students and sharing his endless knowledge of European history.

Anna Ezzolo and Sherie Wallace for being my assistant organizers of the 2009 tour. Thanks to them I was able to truly enjoy my dream tour of Ireland without having to worry about the details on tour.

All of our past and present tour participants because we've always had such great and interesting tour groups. I hope all of you enjoy our tours as much as I do.

Reflections ~ The Louvre (May 2008)

It would take weeks to tour all of the Louvre and have the time to appreciate the treasures of each room. It's a truly humbling and sureal experience to be in the presence of legendary works of art such as the Mona Lisa and the Venus De Milo. Still, I came away from the experience more taken with the architecture than the great works of art.

The interior of the Louvre has been modernized, the light colored walls and large open spaces offer a clean feeling. And in spite of the throngs of tourists, the Louvre never really felt crowded, primarily due to the multitude of rooms to tour.

Although much of the interior has been modernized, with escalators and fabulous lighting from skylights, there are still any areas of the interior that offer beautiful artwork as part of the structure itself. Many of the ceilings have exquisite carvings and paintings.

But the most breath taking site for me was the outside architecture of the building. While I am not a fan of the ultramodern entrance (that gaudy glass pyramid), the rest of the buildng is some of the most beautiful architecture I've ever seen. I'd even go so far as to call it the most beautiful palace I have ever seen (externally), surpassing Versailles and the Zwinger museum in my opinion.

To me the building has an old, soft elegance. The intricate carvings and statues add to its grandeur while not taking away from the strong lines of its columns and arches.

The spurting fountains give a final impressive touch to the view of the Louvre, as well as, providing a cool place to sit and enjoy the view. And from a distance the green hedgerows in front of the courtyard offer a contrast that reminds the viewer that this is one of the great palaces of Europe.

I once felt that Paris was a city I'd like to see once but not return to, a place with treasures not to be missed but then to be just memories and things to boast of having seen. And while I expected to have Versailles take my breath away (which it did, especially the interior), I never thought that the one site that I'd most long to return to in Paris would be the courtyard of the Louvre.

Pictures do not do it justice, and I would recommend the Louvre as a must see for anyone who loves history or architecture.

Top 10 Favorite Meals on Tour

I'll admit, I'm no great gourmet. And sadly I have not really taken note in the past of what I've eaten and where (at least not the specifics, which is why only a few of these have the actual restaurants listed - and all of those from our most recent tour). But since food can be such a memorable and unique experience when traveling, I thought this would be a great bit of personal travel experience to share.

Bon Appetit!

My top 10 favorite meals that I’ve had on tour …

1. Leberkäse with a side of Sauerkraut (Munich, Germany) – the sauerkraut cooked in white wine with caraway seeds was out of this world! I had this meal on tour almost 6 years ago and I still remember it fondly enough to place it as #1 on my list of favorite meals on tour =0).

2. Cod & Chips (The King’s Head Pub, Galway, Ireland) – fabulously fresh cod, battered and fried, with a bucket of “chips” (or fries to us Yanks =0) and side of mashed peas. Great atmosphere and great food!

3. Tuna Sandwich (Rome, Italy) – toasted roll with unbelievably fresh tuna in light oil dressing with huge, mouthwatering slices of tomato. I practically dreamed about this sandwich when I got back to the states! And I truly couldn't eat tuna for months because it just wasn't the same =0).

4. Lamb and Mashed Potatoes in Jus (Zuni Restaurant, Kilkenny, Ireland) – can’t remember what the jus was (red wine reduction maybe) but it really made the meal. We went to this restaurant for lunch on the recommendation of 2 locals - lesson learned, I will ALWAYS ask the locals for recommendations in the future =0).

5. Swordfish (Capri, Italy) – grilled swordfish with side of new potatoes and, of course, gelato for dessert =0). Our local guide actual directed us to the restaurant (sorry, I don't know the name of it) because it had reasonable prices - which can be a trick to find on Capri, but that definitely didn't hurt the quality of the food any.

6. Lamb Cutlets (Kennedy’s Restaurant in the Abberley Court Hotel, Dublin, Ireland) – such a beautifully presented meal I took a picture (which I would normally never do) to show my brother the chef when I got back. The prawns appetizer was also delicious and, as you can see from the picture below, so was the dessert =0).

7. Tuna & Sweet Corn Sandwich (Blarney Castle area, Ireland) – wonderful homemade bread with tuna, mayo and sweet corn filling with salty, fresh tortilla chips plus a Guinness, of course =0).

8. Pizza Margherita (Pisa, Italy) – with the most beautiful, huge tomato slices and easily the best crust I’ve ever had on any pizza (after all, you can’t go to Italy and not eat pizza =0). And the outdoor area of the restaurant had a great atmosphere (again sorry I don't remember the name, but this one I'm checking on because a friend had been there before and might know).

9. French Dessert Pizzas (Paris, France) – one was topped with chocolate and the other with apples and both had an insanely thin crust. The dinner pizzas weren't quite as filling as I'd have liked, but they were also quite good.

10. Deep Fried Cheese Sandwich (Prague, Czech Republic) – the cheese itself was deep fried and then placed in an almost pita like bread bun, actually very tasty – though I don’t want to think about the health value =0). OK, not the best or grandest of meals during that tour, but I was quite fascinated by this lunch item.