Questions For Rick

Any plans in the pipeline for a Christmas Markets tour?

Have fun!

Pam, that is a great question. Thanks!

Why not a tour based totally in Poland?

Why not a tour of Germany?

Questions to be asked On Air, or privately? If On Air, they should be more general.

Berlin City Tour? Second Christmas Markets!

My impression is that the questions will be asked during breaks. You mentioned some specific tour questions. How about generic travel questions?

Generic travel question....without trying to start some kind of political debate....

-Do you recommend managing anything differently with the more heightened terror threat, such as - always carrying your passport with you instead of leaving it in a hotel safe/carrying a bit more cash to cover some kind of emergency transportation out of an area/anything else???

More city tours, please!

Might 2016 be an even better year to visit Europe?

Given how many flights from the US go into and out of FRA - Frankfurt (am Main) - why not do a proper chapter about Frankfurt and the area around it? So many people either start or end their trips there.

I'm not one for group tours, but I could def get behind a Christmas market tour. As the others said, I'd love t know if they ever plan to offer one!

How about asking what he thinks of the "back door" places he's popularized for Americans - Cinque Terre, Gimmelwald, Halstatt, Bacharach, etc., now that they are on the well-beaten path, and will he come up with new ones.

Christmas market and additional 7-8 day tours as it is hard for many of us to take off more than a week at a time.

"How about asking what he thinks of the "back door" places he's popularized for Americans"

Ask him if the term back door, as it relates to travel, is simply beyond its "use by" date at this point. Twenty five years ago it made sense, today it seems a dream. Great marketing all these years though, and kudos for that.

How about a WWII --themed tour? Begin in London, end in Berlin. ENGLAND (London - Cabinet War Rooms); FRANCE (Normandy D-Day sites and American Cemetery); NETHERLANDS (Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem - Operation Market Garden; Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten); BELGIUM (Bastogne - Battle of the Bulge); LUXEMBOURG (American Cemetery in Hamm); GERMANY (Berchtesgaden - Eagle's Nest; Nuremberg - Palace of Justice and Nazi Rally Grounds; Berlin - many sites).

How about a "Villages of Germany" tour?

When will Iceland finally get a tour and a guidebook?

Thanks for your great suggestions everyone. I have forwarded them to my contact at the PBS station. I'll report back to you if he answers them.

For those of us who don't like to drive in Europe the real question is will there be more countryside tours anywhere? Town and village hopping is the hard part by train. I'm really, really, not a tour bus fan, but I'd go to see villages for a week just about anywhere I can't get easily by car.

Oh, I like the Villages of Germany idea!

Favorite edible?

@Dave, yes that is the real question I was trying to say.

I second Robert's idea WWII theme tour. WWII didn't happen just in the western part of Europe but actually larger part of it happened in the eastern part of Europe. I can imagine I could do it on my own in the west but to do it on my own in the east would be more difficult (and I can speak some Russian and can read their alphabet). What to visit in the East: Moscow, Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Kursk, Dukla Pass (now on the border between Slovakia and Poland) - battle there sometimes called Carpathian Operation.

I would like some really in depth city tours; at least 5 full days. Too often we come in the back door and race for the front door.

No questions, but y'all have fun today!

Not having any knowledge of Mr. Steve's company, I'm going to guess that most of the answers to the "Why not a tour of insert destination or theme" have one simple answer- not economically viable enough to justify.

But I agree with Nigel... so many travelers come and go from Frankfurt and there are SO many interesting towns, villages and sites within an hours' drive of the airport, he would do his ever-so-loyal readers to describe the area a little better. But then again, part of the charm of Büdingen, for example, is that it isn't completely filled with trinket shops and tour buses, like a certain other walled town in Germany I can think of...

I'm reporting back after manning the phones at Rick's pledge drive. He was very nice and answered the questions I emailed in advance to my contact at KVIE.

Here are his responses to the best of my recollection. We weren't allowed to have pens due the confidential nature of the information we had access to.

Regarding tours and guidebooks, this pretty well sums it up -
"Not having any knowledge of Mr. Steve's company, I'm going to guess that most of the answers to the "Why not a tour of insert destination or theme" have one simple answer- not economically viable enough to justify."

The above reason is why he doesn't have an Iceland guidebook. His guidebooks support the tours he offers. I think it was the Eyewitness guidebook for Iceland that he thought was very good.

He didn't like the idea of Christmas Market tours because he felt it would be too repetitive. Someone suggested a My Way Christmas Market tour. He thought that might be more viable.

He was intrigued by a Village Germany tour. He feels his current information about Frankfurt is enough.

He doesn't feel he would get enough people interested in city tours of other countries beyond the tours he currently offers to justify the expense.

He agreed that some shorter tours would be good since many people have limited vacation time.

He said he doesn't do 'themed' tours, but thought that something involving WWII sites could be interesting.

As for managing things differently because of the heightened terror threat, he thinks there is no need to change a thing.

He didn't answer the question about new "back door" locations.

Karen, I got your question too late, so I was unable to ask him what edibles he prefers. Sorry. Maybe you could email him that question. :-)

I hope this answers some of the questions that you had.

[Andrea, I thought you were going to tell them the truth - that Rick thought their questions were "stupid", and he was going to have the Webmaster close their forum accounts...Lying - even white lies - are always a bad idea ;-) ]

Moi 'Someone' did indeed suggest a My Way-structured Christmas Markets Tour. You're welcome, Rick ;-)

He also plans a 1-hour special on Fascism...

... and he's sending everyone on the forum a voucher for a free RS tour! No, wait - that doesn't seem right...Try asking Santa for that tour... ;-)

He's heading for Cuba, so if you're interested check his blog; I'm sure he'll be blogging.

I'll be interested to hear his views on Cuba, as that's a destination I've been considering also. Did he say when he's heading there?

He's going the day after Christmas.

Thanks Andrea! And it'll be pretty easy to ferret out Eileen's new identity that she will be posting under as she has a distinctive drawl, lolol!!!

Andrea,

Thanks for the info. Wow, off to Cuba on Boxing Day. I'll try to remember to check his Blog, as I'm sure he'll be posting an interesting perspective of conditions there.

He didn't like the idea of Christmas Market tours because he felt it would be too repetitive.

I would have to agree. Don't get me wrong, I loved going to the Christmas markets when I lived in Germany. But at most, I would perhaps go to one or two a week. They were a nice break from the routine of everyday life, and even more enjoyable if I saw people I knew there. However, as noted previously, most Christmas markets sell exactly the same stuff, including food, drink, and merchandise. Although I always enjoyed them, only four really stand out in my mind- the markets of Lorsch, Heppenheim, Lindau and Oberstdorf. The former two, because I lived nearby and knew plenty of people there, the latter two, because of their fantastic settings (on the Bodensee harbor and under the shadow of the Alps, respectively) and because the merchandise was more artisinal than usual.

PS- The Frankfurt market was also memorable, but only because it suddenly became so mobbed on a Friday night that I had to carry my dog out through the crowd. Poor girl!

Thanks Andrea,

I look forward to seeing if he adds some shorter trips. Right now we are deciding between the Ireland 8 days and Madrid/Barcelona. Would be nice to have other options.

Andrea, Thanks for asking people here for questions, then letting us know the answers. So thoughtful of you!

Yes, thank you , Andrea.