Piano World Home Page Forums Fun Stuff! - Parties, Tours, Projects & More... Forum Members Parties, Tours, Cruises, & Meetings Piano & Music Lovers Tour - Europe 2011 - JOIN US!

If you really want to promote this tour, post the tour page link http://www.pianoworld.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/1474102.html on Facebook. That's what I did.

A thought, but I'd rather have real people joining us.
Believe me there are lots of people on the sidelines trying to decide if this should be their big trip. Look at the itinerary folks, of course it should you should join us!

Some people are even planning on arriving early and/or leaving later to visit other places while they are in Europe. In fact Kathy and I are considering staying a little extra to jump up to Estonia so we can visit our friend Indrek's piano shop.

Agree 100%. And I do think we will have significantly more enthusiasts join us. My wife and I are really looking forward to this trip!

TIP:

Watch for flight savings.

I have been watching for a few weeks. Checked Expedia, Travelocity, Trip Advisor and the airlines themselves.

I was surprised to see that Travelocity today was just the best I have seen for my first choice. - almost $300 savings over the airlines themselves.

Also note the changes in time. Leave USA Sat, get there Sun. I had to book for Fri leaving to get there on Sat. If I left on Sat I would not have arrived until Sunday later than our Sun beginning outing.

Yes I will need to book an overnight on Sat in Hamburg but better to have that and another day to enjoy Germany than to pay the airlines for a Sat expensive flight, right?

If anyone else has Sat free, let me know. I might enjoy traveling around with you!

BTW, I am not comfortable with paying extra price for a single with this tour. More on that later.

By the way everyone, you should know that Udo Steingraeber and his family are postponing the start of their vacation just to accommodate us.

I told him they didn't need to do that, he insisted.

A real gentleman and a great representative of the family business.

This is Udo with with his C212

Udo is so classy that I bet he'll gift us all with a new 212 and the rest of you will be sooooo jealous!

(she dreams!!!)

I'm gonna need a bigger carry-on.

Frank- is Hills travel teh same travel group who arranges the cruises?

No, the cruise was arranged by a guy I ran into while we were driving to Key West one weekend, his is a one person operation.
Although he did ok, for a number of reasons I will not be using him next time.

We chose Hills because they have experience in Europe and in fact have people over there (and they are based in St. Petersburg, FL 20 minutes from my house). They have a good reputation and seem to really know their stuff.

Just a small pointer, your picture titled "Bayreuth" on the first page does in fact show a picture of lovely Heidelberg, also my hometown! Pictured is the Heidelberg castle: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heidelberg_Castle

May I suggest this picture of Bayreuth as a replacement?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Marktplatz_Bayreuth.JPG

Oops, thanks Bunneh good catch.

I had done a search on Google/Images and presumed it was Bayreuth.
I'll make the switch.
Love your home town though :-)

Frank, do we know yet what hotel we are staying at in Vienna? I am booking an extra night and trying to confirm arrangements for the extended two days.

I am extending on both ends.

Hamburg arrival will be Sat. Two wonderful smaller towns have been explored online to do that day. Lubeck northeast and Luneburg just south. Both should take 30-45 public transportation. I have chosen to go to Luneburg and stay overnight at a hotel on the river there.

Vienna area intrigues me so I will stay 2 days and leave from Munich on Sunday. First day, Fri, to the east is a wonderful castle with beautiful formal gardens recently restored. Should be a quiet day after the hustle bustle of the tour.

Then my piece de resistance is a tour on the Danube from Melk (abbey) to Durnstein or Kelms, which will take all of Sat. I'll return to Melk overnight with a train to Salzburg in the morn with lunch there and a short tour of something we might have missed and then onto Munich for the flight home at 4.

These might be of interest to others.

Hi LL,
Good question, I don't know yet, I'll have to check with Hill's.

We are thinking of extending a day or two also, might jump up to Estonia to visit
Indrek's place. Cutting it close though as they start their holiday on Sat.

BTW, anyone who is going (or interested in going) is welcome to contact Hill's
directly too if you have any questions. They are more than happy to help.
(see below)Just make sure you tell them it's about the Piano World European Tour.

Tour Arrangements Made Through Hills Travel, St. Petersburg, FL

Hill's Travel Service has been around for over 80 years helping make travel
dreams come true. With personal relationships with thousands of airlines,
cruise lines, hotels, resorts and premier destinations worldwide, you are
guaranteed the best pricing and service available. To learn more about Hills Travel or to contact them with questions...
visit www.hillstravel.com or contact Kimberly Winters at 727-896-7161 or
Kimberly@hillstravel.com .

i have checked, and they won't take one of my kidneys

My wife and I are considering this trip (Charles and Juliana Kraver from Chandler AZ). How close to the start point (Hamburg) or the stop point (Vienna) is Paris (I have a sister living there) or Brustles (I have a brother living there). I should probably just google map this question. What VISA stuff do US citizens with a passport need to travel in the EU?

My mother-in-law has also shown interest (Jia Hui Wang from Chandler AZ/Shanghai China). She has is a Chinese citizen with a US green card. What VISA stuff would she need to travel in the EU?

Do any of the committed or definite maybes speak Mandarin, Shanghaiese or Cantonese? Her english if very limited. Obviously my wife could translate but it would add to the experience if others spoke one of these Chinese dialects. Plus it might provide her an obvious roommate.

Hi Chuck,

That's wonderful, we would love to have you, your wife, and your mother-in-law join us on the tour.

I would recommend checking with our travel agent, I know if they don't have the answers they will certainly get them for you. I've also asked them to monitor this thread to help us answer any questions.

Contact Kimberly Winters at 727-896-7161 or Kimberly@hillstravel.com .

I intend to create a list soon with as many of the details as I can about things like the visa, electric adapters, cell phone use, wireless Internet access, etc.

There are actually some pretty good suggestions and facts in the thread I started a while back about

Learning German for the Trip

Please let me know when I can add your names to the list of people joining the tour.

Hi Chuck,

I did check with our Travel Agency, our agency contact in Germany provided the following...

==================================================================
Regarding the questions of Charles and Juliana Kraver here the answers:

- Vienna and Hamburg are both not close to Paris: Vienna is about 11 hours ride and Hamburg about 7 (train or car)

- Brussels is a little bit closer - 5 h 30min from Hamburg and 10h from Vienna

- for US citizens a visa is not required for a stay of up to 90 days

- as far as the visa requirements for Chinese are concerned I would kindly ask to contact the Chinese Embassy

- I am not aware if any of the participants speak Mandarin, Shanghaies or Cantonese

Please let me know if I can assist Charles and Juliana any further.


Best regards,


Elle

Hill's Travel Service

Saint Petersburg, USA

Trier, Germany

P: (877) 845 7437 – toll free
F: (727) 896 7167
Email: elle@hillstravel.com
=========================================================
Also Chuck I would add that I hope everyone who plans to join the tour, or is even thinking about it will keep an eye on this thread (and by all means let us know as soon as you decide so we can get you on the list). We may come up with someone yet who can help to make your mother-in-law's participation more pleasant (no mother-in-law jokes now people).

In spite of the german "no speed limit" on the Autobahn that seems quite optimistic to me and probably is calculated without the necessary breaks (and european traffic jam).

These are more or less the distances by car.
Hamburg - Paris : 900 km.
Hamburg - Brussels : 600 km.
Vienna - Paris : 1200 km.
Vienna - Brussels : 1100 km.

We are on the fence, only because we have just purchase a new home. With this tidbit of information, I am certain we will move to the "going" list; and please add my mother-in law, Cathy to the list. Could we get an update on where we are number wise?
Thanks
Carl