Lüneburg, Germany which is south of Hamburg, I think by about 1/2 hr / hr. ???

The other wonderful choice could be Lubeck which is northeast of the city.

Look up stuff on the internet. Easier than reading a book. Trip Advisor became my nightly visits! Lots on what to do before and aft.

I am also staying in Vienna area for the weekend after the tour. Traveling up the Danube to Melk and then on to Salsburg/Munich for the jet home, and traveling east to a castle and gardens on Fri. So much to see and do while in the area!

Had a couple people at the NAMM show express an interest in joining us.
I hope they do, but they will need to get their deposits in a.s.a.p.

More later when I get through the emails and stuff from NAMM.

lilylady you have the right idea. You will be in Europe anyway, make the best of it :-)

Come on folks, we have 17 people who have sent their deposits, but we would still love to have some more piano/music lovers join us.

You know this is a super special tour like no other.
Please join us, it's going to be a trip of a lifetime!

What happened to the number 30 that were reported committed? As I've said in the past we will never know if this trip happens unless people put their money where their mouth is.

Frank, when will you decide to "pull the plug" on doing this trip. The longer we're dangling out here the fewer the opportunities for us to make alternate travel plans. I don't want to get stuck with an airplane ticket if this trip doesn't happen!

Well, we've been told that if we have 15, that's enough to guarantee the trip, so that should be settled.

And your post reminded me of an example showing the difference between being involved and being committed. In a ham and eggs breakfast, the hen is involved, but the pig is committed.

See you in June.

From talking with Elle and Hills Travel, I understand the trip will happen. Frank, with your party, is the number of people 19? That would mean we have the middle price? I am very excited and really looking forward to it!!

Thanks Palindrome and Qtpi for your positive input. I really want to hear more from Frank and Elle. Nothing has been posted lately about the trip. Like the pig, I'm committed HOWEVER I don't want my "goose cooked" (in other words - no tour because there weren't the numbers needed to make it happen. And if it is a go I need to know how many dollars I have to have ready and by when. I'm just used to having more concrete information in hand - I'm getting uneasy about lack of details shared with potential participants.

Quite reasonable, given the date, in my opinion. Have you e-mailed Elle? She's been quite quick to respond to my questions.

The tour is definitely on.

Like anything of this type we've had people swear they were joining us, only to have to back out because of personal issues, job losses, etc..

That said there are still some people who we are hoping will come through from the original lists.

And we still have additional people interested in joining us, we will be happy to add them if they get their deposits in quickly.

We have 15 confirmed deposits, plus Kathy & myself.

I put it that way because as the tour organizers we were hoping to get a little break on our part of the tour.
I'm self employed and Kathy only works part time.

We were also hoping to reach the magic 19 number to drop the pricing for everyone.

However, any way you look at it, the tour is a go!

Anyone with questions is more than welcome to contact me and/or Elle (our travel agent) anytme. You can also contact the main Hill's Travel office in St. Petersburg (FL).

My email is frank_baxter@pianoworld.com
My phone number is the main Piano World number.

Elle is at:
Hill's Travel Service
Saint Petersburg, USA
Trier, Germany
P: (877) 845 7437 ­ toll free
F: (727) 896 7167
Email: elle@hillstravel.com

Looking forward to meeting everyone in Germany in June!

By all means, if you think you might no someone who would enjoy the tour, please tell them all about it and get them on board.

Thank you for the solid information, Frank. I needed to hear something like this because there had been little posting since the first of the year. I am looking forward to the great experience you have planned. Thank you for all your efforts. Terry

Terry- I understand. I must have asked at least 5 times is the tour definitely on before I got my airfare, because I did not want to lose the money I spent on that. Once I heard it's a go, I did get the air reservations and the travel insurance. I am hoping more people sign on, but I couldn't imagine a better trip- I love pianos and have always wanted to see Germany. I have been listening to the Pimmsleur German tapes and counting the days!

Kathy

Me too :-)

We had every intention from day one to make the tour work, but we had to reach a critical minimum number of commitments (read: sent money) before we could be absolutely sure.

We had quite a few people claim they were going, only to drop out for one reason or another. Thankfully it's all working out, and I do expect we'll have a few more people join yet. But even if we don't, we're going!

I'm as excited as anyone. I've never been to Europe, and I love pianos, so I'm like a little kid on Christmas morning.

Looking forward to meeting up with all of you in Germany.
And please do keep spreading the word, you never know who might decide to join us.

I am tempted, but realize I have a lot of expensive projects coming up this year. I really wish I could do it.

However, I for sure wish to join the group while they are in Vienna.

tnew, I wish you could join us for the entire tour, but at least we can meet up in Vienna.
Best idea would be to contact Elle, our travel agent about meeting up in Austria.

I have sent her an email and see what she says. I would love to join on the two days of tours and I am always happy for a visit to a Heuriger.

Sorry, Heuriger meaning wine garden restaurant, of which Grinzing is famous for.

I know that there was previous discussion about cell phones but I happened on this while surfing for info on Germany:

http://www.travel.org/cellphone-germany.html

Thanks Agilita,

Phones and Internet service in Europe concern me.
I realize Germany and many other countries have good service, but as this article points out that's primarily for residents.

I wonder if it would be better to use a high-speed Internet connection and Skype?

I'm afraid that I'm not techy enough to answer that. My two little granddaughters use Skype-their parents call the oldest one "the Skype monster". One night they were talking with their other grandmother in Boston and with an aunt who was in Guatemala at the time. They could all see and talk to one another. It amazes me.

The tour books very nice hotels that I would be shocked if they didn't have wireless internet. If I were on the tour, I would be using skype from my laptop. I have been very successful with skype last year with calls to Europe from Africa, S. America and even Asia. I personally think hotels should give free internet access, which more than half do. But a few hotels out there see it as a source of income and charge their guests per hour (means you get a password from the reception to access the connection). So, wifi is extensively spread over both austria and germany. I doubt you will have a problem.

Second preferred method is to use international calling cards (sometimes pre paid, sometimes rechargeable). They usually give a list of access numbers that allow you to make a single 'local call' to activate, and then charge you a per minute fee that is usually quite reasonable. You can get such cards within germany/austria, or maybe even find an international one in the US before you leave. I did this quite a bit in Argentina with great success. Bought 200 peso (30 euro?) card with local activation numbers which were free from the hotel room, dialed to Austria, and this gave me about 100 minutes of calling. Roaming would have cost me probably 6 euro or more a minute.

Thanks tnew, good information.

I've never been to Europe so this is all new to me.
I can't tell you how excited I am though to visit Austria and Germany.

And I already know I will want to go back and visit other countries (Italy and Ireland are on my "bucket" list). If I had the resources I would travel all the time. There are so many wonderful sights to see, and people to meet.

Although I love living in America, I sometimes envy you for living in Europe where you can access so many different cultures and so much history in such a short distance.

Thanks again, all advice is welcomed.

Best,

Frank B.
Piano World

Thanks Jim, good points.

And I agree, anyone who feels compelled to be on their iPhone/iPad/computer rather than take in all this trip has to offer, probably isn't on the right trip.

That said, I have nobody to run Piano World if I don't.
While we have very capable moderators on the forums, and I'm lucky to have a woman in CT who takes care of filling orders from our online store... I'm the person who runs Piano World.

I intend to keep my Internet time to a minimum (although I'll also be anxious to post about the tour), but I will definitely need to have access.

I have reserved a place for the two days in Vienna! Ok, true I have seen the sights before, but it's really the chance to get to know the people from PW that I look forward to.

That's great tnew, looking forward to meeting you!

Best,

Frank B.
Piano World

I assume that we're still supposed to have the next 25% installment due on March 1st? The same amount as the first deposit?

Thank you for posing this question. I'm tired of assumptions. I hear nothing from the travel agent and I have made my initial deposit and want to go on this trip. I don't believe I should have to keep begging the question. They should be sending invoices and keeping track of their clients.

Can someone please get the ball rolling on the way to go about doing professional business. They have my address and number and I hear nothing! I'm not a happy camper at this point.

Bachsky

+1

Bachsky,
I know Elle has sent out emails to everyone who signed up for the tour.
Are you saying you haven't received any of them?

Or are you saying you contacted her and she didn't reply?
I ask because I know she is very good about answering inquiries, usually within one day (have to allow a little time for the time difference, she is in Germany).

As for the payments, the schedule is posted in the pdf, and was sent in the emails she sent out before. The only thing that changed was we pushed back the initial deposit because we had a few people who needed to be sure they could join us before they sent their deposits in, which they did.

The rest of the schedule has not changed.

When I last heard from Elle (a couple of days ago) she said she was going to work on a new email this weekend and send it out this week. It would contain updates and details about the next payment.

I've also asked her (and the agency) to keep an eye on this thread. If she is she should see your post(s), if she isn't/doesn't I will remind her she agreed to watch this thread.

As I've mentioned before, if anyone feels they are not getting the response they expect from our travel agency, let me know. I will make sure you get the answers you are looking for. I have personally found them to be very responsive, as have others I've spoken with.

I've posted my contact info before, but if you don't have it, my direct email is frank_baxter@pianoworld.com my phone is the same as the main Piano World number (860) 741-2625 the agency emails and 800 #s are posted earlier in this thread.

I don't want anyone to feel they aren't being taken care of, every one of you are important to me and to the tour.

I want this to be a tour to remember, for all the right reasons.

Do not wait until you are perturbed about something, call the agency directly, email me, call me, whatever it takes.

I am on the road right now so I only have limited access to email and the internet, but I will be back in the office on Wednesday. In the meantime I'll try to keep an eye on things but I'm visiting my sister and she only has dial up.

With over 1000 emails to get through, on a slow computer, on a dial up connection, I'm not going to be able to keep up.

Keep a positive attitude folks, this is going to be a fun trip!

Frank,

Thank you for the positive response. I did hear from Elle today and she was most helpful. I'm sorry for my anxiousness, but I am used to more detail in print from the travel agents that I have worked with in the past.

I think I am squared away now.

I hope you have had a pleasant visit with your sister and that you won't be overwhelmed with a backlog of emails when you return.

Bachsky

I know there are stil a few people out there who would like to join us.
We can still get you in if you contact Elle or me right away.

This is not just a "piano tour", it is also an exciting and fun filled European tour that happens to be built around a love of pianos and music.

You will be traveling in comfort, with a guide and driver who know their way around. Your tour mates will all be folks like yourself who have an affection for the piano and for music.

You will have 12 full days of fun and adventure traveling through some of the prettiest and most historic areas of Germany and Austria.

Some of our tour members are even arriving early and/or leaving later to take in additional sights and sounds while they are in Europe.

Come on, you won't ever do it any younger!