If every city got blown up and all of the malls and department stores were reduced to rubble, then a shopping experience would look like what we experienced the other day. “This is after the radioactive dust has cleared and people start to collect again,” is what was running through my mind as I wandered […]
Category Archives: Europe Tours
Tipping in Germany
Tipping 20, 15 even as low as 10% of the bill in Germany is not required. What a relief for those who are tired of trying to figure out if a wait person earned it. Many who travel to Germany don’t know this. In Germany, unlike in America, waiters and waitresses don’t depend on tips […]
Follow August Adventures in Europe with European Focus Private Tours
August will be filled with travel and fun in Germany, Austria, Italy and Ireland. On August 4: Greg van der Werf arrives in Rothenburg ob der Tauber from California. Greg will be spending just over two weeks “goofing off” with European Focus Private Tours owner James Derheim in Berlin, Dresden, the Erzgebirge, Munich, Berchtesgaden, Schwangau […]
The Cruise industry versus small city charm
We will never, ever take a cruise. Don’t even tell us about your last one, because we hate, hate, hate what the cruise industry has done to once quaint towns and villages within reach of the nearest deep water port. Take Dubrovnik, Croatia for example. Now I have to be clear, we have never stepped […]
Building future adventures – Krk, Istria, Croatia
We spent the night of July 22 at the Hotel Malin on the island of Krk, Istria. We arrived in the middle of the afternoon and went promptly to our room, a pretty plain one with a balcony featuring an expansive view of the Adriatic. Room service was called, and we were soon enjoying plates […]
We’re building future adventures in Croatia right now
Jenean and Jim are spending the last half of July exploring new territory for European Focus clients in Croatia and Slovenia. We’re writing about the good, and the not so good, as we travel down roads that are new to us. This work is one of the most interesting that we do, and we hope […]
Building future adventures – Svetvincenat, Croatia
Among the handful of interesting places to see around our current home base of Barban is the castle village of Svetvincenat. Built in the 10th century around a small hill with a castle, the village square is considered to be one of the prettiest in Istria. Well, perhaps it could be one day. Right now, […]
Building Future Trips – Piran, Slovenia
Following our two-week adventure with the Cain family in Italy, we’re scouting in Slovenia and Croatia for the next week or so, building itineraries for 2012 and the future in these undiscovered (at least by European Focus) places. They sure aren’t “undiscovered” by the Germans. We feel as if we are in Little Germany in […]