Newsletter : MAY 2011

Travelling through 2011

Although we are well into the year and Easter is just a vague memory, we hope that your plans for 2011 are progressing well.

It is timely to release our first newsletter for the year highlighting events, tours and items which we hope are of interest.

Our plan is to release the newsletter at regular intervals - ensuring that they are not too wordy but are informative and interesting to our
clients and friends.

Let us know what you think.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your good wishes and hope we meet soon in an exotic destination.

Happy Travelling,

Geraldine & Gary

Most of our clients and enquiries reach us following their visit to our website.

Our earlier website had been in operation since 2007 and served us well in sharing information on our operation and the
tours and packages which we were offering.

But taking on board client feedback and our business goals we needed the Website to be fresher, clearer in layout,
easier to use and full of information regarding our tours and services.

And we wanted more photos of our tour locations and tour members.

So … as you see; our new website is to take us through the next few years.

This site includes a contact form which will make it even easier for you to send us your comments, make an enquiry
or just keep in touch.

You will also see links on many pages to our new Travel Journeys Facebook page - More information later in this newsletter.

Contact us if you are interested in any of these tours.... OR suggest to us any variations or options which you would be keen to explore.

We pride ourselves on being flexible enough to change or develop tour options quickly to suit our clients.

Tour members from our Italian Tours would have visited Mimma and Franca in their Chianti hills heaven.

We remember their warmth, intelligence, humour and wonderful cooking.

Earlier this year the sisters (and their American associate Elissa) visited Australia.

Whilst in Victoria they conducted cooking classes and hosted functions a both Red Hill and the Yarra Valley. Friends from earlier Travel Journeys tours were in attendance at both locations and enjoyed wonderful food, wine and company.

We attended the Yarra Valley dinner at De Bortoli winery with several of our tour friends . It was a marvellous evening. We loved seeing Mimma and Franca again,
and old friends.

And the mammas seemed delighted to see their old ozzie guests.

We even met new friends at the dinner who had their own attachments with the mammas and shared our love for, and stories of, them.

One gentleman at the dinner was celebrating his birthday and so the mammas quickly recognised this with their Italian “Tanti Auguri a te” .… We all sang along with many improvised lyrics… a great night.

Cruising for 2011 / 2012

There are some wonderful cruise options to complement your Travel Journeys tours or to enjoy as a
separate experience.

Recently we have investigated some exciting Uniworldriver cruises for our clients including:

Portugal - Spain and the Douro River Valley, Paris and Normandy, Burgundy and Provence.
There are some amazing savings for selected 2012 departures.
Book and pay before June 2011 - for 2012 as these are very popular cruises and availability is going fast.

Barges - Self drive or with a crew operate throughout Europe including Italy, Scotland, France, Germany
and more.

Check the website for more details.

Things to consider for 2012:
Voyages of Discovery. Dep. April 16
The Black Sea and Gallipoli.

Orion Expedition Cruises.
Kimberley expedition Darwin to
Broome. Dep. April - August 2012.

Cruising the Douro river Portugal

Show us your pictures

On our new website you will see a gallery page containing photos and images of tours, destinations and people.

We pride ourselves on mostly using our own photos and
would like to extend the selection of images to include photos taken by our tour members and friends.

So if you have any favourite shots taken on our tours, and
you would like to share them, email them through to us
and we will add them to the gallery.

A picture tells a thousand words so … show us your pictures.

Accommodation Options to consider..

In our travels we have been fortunate to discover some wonderful Hotels, Riads, Apartments etc.
which could make your journey special.

We publish details of some of these properties on our website and you can enquire and arrange
bookings through us.

We have access to many beautiful and practical properties but you can be confident that the ones
we present are known to us and we can vouch for their quality and value.

Below are a few such properties. Contact us if you are interested in them for your use.

ITALY - Tuscany - San Gimignano
Self contained Podere - Everyone who visits San Gimignano wants to spend more time there. This fabulous property is just 10 minutes walk from the walls of wonderous San Gimignano. A beautiful Tuscan Villa which would suit 8 people or two groups of 4 in two separate apartments.
Base yourself here, prepare your own meals of local produce and take in the local beauty and sights.

ITALY - Florence
A marvelous apartment very close to the Duomo and the Uffizi Galleries. The perfect base for any of your excursions around Florence. There are various apartment sizes and configurations so
contact us for guidance.

These are only a few of the extensive range of properties we intend to present.
Keep an eye on the website as we grow the list.