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I also don't read too many details so we are surprised, but I wish we had skipped the waltz lesson! Hubby sent DD & I - he stayed back & packed. The dance studio was SO hot that I would have done better just soaking in that gorgeous Ritz Carlton or walking along the pedestrian shopping area in Vienna!

We actually stayed at the Spanish Riding School for a bit before returning to Schonbrunn for lunch and then touring Vienna on our own. We just bailed on the rest of the day after the Spanish Riding School visit.
 
It sounds like I am in the minority but I LOVED the waltz lesson. How often am I ever going to get a lesson on the Viennese waltz while in Vienna? I'm thinking maybe never again. I enjoyed the flow and rhythm and felt like I was gliding through the room. I would so love to dress up for and attend an actual Viennese waltz -- it's on the bucket list, not near the top, but definitely on there.
Now the puppet making? I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. And don't even get me started on the dinner on the last night. The guy who owned the restaurant? Oh my. There are no words for how *odd* he was. There were times when I wondered if we were going to ever get out of his basement of weird and bizarre things. And the hats he made us wear? Awful. I think the guides were trying to move us along but he wasn't having any of it. They literally lost total control of him. I believe they may have changed dinner on the last night and honestly anything would be better IMHO.
 
It sounds like I am in the minority but I LOVED the waltz lesson. How often am I ever going to get a lesson on the Viennese waltz while in Vienna? I'm thinking maybe never again. I enjoyed the flow and rhythm and felt like I was gliding through the room. I would so love to dress up for and attend an actual Viennese waltz -- it's on the bucket list, not near the top, but definitely on there.
Now the puppet making? I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. And don't even get me started on the dinner on the last night. The guy who owned the restaurant? Oh my. There are no words for how *odd* he was. There were times when I wondered if we were going to ever get out of his basement of weird and bizarre things. And the hats he made us wear? Awful. I think the guides were trying to move us along but he wasn't having any of it. They literally lost total control of him. I believe they may have changed dinner on the last night and honestly anything would be better IMHO.

I've done the Viennese Waltz, having taking ballroom lessons so didn't see the need to take the lesson in Vienna and my mom really wasn't into it so we opted to do our own thing. Plus the Riding School was on our bucket list so we wanted to spend more time there and not be rushed through shopping. As for the puppets, I can't speak to that. I was so disappointed in our tour of Schonbrunn that my mom told the guides we were done with the tour for the day and we stayed at the palace on our own and did the full audio tour and toured the extensive grounds. We even did a carriage ride around the grounds.

As for the last dinner, I believe they did move it to a different restaurant. My memory of that night is a bit foggy as I was in the midst of a major meltdown/panic/anxiety attack brought about by one of the guides but I do remember a room on the main floor with signatures on the walls but no weird hats or anything. Our last dinner was such a horrible experience, which was not the fault of the restaurant, that we wish we'd never gone. We should have gone back to the steakhouse at the Ritz instead. Although if we ever do make it back to Vienna, which I am hoping to do, we would like to dine in that final dinner restaurant to actually enjoy the restaurant for itself. We'll just make sure it's not on a night when ABD is there. One experience with them in that restaurant was enough.
 
It sounds like I am in the minority but I LOVED the waltz lesson. How often am I ever going to get a lesson on the Viennese waltz while in Vienna? I'm thinking maybe never again. I enjoyed the flow and rhythm and felt like I was gliding through the room. I would so love to dress up for and attend an actual Viennese waltz -- it's on the bucket list, not near the top, but definitely on there.
Now the puppet making? I didn't enjoy it nearly as much. And don't even get me started on the dinner on the last night. The guy who owned the restaurant? Oh my. There are no words for how *odd* he was. There were times when I wondered if we were going to ever get out of his basement of weird and bizarre things. And the hats he made us wear? Awful. I think the guides were trying to move us along but he wasn't having any of it. They literally lost total control of him. I believe they may have changed dinner on the last night and honestly anything would be better IMHO.

The reason we didn't care for the waltz lesson was the room was unbearably HOT. Loved watching the professional dancers and it was fine for a few steps to try, but it got to the point I had to sit down I was so overheated. DD had an instructor who was EXTREMELY serious, and extremely sweaty. She tried her best, but after he kept sternly correcting her, all she could think of was how to get some fresh air, since he apparently was less than fragrant! :crazy2:

The marionette making was interesting, but they are still in the shipping packaging, three years later.

They have changed the dinner location - probably BECAUSE of the owner. "There are no words for how odd he was" - is a perfect way to describe him!! :rotfl2:

Unfortunately we didn't get to tour the Riding School because there was a special Gala going on - but we definitely want to return to Vienna. I'd even do Central Europe ABD again - The Sound of Music time was priceless for us.
 


I think ABD is a great tour company - for families. Not for adults who don't want to travel with children.

I couldn't disagree more :) We are about to take our 7th ABD together with a grown Mom/Daughter pair that we met on our very first ABD 14 trips ago. The majority of our trips are adults only... my son many times has been the only young person. In China he was the ONLY kid in our group of 30+. And when he's grown and not traveling with us, we'll still take the ABDs just the two of us! Cooking activities are on of our favorite things... let me get my hands in some dough and make pretzels. We do that here at home. hahaha
 
The reason we didn't care for the waltz lesson was the room was unbearably HOT. Loved watching the professional dancers and it was fine for a few steps to try, but it got to the point I had to sit down I was so overheated. DD had an instructor who was EXTREMELY serious, and extremely sweaty. She tried her best, but after he kept sternly correcting her, all she could think of was how to get some fresh air, since he apparently was less than fragrant! :crazy2:

The marionette making was interesting, but they are still in the shipping packaging, three years later.

They have changed the dinner location - probably BECAUSE of the owner. "There are no words for how odd he was" - is a perfect way to describe him!! :rotfl2:

Unfortunately we didn't get to tour the Riding School because there was a special Gala going on - but we definitely want to return to Vienna. I'd even do Central Europe ABD again - The Sound of Music time was priceless for us.
We booked the Central Europe trip for next summer just so I can get my fill of Sound of Music nostalgia! <3 <3 <3
 
Here we are with our favorite travel buddies on the China ABD in October! <3 They said they like the family adventures best even though one is a lawyer and the other a retired school teacher :) They don't travel with kids but we've done a bunch of ABDs together (we get to see them next week on the Rhine and I can't wait!)
 

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We booked the Central Europe trip for next summer just so I can get my fill of Sound of Music nostalgia! <3 <3 <3[/QUOT

The last Von Trapp sibling just passed away up here in Vermont. Their Von Trapp lodge is really nice in Stowe Vermont and the grandson now brews their own label beer up there. The food in the restaurant is really good and the beer has an Austrian flair. You will love Saltzburg. Beautiful city.
 
my last ABD (adult trip) had 35 guests and at 53 I was within the youngest 10. Probably within the youngest 6 or 7.
 
We booked the Central Europe trip for next summer just so I can get my fill of Sound of Music nostalgia! <3 <3 <3
If you love Sound of Music, you will be thrilled! I wish we had more time in Salzburg - it was so beautiful. It was so much fun to watch the movie again (we watch it every year!) after being there! The "I have Confidence" and "Do-re-mi" scenes always bring "we were there! we were there!" shouts from DD and I.
 
Just wanted to share that I received a super nice gift from Nat Geo yesterday. It's a copy of t their hard back "Covers" book that includes pictures of some of Nat Geo's most iconic magazine covers. I'm not positive, but I think it's a gift they sent to travelers in their loyalty program (who have taken at least three Nat Geo trips) who traveled with them in 2017. I've included a picture of the book. I thought it was a really nice touch. Also, both CaliforniaGirl09 and I received a bounceback offer of $500 off per person for up to two people for booking a trip before the end of the year. My family already has a 2018 trip booked with Nat Geo, but I believe CaliforniaGirl is strongly considering the offer for a trip with her DD. Because I have done three Nat Geo trips now with Patagonia completed, I will already be receiving $1,000 off of our 2018 Peru trip ($250 discount per person, even though my husband has only done one Nat Geo trip and my kids haven't done any yet!).

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Just wanted to share that I received a super nice gift from Nat Geo yesterday. It's a copy of t their hard back "Covers" book that includes pictures of some of Nat Geo's most iconic magazine covers. I'm not positive, but I think it's a gift they sent to travelers in their loyalty program (who have taken at least three Nat Geo trips) who traveled with them in 2017. I've included a picture of the book. I thought it was a really nice touch. Also, both CaliforniaGirl09 and I received a bounceback offer of $500 off per person for up to two people for booking a trip before the end of the year. My family already has a 2018 trip booked with Nat Geo, but I believe CaliforniaGirl is strongly considering the offer for a trip with her DD. Because I have done three Nat Geo trips now with Patagonia completed, I will already be receiving $1,000 off of our 2018 Peru trip ($250 discount per person, even though my husband has only done one Nat Geo trip and my kids haven't done any yet!).

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Only one member of the household has to be a loyalty member in order for everyone in the house to take advantage of the discount. I asked about this when we were booking our South East Asia trip last year.
 
I loved my second NatGeo hiking trip so much that I just signed up for my third! Dd18 and I will be doing Macchu Picchu Inn to Inn in late August. I already can't wait! I'll make sure to report back, but I've heard great things about this one from fellow travelers on my recent Patagonia trip. NatGeo gave me a great bounce back type of offer for $500 per person off if I booked by 12/31. Too good a deal to resist!
 
I loved my second NatGeo hiking trip so much that I just signed up for my third! Dd18 and I will be doing Macchu Picchu Inn to Inn in late August. I already can't wait! I'll make sure to report back, but I've heard great things about this one from fellow travelers on my recent Patagonia trip. NatGeo gave me a great bounce back type of offer for $500 per person off if I booked by 12/31. Too good a deal to resist!

We took advantage of a similar offer. They were offering $750 off the Zambia trip if we booked before the end of March 2017. Nowhere did it say we had to travel by the end of 2017 so we were able to apply it to our trip for 2018.
 
Back in October, my husband and I did a week long tour with Tauck of the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Rome. We did a small group tour (24 people) and we were the youngest there. It was amazing. I would probably stick to the smaller groups so that it doesn't get much larger than 24 people. More than that would just feel like too much to handle.

The hotels were top of the line - staying at Le Agavi in Positano, Quisisana in Capri and Hotel Majestic in Rome. I have no problems with any of them and would gladly stay at them again if life ever takes me back to those areas of the world!

Highlights:
1) The after-hours tour of the Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel. It was only our group and another Tauck group there so we only have 50 people total in the Sistine Chapel with us. We also got to walk through the hall of Tapestries, Maps, Statues and some other ancient relics.
2) The in depth tour of Pompeii. Italy requires that a local licensed guide is used for tour groups which helps provide character to the tour in addition than your Tauck tour guide. The ones they used for the tour were excellent and you knew they had been doing this a while as they kept the group engaged and didn't need "flags" to keep a group together.
3) The mix of planned activities and down time. We felt there was enough going on each day that helped you really explore the area but you still got some on your own time in each city to do what mattered to you. This allowed us to visit on our own the Bone Church in Rome, Villa Jorvis in Capri and St Maria Domo in Positano. The major highlights were taken care of in manners where you didn't feel like you were being cattle herded and truly experience it. Their planned activities forced me to see things we may have missed otherwise like the demonstration of the wood layering for furniture, Villa San Michelle, Villa Ruffalo,
4) Getting to walk through the Gladiator's Entrance at the Colosseum. Not everyone gets to enter the colosseum that way and it gives you great perspective of it.
5) After the tour, they sent us a Vatican Museum book which had some amazing photos and articles about their collection.
6) Our tour guide. She had been with the company for many years and was such a great storyteller without being over bearing. She made sure she talked to everyone and found out interests about them.

Lowlights:
1) In Capri, we had a lecture in someone's private home about Italian Society. This could be personal taste but I found it really odd to be in someone's home for them to talk about Italians when she's an ex-pat of another country. The homemade wine she provided was good though!
2) The restaurant post Pompeii. The food was just bad! I would have rather us traveled somewhere else but I get they want to feed you immediately after that walking tour of Pompeii since it did take a bit.

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We've booked another Tauck Tour for 2019 - 13 Nights through Normandy, Brittany, Loire Valley and Paris. We'll also will add a day where we stay at a winery partner with my husband's work and then head to Disneyland Paris as it should be the weekend of the Disneyland Paris Half Marathon. The "Gift of Time" offer will be saving us $1300 for the additional night at the super fancy Paris hotel at the end of the trip.
 
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