Hi Sue,
The trip was really beautiful.  Predominantly because of your efforts - everything worked like clock work. We are thrilled. Can't wait to plan the next one :)
Here are the details:
1.   Flight was uneventful and smooth. On the return flights, I was able to talk to the Delta Folks in Paris and get seats next to each other - could not do anything in Madrid since the Air France folks could not change seats for the delta flight. Note to myself - do not go with Hindu vegetarian in KLM. The boiled-vegetables-and-white-rice option was not good at all. Need to figure out what other option KLM has when we fly KLM again.
2.   Vegetarian food was a problem in Spain. There was only so much veggie paella we could eat. I like Paella and now I don't want to see Paella for a long time now because I ate it too much. Veggie pizza was the other option and some random pastas and sandwiches. In general, there needed to be quite a big of walking around and hunting before figuring out food options. Never had that problem in Italy. Figured out that 'Verdura' means vegetarian. 
3.   Felt the language barrier a LOT more in Spain than in Italy - though the english speaking and response quotient was about the same. Need to think more about that.
4.  Your choice of locations for the hotels were OUTSTANDING. We were so impressed and so grateful. Thanks so much!

Barcelona:
1.   The tours were well organized though clearly the guides gave English less emphasis.  When they are doing explanations in three languages, it was evident that the same level of info was not given out in English. All 4 guides (Barcelona city, Barcelona artistic, montserrat, sagrada familia) were reasonably good. The first one - I believe her name was Angelina - was the best. She was excited about what she was talking about and so did the lady - her name was Anna I think - who did the Sagrada Familia tour. The other two (Fernando - and I cannot remember the name of the montserrat guy) had a lot of "ho hum. Have done this before" mood to them  - or maybe that came through in the English only and their excitement came through in Spanish and French which of course, we did not get. Julia travels in Barcelona was very professional - they had all the tours organized well.  The only small issue was that it was not clear where to meet the tour group. The directions said "Gran Via intersection Calle Bruc" but did not mention that there was a travel agent's office (WAMOS) a little way into Calle Bruc where we supposed to go and not the actual intersection. We had some tense moments because time was running out and we were waiting on the intersection. Eventually someone coming to the supermarket next door knew that there was a travel agent's office in the area and suggested we should look there and of course it was the right place. We were literally about 50 feet away. If the text had said "Go to Wamos travel agent office at this intersection", it would have saved us some tension.
2.   H10 Casanova Hotel. Brilliant location. Helpful Staff.  Particularly a lady whose first name was 'Mar'.  Great room. Wifi was good. Pick up from Airport was perfect. GREAT breakfast - the best of the trip. Called us a cab for the trip to the train station on the 25th. Great experience.Best hotel of the trip.
3.   Montserrat was stunning - there was a fog that kept lifting and coming back that added to the overall mood of the place. We walked around Barcelona and took the subway and all of that. 
4.   The Flamenco was OUTSTANDING.  We were floored. We went back and googled the artists and found that the lead dancer was Karime Amayya - the grand niece of Carmen Amayya ! Oh wow! That was wonderful. Thanks so much. The food at Tablao Cordobes was great.  Attached is a picture of the two of us over there.

Seville:
1.   Pickup and drop off at train station was perfect. They were OK with the later pickup on the way out which was great.
2.   Don Paco: Older hotel and it showed but the location was perfect. It was totally fine for us. Staff was helpful. Wifi was reasonable. Breakfast was also reasonable but clearly not as good as H10.  
3.  Seville day tour with Alcazar: Guide was Lola. She did the explanations in three languages and I could not tell where one language ended and the other began. When she talked on the bus, it was nearly impossible to figure out the english. However, when we were walking around, she turned to us to speak in English - things were much clearer at that point and she was very sweet. But once again, it was a bit of a script rendering type situation than being excited about it. It served the purpose though. She told us enough to be intrigued and go back to the room and google the rest :) . The alcazar  part of it was done by another guide. They split us into english and non-english speaking and English was given a different guide - Manuel. It made a world of difference. He was good and he was clearly very interested in what he was talking about.
4.   We were so excited by Flamenco and we found another local location and got tickets for another show on the night of the 25th since all we had done that day was travel by train. Walking distance from Don Paco and highly reputed. It was quite wonderful but not the same as the Barcelona show. Different style - more music oriented. Guitarist was awesome. We enjoyed it thoroughly.
5.   Granada/Alhambra - amazing. Irene the guide who took us there spoke excellent English and Noella (?) who did the actual alhambra tour - all in English - was clearly the best of the lot. She was very passionate about what she spoke about and had a great sense of humor. Not the best control over english - but it did not matter. It was enough to convey the point and the enthusiasm was infectious. Of course, the place was outstanding.
6.   I kept thinking they might take us into the actual neighborhoods in andalucia which have the white walls and tiled roofs - but that never happened. There was enough time and the trip to city center in Granada was pointless - location was a dud. There was really nothing to walk around and not really good restaurants or anything. That part could be done better.
Seville was my favorite. Somehow it felt homey and nice. If I were to visit Spain again, I would want to spend more time in Seville and Andalucia in general.

Madrid.
1.   Car pickup AND drop off was excellent. The airport pickup was a bit tricky because the street in front of Hotel Regina was blocked because it leads into Puerto Del Sol where the new years's eve celebrations were to happen 31st night and we left 31st morning at 4:00. We called the driver the night before and they confirmed they would handle it and they did. Very efficient and helpful.
2.   Hotel Regina. The room they first allocated to us was terrible. It was in the middle of the hotel - like a matchbox in the middle of a stack of matchboxes. Very dark and dumpy and the only window - a very small one at that - opened out to look at the HVAC pipes. I asked them for a change and the only other option they had was even worse where the bed was against a half wall with a completely glass walled bathroom behind it. Very weird design. The only option was to get an upgrade - 20 Euros per day - and I took the option. It was well worth it. Great room. Very nicely done - still have issues with the all-glass bathrooms - but it was eventually alright.  The problem with this hotel is that the walls are not very well sound proofed. I am very sensitive to sound and we had very noisy neighbors the first night. It was a combination of them running the TV at top volume - could hear it in the corridors - AND the thin walls.  I could not sleep until they turned the TV off and that was at like 1:00 AM.  This was the first night. I told the front desk about it the next day morning and they said they would do something about it. I don't know what happened - but it was quiet the next two nights and I could sleep :).  Breakfast was reasonable. After the H10 experience, nothing else compared as well - hotel wise.Location was GREAT. Staff was very very helpful.
3.   Madrid day trip guide spoke decent english - but time management was a bit off. I am not able to recollect her name. I think it was Christina. Finding the location where to meet the tour group was better - because of our experience in Barcelona. Since this was organized by Julia travels, we looked for a travel agent's office - just following the same pattern. And it was again a Wamos office. It was not mentioned in the document though.
4.   The same guide did the Royal Palace tour and it was like she was completely a different person because she had a smaller group and she could devote more time and she liked talking about it. It was very well done.
5.   Toledo day trip. The guide was Carlos. He spoke very softly and with three languages and 50 people around him, we could not hear a thing. There were enough english speaking people to warrant a separate guide and this trip DESPERATELY needed a ear-piece and mic system like they had in Barcelona for Sagrada Familia and for the Alhambra in Granada. We gave up on the guide because there was no way we could hear him unless we were right in front of him and about 2 feet away from him which was not possible with narrow streets and places and literally 50 people - we counted. The major feedback for this trip is that with this many people, there had to be a sound system. It was a bit of a damper. But the place itself was quite wonderful. This was also organized through Julia Travels and Wamos I think.
So there it is - our report so to speak.
THANKS SO MUCH Sue!! We are absolutely thrilled and your arrangements were just simply outstanding. Your experience and thoughtfulness and just overall efficiency and knowledge shone through in every little detail. Thanks so much! 
Spain was wonderful - but I cannot get over the Italy trip. If I have a chance to go back - it will be to Italy first and then Spain. We will definitely be going back to Italy at some point :)
Until the next trip then :)
-Vinod

Hi Sue,
Really sorry its taken this long to get back to you. Catching up to life after being gone for a month is rough. Had so much to do and so much to still do. Any who.
The trip was awesome, we had tons of fun, yeah it was unfortunate we couldn't do helihike. I have not checked on the refund yet its on my long list of to do's.
 New Zealand is a wonderful place, we enjoyed its very much. Our favorite place was Queenstown, that view from that hotel room was amazing, and there is so much to do there, not to mention the fergburgers... so good. The trail was beautiful, I still have to look over all my pictures but i hope i captured its beauty.
If we had to do it again I think we would skip the cultural stuff in rotorua, we would definitely have spent less time in Fiji and more time in New Zealand. After a couple of days it got really boring to be secluded from society. 
One thing that struck me as odd is that we were charged for parking at the hotels. I would have expected the travel package people to have included that since they provided the car.
I cant think of anything else. Let me know if you have any specific questions but overall it was an awesome trip. Oh the Hobbiton was great too, I think any fan would really enjoy that.
Thank you so much for help us with this.
-Ernie

Loved it. Had a great time on The Ghan, Darwin and Sydney were amazing. 
Betty

Thanks Sue,
All is fabulous!  Hotel selection was AWESOME.  Great work as always! 
Adam

Hi Sue
Glad you wrote me. Was just thinking of contacting you.
Overall the trip was wonderful. We enjoyed Sydney both times. Brisbane is pleasant but definitely not a main destination for an American tourist. Lady Elliot Island was a terrific little resort, but definitely for people who want the "eco" experience (the island was built from bird poo and smells like it. plus the birds never stop making noise).  The staff is wonderful and it was great to be in this remote location. The stars were fantastic and the flight to the island was the best of my life with the plane going down for us to look at the breaching humpback whales and to get better view of the manta rays swimming around the island.  I did have an emergency experience there, however. I accidentily breathed water while snorkeling and had to be evacuated from the island by helicopter.  I'll be fine (still recovering from pneumonia), but I do need some kind of itemized receipt showing what I paid for LEI (for both of us) to put in travel interruption claim with insurance.  I think 1 night about $490 U.S.?  We lost 1 night/2 meals at resort.
The good news is that after overnight at hospital in Hervey Bay they declared me healthy and I felt fine so we didn't have to change any other plans. Wayoutback Safari was great.  The accommodations were better than expected (real beds; showers/toilets easily available) and our guide/driver was also a great cook.  The guests only had to help with the clean up which amounted mostly to washing one's own dishes.  No big deal. The parks were beautiful and we enjoyed great swims and walks and Aboriginal experience/art. Also did canoeing in Katherine Gorge. The Darwin tour was interesting.
If I had to do over again I would have somehow skipped Brisbane, had less time in Darwin, spent more time in Sydney, added Cairns/the rainforest.  But hey, that will be next time!
Transfers all worked, but we had difficulty contacting the Sydney company at night.
Please send me documentation for what I paid for LEI so that I can make a claim with insurance.
I'd be happy to chat about my experiences in case you have questions/need ideas for other clients.
Best regards,
Carolyn

Hi Sue
Sorry for our slow reply but we have been busy since getting back. Overall the trip was great. Flights were good. Hotels were good. The Intercontinental in Sydney was great. The Port Douglas hotel was cute and great location.
The Adelaide hotel was little tired.  Good location, but showing age, etc, even though they had a recent upgrade.
The tours were good.
We cancelled the bridge walk, since it was raining heavy and decide it was not worth the stress of high, wet walk!
The Barrier Reef tour was good, although crowded (big boat with a lot of people).  Rain Forest tour was excellent.
The weather was wet in Adelaide which messed up the tours somewhat. The Aboriginal tour was poor.  We basically drove around talking with the guide.  The guide lacked a real sense of knowledge and experience - and wet weather did not help.
The city tour was good but weather was cold and windy, but they did a good job making it flexible. The wine tours was well done and enjoyable. The Kangaroo Island tour went well, with an excellent guide and great homestead experience. The Holiday inn in Sydney was good location but hotel was very basic.  Again, wet weather did not help.
Overall we had a great time and appreciate your advice and arrangements.
When we do another trip (maybe parts of Europe) we will contact your group for advice and planning.
Thanks again
Peter Robertson

Hi Sue,
Thank you so much for the email. Our trip was amazing and I would like to thank you and your team for putting together such as great itinerary. We enjoyed everyminute of our #roadtripaustralia2016. I cannot imagine it could have been any better. We are looking forward to our next trip downunder in a few years. I will certainly be reaching back out to you to book that for us. 
Thanks again!
Shana Duthie
Duthie Consulting Group

Hi Sue 
Just a quick note to let you know all went well with our trip. Rick had everything organised from initial arrival in Guayaquil to our departure. 
Event was good with a great group of people participating.
Cheers
Robert and Melissa

​Hi Sue,
The trip went well, thank you.  The transfers went smoothly, the hotel was in a great location, and the race was wonderful. The couple who drove to/from the airport were terrific, I enjoyed talking with them.  I loved Buenos Aires, it was beautiful, I had plenty of time to wander around and see everything.  Thanks for your help in arranging the trip!
Best,
Staci Dietzel

We are back from Africa safe and sound. Although we are digging out from under a huge backlog of work we wanted to thank you right away for the WONDERFUL vacation experience in South Africa! As you promised, it was truly amazing travel. Seeing the diversity and quantity of wildlife in Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana was breathtaking. Your choices for accommodations were perfect. Through 16 separate flights, multiple boat and car transfers, etc… we were only ever delayed once for a half hour. Please extend our thanks to Edgeway Travel and Nature Friends for making Karen, Annamarie, and myself feel safe and comfortable the whole time we were there. Once settled we will forward some photos and comments on our adventures to you. Thanks again for everything.  ​

Thanks so much for all your efforts to make this trip possible -- without you finding Selena, we would not have had Nara and Baagii as our guide and driver (and wrestling coach). The two of them "made" our trip. Spending 16 days together driving from the bottom of Mongolia to the top, we got to know one another very well! There was no way the trip could have been better!

Sue, thank you so much for your experience, your guidance, your patience, and your research and connections -- I am sure this trip would not have been possible without your able and professional assistance.

Sue, We got back last night and had a fabulous time!!!! Things went very smoothly. We really appreciated our itinerary guidelines and the maps you provided. Thank you so much for such a memorable vacation - one we REALLY enjoyed.  ---Noelle

Florence was an amazing city. Three different running clubs came together and had a week of delightful days. The group feasted, danced, saw the many artistic wonders and of course ran the 2002 Florence Marathon together. ---Sheila, Snail's Pace Running Club

Steve Kashynski, James Butler, Tim Hood, Mike Whelan, Jerry Wirz, Kate Lane, and I joined three OCTCers and other adventurers to spend a week in Ireland at the end of October in less than desirable weather conditions: cold, rain, and fog! But that wasn't Sue Rudolph's fault; she planned a flawless and enjoyable holiday in the "forty shades of green" Ireland. --- Alan, Snail's Pace Running Club

Our trip was fantastic.The Penquins at Phillips Island, the tennis, which was first class all the way, Melbourne, Canberra was awesome.We saw all the diplomats' homes and went hiking there,the War Museum and National Library. The Bay of Fires was good and not as hard as Cradle Mountain. The hut was outstanding (Paul thinks it must have cost 2 million to build.) Bondi Beach was OK and Sydney was great as always!! Thank you so much for all your efforts. Thanks again, Sue. --- Kathryn

Dear Sue: I've been asked to make several presentations about our trip to Africa last month, and I thought you might like to see the slide I'm including to recognize all your help in making such wonderful arrangements for us. I gave the first presentation yesterday, and the audience seemed far more interested in my marathon and mountain climb than in economics. I may have to change careers and become an adventurer. You can be sure I'll be counting on you to arrange all my travels. Thanks again, Sue, for giving us an "absolutely amazing" experience.  --- Jim

Dear Sue: What a great trip we had to Africa. The trip turned out as well as it did because of TSA and all they did to make our trip to Africa so special. Their safari guide, Martin, was exceptional. And the Mt. Kili team that took us up was terrific. I'll be writing several articles about our trip and will be sure to acknowledge the great job TSA did as well as your work in getting everything all set up.  --- Jim Doti

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for such wonderful planning, reservations, etc., for the Australia portion of our trip. Everything was SUPERB!!!! Your suggestions and your itinerary were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed Australia. Our favorite part was Kangaroo Island. The Wilderness Lodge was wonderful and located perfectly for our needs. Everyone was extremely friendly and very helpful. Incidentally, the group you chose for us to go with the the Great Barrier Reef was among the best if not THE best to go with. You chose Poseidon Tours and they couldn't have been more accommodating.  Again, thank you so very much for all of your help.  ---Fondly, Barbara

Thank you so much for everything in helping us plan out this trip - we had an incredible time!! 

Just FYI - Ian and Joy at the Farmstay were FANTASTIC and Joy is the best cook ever! I highly recommend that experience to anyone you send to New Zealand going forward. The room we had was gorgeous with our own deck and private living room area. It was magnificent! Also, the Chateau in Tongariro was stunning!  ​--- Lauren

Sue, We are already talking about going back. On a scale of 1-10 you planned a Ten for us. We cannot thank you enough!  --- Kathryn

Again-thank you, I told my mom that I don't know what I would do without you....you are a God's send! Thanks so much!  --- Zsuzsi

The trip to Ireland was well organized, inexpensive, and a lot of fun. It was billed as European three star accommodations but delivered at least four star hotels. It allowed us to run a great Marathon in Dublin and experience a fun tour of Ireland. I highly recommend Sue as a travel agent and a bus tour as part of a marathon trip. The week in Ireland was the most trouble free trip to Europe I have ever had.  ​--- Tim, Snails Pace Running Club

I want to thank you for setting up a great itinerary for us! We had an amazing time, and all the trips were great. We got to see a lot so we are glad we went on all the tours! Every tour went perfectly, no problems getting to/from the airport, it was so easy! The diving was spectacular, I'm glad we arranged everything in advance. Thanks for helping us to have such a great trip.  ---Kelly

Sue, The arrangements were fantastic. We always had somebody meet us at the airport and the people from Airlink were all professionals. Let me know if you need any referrals.  --- Thanks & regards, Hari

We had a fabulous time in Japan. The accommodations were outstanding. We were pleasantly surprised that some of our tours were private, just us. We took the bullet train on our free days to explore. Thank you very much for arranging such a great trip for us.  --- Naomi

We had a wonderful time in Ireland! Our coach driver, Paddy, was a delight and everyone enjoyed the trip, The race went well--got the pictures--and it was great traveling around the island afterward without crowds. Going off-season is definitely the time to travel.  --- Tere, Orange County Track Club

Scotti and I are back from China, tired but exhilarated by an amazing twelve days. Everything went like clockwork. The flights were all on time or early. The hotels were excellent. And the tours were excellent, right down to the lunches and dinners. Guides were informed, personable and punctual. Our trip more than lived up to expectations! Thank you and Far & Wide for your efforts.  --- Best regards, Roger

​Thank you for all of your work. The arrangements were all satisfied. My 4 year old son learning to swim unassisted in the warm waters of the Pacific and I did some of the best SCUBA diving in decades. Sofitel Moorea one of the nicer beaches I’ve seen and Mai Tai gave us over water accommodations. --- Charles

It was great! Spectacular! Paradise! .Sue, the whole trip was great. Thanks for all your hard work. Sean, Peter and Will were terrific. We think this vacation, including our pre-New Zealand time in Australia, was one of our best and most delightfully memorable. --- Melinda

We wanted to thank you so much for putting together an incredible itinerary and arrangements. We had a great time! We will definitely be checking in soon about our next adventure and have recommended you to many friends. ---Cindy

Started using Sue's services in 2014 for a New Zealand/Australia trip and have continued working with her to date, about one major overseas trip per year. Very easy to work with and very responsive. Highly recommended. --- Tom

Hi Sue!!!
I have been in total awe at this adventure!!!
Super fun all went perfect!! --- Ana

Thanks Sue, We had an amazing time. Everything was great. --- Danny

Our Japan trip went well. We are happy with the arrangements. The big highlight was Hakone. That was quite a worthwhile experience with the private onsen and the meals. Thanks for arranging the trip. ---Sheneui

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