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Messages
from 2009 Participants
Dear Dick, We are sending you some photos from our tour to Turkey. We would also like to use this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful time we had in Turkey. We spent three weeks visiting archaeological sites and museums, beautiful sea resorts and vibrant cities like Istanbul and Anatalya. And all of that in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere of a small tour group under your guidance. We were very impressed with your selection of historical sites, scenic travel routes, and restaurants. We participated in Dick Caldwell’s tours twice (Greece in 2006 and Turkey in 2009) and really enjoyed both of them. These tours are for people who want to stay off the beaten tracks, avoid large tourist crowds as much as possible, stay in small hotels and pensions, eat local food in local restaurants, meet local people from different social circles, learn more about the history and culture of the country you visit instead of visiting souvenir shops. But don’t expect big luxury hotels, luxury buses, scheduled meals, luggage delivery, etc. Sporades Tours are relaxed and flexible. You will be on the tour and on your own at the same time. One other thing to mention. We were fortunate both times on the tour to be in the company of very nice traveler companions. Beware - petty and unfriendly companions can sometimes spoil your vacation more than anybody or anything else. Thanks again, Yuriy and Susana Daylis (St Paul MN) Dear Dick, Just a few words to express our thanks for the great time we had on our recent trip to Turkey. We especially enjoyed visiting the homes and places of the Turkish people that you have met in the many years you have traveled this fascinating country. The food and accommodations were ample as was your commentary and insight of Classic and Turkish history. John & Joanne Presper (Dallas, PA) GREECE The bottom-line of this entry is, if you enjoy learning, appreciate camaraderie built on shared experiences, are relatively flexible by nature, and dislike traveling in ordinary tour groups, traveling on a Dick Caldwell led tour might be just the thing for you. It was the right thing for us! Details follow. During May 2009, we celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary with a trip that started with a 13 day tour in Greece that was led by Dick Caldwell. Acutely aware of the risk of getting our anniversary trip off to an unpleasant start, we subscribed to his tour in the full knowledge of the few critical comments that had been posted on TripAdvisor prior to our departure. There were a number of reasons for taking this decision, including our distaste for ordinary commercial tours. As it turned out that decision was one which we continue to celebrate to this day. Our intensely positive response grew out of a number of aspects of Dick’s performance as a tour organizer and tour guide. First among these, his lifelong love for and deep knowledge of Greece's history, culture, people, and topography informed all of his selections of archeological, cultural, and scenic destinations. We benefited daily from his low keyed approach, guided by his impressively capacious memory, his refined esthetic sensibilities, and his powerful, trained intellect. These allowed him to distill his many years of experience leading tours in Greece into reliably wonderful moments at each stop and, indeed, even en route. Moreover, Dick’s many years of experience in Greece allowed him often to choose venues that were not on the circuits of large commercial tours. Throughout, we appreciated the informality and flexibility of our tour, contrasting our freedom to explore at our own pace with the regimentation that we saw in other, larger tour groups on those occasions when we encountered them. Those other tour groups were in essence, herds whose members were obliged to respond to their guide’s shouted commands or shrill whistles and to follow the guide’s flag in order to stay with their particular herd. Seeing such groups in action, one expected to see border collies at work. Dick took care to insure our physical comfort as we traveled the countryside. Accordingly, his professional driver was outstanding and the air conditioned, late model Mercedes bus (seating and luggage space for 24, dedicated to only 11 individuals) was elegant and quite comfortable. It included a refrigerator that was always stocked for us with the chilled bottles of water that were so welcome as we clambered over archeological sites in the brilliant sunlight and hot, dry air. Concern for our comfort was also evident in his choice of hotels. Dick clearly sought to optimize on three dimensions: location, quality, and price. Hotel locations were almost always ideal: either immediately adjacent to our primary goal for the day or, alternatively, commanding the best view. Our hotels were generally nice and at the worst, a hotel would be adequate for Americans with European travel experience- simple, clean, quiet, and comfortable. They were generally in the middle to high end of the price range of hotels that most American travelers would find acceptable/desirable. In optimizing location, quality and price to make hotel choices, it was evident that Dick would assign different weightings to each, depending on situation at each stop and the reasons for spending the night in that particular town or village. We and our travel companions especially appreciated exploring Greek food, wine, and culture under Dick’s guidance. Moreover, we enjoyed camaraderie with him over drinks and meals. As others on TripAdvisor have noted, however, Dick did not sit at the table with us at every meal. He rarely joined us at our sumptuous breakfasts. In addition, depending on the dining circumstances, because he and his driver were both smokers (not in the bus), he would sit with the driver at a table nearby, after having first made sure that our needs were well served and that we had chosen the most delightful menu items that particular establishment had on offer. In addition, he was generally on first-name terms with the proprietor and this familiarity always resulted in excellent service and often yielded special off-menu treats for us at the dinner table. Even when he ate with the driver rather than our group, he would rejoin us to participate actively in our discussions and badinage. On the road, the PA system on our bus allowed Dick to provide entertaining, informative lectures and stories related to the next destination on our tour. These were so engaging that even those of us who might otherwise have been most inclined to nap on the road remained awake and enthralled. Many years ago, I had taken outstanding Greek Classics courses from famous professors whose gifts as scholars and lecturers were legend. I found that Dick had known them as colleagues. I realized that, in many respects, listening to Dick’s lectures on the bus and engaging him in discussions about them realized an old fantasy of having those distinguished professors from my undergraduate years at my disposal, informally teaching me on the actual sites and sharing with me the full, uncensored legends rather than the tamer versions that were permissible in the classrooms of that more buttoned down era. After touring with Dick, my wife and I traveled independently to Santorini and Crete. There, as we explored the archeological sites, and hiked the countryside, the knowledge we so pleasantly acquired during Dick’s tour enriched our experiences on a daily basis. Even after leaving Greece, while we traveled in Italy, the insights and sensibilities formed while on tour with Dick continued to inform our experiences, thereby enhancing our pleasures. Those extraordinary gifts from our travels with him were matched by the camaraderie that arose among our tour group’s members. Although from different backgrounds and countries of origin, the group quickly developed strong bonds of mutual affection and respect. These bonds powerfully magnified the shared pleasures of our travels together. In this connection, I believe that in addition to his many strengths as a leader of “tours for those who do not like tours”, some of Dick’s personal weaknesses, eccentricities, and infirmities, noted by others, may have been valuable and important, actually serving as a kind of catalyst for the creation of those bonds of friendship that so enriched our tour with him. I hope these impressions from our May 2009 tour with Dick Caldwell prove useful in helping you decide whether Dick is the tour guide for you. If you have never traveled with him, at least now you should know, a tour in Greece led by Dick Caldwell might reasonably be expected to yield a far greater value than other tours. Whatever you decide, I hope your decision proves the correct one for you. My wife and I are absolutely certain that our decision to travel with Dick was the correct one for us. His tour provided all that we could have asked for and far more! Margaret and Walter Salinger (Greensboro, NC)) Hello Dick I sure enjoyed the tour. Dick's a colorful guy, with a wonderful knowledge of the ancient world. I took his Classic Tour in May 2009. While it's true that Dick has some personal difficulties, it was easy to overlook them given his superb presentation of Greek history and culture. Dick brings a richness to the tour experience that is rarely found with most guides who deliver information in a professional yet tedious manner. Dick was a great storyteller, especially about the shenanigans of the mythological gods. Often the whole group would be laughing uproariously. He also has a heart-felt appreciation for the artistic accomplishments found throughout the ancient world. One might be frustrated or concerned about the physical condition of the guide. But, this is far outweighed by the quality of the learning experience and overall fun engendered by this kind soul. Should you decide to take a Dick Caldwell tour, just be willing to "roll" with situations as they arise, knowing that, after all is said and done, you'll look back on a marvelous time filled with wonderful camaraderie. Bill Tate (Salt Lake City) |