• Buy A Toyota Prius - Get 1/3 Off Your Next Tour!
• Bicycle New Zealand's South Island This Winter
• Congratulations To Our
• How It All Began In 1972
• Send A Teacher Traveling
• Book Review - Nicholas Crane's, Clear Waters Rising
• From The Kitchen Of Paola Malpezzi-Price - Provençal Tapenade
• Fall & Winter Tour Updates
Venice to Florence Trip Winner!

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Buy A Toyota Prius - Get 1/3 Off Your Next Tour!

If you buy a Toyota Prius hybrid electric car, or if you already own one, we'll give you a 35% discount on your next bicycling, walking, or multisport tour with ExperiencePlus! This could be a savings of almost $1200! What's the catch? Just that you have to be among the first 100 Prius owners to book a tour.

Why are we doing this? Because we know that you're as interested in protecting the environment as we are. And we want to encourage you to get rid of any gas guzzlers that might be lurking in your garage. No doubt hybrid cars are the wave of the future, and we'd like you to ride that wave with us!

If you would like more information about the Prius, here are a few websites to check out:

Toyota, The Hybrid Auto Club, and John's Prius Website. Call 800-685-4565 for more information about our promotion, and e-mail Rick Price, President and founder of ExperiencePlus!, and Prius owner, if you have any questions, or want to find out his impression of the Toyota Prius.

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Bicycle New Zealand's South Island This Winter

New Zealand's South Island was created for bicycle touring. The spectacular, awe-inspiring scenery is punctuated with massive alpine peaks, wide glacial valleys and lush green pastures. Join us this January and February as we spend 13 days exploring the scenic South Island.

Our tour features guided hikes in the untouched rainforest of the West Coast, two farm stays (on an elk farm and sheep ranch), and unparalleled cycling over the Southern Alps and through the lake and wine regions of the South Island. You'll also have the opportunity to hike glaciers, visit wineries and enjoy "Kiwi" picnic lunches. For more information our bicycle tours in New Zealand,

click here!

If you would like to find out more about New Zealand, we hope you enjoy "What a Kiwi Discovered When She Traded in Her Boots for a Bike" - by Annie Apgar, our Greece country coordinator & New Zealander. Annie talks about the New Zealand of her childhood, the effects of development, and the pleasures of bicycling, bungee jumping and wine (although not all at the same time).

If you would like more information on bicycling New Zealand this winter, give us as call at: 800-685-4565, or e-mail Tours@ExperiencePlus.com.

Venice to Florence
trip winner!

Barbara Eden, an avid recreational cyclist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the winner of our our Venice to Florence bicycle tour for two. Congratulations Barbara! We're looking forward to seeing you next year in Italy!

For all of you who entered, but didn't win, be sure to log onto ExperiencePlus.com every month to find out about upcoming contests, specials and breaking news.

How It All Began In 1972
By Rick Price, Ph.D.

Rick and Paola have been leading bicycle tours in Italy since 1972. Billing themselves as "Bike Across Italy" they booked 23 people on four tours their first year. The trip cost $245 per person and included tents, bicycles, a support vehicle to carry luggage, and all meals. All the customer needed was a sleeping bag and the desire to pedal across Italy.

Much has changed since those humble beginnings. The fledgling "Bike Across Italy" has become ExperiencePlus! Specialty Tours, Inc., and now offers 34 different tours in nine countries, including bicycling, walking, and multisport vacations. "It's a lot different these days," says Rick, thinking back over the past thirty years...

...The first tour was exhilarating. It was a real adventure, indeed, an expedition! We can't say that it didn't go without a hitch, but we had a huge amount of fun. We camped in farmer's fields, on the edges of villages, in a campsite at the top of the Apennines, and in the city campground in Florence. I still remember one evening when a farmer brought out two, two-liter bottles of Sangiovese wine for our group to share around our campfire...

Click here to read more about the birth of ExperiencePlus! Specialty Tours.

Send A Teacher Traveling

Carol St. George, an elementary school teacher at Lakeshore Elementary School in Rochester, New York, was one of our 2002 "Send A Teacher Traveling" recipients. Included in the "thank you" note she sent was a packet of letters from her third grade students. Below are excerpts from some of their letters:

• "Thank you for selecting my teacher for send a teacher traveling award. We are learning Italian. You picked a great teacher for the award. She will be a great juggler too some day." - Samantha
• "Thank you for selecting my teacher for the sending award. You picked an exersizeable teacher." - Brieanna

Click here to read the rest of the children's letters. If you know of a teacher that deserves to be nominated for our Send A Teacher Traveling program, give us a call at 800-685-4565 or e-mail: teachers@ExperiencePlus.com

Book Review:
Nicholas Crane's Clear Waters Rising
By Rick Price, Ph.D.

Carrying very little gear, and accepting no offers for rides (except one ferry ride across the Danube), British geographer Nicholas Crane planned to spend one year walking the ridgeline of Alpine Europe, from Cape Finisterre in Spain to Istanbul.

His 10,000 kilometer (6,213 mi.) quest ended 16 1/2 months later, and encompased the Pyrenees, France's Massif Central, the Alps, the Carpathians and the Balkans. This month, Rick reviews Nicholas' account of his incredible journey.

Visit our homepage at ExperiencePlus.com, and look under "Book Review," or click here to read Rick's complete review.

From the Kitchen
of Paola Malpezzi-Price

Provençal Tapenade

Olives have been an integral part of France's Provence region since 600 B.C., when the Greeks first brought olive trees to the area. The universal symbol of peace, the olive also represents rebirth, purity and goodness. This month we're celebrating the olive and the olive harvest with a delicious, Provençal tapenade recipe. Enjoy this classic Mediterranean dip with pita or on toasted French bread.

If you would like additional recipes, click here. We have directions for Aunt Angiolino's Bean Soup, Brushetta, Super Easy Pasta and more!

Tours@ExperiencePlus.com with questions or to reserve your space.

Costa Rica Tours

Butterflies, Bicycles & Beaches
Nov 25 - Dec 3, 2002
Dec 28 - Jan 5, 2003
Jan 13 - 21
Feb 10 - 18 (Singles)
Mar 3 - 11
Apr 7 - 15
Costa Rica Multisport
Jan 25 - Feb 2
Feb 22 - Mar 2
Mar 22 - 30
Apr 19 - 27
Rainforests & Rivers Walking Tour
Dec 29 - Jan 4
Jan 25 - Feb 1
Feb 22 - Mar 1

France Tours

Italy Tours

Carnevale
Feb 23 - Mar 5
Spring Training in Southern Tuscany
Apr 27 - May 4
May 17 - May 24
Little Tour in Tuscany
Apr 27 - May 4,
May 22 - May 29
Jun 13 - Jun 20
Aug 23 - Aug 30

New Zealand

Cycling New Zealand's South Island
Jan 19 - 31
Feb 4 - 16

Happy Walking and Cycling until next month!
E-mail us at tours@ExperiencePlus.com with comments and questions. Or give us a call at 800-685-4565.

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