Welcome to the September 2007 ExperiencePlus! Rambler E-Mail Newsletter

• Dear Folks...
• Routes on the Open Road
• Pedaling the Andes, With Gears to Spare!
• From Our Staff: Massimo Malpezzi
• The Motorcycle Diaries
• From Paola's Kitchen - Sopes (Corn-Flour Patties)

Dear Folks,

Welcome to Fall - at least we hope it is coming soon, complete with fall colors and cooler temperatures. Our colleagues in Greece, Puglia, Croatia and France are certainly hoping for cooler temperatures and an end to the tragic fires that have ravaged a good part of the Mediterranean region. Our tours are proceeding with only slight modifications to the routes as a result of these disasters. Our Greece coordinator Annie Apgar reports that most areas are quickly returning to normal and tour leader Patricia Hajifoutiou reports, "We are O.K. and the Greeks will recover!"

If you are looking towards a winter bicycle vacation, maybe you are ready for Costa Rica, Chile or Argentina this year! Rick just revisited the film Motorcycle Diaries for his review this month. On second viewing he's impressed with all the places he and Che Guevara have in common. Rick hasn't traveled that much in South America but it seems that both he and Che hit all the important places: Buenos Aires, Patagonia, Bariloche, Lago Fria on the border between Chile and Argentina, Chile's wine regions, the Atacama Desert, Machu Picchu, Lima, and Peru's Amazon basin. You can begin to visit at least some of these same places on our ExpeditionPlus! across Patagonia, our new tour in Northern Argentina, our Chile-Argentina ride, and our TourzPlus! Trip to Machu Picchu.

In keeping with the Latin American theme, we've got a recipe for sopas below. And our Reservation Specialist/Search-and-Rescue volunteer Sarah Babbitt offers a selection of her most vivid memories of her recent Pedaling the Andes trip.

Not all of our attention is focused on the Southern Hemisphere. Paola is back at Colorado State University heading up the Foreign Language Department and Rick is here in the office trying to get as much riding in as possible before winter comes (indeed, fall is the best time to ride a bicycle in Fort Collins!) If you haven't made fall travel plans yet, we still have space on several tours in September and October. So, whether you're thinking of going in the fall or winter, give us a call if you'd like to dream about your next trip!

--Rick and Paola

Crossing a continent by bicycle is no small feat. The longest of this month's featured tours, our South American ExpeditionPlus! trip through Chile and Argentina, offers a generous helping of stories and memories, even by transcontinental standards:

This 18-day adventure takes you on the road for longer, more challenging rides off the beaten track. You'll cycle across South America, through the Andes, past volcanoes, dipping your toes in the Pacific at the start and the Atlantic at the finish. You'll cover over 700 miles on some of the area's most famous roads. The challenge is big, but the rewards are great, on and off the road.

Of course, not everyone has the free time (or the legs) for the ExpeditionPlus! trip. If South America sounds delightful but you'd like a more modest schedule, consider our "Pedaling the Andes" or the new "Discover Northern Argentina" tours.

• Read more about our South American adventures here.
• Get the details about "ExpeditionPlus! Coast to Coast: Across Chile and Argentina" here.
• Read about our new 7-day "Discover Northern Argentina" or 12-day "Discover Northern Argentina Plus! the Ruins of Quilmes" tours here.
• Read about the 8-day "Pedaling the Andes" or 11-day "Pedaling the Andes Plus! the Island of Chiloé" tours here.

Our own Sarah Babbitt writes this month about her recent trip to South America for our Pedaling the Andes tour, which provided surprises galore:

Didn't know what to expect, but this is what I got: lush greenery (leaves 5 feet across!); snow-capped peaks; fine company; a do-able physical challenge; rolling, varied countryside; birds birds birds; enormous quantities of delectable cuisine...; swimming in a bright green glacial river under the watchful eye of the Volcano Osorno; indigenous artwork; temperate rainforests where Darwin had walked and cogitated.

• Read more of Sarah's reminiscence here.
• Learn more about our "Pedaling the Andes" tour here.
• Or read about our extended "Pedaling the Andes Plus! the Island of Chiloé" tour here.

For a change this month, we decided to interview Paola's cousin and ExperiencePlus! institution Massimo Malpezzi.

Your smile is famous throughout the world, but why are you always smiling? I'd like to quote a song of Angelo Branduardi that says, "E la brava gente è felice tranne che per cattiva sorte" - "Good people are happy except for bad luck."

Read more from Max here. And look for more customer interviews next month!

While reviewing the film, Rick found The Motorcycle Diaries familiar for more than one reason:

As I watched The Motorcycle Diaries for the second time I was struck by how much Che Guevara and I overlapped in our explorations of this vast and fascinating continent.

Read the rest of Rick's review of The Motorcycle Diaries (and see his photos of places featured in the movie) here.

Maria Elena stopped by to ask the proprietor of her neighborhood Mexican restaurant, Las Salsitas, for a little background on this month's recipe:

I found out that variations on the sopes theme appear all over Latin America, though each region knows them by a different name. In Cuernavaca, Mexico, where José is from, sopes are known as "antojitos" (translation: "little cravings").

Click here to read the rest of this month's recipe.

If you would like additional recipes, visit our online recipe archive. You'll find recipes for European and Latin American specialties like Panzanella: a Tuscan Salad, Tapenade, Gallo Pinto, and more.

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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