ExperiencePlus! Blog


ExperiencePlus!

  • Race Book Reviews

    Race Book Reviews We hope you’ll be able to join us in France next summer for the 101st anniversary of The Race. If you are able to come, then the selection of readings in my review this month will help… Read full article

  • A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica/Naturalists Guide to Costa Rica

    A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica/Naturalists Guide to Costa Rica A Guide to the Birds of Costa Rica by F. Gary Stiles and Alexander F. Skutch, illustrated by Dana Gardner (Comstock Publishing Associates, a Divison of Cornell University… Read full article

  • Creamy French Pumpkin Soup

    Creamy French Pumpkin Soup (A note from Rick Price of ExperiencePlus!) This recipe comes to us from Josette Smyrl, coordinator of our France hotels and restaurants from 1995 through October of 2006. This submission, indeed, marks the end of a… Read full article

  • Tour Report: Cycling Andalucia

    Tour Report: Cycling Andalucia The Cycling Andalucia tour offers days of riding in wide open spaces, climbs to villages in the hills of the Sierra Mountains, near traffic-free roads through olive groves extending as far as the eye can see,… Read full article

  • Book Review: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart

    Book Review: The Places in Between by Rory Stewart Originally published in London by Picador, 2004 US Paperback edition Harcourt, Inc., 2006 by Rory Stewart About walking through remote regions of planet earth . . . (Note: ExperiencePlus! is not… Read full article

  • Dios Kalacs (Walnut Roll)

    Dios Kalacs (Walnut Roll) Our good friend Donna Bathory, whose family hails from Hungary, has suggested this recipe for December. (I have increased the amount of sugar in both the dough and the filling from two tbsp. to ½ cup.… Read full article

  • A Cycling Journal From Eastern Europe

    A Cycling Journal From Eastern Europe Customer Carol Waaser of the New York Cycle Club recounted her Eastern European adventure with our first ExpeditionPlus! (bicycling from St. Petersburg, Russia to Istanbul, Turkey) for her club newsletter last fall. She’s kindly… Read full article

  • Imagining History: Imagining Argentina & Chile

    Imagining History: Imagining Argentina & Chile This list of three movies and one just-published novel that are about as good a starter set as you could find for Chile and Argentina.   The Mission (1986) by Roland Joffe; Evita (1996)… Read full article

  • Sicilian-Style Pizza with Focaccia

    Sicilian-Style Pizza with Focaccia This is the most basic way to make a Sicilian-style pizza, but we recommend adding any sort of toppings you find tasty. Also, this recipe is even better when served with salad or fresh vegetables! Serves… Read full article

  • Torta Negra Galesa (Black Welsh Cake)

    Torta Negra Galesa (Black Welsh Cake) Rick and I recently returned from our ExpeditionPlus! tour in South America from Coast to Coast across Patagonia. It was a great experience, and a great way to get to know in depth several… Read full article

  • Italian Cycling Culture

    Italian Cycling Culture by Sylva Florence So, you’re planning a trip to Italy. A friend suggested riding bikes would be a good way to delve into the secrets of the Italian countryside… sample the wine, feel the warm Mediterranean sun… Read full article

  • Patagonia – A Tour Leader’s …

    As an Argentine-American who has spent life moving around the world since childhood, I am fortunate to say that I live in a truly marvelous part of the world. Bariloche, in the Patagonian Lakes District, still takes my breath away… Read full article

  • Off the Road: A Modern Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain by Jack Hitt

    Off the Road: A Modern Day Walk Down the Pilgrim’s Route into Spain by Jack Hitt Off the Road is often called "irreverent" as Hitt makes fun of himself and others as pilgrims. Yet most of the pilgrims he meets… Read full article

  • Timeline by Michael Crichton

    Timeline by Michael Crichton I first visited Costa Rica in March of 1993 and I did so by bicycle. I can still picture my ride at the end of Arenal Lake after a long, beautiful day with the lake’s namesake… Read full article

  • Bicycling Costa Rica

    Bicycling Costa Rica I had the good fortune of finding myself in Costa Rica this past February participating on our Butterflies, Bicycles and Beaches cycling tour. I’ve never been to Central America and didn’t really know what to expect, but… Read full article

  • Galileo’s Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel

    Galileo’s Daughter: A Drama of Science, Faith and Love by Dava Sobel I read this fascinating book during the last two weeks I spent at my families’ farm in Italy this summer, and I must agree with the editor’s assessment… Read full article

  • Panzanella, a Tuscan Salad

    A perfect way to use up some bread that has gotten a bit old and a great summer salad! So many dishes from Tuscany are For six people: 8 pieces or more (or less) of hard Tuscan bread or any… Read full article

  • Gallo Pinto

    Gallo Pinto   If you ask any Tico what the national dish of Costa Rica is, chances are they’ll mention Gallo Pinto. Pura Vida!   Ingredients:     3 cups "day old" cooked rice   2 cups black beans –… Read full article