Cindy in the ‘Windy City’…
28 Monday Jul 2014
Posted Cindy Horton, Travel Concepts
in28 Monday Jul 2014
Posted Cindy Horton, Travel Concepts
in01 Monday Oct 2012
Tags
Amalfi Coast, Argentina, Chicago, Chile, Cindy Horton, France, Girls Getaway, John Lovell, Morocco, Paris, Specialty Tours, Uniworld River Cruises, Vancouver, Wine & Food, Women With Wings
Meet the leaders; get trip details; find out why Travel Concepts & Women With Wings tours are special!
Join us on the following dates to learn more about our 2013 trips.
Please RSVP to Shannon to reserve a seat. If you book now,
we’ll be sure to remind you before the event.
(604) 926-8511 // info@trvlconcepts.com
All meetings will be held at Travel Concepts @ 1716 Marine Drive,
West Vancouver.
20 Friday Jul 2012
Posted Art Tours, Europe, Garden Tours, Newsletter, Specialty Tours
inTags
Art tours in Europe, Chicago, Coastal Cruises, Italy Tours, Specialty Tours, Travel Concepts, Vietnam & Cambodia, Wine Tours, Women With Wings
Small groups, exceptional leaders, local happenings and a sense of fun are just some of the elements that differentiate our private tours. Have you tried one?
Travel Concepts’ Specialty Tour department is growing. We offer trips that cannot be found elsewhere. They are unique and carefully crafted to suit the interests of our guests; to highlight the best of the destination and to ensure that participants feel connected and cared for throughout the journey.
So far this year our private trips have featured Southern Africa, a Women With Wings discovery of Vietnam & Cambodia led by senior consultant, Pamela Such, a very successful Art and Architecture trip to San Francisco for the Ferry Building Gallery, a Mothers, Daughters & Friends extended weekend in Chicago, our annual Chicks Afloat mini-cruise as well as a variety of art workshops in Europe.
We are currently developing our Specialty Tour offerings for 2013, but if you are still thinking of getting away this fall, be sure to contact us as limited space is still available on some departures.
Another growing area of our business is in planning private tours for small groups of friends and/or family. In this busy world, we often don’t spend enough time with those who mean the most to us, and holidaying together in a different environment is a great way to reconnect and rejuvenate your relationships.
Our “Bucket List” event in February was a great success and we are already helping some of you tick off items from your list. Please know that no matter where in the world you want to go, Travel Concepts has the connections and know-how to make your travel dream a reality.
Call us to find out more or to start planning your next adventure. (604) 926-8511
13 Monday Feb 2012
Posted River Cruise, Travel Concepts
in
The Great Lakes . . . The Arctic and Antarctica . . . The Yangtze . . .
We are brimming over with ideas to help you explore in comfort an area of the world that you might not otherwise see. You can sail to the ends of the earth and beyond these days and your friends at Travel Concepts are here to help!
With GAdventures, (formerly GAP), you can cruise the polar extremes, going ashore by zodiac or kayak. See Spitsbergen or follow the spirit of Shakleton. The 126-passenger M/S Expedition offers 7-night journeys to the Realm of the Polar Bear in July with prices starting from $3,779 Cdn. plus airfare.
Summer is the perfect time to cruise the Great Lakes and interesting itineraries are offered between Detroit and Chicago or Duluth and Detroit on the 138-guest Yorktown. Prices start at $3,995 US per person sharing a double.
Our partner, Uniworld, offers a variety of programs in China that feature cruises along the Yangtze River. You can choose an 11-day trip from Beijing to Shanghai with 3 nights cruising or a 17-day trip with 8 nights cruising and 8 nights in hotels. This latter, Wonders of China & the Grand Yangtze, is priced from $3,599 per person for the cruise/tour. Airfare is additional. Please ask us for a brochure on Uniworld’s Asia River Cruises and Tours.
Contact us for more details!!
Travel Concepts
Phone: (604) 926-8511
06 Monday Jun 2011
Posted Agent Reports, Art Tours, Travel Input
in
Chicago, yes it’s my kind of town! We have just returned from the Absolutely Art & Architecture tour of the Windy City and it proved to be even more fabulous that anticipated.
Arriving at the Seneca Hotel, we were welcomed by the staff who treat their patrons with old-fashioned respect. Our rooms were huge and charming, resplendent with antiques and high ceilings, full kitchens and dining rooms, and super comfy beds. This hotel, with its old world elegance, is the perfect oasis, situated just across the street from Water Tower Place (and Oprah’s apartment), next door to the John Hancock Tower and one block from the Contemporary Art Museum, Lake Michigan and the Magnificent Mile. They serve a great breakfast that was included in the stay and is a great way to start each tour day. Also part of the hotel is a beautiful wine bar, steak house, and Francesca’s On Chestnut, whose owner won Scott Harris won 2011 Restaurateur of the Year for Chicago. With its casually sophisticated decor and simple rustic classic Italian cuisine, Francesca’s became one of our dinner and late- night favourites.
We began our explorations with a Trolley Tour of the city and the driver was a wealth of wisdom and information on the old, new, and highlights of the architecture, people, and the history of this colourful and diverse town. After a drive-by view of Michelle and Barack Obama’s yellow home in the tree-lined Hyde Park neighbourhood, we enjoyed lunch at the Medici café, a favourite haunt of the President and family.
Our first afternoon was a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, the low-slung, horizontally lined home that architectural historians consider the finest existing example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style. The surrounding South Side is a delight to stroll with its eclectic homes, and the Gothic spires and time-honoured buildings of the University of Chicago.
The sun shone for our boat cruise on the Chicago River on Chicago’s First Lady Fleet. This is the perfect way to get up close and personal with such iconic architectural gems as The Sears Tower, Chicago Merchandise Mart, Tribune Tower, The Aqua Tower, Trump International Tower, Wrigley Building, Shedd Aquarium, and the John Hancock Building. I just may agree with The Chicago Reader that once said of this river cruise, “”If you’ve only got 90 minutes in Chicago, or 90 minutes to live…this is where you want to spend them.” The docent commentating was not only knowledgeable on historical and current facts, but entertained us with poetry and song.
In the afternoon we toured Frank Lloyd Wright’s Home and Studio in Oak Park, birthplace of Chicago’s architectural revolution where the famed architect developed his distinctive Prairie Style. Wanting even more art in one day, we went for the “Big Gulp” of international contemporary art and antique shows, Artropolis, in the Merchandise Mart, featuring over 2000 booths and displays by galleries from all over the world.
What I love about Chicago is it is a great walking city. Our walk down the Magnificent Mile, with its famed tulips and designer shops, was just the right warm-up for a full Monday of art at the Chicago Art Institute. We did due diligence to the over 300,000 works of art here, beginning with an Art Historian’s overview of the collection, and ending in the notable Impressionists section with Georges Seurat’s enormous painting, “Sunday After on the Island of La Grande Jatte”. Another sign of architectural brilliance, and a masterpiece in its own right, is Renzo Piano’s 264,000 sq foot Modern Wing at the Art Institute of Chicago. Our private lunch in the Millenium Room overlooking the gardens was a scrumptious highlight.
One needs a whole day at least to take in the Institute and the park and even then you will be just ‘sampling the buffet table’. British artists, Anish Kapoor’s giant stainless-steel lima bean in the heart of Millenium park, Cloud Gate reflects the downtown skyline’s century of architectural brilliance, including the renowned fin de siècle Beaux Art buildings to Jeanne Gang’s Aqua Tower with it’s undulating balconies. The 24-acre park is also home to Frank Gehry’s outdoor concert pavilion, fountains by Jaume Plensa, and is a symbol of the Chicago’s resurgence on the international design and architectural scene.
Any energy left for an evening of the Blues? You bet! We cabbed it to Buddy Guy’s Legends, the blues club started by its namesake, and which has hosted such greats as The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Muddy Waters and Janis Joplin. The highlight was when Buddy himself (raw and irreverent but oh what a voice) showed up and did a few tunes. A few blues buffs in our group stayed on and grooved until the wee hours.
Food is signature to Chicago and we sampled a variety of unique delights in the Chicago Food Planet tour of Bucktown and Wicker Park. The walking tours gave us a first-hand experience of these vibrant character neighbourhoods, with their turn- of- the –century architecture, bohemian and artist’s enclaves, and upscale food shops and boutiques. After sampling the finest hot (molten) chocolate, pizza and beer, traditional Chicago-style hotdogs (never add ketchup!), and deli tasters, we were ready to head back for cocktails at the 95th floor Signature Lounge of the John Hancock Tower, 1000 feet about the city. Did you know that on a clear day you can see four states from here? The best view is from the Ladies restroom! Take your camera.
The Broadway Playhouse, just across the street from the John Hancock Tower, was running “Working”, a play celebrating the ordinary lives of everyday working people. We got rush seats at the door and loved it! What a talented cast and brilliant poignant production!
Museum of Contemporary Art, an elegant space filled with artworks produced since 1945, is only a block away from our hotel. With a guide, we viewed the extensive and thought-provoking Jim Nutt exhibition, a collection of colourful paintings of female heads. And did I forget shopping? The Gift Shop at the MCA is a treasure trove of the best in contemporary and affordable gifts, books, jewellery and art souvenirs.
And now for the finale! No art tour is complete without a night at the Joffrey Ballet. “Rising Stars” featured the premiere of Night, inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall. What a stunning performance! For me it was a pinch-me moment.
I can summarize my impressions of Chicago by saying: friendly and helpful people, affordable & exceptional dining, beautiful parks, world-class art and architecture, fabulous shopping…and all with a great group from the Ferry Building Gallery and Travel Concepts.
It couldn’t have been better, and I am already excited about next year’s spring Absolutely Art & Architecture Chicago tour. Stay tuned for the spring 2012 tour dates.
See you in Chicago!
Ruth Payne, Visual Arts Coordinator, Ferry Building Gallery, West Vancouver