All trips offer an extension to the Canary Islands with an opportunity to see Europe's largest telescopes.
Hello and thank you for your interest in Astronomy Magazine' wonderful and varied eclipse tours for 1999.
Our trips will give you the chance to catch an exceptional view of the 1999 European eclipse. You may choose from among the magnificent sights and sounds of England, Germany/Austria, or the Black Sea and the Greek Isles. These tours will culminate with spectacular views of the final solar eclipse of the 20th century.
In England you will visit Stonehenge and Windsor and be treated to a special evening reception of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. You'll also meet Cambridge University astronomers and visit places such as Stratford-on-Avon and the home of William Herschel, the man who discovered the planet Uranus. We will watch the eclipse from Land's End before attending Minack Theater, a fantastic historical treasure built into cliffs that soar above the North Sea.
In Germany you will begin your tour in Munich and help celebrate a special Festival of the Eclipse in the city of festivals. We have planned wonderful excursions to castles, planetariums and observatories and a very special excursion into the breathtaking Alps.
If you prefer a cruise, join us on a yacht-like 300-passenger ship that will sail into the Black Sea. We'll see ancient Greek and Roman ruins and delight in some of the most splendid scenery in the world. The path of the eclipse will be greatest from the vantage point we have selected for you near Istanbul.
Of course, Astronomy editors will be along to make sure you get the most from the night sky and eclipse. Please join us for the trip of a lifetime!
Sincerely,
Bonnie Gordon
Editor, Astronomy Magazine
Greetings from Specialty Tours
When you travel with Specialty Tours, you can be certain that people who are both professional and concerned about you have made all of the arrangements and will be with you on your tour to be sure that all is well.
Before we offer a tour, someone from our staff visits the location, inspects every hotel, checks out the attractions, plans for the extras which make our tours very special, and simply does all that is necessary to see that we have prepared the quality of tour to which we are proud to attach our name.
We think of our tours the way a good host thinks of an evening of entertaining treasured friends. We want you, our guests, to feel that you are a part of our extended family and we will do all we can do to make your travel experience one that will delight you and which you will cherish your entire life. We hope that you can travel with us.
Barbara Spohn and George Schy
All tours in this page include breakfast and dinner daily. In fact they include almost everything except air, lunches and items of a personal nature. We do not include air because it makes a difference if you are flying from New York or Butte, Montana and it is simply not fair to charge everyone the same.
The Black Sea cruise does include air from New York City and all meals while on the ship. The reason that air is included for the cruise is that the cruise line purchases so many flights into Athens that they are able to secure a very good price that we are able to pass on to you.
All tours include, in addition to the meals mentioned above, hotels as stated, entrance fees to all events discussed as a group activity, services of a professional tour host and use of a deluxe motorcoach.
Germany/Austria
Rich Talcott invites you to join him on this tour to Germany. Rich is an associate editor of Astronomy Magazine for whom he has made countless radio and television appearances. In his ten years on the staff, he has written and edited science stories with an eye to covering the often difficult concepts of modern astronomy to a general audience. He came to Astronomy from Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio where he lectured in astronomy for three years. As one of the editors of the monthly Shy Almanac section of the magazine, Rich keeps abreast of events happening in the sky and creates most of the observing maps and diagrams seen throughout the magazine.
Day 1, August 6, Friday
Every European tour begins with the flight across the Atlantic. This particular tour takes us into the Bavarian city of Munich, or as the Germans say Munchen, which we will make our home for the next five nights.
Day 2, August 7, Saturday
We arrive in Munchen and transfer to our hotel in the old section of the city, on Tal Strasse, only 2 blocks from the Marienplatz and the famous Glockenspiel. We will take a tour of Munchen to familiarize ourselves with the capitol of Bavaria and to become familiar with the more interesting aspects of the city, past and present. This city was the spiritual center of the Nazi movement and it is most interesting to see some of their architectural efforts. We will have time this afternoon to explore the fascinating area near our hotel on our own.
Day 3, August 8, Sunday
The Munich Institute of Astronomy will be our hosts this morning so that we will have the opportunity to learn what research and explorations are being done in Europe. We will do a side trip for those who want to go to Dachau, the concentration camp from WWII. Tonight we will become good Muncheners as we pay our visit to a nearby beer garden.
Day 4, August 9, Monday
Today we head south into the foothills of the Alps to visit Neuschwanstein, Mad Ludwig's castle, after which the Disney castle was designed. Our day continues with a visit to Oberammergau, the town made famous by the Passion Play produced every 10 years and by the wood sculptures that are made there. With narrow streets and flower boxes which seem to be in every window, and with many of the houses painted with fairy tale or religious pictures, the town wins the prize for cuteness (or one might even say acute cuteness).
Day 5, August 10, Tuesday
We will spend the morning at one of the major scientific museums of the world not far from our hotel. There will be free time in the afternoon. This will be a great day for walking to the farmer's market for lunch or taking advantage of the art galleries, shopping and cathedrals that are all in the area of our hotel. This evening we will visit the European Southern Observatory.
Day 6, August 11, Wednesday
The day we have been waiting for has finally arrived. The eclipse occurs today and we will visit the Englisher Garten to set up our telescopes and to find the best viewing place. If the forecast is for cloudy weather in the Munchen area, we will spend the first part of the day driving to a place less cloudy but still in the area of totality as near to the center line as possible.
Day 7, August 12, Thursday
Say good-bye to Munchen as we head east into Austria and the Sound of Music city of Salzburg which shall be our home for the next 4 nights. After checking into our hotel in the heart of the old town we will do a walking tour of the city, including a visit to Mozart's house and the fortress which sits on a huge hill dominating the town. This evening we will attend one of the musical performances that are regularly a part of what makes Salzburg so special.
Day 8, August 13, Friday
We will visit the little town of Bertchesgarten and the nearby Eagle's Nest, the retreat established by Hitler in the Alps. Although Salzburg is in Austria and we think of that country as being south and east of Germany, we will be traveling about 20 miles south into Germany for our sightseeing on this day. The borders between the three countries, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, twist and turn in odd configurations so you might want to look at a map of this region. The view from the Eagle's Nest is one of the most spectacular views that Europe has to offer and will afford a great opportunity to set up easy-to carry telescopes.
Day 9, August 14, Saturday
Salzburg is such a fascinating city that having free time to explore on your own is a must. Today is that day. Our hotel is in a good location so you will be able to walk to all of the interesting places in town.
Day 10, August 15, Sunday
We have reached the point in our tour where we start to think of home. The eclipse has come and gone, the Alps are here forever and our memories of both the celestial event and the beautiful mountain range will stay with us for the rest of our lives. We will transfer to the airport in Munich for the return trip to the USA or on to the extension in the Canary Islands.