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Taking you Places
​Talking your Language

Hope to see you (and your baggage) in 2021

9/8/2020

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Be kind to your case this year, it's had a hard time too!

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Merry Christmas (Steps) from iToursInternational!

13/12/2019

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Christmas Steps, Bristol
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The street was originally called Queene Street in medieval times before becoming known as Knyfesmyth Street, after the tradesmen there. The Middle English pronunciation of Knyfesmyth, with the K sounded, may be the origin of the street's modern name. An alternative theory is based on the nativity scene found in a stained glass window of The Chapel of the Three Kings of Cologne, which stands at the top of the steps.

In the 17th century, the Christmas Steps is also believed to have been called Lonsford's Stairs for a short period, in honour of a Cavalier officer who was killed at the top of the steps during the siege of Bristol in the English Civil War.

After the main set of steps the steps continue on the other side of Colston Street and then again across Perry Lane, leading to St Michael's Church these steps were originally unbroken by road and known as St. Michael's steps.

History
The steep-slanted steps were constructed in September 1669 and were paid for by wealthy wine merchant, Jonathan Blackwell. Prior to this there had been a steep, muddy and narrow street leading from the bridge over the Frome outside the city walls near the old St Bartholomew's Hospital, towards St Michael's church.

The four flights of steps which are dated 1865 and 1881 are grade II listed buildings, and are now home to a variety of shops.

READ MORE HERE
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So weißt man es! That's how we know!

6/9/2019

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iToursInternational loves it when people take the time to tell us about what they enjoyed! This email in particular, caught our eye... quite poetic! Thank you Mary and Stephen!
iToursInternational liebt es, wenn sich die Leute die Zeit nehmen, uns zu erzählen, was sie genossen haben! Besonders diese E-Mail ist uns aufgefallen ... ziemlich poetisch! Vielen Dank Mary und Stephen!
"Dear Mei,

More than a month has passed since we spent three and a half beautiful, colourful and eventful days with you ... with you. You led us on adventurous Cornish roads to proud manors and lonely fishing villages. We marveled at the futuristic constructions of the gifted genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel, strolled with you through Exeter and Bath, looked from Babbacombe to the English Riviera, had a private funfair in Torquay and sweated in a replica banana plantation in the multi-faceted Eden Project. We met your furry travel companion, Tobee, and are now even able to ask for a microwave in a home-goods store in Wales.

All in all it was a wonderful time in England and in your home country Wales. We told our children about it until they could not hear it anymore and shortened the weekend visit and are still full of enthusiasm. We drink Cornish tea for breakfast and at night in our dreams we feel the rocking of the bus and hear the cries of our fellow travellers ... Well, but honestly: Thank you very much for what you have shown us (especially the places off the tourist hustle!) and what you have saved us from unnecessary things. You and Yuri, you were a perfect team and highly appreciated by the whole pack. Imagine, when leaving Bath, this elderly lady (those well-traveled with her two travel-experienced daughters) forgot all sense of composure and etiquette and knocked on the window for several minutes to greet you once more. That went on until daughter Alexandra had to call her to order: "Well, now! So, please! "And to reassure her nerves and the whipped-up mind, she slipped her gin bread.

Do you know where my wife liked the most? Ironically in the rolling hills of Dartmoor. Loneliness around us and flowering heather as far as the eye could see. And behind every hill, the still-glorious view, just as you predicted. Basically, we owe this detour anyway to you and the modified itineraries of the day.

To Dartmoor comes the merry linguistic seminar to mind, the round table in the bus, as Alexandra, Yuri and we both talked about peculiarities of the German language. One thing was on my tongue at the time, but it somehow ended up among wild ponies, blue sheep, spooky Dartmoor Prison, Edgar Wallace, Arthur Conan Doyle, the even scarier Hound of the Baskervilles, and the endless expanse of this gloomy, misty heath-land."

Mary and Stephen
"Lieber Mei,

mehr als ein Monat ist nun schon vergangen, seit wir dreieinhalb schöne, bunte und erlebnisreiche Tage mit Ihnen…, mit Dir verlebten. Du führtest uns über auf abenteuerlichen kornischen Straßen zu stolzen Herrenhäusern und einsamen Fischerdörfern. Wir bestaunten die futuristischen Konstruktionen des begnadeten Genies Isambard Kingdom Brunel, bummelten mit Dir durch Exeter und Bath, blickten von Babbacombe auf die Englische Riviera, erlebten ‚privat‘ einen nächtlichen Jahrmarkt in Torquay und schwitzten in einer nachgebauten Bananenplantage im facettenreichen Eden Project. Wir lernten Deinen pelzigen Reisegefährten Tobee kennen und sind nun sogar in der Lage, in einem Haushaltswarenladen in Wales nach einer Mikrowelle zu fragen.

Alles in allem war es eine wunderbare Zeit in England und in Deiner Heimat Wales. Wir haben unseren Kindern davon erzählt, bis diese es nicht mehr hören konnten und den Wochenendbesuch abkürzten und sind auch jetzt noch voller Begeisterung. Wir trinken zum Frühstück kornischen Tee und nachts in unseren Träumen spüren wir das Schaukeln des Omnibusses und hören die Schreckensschreie unserer Mitreisenden…  Na, aber ehrlich: Vielen Dank dafür, für das, was Du uns gezeigt hast (besonders die Orte abseits des Touristentrubels!) und das, was Du uns damit an Unnötigem erspart hast. Du und Juri, ihr wart ein perfektes Team und hochgeschätzt von der ganzen Meute. Stell‘ Dir vor, beim Abschied in Bath hat diese ältere Dame (jene weitgereiste mit ihren beiden ebenfalls reiseerfahrenen Töchtern) sämtliches Gefühl für Contenance und Etikette vergessen und minutenlang an die Fensterscheibe geklopft, um Dich noch einmal zu grüßen. Das ging so lange, bis Tochter Alexandra sie zur Ordnung rufen musste: „Na, jetzt! Also, bitte!“ Und ihr zur Beruhigung der Nerven und des aufgepeitschten Gemüts ihr Gin(ger)bread zusteckte.

Weißt Du, wo es meiner Frau am besten gefiel? Ausgerechnet im welligen Hügelland von Dartmoor. Einsamkeit um uns und blühendes Heidekraut, so weit das Auge reichte. Und hinter jedem Hügel der immer noch herrlichere Ausblick, ganz wie Du es voraussagtest. Im Grunde haben wir diesen ‚Umweg‘ sowieso Dir und den abgeänderten Reiseplänen dieses Tages zu verdanken. 

Zu Dartmoor kommt mir noch das fröhliche linguistische Seminar in den Sinn, die Gesprächsrunde vorne im Bus, als Alexandra, Juri und wir beide uns über Eigenheiten der deutschen Sprache unterhielten. Eine Sache lag mir damals auf der Zunge, ging aber irgendwie unter zwischen wilden Ponys, blauen Schafen, gruseligem Dartmoor Prison, Edgar Wallace, Arthur Conan Doyle, noch gruseligerem Hound of the Baskervilles und der endlosen Weite dieser düsteren, nebelverhangenen Heidelandschaft. 

Maria und Stephan"



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Touring Tip:

16/7/2019

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Don't walk around with your head down! You never know what you might miss!
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Bath on a Sunday Morning in May

19/5/2019

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The Season Kicks Off!

14/4/2019

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Spring has Sprung and the UK awaits your visit

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Bath Christmas Market - The Movie

5/12/2018

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Opening with a group of friends opening gifts on Christmas Day, the film then reverses back to the 'beginning' of their gift-buying journey, where the gang enjoy a festive trip to Bath. Why not combine a visit to the market with a tour of the sights beforehand!?
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So far, so good!

5/10/2018

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Read all about it! (Bath, that is)

14/9/2018

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A very interesting collection of articles from, about and around Bath from the Net.
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Go to Article
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Just "Follow the Fi(s)ch!

31/8/2018

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One of Mei's guests, Joerg Sapauschke, sent a couple of pics of himself and partner, along with some more of Mei in action (mouth open as usual! :-) )... oh, and among some of the best sights we saw today!
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Guess we're doing something right! :-)

26/7/2018

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Always great to get feedback... even more so when it's so kind! :-)
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"Bath's" Miranda Keys is now performing in Bristol!

11/6/2018

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Today's Western Daily Press :-)
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Click Here for more about Miranda Keys
Tell me more
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Thousands of birds 'flown' in cathedral

6/6/2018

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Thousands of origami doves have been installed at Salisbury Cathedral to signify peace following the nerve agent attack in the city.
The installation comprises 2,500 messages folded into bird shapes suspended along the length of the nave.
The city's community groups have also been encouraged to contribute their own thoughts and fold their own doves.
Artist Michael Pendry said: "In their unity they stand for a fundamental human right to peace and freedom."

​Tobee liked them too!
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"Make or Break your Trip..."

3/6/2018

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It's lovely when we get a smile at the end of a tour, a thank you, a handshake or, applause sometimes even. But it's nice to see it in writing :-)
Thank you Somer! 
  

(extract from thefamilythatwanders.com
"...I enjoy doing tours with a tour guide because I enjoy the history. With that being said, a tour guide can make or break your trip (see Paris when it pops up), this trip was amazing because we had an amazing tour guide. For a brief minute I am going to give a shout out to iToursInternational..."
Click to read more.
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Tobee's Travels Goes Live

16/5/2018

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​Tobee, Presley the Dog’s favourite bear, and his adventures since his buddy crossed the Rainbow Bridge back in January 2017.
Rarely (but when, obviously) photoshopped but otherwise life in the raw :-)

​Find him at Tobee's Travels after enjoying the album below!
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Bath Christmas Market 2018

26/4/2018

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Following a hugely successful event in 2017, the dates have been announced for this year’s Bath Christmas Market – Thursday 22nd November to Sunday 9th December.
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Bristol Love Locks

17/4/2018

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Love padlocks (also known as Love Locks) are a custom by which  padlocks are affixed to a fence, gate, bridge or similar public fixture by  sweethearts to symbolize their everlasting love.  Love padlocks have existed for quite some time, though there are no certain sources for their origin. In Europe, love padlocks started appearing in the early 2000s. The reasons love padlocks started to appear vary between locations, and in many instances are unsourced. It has been said that if both members of “love’s hand” are not present as the lock locks, the love has been forever jinxed.
These love padlocks are an expression of hope and humanity, connecting people around the world with the one thing that unites us all: love.  
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Pero's Bridge, Bristol
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One for the kids... and BIG kids too!

1/4/2018

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 iToursInternational guide and co-founder, Mei Catherall, has started a fun travelog for kids on Facebook. It will record "Tobee's Travels" and aims to promote the travel bug among our future travellers.

​Click the pic below to be taken to "Tobee's Travels", "LIKE" it and maybe even add some "bear-faced" travel pics of your own!?
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"We don't have "bad weather", we just have "a lot of weather!"

27/2/2018

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 These are pictures today of Alison's Students on a walking tour in Bath. They come from Verona and were fascinated to see the snow.
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Find your inner Elizabeth Bennet in Bath

16/2/2018

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With the 200th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death last year, interest in one of her most frequent haunts, the spa city of Bath, was rekindled.
With attractive Regency architecture at every turn, genteel tea rooms aplenty and the centrally located Jane Austen Centre, it’s the perfect place to indulge in one’s inner Mr Darcy/Lizzy Bennet fantasies. But this is a tale of three cities: the Georgian masterpiece, the Ancient Roman retreat and the trendy, modern city... (click here to continue reading)
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Read the whole article here
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Introducing the Great West Way

16/2/2018

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The Great West Way is the first touring route of its kind for England. As such it gives the opportunity to present England in a new way in international markets. 

Click the picture for the online PDF brochure.
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Online PDF
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Vote for Bath as the UK's Most Romantic City

9/2/2018

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Bath has been nominated as one of the most romantic places to have a city break in the UK, and now it's up to the public to choose their winner!

How Can You Help?
  • Vote for Bath as the UK's Most Romantic City
  • Share this competition with your followers on social media. To encourage our followers to vote, Visit Bath has put together a video featuring ten romantic places in Bath. You are welcome to use this video to promote the competition if you wish - the post is pinned to the top of our Facebook and Twitter profiles.
Vote for Bath
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Time to Come Back to The Island!

9/2/2018

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Let's Go!
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Hot off the Press! Bath Visitor Guide 2018

24/1/2018

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New Visitor Guide 2018

Here is the new 2018 Bath Visitor Guide, which provides extensive information on things to see and do, what’s on, shopping, eating-out, days out and places to stay. With a 300k distribution, it’s the essential tool for those planning a short break or day trip, and for visitors once they arrive at our destination.

Click the picture to view online or print at home!
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Preseason meeting in Georgian Splendour.

8/1/2018

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  • About Us
    • About (E)
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    • Monika Cavaciuti
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    • Pascale Souchon
    • Alison Garcia Levy
    • Melitta Petr
    • Astrid Bleich
    • Carol Morley
    • Carla De La Vega
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  • Galleries
    • Gallery Bath Bristol
    • Gallery Dorset
    • Gallery Oxford
    • Gallery Wiltshire
    • South Wales
    • Alter"native" Views
    • Other Views
    • Tobee's Travels
  • Clients
  • Other Services
    • UK Tipps (De)
    • iTours Recommends >
      • Egypt 2018
      • The Gambia
    • Partners
  • Contact