European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Focus Kominicki staff writer Ive hated buses since thanksgiving when my car broke Down in one of those vast unpopulated stretches of Oklahoma and i was forced to ride a greyhound with a group of pro life we celebrated americas feast Day with Clam Rolls at a Howard so you can roughly figure the thrill i got when the Boss assigned me to cover a tour to a shopping two and a half Days through northeastern by you have undo stably heard horror stories about these shopping Tours to ridiculous destinations in ridiculously Short lengths of a 36hour shopping trip to a on Day Jaunt to sri the bus roaring off in the Middle of the stopping at any commercial activity that might Likely offer a the chemical toilet a passenger gets lost and the tour invariably a Martin Bormann chants shop shop shop until the passengers Are whipped into a Loose tongued buying youll be surprised by this Carolyn Burgan told me before we this is different from other shopping we know How to do things in we know How to have Burgan is director of Munich Leisure learning an activity roughly equivalent to the rec centers other communities have but which Munich does the Center sponsors the Italy shopping trip Only a few times a normally one bus Load two weeks in a Row in the Spring and again in the she assured Well schedule eight buses if we need Well handle anyone who is interesting in i believe her theres an embroidered when the going gets the Tough go shopping sign on her office despite burgans assurances of something the trip started out with an unsettling familiarity we were scheduled to leave at from the theater parking lot in Munich Terlacher humans do not function Well at and Power i Are no we boarded the bus in robotic trying hard to be cheerful but looking More like a scene from invasion of the body the couple that failed to show was Given a perfunctory Chance to did and were left our departure rated High Marks from me if youve got to ride a be on one that stays on As we cruised Munich empty i took Stock of my fellow about 35 mostly women but with a sprinkling of half the group seemed to have taken the tour at least once before and came equipped with blankets and bags of food while talking about this shop that factory we hit the Highway and i drifted off into a troubled the seats Metal drink Holder dug squarely in my tour guide Judie Madore wakes us around with a cheery Pep talk Over the bus Shes been pacing the Center aisle a Wicker chair is carried to the bus and stowed in the lower baggage by the end of the the compartment was full and extra purchases spilled Over into vacant seats on the shoppers go to Italy to save dollars tour guide Judie Madore briefs shoppers on what is in store for them As tour departs for for More than an dispensing Orange juice and doughnuts to anyone who looked even slightly i found out has been guiding people on the Italy trip for six at the very least she deserves to have a mall named after the itinerary looks like its loosely based on Sherman March to the emerging from the mountains we descend on a town or shop for an hour and then move quickly stops Are 10 minutes apart at the first Day there Are nine outlets on the raiding around 9 half an hour ahead of we pull into a Hilly Little town that features a covered the shops ceramics Are the local specially hug the Dusty main their windows filled with a mix of Quality goods and several passengers buy baby bottles filled with next were off to what has to be one of the finest walled cities in the passengers disperse in search of bargains the draw Here is Quality but inexpensive sweaters while i Check out the town where each summer a human chess game is the group reassembles a few have changed into their purchases and the bus rumbles the tour is beginning to pick up and theres an almost charged air As the bus makes the Short hop to the next baby bottles and sweaters Are one thing next on the appears to be something else they hit the Wicker factory like locusts on Spring a charging fury of lir wielding shoppers intent on picking the place within minutes the Buss cavernous baggage compartment is stuffed with chairs and chests and what looks like an entire living room set is dutifully stuffed feeling left out of this spending i hesitantly Purchase a Lawn highlights of the shopping blur that follows Over the next nine hours a Pewter shop that also stocks Copper and they take visa and american personal Marks and and give us a 10 percent discount the minute we walk in the the Pewter prices seem foolishly two pottery shops in the same town Zens and Alessis offer just about anything that comes in Ceramic and at very reasonable a lamp a figurine of a woman with the Light fixture jutting out of her Chest is a hot a purse factory with leather handbags for As Little As the group does an impression of the marines at but no one is Hurt rummaging for bargains in the bins and for jackets and Pierres would be chichi if the prices we rent so embarrassingly theres High Quality women leather jackets and plus shoes for both All at Flea Market the group picks Over the shop and moves next door to an ice Cream around 7 Francos in the shop is within spitting distance of the army Post there and offers chess boards and Marble but the group is beginning to Flag a theres a look on a lot of the bus finally does hit the an Agio motor about the Price of the tour covers lodging and dinner photos by Dave Didio Beverly Marchesani examines the engraving on a polished Pewter Marilyn Johnson sorts through a selection of purses at the and its a Deal the hotel is first All the Way the rooms double occupancy for tour members feature full Baths and color a three course group is nothing but nothing to complain about we had a veal cutlet with vegetables and fruit for water and Coffee was most of the head for one spirited group of he id out to a disco with the hotel were off the next morning at heading for Venice and the last Stop of the tines chandelier factory on the Island of Linos turns out to be a group of ramshackle farm buildings located at the end of a sheep and chickens run Loose around the Back inside tinos is a glittering mass of Cut Glass ashtrays and menagerie Glass Bead the prices arc just Plain cheap As Little As for a two tiered chandelier and the group whips through like a summer a Crystal after a few glasses of tinos homemade the group spends the rest of the Day seeing the sights of Italy canal and comparing i chandeliers Are five to six times More expensive in the our factory items Are All at least one third the Price of Venice we leave promptly at on a slightly crowded bus a couple of seats have been commandeered for the Luggage that no longer fits in the baggage compartment and make it Back to Munich at about 1 half an hour ahead of the haul nearly an average for each the Booty includes More than 200 Ceramic 29 124 Pewter or Copper 73 22 chandeliers and at least two Marble plus the Gold and an estimated 112 cups of Burgan was Munich knows How to the particulars Cost of the tour is the Price includes round trip transportation aboard a German lodging and dinner for one night in Vicenza and doughnuts and Orange juice on the passengers should bring munchies for on the bus and Money for a meal in for bring credit and i had the impression a couple of these factories would have taken Green the bus is intentionally undercooked to allow extra room for purchases and it departs the theater parking lot in Munich Terlacher Forest at and returns at two Days the Center will conduct additional Italy trips on 20 and Call 08962297370 for information or reservations the learning Center gives out an excellent guide to those who sign up for the included Are maps of the trip itinerary and tips on what to bring the trip is led by knowledgeable tour guides who have obviously shopped this territory Many times there were three on the last trip one was fluent in All were As tour guide Madore put we dont teach you How to shop ritzy or we teach you How to shop Barbara Michalowski tiptoes through Wicker 10 stripes Magazine jury july stripes Magazine 77
