European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 9, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                11 a i i a Etc Era m i c pointers there Are a number of things to keep in mind when planning a shopping trip by bus. A the itinerary Check the itinerary closely and see How Well it matches your personal wishes. Verify the itinerary with the tour operator and find out How closely previous trips have matched the plans in actuality. If you re Adamant about visiting a sweater factory and it s been closed every time the bus showed up consider a trip on your own when you re assured the place will be open. A expenses Don t forget the Money Factor an important consideration if you re on a shopping spree. You can buy a lot of pottery for the Cost of the bus tour $79 is. What you would pay to go on your own. Had two of us gone privately expenses would have run Between $350 and $450, assuming we spent two Days driving one Day shopping and two nights in a hotel. Consider the Carnet required for cars driving through Switzerland via the autoroute costs 30 Swiss francs about $20.the driving distance from Frankfurt Germany to a a Venice Italy a few Miles Southeast of Nove to 778 Miles. Double that distance for a round trip assume you go through the hassle of getting Gas coupons and you be shelled out close to $200 for a car using super leaded that gets about 200 Miles per tank of gasoline. Triple that Cost if you Don t have Access to Gas coupons. On our previous visit a decent hotel for two was about $65 per night. A . Employee Quot pings piece of pottery which he says helps determine its Quality. There s also the Cost of toll roads in Italy plus the expense of meals for three Days. This does t Factor in the Wear and tear on the Auto and nerves. A the merchandise Check each piece carefully. Some Are seconds and it s easy to get the Price lowered if you can Point out the flaws. The Man at . Puts on quite a show of Quot pinging Quot the pieces and the ringing sound helps him determine the Quality of the item. Five months passed Between my two trips to Ancora and ., i was surprised at the change of. Merchandise particularly at Ancora. There were Many patterns i had t seen on the earlier trip and by the same Token some pieces bought on the first trip were nowhere to be found this time. It s fun to look at tire Bottom of each piece and Check the Potter s stamp. Some Are custom made for the More exclusive stores in the states. It s not uncommon to find labels that say Quot made in Italy for Bloomingdale a Quot or a Neiman Marcus Macy a Etc. A dining out note the details on the tour s brochure. Are meals included is breakfast part of the Deal and remember there s a big difference Between a traditional american style breakfast and a Continental breakfast. Either Way no problem for this tour no meals Are included. We had an stand up breakfast of pastry and drink at an Autostrada Stop. A Hearty lunch in Bassano Del grappa was a real bargain. For 20,000 lira about $1 3diners had a Choice of pasta or Rice one of three kinds of meat salad or potatoes and a drink. Dinner was Good but no bargain. We slopped at a move pick Roadside restaurant in Switzerland. Wurst potato salad and a drink was an even $17. A currency Many of the pottery places wart Cash Only. The owner of Ancora obviously used to dealing with americans is an exception. Hell take most currencies including dollars lire and German Marks and surprisingly personal checks in dollars. Hell also accept credit cares but the Price goes up because of his processing fee. If you re travelling Solo and want to mail your items through the military postal system the folks at Ancora will also wrap and pack your merchandise in heavy duty boxes Kathy Platt pottery is wrapped in heavy Bubble wrap after it is said. At left the Container at right bears a Label saying it was made for Bloomingdale  photos by Kathy Piatt bus tour shoppers inspect shelves of ceramics at .  Avo Casey june % 1 f>94 stripes Mai Jasne