Dear Eva & Kristin,

Before having a chance to thank you, I came down with something on my return, and wish to apologize for not contacting you sooner.

I am older than dirt (in my ’70’s), and was wondering why an old broad like me would consider this journey to the Holy Land. Now I know why – it was meant to educate, inspire and open my heart to something larger than myself, and more beautiful. The people we met were so filled with peace and love that you could feel the openness and acceptance emanating not Only * from them but also the place whereon they stood.

My deepest thanks for your part in increasing our awareness of other cultures and other peoples, and other loves.

Carol Leppert

Thank you for the wonderful trip you provided for us. All of us enjoyed ourselves!!! The people within the tour are all awesome!! They are very nice people and after spending a week or so together, we have bonded and became close. It was hard saying goodbye to all especially Father Michael Brizio.

I will certainly come back to you when we are ready to go to our next trip, perhaps next year Medjugorje. Take care and all the best!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you & your family. ~

Elizabeth

Ketta,

I would like to thank you for the wonderful trip to Medjugorje Nov 2 – 10, 2004 with Wayne Weible. The trip was beyond my expectations. The trip was superbly organized and our guide Slavenka was such a big help. I came back with a wonderful present from the Holy Mother – She turned my rosary gold! I had such a wonderful time that I can’t wait to return! It was so nice to meet you in Medjugorje.

Thank you,

Mary Elizabeth Taddei

Hi Eva,

Just a note to let you know how much I enjoyed the trip with James Twyman. The group was fantastic and the organized trip was great. George our guide was fantastic as well as the driver. We all had a terrific time!

Thanks a bunch for doing this for us and looking after us.

Kind regards

Brigitte Williams

We are back and had a really wonderful and spirit filled pilgrimage. Martin our guide was fabulous. Tony our driver was extremely skilled. The local guides Nicholas in Salzburg, Hannah in Prague, Karl in Vienna and Anna in Budapest were great. Witty, funny and very knowledgeable. Commentaries: The hotels in Slazburg and Prague were the best and the food were great. Vienna, the Ananas hotel was not great. Budapest hotel was ok and the food was ok but we think that the Diplomat was the best. We are planning on another pilgrimage next year but they want me to tailor it to the places we haven’t been yet.

God Bless!!!

Menchie Gapay

The tour was absolutely the best!

We had two tour guides that were wonderful. The smoothness of the arrangements were great. I would highly
recommend the Tour 206!

Merle & Nancy Farrier

Dear Rinda,

We are back from our pilgrimage. It was WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cinzie, our guide, was terrific. All the planning with hotels, transportation, pilgrimage sites, etc. was marvelous. So, we are most grateful for all your efforts at 206 to provide such exceptional pilgrimages!!! John and I will cherish these memories forever. Our greatest memory will be seeing our son, Father Jim, as our spiritual director!!!!! It was such an exceptional experience for him as a newly ordained priest. We loved hearing his short daily homilies and experiencing him celebrating Mass. Our first Mass was at The African Missions in Rome, which was located right next to our hotel. We were so blessed with Mass celebrated at Padre Pio’s tomb and at Lanciano it was in the small chapel where the actual miracle took place! Mass celebrated at Monte Cassino was sooooo beautiful, too. May God bless all of your for your tremendous efforts in strengthening the faith of so many year after year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sincerely, Kate Cogan

Dear Rinda,

I am pleased to inform you that everything went well. The accommodations, food and organization were excellent. The guide and the driver were competent, pleasant and helpful. The program of the tour was fulfilled, although some places in the Palestinian territory were not accessible because of the death of Yasser Arafat. I know that one person complained that we were not taken to see the work of Chagall – a place not in the program and of interest to Only * a very few of us. Being a very diverse group, it is not surprising that a couple of people preferred to pursue their own interests. We were faithful to our pattern of prayer. I have the impression that most people enjoyed the trip and grew in their experience of faith.

Thanks again.

Sincerely,
Fr. M. Brizio

Hi Ketta – We were delighted to meet you at last and wish you could have stayed longer. You and 206 Tours made the trip the very best for us. We arrived home safe but tired on Wednesday. All the plane connections went perfectly.

Please lets try to stay in touch. We’re very fond of you and we don’t want to wait two years until the next trip to hear from you.

All the best, Mr. & Mrs. Judy

Ketta, Thanks for a wonderful pilgrimage. Everything was just fine due to some very professional groundwork at 206. We got home OK and did a little selling for you on the plane from Zagreb. My seat partner was also returning from Med. and was quite happy with her provider, until I told her about our trip. She now has your EM address and she is aware of and eager to make the Nov. trip in 2005. We are also confident that our daughter will be there next year. She’s the one that got us started! Again thanks for a great trip. It was a pleasure to meet you. You somehow were like and old shoe (that’s a compliment) that made us feel comfortable. Give out thanks and regards to your super boss also. If there is any particular comment, opinion, you are looking for, let me know. Ciao!

Bob

Rinda,

I just called my Clients and they said they had a wonderful trip and experience. I will most definitely use your services again for any of my Clients who request these tours!

Thanks…..

Linda Boswell

Dear Rinda,

Just a very short note to tell you that I cannot describe in words our wonderful trip to Medjugorje which you at 206 conducted. Our tour director, who named herself Snow White (Snjezana), was most exceptional as she was so very much acquainted with the Medjugorje area, history, and people and who has so much love for the story of the Blessed Mother’s appearance to the visionaries.

We were very blessed by having her as our tour director and cannot express in words the aid that she gave to us in helping us make a most wonderful pilgrimage happen. May God bless her often in helping her spread the message in such a wonderful way.

Very Sincerely,
Charles Baumstark

Ketta,

Once again I wanted to thank you for all your hard work in making our trip wonderful. I was nervous to have a roommate and Azelle and I were a perfect fit,we got along beautifully. Someone from another house said that the Santa Maria house seemed to really meld together and were having alot of fun. It is true, you did a great job in placing people, our house really did develop into a tight group. The house accomadations were beautiful, the food wonderful and the owners were friendly. I also cannot say enough about Slavenka and Mirella, they were so knowledgeable,friendly and funny too.

I had so many experiences this week i feel changed in a wonderful way, I pray that I hold onto these feelings now that I am home.Thank you again for helping to make this trip possible.

Lee Simeone

Our trip to Italy with seeing the Holy Father twice, climbing the Sancta Scala, visiting Pietralcina and Mass at Padre Pio’s tomb, Mass in the catacombs, Mass at St. Francis Basilica in Assisi and at the site of the Eucharistic Miracle in Lanciano and visiting the Holy House of Loreto is a trip that will live on and on in my heart. Our guides were so sweet and pleasant and very REAL people that never seemed to tire of our endless questions,. It didn’t matter that it rained 5 days out of 7, we had beautiful skies at MonteCassino and Assisi. Every effort was made to accomodate us and the hotels were wonderful as well as the food. Our bus driver MIMO was so typical Italian and kind to drive extra to Pietralcina. The Only * suggestion I have is to make this tour a couple days longer with an extra day in Assisi and one in Siena.

Thanks for a dream come true.

Sue Williams

Dear Milanka,

What a wonderful evening in Rome. You are a truly gracious host. The meal was super. All the effort you put into that night was very evident. The rest of our pilgrimage was one of the best. Tour Guide Gaia was very efficient and made sure pilgrims were attended to. The hotels in San Giovanni and Assisi could not be better. The staff respectful at the desk and at the restaurants. Our local tour guides were pleasant and knowledgeable. Only * in Rome was there a bit of “resistance” (Hotel Jolly Staff), by the time we left they came around to our group.

Fr. Joe Batcheldor from Kentucky was super spiritual director. He really loved and enjoyed all of us, I was initially bit concerned about combining groups but it turned out to be a spiritual blessing. We had Mabel, who worked with Mother Teresa for 45 years, and her roommate Ginny, a pastoral minister from New Jersey is Married to an Indian man and spends a lot of time in India. They did not know each other before.

Also at the beatification one person had to go to the bathroom. While we were on line an American woman who lives in Japan with her husband came over from there with her own group and just casually said to the Phillipino lady from our group that she was praying to meet her dear friend Mabel. When I heard Mabel’s name I said: “she’s with us”! This woman came back to our spot and the two friend were united. I just want to tell you a few of the miraculous things that happened and let you know what tremendous work 206Tours is doing in peoples lives on many levels.

Sincerely,

Michelle Bove

Dear Eva,

As I said, we had a wonderful guide, driver and hotel. The hotel was lovely and food very good. We made one slight change in our itinerary on Friday. Fr. and I decided we didn’t want to go to Puebla and Chula but that we would rather go back to St. John the Baptist church and then return for one last time to the shrine. Javier, the guide, was somewhat relieved as there is a lot of construction going on and he wasn’t sure how we could see the things we had planned. It all worked out very well to everyone’s satisfaction. Javier bought us box lunches and cake which we ate in the park and it was just great. I cannot say enough about him. He is the best guide I have ever had on a pilgrimage.

Our ministry is wanting to plan a trip to Medjugorje and Lourdes next Sept/Oct. I was thinking after the feast of the cross or the middle of Oct. Can you work something up for us and give me an itinery and prices.

Fr. was so impressed with our trip he’s ready to go back to Guadalupe! We told him AFTER Medjugorje!

Thanks,

Marcia

Hi Eva,

Bill and I did not what to expect from the event, but we were very pleased. This was a first for us: first tour, first pilgrimage, first time in Italy and we are still in awe of all that we were privileged to see. We will have to go back at some time in the future for we could not absorb all that we were seeing. So much to see with a tight schedule, but that would be the Only * way to get the towns and basilica’s covered as you stated.

Father Pavich was wonderful. His knowledge and insight into the events that took place at the different locations was great for us to hear, an added touch to what we could read from a book. His knowledge of our religion and the use of prayer was most beneficial for us. We would be interested in knowing when and where Fr. Pavich would be doing future tours for you.

Our tour guide, Gaia was a “GEM”. She went out of her way to make sure every thing went on schedule and when there was a glitch, we never knew it for she would cover up and even call in her friends to help out the group. She was witty, kind and most considerate of us. Her knowledge of the areas in which we traveled was absorb by us and enjoyed also. All in all we give her a 10!!. She is a keeper!!

Also, each time we spoke with your agency or was in contact with someone, everyone was professional, helpful and pleasant to deal with.

Many thanks to all involved.

Keep us posted on Fr. Pavich. Please God peace will come to the middle east and we will get to the holy land.

God bless you, Eva and your staff.

Bill and Betty Conforti

Dear Rinda,

The pilgrimage was the best ever. Linda Balis and I really loved it. Guaia was great. The food and accommodations were wonderful. Keep up the good work. God bless you.

Linda Repici

Dear Rinda,

We want to thank you for a most enjoyable pilgrimage to Lourdes and Paris. The guide, Susan, in Lourdes was outstanding with her knowledge, devotion and kindness to our group. Fr. Moyna was exceptional and provided us with his special talents.
One suggestion, though; we could have used one additional day in Paris to enjoy some of the cultural sites and to allow some free time for the ladies to enjoy some shopping. We were pressed for time in those days in Paris.

Overall, it was a most fulfilling pilgrimage. Thank you, again.

Love and prayers,

Camille and Lou Guido

Dear Kristin, Eva and 206 Tours;

I wanted to let you all know what a great experience we (from St. Magdalens Church) had on our pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain and France.

From start to finish- everything was amazing! We were so pampered by our tour guide, Javier. He answered ALL our questions, went out of his way to make sure we were comfortable and even helped us to find souvenirs and specialty items to take home – and kept us out of the tourist traps! He kept us all on a tight schedule which enabled us to see and experience so much of Spain and Portugal. His extensive knowledge of Europe and it’s history was an education to us all! He was patient with us all and we all became a family under his care. His bus driver Pedro was amazing as we went from city to city – all over Spain – never getting us lost and we always arrived on time for concerts, tours and dinners! We missed them both terribly in Lourdes (I did not go on to Paris) but it showed us how pleasurable they had made the majority of our trip!!

As far as accommodations and meals were concerned….everything was excellent!! The hotels throughout Portugal and Spain were outstanding!! My sister, who came with me and had never been to Europe and was skeptical on how the accommodations would be, was impressed by the high quality and service of ALL the hotels. We lacked nothing!! I cannot tell you how happy we were that Gloria and Remy used 206 Tours for this trip!! I will definitely refer you to our friends and will be using you for all our future travel plans. And also a big thanks to all the people working in the office. From the start, you have answered all our questions and treated us with courtesy and respect. It has been a great experience all the way through. Thanks so much.

Sincerely;

Mary Ann Chiarello

Dear Eva,

The trip to France was exquisite! Thank you so much for all your expertise and attention to detail that resulted in a very smooth and successful trip. I have not been on a group trip for many years, and I found it to be quite convenient. I especially liked not having to deal with luggage and having my days planned.

Our tour guides were just perfect! I can’t even remember the name of the lady in Lourdes, but she was just right for our group. She was knowledgeable, professional, and efficient. Our stay in Lourdes was shorter than she was used to, and I think she did a good job of taking care of the highlights for us.

Daphne, our guide for the rest of the trip was fantastic! She was personable, extremely knowledgeable, patient with some challenging members of our group and totally committed to the comfort and well-being of each of us. She maintained a balance of involvement and acknowledging people’s desires to be off on their own. She did an efficient job of keeping us on
track and on time, which was no small task with our group of independent souls. She went out of her way to help one woman who needed medical attention and others who needed personal things along the way.

Thanks so much for facilitating this sacred journey.

With warm regards,
Elinor Hall

Hello Rinda,

Yes, I was one of the ones affected by the Lufthansa delay on Oct. 8th. I know it wasn’t 206 Travel’s fault but it sure was a difficult day.

Other than that, the pilgrimage met my expectations and was very enjoyable. The guides, Karen and Lawrence, were excellent and very helpful. Lawrence was particularly helpful to me in helping me obtain some medication for a cold.

I’m sure I will be contacting 206 again for other pilgrimages.

Regards,

Bill Degnan

Donna and I just wanted to tell you how much we enjoyed our trip. From staying at Mirjana’s house and being served by her (VERY humbling), to seeing Penny and Fr. Moyna again, it was a really wonderful trip! That Slavenka gal is about as “perfect” a tour guide as you can possibly have. What a find for 206 Tours. I don’t think I’ve ever been around someone who could rattle off as much information about everything as she. What an absolute sweetheart, too. The Only * downside to the trip was Croatian Air losing our (and about a dozen other’s) luggage for about a day. Good thing Donna packed that extra set of clothes in the carry on like was suggested (and something “single” Larry probably never would have done).

Though he was on my January 1991 trip with Penny, I never really got to know Fr. Moyna. He just seemed like this “out of it” priest who was forever sleeping up on the altar when concelebrating mass. Milanka, I can honestly say that getting to know Fr. Moyna on this trip was the highlight. I know now why you love him so much and had him do your wedding. Sure, he would tell you the same stories, sometimes 3 days in a row. Or that he seemed to be on a “2 second delay” from the rest of the world, but we found him to be the most fascinating man we’ve met in a long time. Every night out on Mirjana’s veranda we (meaning most of the group) would be out there just listening to him talk……about anything (usually Einstein or some other world philosopher). It was most interesting hearing him explain the faith. He never got mad, he just explained it the way it was (“right is right and wrong is wrong”). He’s about the most ego-less person I’ve ever met.

We were up till midnight almost every night just listening to him. In fact, Donna and I had retired for the night, once, when we heard his voice downstairs (our window is right above the table) and quickly put our street clothes back on just so we could be around him. I mean what is that! We coined a couple of funny phrases to boot. The table where we sat around listening to him was called Moyna’s Coyna (Corner). We referred to ourselves as “Moyniacs” and think that Medjugorje should now be called either Moynagorje or Medjumoyna. We’re back Only * 2 days and Donna and I are constantly saying out loud…..”I miss Fr. Moyna!!!” Believe it or not I’m SERIOUSLY toying with the idea of bringing some sort of youth group to Medj next year for the Youth Festival in August.

Oh, and one more thing about Fr. Moyna…….like Visa, he seems to be everywhere! From numerous pictures on your website to a framed, and honorary position at the famous Charlie’s Gift Shop (which was also a highlight of the trip). Talk about getting a comedy act while getting great prices too!

Love Larry and Donna

P.S. There was a gal from Hawaii on our trip who said this was her 4th trip to Medj, but the first with 206. She couldn’t stop talking about how vastly better 206 was than the other tour places she’s been with. Keep up the great work Milanka. Just wanted you to know what people said.

Dear Milanka,

Words can never tell you how wonderful the journey was. We had two ladies that joined us, when we arrived. They were angels sent from God to complete our spiritual family on this journey.

The priest that you paid for Fr. Dempsey, had one special moment after another. So much happened for him and I will try to write it as I saw it and share it with you. He was touched by Our Lady and God during the entire trip.

Please tell Billy how grateful I am for his assistance to pull this together and being so kind to me with all of my questions and last minute things! He is great.

I am so grateful for your gift of Fathers ticket, words cannot tell you how touched I was and how grateful I was for your generosity.

Lots of Hugs,

Sandy

Dear Eva,

The trip was wonderful. The hotels were all very nice and the connections were seamless. The quality of food varied from place to place, but was generally ok. Susan was very nice in Lourdes. The best part of the adventure was Daphne. She is amazing in her efficiency, knowledge, reliability and generosity of spirit. I had no idea how much difference the guide would make in the quality of the trip and Daphne went a very long way to enhancing the experience.

Thanks for all you did to make the trip a success.

Terri Tate

Dear Eva,

I just returned from the trip, which was excellent….thank you! I wanted to give my personal information to our wonderful guide Daphne…can you forward this to her? Many thanks…

Hi Eva:

Thanks so much for your email. I want you to know that the trip to “the Sacred Sites of France” was wonderful, without glitch, and totally inspirational. I truly appreciate all the work that you put into it — the planning, the details, the personnel who drove and guided us around the country, your love and devotion — every aspect was perfect. Truly, Eva, thank you so much.

I do believe that most of the group would like you to know that our guide Daphne was superb, informational, spirit-filled, and quite excellent for our group. In short, all of our goals and desires for this trip were strongly realized, thanks in large measure to you, your staff, your planning and your spirit. Thank you so much. I hope that your working for our group was as pleasant and fulfilling for you as it was for us, Eva.

I shall hold you in my heart with wishes of blessings.

Warmly — Bill Bauman

Hello Ketta:

We had a GREAT EXPERIENCE in Med. and I know my parents had a great time in Italy. They have not stop talking about it to our friends and relatives. I would like to have a tour the week of the anniversary of the apparitions in late June.

Next after the trip I and a couple others have shown an interest in staying longer and offering volunteer work at any of the refugee camps.

Thanks, and God Bless…..Michael

Dear Eva,

Once again, thank you for all your efforts to make sure that everything was in place for a beautiful pilrimage to Medjugorje. The flying arrangements were great. We moved from one plane to the other with very little waiting time.

As far as Medjugorje goes, it was just great as usual.

I am not sure when I will be going again, but I will be in touch.

Father Gerry usually takes a group someplace every year and if he does not go through 206 next year, I am sure that he will in the future as he was very satisfied.

Thank you again and God bless.
Sister Marcie

Ciao Ketta!

Richard and I are back from our honeymoon in Italy, and we had a wonderful time! The itinerary that you took the time to put together for us was more than we could have dreamed of. We especially loved Capri, and the Hotel Punta Tragara was amazing. We can’t wait to go back.
Everything you recommended was spot-on Ketta, but what really impressed me was the ease in which we were able to navigate our itinerary. As you know, lots of things had to work out just right, including our drivers being on time, correct train and boat tickets, and our tour guides delivering. We didn’t miss a beat. Every detail went off without a hitch. Having traveled many times before with tour companies, I kept waiting for the inevitable snafu. It never came. Our travel arrangements were flawless.
Richard and I bragged so much about our trip when we returned, that people in our church suggested a parish trip during the upcoming “Year of The Eucharist.” Being the administrator of our Eucharistic Ministry, I may be in touch with you on this. Stay tuned…
Thanks again for a job well-done Ketta, and I’m looking forward to working with you and 206 Tours again.

Sincerely,
Sharon Robertson-Delaney

Hello!

We recently finished a tour of Shrines of France with 206 Tour, September 9 to 16. We would like to thank you for that great experience. We would like to thank you for our wonderful tour guide, their patience and knowledge of the place. I know my friends have already been to Lourdes but when I told them the places I went, they would like to have the same experience. We had a wonderful time and thank you, again.

Jess and Loreta Borneo

Dear Sandra,

On my return to NY, I recommended 206 Tours to two of my colleagues at the United Nations.
I believe one of them has already logged into your web for details. My mother and I believe that we couldn’t have chosen a better tour and a better group to join and the friendships we made will last a long long time. The Moderne Hotel in Lourdes was the best I have ever stayed in after 3 visits in Lourdes. The Bleu Marine in Montparnasse was good and well located. Food at both hotels was good.

All land tours were efficiently conducted and on time.

I would not hesitate to recommend 206 Tours to friends and family. Thank you again for facilitating our trip. I
look forward to booking on another one of your Tours in the future.

Sincerely yours,
Dolly Tanpinco

Dear Rinda and Milanka,

Thank you for your kind note. My experience with Tour 5& 10 with 206 Tours was an excellent experience. I commend all of you and your staff for the careful planning that made this pilgrimage such a fine experience. I’ll make some specific comments for you.

· Hotel Padoue or Gallia Londres, in Lourdes is a beautiful hotel and well located. Their meals were superior as was their attentiveness to the special needs of the sick, elderly and frail. Three years ago my stay ay Hotel San Saveur was less satisfying.

· Susan, my group’s Lourdes’ guide, is excellent. Naturally she knows Lourdes well, but she was attentive in an extraordinary way with the frail members of our group. I had met her three years ago during my first 206 tour and was very pleased to encounter her again.

· The Hotel Bleu Marine in Paris was likewise a luxurious hotel.

· We experienced some weather (heavy rains) and traffic problems upon arrival in Venice that precluded us from having the opportunity to visit the shrine at Padua – but this certainly was nothing that you could have avoided. The hotel at Abano Terme was very nice.

· Our Italian guide, Cinzia, was a very pleasant young lady and quite proficient. Early on in our time together she didn’t seem to grasp the special needs of our more elderly pilgrims, but over the days she became more and more sensitive to their requirements. She had a good rapport with the staffs of the shrines we visited and seemed to do an excellent job in renegotiating the scheduling of Masses a couple of times when our scheduled arrival had been delayed.

· I really enjoyed the Hotel Fontebello. Some of our party seemed a bit distressed at first by the size of their rooms but in the end I think the charm of the place won them over. That’s quite a climb up the hill from where the bus had to drop us off. We learned the next that for just 7.5 euro a taxi could be had. For our elderly pilgrims, this would have been helpful upon arrival.

· The Hotel San Gabrielle in Loreto likewise was very nice and very conveniently located.

· The Hotel Valle della Rosa at San Giovanni di Rotondo was beautiful. I take it that it is brand new.

· The Hotel Michaelangelo in Rome was wonderful. Having such proximity to Vatican City was a real blessing. I urge to utilize that hotel whenever you can for that reason as it so easily permits travelers to continue their exploration of the Vatican on their own.

· Our meals at all of the hotels were very fine. I did not experience a single disappointing meal. I know it is an American hang-up – but much of the group was dismayed to have to purchase water at meals, which happened in a couple of places … Hotel Fontebello and Hotel Michaelangelo, I believe.

I thank you again for the opportunity to travel with 206 Tours. I am impressed by the quality of the hotels you chose and the quality of the meals. I would be pleased to have the opportunity to again serve as a spiritual director for one of your tours. Most of our travellers were traveling with 206 for the first time and I believe all were satisfied and impressed.

Be assured of my prayers for all o you, your families and your staff. Keep up the good work.

Fr. Bill Medley

Kristin, I would like to tell you that the pilgrimage was just great. Also, I would like to ask you, if you could please mail to my home a new brochure for the pilgrimages done by your company, I had one, but it seems to have disappeared. Thanks a lot Cecilia (Pilgrim).

Dear Rinda,

Our pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes went very well, we enjoyed it very much. The Only * problem we encountered was in coming back home. We barely made our connecting flight. In Chicago, we have to leave our luggage behind just to get to our next flight.

The luggage were delivered to us the following day.

So, other than this, my wife and I are satisfied with the trip. We will be going on some more pilgrimage with 206 Tours sometime in the future.

Best regards,

Pete Licop

Hello Rinda… I would like to relay my impressions of the pilgrimage to Portugal, Spain, France and Italy for which I was spiritual director.

My impression is that everyone found the tour to be enriching spiritually, educationally and personally.

For the most part, the meals were very good and plentiful. I heard no gripes – in fact there was an over-abundance of food served. Our guides were excellent with the exception of Carlos from Lourdes. I want to commend Simona, our guide in Italy.

Our bus driver should also receive commendation for maneuvering the bus on a car-packed expressway and got us out of there by using the entrance ramp as an exit. The five of my group all gave him loud applause.

I believe I can speak for all of my group that we had a spiritually enriching pilgrimage and all of us were so happy when

Patrick George was blessed by the Holy Father and his mother, Ero, got to kiss the Pope’s ring.

God love. Father John Hogan

Ketta,

Thank you. For your information, the change of hotel to Hotel Divani Caravel was a welcome change. We were given 5-star accommodations Sept. 15-17 in their upper floors…. The Rev. Alice Sadler was a delightful companion for the pilgrimage.

I am looking forward to next year’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

God bless – Virgilio

Ketta, Jason, Milanka and Slavenka,

I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say “Thank You” for all of your help. We had a beautiful pilgrimage and many hearts were touch and changed by the experiences. Slavenka did a great job with our group during the week. The whole group loved her.

Slavenka, again I just wanted to personally thank you. It was a pleasure to spend time with you during the week. You did such a nice job handling all of Father Bruce’s concerns and I know that he really appreciated it, as did I. I hope that I am able to return to Medjugojre soon and be a part a group led by you.

Ketta, I know we had a lot of last minute cancellations and changes, but everything worked out just fine and thank you and Jason for all your help in pulling this all together.

From the music ministry standpoint, everything worked out well. We played at St. James a couple of times at St Francis and at St Blaise for masses. People told us after one of the masses at St. James that they were in tears because the meditation really moved them. We also played a couple of nights at the PAX . We led Praise and Worship sing-a-long type evenings for the American groups, about 100 people each night. We also had the Italian’s coming in as well. Father Neil Buchlein (the other 206 pilgrimage) and his group came over one night as well as a priest and his group from New Orleans Louisiana. People told us that the pilgrimage experience was truly enriched by our music and that is what we want to accomplish. If song brings people closer to Jesus then we are glad to help.

Jason, everything worked out well with the bass amp. Slavenka was able to hook up with a friend of hers after speaking with you. Thanks for your help.

Milanka, you have a great group of people in your organization and I appreciate working with you and all your people. I look forward to doing it again soon, but I think my wife will be making the next trip with her girlfriends.

If you ever hear of the need for a Christian music ministry, please keep us in mind. We love to minister through our music.

Blessings to you all,

Jeff Reil

Selah Song

Hi Ketta,

We got back on Friday. Everybody in the group was delighted with everything. God graced us with wonderful sunshine, no rain (except the last day in Pompeii), and a great group of people. I asked my people for feedback the last evening in Rome. They all expressed great satisfaction. Our tour escort, Luigi did a great job and people were impressed with the calm, good driving and the gentleness of Antonio. The hotels were very satisfactory. The one in Assisi was small but very charming. We were lucky that the hotel in Rome was not ready to receive us when we arrived in Rome. We were very grateful to Luigi and Antonio who offered to drive us to the Coliseum where Luigi led us to see several interesting places that otherwise we would not have seen. As a result nobody complained about the fact that the hotel was a distance from the tourist places in Rome. As a matter of fact the hotel in Rome turned out to be very satisfactory: a nice hotel, good restaurant, good service. So I am most grateful for the good services you offered us. All of us carry wonderful memories with us. A few of the older women said that they had not been informed about all the walking and climbing they would have to do. It may be good to encourage future groups to start training weeks in advance because Siena and Assisi were rough for some.
Indeed a lot of walking was involved every day. But still everybody loved the tour. As all pilgrims do they fell in love with Assisi. If there would have been less walking they would have missed too much. Everybody loved the places where we celebrated the Eucharist. That was special time for all of us. Please, extend my sincere gratitude also to Milanka. Both of you did a great job in preparing for this tour.

Ketta, thanks again. Keep up the good work.

Gratefully, Fr. Bill

Dear Rinda,

Thank you for your prompt and helpful responses. The professionalism and thoughtfulness has been tremendous and truly appreciated.

Kay Bacino

Dear Rinda,

Where do I begin? Everything, absolutely everything was wonderful. The guides were wonderful, Jesus, Luis, Susan, Laurence.

We were very impressed with Luis Antolinez Vegas who guided us thru the Cathedral in Burgos. He was so animated. We were also very impressed with Laurence who was our guide in Paris. He was a veritable guide book of Paris history.

We loved the hotels and the food and service was very good. The spirituality we felt through the entire trip was so wonderful. We have already recommended 206 Tours to several people. We felt your service did not leave a stone unturned. We could hardly believe how smooth everything went. From connecting flights, to hotel accommodations, to new tour groups, to new tour guides. And all the guides were so patient with us, our first group was about 45 people and I’m sure Jesus had to exercise a great deal of patience at times.

Sometimes the days were very long and sleep times were very short, but there was nothing we would have wanted to miss. My husband and I came home different people (Spiritually). We will never forget you and if we are ever able to make another pilgrimage in our life time, we will remember 206 Tours.

James and Nora Lea Wassner

Rinda,

THANK YOU for taking care of this on the weekend! I did not expect that but do appreciate it since I will be gone all week.

Thank you again for your prompt service.

Blessings to you!

Maxine McCarthy

Hi!

Thanks for the welcome home! I had a wonderful trip. My bag didn’t make it to my final destination, however I did receive it late the next day. I was very surprised that it arrived so soon. I stayed at Nada’s. She was great! The food was excellent & the group that I was with was outstanding. I really enjoyed the trip. The connections went like clockwork. It was an amazing spiritual journey, one that I will cherish forever. I will certainly use the 206 tours in the future.

Joan Carpenter

RINDA; bless your work

THANK YOU and the organization for providing me such a beautiful opportunity. Not a thing really went WRONG, as far as I was concerned, and we did the program, naturally being so well planned as it was by you and team. .. .. Just enough time for most of the prayerful activities, and not too much left over for the shopping tours. But almost perfect. THANKS again, and I will try to be at your service sometime in the future.

LUIS RUNDE, ofm.

Hi Rinda!

I’ve just returned from my summer vacation and I can give you some feedback on Tour #5 which left on August 5. Overall, the planning was excellent. People were very happy with most accomodations and food etc. The guides were helpful and friendly and represented 206 Tours very well.

Lourdes – I really enjoyed the Gallia Londres hotel. I’ve also stayed at the St. Sauver and the hotel around the corner and down the hill (don’t remember the name). This was, by far, the best. Susan is a wonderful guide- easy to understand (she is British) and very helpful. We had some mixup on wheel chairs that supposedly were ordered and didn’t show up. I don’t think it was 206 at fault, but a local travel agent. It should be specified that if people are in wheelchairs, they are welcome- but must have someone accompany them who can push the wheelchair. This was a little problem. Luckily a number of us chipped in to share the load- but it was hot and it would have been too much for 1 person.

Paris – I suppose having a day in Paris is a selling point, but I think it’s alot to squeeze into 1 day. I almost think it would be better to fly directly from Pau to Rome or else to have 2 days in Paris. We saw the Eiffel tower from a distance- didn’t have time to go up. For me, I’ve been up he tower a few times, but some others were disappointed. We got to Notre Dame and had 15 minutes for free time to go into the cathedral… and the line was outside the door!

Rome – Everything went well in Rome. I always enjoy the Michaelangelo Hotel, and they seem to treat Americans very well there. The restaurant food is fine in a relaxed setting. We went to Castel Gondolfo to see the Pope and everyone was happy with that. We wanted to add a tour by night and our guide, Luigi, arranged that for us for $35. But if it wouldn’t have been for the evening addition, we wouldn’t have had time to see the Trevi fountain, the Piazza Navonna or the Coloseum.

Giovanni Rotundo – It was a long day and a long bus ride… but generally it went well. We stopped at Monte Cassino and had a beautiful mass right at the top of the mountain at the tomb of St. Benedict. People were very moved by this. We arrived at Giovanni Rotundo to a beautiful hotel. It was nice to have a good overnight sleep then to do all the sites the next day.

Loretto & Lanciano – These sites were beautiful and we enjoyed them both. We had a beautiful Mass for the Annunciation at Lanciano. I have never been to either of these two places, and I know we were all pleased at these two destinations.

Assisi – Everyone loved Assisi. The Only * thing we had to do was change the itinerary a little bit. Because it is the end of the trip, people are a little bit tired.

Overall again. The group seemed to enjoy each other and we have all exchanged e-mails. They are looking for a reuinion – maybe on another 206 Tour.

Peace –
Fr. Frank Nelson

Hi Every one,

I constantly think about that beautiful, difficult and blessed time that I spent with Our Lady and all of you, who made it possible. I believe that I will return some day, when the Lord chooses. There are battles every where I turn, these days, but I put on the armor of the Lord and ask Our blessed Mother’s intercession and direction…

Your friend in Christ,

Wayne Smith

Dear Eva,

Thank you for all your compliments. I really do not deserve it, because I know I am just lucky to be surrounded by wonderful friends, most of whom are really like sisters/brothers to me. This is the biggest project I have ever undertaken, and have enjoyed it very much.

I really did not know about 206 tours at all. Almost three years ago, I was checking Catholic pilgrimages on the internet, and that was the first time I learned about your company. I already decided then that my first European pilgrimage will be with 206 Tours. At the time, I was taking care of my sick mother. After her death last year, I took your Fatima/Lourdes/Rome tour – November tour and brought along three of my best friends. We had a wonderful time, and so, it is very easy for me to spread the word about 206 Tours.

For what you have done for her and for me, I can return the favor by continuing to promote 206 tours amongst my friends and others. I personally contacted 106 different families from West Virginia and other states, and gave them information about the 206 tours. I also asked friends to spread the word, and have also asked their help in checking back those I have already contacted before. Several people have already expressed interest in taking a tour next year.

I am grateful to have you as our direct contact. You have always responded so promptly to all our inquiries and requests. We are all getting excited about the big day. Have a great day!

Best regards, Brenda

Dear Jason,

I just wanted to thank you for your assistance with our Portugal trip in June. Not Only * was it high tourist season, but we had the Euro 2004 soccer tournament to contend with. I doubt we could have arranged it without your help.

Thanks again,

Mark

Dear Milanka,

We just returned from 206 Tours Pilgrimage Tour#5 – Lourdes and Italy – August 5-17 with Father Frank as our Spiritual Director and also our Parish Priest. We want to thank you for the professional way this trip was planned by your agency.

All the hotels were good, but the Grand Hotel in Assisi was excellent. We covered everything that was outlined with the exception of Siena which was taken up by an afternoon of shopping in Assisi. We all decided it would have been too much for one afternoon.

Thanks again.

Sincerely, Anthony Cannonito

Hi Eva,

I was meaning to call you and thank you for good trip planning. My flight to London was very good. I was upgraded by Austrian Airlines and had a delicious meal and good wine. I was ready for the UK on arrival. The Heathrow Express is wonderful. It was thirteen pounds. (15 minutes). Then I took a cab to the hotel and met my family. My flight home on United was good too.

Thank you for your help.
Michele Brosnan

Dear Rinda,

Thank you for your e-mail. It was a wonderful pilgrimage. My husband and I had a good time visiting all the shrines, and with all the pilgrims that were in our group. It was a good group, we were like brothers and sisters, like a family. We had 3 priests at one time, Father Moyna, Father Frank and Father Bob.

We thank you so much for everything. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be in contact with you again. Please keep in touch also for any future pilgrimage, and perhaps send us a brochure, etc.

Thank you all and God bless us all.

Shirley

Dear Rinda,

Thank you for your e-mail. It was a wonderful pilgrimage. My husband and I had a good time visiting all the shrines, and with all the pilgrims that were in our group. It was a good group, we were like brothers and sisters, like a family. We had 3 priests at one time, Father Moyna, Father Frank and Father Bob.

We thank you so much for everything. Hopefully, in the near future, we will be in contact with you again. Please keep in touch also for any future pilgrimage, and perhaps send us a brochure, etc.

Thank you all and God bless us all.

Shirley Simpliciano

I found the pilgrimage to be wonderful. Our tour guides were great, both friendly, knowledgeable and responsible to their many duties. We elected to skip Siena and the visit to St. Catherine. Though she is one of my favorites and I very much wanted to see her, it simply would have been too much. The fact that it is a walled city added to the length of time it would have taken to just get to the church to see St. Catherine and have Mass, all in one morning and 4 hours round trip of driving. It would have lessened our trip to Assisi which was already too brief.

Our tour guide in Assisi was not very good for our purpose. He is very much into deep explanations of frescoes and artists, but left us to explore the birth place of St. Francis and the Burnadino (spelling) home/church on our own. I found it wonderful to be there, but plaques were Only * in Italian, leaving me to guess what I was viewing. This should have been a definite stop for him to take us through. I do not feel that he added to our trip to Assisi.

I would be very interested in taking another pilgrimage with 206 Tours. I think perhaps I might like to see Prague, St. Faustina, tours of the gas chambers in Germany. More time and less crunch would be very nice. I would appreciate more prayer time as in Medjugorje. I know the combination of these is difficult. We may be interested in two years due to the expense of the trips–very reasonable for what we received, yet not something we can do every year.

We loved Fr. Frank Nelson. He is wonderful and I am going to stay in touch for future tours which he will attend through 206. Fr. Bob, another pilgrim, offered much to the tour also.

We all enjoyed each other that I collected addresses and emails from the group which I will type up and mail out to the pilgrims on Tour 5–tour 3 left before I thought about doing this. The Riley’s from tour 3 were wonderful and we’ve struck up a wonderful friendship, as we did with others, as well. Thank you for forwarding their email to me. Do you think you will be offering a tour which includes Prague, St. Faustina, maybe Edith Stein, and the gas chambers in which several saints were martyred?

Dear Rinda,

We just completed tour with 206 (No. 3) we had another wonderful pilgrimage with 206 and will continue to sing your praises to others interested in pilgrimages. Thanks so much!

Sincerely,

Joan and Mike Riley

Hi Ketta,

I pray that you had a great time in Italy. I just wanted to say Thank You for putting together such a great pilgrimage. Our youth were beyond belief, and so inspiring! Keep up the GREAT WORK-!

With Love and Prayers, Penny

Penny Abbruzzese

Milanka,

Greetings from Fr. Steve and Fr. Bob. Both asked me to send you a big THANK YOU for putting together such a great trip. The hotels have been perfect and everything continues to go smoothly. The train rides have been without incident and we have been able to enjoy a relaxing pace.

Give my regards to the gang and be assured of our ongoing prayers for all of you.

Peace and Joy,

Fr. Peter

Rinda dear,

It was my first pilgrimage so I’m no expert but I thought it was absolutely outstanding. Paolo is an excellent driver. I felt so safe with him at the wheel. He took us in that big bus up and down roads that Only * a mountain goat should travel and he did it so effortlessly! You know Luigi-he’s terrific. He was always gentle, patient, and loving with a fantastic sense of humor. He shared his life with us as well as his country. And his English was enchanting. We loved it!

Then there was Father Chris-a perfect priest and perfect for our group. He would remind us, “This is a pilgrimage, not a tour!” And that made all the difference. We prayed our way around Italy and had Mass in the most wonderful places. Of course, the Mass is always the Lord’s miracle, no matter where you are, but still it was exciting in all the special places starting at St. Mark’s. If Father Chris ever takes a pilgrimage group to the Holy Land, I would really like to be part of the group so please let me know.

Thank you for everything.

Virginia

Dear Rinda,

I received my packet (and so did Dennis Palmer) last week for tour #8. After looking it over as you suggested, everything seems to be in good order as far as I can tell.

You have been so good and patient and helpful through all this planning. You have respected and received all my ideas and thoughts that I have presented to you on the phone and the many email messages I have passed your way. You have offered your own thoughts and ideas given your vast amount of experience and expertise. THANK YOU!

Sincerely, Fr. Bob Konopa

Hi Rinda,

Our tour (#5) to Lourdes etc. was even more delightful and rewarding than we expected. Our guides-Susan at Lourdes and Gaia in Rome and for the rest of the trip were excellent. We were indeed fortunate to have them. When we got to Lourdes we joined with a group of pilgrims who had already been to Fatima. They were a great group of people.

We also got to know their chaplain, Fr. Alfredo del Toro. I say again, we have a wonderful experience on this pilgrimage. Such a trip isn’t something that we can afford often but if we were to ever take such a trip again I would use 206 Tours for the planning. Also, I would highly recommend 206 Tours to anyone.

Thank you for this great service that you give. God Bless!

Sister Mary J. Walsh, OLL

We want to tell you that we had an absolutely wonderful experience! The locations visited we an experience that we shall never forget and the service that you arranged made it so pleasurable.

At first, I must admit that we were wondering how this might turn out. Leaving as a twosome from Buffalo, not knowing where or who we were to meet others on our journey, we thought we need to view this as a part of the pilgrimage and trust that we were in good hands.

As we started assembling at the various airports, the experience started to come together wonderfully. Being able to enjoy the sites, shrines, churches and our fellow pilgrims without worry about meals, transportation or accommodations – what a blessing!

The people with whom you work at these sites watched over our needs and saw to it that we were able to experience our trip and our faith without disruption. We have told people of our experiences and they are amazed at how convenient everything was for us.

When I asked my wife if she would do it again, she answered “In a heartbeat!”. That says it all to me!

Thank you and I can assure you that if/when we look to travel again we will definitely consider 206!

Bob and Rita Creary

Dear Rinda,

I attended the Shrines of Italy Tour in June with my mother for the first time this summer and we have a wonderful time. It was a lifelong dream come true for both of us. Gaia was our guide and she deserves a medal. Her name in Italian means “Happy” and she was all smiles and warmth. Unfortunately, her Uncle passed away the second day of our tour and although she was understandably upset, she did not skip a beat nor neglect her duties. We all loved her! Father Philip was another treasure. He was very loving, told us wonderful stories, and kept us spiritually well fed. Having Mass said everyday at the different churches was a wonderful surprise and a spiritual blessing. The tour went far and beyond what I expected and I have not stopped reminiscing about the great time we had. I have definitely recommended your company to several people at church and will continue to use you in my future pilgrimages.

In the 7 days we were there we did a tremendous amount of sightseeing and it was all well worth it. The Only * suggestions I have, and the group also agreed, is adding an extra day that we could have some time to enjoy some of the places we went to, especially in Rome. We loved every bit of what we saw, however, we were rushed at times through some of the churches and were not able really take in the beauty and detail as much as we would have liked. Due to time constraints, we also could not stop at several of the church gift shops to pick up souvenirs. I hope you take this into consideration for future tours.

Thanks,

Ingrid L Nunez-Riewerts

Dear Rinda:

I was one of the Pilgrims who experienced the (flight) delays. however, things worked out. The Pilgrimage was a complete success. Father Chris did a wonderful job heading the pilgrimage, he was always prepared, gave out lots of different prayers, gave great homilies and connected with all the folks on the pilgrimage. Everyone liked him and he had a great sense of humor. You should continue to use Father Chris as a spiritual guide for your pilgrimages. The best hotel was in San Giovanni Rotondo; the least liked was the hotel in Loreto. Luigi was a great tour guide and Paolo our bus driver was excellent as well. I would not hesitate to use 206tours again for another pilgrimage – perhaps to the Holy Land if it gets a little bit safer there.
Thanks for giving me a wonderful experience.

Amelia Marr

Dear Rinda,

This morning I sent out some pictures of the high-light events of the recent 206 Tour. All the hotels, services and guides were superb. There was not shot cuts. The food at all the eateries, hotels were the best. The bus driver was tops. Gaya our tur guide was knowledge and lovely. I just had a ball. The best part of it all is that I was able to celebrate Mass at all the main altars. wow.

Take care GOD LOVE

Fr. Luke

Hi Rinda,

The pilgrimage was awesome, thank you for arranging it. Fr. Chris was a great spiritual leader. He went out of his way to prepare, give us information background of where we were going and lead us in prayer at each place. We had wonderful Masses each day and his homilies were very anointed. He even bought prayer cards for us at each place. Luigi was an excellent guide and kept us from getting lost and when late came after us so we wouldn’t get lost. His English was very good and he was a lot of fun.

Our driver, Paolo was an excellent driver and kept us safe. The way he handled that big bus in those small places was amazing. On the information papers for the traveler I would suggest that you remind them to take a cash card and/or pin # to access money when they run out. I didn’t bring mine and ran out when I got to Rome. Thanks again and blessings to you all.

Julie

I returned from Tour #14 last Tuesday night and wanted to tell you what a great trip I had. I went on the trip to help my mother, but came home with more than I ever imagined. Our tour directors and bus drivers couldn’t have been better. They made sure we visited even more places than planned. Our priest for the first week, Father Alfredo Del Toro, was wonderful. He made our “tour group” a family. Our daily masses were something I looked forward to every day. I hope you are able to use him on other trips.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Mary Spiess

Hi Rinda,

First, let me say I have never had a better time! 206 Tours provided an exciting and spiritual journey for all of us. Father Chris was wonderful and I would definitely consider going on another pilgrimage if he was the spiritual director. We did so much and I loved every minute of it! I am already thinking about doing another pilgrimage with 206 Tours next year and I will, without hesitation, recommend 206 Tours highly to everyone.

Thank you.

Eileen Granger

Dear Milanka,

Trust that I will forever be a 206 Tours endorser. God bless!

Rosanne

Dear Rinda: Herb and I wanted to take time out to let you know how wonderful Father Chris was and how spiritual he made out trip for us. He was an inspiration to us all. Every time we visited a shrine or church he was sure to have information regarding the shrine or saint. Father Chris also presented us with not Only * information about it but usually a holy card as well. He was great and I would recommend him to anyone for any trip. You were correct when you said that we would like him. We do a lot. Thanks

Also I wanted to comment on how much we liked our trip, our tour guide, and driver. There is one comment however that I would like to make. The hotel in Loretto had no air conditioner it was hard to sleep that night. So I would suggest no overnight stay in Loretto. Also, Pompei was of no interest to any of us on the trip and we felt that it did not fit in with the Pilgrimage as being religious.

The flight was wonderful. Everything was good. Thanks again.

Joan and Herb Baker

Dear Ketta,

Finally we are back to the States and after resting a couple of weeks, we are now back to the reality. We were on the top of the mountain. The Pilgrimage was wonderful and blessing. So many beautiful things happened to our members of mother-daughter pilgrimage. It was like a dream that I did not want to wake up forever. How can we thank you for all the travel arrangements you made in the smallest details. The schedule was on time for everything and was perfect. It couldn’t be better. Without your help, it could not have been possible.

Everything was so smooth and seemless.

Thanks a million to you, Ketta and 206 pilgrimage.

Agatha Bahk / Mary’s Garden Group

Dear Rinda…..It is with pleasure that i am returning your e-mail…because our pilgrimage was just beautiful; spiritual, and fun….Our tour guide, Rosa, was great! She was so helpful, caring and informative. We rate her a 10!! Our days at Lourdes was covered by a local guide, Carlos, and he was also so accommodating and informative. our trip to Italy was with Luigi and again we were very pleased with him. All in all, the hotels and food was good. Just one meal in France was ‘different’ and not so appealing; but overall, no complaints…our farewell dinner was superb!! We made a overnight stop at St. Maxine in France to get us over to Italy…..

We would not hesitate to go with 206 tours again; and you did a great job on scheduling the Masses each day; they were in some unique churches. Fr. Mike was super; everyone loved him; he gave great talks, was caring and fun!! Fr. Mike watched over Diane who had MS and walked with a cane (she came alone on this trip) and everyone pitched in pushing her wheelchair and walking with her; it was very inspiring.

Thank you again for all your help and I do hope we do another trip soon!!

Arlene

Dear Rinda,

I am glad to inform you that the pilgrimage to Guadalupe went well. Everything went according to the plan. Everyone appreciated the attention of Arturo and Ricardo, the local guides. The food and the accommodations were also excellent.

The majority of the participants were Italians, and often we prayed and sang in Italian on the bus. Vincent Chirichella is a marvelous leader who was able to animate and entertain the group.

Thanks again for the opportunity you have given me.

Fr. M. Brizio

Rinda,

Please know that the pilgrimage to Mexico City and Guadalupe was excellent! The Airline tickets were perfect, the tour guides Ricardo, Arturo and Roy were excellent. I highly recommend Ricardo for any of your groups going to Guadalupe. The Hotel was typical of 206 tours first rate! Please know that the group had a great time and received may graces from Our Lady of Guadalupe! I am off to Florence to continue my Seminary studies for five weeks then off to Medjugorje to be surrounded by Our Lady’s love.

With God all things are possible,

Vinny

We got back yesterday and I had a wonderful time. The staff was curtious
and kind. I am definitely looking up 206 Tours for future Pilgrimages.

Thanks a bunch for a wonderful time.
Anna D.

Hi Rinda,

Our Pilgrimage to France and Italy is wonderful and great. We experienced a deep spiritual feeling in Lourdes, its more than what we expected. Our group was very friendly and the are all was very nice people. Susan and Father Hogan our tour guide in Lourdes was very informative and we are well taken care of. The hotel accommodation in Lourdes is terrific. Unfortunately, Paris is somewhat a disappointment. The hotel is not that good, food is just average. Our Paris City tour was just driving thru the popular spots and we didn’t even have a change to see it very well because the tour guide was in a hurry.

Italy was great, Gaia out tour guide is excellent. The group loved Gaia, Father Phillip Pavich was great too. We were in the
second row on the Papal audience. A great artistic and historical experience in Vatican City and around Rome.
We saw everything in our itinerary plus some more including the “3 coins in the fountains very popular in the movie.
Hotel accommodation and food were great. The Country side trip was beautiful, we saw more than what we expected.
The group became one family, we have everybody’s addresses.. This is our first trip Europe and what a great experience.

Our Highest appreciation to you. We are already recommending you to our family and friends. We are thinking
of another pilgrimage in the near future and you will hear from us. Thank you so much.

Ernesto (Ernie) and Filomena (Fely)

Hello Milanka,

Fr. Joe told me that their trip was the best he’s ever had. He had nothing but praise for the land company, guides, etc. He said the hotel in Fatima was fabulous, they put them in the new section of the hotel. The soccer players weren’t bad except for the last night which he didn’t have any complaints about.

Fr. Joe has been to the Azores and Portugal many, many times. He was born there and for him to tell me that the trip was great is something. He told me to tell you that Rosaria was wonderful. He said that the people seemed to like St. Michael better than the mainland mostly because it was laid back and quiet and of course, the beauty of the island.

Peace,

Dan

All Star Travel

I think your Tour 14 was very well designed with the exception of the trip to St Maximilian in France. The hotel accommodation was average and the Church we visited in the area were interesting but aesthetically neglected. Perhaps an alternate site ( or spending more days in Rome or Assisi) might have worked better. On our return flight from Rome to Frankfurt, Lufthansa place us on Standby as the flight was overbooked by 48 passengers. We were re-booked and ended up with a 6 hour delay on our return flight back home. Although Lufthansa offered compensation for the inconvenience, we were very frustrated and really stressed by the entire experience. But overall, my wife and I had a wonderful experience.

I will not hesitate recommending 206 tours to friends and relatives and if I travel once again, I will be contacting 206!

Thank you.

Bill and Rosalina

Rinda,

The trip was excellent and a blessing. My comments are below. Thanks for your assistance in the planning and execution.

God Bless,

Ed Ramsey

Dear Rinda,

I cannot see how you could improve on the pilgrimage that I experienced. Our tour guide, Slavanka, was very nice and entertaining. Staying at Marijana’s was great. Marijana is a wonderful host. What a privilege it was to be able to see Marijana and her family. They really made us feel at home. The entire pilgrimage surpassed my expectations. I would definitely recommend 206 Tours to anyone who is planning on going on a religious pilgrimage.

Thanks and God bless,

Tammy Hitzfeld

Hi Rinda,

I just wanted you to know that we really enjoyed the trip. 206 Tours did an outstanding job of picking the tour directors, hotels and site seeing spots. We enjoyed the food everywhere we went and the tour was very organized. The tour director, Rosa, we had from Portugal to France was wonderful. She was very knowledgeable and very considerate of the group. We were also very happy to meet such wonder people on the tour. Father Michael and Deacon Bob were great. They kept the trip spiritual and fun at the same time. My mother and I had never been on a tour before and we were happy that we chose such a professional well run tour company. Your help during the booking and communication was outstanding. I always felt I could contact you about anything.We will highly recommend your tour company to our friends and family. Only * one point I would like to mention, however. My mother and I did not have pre assigned seats next to one another. We had been booked on seats that were far apart. We managed to switch seats with people on board but it was a bit of a hassle.Thank you for everything.

Haydee Olinger

Thank you Rinda, I had a most wonderful time in Medjugorje. Everything exceeded my expectations and should I ever go back I will book my trip with your company. In fact I’d like to take my parents there next time… is there a way to ensure that we stay at the visionary’s homes again?

Thanks Again.

God bless,

Lisa

Dear Eva,

Once again, thank you for everything. The arrangements and your personal concern for each person on the May 23rd pilgrimage was very deeply appreciated by all. The people loved Mali Losinj and then on to Medjugorje where they stayed in the homes of the people who were present to the apparitions from the very beginning. This makes for a very spiritual and yet fun pilgrimage. I look forward to going again in August and in September.

God bless,

Sister Marcie

Ketta,

Thank you!! I sent a thank you note after I came back to US. Sorry that it didn’t deliver to you 🙁 I didn’t get any return mail, either, so I thought you got it. Well, then I have to say that I really appreciate your help. I loved being there, I didn’t want to come back, and I miss Medjugorje very much. It is like homesick.. Thank you. I will talk to their parents as soon as I can and pay the due in full soon. Thank you have a great day!

Dear ketta,

I am writing to let you know that our recent pilgrimage to fatima may 10-17 ,2004 could not have been better! I can’t.

Thank you enough for all your effort in helping our group.

To fully experience the graces received from our lady of fatima. From the time we left the airport in new york, arrivedlisbon, had our mass at st. Anthony, and a tour-then on to fatima.

Our great hotel accommodations and experienced tour guide allowed us the time we needed to truly enjoy our pilgrimage..Ketta, you have been assisting us in planning our pilgrimages, and we are.

Looking forward to having many more memorable experiences with 206 tours in the months to come.

Sincerely,

Michelle Bove

Bove Travel

Brooklyn, NY

Dear Billy,

I just writing this little note to tell you thank you so much for everything, the letter and the information that you sent me was perfect, and everything is done. The Letter was fantastic, that was exactly what they wanted it. Thank you so much and I am sorry for the troubles.

Thanks again Truly,

Fr. Dempsey

Hello Rinda,

I have now recovered from jetlag and am still amazed at the experience. I have had very bad experiences with pilgrimage groups in the past. Working with travel agencies have been times of great promises and very little follow through. This has affected me to the point where I really dreaded going on a pilgrimage. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised with 206 Travel. In the future when the situation allows in my parish I plan to use your organization. The guide we had, Slavenka, was knowlegable, caring, and faithfilled. She went out of her way to make sure that everything was taken care of and that our faith needs were met. When we asked for anything extra she made sure that it was done. All facilities we used were good. There were a couple of areas that need some work.

We didn’t realize that we needed to tip the bus drivers each day and unfortunately they were short changed. Also, when we left Medjugorje for Dubrovnik we have no idea of times or how things worked. We were informed that we would be set for Mass that day but that was not the case. Overall, thank you for a wonderful experience and I look forward to working with you in the future.

Peace,
Fr. Peter

Dear Milanka,

I am very thankful to you and to Rinda, for giving me this opportunity of being the spiritual director of this pilgrimage.
As soon as I met all the persons who took part of it, I was feeling very well, and I got a great time and a fantastic spiritual experiences with them every time that I was celebrating the masses, and praying in the sanctuaries. I spent time with all of them and we share our experiences, and some of them even they received the sacrament of the confession-absolution, and they were very touch specially for the holiness of the places where we were: Fr. Pio, the Eucharistic Miracles, Saint Peter and the Pope, etc… Even thou that I have been living in Rome for a long time, for me was a very renewing and filling experience and every person who was in this pilgrimage, it’s because that was the will of God, and He is doing marvelous things for each one of us. Having Gaia as a director was great, We get very well long together, and the communication between us was perfect, so we help each other very well and the whole trip was a blessing after a blessing. I think the organization of the trip and the places where we have been was very good, and everybody was very happy, but I was a little sad because all of them were great and I am praying that they will be ok each one of them in their own life….

Thank you so much for your kindness and for trusting in me,

Truly,

Fr. Dempsey

Dear Sandra,

This Spiritual Pilgrimage met and exceeded our expectations! My mother (age 80+) and I enjoyed every last minute of the tour! I am pleasantly exhausted, but my Mom tells me that she’s not experiencing any fatigue! Gaia was EXCEPTIONAL as our guide. Knowledgeable, competent and constantly assisting us with our every need! She even helped me operate the
money mover machines!! (I didn’t know what they were saying, but it was apparently that the machine was out of cash!) Fr. Dempsey was most genuine and kind and held exceptional masses. It’s too hard to describe, but he met all of our spiritual needs as well as provided much comic entertainment! It was a pleasure and a blessing to have both Gaia and Fr. Dempsey with us at all times! There’s Only * one thing I would recommend for future pilgrims! There needs to be a name game or something at the beginning of the trip!! We started our pilgrimage in Italy and were joined by a group of pilgrims from
Paris. Our group was pretty small, maybe 17 people total, but at the end, I still didn’t know everyone’s names! I asked a couple of the pilgrims that had been on the Paris “leg” of the trip if they knew these 2 ladies names, and they didn’t know their names either! We all talked and laughed together, but there comes a time when it’s embarrassing to say… “I don’t
know your name…” and you’ve been in their company for so many days! Thanks for making my Mom’s (and mine too) trip 200% successful. She even took the opportunity to play her harmonica on the bus for the group!

P.S. Mom won’t be able to respond to this email personally as she rarely ever signs on to a computer!!

Best Regards,

Andrea Marshall (and Bette Marshall too)

Billy, Except for the accommodations mix-up in Garabandal (which were quickly resolved)everything was fine. I know 206 Tours can’t control the cold weather and rain, so I won’t go into that. Father Moyna is wonderful and so is Penny. The rooms were very nice and the pilgrims, as always, were very friendly and fun to be with.

Jo

Billy,

I was very pleased with the service and arrangements from 206 tours. The flights all went smoothly, with no problems. The guide assigned to our group was wonderful. She went above and beyond her duties. She even helped my son with a homework assignment he was given while on the trip. She had her son look for info for him and sat with him to help him do his report. She was great. The accommodations were great too. We enjoyed everything about the trip except for the rain. (It was chilly and rained everyday!!) Thank you for the good work, Hopefully I will be able to make another pilgrimage in the future.

Donna Crnkovic

Hi Rinda and Susan,

Sorry for the delay but have not been on my computer since I returned. I do want to say that the trip was superb! I truly enjoyed every minute of it — the Only * thing I wish is that the trip was sooo long– but that’s minor. The house where we stayed was very good with surprisingly good food and very nice people – also, the people in my group were really great pilgrims. We had lots in common and shared so many wonderful things in beautiful Medjugorje!

Thank you again for such a great time!

Marylou Moran

Dear Kristin,

I am sorry to take so long to e-mail you since last time we talk on the phone. It was such a joy to have Javier Alonso as our tour guide while we were in Portugal & Spain last month. Javier is a warm and knowledgeable tour guide. He is also very, very nice to our 3 year-old boy Patrick. He made Patrick very happy on this long trip away from home. He also took good care of every one of us on this tour. He made sure we knew what we were eating when we got to a restaurant. He stood by our side and explained different food to us even thought he was hungry himself. He understands what a tourist may feel. He has great sense of responsibility. I feel very safe and secure when we have Javier around. He is just wonderful. We miss Javier. I hope we will have chance to meet each other again.

God bless you & Thank you.

Theresa Eng

Dear Eva,

We had a wonderful trip and time! All of the arrangements were excellent!

Javier, our escort in Portugal and Spain, was GREAT!!! He speaks good English, is well informed, and was very kind, considerate and patient. He really puts his travelers first, goes out of his way to be accommodating, and made our time with him very interesting and enjoyable.

In Paris Daphne was also a great escort. She was very interesting, humorous, and gave us a wonderful excursion to Lisieux and Giverny. Her city tour of Paris was comprehensive. She is very well informed with delightful stories and insight to make the tour especially interesting. We liked her style of leadership – being clear about when, where, etc.

All of the hotels were very clean, comfortable and some quite luxurious, like Hotel Lutetia in Paris. WOW! That was extraordinary! The food was delicious everywhere, especially at the hotel in Santander where they fed us a gourmet meal late at night. The staff was courteous and efficient despite our late arrival. The breakfasts at Hotel Lutetia were unbelievable and the dinners at La Marlotte were also excellent. They were so good some of us returned there on our 4th “free” night because it was so convenient and had such a varied menu.

The arrangements made for Fr. Dye to say Mass at the various chapels and basilicas were also wonderful! It was a very spiritual pilgrimage with a lot of fun as well. Yes, we’d happily travel with one of your tours again, and would recomment 206 Tours to anyone. Thanks for the excellent arrangements!

Barbara and Bill Schwendler

The trip was fantastic! The guides, the accommodations every aspect of the trip was wonderful. I asked you to give us good hotels, but hotels that were European and not cookie cutter hotel chains and you did. Also a help was the near perfect weather. The people on the tour just were a fantastic group — even with a person in a wheel chair and a two year old child in the group. Everybody had a great spirit and just loved the trip. They all want to do it again. There was a real spirit of pilgrimage on the trip and that made a difference. It was not just about being tourist. The people responded to that spiritual aspect.

I want to plan a trip for fall of next year 2005 either to the Greek Islands — and maybe Turkey — in the footsteps of St. Paul. Or possibly another trip to France Paris and then going on to eastern France, Alsace. The Cathedral in Strasbourg, Ebermunster, Mt. St. Odile. The Haut Koingsburg. Notre Dame de Thierenbach, Colmar, etc. Maybe a small cruise on the Rhine River or a cruise back to Paris on the Marne?? Thank you for arranging such a superb experience. I have traveled extensively in Europe and what you provided was really first class. I am amazed. How did you get the Lutetia in Paris? It would be out of my reach.

Fr. Dye

I just want to say “Thank God” for the trip was wonderful. This was my third time and while on the plane from NY I thought to myself “what am I doing here, I’ve already been to Medjugorje twice”. But Our Blessed Mother, like always had great things for me and those in my group, more than we can ever imagine.She filled me with the same joy I felt the first time I went. And like always I learned many new things about our faith and her love for us. Everyone in my group of eight received many blessings, we went to confession, went to the Croatian Masses, Adoration (both which words can not describe) have a beautiful experience at the Blue Cross and enjoyed our stay at Ana’s house. There’s just so much that I can’t cover it all. This was the first time I went in the Spring and all was green which reminded me of the “new beginning” that Jesus talks about in Scripture. God willing we hope to go back next year and hopefully with a larger group. I pray Our Lady invites again!

Thank you and may God bless you and your family.

Nellie

Dear Ketta,

YOU ARE MY AGENT AND I AM VERY HAPPY WITH ALL THAT YOU DO!!!! I would not want to deal with anyone else. I really mean that. In all of our dealings, there has been nothing but respect for each other and it remains. As for the trip, it did go extremely well with all of the pilgrims.

Anyway, thank you for all that you do for me personally. You always do even more than one could expect.

Ciao and my prayers.

Wayne

Hi Eva,

Please forgive me for having been out of touch for so long. I wanted to tell you how much the group enjoyed the awesome pilgrimage. They simply could not say enough about it, each time I am at Mass or another church function someone is pulling me aside to sing the praises of the pilgrimage.

While I was disappointed that I didn’t get to go, I was just so thrilled to hear such positive feedback.

This past weekend I was part of ‘CRHP’ (Christ Renews His Parish) which has separate weekends for men and women. One of the women putting it on brought us all holy water from Lourdes as well as miraculous medals from the Church of the Miraculous Medal. What a blessing!

Evidently Javier was so loved they were in tears when they separated (in Lourdes, I think). He was very good with Gena, the woman in a wheelchair, and gave her plenty of TLC. He has a handicapped child of his own.

Father Dye is already talking about doing another one. I hope this time he will plan farther ahead so we can get more participation. But this one was truly a success from hotels to meals to drivers to guides, etc. Everything went off without a hitch. One thing is for sure, that he would never think of using anyone other than 206 Tours for future trips!

By the way, hope all went well with your wedding and honeymoon. Again sorry for not being in touch sooner. I Only * got this personal email a couple of weeks ago and I don’t use the computer at home much.

Thanks to you for all of your hard work. I can’t wait to get started to help plan the next one.. He was talking about the route of St. Paul, but I believe he has switched gears now and I think he is talking about perhaps beginning in Paris, exploring Alsace-Lorraine a bit (that is where his wife is from) and doing a bit of Germany. Do you know they got to meet Gerard Depardieu (the actor from Green Card) at their hotel in Paris?

Please keep in touch and feel free to call.

Ginny Alexandre

Dear Rinda,

The tour was absolutely wonderful. I was especially grateful for the tour guide, Susan, who was assigned to our group. She couldn’t have been more informative and helpful if she tried. She went above and beyond in what she did for myself and my children. And, most importantly, all the extra efforts weren’t put forth as “part of her job” but instead from someone who sincerely wanted to make sure that everyone enjoyed this pilgrimage to the fullest.

I had some difficult situations with my son at times and she was always offering, again very sincerely, to do all that she could. She was there to help me with the language barrier when I took my children to the baths, something which helped immensely. Also, she helped me to keep him calm while we were waiting. You have no idea what this meant to me. To have someone who I met just days before be so caring, compassionate and understanding.

She is a great asset to your company. Please thank her for me again for all she did to make this tour one which my children and I will always treasure.

God Bless and thank you,

Carol J Pickett

Hello Ladies: well , we are back

2 thumps up for 206 Tours. It was grrrrreat. the tour guides the escort, the buses, the hotel, the food were excellent. They were always on time, waiting for us in the air ports, or on the tours. very nice people. Coming back was very tiring we took 4 airplanes to SF, that was the Only * big complain I heard from everyone. My bags were late till today i didn’t recieve them, hopefully today i will. I can’t thank u enough for a very unforgetable trip. our tour escort in italy Mr. Luigi was wonderful, the whole group loved him ,he was extra nice and caring and on top of things.

HOTELS: All the hotels were great especially to the hotel in Assisi

MOTOR COACH: Great, clean and comfortable

DRIVER: Wonderful , respectful, pleasant and great driver.

TOUR ESCORT (MR LUIGI VIGNOLA): We don’t have enough words to describe him. Wonderful, great,responsible, caring We felt like is our big brother.

LOCAL GUIDES: All of them were great, except the guide in Siena

RESTAURANTS: All in all great

GENERAL HANDLING: Wonderful, fast and on time.

Thanks

Rima Mogannam-Tour Coordinator

Dear Rinda,

The tour to Paris, Never and Lisieux was very nice. I liked Claire the tour guide very much. She “got on” with the pilgrims from USA very well, and she was a delight to work with. The pilgrims had Only * two complaints: 1. I guess the weather at Lourdes was awful and the weather in Paris wasn’t great, although there were a few evenings in which the sun tried to show itself. After everyone left the weather was fantastic. The four days I remained in Paris were absolutely beautiful.

From their comments I believe the pilgrims really enjoyed themselves and I am sure would use 206 Tours in the future. I told them that I always use 206. They asked me to inform them if I plan any tours, esp., to places like Medjugorje. I told them all they had to do was to call 206 and the people there would be aware of any tours that I might be planning.

All in all, I believe that everyone was very happy with the pilgrimage including myself.

Thanks again

Peace Fr. Ed Serena

Dear Rinda;

This was the first time that I have ever traveled with your agency, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed the trip to Lourdes and Paris. Lourdes was very moving and Paris was beautiful. And the day trips out of Paris were very interesting. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and helpful especially Susan in Lourdes. All in all it was a wonderful trip. And I am looking forward to going on another one.

I’m considering traveling to Fatima in November.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Linda Coolican

Ketta, Hi,

Everything went just great! Thank you for your help in getting the tickets organized and processed.

Peace,

John Mattres

The trip was great, everything went smooth, and our guide was fantastic. Thank you very much.

Dan Larkin

Rinda,

Thank you and we had a great time. Javier was THE BEST. No one complained about the early departure. We would like to avoid THAT early of a departure in the future. Overall, everything was great. The accommodations were exceptional.

Vanessa Keck,

Our Sorrowful Mother’s Ministry

We are now back from our trip to Mexico and I wanted to pass on our reaction to the arrangements you made for us in Mexico City. We were very happy with the guide, Jose Luis. He was at our hotel shortly before 9, as promised. He was friendly and knowledgeable, about Tlaxcala and about everything else we asked about. He is fluent in English, but we had just finished studying Spanish and asked him to speak mostly in Spanish, which he did, keeping the pace and vocabulary to what we could understand. We told him our other plans for the rest of the weekend. He made several very useful suggestions, and arranged another guide for us for Monday. We appreciate your arranging this for us. We are very happy with the results, and we expect to recommend Jose Luis to anyone else who needs a guide in Mexico City. And of course we will continue to recommend 206 to anyone who might be interested in your various tours.

Our regards to Milanka.

Herb & Carol Younger

Dear Rinda,

We thoroughly enjoyed our trip! The tour guides were very informative. The priests were attentive. The accomodations were comfortable.

The holy sites were well worth visiting and experiencing. The Only * difficulty we had was that the overseas flight over was very cramped and uncomfortable. It was a great pilgrimage and we will recommend 206 tours to our friends and family.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Sincerely in Christ,

Brian & Eileen Scoggins

Rinda,

What can I say? Returning to Medjugorje was an absolute blessing and “Thank You” for making it possible. What a ministry you have of sending people there, who come back filled with peace and then they in turn, can share Our Blessed Mother’s messages. I believe everyone on the trip had a wonderful and spiritual pilgrimage. Slavenka was the best and I hope to have her with us next year. I saw the Hedges this morning in Church and they had a wonderful time in Rome. I just want you to know that we are already talking about next year so if you have any dates for the 2005 pilgrimages please send them to me so that I may ask Father about it. We realize the need to start early. I hope we can make Father Jaime spiritual director again as I believe everyone on the pilgrimage benefits from his presence. He speaks three languages so spends quite a bit of time in the confessionals.

Thank you for everything Rinda,

Leslie Baker

Hello Milanka,

We just got back on 3/19. We had a wonderful trip, thanks a lot to Natasha for all her help, the agent in Italy Ricardo helped us too..

Best regards,

Loida Salazar

We enjoyed the entire trip but wished we would have taken a week in Fatima and a week in Lourdes. Rosa our guide was extremely knowledgeable in all the history of Fatima and Burgos Spain… Susan in Lourdes was also well learned in her advice of what to beware of and because I had diet problems both, Rosa and Susan handled my meals to my profound gratitude… Mgrs Malnar was a absolute treasure and the pilgrimage was more meaningful with his presence as spiritual counselor to our group. Dorothy and I made many friends and discussed the possibility of joining in another 206 Tour next spring, thinking either Rome or Medjugorje.. My Only * wish is that salads were available and coffee with our evening meals.

Marguerite Schweisthal and Dorothy Guba

We just arrived yesterday from Italy. Everybody enjoy very much with the trip. We were very lucky with Paula as our guide who was excellent!!!

Thank you.

Because of weather problems in Rome our return had to go to London.

God bless you and once again thank you for all.

Fr. Diego

I had an excellent pilgrimage with 206 tours in Lourdes. The guide, Susan, was excellent. Father Michael truly added to the spiritual aspect of the tour. If I am planning another pilgrimage, it will definitely be with 206!

Rinda,

Traveling with 206 is a delightful experience-for me, the best! Everything is provided and I could ask for nothing more. I really appreciate this tour group to Catholic Shrines!

Maxine

Ketta,

My mother, Jeraldine, and I will go again to Medjugorje in November 2004. Our trip there last November was indescribable!

I have been trying to talk everyone I know into coming. So far, I have two people who are considering it.

Susan

Dear Milanka,

I received an E-mail from Liz Ward. She is going on the trip to Medjugorje and Mali Losinj. She and a friend of hers spoke with Eva. Both said how kind and helpful she was. I just wrote back and told that I would pass the good word along.

Sincerely,

Sr. Marcie Purpura

Milanka,

Every time I work with 206 on something, you manage to come up with a new way to help! This is one reason why I tell everybody that’s asking about Medjugorje to go with 206. There just isn’t any better.

Thanks for all of your help.

George