The Travel Show: Hawaii & Mexico specials; Disney specials; Why I love river cruisin

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Good morning, America. I'm Larry Gelwicks, that get away guru.
We have a great.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Travel show on store for you today.

Speaker 1 (00:22):
There is a new ID that you were required to
have to fly domestically in the United States and it's
coming up. You gotta have it by May seventh. I'll
give you all the details. Also an exclusive, how would
you like free money? This is a serious offer. Free
money on your next cruise Hawaii and Mexico specialist. And

(00:45):
did you know how to get twenty five hundred free
Delta sky miles?

Speaker 2 (00:50):
I do it all the time.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
And a couple just lost twenty three thousand bucks from
a what we call aust out travel agency. I'm going
to tell you about that. It's very sad. But how
you can avoid being defrauded and scammed because travel scams
are everywhere. Well, we do have a great show and

(01:14):
I'm looking forward to it today. Well, let's get to
the Real ID. The Real ID Act was passed by
Congress in two thousand and five.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
Now what it did.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
It implemented a recommendation from the nine to eleven Commission
to set minimum security standards for state issued, not federal issued,
state issued driver's license and ID cards. The Act also
forbids federal agencies, including the TSA, from accepting any emphasis

(01:50):
on the word any any state issued drivers licenses or
ID cards that do not meet the federal standards. So
the Feds are putting a restriction on the state ID
cards if you want to fly. Now, the purpose of
the real ID, and that's what it's called real ID,

(02:11):
is to enhance the reliability and accuracy of driver's license
and ID cards while preventing terrorists and others from using
fraudulent identification to evade detection. Now, this new real ID
law is starting or being implemented May seventh this year.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's just in a couple of weeks.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
The real ID compliant licenses and other acceptable forms of
identification will be required, not suggested required for air travel,
all adult passengers ages eighteen and above are required to
present this valid ID real ID at the airport chain

(03:00):
for travel purposes. Now, the good news is on your
driver's license, this will have a gold star up in
the corner. That is the real ID. You can get
the older driver's licenses replaced by your state with the
new ones have the gold star on it. Now here's

(03:22):
some help. There is a rush In fact, the fed's
estimate that eighty one percent of the population already has
the real ID, but that leaves one in five air
travelers being turned away by TSA. Well, the good news is,
first of all, just go out and get it. It

(03:43):
doesn't take that long. But if you can't do it,
there are actually fifteen forms of acceptable ID that will
be accepted on May seventh. That includes the ID. Now,
if you don't have the real ID done again, just

(04:04):
go out.

Speaker 2 (04:04):
And do it.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
You can use a US passport or a foreign passport.
They have to be valid, not expired passport, the US
Department of Defense ID, a Green card, a border crossing card,
and there's a bunch of other ones that you can
find at TSA dot gov.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
But go out and get it.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
Just be aware that the requirements for air travel are
tightening up significantly effective May the seventh. Well, you know,
I have the greatest job in the world. I really do.
I travel a lot as a guest of Morris Columbus

(04:53):
travel or as an employee, but as a guest of
governments and airlines and cruise lines. You know, when a
cruise line comes out with a brand new ship, they
want to get the word out. So they have a
private sailing usually three or four days that it's called
a cruise to nowhere. But they put on a massive party,

(05:14):
the Ultimate Soiree, and they but it's invitation only. You
cannot buy a ticket on this private party cruise. But
who will they invite?

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Large?

Speaker 1 (05:26):
You know, significant travel agency owners and agents, because if
you're familiar with any product, goods or services, you're more
likely to sell it, aren't you. Influencers, TikTok and all
the different social media influencers that have a large audience,

(05:48):
and certainly media newspapers, television stations, radio stations, cameras everywhere.
They don't fill the ship. They keep it very comfortable.
But Kathy I, along with some other folks from Morris
Columbus Travel, were invited on a four today, three night
cruise just this last weekend. In fact, right after the

(06:10):
radio show last week, Kathy and I flew to Miami,
boarded the ship and sailed to nowhere other than a
private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Line.

Speaker 2 (06:23):
Now, the ship was the.

Speaker 1 (06:24):
Brand new Norwegian Cruise Line Aqua. It's called the Norwegian
Aqua and it really is the latest evolution in a
very innovative class of cruise ships. It's so different, and
you know what they're doing. They're making it more wide
open spaces. Sometimes on a cruise ship, I feel crowded,

(06:45):
like I'm in a rat maze. But this ship, the Aqua,
is ten percent bigger in wide open spaces than the
same class of premierships. That's a class of ships. For example,
you folks out there in radio land listeners to the
travel show, who'll be joining me in June? We'll be

(07:07):
sailing from Iceland to England by way of the Fjords
of Norway, Netherlands and Belgium. We'll be on the NCL Prima.
And yeah, that's about two years old. And Cathy and
I sailed on a cruise to Nowhere on the Prima
a couple of years ago. I gotta tell you I

(07:27):
loved because everything's included. You pay for nothing other than
if you pick up something in the gift shop. But
on board the cruise especialty dining alcohol if you're an
alcohol drinker. I'm not, but boy, if I was, could
I get my money he's worth? On these cruises. Everything's included.
They throw this massive party. The president of the cruise

(07:50):
line is there and you can chat with him. I
want to tell you I was really impressed with the Aqua.

Speaker 2 (07:57):
It's bigger.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
The dining there are thirty nine Did you hear what
I just said? Thirty nine dining and lounge or drink
social options where you can drink, you can eat thirty nine.
And I'll tell you there's specialty dining. You know, all
cruise lines are going to this for a very upscale meal.

(08:21):
They'll have specialty dining and there's a cost included with that. No,
we didn't have to pay any costs on this one.
It's like Cagny Steakhouse on NCL. It's I call it
a roots Chris Wannabee.

Speaker 2 (08:34):
We ate at.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
Two restaurants, specialty restaurants, Kathy and I did on the Aqua.
One was the Palamar Seafood. Oh my gosh, was it delicious.
The other was Suko Taie and that is a thaie
restaurant that was outstanding. And by the way, I kind
of surprised them because I asked a few of the

(08:56):
NCL folks, are you familiar with the name Suko Tai?

Speaker 2 (09:02):
None of them more.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Suko Tai is actually a city about halfway between Bangkok
and Chang Mai. Have I been there, of course, I've
been there several times, many times. And it's kind of
the epicenter of the Loi Kretong festival, which is the
most colorful, exciting celebration in all of Thailand. They completely

(09:24):
lose their minds. And what a kretong is. It's a
large banana leaf. And Loy Kretong festival is kind of
a combination of New Year's Christmas, Eastern Ramadan, the Day
of Atonement, Valentine's Day, Thanksgiving. It's every holiday rolled into one.

(09:45):
And what it is is and everybody celebrates it. You
get a kretong, a banana leaf, and you'll put some
incense there, you'll put a little food offering. It traces
it in Buddhist origins, and you pass it out on
a body of water. And what you're doing is you're
releasing all your bad feelings, your bad karma, your bad luck,

(10:07):
your sins. It is completely changing your life. Well, it's
a day of renewal. Well, I've said, if it's a
day of renewal and the forgiveness of sin, I don't
need a creton, I need a freighter to send out
on the water there, but it is so excited as
a great restaurant. They have the Ocean Boulevard, it's a

(10:29):
three hundred and sixty degree seaside stroll along the ship. Well,
they have three itineraries, Sailor to Bermuda and the Caribbean.

Speaker 2 (10:39):
When we come back and we're talking with David.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
Needelman, chairman and founder of Breeze Airways right here on
the Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (10:56):
You're listening to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks. They
get Away.

Speaker 1 (11:00):
The Travel Show is sponsored by Norwegian Cruise Lines, where
you always sail the Seven Seas with Freestyle Cruising, and
Morris Columbus Travel, where you always travel more and pay less. Well,
we've got a very special guest, a friend of mine,
David Needelman, who is the founder, chairman and CEO of

(11:22):
Breeze Airways that flies out of Provo, Utah and all
across the country. David, Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 3 (11:29):
Thank you, Larry. It's always nice to talk to you.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
It's a real, real pleasure. We know David locally from
his days leading Morris Air and Jet Blue, but many
people may not know that David has been involved with
West Jet in Canada and Azul Airlines in Brazil, five

(11:52):
different airlines. Will David introduce us to Breeze Airways. I'm
guessing we're syndicated on nineteen radio stations, most of us
in the in the Inner Mountain area, but also stations
in Texas and Florida. Maybe Breeze Airways is not a
recognizable name such as United or Delta.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
So tell us who you are?

Speaker 3 (12:17):
Great, Thanks, Sarry.

Speaker 4 (12:19):
So Breeze we started four years ago and we started
the simple idea that you know, we really wanted to
be seriously nice, so we wanted to create a great experience.
But we also kind of we were front running to
this idea that people really wanted choice. They wanted to
be able to say I want to go first class,

(12:40):
I want to extra legro seat. Uh, you know, I'll
just take my backpack and I'll pay your lowest fare.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
That's great, And so you know, it kind of.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
Was something that we we started and it's really become
important today because you know, Spirit and Frontier are really
struggling because they don't have options. And you know, with
with us, if we advertise a forty nine dollars fare,
you say, great, I'll take it. I'll bring a backpack,
and then we say, well, if you want to pay us,
say fifty bucks more, we'll let you check a bag,

(13:10):
bring a carry on, get free Wi Fi, get a
couple extra inches of leg room.

Speaker 3 (13:16):
And people are like, wow, that's a great deal.

Speaker 4 (13:18):
I'll do that, so we really or if we say
how about one hundred bucks, then you can go first class.
So we give people options and choices and it's not
irritating and people.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Love the service.

Speaker 4 (13:28):
The other great hallmark of our company is that we
usually fly in routes that there is no NonStop competition,
about eighty seven percent at the time. So for example,
if you live in Long Island and you're an ilipe
and you want to go to Vero Beach, the only
other option you have is to fly to Orlando and

(13:48):
drive two hours, or fly to West Palm Beach and
drive two hours.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
So we're the only airline that serves Vero Beach.

Speaker 4 (13:55):
And so if you look at our route system we
have we serve seventy cities across the States.

Speaker 3 (14:00):
We have two hundred and fifty routes.

Speaker 4 (14:02):
And you know, usually the advantage for us by going
on these routes obviously with our competition, but if you
can get there for half the price twice as fast,
people just tend to go more often.

Speaker 3 (14:15):
I'm one of our routes of Vero Beach.

Speaker 4 (14:17):
About twenty eight percent of our people on our guests
on the flight own second homes in Vero Beach, so
and a lot of them are purchased second homes because
of us, because it's just more convenient to go. And
then you can go for fast, you can go extra legroom,
or you can.

Speaker 3 (14:31):
Go for really cheap if you want to. So we'll
just give you options.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Well, thank you, David.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
You know I'm on your website right now, which is
Flybreeze dot com, and I'm looking at Provo and you
list ten cities. Tell me if I got these right
for all of our Utah listeners to start Flying Breeze.

Speaker 2 (14:51):
I'm showing on.

Speaker 1 (14:52):
Your website Dallas Grand Junction, Montrose, Colorado, Ogsdensburg, New York,
Orange County, California, of course, Orlando, Phoenix, San Bernardino, my
hometown where I grew up and went to school, San Francisco.
I want to comment on that, and Washington, d C.
Did I get all that right?

Speaker 3 (15:14):
Yeah? Most of those are non stops.

Speaker 4 (15:17):
The Audensburg is a route we fly for ES Central
Otter service. So you go to Dallas and then you connect,
yes Freeze Through it's called and you go up and
the same with Montrose and you know the other one
in coll they're kind of seasonal ski ski markets. But
the non stops, of course, they're Phoenix, Ors County, San Francisco,
San Bernardino, Orlando, and Washingt d C.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
Those are the you know, that's just fantastic.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
So I looked up, David, I looked up San Francisco
and you look at the days that it operates well.
Next month rate start at just forty nine dollars one way.
Now keep in mind that is just a ticket. You
want to check a bag, get extra legroom, there's initial charge.
Everybody is charging for luggage right now, so that shouldn't

(16:07):
surprise us. Keep in mind that all prices promotions are
subject to change and availability at the time of booking. Now, David,
and we're speaking with David Needelman, founder, chairman and CEO
of Breeze Airways. And folks, you got I mean from
you gotta start flying out approval. That's a great airport

(16:28):
and Breeze is flying to ten destinations. Now, David, you
said that Breeze Airways focuses on a nice culture.

Speaker 2 (16:39):
What does that really mean?

Speaker 3 (16:43):
You know, it's it just costs us nothing, you know,
to be nice.

Speaker 4 (16:46):
You know, we really emphasize that in training, and you know,
we really believe that if we our people show up
with a positive attitude, they treat our guests nice, they're.

Speaker 3 (16:59):
Actually going to be happy here too.

Speaker 4 (17:01):
You know, nobody wants to go to work thinking they
can't stand the people they're serving, So if they they
treat them nice, the nice returns and then everybody's happier.
So it's just kind of a concept that we started
with and it's really in our company.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
We really have a nice culture.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
And from the minute our new team members walking the door,
they get they get that message and they did just
a fantastic job.

Speaker 2 (17:26):
Now, David, we have about a minute left.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
I have two quick questions to ask because Breeze Airways
success is a lot of underserved markets. You is there
any discussion of Saint George Ogden or Logan in your plans?

Speaker 4 (17:41):
We fly out of Ogden, We fly Ogden to SNA
I think three or four times a week, so that's great.
Saint George is certainly something we'll look at. Logan's a
little small, but they come down down.

Speaker 1 (17:55):
And lastly, by the way, sna is Orange County. Uh, Dave,
how do we buy tickets on Breeze Airways?

Speaker 4 (18:04):
Just go to flybreez dot com and and or download
our app.

Speaker 3 (18:08):
Uh you know we it's so easy, it's so simple.

Speaker 4 (18:12):
We're a high tech airline and if you have any questions,
our people are all standing by the answer, whatever questions
you have. All of our all of our what we
call guest Empowerment team works at home and they're very responsive.

Speaker 1 (18:24):
Fantastic we found out chairman and CEO of Breeze Airways.
Go to fly Breeze dot com. Thanks David for joining us.
Thanks sir, you're listening to.

Speaker 2 (18:51):
The Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru. And wasn't that a great.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
Interview with David Ningland, founder.

Speaker 1 (18:58):
Of Breeze Airways. It's a airline and they really are
the nicest airline out there. They treat you like your
guests in their home. I'll be talking about Breeze Airways
and again for our listeners in the Utah area, kind
of central Utah on up North ten cities. Breeze Airways

(19:19):
flies just go to Flybreeze dot com. You buy your
tickets directly from Breeze Airways. Well earlier, I promised to
give you some free money, and that's exactly what I'm
gonna do. Norwegian Cruise Line, I just told you about
the new ship, the Aqua in the first segment, and

(19:41):
Morris Columbus Travel, one of the good sponsors of the
travel show, have teamed together for an exclusive free money offer.
You can't get this anywhere else. You cannot even get
it directly from Norwegian Cruise Line. This is available on
all new sailings of seven nights or more. You have

(20:01):
to book it no later than this Monday, anytime during
the working hours, and you can receive up to two
hundred dollars free money to spend on boards called an
on board credit. The acronym is an OBC, which is
good for just about anything except the casino. But it's

(20:25):
for balconies and above. Now it's not applicable to their
last minute sail away categories, and it's applicable for sailings
out of Miami. It's a great deal, and again it's
an exclusive. Now why exclusive because Morris Columbus Travel is
the largest seller of cruises anywhere in the Inner Mountain area.

(20:51):
And as a result, you know, you buy, you buy
one pencil, you get one price. Buy a truckload of pencils,
you get a different price. And so, as I said,
this is exclusive up to two hundred bucks free for
booking it with Morris Columbus Travel, And you can't get

(21:12):
this anywhere else, not even directly from Norwegian Cruise Line.
We love Hawaiian Mexico, don't we, And you know Hawaii
flat out is getting expensive.

Speaker 2 (21:25):
It is.

Speaker 1 (21:26):
I consider the Mexico All Inclusive Resorts the best air
and hotel travel package out there. I think cruising is
your best travel value, but right there with it or
the Mexico All Inclusives.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
So let's start with Mexico.

Speaker 1 (21:45):
Now, keep in mind that all rates and promotions are
subject to availability and change at the time of booking.
But an all inclusive is everything. Your airfare, your resort,
round trip transfers from the airport to the hotel, all
your meals, all your drinks, entertainment activities are included at

(22:05):
one very affordable price. So I was looking at early
September the actual dates I picked out was the fourth
to the ninth. That's six days, five nights. You can
extend this and the price obviously is adjusted. But in
can kun At a first class, first class four star
Bahia Principai Grand Coba Resort, fabulous resort. You ready for

(22:28):
this rate start at nine hundred and twenty nine dollars
per person double occupancy, Folks, that is everything. Port of
ir To, which I guess is my favorite. At the
Sunscape Port of ire a first class four star resort,
same dates, nine to ninety five per person. Remember that's

(22:49):
air transfers, resort meals, drinks, entertainment activities. If we want
to go to Hawaii, which I love, I was just
there two weeks ago on Maui, let's look at Hoddlu
at the Outrigger Waikiki Paradise Hotels. It's a solid four star,
first class resort right in the heart of Waikiki and

(23:09):
our Riggers a great hotel chain. I looked at late November,
excuse me, late October, early November and one thousand and
eighty five. That's round trip. It's not all inclusive. It's
round trip air, the hotel and the taxes. Now what
Hawaii packages do not include are the resort fees, which man,

(23:32):
they run thirty to fifty bucks a day per room,
and everybody charges it in Hawaii and most of the US.
They do not have that in Mexico, but in Hawaii
you have to pay it directly to the to the resort.
You know, I mentioned I love Port of iy Art.

(23:53):
I don't know, I just there's something about it that
is just very, very different. I love walking along the Mollican.
It's about a one mile beachside promenade, no cars. It's
right on the beach, paved walkway with shops, cantinas, entertainment, performers,
everything there and at one end is the Church of

(24:16):
Our Lady of Guadalupe Nuesta Signora de Guadalupe. It is
an iconic colonial church. I always go in there and sit.
It's just a beautiful place now where we like to
go eat, with so many good restaurants. In fact, my
favorite taco shop there is El Carbosito. I mean you

(24:36):
just got to go there, and it's right near the Mollican.
We love to go over to Zona Romantica and there's
a restaurant there, the Margharita Grill, it's just so good.
I mean they have entertainment and singers roaming around. And
then if you want to get away from town, head

(24:57):
up to the Sierra Madre Mountain.

Speaker 2 (25:01):
I mean, everything about it is just so different.

Speaker 1 (25:04):
Colonial cobblestone streets, the high sidewalk, whitewashed buildings. Yeah, it's
gonna be a lot of fun. Now, I mentioned in
that the special to Honolulu that I mean for Hawaii
that is off the charts deals. I told you Hawaii
is getting more and more expensive and people are paying it.
People are starting to look elsewhere again, Cruises and Mexico

(25:28):
all inclusives are your best deal. But if you're going
to be using the Honolulu Airport plan for extra time,
remember there's a mandatory pre flight baggage inspection. It's an
agricultural inspection and it's mandatory before you even check in.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
They have the inspectors there.

Speaker 1 (25:51):
Well, they're cutting back the hours and recently, staffing shortages
at these key inspection points have meant that travelers may
encounter longer than usual lines, potentially leading to missed flights.
So if you're going to go there, you want to
allow extra time in Honolulu. At the Honolulu airport. You know,

(26:17):
Morris Columbus Travel. Again, the sponsor has a special arrangement
with Viking cruises. Did you know that Morris Columbus Travel
is the largest travel agency seller of Viking cruises that's
both ocean and river in the entire Western United States.
And as a result, Yeah, there's some pretty special deals.

Speaker 2 (26:38):
Here is the current one.

Speaker 1 (26:39):
You simply have to book it with Morris Columbus Travel
no later than April the thirtieth, and this promotion, it
depends on the cruise, will offer either free airfare or
a reduced discounted airfare and deposits start at just twenty

(27:03):
five dollars. Now, remember this is applicable to select cruises.
There may be some cruises that are excluded. And you
know what's in nuts is rate start for cruises at
just nineteen ninety nine, let's call it two thousand bucks

(27:24):
nineteen ninety nine. Is that applicable to every Viking river cruise? No,
of course not, But there are select I'm looking at
one on the Rhine that starts at nineteen ninety nine.
Here's one on the Danube. Yeah, so give Morris Columbus
a call. Remember that these expire the promotion expires on

(27:49):
April thirtieth, so you got a book it by the
end of the month.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
She gives you about a week to do that.

Speaker 1 (27:56):
Disney, Now, we had Pluto John are the Ultimate Disney
Expert on Don't forget his Send River Cruise August of
next year with Alma Waterways. You can contact John direct
on that one. But we were talking about how Disney
has gotten expensive, and it's always been expensive. But there

(28:20):
are some specials that are out there and they can
be pulled at any time. There's subject to change and availability.
I'm giving it to you as it is today and
it is subject to change and availability. First of all,
there's a kid's fifty percent off ticket offer. Now, I'm

(28:41):
not going to give you all the terms in the conditions.
There are terms, conditions, requirements that apply to these, but
it's too long to read. You can get it from
your Morris Columbus Trawe Yeah, there is a Morris Columbus
travel special. You can get it from your travel Advisor.
For a limited time. You can save up to fifty
percent on the purchase of a three to ten day

(29:04):
Disney theme park ticket for kids ages three to nine. Remember,
Disney defines kids as nine and younger. I haven't met
many ten year olds that I would qualify as an adult,
but Disney does. And we're talking about Walt Disney World
in Orlando, Florida. Another great offer is a three day
three park ticket offer. Again, for a limited time, you

(29:27):
could enjoy a specially priced three day three park ticket
that's valid for admission to the Disney's Hollywood Studios, Epcot,
Disney's Animal Kingdom to those parks only. By the way,
on the kids fifty percent ticket offer, that's for tickets.

(29:48):
The start date is between May twenty seventh. This is
when you're going to visit May twenty seventh to September twentieth.
The three day three park offer is on now through
September twenty second one more. It's called this is backed
by popular demand. You know, food is outrageous, the expensive

(30:09):
at all theme parks Disney included, but by popular demand.
The free dining plan did I say free? I met
free dining plan is back. It's on select dates, but
you get a free dining plan when you purchase a
non discounted fortnight, four day Walt Disney Travel Company package

(30:33):
with a park Copper option. Buying that from Morris Columbus Travel.
Now the package does require fournite minimum, the four day
or longer Disney Theme park ticket, the park copper. All
these and the guests must be in the same room,
but you could buy multiple rooms on this particular offer. Well,
all of those and more are available at Morris Columbus Travel. Hey,

(30:58):
do you remember pre merger of Morris Murdoch Travel and
Columbus Travel. We're now Morris Columbus Travel. That Columbus Travel
had a travel expo in the in January and the
fall up at the Davis Conference Center in Leyton.

Speaker 2 (31:15):
Well, we're bringing it back.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
There'll be a massive Morris Columbus Travel Fall Travel exwe
October eighteen at the US Conference Center in late More.
When we come back on the Travel Show. You're listening

(31:39):
to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gelwicks, the getaway Guru.
The Travel Show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel where
you always travel more and hey less check them out
at their website Morris Coolumbus dot com. That's Morris Columbus
dot com. If you have a favorite Morris Columbus Travel advisor,
call his or her direct line, or if you don't

(32:01):
yet have a Morris Columbus Travel Advisor Call one eight
hundred triple nine forty six forty six. That's eight hundred
triple nine forty six forty six. I have a guest
that I've been so excited to bring on the show.
We welcome Marnie Whipple with Crystal Cruises, the regional sales
director for West USA. Marne, Welcome to the Travel Show.

Speaker 5 (32:25):
Oh thanks, Larri. It's a real pleasure to be with
you today. Thank you for.

Speaker 2 (32:28):
Asking me, Thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (32:30):
Now just to explain, I'm going to have you introduce
Crystal Cruises, but I'm going to make the comment there
what I call different categories of cruises. There are first
class cruises with and in that category I would put
Royal Caribbean, Princess, Norwegian Cruise Line. These are very good
cruise lines. Then you get up to premium and then

(32:52):
ultimately to the deluxe, and Crystal Cruises fits in that
deluxe category. My wife Kathy and I have sailed with
you and we are in love with Crystal Cruises. So
introduce us.

Speaker 2 (33:07):
Who is Crystal Cruises all Larry?

Speaker 5 (33:10):
Thanks Well, we have two beautiful ships that sail the
Seven Seas and We are known for exploring Alaska, the Mediterranean,
Southeast Asia, Australia, Pacific, truly all around the world. But
really what makes us Crystal is our amazing crew who
most ninety percent have been with us for about thirty years.

(33:32):
So it's a really special sense of home and this
welcome home dealing when you step on board our ships.
And we're also sister brands with Abercrombie and Kent, so
it's really neat because we have the world's best tour
operator also curating those land experiences with us. Our ships
are pretty small, Larry, one of them only accommodates seven

(33:54):
seven hundred and forty guests and the other ship just
six hundred and six, so we give all of that
space back in the form of your home away from home,
whether it's the twelve dining choices we have on board
the ships. It's stunning wrap around teak deck and that
is one of my favorite places.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
It really is, you know, to put that into perspective.
Now you have the Mega ships that hold up to
six thousand people, we're not talking that, but the Crystal
ships for about that size, they typically would hold twenty
five hundred guests, and we're talking six seven hundred plus
guests for basically the same size ship. The cabins are larger,

(34:35):
the public areas are larger. You do have a sensational
savings offer that can save up to four thousand dollars.

Speaker 2 (34:45):
Share that with us, Marty Well.

Speaker 5 (34:48):
That expires the end of April. It's a wonderful spring
offer with also a shipboard credits that could be used
for any type of additional shorts version. But otherwise just
about everything is included with us. So take advantage of
that great savings because it's short lived, with just a
week and a half to go for any voyage, just.

Speaker 1 (35:07):
About any voyage, and that happens to be on suite.
You also have the zero solo supplements. Now we hear
this all the time that I'm a single traveler and
I'm just getting killed because I have to pay double
what is your zero solo supplement?

Speaker 5 (35:26):
On both of our shifts, we have more or less
a dozen rooms that were purpose built just for solo travelers,
So book those early. You will never have to pay
that two hundred percent that most brands charge for you
as a solo traveler. And a number of other sailings,
we have zero supplement on additional categories besides those twelve
solo purpose built rooms.

Speaker 1 (35:47):
We're speaking with Marnie Whipple, regional sales Director West USA
with Crystal Cruise. Marni, we have about a minute and
a half left. I don't know where seven eight minutes
goes so quickly, but you all we also have more
on shore in Canada and New England.

Speaker 5 (36:05):
Yes, and that is one hundred dollars per person shipboard
credit available for you to use per day on any
of your land experiences for Canada and England, which we
will be there in September and October of this year.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
Now, Morris Columbus Travel has teamed up with Crystal Cruises,
my favorite folks absolute favorite deluxe cruise line with a
onboard credit. The acronym is OBC that is exclusive to
Morris Travel.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
You want to explain what that one is.

Speaker 5 (36:38):
You're such a valuable partner for us and as a
special offer, it's one hundred and twenty five dollars per
person shipboard credit. When you make your booking with Morris
Columbus anytime between now and May tenth, no matter what
your voyage, you'll have that butler tending to you. We
have one to one guest, a staff ratiow. But this
little shipboard credit gives you a little something extra spot

(37:00):
treatment or a land experience as you wish. This is
your voyage.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
You know what I found the difference that really sets well,
I guess everything sets Crystal apart, but do things I'll
mention and when we come back, we're coming up to
the top of the row. When they come back, Marnie,
I'll have to tell you this on another occasion. A
couple of my favorite stories about sailing with Crystal. One

(37:26):
of them is absolutely hysterical in such a positive way.
But I think what separates it is first the service
and right there also first is the dining. We've got
about thirty seconds. Would you comment on those two?

Speaker 5 (37:43):
Yes, it's the service. As you mentioned, the crew. When
you step aboard, they observe and somehow, Laria, I don't
know how they do it, they remember, yes, what you
want before you know what it is that you wanted,
your favorite cappuccino, your favorite prosecco or champagne.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
Marnie whipple with Crystal Cruisers. When I come back in
the second hour, I'm going to tell you the funniest
Crystal cruise story in Marny.

Speaker 2 (38:08):
I'll tell you that on another casion.

Speaker 1 (38:10):
Thanks so much, Thank you you're listening.

Speaker 2 (38:16):
To the Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (38:17):
I'm Larry Gelwicks, the Getaway Guru, and you know the
Travel Show is the best two hours in radio.

Speaker 2 (38:24):
I mentioned earlier.

Speaker 1 (38:25):
We're syndicated on nineteen stations, but live streaming literally around
the globe. I've had calls from Turkey, Japan, Australia, people
listening in, and I got a note from one of
our listeners in Pakistan.

Speaker 2 (38:41):
Can you believe that?

Speaker 1 (38:42):
All the way in Lahore, Pakistan, we send our greetings
to Amber, who's live listening to the Travel Show at
this very moment. So Amber, thank you for joining us,
and thank you for being part of the Travel Show family.
And maybe one of these days I'll grab my friend
Mark and we will go to Lahore, Pakistan. Well, tomorrow

(39:05):
is the Easter celebration. Did you know that Easter is
the oldest Christian holiday celebration. The earliest recorded observance of
an Easter celebration comes from the second century, though the
commemoration of Jesus's resurrection undoubtedly occurred earliest. See there is

(39:28):
evidence from the New Testament that early Apostles shifted their
Sabbath from the seventh day Saturday to the first day
of the week, Sunday, to commemorate the resurrection on a
weekly basis, and for those who take communion or sacrament,
that is a renewal, a remembrance, a celebration of the

(39:54):
Christian faith and the Resurrection. There is some direct evidence
for a more formerly Christian festival, Pusha or Easter, that
appeared in the mid second century. But so it's just
some Easter interesting fun facts. How did we get the

(40:15):
name Easter. It's believe that the word Easter originated from
the name of a pagan goddess, Yoster, which was the
Anglo Saxon goddess symbolizing springtime, the rabbit or hare, and
an egg. Well, you could put all those together, spring,

(40:37):
a rabbit, a buddy, or an egg. I always thought
it was kind of interesting that for Christians to celebrate
the two most important holidays, Easter or the Resurrection obviously
being the most important to Christians, and the birth of
Jesus or Christmas also that would have to rank number two.

(40:58):
So how do we the brt the resurrection the atonement
of Jesus with a bunny and a colored egg.

Speaker 2 (41:08):
Isn't that great?

Speaker 1 (41:09):
How do we celebrate the birth of the Savior with
a fat man dressed in red with a white beard
and a talking snowman. Ah, it's a great It's it's
great to be a Christian. Now, what are you having?

Speaker 2 (41:25):
Denny?

Speaker 1 (41:26):
Would you get on the line with us? Denny is
our crack producer, not our producer on crack. I'm gonna
have Denny talk to you for just a moment, and
I got a couple of questions for him. First of all,
before he comes on the line. He is working hard
on this. Denny, why didn't you get on Mike number four? Okay,

(41:49):
are you there?

Speaker 3 (41:50):
I think so.

Speaker 1 (41:50):
Denny is the greatest producer and engineer that we have. Now,
how are you guys go in your family going to
celebrate Easter?

Speaker 6 (42:00):
So my family, so, my family comes from Bosnia, So
we're primarily like Muslim, and I grew up in a
Muslim household. Yes, so because we've like grown up in America,
you will celebrate Christian holidays. Yeah, you know, my Jewish
friends do that. They celebrate Christmas even though they're Jewish. Yeah, exactly,
you grew up Muslim and you celebrate course Ramadan and

(42:21):
other Muslim holidays, but living in America, you can't escape
Christmas or Easter, Kenya or Thanksgiving.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
No, So what is going to be your Easter meal?
Eastern meal?

Speaker 6 (42:34):
I don't think we have like everything in specific, but
we do get wet. We gather our family around and
we have like a big breakfast to start the day off,
and then big dinner. We skip lunch typically on Easter,
just to have like two big meals throughout the day.

Speaker 1 (42:47):
I always think, heaven forbid I should miss a meal
on that. So you moved here to you were born
in Bosnia and moved here with your family. Well, I'm
going to come back to Eastern tell me your favorite
Muslim holiday.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
We have this.

Speaker 6 (43:07):
It's not a big holiday. It's called bite Them, and
it happens. It's based on the lunar calendar, and this
year happened about two weeks ago, uh huh. And it's
kind of like a smaller Christmas, so to speak. So
we get together with family. We have changed presents, but
the presidents can't be like like we can't get each
other xboxes or like PlayStations, and it has to be

(43:28):
like clothing something that we can make practically, something practical exactly,
and we gather around, we just celebrate each other and yeah.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
Well, thank you for joining us. That's that's Denny. He
is absolutely fantastic, keeps this show going anyway. For most people,
what are you gonna eat on Christmas? Or excuse me,
Easter Dinner? Well, historically, most early Easter celebrations would have
eaten lamb for this special occasion, since the holiday has

(44:01):
its roots in Jewish Passover. But these days I think
most American Easter dinners now feature ham instead because of
the timing of the hall.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Why are you eating ham?

Speaker 1 (44:14):
Well, years ago, ham's cured over the winter months and
would have been ready to serve in early spring. And
that's traditionally why ham is an Easter meal, And of
course in Utah it has to be served with funeral potatoes.

(44:34):
Did you know that Easter lilies are a relatively new tradition.
I love Easter lilies, but the blooms first originated in
Japan and arrived in England in the late eighteenth century. Now,
the United States only caught onto the trend after World
War One. The transition from dormant bulbs to delicate flowers.

(44:58):
It brings to mind hope, rebirth, two very important themes
in the Easter celebration. Now here's one that is really interesting.
We have Easter eggs. We have an Easter egg hunt
for the grandkids playing at our house tomorrow after church.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
And you know, it's fun.

Speaker 1 (45:18):
Although this year we're using a lot of plastic eggs
because who can afford a dozen eggs. Now you may
think that Easter egg hunts are a strange tradition, but
listen to this. A mid evil game. It was a
children's game. Here's what it was. A priest would give
one of the choir boys a hard boiled egg and

(45:42):
the boys would pass it amongst themselves until the clock
strunk midnight, and whoever was holding it the egg, which
was a real delicate treat, got to eat it. We
hope that at least some got some salt and pepper
to go with it. But that is how we got
the Easter eggs symbolizing.

Speaker 2 (46:04):
Easter. Okay, two more, two more, and we'll move on.
We can.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
Well, first of all, we can thank the Anglo Saxons,
the goddess yoster who symbolized springtime, the rabbit and the egg.
But we can also thank Germany for the Easter bunny.
The idea of an Easter bunny delivering candy and eggs
actually originated in Germany during the Middle Ages. The first

(46:32):
written mention of this tradition dates back to the sixteenth century. Well,
the Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania brought the bunny to the
US in the seventeen hundreds. And the rest with candy
and eggs delivered by a bunny. How about that the
symbol of the resurrected Christ is a bunny giving eggs

(46:54):
and candy. Well, the rest is a delicious history. One more,
one more now, Well, in days gone by a pretzel,
are you kidding me? Like a big German pretzel, not
the stick pretzels. The German pretzels were associated with Easter.
Why because the the twists of the pretzel resembled arms

(47:19):
crossing in prayer, and so it was a symbol. The
pretzel was well, it's eaten year round, but was a
symbol of Easter and Christ folded arms in our folded
arms in prayer. You know, listen, I love river cruising.

(47:41):
I just love it to death. It's easy on, it's
easy off. You got anywhere from about seventy to one
hundred and sixty seventy people depending on the cruises. Most
of the European river cruises are going to be in
that one fifty sixty seventy. There's a few ships that
will hold two hundred, but just a couple. If you're
cruising Asia or Africa, it's going to be sixty to

(48:03):
seventy people on that. And I've got two river cruises
planned that Later on the show, I'm going to be
talking to you about what I call the riches of
the Makong the Maecong River in Southeast Asia. We will
be sailing Cambodian Vietnam with a Thailand pre cruise option.

(48:23):
Those dates are November ninth to the sixteenth next year,
twenty twenty six, and one of the all time favorites,
the Christmas markets on the Rhine December third to the
tenth of next year. Now what we've done on these
is we have chartered, we have bought half the ship,
which means the prices that we offer will be several

(48:46):
hundred dollars to over one thousand dollars per person less
than if you bought it direct from the bridge line.

Speaker 2 (48:52):
When we come back Michael Phillips is taking us to.

Speaker 1 (48:55):
Iceland and Norway here on the Travel Show. Welcome back
to the Travel Show. I'm Laura Gelowicks that get away
a Guru. The Travel Show is sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel.
We always Travel More and pay Less, the largest seller

(49:19):
of leisure, vacation travel and cruises in the entire Inner
Mountain West. And as result of that, you're going to
get some very special promotions. We've talked about free money
to spend on board, free this, free that, twenty five
dollars cruise deposits with Viking. I want to introduce you
to our friend Michael Phillips now who has put together

(49:42):
a Nordic adventure the likes of which are just mind boggling.
Because I've traveled all this erin I'm looking at his
itinerary of Iceland and nor and I'm going, Wow, Michael,
how can I get myself on this tour?

Speaker 3 (49:57):
I still have some space.

Speaker 7 (49:59):
Larry Kamalal along with us, we are so excited to
do this.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
All right, introduce this.

Speaker 1 (50:04):
You have a Nordic Adventure tourch It's not a cruise,
although there'll be some day cruising in the Norwegian Fjords.
But it's a land tour in Iceland and Norway. The
dates are September nineteenth to the thirtieth this year twenty
twenty five, absolutely perfect time to visit it.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
Tell us what we're going to be doing.

Speaker 7 (50:27):
So I'll tell you just right off the bats. September
to April is the period when you have a chance
to see the Northern lights. So chant we plan for
September on purpose because I think one of the most
magical experiences I've had in all my traveling is being
there under the northern lights in Iceland, and so that's
part of the reason we're doing.

Speaker 3 (50:46):
It at this time.

Speaker 7 (50:46):
But what we've got planned is we'll start in Iceland
and we'll stay just in Reikiavik and I love it
when we can stay in one hotel for quite a
few nights, and we'll do wonderful day trips out into
the Schnefulness Peninsula and we'll do the Golden Circle, will
do the South Shore. We'll see, you know, they call
it the land a fire and ice, and we will
see it all. We'll see the fire, We'll see the ice,

(51:08):
will go soak in the thermal pools. It's just a lovely country.
It is unique to the whole world. So that's how
we'll start. Then we'll fly from Reykiavik and we'll head
over to Bergen. We'll do some of that nice day
cruising in the fjords. We'll come down from from Bergen,
we'll do the Sonya Fjord. Of course, we'll hit some

(51:30):
of these beautiful small towns Balistron, Shaherland and Flom. Then
we'll take the train and we'll end our tour down
in Oslo. So it is a magical and wonderful.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
It really is, and it's the whole Nordic culture. You know,
most Icelandic people are descendants of Norwegian settlers and the
Garlics from Ireland and Scotland were actually brought over slaves
during the settlement of Iceland. In the Nights, I love Iceland,

(52:01):
one of the most interesting facts Michael is approximately in
a recent survey, approximately fifty percent of the adult population
believes in elves and trolls. In fact, when you're going
to build a building, that's true, you have to get
a permit and they want to make sure you're not
going to be building over elves and trolls. You can

(52:23):
talk to people. And these are sane, well educated people,
not some crazy who will tell you I have seen them.

Speaker 2 (52:31):
So we will be on.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
The lookout with your tour for elves and trolls. Maybe you,
Michael Phillips, are one of them.

Speaker 3 (52:40):
I could be.

Speaker 7 (52:41):
I'll tell you the time I've spent over there. Where
you see the little ferry houses they've built into the.

Speaker 2 (52:46):
Hills, yes, yes, And then those wonderful.

Speaker 3 (52:49):
Places that you take a photo.

Speaker 7 (52:51):
They're in the volcanic kind of seascape and when you're
taking the photo, it just looks like a big hole
in the rock, but when you look at the picture,
it glows, and they call them those faery holes, you know.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
One of my wonderful Yeah, one of my favorite activities
in Iceland is the Golden Circle tour.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Would you briefly review that with our audience.

Speaker 7 (53:12):
The Golden Circle is a fascinating opportunity to see some
of the things that the country is most famous for.
And we will go and see, of course, the beautiful
place that the democracy of the whole country, which is
about one thousand years old, was established in Pink vill
Air National Park. But we'll also see the Stroker Geyser

(53:33):
and geyser. The term is Icelandic. That's where we get
the term. And then we'll see the Goldfoss Waterfall, and
we'll see some wonderful waterfalls, but this one is so
big and so beautiful, and then I've ad it in
my own little piece. They've learned to harness all of
their geothermal activity, and we'll go see a greenhouse where
they're growing tomatoes, because you can't really grow anything outside

(53:57):
in Iceland, but if you can use the the geothermal
for both warmth and to run the electricity. They've got
a number of these beautiful greenhouses now, so we'll sten
see that. So that'll just be one big circle that
they call the Golden Circle.

Speaker 1 (54:11):
We're speaking with Michael Phillips, who will be your tour
host on the Nordic Adventure Iceland and Norway Tour, organized
and sponsored by Morris Columbus Travel September nineteenth to the
thirtieth of this year. You can get all the details
at Morriscolumbus dot Commorriscolumbus dot com. On the homepage, I

(54:33):
think it's the third item down. Click on Morris Murdoch
Escorted Tours. That's the brand name of the escorted tours,
then click on Europe. You know, one of the things
that I also enjoy is Flom over in Norway, which
is one of the most popular and most beautiful fjord area.

(55:00):
They also have an incredible train there. Introduce us to that.

Speaker 7 (55:05):
So from Plump and a couple of things about Flum
that I just love. And this is true of both
the Icelandic and the Norwegian cultures. They're heavy reading cultures,
and in Flom I love that there are little lending
libraries all over Flum. We see them now in the US,
but they have been around in Iceland and Norway for
a long time. When we come down off the fjords
and spend some time in Flam, we will then board

(55:28):
the train and go through Myerdahl and these wonderful valleys
making our way to Oslo, where we'll have a great
experiencing some museums and some wonderful historic sites. But I
would say that area from Bergen, the Junia Fjord, Balstrom,
Flom then pass Myyerdal into Oslo has got to be
some of the most beautiful landscape in the whole world.

(55:49):
Because when you're not on the fjord, you're on the
train down in the valley and looking up into these
wonderful kind of mountainous walls and the waterfalls, and in
September it will be beautiful. It will be the end
of summer.

Speaker 1 (56:02):
Oh my god. We have about thirty seconds left. Michael,
I would just say to our listen, to the audience,
I am so impressed with this itinerary, seriously, because yeah,
you can go on your own and you'll see a
lot of cool things, but this itinerary includes so many
of the out of the way places, things I promise

(56:23):
you you'd never see on your own. So, Michael, thank
you for joining us here on the Travel Show today, folks.
The Nordic Adventure Iceland and Norway, September nineteenth to the
thirtieth this year. A few spaces left at Morriscolumbus dot com.
Thank you, Michael more when we come back on the
Travel Show.

Speaker 2 (57:02):
You're listening to the Travel Show.

Speaker 1 (57:03):
I'm Larry Gelwicks that get away Uru and here we
are the day after Good Friday, the day before Easter,
important time in Christianity.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Listen.

Speaker 1 (57:18):
I had a couple of interesting experiences. I was in
Maui a couple of weeks ago and A woman approaches
me and says, are you Larry Gelwicks? And I said,
I'm thinking, well, who's asking? He said, Oh, love your
travel show. Watch you on KUTV. And you know, I'm
so flattered by that. We just got back from the Bahamas,

(57:40):
Kathy and I did on Wednesday of this week, and
we're on the parking Jet where you can get a
twenty percent discount. There's a coupon at Morriscolumbus dot com.
Click on resources on the homepage, print half a dozen
of them and keep them in your car twenty percent
discount at parkinjet favorite off airport parking lot. And we're

(58:02):
sitting there and like I said, are you Larry Gelwicks,
the getaway Guru? And I said, yes, I'm sorry, I
can't remember your first names. You're from Logan and you're
listing in on kV and you one of our affiliate stations.
But you shared the ride with us. It's very flattering.
It happens several times, you know, three, four, five, six

(58:24):
times a week. Some say I recognize your voice, and
that isn't to pat ourselves on the back. But if
you if you run into me, would you please say hello?
I love chatting with you and you know. In addition
to the travel show, I joined KUTV Channel two here

(58:45):
in Utah, which is the CBS national affiliate network for
Utah and parts of southern Idaho and the six people
who live in eastern Nevada all can tune in to that.
But every Monday on the new news I give a
travel news report. It's not a commercial, it's a news report.

(59:08):
And you know, pre and I've done it for about
fifteen sixteen years, pre pandemic. I would go in the studio,
sit on the set with the anchors and they're all
dressed up in you know, Ron's wearing a nice suit.
Mary has a beautiful dress on, and I'm in the
loudest Loha shirt that I can find. Well, it's branding

(59:30):
and people. I've actually had people on the streets say,
I recognize your shirt, you know, from KUTV. But I
give a straight news report. Well, during the pandemic, KUTV said, listen,
we want to reduce foot traffic and people in the studio,
So film the news report, which I always did live

(59:52):
on the set in the studio downtown, film it and
just send it into us like email, an inter start
doing that. The news report is usually about two and
a half minutes, you know, of just straight travel news.
Maybe your passport requirements have changed, maybe Princess has a
new cruise. I'm going to be talking about real ID

(01:00:14):
as a requirement. But then post pandemic, KUTV said, okay, Larry,
come on back in the studio, and I said, no,
this is much better, much better.

Speaker 2 (01:00:25):
I can be.

Speaker 1 (01:00:26):
Anywhere in the world and film it. Everybody asks, do
you use a green screen? Nobody could travel as much
as you do. Well, I do travel. I'm out of
the country slightly over half the year, and anyway, we've
never used a green screen.

Speaker 2 (01:00:47):
Never will.

Speaker 1 (01:00:48):
Everything you see in the background now it's on the
New News, which is noon to one channel two KUTV.
My segment, my news report, can appear at any time,
but typically it's between twelve forty and twelve fifty. I
hope that you will tune in and if you see
me around, oh please say hi. I just love talking

(01:01:10):
to people. I want to do something a little different
now for a travel show presentation. Emily States is listening
our marketing directing wanted to hear a story that she's
never heard before. I'm going to give you a story,
Emily that you've never heard before, kind of centered around Easter.
Has kind of a broad religious theme, but not specifically

(01:01:34):
religious theme. I want to but I think with Easter
the most important Christian holiday in the world, maybe this
will be appropriate for Easter. I think it will. It's
how a Russian immigrant woman completely changed my life when

(01:01:58):
I was young. Now, I was in grad school and
my studies included Coptic, one of the Egyptian languages and religions,
first century Christian literature, and Hebrew and Jewish studies. Those
were among my graduate studies when I was in college,

(01:02:22):
and I you know, I had I wish i'd done
my life differently in some respects. I just burned through school,
served an LDS mission as a young man who got
my bachelor's degree, got my graduate master's degree, was working
on a PhD. And I was twenty four years old

(01:02:43):
and got it just as I turned twenty five, finished
my graduate degree.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
Anyway, I grew up.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
I went to school and everything growing up in San Francisco,
and I really enjoyed Jewish studies and Hebrew, and so
there was a Jewish bookstore, Liber's Jewish bookstore on Geary
Street back home in San Francisco, that I started frequenting.
And if you came to my home today, you'd see

(01:03:12):
a number of books from you know what fifty plus
years ago. There I got at Liber's Jewish bookstore. Well,
I got to know Missus Liber. She was a Russian
immigrant and she was old. I mean she was like
the wife of Moses or something old. She was a
pre Bolshevik Revolution immigrant to the United States. The Bolshevik

(01:03:37):
Revolution was around nineteen seventeen, and she and her husband.
I never knew mister Liber because he had passed away
by the time I came on the scene were in
the you know, nineteen seventy three, nineteen seventy four, seventy five,
that era. But Missus Liber's son and they were Orthodox Jews.

(01:04:00):
That figures in later in the story. In fact, ultra
Orthodox Jews. Her son and family ran in the bookstore.
She would when I would go in there, she would
be sitting in the same black dress, in the same chair,
in the same place. And I just got to know her.
I think we became friends because I had time for her.

(01:04:20):
You know, the family was busy raising a family and
running the bookstore, but it gave me a great chance
to practice my Hebrew with her, and my Yiddish was terrible,
so I didn't even go there. But we would talk
and she started telling me her whole life story and
how they She talked about living in Moscow under the

(01:04:45):
Tsar before the Bolshevik revolution when the Communists came into power,
and seeing the Tzar and his family in a gilded carriage,
you know, going through the city. She talked about the
persecution of the Jewish people in Moscow and how cold
the winters were. Now they were Orthodox ultra Orthodox, meeting
at the synagogue, which meant that the women and children

(01:05:07):
were separated from the men, men being thirteen years of
age or older who had been through bar Mitzvah. The
women have a bat Mitzvah, but who'd been through bar
Mitzvah and they were men at that point. These boys
are considered men in the congregation of synagogue, and they
can comment, they can read from the Torah, which is

(01:05:30):
basically the first five books of Moses, and you talk
about They would meet, of course on Saturdays in synagogue
and the rabbi would read a passage from the Torah
their book of scripture. You know, part of what we
Christians have is the Old Testament, the first five books,

(01:05:51):
or a passage of scriptures, and then would ask every
one of the men, Sorry, women, you couldn't comment, that's
the way it was, but all of the men to comment,
not on the history of the verse, but on how
this verse or section of verses, passage of verses affected

(01:06:14):
their lives today. How does it help me with growing up,
with family, with education, with money, with illness, with persecution,
with you know, my business? How do the scriptures help
me today? What they were doing is likening the scriptures

(01:06:35):
unto themselves for their profit and learning.

Speaker 2 (01:06:38):
That's what they did.

Speaker 1 (01:06:40):
And then every man was asked to comment, and they
would give how does this apply to us today? And
only when all the men had commented, with the rabbi
go on and he would read the very same verse
or passage of scriptures a second time. So important were
the scriptures to these people that maybe after one man

(01:07:04):
thirteen years of age and older, had commented, an inspired
thought would come, and yet his turn had passed. They
were invited if anyone had another comment, if they'd had
an inspired thought. And only then when they'd gone through
it a second time, would the rabbi go on and

(01:07:26):
read the same verse or passage of versus a third time?
And of course three, the number three very important in
Jewish theology.

Speaker 2 (01:07:34):
That's another story for another day, but.

Speaker 1 (01:07:38):
Inviting them again, have you any inspired thought to comment?
And then after the third they would move on to
another scripture or passage script and do the very very
same thing. She taught me how to read the scriptures. Now,
I'll tell you I had an interesting moment. Everybody assumed

(01:08:00):
I was Jewish, because you know, it was very appropriate
for me. I'd wear at synagogue, which I would attend.
I had my own yamaka or skull cap, and I
could get by. I wasn't fluent in Hebrew, but I
could kind of get by, and I could do some translation.
I kind of knew the storyline. That's what helped me out.

(01:08:21):
But I don't know. And I want to say this
very respectfully. In some cultures, if you're not a member,
if you're a non member, the core group may not
want anything to do with you. They don't want your
children to play together, they don't want your young people

(01:08:43):
to date. They basically don't want anything to do with
you and with some not only in an ultra orthodox
culture of Judaism, but in Christian cultures. Heaven forbid we
and Utah should ever fall into that. You're just an outsider.
And one day missus Leeber said to me, she goes, Laddy,

(01:09:10):
you're a Jewish.

Speaker 2 (01:09:12):
Aunt you And.

Speaker 1 (01:09:12):
I'm thinking I never said any because I didn't want
this relationship to end.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
I'm thinking.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
I started to stand up and pick up my books,
and I said, well, not exactly. And she looked at
me and she says, well, if you're not Jewish, what
are you then? And I said, well, I'm a Christian,
a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Life.
And they sent you on the Mormons. And she said
three times.

Speaker 2 (01:09:35):
And I'll tell you what she said when we come back, which.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
Is the capstone of the story. Here on the Travel Show.
You're listening to the Travel Show. I'm Larry Gilwicks taking
away Guru, and may I express my sare appreciation that

(01:10:02):
you join us every week for the Travel Show on
this the very station at this very time.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
This is my thirty.

Speaker 1 (01:10:09):
Fourth year hosting the Travel Show, and what an amazing
life I've had so many very fun things. Anyway, to
finish the story of missus Lieber So, she just out
of nowhere. Again, I would I never said I was Jewish,
but I didn't say I wasn't. They'd see me at
synagogue and I could, you know, struggle speaking Hebrew, and

(01:10:34):
of course going to synagogue appropriate for a non jow
to wear a Yamaica. And as you visit Israel and
Holy Land sites today, you're expected to wear a Yamaica
regardless of who you are, your faith. But anyway, she's
just out of the blue. She says to me, Luddy,
you're Jewish, aren't you. And I'm thinking I am so busted,

(01:10:56):
because again, as I explained, in some cultures, if you're
not a member, they don't want anything to do with you,
despite homemade bread and cookies, you know. But I said, well,
not exactly. And I was actually standing up picking my
books up because I thought this will be the end

(01:11:16):
of our relationship. And she goes, well, if you're not Jewish, Loddy,
what are you then? And I said, well, I'm Christian,
member of the Church of Jesus Christ. The monoty sends
you know, the Mormons, And she said three times LODDI
a Mormon. A Mormon? How are you a Morman? And

(01:11:38):
I go yeah, and then and so again. I was
picking the books up, and then she waved her hand
and just said, Mormon's Jews. You know we're all the same.
What did you just say?

Speaker 2 (01:11:53):
This is Lieber?

Speaker 1 (01:11:54):
I sat back down. She never brought the story up again.
But what missus Lieber did, whatever your faith, whether you're
reading the Torah, the Bible, the Koran, a book of
moral principles and inspiring book, what she taught me was
how to read it. And you read a verse or

(01:12:16):
a passage of verses from the Bible, the Torah, the Qoran,
or a holy book of Buddhism, Taoism, whatever it may be,
and ask how does this affect me today? How does
this affect my life? How does this help me through
the struggles, the good times, the bad times, the wins,
the losses, the victories, the defeat of life. These books

(01:12:39):
of scripture, these books were not written solely to be
history books. They have history in them, but frankly they're
not a very good history book. They were meant to
help us through life, and so we liken them unto
ourselves for our profit and learning. Follow that inspiration. However

(01:13:02):
you approach deity, how whatever your belief is, that's what
you do. Hey, one other thing about Easter that just
came up this week. Archaeologists recently. Oh, by the way,
when you do that, you must call it. I'm gonna
missus Lieber the scriptures. I'm gonna miss his liber That's
what I call. It's been over fifty years since I

(01:13:25):
visited with her. You know, I don't know where she's buried.
She of course would have passed on by now. But
the next time I get down to San Francisco, I'm
gonna check the records and see if she's buried in
the Bay area, and then go to her grave and
place a rock on her tombstone. Why not, flowers, it's

(01:13:47):
the tradition you sat in the movie Shindler's List of
placing a rock. Among other reasons, flowers can wilt very
quickly in the Middle Eastern one hundred plus degree heat
during the summertime. But a rock can be there forever,
and it's a you know, it's the rock of salvation,
the rock of belief, the rock of a good family.

Speaker 2 (01:14:10):
So use that phrase, Missus Leeber. The scriptures very quickly.

Speaker 1 (01:14:14):
Our chaeologists recently unveiled a series of strange centuries old
inscriptions at the site believed by Christians to be the
location of the Last Supper. It's just in time for Easter.
The Room of the Last Supper, also known as the Senecal,
is located on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The hall was

(01:14:34):
built by the Crusaders in the twelfth century, though Pilgrims
have venerated the site as early as the fourth century.

Speaker 3 (01:14:43):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:14:43):
They found a bunch of inscriptions there, and most of
the inscriptions date back to the Middle Ages. But remember
Christians have visited this site as the site of the
Last Supper back to the fourth century. Now they the
inscriptions were left in various languages. Coats of arms were there.

(01:15:06):
There was one drawing of scorpion found presumably when Solomon
the Magnificent took over the Senecal in fifteen twenty three
and turned it into a mosque. There were inscriptions by pilgrims,
Christian pilgrims from Serbia, the modern Czech Republic, Germany, Armenia, Syria.

Speaker 2 (01:15:27):
One of the.

Speaker 1 (01:15:27):
Most interesting depictions of the Last Supper in this room
was found above a German coat of arms which depicted it.
Catch this a goblet, a platter, and a round piece
of bread with a hole in it, depicting the Last Supper,

(01:15:49):
the bread being torn. Well, anyway, enjoy the weekend however
you want, be it Easter or family gatherings. Know why
you have in the ham ah because of cured hams. Well,
I'll look forward to talking to you next week right
here on the Travel Show. Do contact Morris Columbus Travel
Morris Coolumbus dot Commorriscolumbus dot com or one eight hundred

(01:16:12):
triple nine forty six forty six.

Speaker 2 (01:16:15):
Have a great week and a happy Eastern. God bless you,
and God bless America.