I'd just like to know, from anyone (preferable Wes Himself), how Wes knows so much about almost every country, every pub, every drink, every hotel, and/or every vacation tip?? <BR>Does he travel continually? Where does he live? Where has he visiting? HOW DOES HE KNOW SO MUCH??? <BR> <BR>(just curious)

Steph, <BR>Travel makes you wise!

Steph- I know Wes has been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit as I have e-mailed him personally. He is a very nice man who is extremely informative and I am glad he enjoys responding to many Fodor's postings. <BR> <BR>P.S. We call our son Steph also but our Italian version is Stef for Stefan. It's a great name!

I don't pretend to speak for Wes. <BR>But, aren't we all glad that he contributes to this forum!!! I read as many of his postings as I can find, and I always learn something. Even if he is writing about an area I feel I know well, I read it anyhow. Why? Because he usually knows something I don't. <BR>

I think Wes is actually the reincarnation of three people: Sir Richard Burton (the explorer, not the guy who played George to Liz's Martha), Mark Twain, and Job.

"We get old too soon, and smart too late". My husband tells me from time to time, "listen".

EXPERIENCE...

..... + tremendous curiosity.

Hello Steph. I am Nuby Fowler, Wes' wife of, would you believe, 34 years! I think I am qualified to answer some of your questions about Wes and add some comments also. Wes is a very thoughtful and knowledgeable individual, incredibly intelligent and an outstanding communicator. Because of his voracity for reading and his frustrated desire to teach he enjoys sharing his knowledge with anyone who would listen or in your case read. I believe he is addressing his travel expertise in another message. I can vouch for the fact that after our marriage we have travelled greatly. But his expertise on France and the Netherlands dates before that since he had lengthy stays in those countries. <BR> <BR>We do not travel continually since we can not afford it but we shoot for at least one trip a year! We live in Georgia have a son, a daughter, four and ½ grand-babies and a lovable Clumber spaniel named Paddington. <BR> <BR>In answer to Elvira: By Gosh, I think you've got it! By the way I am a native South American and have lived in the US 38 years. "Adios (so long) and buena suerte (good luck)! <BR>

It's a bit embarassing and disconcerting to be singled out from among so many knowledgeable travellers who so willingly contribute their knowledge and experience to Fodor's European forum. As a travel enthusiast, I've been blessed with many advantages: a long standing and voracious reading habit, insatiable curiosity, a thirst for knowledge, an explorer's mentality, sharply honed skill as an observer and, most important and valuable, a quirky but retentive memory. (I still remember the room number of the Parisian hotel I stayed in on my first trip to Europe in 1960, though I invariably forget to put out the trash on Tuesday mornings.) A former employer's generous vacation policy granted me three to six weeks vacation annually. A trip to London or Paris, then, could encompass three weeks in absorbing the aura of the place visited rather than the more typical three or four days most tourists must fit into their schedules. <BR> <BR>In three weeks in Paris, one can visit or revisit the "normal" tourist sites and have the luxury of time to take the Metro to the end of one of its lines and leisurely walk back through neighborhoods to the heart of the city. Doing so helps one develop a "feel" for the city and its inhabitants. That luxury can allow me to spend most of a London afternoon conversing with an elderly and delightful Chelsea pensioner in a pub of his choosing rather than racketing about from museum to museum. That luxury allows me to get off the autobahns and autoroutes and meander on country roads exploring tiny villages, parish churches, folk museums and gasthauses and restaurants not in the guide books. <BR> <BR>The only hotels or inns I've "recommended" have been family owned and operated and ones that I've stayed in within the past two years, the Ter Duinen in Brugges, Schonach-Hof in Hohenfurch, Bavaria, Hotel Hirschen in Langnau im Emmental, Switzerland. My former London favorite, the Collonade is no longer family owned and drops from my list. I will suggest hotels or inns to be "considered", based on feedback from some of my correspondents or what appears to be favorable impressions gained from advertisements, brochures, travel literature or websites. I don't recommend them however, just that they be "considered". So, too, with restaurants and pubs. Ownership and managements change too frequently for me to "recommend", I'd rather hedge with "consider". <BR> <BR>If I have any "expert knowledge", it's probably of Paris, most of the Netherlands and Belgium, Bavaria, London and parts of England where I've traveled extensively and lengthily over the years. I've been to Austria, northern Germany, northern Italy and Spain and Switzerland as well, but not recently enough to comment intelligently about them. <BR> <BR>I enjoy the planning of a trip as much as the trip itself. Since I'm retired, I have the free time to plan travel, both for myself and for other travelers. <BR>I hope the preceding will bring this thread to a close. (Can't wait to get my hands on my wife for interjecting her thoughts!) <BR> <BR>

<BR>Hello Nuby, it's so nice to meet you!!! I think all of us feel we know Wes already, kinda like a favorite uncle or a special teacher we had in the past. Aren't we (and Fodor's) lucky to be the beneficiaries of all that experience and knowledge.....not to mention the compassion for humanity in general.

He doesn't really. Any more than you do is more than you are aware of...

He doesn't really. Any more than you do is more than you are aware of...

Wes, if you write a book I would buy it in a second. <BR> <BR>Do we have a deal? <BR> <BR>Love to read everything you write... <BR> <BR>

Hello Wes and Nuby: We also live in Georgia, enjoy travel and your posts. We have had several opportunities to travel with daughter and husband, but now they are expecting their first baby (perhaps a New Year's Day arrival ??!!) Thanks much for your informative commentary. M & J

Hey....do you guys have Wes's e-mail...how do I post a message for him...he sounds fantastic...I am planninga trip to Italy right now and would love his input! <BR> <BR>Nicoletta

Wes is in the top echelon as far as travel experts in this forum.<P> Personally, I think Fodors, Frommer's, Rick Steve's, et al could learn a few lessons from Wes. In addition I think that Fodors should award Wes and Nuby a trip to any destination of their choosing - airfare included!<P> As a dog-a-holic I'll be more than happy to stay at their home and dog sit their Clumber Spaniel!!!

Wes should most certainly publish a book. <BR> <BR>If not one on "current" travel as he mentions, He and Nuby traveling once a year like my wife and I, but a book of his memoirs. <BR> <BR>I'd buy it.