Dear Niko, I am writing to you in the hope that you will share my comments with persons wishing a reference for your tours of Greece. You may duplicate and distribute the following as you may find appropriate.
“We were a group of four American experienced travelers but none of us had ever visited Greece before May of 2005.  In setting up our tour we put ourselves in Nicolas’ hands for ten days and could not have been more pleased. In consultation with us he planned our itinerary, selected hotels, places to eat and sites to visit. His careful work and consideration resulted in a simply outstanding vacation. We were impressed with Nicolas’ knowledge of Greece from both a historical and current day perspective. He knows a great deal and he is articulate even to the extent of appreciating the subtle nuances of English. We toured in his Mercedes Benz van and felt safe with his driving habits even as we wound through small roads up and down mountainsides and through villages that could barely accommodate a single car. One member of our group had some special needs in terms of not being able to walk well and so Nicolas took special attention to finding ways that she could enjoy the places that were unreachable for her by foot. Time and space do not allow my sharing with you my thoughts about all the magnificent ancient sites we visited but I will say they were even more spectacular than I remembered from the many texts and photographs I have seen.
In making our decision to tour with Nicolas as opposed to taking a cruise or a tour bus we decided that having a personal and knowledgeable person leading us and staying in smaller villages and eating the foods that the people of Greece eat would be better than being on a large ship and partaking in the 24 hour buffets of mostly American food or stopping at restaurants that could accommodate large buses. As the trip concluded we congratulated each other on making a wise decision. Nicolas is a very talented individual and you must insist that as part of your tour he shows you his photographs of a Greece that you can’t possibly see in one tour. He has captured the seasons and the whole country of beautiful scenery. He also does some fine drawings and again we urge you to ask him to show you some of his artwork.
We found Nicolas to be completely reliable, considerate, well spoken and very wholesome. If we plan to return to Greece to see other parts of this wonderful country, as we may well do, we would have no reservation at all about reengaging him.”
Niko, the Morrison’s and the Ringel’s appreciate all the many ways in which you made our visit to Greece so special. As I promised I have just purchased a copy of Why People Believe Weird Things (remember the book that talked about religion and science and aliens visiting earth?) and I wish to send it to you as a gift. Please give me a good mailing address so that I can get the material to you. I am also including some photographs that I took of Greece and I want you to appreciate that you have real competition in the field of photography. Your work is great and my work is…(I’ll let you fill in the correct adjectives). If you would like to use some of these photographs on your website, you may do so. The only restriction is that if the photograph wins a national prize you will have to acknowledge my artistic mastery. Best regards to Jane. Robert L. Ringel, Professor of Audiology & Speech Sciences, Donald S. Powers Distinguished Professor, Purdue University, 500 Oval Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47907  Tel: (765) 494-7744 - Fax:  (765) 494-0771 -E-mail:  rringel@purdue.edu