Napa Valley Train to Lower the Price of Meals

The Napa Valley Wine Train will soon discount luncheons and dinners on its three-hour round-trip excursions from Napa to St. Helena through the wine country, and has arranged for reduced rates at Napa Valley lodgings.

The discount for seniors 62 and over will be increased from 10% to 20%, November through February. The regular 10% discount on items sold in the Wine Emporium and other shops in the Wine Train depot in Napa still applies.

Reduced senior rates are being offered in Napa Valley at the Clarion Hotel, Sterling Suites, John Muir Inn, Chateau Hotel, Vintage Inn, Napa Valley Lodge and St. Helena Hotel. Reservations should be made at least three weeks in advance.

The luncheon trains leave every day, with dinner trains Wednesday through Sunday aboard 1915 vintage Pullman coaches. Fare is $29 per person (half-price for two people or more). Dining is extra: $22 to $25 for lunch and $45 for dinner.

For more information, contact Napa Valley Wine Train, 1275 McKinstry St., Napa, Calif. 94558, (800) 427-4124 or (707) 253-2111.

Evelyn Zivetz, founder and director of Seniors Abroad, has introduced more than 2,000 mature travelers to international home-stay programs.

Next year will be the eighth in which she will take American seniors overseas--20 at a time--to be hosted by foreign families. She also arranges for foreign families to visit the United States for hosting by American seniors.

Upcoming are trips to Australia and New Zealand, where she is going for the fourth time. Tour costs include round-trip air fare from Los Angeles, all local travel, two or more days of group acculturation at foreign destinations, accommodations and breakfasts.

Once abroad, the group will split into singles and couples, each going for about five days to their assigned foreign hosts. Afterward, they’ll go to another host in a different section of the country--transportation included--for yet another home-stay. Before rejoining the original group for the trip back to Los Angeles, participants could continue to a third or even a fourth home.

Seniors Abroad trips for 1992:

--New Zealand/Australia, Jan. 17 to Feb. 13: Includes visits to Auckland, Christchurch and Queenstown on New Zealand’s North and South islands, plus Canberra, Australia. Also two home-stays each in New Zealand and Australia. Cost is about $2,700 per person.

--Scandinavia, Aug. 16 to Sept. 7: Orientation and two hotel nights each in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo, plus individual home-stays in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. About $2,475 per person.

--Japan, Oct. 3-25: Orientation and three hotel nights in Tokyo, followed by three home-stays in different parts of Japan. About $2,425 per person.

Final prices will depend on the cost of air travel next year, Zivetz says.

Mature travelers joining any of these home-stay trips will not have to pay their hosts. Instead, it is usual to offer to share the hosts’ expenses, particularly those of entertainment and sightseeing. A modest, non-monetary gift, usually sent from the United States after the trip, would also be appropriate.

Participants, at their own expense, can also extend their stay in each country at the end of their scheduled tour, and they can arrange for optional stopovers in other nations on the way back to Los Angeles.

Zivetz says that the Americans on her trips are retired, about 68 years old, fairly well-traveled and seek to meet and share experiences with people abroad, rather than merely sightsee.

Since Zivetz also finds American hosts for foreign visitors, she is seeking senior hosts in Southern California for next year. Visitors will come from Scandinavia, March 29 to April 4; Japan, May 10-16, and New Zealand or Australia, June 20-26.

For more information, contact Evelyn Zivetz, Seniors Abroad, 1233 Pacato Circle North, San Diego 92128, (619) 485-1696.