Informing the international traveler since 1976.
Archive for May, 2006
Focus on Archaeology » Rebirth of a palace in Vilnius, Lithuania
I travel to Lithuania often, most recently in June 2005. Every time I visit Vilnius, its capital, the first place I head for is the square next to the Cathedral just at the edge of the Old Town. It’s here that I watch an archaeological miracle taking place: the rebirth of a palace destroyed over [...]The Discerning Traveler » Turkish delight
(Second of three parts, jump to part 1, part 2, part 3) In this issue, I am continuing last month’s travelogue of the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. From Mardin, my wife, Flory, and I drove via Midyat, with its fabulously carved rock mansions, to spectacular Hasankeyf. For centuries, during successive civilizations, Hasankeyf was the capital of the [...]Better Travel Photography » Your point of interest
Your point of interest Back in college I had a photography teacher who harped on one facet of our work: the point of interest. He had a background in photojournalism and felt that a picture taken just for its color or artistic merit was boring and unworthy. I disagreed and continued on my own way with [...]Tips for the Solo Traveler » Safety on cruises, large vs. small ship cruising
QUESTION: A friend and I were going to take a cruise together, but she recently became concerned about the safety of it after hearing news of the death of the newlywed man and with the young girl coming forward to say she was raped by a crew member several years ago. I disagree with her [...]Ask Steve » Storing passports at hotels, travel safety in Egypt
Dear reader, I am happy to say that people are reading my column. I’m getting nearly 20 questions a month, but, as mentioned before, I can only answer a few because of limitations on space and time. Predictably, no two questions are alike. Some are about a minute detail of travel; others may just ask an [...]The Cruising World » Cruising up the Shannon through the 40 shades o’green
(Second of two parts, jump to part 1, part 2) Last month I described part of our September ’05 week-long, self-drive, Emerald Star/Crown Blue Line Shannon River cruise, taking us from the start at Portumna to Lough Derg and then north to Meelick. This month I describe the portion of the trip north along the Shannon [...]All Aboard! » By train to Russia
Kicking off your Eastern adventure by train to Mother Russia, you can climb the steps to a through carriage from Berlin or Prague or a direct train from Helsinki. Choose the train from Helsinki for convenience and comfort. From Prague your carriage travels through Slovakia and Ukraine before reaching Moscow, and the Ukraine authorities require a [...]Oompah-pah in Munich
My wife, Judy, and I traveled to Europe with our friends Carol and Jack McClure in September ’04, renting a car. Heading into Munich, we had great directions and drove right to the Marienplatz area. We got there in time for the noon show at the Radhaus. Life-sized figures on the clock perform at noon [...]Know when and where with a Geochron
The Geochron is a global time indicator with a moving map driven by a clockwork mechanism and backlit with internal shutters. There are scales on the bottom to show the day of the week anywhere in the world and scales across the top to indicate the time of day anywhere. A separate scale gives the [...]Welsh Heritage Center
To the uninitiated, the Welsh language presents a pronunciation nightmare. Simply asking for directions to Aberystwyth or Llwyndafydd can turn into a daunting if not hilarious experience. Enter Nant Gwrtheyrn, a language and heritage center on Wales’ spectacular and remote Llyn Peninsula. It specializes in inexpensive, intensive courses that can be as short as “Welsh in [...]
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