Informing the international traveler since 1976.
Archive for October, 2006
Recommended in Brittany
Following a wonderful Norway coastal cruise in May ’06, my wife, Dorothy, and I flew to Brittany, France, to visit our daughter. While there, we had an opportunity to visit Port-Aven, an artists’ colony, one especially popular in the early 1900s. Paul Gauguin worked there before moving to Arles. Today there are seemingly hundreds of art [...]Ronciglione, Italy
Ronciglione, about an hour’s drive north from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, is near Lake Vico, a summer playground for Italians from Rome. It was early November when we visited, and the town was bustling during the day and quiet at night. Some of the restaurants were closed for the season. We rented an apartment and based our [...]On pins and needles
In traveling, I have found it useful to use a string of safety pins and diaper pins in my travel purse to keep track of small items like keys and nail clippers and for many emergency uses. On a March ’06 flight leaving Flores, Guatemala, where all hand luggage was hand inspected (no x-ray), the young [...]Using credit cards in France
Just prior to our leaving for a trip in France in late June ’06, ITN carried two items about the difficulty Americans were encountering in France and the U.K. when using credit cards (May ’06, pg. 20 & July ’06, pg. 15). The problem was attributed to new cards in use there that require entering [...]South Island speed traps
I wish to echo the concern expressed by Fred Kerr about speed traps in the South Island of New Zealand (July ’06, pg. 18). In March ’06 I was caught by a secreted speed camera in Dunedin, New Zealand, going no more than 6.2 miles per hour (10 kph) over the 62-mph (100-kph) speed limit on [...]Sights in Quito
My wife, Barbara, and I traveled from Sacramento, California, to Quito for two weeks in January ’06. Our trip in the Ecuadorean highlands started with a 4-hour flight to Houston followed by a 5-hour flight to Quito, landing at midnight. Flights in and out of Quito are scheduled early and late because of its elevation [...]Dining out in Buenos Aires
My husband, Joe, and I visited Buenos Aires (B.A.), Argentina, in March-April ’06 (Sept. ’06, pg. 84). The restaurants were plentiful and excellent and our dollar went far in ensuring that we could eat well without spending a lot of money, so let’s talk food! We’re sticklers for going to local places, and we did try [...]Germany’s Christmas markets
No other place in the world celebrates the Christmas holiday season quite like Germany. In a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, Germany’s colorful Christmas markets turn its towns and cities into festive centers of holiday tradition. During the annual 4-week Advent season leading up to Christmas, numerous towns and cities throughout Germany hold festive [...]Getting a global education on a learning vacation to China
by Diana Hunt, Aiken, SC A search for “learning vacations” on Google produced 465,645 results. Obviously, many travelers are looking for more than zonk-out beach vacations and the whirlwind “If this is Tuesday, it must be Belgium” kind of forced march. Experienced travelers have become hungry for global education. Organized cultural vacations pre-sent opportunities to learn a [...]Mali, Senegal and Gambia with Travel Dynamics
I read with great interest the reader’s letter about Mali (July ’06, pg. 66). Our tour of Mali in February ’06 was considerably different, covering much the same venue but in a different fashion, with less driving and camping time. Our tour was with a group of 29 put together by Travel Dynamics (132 East [...]
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