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Archive for February, 2007
Far Horizons » Mendoza — wine and more
I had the opportunity to travel to Mendoza, the attractive city of 100,000-plus in the heart of northern Argentina’s booming viticulture region, in April ’06. While the city is a thriving regional commercial center, it is the huge wine industry — featuring literally scores of wineries (bodegas) in Mendoza and the surrounding districts — that [...]The Discerning Traveler » The stunning Faroe Islands
by Philip Wagenaar, M.D. It was Friday, August 25th, 2006. Our Holland America cruise ship, the MS Amsterdam, had docked an hour before in Tórshavn, the capital of the 18-island Faroe archipelago, under a deep fog cover. Our tour Dressed warmly against the cold, my wife, Flory, and I snuggled down in our toasty tour bus as we [...]Travel & Health » Malaria update
Malaria just doesn’t get respect. Until, that is, someone catches it. It is a wicked disease which infects between 300- and 550-million people (yes, that is one-third to one-half billion people — about 10 times the number of those suffering from AIDS) and kills between one to three million annually. It is spread by mosquitoes and [...]Ask Steve » Passports, 3-1-1 rules, Norway small-ship cruising
Dear reader, the most common question I’m receiving these days is “Will I need a passport?” The government policy on this varies depending upon the destination and has changed several times within the last year, but the simple answer is this: if you are interested in traveling to any of the places mentioned in ITN, you [...]Reviewers’ Corner
Here are a few of the latest travel-book reviews written by ITN readers. “Fodor’s Paris 2006,” edited by Andrew Collins and Jennifer Paul (2005, Fodor’s, LLC. ISBN 140015480 — 372 pp., $17.95 paperback). This guidebook has a layout similar to that of most, with chapters on essentials, eating, hotels and what to see and do. One of the [...]Cruising World » Star Princess rises like a phoenix
by Lew Toulmin After suffering a fire in the Bahamas in March 2006, Star Princess recovered in amazing time and is now “the safest ship afloat.” I was on board Star Princess for her first voyage after the repair, and I can report that there is no evidence of fire damage, service is excellent, and safety [...]All Aboard » Visit Malaysia Year 2007
by Jay Brunhouse When I arrived in Kuala Lumpur for 2006’s Citrawarna Malaysia (Colors of Malaysia) bash, I was happy to see that the grand old “Arabian Nights” train station was still standing. Moreover, it had a recent coat of white paint. It was undeniably dusty but glistening with architectural charm. Everyone, except for the tourist [...]Drying clothes in hotel room
I thoroughly enjoyed Bill Kizorek’s article, “One Shirt, 40,000 Miles. . .” (Dec. ’06, pg. 6). I have the solution to his wet socks problem. If he is staying in a room that has an overhead fan, he can just clothespin the socks to the fan and run the fan. It works just like a dryer. [...]Leave only footprints
On a mountain in Austria several years ago, my wife, Flory, and I became tired from walking and stopped at the top at a café. We draped our sweaters over the backs of the chairs and ordered two espressos. After paying, we continued our walk. Five minutes later we realized we had forgotten the sweaters. Since [...]Termite pointers
As a minor amplification to the picture on page 74 in the December ’06 edition of ITN, on a 1998 trip to Australia we found lots of termite mounds all over the central area, especially around Alice. Of interest is that the mounds are known in many parts as “magnetic mounds.” The reference is not [...]
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