I am one of four 60-somethings who meet every few years to vacation together. Our goal has been to find destinations that are off the beaten path, before they are “discovered” and, hence, spoiled. A 12-day visit to Bulgaria certainly satisfied our criteria.
by Cecilia Morrissey, Port Townsend, Wa.
In southeastern Hungary, I took a one-day tour of Szeged and the Ópusztaszer National Historical Memorial Park and open-air museum on Sunday, April 22, 2012, led by Peter Antal (phone +36 70 56 888 76, e-mail peti@tourguideing.hu or visit www.tourguideing.hu).
Peter is local to Hódmezövásárhely and leads tours in the area. He has a very good command of English, and I found his price to be reasonable.
The cost of HUF5,000 (about $21) covered the van for 10 and the guide. Entry to sites cost extra ($6 to the historical park). Lunch was self-pay. I recommend Peter.
My husband, Gary, and I took a 16-day trip to Spain, Portugal and the Canary Islands, Feb. 6-21, 2012, which included three nights in Barcelona prior to a cruise and three nights afterward. On the first day of our visit, we learned that an employee at our hotel on Barcelona’s Plaza Espanya, the B-Hotel (Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes; phone 93 552 95 00), had been accosted on the bus on her way to work.
Dear Globetrotter:
At the new Museo Casa Enzo Ferrari (Via Paolo Ferreri 85, 41121 Modena, Italy; phone +39 059 4397979), visitors can tour the home in which Italian race car driver Enzo Ferrari was born, seeing mementos, biographical displays and rare film footage.
In the huge Exhibition Gallery, half a dozen vintage Ferraris are on display, and visitors can learn the history of Ferrari design and sport racing. There’s also a bookshop, cafeteria and store.
According to a report from the Bank for International Settlements, Sweden is using less cash and relying more on electronic payments (credit cards, debit cards and bank transfers). Only 3% of its economy is tied to cash transactions, compared to 9% in the Eurozone and 7% in the United States.
Travelers to Sweden should be aware that more and more businesses are no longer accepting cash, and public buses require prepaid tickets.
As a final project in the unification of Berlin, the city’s new Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) will open June 3, 2012. Tegel airport will be shut down, as will the main facilities of the other remaining airport, Schönefeld. The new airport, which was built using the former Schönefeld site and about 2,500 acres of additional land, will have two independent runways plus trains running every 15 minutes to the city center.
CORRECTION: (August 2012) Because German authorities are concerned about fire-safety systems, the opening has been delayed until March 2013.
by Randy Keck (Third of three parts)