by Carl Chavez, Graeagle, CA
My wife, Margaret, and I have made many trips to Great Britain, often to visit her cousin near Oxford and our friends in Scotland. On our September ’10 visit, we were looking for a different experience.
We’ve all been in a new city and obtained a map showing locations of various sites. On a trip my wife, Anne, and I made to Seville, Spain, in April-May ’11, we made sure to get a map, then note that on its table of hotels, ours was number 61.
While many may not view Brussels in December as an ideal getaway, my husband and I have long loved visiting Europe close to the Christmas holidays. In 2010 we centered ourselves at the Floris Arlequin Grand Place Hotel (€146-€179) in the I’llôt Sacré, Dec. 8-14, and took advantage of the holiday schedule to spend a weekend day in Ghent (Gent).
During my 2011 trip to northern Italy, I stayed in Bologna the nights of May 6-7 at Nuovo Hotel del Porto (Via del Porto 6 [Piazza Maggiore], 40122 Bologna, Italy; phone +39 051 247926). I had to keep asking directions to find it, but it was within walking distance of both the train station and the Old Town.
José, the Spanish receptionist (who also spoke English and Italian), was kind enough to e-mail my husband for me to let him know I had arrived safely.
I was delighted to read Martha Wiley’s article “Spending the Day in Alicante” (Sept. ’11, pg. 18). Alicante is a lovely city. One of its attractions is its moderate climate — never too hot or too cold.
Ms. Wiley mentioned the very nice beach Playa del Postiguet, which is right in town just beyond the yacht harbor and the Meliá and Porta Maria hotels. Another nice beach, larger and less crowded, is Playa de San Juan, easily reached by the tram that runs from Playa de Postiguet.
A feature article in the May ’11 issue made mention of Kulusuk, Greenland. I spent nine days there in August ’09 as the village celebrated the 100th anniversary of its founding. I had visited the village first in September ’08, when I took the three-day extension that Vantage Deluxe World Travel offered in conjunction with a wonderful tour of Iceland.
I just read the readers’ letters in the article “How Much to Tip Airport Wheelchair Attendants” (Aug. ’11, pg. 40). During our travels, my wife does much the same as those travelers, though the amount she tips is about $5.
However, when we were in the Frankfurt airport about a year ago, the electric-cart driver told us that if he or his colleagues were to accept a tip, they would be fired.
JAMES C. WAMBOLD
State College, PA
by Lew Toulmin; Contributing Editor
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. To that end, we requested the following of you.
The winning entry to the essay contest announced in the June ’11 issue (page 46) is Jack Hutter of Knoxville, Tennessee. The topic was “My Way is Norway,” and his essay appears below. Jack will receive a 50-dollar gift certificate for Magellan’s Travel Supplies (800/962-4943).