Middle East

On Feb. 21, 2006, a companion and I flew on EgyptAir from New York (JFK) to Cairo, Egypt, with Grand Circle Travel. We were on GCT’s “Ancient Egypt and the Nile” tour with a 5-day pretrip extension to Jordan. We upgraded to business class (which we do on long flights).

Upon check-in at JFK we were sent to the Swiss International Air Lines business-class lounge, which was the finest lounge I had experienced. It had a full buffet dinner after 4 p.m. as well as free Internet service, excellent drinks and a beautiful sitting area.

I realized last year that I am becoming limited in what I can physically do, so I took a Mediterranean cruise primarily to places I had already been, just to see if cruising was easier. I carry a cane chair ($30-$34 from www.sportseat.com) and avoid all stairs and exertion. For any mobility-impaired travelers, I thought I would share what I learned.

Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 368th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.

Moreen and I love to browse in Mediterranean bazaars and Middle Eastern suqs for small, locally made items. In Tunisia, we especially enjoy looking at the multicolored ceramic jars, plates and tiles for tableware use and, yes, tourist souvenirs.

(Second of two parts, click here for part one)

In last month’s issue, I discussed two categories of subscriber telephone numbers (SN).

I would like to respond, if I may, to the letter from the reader who was told by a cruise line that Guayaquil was not the chosen port of entry in Ecuador because “Quito is a much safer city” (July ’06, pg. 38).

My husband grew up in Quito. It is the best-known Ecuadorian city and certainly is lovely, but, indeed, many people — including me — find the altitude difficult. So I take (most recently in April ’06) many of our charter groups to the Galápagos Islands via Guayaquil, for the following reasons.

(First of two parts, click here for part two.)

(Second of three parts on Australia, jump to part 1,

The search begins

The ad in ITN for FLO USA, Inc. (4044 W. Lake Mary Blvd., Unit 104-339, Lake Mary, FL 32746; 888/435-6872), caught our eye. My husband and I had been in Turkey in 1994 as part of an independent ’round-the-world trip and had often talked of returning. FLO USA’s 15-day tour that included the 2006 solar eclipse sounded almost too good to be true. When we checked their website and learned it also included several days in Cappadocia, we called and made our reservations for the March 19-April 2 trip.