Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. There are no restrictions on length. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the U.S., Canada or Mexico.) The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is MARY KARYL THORNE of Honolulu, HI:
Turkish people have a great sense of humor.
A couple of readers who are going to the Summer Olympics asked for information on travel in Greece. I have been to Greece 20 times in the last 20 years, most recently in October ’03. I have traveled independently there and gotten to know many wonderful Greeks. In addition to discovering delightful places to stay, I have found the Greeks to be the most hospitable of people. Here are some of my suggestions on things to see and do there.
After checking into our group’s London hotel in March ’03, my roommate and I caught the underground (the ticket seller advised us to buy a day pass instead of a round-trip ticket) to go to the Imperial War Museum to see the many World War II tanks, planes, guns, V-1 and V-2 rockets, Enigma secret code machine, etc.
At El Alamein in Egypt and Normandy in France, I saw NO German tanks. This museum had a German tank buster on a Panzer chassis with an 88mm gun in the turret. A BIG BABY!
ITN asked readers to name the three cities they most enjoyed visiting outside of North America. Responses were printed in the July ’ 03 issue, inspiring more letters, which are presented below. You can send in your Top 3 list to Favorite Cities Overseas, c/o ITN, 2116 28th St., Sacramento, CA 95818, or e-mail editor@intltravel news.com (please include your surface-mail address). Mention when you last visited each city, and include pictures, if possible.
Favorite cities overseas? Only three? That’s tough, but here goes.
by Betty and Dick Wood, Seattle, WA
My wife and I took an extended business trip to Cairo in October ’03. During our stay at the historic, downtown Windsor Hotel (al-Alfy Street, Cairo, Egypt — $54 for a double), which was the British Officers’ Quarters prior to the ’52 revolution, we met Samir Fayek (cell phone 011-20-12-399-5147 or e-mail samirfayek@hotmail.com).
Samir is an experienced guide who runs tours for small groups of four to six people on a half-day or full-day basis. He is extremely knowledgeable, speaks fluent English and knows how to navigate Cairo traffic expertly.
by Ed Kinney
We had been alternating cheap and luxurious hotels, $60 one night and $6 the next, during our September ’02 trip to Morocco, and now we were looking for a cheap place to stay between the Moroccan desert and the city of Fez. We had been told that Midelt was a nice town, and our guidebook reported that there was a family-run hotel in the middle of it, Hotel Atlas. As two women traveling alone, we were drawn to the idea of a family-run place. Also, the price was right: $6.
We learned about the archaeology of the Trypillian Bronze Age during our 11-day trip to Ukraine, June 27-July 7, ’02, but we also saw many interesting medieval and later sites and met many interesting people in this newly independent state.
Our tour with Kolos Corporation (5841 Colfax Ave., Alexandria, VA 22311-1013; phone 703/593-8522, e-mal kolos@kolos.com or visit www.kolos.com) cost $1,100, land. (The 2004 “Tryptillian Tour,” taking place June 28-July 8, will cost $1,650 land only.) A few non-included meals and extras added up to less than $100.
