There was a request for alternative affordable places to stay (July ’12, pg. 67), so here are several that I’ve used in Europe in recent years.
FRANCE — Hôtel Reine Mathilde à Bayeux (23 rue Larcher, 14400 Bayeux, France; phone [33] 02 31 92 08 13, fax 92 09 93), in the Normandy region. €58 (near $72) for a double room in May ’11.
In his August 2012 column, Philip Wagenaar stated that El Ghriba Synagogue on Djerba Island in Tunisia was destroyed by a bomb attack in 2002. This is inaccurate.
We asked you to write about a restaurant, shop or other business housed in a historic, unique, spectacular or interesting building (outside of the US) that can be entered without paying an admission fee. We weren’t looking for a place like the Hard Rock Café that just has pictures and antiques everywhere; if it is a café, however, the architecture should be as much the experience as the meal. Or it can be a working library in a castle. Or a butcher shop in a cathedral.
For first-time visitors to Jerusalem, the Old City is unexpectedly chaotic and crowded. Welcome refuge can be found in the 154-year-old Austrian Hospice of the Holy Family (Via Dolorosa 37 91194 Jerusalem, Israel +972 2 626 58 00).
My wife and I stayed at the hospice April 17-21, 2012. From its hillside location a short walk from the Damascus Gate in the Muslim Quarter, it overlooks a corner of the Via Dolorosa.
11-day / 10-night tour of TURKEY, May 3-13, 2013. Highlights: Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul / Ankara’s Anatolian History Museum / underground cities in Cappadocia / Roman ruins in Aphrodisias / Ephesus / Hellenistic Pergamon / Troy / Gallipoli. Land, $1,925. Single supp., $595. TunisUSA (Wayne, PA; 888/474-5502).
That the 16-day “Treasures of Turkey” tour of Insight (Rye, NY; 888/680-1241) was sold out and there would be 40 travelers plus a tour director and driver on the motorbus was daunting news.
Not to worry! The tour members turned out to be a very interesting and diverse group of travelers, with nary a complainer among them. The other English-speaking tour members came from eight countries.
Of the three border crossings between Israel and Jordan, the southern crossing, located in the desert between Eilat, Israel, and Aqaba, Jordan, is generally regarded as the quickest and easiest. It’s known in Israel as the Yitzhak Rabin Terminal and in Jordan as the Wadi Araba (previously Arava) crossing.
If you are visiting both Israel and southern Jordan (e.g., Petra), it is highly recommended that you cross the border there instead of at the far busier and more daunting Allenby (Israeli name)/King Hussein Bridge (Jordanian name) crossing located between Jerusalem and Amman.
Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. 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 of Honolulu, HI:
I found the Turkish people to have a wonderful sense of humor as well as to show creative salesmanship.
When traveling on your own within Israel, don’t overlook the option of flying. Admittedly, Israel is a small country, but domestic air travel is reasonably priced and quick. Flying also offers unexpectedly good views of the landscape, since most flights operate at lower altitudes than long-haul flights. Most flights are on twin-turboprop aircraft seating between 40 and 75 passengers.
