11
My wife and I started planning in the summer of 2005 to take one of the Russian ships of Viking River Cruises (5700 Canoga Ave., Ste. 200, Woodland Hills, CA 91367; 877/668-4546). We were interested in specific dates in 2006, in order to celebrate one of our birthdays and our anniversary. Our time slot fit the schedule of the Viking Surkov, with a departure from St. Petersburg on June 25 and arrival in Moscow on July 5.
Besides walking a great deal on our own, on a June visit to London we took two guided walks with The Original London Walks (P.O. Box 1708, London, NW6 4LW, U.K.; phone 020 7624 3978 or 020 7794 1764 or visit www.walks.com. Recorded info at 020 7624 9255). They have an extensive list of all types of walks plus a list of the guides and descriptions of their backgrounds.
Hotelink, Ltd. (Southways Park, Lowfield Heath, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 9TQ, U.K.; phone [01293] 552251, fax 531131, e-mail tmale@hotelink.co.uk or visit www.hotelink.co.uk), serves all London hotels. In May ’06 we paid £23 (about $45) per person for the transfer service, arranging it through our hotel. They told us to be ready at 10:30 a.m.
At 10:45 a 12-passenger Mercedes van pulled up to the hotel door. The driver took our bags and put them in the rear of the van. He then picked up passengers at two hotels nearby.
After reading glowing letters in ITN regarding London Shuttle (Sept. ’01, pg. 16), for a trip in July ’04 I tried unsuccessfully to contact them by phone. My husband finally reached them through their website, www.londonshuttle.com. Not counting the tip, they wanted £75 in cash to take the five of us from Heathrow Airport to our central London hotel.
The world’s first and only museum devoted entirely to harps opened in January ’06 in Piasco, Italy: Museo dell’Arpa Victor Salvi (Via Rossana 7, Piasco, Italy; www.museodellarpavictorsalvi.it).
The exhibition of 30 harps (from a collection of over 70) includes 13 from the 1700s, 11 from the 1800s and six from the 1900s. Sixteen were made in France, six in the United States, five in England and one each in Italy, Germany and Ireland. I do not play the harp, myself, but it was interesting.
On our 2-week visit to Quito, Ecuador, in January ’06, my wife, Barbara, and I found intercity buses to be easy to use and cheap.
—by Steve Emmett, Solano Beach, CA
A resort in southern Argentina, the town of Bariloche is a gem. During an August trip we took, it was winter (about 40˚F) and there was snow on the surrounding mountains. Lots of children from Buenos Aires were there for vacation, making it a very lively place. Bariloche has the best chocolate and ice cream I have ever tasted, even better than those in Europe. — KEVIN O’BRIEN, Tybee Island, GA
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 369th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.
“Chicken or fish? Menthol or regular?”