April 2010

In the first of the letters compiled for “What to Eat Where” (Jan. ’10, pg. 42), there was an error in the conversion of the price of a thali; 150 to 250 rupees does not equal $1 but is more like $3.25-$5.50.

Returning to the US from Vietnam back in December ’08, I had a six-hour layover at the Seoul, South Korea, airport. Inside security, near the short-time hotel, I discovered an upstairs area with six very comfortable lounge chairs. I spent most of my layover time in one of them. Very quiet!

Nearby were several free computers with Internet access. Also nearby was a small children’s play area and a takeout counter with reasonably priced food.

VAUGHAN PARKER

Santa Barbara, CA

An unexpected find during the trip my husband, Charles, and I took to Jordan was the Jordan Archaeological Museum (phone +962 [0] 6 463 8795), on Citadel Hill in Amman, adjacent to the Umayyad Palace.

The museum presents the history of man in the Jordan Valley along with artifacts, from the days of the Neanderthals to the rise of Islam over the Crusaders. Included are Dead Sea Scrolls. What a find!

I read with great interest Lew Toulmin’s article “Cruising the Burgundy Canal” (January & February 2010 “The Cruising World” columns) because a friend and I cruised the Marne-Rhine Canal from Reims to Vitry-le-François, Sept. 12-17, 2009.

by Dee Poujade, Portland, OR

by Thomas Johanneck, McLean, VA

Although South Americans and Europeans of Latin origin have known and traveled Uruguay for quite some time, in planning my trip I found useful Internet information in English to be elusive, and finding a US-based company with Uruguay-only offerings proved impossible.

In a writing “contest,” ITN posed the question “What makes Madrid “Madrid”? The window for submissions is closed, and in last month’s issue we named prize winners and printed a few of the entries. Here are a few more. Other cities will be the subjects of future essay contests, with more prizes.

Pablo Picasso’s masterpiece “Guernica” brought me to Madrid, and if I’d seen nothing else during my two weeks in Spain in April ’09, it would have been enough.

We gave you this assignment: name a bridge (outside of the USA) that, for whatever reasons, is exciting to cross. Tell where it is (and, if necessary, how to find it) and approximately when you were there. Did you cross it on foot? By car? By train? Include your impressions. You may write about more than one bridge.

In a letter on a Spanish-language school I attended in Antigua, Guatemala, in July ’09, I wrote about meeting Juana, a 12-year-old girl with no hands. Taking an interest in her welfare, I did some Internet investigation and contacted an organization that agreed to help her obtain prostheses (Oct. ’09, pg. 34). Here’s an update.