May 2012

by Karl & Ann Springer; San Antonio, TX

My wife, Ann, and I spent 25 days in the south of France — including two weeks in Provence and four days in Nice and ending with a 7-day riverboat cruise on the Rhône and Saône rivers — in June-July 2011.

We asked for your recommendation of a good, pocket-sized, point-and-shoot digital camera that has a viewfinder. But we also asked you to name the digital camera — of any type — that you prefer to use while on a trip. In the March and April issues we printed subscribers’ comments on “ultracompact” and “compact” cameras. This month, the reviews are about cameras that most likely will not fit into a pants pocket and which weigh more than 10 ounces.

Frederick II (1712-1786) was a musician, architect, philosopher, commander-in-chief and statesman. Prussia’s most famous king is the focus of “Friederisiko” (“Frederick’s Risk”), an exhibition at the Neus Palais and Sanssouci Park in Potsdam, Germany, April 28-Oct. 28, 2012.

€17.40 (about $23) adult, €13 senior or €2.50 child under seven. Contact Stiftung Preußische Schlösser und Gärten Berlin-Brandenburg (Postfach 60 14 62, 14414 Potsdam, Germany; www.spsg.de).

Editor’s note: In my “Boarding Pass” column in the September and October 2011 issues, I talked about the impact of having several cruise ships, some with thousands of passengers each, visiting the same port at the same time.

by Yvonne Horn, Contributing Editor

My wife, Mary, and I started to travel in Europe in 1985. We would rent a car and drive around for three weeks with no reservations. We soon found out that one of the best parts of traveling was interacting with people.

In 1994 we started doing house trades and became involved with people even more. As time went by, we developed a love for southern Germany and Austria and decided to try to learn to speak German.

My wife, Rosalie, and I were in Italy in June ’11 and visited the hilltop town of Pitigliano in southern Tuscany.

For a trip to India, my partner, Peter, and I wanted more freedom and time in places that intrigued us than a tour would offer, but, although we were healthy 75-year-olds, we also wanted a support system. We found it with Mrs. Hemlata at IATA-accredited Govan Travels (New Delhi, India; phone 011 91 11 23312674 or 23312627). Mrs. Hemlata and I e-mailed for a few months.

I went with a surgical team to a hospital outside of Bangalore, India, in August ’11. Beforehand, two of us decided we also wanted to see Jaipur and Agra and then fly from Delhi back to the US, so I went on the Internet and ended up contacting Prudent Holidays (Suite 115, Ansals Majestic Tower, G-Block, Vikaspuri, New Delhi, 110018, India; phone +91 011 41586840, fax +91 11 41586740) to work out a plan.