07
South Korea, the Land of the Morning Calm, is anything but calm. It’s a totally dynamic, 24/7 country. Alone on a week-long business trip to Daegu in June ’06, I extended my stay, adding a week in Seoul to experience South Korea. I avoided the common tourist spots.
by Emilee Hines, Hendersonville, NC
I fell in love with Brazil before we left the airport at Rio de Janeiro. It was mid-January, a bleak time in most of America, but in Rio fields were lush and green and trees were blooming along the streets.
We stayed in Amritsar, INDIA, at Hotel CJ International (Opp. Langar Hall Building, Inside Golden Temple Car Parking, Amritsar-143001, India; phone 0091 183-2543478, 2535677 or 2535678, fax 2535677 or visit www.cjhotel.net), directly across from the glorious Golden Temple, Feb. 26-28, 2007.
Near the Black Sea, the Sadko Hotel (Astrakhan, 9, Anapa, RUSSIA; phone 86133 3-27-44 , fax 27-43, mobile phone 8-918-137 0004 or 8-918-410 00 09 or visit www.anapa-sadko.narod.ru [in Russian]) is well located in downtown Anapa two blocks from the beach. My stay was in December ’06-January ’07.
Very clean. And great value! 520 rubles ($20) a night for a room with two single beds and a shower and toilet en suite. New Year’s night for the same room, $35. A room with a single bed was 400 rubles ($16) per night. During the summer season, rooms run $60-$100 per night.
Hotel Italia (Via Venezia 18-00184, Rome, ITALY; phone 06-4828355, fax 4745550 or visit www.hotelitaliaroma.com) is in a safe location in Rome where one can return alone at night from the bus or subway easily. It’s 10 minutes from the train station (Stazione Termini) and a few steps off Via Nazionale, which has bus routes to the Vatican and all stops between. Across Via Nazionale is a grocery for lunch supplies.
During our 3-week stay in Italy in October ’06, the most unusual hotel we stayed in was Country House Montali (Via Montali 23, 06068 Tavernelle di Panicale, ITALY; phone +39 075 8350 680, fax 144 or visit www.montalionline.com). I think it might appeal to many ITN readers.
Its exquisite and varied cuisine is vegetarian. The Umbria region of Italy may be a meat eater’s paradise, but even meat eaters like me relish a change. For €80 ($106) per person per day, our half-board included breakfast and dinner — superb cuisine, lovingly served.
The Best Western Hotel Carlos V (Maestro Victoria 5, 28013 Madrid, SPAIN; phone [34] 91 531 4100 or visit www.hotelcarlosv.com) is located on a pedestrian street just a minute or two on foot from Puerta del Sol. It is convenient to popular tourist sites, restaurants, shopping and two metro stations.
There’s lots to see and do in Berlin. If you want to save money on your accommodations, rent the apartment of Dr. L. Schnitzer (Belziger Str. 21, 10823, Berlin, GERMANY; phone/fax +49/30 44 355 940) as we did Sept. 12-21, 2006. Dr. Schnitzer has been advertising in the Mart pages of ITN for years, and her apartment’s price is still just $490 per week.
In Paris, FRANCE, we have stayed three times at Hôtel du Nord et de l’Est (49 rue Malte [11e] — Métro Oberkampf; phone 01 47 00 71 70 or e-mail info@hotel-nord-est.com), most recently in February ’07. Located on a quiet street near the Place de la République, it’s just about halfway between the gares Nord and Lyon and also not far from the Right Bank tourist attractions.
The couple who runs the place caters to business travelers and tourists from elsewhere in Europe. The desk staff speaks English.
Hotel Bonaparte (61 rue Bonaparte, 75006, Paris, FRANCE; phone +33 01 43 26 97 37, fax +33 01 46 33 57 67 or visit www.hotelbonaparte.fr) is in an excellent location, but I didn’t like the hotel and would not stay there again. My stay was in October ’06.
This 2-star hotel is two blocks from Place St. Germain heading north (toward the Seine) and one block from Place St. Sulpice heading south. There are Métro stops at both places.