July 2012

I took a Rhine River cruise aboard Uniworld’s River Empress, April 3-10, 2011. Before the cruise, I stayed at the Golden Leaf Hotel (Launhardtstrasse 2-4, D-60314, Frankfurt am Main, GERMANY; phone +49 69 94 99 00).

Booked through Hotels.com, the three nights at this excellent hotel cost $154, total, without breakfast.

Perks included a kitchenette with a four-burner stove, microwave, coffeepot, cooking utensils, dinnerware and glassware; CNN on TV, and Internet in the lobby along with complimentary coffee, tea and apples.

A friend and I took a dive trip to the Philippines, July 7-22, 2011, organized by A-1 Scuba & Travel Center (Englewood, CO; 800/783-7282 or 303/789-2450).

by Jonathan Hayes; Corvallis, OR

My wife, Susan, had signed up for a month-long German-language immersion course in Kassel, Germany, so I decided to join her after the course was over. Instead of flying directly to Germany, however, I planned to fly to Vladivostok, on the Pacific coast of Russia, and catch a train from there.

We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last couple of years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part six in this ongoing series, are mostly about events in Croatia and Hungary.

Well before you travel somewhere, browse the Internet to learn what you can about upcoming events.

ITN had subscribers write in on the following issue, one raised by Donna McDonell of Spokane, Washington, who wrote, “With some tour companies, you pay extra for single accommodations on the tour unless they find a roommate for you. But what happens if the roommate they find has issues that are not satisfactory to you? Loud snoring, for example. What if it’s someone who talks too much when you want to relax or sleep or someone who goes on about politics or religion or who you just find irritating? How can you find out these things beforehand… or can you?

by Jacques & Jeanine Prosper; Ballston Lake, NY

In the fall of 2002, we toured Myanmar, visiting Myitkyina, Yangon, Mandalay, Bagan, Kalaw, the Pindaya Caves and Inle Lake. We had a wonderful time.

Is there anyone else out there who cannot brag about going around the world for years taking only a day pack?

I had traveled in Romania with the choreographer Theodor Vasilescu on his annual folk-dance tour in 2009. A group of us were eager to dance in Romania again in summer 2011, but Theodor was not available.

I recalled seeing (while researching a trip to Bulgaria) trips to Romania listed on the website of Penguin Travel (St. Orpheus 9, 1421 Sofia, Bulgaria; e-mail info@penguin.bg).

To top off a tour of Russia and the Baltic States in September ’11, I decided to tour Bulgaria as an independent traveler. My local travel agent arranged air transportation from Warsaw, the end point of my escorted tour, to Sofia, Bulgaria. She also arranged a reservation at the Best Western Plus City Hotel (6 Stara Planina Str., Sofia 100, Bulgaria; phone +359 2 915 15 00), in the heart of downtown Sofia. From there, I was on my own.

I am one of four 60-somethings who meet every few years to vacation together. Our goal has been to find destinations that are off the beaten path, before they are “discovered” and, hence, spoiled. A 12-day visit to Bulgaria certainly satisfied our criteria.