November 2009

The following lists a series of events that occurred when my two friends and I were scheduled to leave Sacramento, California, on Jan. 15, 2009, and go to Buenos Aires one day prior to boarding the Star Princess for a cruise to Antarctica.

The 16-day cruise “Antarctica and South America,” Jan. 17-Feb. 2, left from Argentina and included stops at Montevideo, Uruguay; the Falkland Islands; Ushuaia, Argentina, and Punta Arenas, Chile. We were to cruise the Antarctic Peninsula for several days as well as Cape Horn, the Beagle Channel and the Strait of Magellan.

by Donna Judd, Fullerton, CA

After staying with friends in a villa in Spain (Oct. ’09, pg. 12), my wife, Betty, and I flew on April 10, 2008, from Valencia to Athens via Rome on Alitalia, with our scheduled arrival in Athens quite late. Our friend Jan, a retired airline executive living in Kansas, flew from Valencia on another carrier.

A word about low-cost airlines — portions of our itinerary involved flying within Europe, and we found a site online, www.whichbudget.com, which shows, worldwide, who flies where and when. It lists low-cost carriers and their schedules, sites and fares.

I’m writing in response to the news item “Passengers of Size Pay Double” (July ’09, pg. 23), on United Airlines.

I have had an apartment in Paris for more than 25 years and spend about 20 weeks a year there, making several visits each year, most recently in September ’09. Lately, as I reported (June ’09, pg. 14 & Aug. ’09, pg. 57), the manned ticket counters for the Métro are being replaced by ticket-dispensing machines which, even for the locals, are difficult to understand.

by Bill & Betty Reed, Denton, Texas

My wife, Betty, enjoys reading travel books and is the brains behind our adventures. So far, she has done very well.

From ST. ANDREWS, Scotland, Sept. 6, 2009…

Dear Globetrotter:

Welcome to the 405th issue of your monthly overseas travel magazine.