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Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.
This month’s winner is PAUL ROTH of Elizabethtown, PA:
The difference between “travelers” and “tourists” is huge. As travelers, my wife and I found that special bistro in Paris; that pub in London that isn’t written about in any travel book; a 250-year-old farmhouse in a village near Pisa, Italy, where we stayed for weeks; a house in Thailand that was made completely from teak, and a quiet patio restaurant in Switzerland overlooking a valley right out of “The Sound of Music,” complete with a valley floor of yellow flowers and the sound of cow bells.
Since I first discovered it in March 1999, I have stayed seven times at the Balmoral House Hotel (156-157 Sussex Gardens, London, W20 1UD, U.K.; phone 020 7723 7445, fax 7402 0118), my most recent stay ending June 4, 2012. In all, I’ve stayed there over 50 nights.
In Budapest in May ’12, my wife, Sandy, wanted to avoid the overpriced hotel restaurants in the area of the Hilton hotel. (A typical hotel dinner cost $80-$100 for two.)
Here are some of the places my husband, Ed, and I enjoyed eating at during our April-May ’12 stay in Naarden, the Netherlands.
by Rita Bocher; Wynnewood, PA
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 seven in this ongoing series, are about events attended in Australia.
ITN printed the following queries from Susan Jerrick of Portland, Oregon: “I spent 2½ useless hours on the phone with one of the best known of the Web search sites (e.g., Kayak, Travelocity, Expedia, etc.). This made me stop and think, ‘What search sites do NOT favor American airlines but give foreign carriers equal billing with domestic airlines for flights anywhere in the world?
by Lynn Remly; Hudson, OH
They were “only” Stone Age ancestors, yet they produced the most refined art the world has seen within the far depths of winding caves, lighted only by torch and oil. How? Why? When?
With approximately 2,500 members in 90-plus countries, Women Welcome Women World Wide, or 5W (88 Easton St., High Wycombe, Bucks, England, HP11 1LT, UK; phone/fax+44 [0] 1494 465441), is an international womens’ travel and friendship organization that has been around since 1984.
I have been a member since 1993 and have enjoyed meeting and staying with members in other countries as well as hosting several members in the US. We say that being a member of 5W is like having a friend in a place you’ve never been.