Travelers' Intercom
Hutong tour in Beijing
While my husband and I were in Beijing for three days during a 2-week trip to China, April 15-29, 2007, I wanted to take a tour of the hutongs.
Bulgaria tours
A friend and I spent two weeks in Romania and Bulgaria, May 25-June 7, 2007, with Adventures Abroad Worldwide Travel (800/665-3998). The land-only cost was $3,720.
Accessible Israel
My husband, Leon, uses a wheelchair, and on our 3-week visit to Israel we found that most places tried to accommodate people with disabilities.
‘Quintessential’ travel vest
The reader’s letter titled “Safeguard Your Wallet” (Sept. ’07, pg. 89) prompts me to write a note I have put off for many years.
Needed to change a connection
For our 50th anniversary, in August ’06 my wife and I left for Europe on a 2-month trip. We utilized a travel agency in Colorado for airline, train and hotel bookings. Our drive in a rental car through France would end at Strasbourg, after which we would take an Adriatic cruise.
Caduceus on a plane
An offputting and potentially dangerous event happened during a red-eye flight from Anchorage to San Francisco on Alaska Airlines, Sept. 12-13, 2006.
CDG musical chairs
We have never been enthusiastic fans of Charles de Gaulle International Airport (Roissy CDG) in Paris.
Rental cars and CDW
I read with interest the reader’s letter “Rented Car Online for Heathrow” (Aug. ’07, pg. 28), specifically the part regarding the auto rental company’s requirement that he show proof, from his credit card company, of CDW (Collision Damage Waiver) coverage.
Galápagos cruise on the Mary Anne
Following a visit to Peru in January-February ’07 (Nov. ’07, pg. 41), my husband, Joe, and I continued on to Quito, Ecuador, then flew TAME airlines to the Galápagos Islands. We boarded the S/S Mary Anne, a cruise ship run by Angermeyer Cruises.
Tour Director U
I read Randy Keck’s article “Tour Director Training and Employment — 2007 Update” (April ’07, pg. 105). I am a tour director. I love traveling on my own and love traveling leading tours.
Enjoyed meals on Continental
My husband and I flew on Continental Airlines July 15, 2007, from San Francisco to Newark to Copenhagen to board the Crystal Symphony for a cruise around the Baltic Sea.
Europe train tour + UK
We can highly recommend the tour “Great Trains of Europe,” which we took July 8-20, 2007. This was our fourth trip with Grand European Tours, or GET (6000 Meadows Rd., Ste. 520, Lake Oswego, OR 97035; 800/552-5545, www.getours.com), and we were more than satisfied.
Affordable Swiss eatery
Vegetables, salads and wholesome food in an almost fast-food environment? During our September ’07 visit to Switzerland, that’s what we found in Lausanne at a Manora Restaurant (Rue Saint-Laurent 7,1002 Lausanne, Switzerland; phone +41 [0] 21 321 36 99).
Reviewers' Corner
Here are a couple of the latest travel-book reviews written by ITN readers.
Buenos Aires bargain
I thought the Four Seasons Hotel Buenos Aires was way beyond my budget, but, thanks to an incredible package from WOW! Argentina (Santa Fe 882 12th floor, C1059ABP, Buenos Aires, Argentina; www.wow argentina.com), we stayed there July 18-20, 2007.
No vacation refund after missing flight
I purchased a 2-week extended holiday to Costa del Sol, Spain, with Sun Holidays for March ’07. The total price was $1,847, which included airfare from New York’s JFK to Málaga, Spain, with Iberia Air; hotel for 13 nights; transfers; meals; three local tours, and taxes.
Keeping in touch with the folks back home
Bill Steltzer of West Grove, Pennsylvania, lamented that on a May ’07 trip to France he had trouble finding public Web-access points.
Chip and pin in UK
We had no problems using American credit cards in Edinburgh, Scotland, at any establishments or businesses in August ’07. These included restaurants, museums, theater box offices, retail establishments and grocery stores.
Good, bad and ugly in Rome
Bella Roma! I am a college professor, and together with a colleague we escorted 21 students through Rome’s classical treasures in May ’07. On my final night, as I packed, I watched a spaghetti Western on the hotel TV. It got me thinking about “the good, the bad and the ugly” of our trip.