Travelers' Intercom
Minimizing transaction fees
Julee Roth raises an important issue about the recent changes in banks, credit cards, ATMs and foreign currency transactions and the new fees (Dec. ’06, pg. 12).
Museums in Amsterdam
On a trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands, in July ’05, we took canal boats to some of the city’s many famous museums. Some of these watercraft, in fact, are dubbed “museum boats,” linking the city’s cultural centers.
Guides in Russia
In planning our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in July ’06, I noted three private guides recommended by ITN readers and, after a series of e-mails, selected Alexei Fetisov (Oct. ’05, pg. 122) from Palladium Travel Agency (Artilleriyskaya St. #1, Office 160, St.
Facets of tour not as expected
Following is a letter sent by a reader to Pacific Delight Tours (formerly Pacific Delight World Tours), a copy of which was mailed to ITN. It concerns a 15-day tour of Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Laos, April 4-19, 2006. The cost without airfare was $1,843 per person.
Doctor visit in London
While staying with friends just outside London in May ’06, I woke up one morning with a sore throat and a husky voice. I told my friends I had better catch the next flight back to California in case I was coming down with something.
Leave only footprints
On a mountain in Austria several years ago, my wife, Flory, and I became tired from walking and stopped at the top at a café. We draped our sweaters over the backs of the chairs and ordered two espressos. After paying, we continued our walk. Five minutes later we realized we had forgotten the sweaters.
Menu translators
For some years I have watched travelers in restaurants in central and southern France, northern Italy and the islands of Corsica, Sicily and Sardinia both struggling with menus in a mysterious foreign language and failing to use any of a series of little paperbacks on eating and drinking in the country they are visitin
Barging in France
My traveling companion, Pat, and I spent 12 days on a barging trip on the Burgundy Canal in France, June 23-July 6, 2006.
For first-time travelers to Slovenia
At the conclusion of our October ’05 trip to Slovenia, my wife, Paula, and I felt that it was the most beautiful and photogenic of the 18 countries we had visited. Here are some resources and tips we would like to share from that trip.
For the most euros per dollar
I think I have found the best way to get the most for our dollar as it continually declines against the euro.
Two Quito museums of special mention
There are several museums in Quito, Ecuador, but two that my wife, Barbara, and I visited in January ’06 deserve special mention.
Literary London
We often stay in the Bloomsbury section of London (the last time in November ’05) and enjoy visiting the sights of “literary London.”
Disappointed on QM2
This letter deals with a cruise to Mexico and Hawaii, areas that ITN does not cover, however the ports are not at matter but the ship itself, which makes voyages around the world. — Editor
Sculpture park, Lithuania
Close by the spa town of Druskininkai, Lithuania, is the strange but compelling museum Gruto Parkas Grutas (www.grutoparkas.lt).
Drying clothes in hotel room
I thoroughly enjoyed Bill Kizorek’s article, “One Shirt, 40,000 Miles. . .” (Dec. ’06, pg. 6). I have the solution to his wet socks problem.
Telestial cell phone
I am sharing with ITN readers my satisfaction with Telestial, Inc. (1804 Garnet Ave., Ste. 385, San Diego, CA 92109; phone 858/274-2686, fax 2757 or visit www.telestial.com), the international cell phone and prepaid phone card company.
Santiago de Compostela
My husband, Karl, and I took a long weekend trip to Santiago de Compostela in the far northwest corner of Spain, April 29-May 2, ’06.
Hotel + guides in Russia
With a Viking River Cruises trip in Russia planned to start on Oct. 1, 2006, my husband and I decided to arrive a day early in St. Petersburg and also stay an extra night in Moscow after the cruise.
Shipping wine in checked baggage
The recently created prohibitions for carrying liquid substances in carry-ons aboard airplanes makes shipping wine in hold baggage an exercise in creativity to prevent breakage, leakage or other calamities.