Travelers' Intercom
Rabbie’s in Scotland
Prior to taking a 6-day tour of the Outer Hebrides and the Isle of Skye in June 2016, I stayed at the Portree Independent Hostel (www.hostelskye.co.uk) in Portree, Scotland.
Denpō-in temple garden, Tokyo
The item “Horseback Archery, Tokyo” (Feb. ’17, pg. 4) mentioned the Yabusame festival in Asakusa, which is a district in Tokyo’s Taitō ward. During a visit to Japan, we visited Sensō-ji, an ancient Buddhist temple in Asakusa.
Costa Rica bird-watching
While visiting Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula on Jan. 3, 2017, we had a full-day private tour off of our cruise ship near the town of Puerto Jiménez.
RuMeID luggage tags
My wife, Patti, and I ordered two luggage tags from RuMeID (Centennial, CO; 303/799-4256, www.rumeid.com) on the TripAdvisor store, and they have a unique feature: each RuMeID tag comes with a QR code that helps you be reunited with your bag if it’s lost.
Hotels versus B&Bs
My, oh, my! After reading the readers’ letters about Airbnb (Nov. ’16, Dec. ’16 & Jan.
New Zealand hospitality
It was 1983 and our first trip to New Zealand. My wife, Carol, and I were wandering around the South Island in a motor home when we noticed a sign for strawberries. We pulled over, walked to a shed and asked about the strawberries.
Memorable Marrakech
In order to attend the wedding of my brother’s son, Andy, I traveled to Marrakech, Morocco, with my sister, Nancy (another ITN subscriber), and her husband, Bob Gatland, along with their son, Kevin, and his wife, Julie, during the last week of October 2016.
Liked pace of Dacey’s Cornish Tours
I took a one-week tour of Cornwall with Dacey’s Cornish Tours (St. Paul, MN; 651/484-4689, www.daceyscornishtours.com) in June 2016 and highly recommend it. The price was about $1,300, which included full English breakfasts at the hotels.
Traveling light
While I’m a firm believer in traveling as light as possible and have my own favorite ways of accomplishing this, I have a few comments regarding Rick Steves’ article in the December 2016 issue.
Introduction to Muscat, Oman
After cruising down the Red Sea, the ship I was on docked at Muscat, Oman, on Nov. 7, 2016, and I disembarked.
Dining in Montréal and Stratford
While in Montréal, Québec, Canada, in August 2016, my husband, Frank, and I stayed three nights at Le Square Phillips Hôtel & Suites (1193 Place Phillips, Montréal; 866/393-1193, www.squarephillips.com).
Barging in Burgundy
Four friends and I traveled together on a fabulous 7-day canal barge cruise in Burgundy, France, Sept. 17-23, 2016. Aboard the Magnolia, which had room for six guests and a crew of four, we cruised the Canal du Bourgogne from Dijon to Escommes.
Royal Oak for UK’s National Trust
Reading Donna Pyle’s article about Devon and Cornwall (Feb. ’17, pg. 18), I noticed that she mentioned the possibility of joining the UK’s wonderful National Trust (www.nationaltrust.org.uk) for £63 (near $79). A joint membership costs £105 ($132).
Biking in Holland with Van Gogh Tours
I turned 70 in 2015, and my wife, Linda, and I decided to celebrate my birthday that April while on a bike trip in the tulip bulb region of the Netherlands, when the fields were
Resist giving candy to kids
In her letter “Ramifications of Handing Out Gifts to Kids” (Dec. ’16, pg. 30), Marilyn Adelman said what I have long believed about travelers not giving small gifts of candy, pencils, etc., to children, which encourages them to beg.
Tasty food in Bolzano, Italy
Throughout all of my travels, my overall favorite hotel is still the Parkhotel Laurin (Via Laurin, 4, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; phone +39 0471 311 000, www.laurin.it/en)
Credit card fraud avoided
My wife, Judy, and I took a cruise in May 2015 from Rotterdam, Netherlands, to the Canary Islands and back on a Holland America Line (877/932-4259, www.hollandamerica.com) liner. The cruise was fine, with wonderful service and food, and took us to places we’d never been before.
Tunisia with Gil Travel
I felt I had to let other travelers know how wonderful my third trip to Tunisia was. I traveled there with a group of four, Nov. 11-20, 2016, on a tour arranged by Gil Travel (Philadelphia, PA; 800/223-3855, giltravel.com).