September 2006

(Also see the March and January articles)

Friends and I stayed three nights at the Gasthof Fraundorfer (Ludwigstrasse 24, D-82467 Garmisch-Partenkirchen, GERMANY; phone 011 49 8821 92 70, fax 8821 92 799 or visit www.gasthof-fraundorfer.de).

I was happy with the Hotel Ambassade (Herengracht 341, 1016 AZ Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS; phone +31 20 555 0 222 or visit www.ambassade-hotel.nl). I stayed there March 29-April 3, ’06, during the off-season, so my double room cost €185 ($238) per night, reduced from the rack rate of €220 ($283).

We asked readers the following at the suggestion of Greg Stathakis of Santa Barbara, California.

Pleasant Surprises are just that: cities one expects to be dismal, dirty or perhaps dangerous but which leave a different impression. Following are several on my list.

Belleek, Northern Ireland, is a pretty, welcoming town near the Irish border. It has a wide main street, and in the September we visited its lampposts were hung with flowering baskets.

I was in Vladivostok, April 1-3, ’06. I booked my trip with Lucky Tours Co., Ltd. (1, Moskovskaya St., Vladivostok 690106, Russia; phone/fax +7 [4232] 44-99-44 or visit www.luckytour.com). For visa permit documents, airport transfers, a single room at the Hyundai Hotel and an evening city tour, and excluding meals, I paid $556.

With our two grandsons, Louis and Victor, ages 14 and 12, my wife, Monica, and I took a trip to Ecuador, including the Galápagos Islands, and Peru, particularly the ancient Incan city of Machu Picchu, in March ’05.

We joined a tour arranged by Alki Tours (6417-A Fauntleroy Way SW, Seattle, WA 98136; 206/935-6848, www.alkitours.com) for $3,344 per person. This included all airfares, the cruise package, hotels (with breakfasts), most of the lunches and evening meals, and taxes.

At 9 a.m. on March 3, ’06, the Grigoriy Mikheev sounded her horn and we celebrated crossing the Antarctic Circle with Dutch liqueur. When choosing an Antarctic trip, this had been one of my goals.