Beaches and Islands

 Delightful Viterbo, Italy, north of Rome, has a colorful past. It was founded by the Etruscans and then became a temporary residence of popes in the 13th century. Every year, May 1-3, the streets are filled with flowers for the annual flower festival, San Pellegrino in Fiore, and on the evening of Sept. 3 there is a procession, Macchina di Santa Rosa, honoring the Virgin Mary. Local men carry a towering, ornate statue of Mary through the streets. The macchina is redesigned every few years, and former ones are in the museum.

My wife, Mary, and I took a 35-day cruise on Holland America Line’s Statendam, embarking Nov. 17, ’05. This was a wonderful experience for us, even though we had traveled on many shorter cruises. The stops in Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Easter Island, Tahiti, Bora Bora, American Samoa and New Zealand all were excellent, but I want to provide information to ITN readers about one special guide we had on Easter Island.

My friend Edith Ann Pazmino and I took an adventure that included three unusual islands between Asia and Australia, July 6-25, ’05. Our 20-day trip took us from San Francisco to Hong Kong, Hainan Island (in the South China Sea), Singapore, Perth and, in the Indian Ocean, Christmas and Cocos islands.

The trip would not have happened without the excellent help of Helen Svensen and Arthur Waine of Greenbelt Travel Services (5510 Cherrywood Ln., Greenbelt, MD 20770; phone 800/695-0317 or 301/474-1300, fax 301/345-3666 or visit www.greenbelttravel.com).

Charles Treadgold’s letter about taking maps to Peru’s Taquile Island (Nov. ’05, pg. 44) got me thinking about other things that would be most appreciated by the people there. I visited in 1992, but from what I have read about the place it seems not to have changed much.

Having completed a cruise on the Caledonian Canal, the Betty and Dick Wood's Scottish journey continues with an Orkney Islands extension.

Following a tour of the lovely city of Inverness, a group of 10 of us boarded a 37-passenger turboprop plane for a flight to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands.

A trip my husband, John, and I made to Australia was different from most tours as we spent most of our time in the western part of the country. Our one-month trip was planned by AAT Kings (Head Office, Level 4, 476 St. Kilda Road, Melbourne, Victoria, 3004, Australia; visit www.aatkings.com. . . with a U.S. office at 801 East Katella Ave., 3rd Floor, Anaheim, CA 92805; phone 800/353-4525). We booked the trip on their website.

We cruised to Easter Island on Discovery World Cruises’ Discovery in February ’05. Dissatisfied with the excursions being offered by the ship, I arranged in advance for two half-day tours of Easter Island for our party of six. I had a list of eight sites I wanted to visit and allowed enough time to explore and photograph.

Out of 66 people with correct answers for the January ’05 “Where in the World?” photo quiz — re The Remarkable Rocks on Kangaroo Island off South Australia — I was fortunate to have my name drawn.

by Jack Ogg, Photos by Connie Ogg, Houston, TX

by Don and Betty Martin, Columbia, CA