My husband and I visited the island of Crete, Nov. 20-26, ’03. Since it was off-season, the majority of accommodations were closed. Fortunately, for us, Nymphes Luxury Apartments (Aghia Pelagia, Crete, GREECE; phone 30 2810 371605, fax 30 2810 811842, e-mail nymphes@ier.forthnet.gr or visit www.greekhotel.com/crete/heraklion/nymphes/home.htm) is open year-round. We can’t imagine a nicer place to stay on Crete, anytime of year.
On April 8, ’03, the QE2 was making a port call at the island of St. Helena, where Napoleon had been exiled and where he died. Through the St. Helena Tourist Bureau I had obtained a car and driver for a tour of the main points of interest on this tiny island in the South Atlantic.
Returning to Jamestown, the capital and only town, I decided to shop. Entering Solomon & Co. Souvenir Store, I quickly found a box for my collection. On giving the clerk my credit card, she asked me, “Is this your name?”
I replied, “Is something wrong with my card?”
I’d like to alert fellow ITN readers to the upcoming 9th Pacific Islands Festival of the Arts. It’s held every four years by 27 island nations (including Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia) to meet and greet each other and share their traditions and cultures. It’s not really for tourists, but you can’t keep something that colorful a secret for long.
by Randy Keck, part 2 of 2 on the Philippines
by Thomas McKenna, Montpelier, VT
(First of two parts on the Philippines)
A kind of frenetic mania pervades the urban streetscape as the cultural combine of East and West continues to define itself while the business of daily life goes on. In the Philippines, all journeys seem to begin and end in the sprawling megalopolis that is Manila. One cannot know or hope to understand the modern-day Philippines without comprehending Manila.
by Dan Gifford, Arlington, VA (Part 6 in a series of 6)