Food & Wine

My wife, Sandy, and I are snowbirds who spend the winters in Puerto Vallarta. Each year we explore a different part of Mexico, and in March ’11 we made a six-day, five-night trip to the Guadalajara area.

We stayed at the bed-and-breakfast Casa Armonia (Reforma 43, Tlaquepaque, Centro, Jalisco, Mexico; phone, in Mexico, 01 [33] 3563 3218 or 3219 or, in US or Canada, 266/973-0128). It’s located one block from the city’s main plaza and Calle Juarez, one of Tlaquepaque’s main shopping streets.

For our 30th wedding anniversary, my wife, Janie, decided she wanted to tour the Galápagos Islands. After quite a bit of research on the Internet, we booked with Galápagos Travel (Aptos, CA; 800/969-9014). We could not have chosen a better organization.

Our 11-day trip, March 17-28, 2011, cost $5,200 each (not including international air to Ecuador) plus $418 each for the round-trip flight from Quito to the islands. We flew home from Quito on the 30th.

My partner, John, and I spent the month of March ’11 touring New Zealand. The night before our flight home from the Auckland airport, we stayed at the friendly Parnell Inn (320 Parnell Rd., Auckland 1052, New Zealand; phone 09 358 0642 or, toll-free in NZ, 0800 472 763), located on the very charming Parnell Road.

Visitors to the UK can enjoy savings of 50% on meals throughout the country with a new dining card, the Tastecard. Valid at over 5,000 restaurants, the 14-day Tastecard costs £25 ($40) and covers two people.

It is available at the Encore desk of the Britain & London Visitor Centre (1 Regent St., London). A list of participating restaurants is at www.tastecard.co.uk.

COMPARING AIRLINES...

A bottle of wine, perfume, etc., can be transported in checked baggage with a JetBag (Lathrup Village, MI; 248/891 8939). At 18 inches tall and 0.3 ounces, it easily holds a wine bottle. The bag, lined with absorbent fibers in the event of bottle breakage, closes with a reusable zip seal. A pack of three JetBags costs $15 plus $2.99 shipping.

by Rick Steves

by Sandra Scott

I was born in 1924 and have traveled all over the world. A couple of years ago, I sat down and wrote about some of my feelings and thoughts about the places I’ve been to and the people I’ve encountered. Here is some of what I wrote:

“In fall 2001, when I was 77, I found Rome a city of excellent food and smokers galore. Wine, wine, wine! Cathedrals were everywhere, each trying to outdo the others.

My wife and I took a 14-day tour of Istanbul and western Turkey, Sept. 18-Oct. 2, 2010. The tour with Argeus Tourism & Travel (Istiklal Cad. No. 47, Ürgüp/Nevsehir, Turkey; phone +90 384 341 4688) was more expensive than similar tours of other companies we investigated, but we thought the quality more than compensated for the cost.

The land price, $3,970, included everything except wine at dinner and tips to the guide and driver.