Food & Wine

We spent 12 nights in Sicily, ITALY, in May ’07 (July ’08, pg. 57).

On our trip to ROMANIA in August ’07, my wife, Margi, and I flew into Bucharest, were met at the airport and were driven to Count Kálnoky’s Estate (Miklósvár, Romania; phone 0040 742 202586, fax 0040 267 314088, www.transylvanian castle.com).

St. Moritz, SWITZERLAND, is not the sort of place where you expect to spend a budget holiday. That said, an off-season visit allows you to enjoy its glorious setting, soak up its posh ambience and relax at a reasonable cost.

In May ’08 my wife, Paula, and I spent two nights in the 3-star Hotel Waldhaus am See (Via Dim Lej 6, 7500 St. Moritz, Switzerland; phone +41 [0] 81 836 60 00, fax 60 60 or visit [in German only] www.waldhaus-am-see.ch).

by

“This suite is sweeeeet!”

While vacationing in Cusco, Peru, April 23-May 17, 2008, and going to school there for Spanish lessons, I had opportunities to try many good restaurants. I am pretty convinced that it would be hard not to find a good meal in Cusco.

Look for the “Meñu del dia” outside a restaurant or ask if they have one. It usually includes a soup, entrée, dessert and coffee or tea and generally runs from 11 to 18 soles ($4-$6) — a good deal.

Here are some good places.

Interlake China (Box 33652, Seattle, WA 98133; 206/368-9074, www.interlakechinatours.com) arranged a 10-day tour of three Silk Road cities and Beijing for my husband, Ed, and me. The land and internal air price was $2,578 each for our Oct. 13-22, 2007, trip.

We visited Urumqi, Turpan and Dunhuang before ending the tour in Beijing. Turpan was our favorite place. As we drove there from Urumqi, we had great views of snow-covered mountains along the way.

On your next visit to Argentina, leave the tango behind, for a change, and take a dive into the real culture, history and splendor of nature in Mendoza, which is only a 2-hour flight from Buenos Aires.

Mendoza, the capital of Mendoza Province, is located in an area of vast diversification, from vineyards in the wine country (similar to California’s Napa and Sonoma regions) to the majestic range of the tallest peak in the Western Hemisphere, Mount Aconcagua.

My husband, Fos, and I took a trip to Bali, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, China, April 3-23, 2008. Although we usually travel independently, we chose this package because we were unable to match the prices that Escapes Unlimited (2012 Lerner Ln., Santa Ana, CA 92705; 800/243-7227, www.escapesltd.com) was offering for air travel.

After spending two weeks in Paris, May 9-22, 2008, including a day trip to London on the Eurostar, I thought, in view of the falling dollar, a few notes on prices might be of interest to ITN readers.

• For some years, my wife, Josie, and I have visited PARIS annually, and in that time there has been a small increase in prices generally, as there has been in the USA.

From JERUSALEM, Israel, May 6, 2008. . .