Food & Wine

by Steve Venables, Contributing Editor

My wife, Felice, and I have traveled to Europe six times in the last seven years with Patty’s Places (1251 NW 195th St., Seattle, WA 98177; 800/775-3861 or www.pattysplaces.com). As a result, we have learned a great deal about Ireland, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Turkey. On our 3-week tour to southern Italy, March 9-30, ’05, we got to know a lot more about Sicily.

by Paula Prindle, Orient, OH

Planning a trip to MOROCCO in the near future? Consider staying at one of the premier riads, or small hotels, in 14th-century Fez, near the Bab Boujloud (Blue Gate), the stunning main entrance of the medina. I stayed at the Dar Al Andalous (14, Derb Bennani, Douh, Quartier Batha, Fès Médina, Maroc; phone 212 [0] 55 74 07 00, fax 74 07 12 or visit www.daralandalous.com) in October ’05 and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

From a 2-week trip to SWITZERLAND in September ’05, I recommend the following accommodations.

On a trip to France in April ’05, we stayed in Caen at the Kyriad Hotel & Restaurant (36 Ave. Montgomery, 1400 Caen; visit www.kyriad.fr) — near the Caen Peace Museum. One of the upscale Campanile hotels chain.

The room cost €68 (near $82) for two. The breakfast buffet cost €7, and the 3-course dinner, with salad bar, dessert bar and entrée, cost €35.60 for two. Our total for the room and one breakfast and one dinner each was $161.

Alter Wartesaal (Johannisstrasse 11, Cologne, Germany; phone 49 [0] 221-912 885-0 or visit www.wartesaal.de [in German only]): located adjacent to Cologne’s Hauptbahnhof, this fine restaurant is in the rail station’s old first-class lounge.

Château de Labessière (55320 Ancemont, FRANCE; phone 33 3 29 85 70 21, fax 33 3 29 87 61 60 or visit www.labessiere.com or www.au-chateau.com) is a wonderful bed-and-breakfast near Verdun. The château is easy to reach by car or train.

I trust Rick Steves, so when he suggested in his “Switzerland 2005” guide that travelers should pick up a ZürichCARD, I listened. In November ’05 I purchased a 72-hour card, and I am very glad I did.

My wife and I spent a week touring Sicily’s highlights with our daughter, son-in-law and two grandsons (ages 11 and 14) in the latter part of March ’04. The people were most friendly, the accommodations were very good and the food and ice cream were terrific. The temples at Segesta, Selinunte and, in particular, Agrigento were outstanding. Equally as interesting were the amphitheaters in Segesta and Taormina. Overall, it was a wonderful trip. — D.J. GARIBOTTI, Barrington, IL