Food & Wine

We took a 14-day Adriatic cruise from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Venice, ltaly, aboard the m/v Monet, March 16-30, ’05, with Elegant Cruises & Tours. We arranged it through TravLtips (Flushing, NY; 800/872-8584).

  There is a magnificent painting by Dali, “Christ of St. John of the Cross,” in Glasgow, Scotland. For info, go to www.glasgowmuseums.com and follow through to “St. Mungo Museum of Religion.” There will also be more info on the Burrell Collection, opened in 1983 but as magnificent as ever! — DAVID GLASS, Laree, Alsace, France

From Beijing, CHINA, May 24, ’05. . .

The common medical ailment associated with travel to developing countries is, as travelers to Mexico refer to it, “Montezuma’s Revenge.”

In December ’04 we visited Rome for the first time. Prior to leaving home, we booked two half-day “courses” with IDC Rome, Institute of Design & Culture (in the U.S., leave voice mail at 214/853-5603 [we did not use this], e-mail rome@urban-iconography.org or visit www.idcrome.org [the best place to get information]). IDC’s website says, “We don’t give tours; we lead discussions.”

by Judy Hodges, Denton, MD

My wife and I dined at the following restaurants in Athens, Greece, in February ’05.

I made my second visit to Ethiopia, Jan. 10-24, ’05. My first was in 1995, a 6-day stopover to the historic north on my way to Yemen. This time I went on a 3-week “Explore Ethiopia In Depth” trip with the first-rate Spiekermann Travel Service (St. Clair Shores, MI; 800/645-3233 or www.mideasttrvl.com). My third trip with them to Africa within 12 months, it cost $4,985 including all airfare and most meals.

I returned from a 3-week tour of Ethiopia on Feb. 7, ’05. Imagine my surprise the next morning to find that a featured article (Feb. ’05, pg. 52) in my new ITN was about the Omo Valley, where I had just spent a week.

Two hours’ drive south of Santiago lies one of Chile’s most renowned wine-producing regions, Valle de Colchagua. On my last visit to Chile, in February ’05, I had the opportunity to visit, albeit too briefly, this impressive valley of abundance on the Ruta del Vino.

A lengthy list of awards and medals have to date been earned by the valley’s wineries in prestigious international competitions and publications. This was highlighted in 2003 when the Colchagua Valley was named Wine Region of the Year in the U.S. magazine Wine Enthusiast. Valley wines are of consistently high quality.