Food & Wine

• Just once in your life you owe yourself a flight on Singapore Airlines in “Raffles Class.”

On ITALY, March ’05. . .

I often get asked which is the best ship afloat, in terms of its food. I would love to be able to give a simple answer and award a prize. However, after reviewing my experiences afloat, communicating with ITN readers and interviewing seagoing chefs, I don’t think the answer is that easy.

by Theodore Lewis, Severna Park, MD

Most travel agents and ship reviewers agree that there are four lines that head the top of their lists for luxury or high-quality cruise lines, namely Crystal, Radisson Seven Seas, Seabourn and Silversea. Through a seemingly chance juxtaposition of forces, my wife and I had the opportunity to sample three of these lines within a 3-month period in 2004: Silversea in October, Seabourn in November and Crystal in December.

Great Britain

We spent 18 days traveling in Romania in September ‘04 — a truly great trip. Our itinerary included UNESCO world treasures like the painted monasteries in Bucovina plus picturesque villages and dramatic mountain scenery.

We flew on LOT Polish Airlines from Newark to Bucharest (changing planes in Warsaw), where we were met at the airport by travel agent Costela Petcu and our driver. The driver spoke excellent English and was well informed and very careful.

I was in northern and southern Ethiopia, Jan. 9-27, ’05, and I can heartily recommend our travel guide and agent. We have traveled overseas from one to four times a year since 1981, and all three of us on the Ethiopia tour agreed that this was the best guide we’d ever had on any such trip.

We heartily recommend Kademkachew Wosenseged of Dinknesh Travel (e-mail mulutour@telecom.net.et or visit www.ethiopiatravel.com).

On a trip to Croatia in June ’04, we found three restaurants which were excellent.

I was in Florence, Italy, on a Christmas-in-Florence tour, Dec. 21-28, ’04, and found several good places to eat in the Centro Storico area. Both are on the street that is about one block from the famed Ponte Vecchio.

• On Borgo Santi Apostoli is Il Boccale Ristorante (Borgo S.S. Apostoli, 33r; tel. 283384). I had pasta, grilled veal, salad, custard, a quarter bottle of red wine, a small water and coffee for €18 (near $24).