Hotels and Lodging

For those traveling to Scotland, here are some great places that we used on our trip in November ’03.

For those of you who want to visit Hadrian’s Wall, the Roman fort of Vindolanda and Northumbria, ENGLAND, an excellent B&B named Montcoffer (Bardon Mill, Hexham, Northumberland, U.K.; phone +44 [0] 1434 344138, e-mail stay@montcoffer.co.uk or visit www.montcoffer.co.uk) is worth your consideration. It’s a 10-minute drive from the Roman Museum, Hadrian’s Wall and Vindolanda.

The accommodation is 5-star AA, with the bedrooms (all with facilities en suite) separate from the main house in a completely renovated stable block. Everything is spotless and relatively new (1999).

by Patricia Arrigoni, Fairfax, CA

From a treetop deep in the jungles of Peru, a tiny brown monkey stares down at me with curiosity. I aim my binoculars and stare back into his intense, dark eyes. We check each other out for a couple of minutes, then he is gone, swinging with ease to the next tree.

I found Istanbul as interesting as ever on my eighth trip to my favorite city. Istanbul is all about the people in the streets, both past and present. If you are not too timid, you should stay where the Turkish people are — bustling about the streets in the Sirkeci district (pronounced Sirkajee). From there you can walk anywhere you would want to visit.

If you plan to visit Cusco, PERU, I’d like to recommend a charming hotel called Torre Dorada (Calle Los Cipreses N-5, Huancaro, Cusco, Peru; phone 51 84 241 698, fax 51 84 224 255, e-mail reservas@torredorada.com or visit www.torrdorada.com.pe).

This is a fairly new little B&B-type hotel located away from the city noise. I stayed there in June ’03 and June ’00. It was extremely clean and well run. Rates were $54 single, $60 double and $68 triple.

In early June ’02, three of us spent 10 nights in 10 different places “doing” eight countries! I’d like to share some of them; they were “winners!” Prices listed include breakfast and tax.

Let it be known that Americans are welcome in FRANCE! During more than two weeks in September ’03 in Normandy, the Loire Valley and Paris, the two couples in our party experienced nothing but friendly, courteous and helpful service from shopkeepers, hotel and restaurant personnel, ticket sellers, etc., even folks on the street. Yes, we always attempted to speak some French and keep smiles on our faces; I’m sure this helped. Here are a couple of hotel recommendations.

Just as our July ’03 issue arrived with Randy Keck’s article on Transylvania (Romania), we were about to leave on a self-planned trip covering the same sites. These are our observations, to augment his.

Hotels were all quite good, with Casa Viorel (phone 40-268-262-431) in Poiana Brasov being outstanding. The largest hotel we stayed in was the only place we found that accepted credit cards, but ATMs were available in every town we visited.

I had the pleasure of attending a one-week Tuscan cooking course, Sept. 29-Oct. 5, ’02, given by the Aolmaia Country School, based in beautiful San Miniato, Italy. It offers courses in cooking and other Tuscan/Ligurian arts and subjects such as stained glass, mosaics, wine, the Italian language and Etruscan history, to name a few, at reasonable prices!

Based on one’s choice of course, prices range from €390 (near $447) a week, without lodging or meals, to €2,688 ($3,082) for six nights’ lodging at a 3-star hotel with cooking lessons and all meals included.