The Republic of Moldova is a place I long wanted to visit, as it’s near my usual destination of Romania. On a solo trip, May 3-15, 2016, I began in Bucharest, Romania, where I had the pleasure of staying at the Grand Boutique Hotel (Negustori 1B, Bucharest 2, Romania; phone +40 31 425 62 30, http://grandboutique
hotel.ro), located behind the National Theatre Bucharest on a lovely residential street.
For years I dreamed of seeing the mountain gorillas in Rwanda, creatures with whom we humans share almost 98% of our nuclear DNA. I also was intrigued by Rwanda’s social and economic recovery following the devastation from the 1994 genocide.
A subscriber recommended the apart’hotel Citadines Sainte-Catherine Brussels (www.citadines.com), in Belgium, noting “Citadines is a new chain of hotels” (March ’16, pg. 49). A minor observation — Citadines is not a new chain; it’s been around for at least 20 years* that I personally know of, maybe longer.
During our 6-week koyo (autumn foliage) trip to Japan in November-December 2015, my husband, Clyde, and I took many of our dinners at small, family-owned restaurants and izakayas (taverns), also exploring the side streets and back alleys where such places abound.
Regarding the hiker in New Zealand who said she did not seek medical attention because it was late on a Saturday (Feb. ’16, pg. 16), she could have talked to the manager at her hotel and asked him to find a doctor who would make a hotel/house call. If not that day, then the next. If no doctor was on call in the city, she could have gone to the hospital.
Despite the 101-degree temperatures during our visit, my husband, Ray, and I packed everything feasible into a 3-day pre-cruise visit to Florence, Italy, Aug. 7-9, 2015.
After I remarried in 2015, my wife, Barbara, and I spent our 3-week honeymoon in two parts of France in May: Provence and Paris. Most of our time in Provence would be on bikes. Because Barbara hadn’t biked as much as I had, we chose what we thought would be easy day trips.
Shortly after arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport, we discovered that the bottom floor of the terminal housed the railroad station. We had tickets on the TGV from Paris to Avignon. After a wait of three hours or so, we boarded the train for a ride lasting almost four hours, stopping only once, in Lyon.
My wife, Mary, and I traveled to Germany in September 2015, as we had been invited — as family — to attend the wedding of our former exchange student. The bride lived in Vechta, about an hour’s drive southwest of Bremen, so we booked a flight to Amsterdam, Netherlands, with the idea of (after a short adventure) renting a car and driving to Germany.
I deliberately scheduled seven days of unplanned time before we were expected at the bride’s home, with the idea that, once in Europe, we would go to a “last-minute-flight window” and fly to wherever.
In northern Norway, guests of WolfLodge who meet certain requirements can interact with wild (but human-acclimated) wolves in an enclosure in Polar Park (N-9360, Bardu, Norway; phone +47 77 18 66 30, http://polarpark.no/polar-park-english.html).
Located in the park, WolfLodge has one double and five 3-bed guest rooms; two bathrooms that are shared; a common area with a kitchen, living room and fireplace; large skylights for viewing the northern lights, and large windows for watching the wolves roaming the grounds.
While visiting the Middle East in June 2015, I used the wonderful Egyptian driver Tarek. He speaks English well, his taxi is decent, and he’ll drive visitors to the pyramids and local markets for around $50. If he’s busy, his brother Rahim may be available, and he’s a gem also.
I’ve used Tarek and Rahim for over 20 years. I know their family and have been in their home. They may be reached in Cairo by phone at 01222 70 5229.