Public Transportation

I go to Thailand once or twice a year. At present, I’m coordinating a tsunami relief project in Phi Phi and Phuket.

The apartment at 13 rue de la Providence in Nice, FRANCE (call Gerald Bedrich in the U.K. at [0033] [0] 626140006 or 493319297 [up to 9 p.m. U.K. time] or visit www.nice studios.co.uk), is in a great location in the Vieux Nice (Old Town).

It’s very near the Gare Routière bus stop, convenient for taking day trips by bus and for the city’s public transit. The Gare Lycée and Garibaldi stops are also nearby. There is a bus that goes directly from the airport to Gare Routière.

by Jim Hendrickson, Bellingham, WA

by Jim Simpson, Wilmington, DE

Renting a car in Greece seems the best way to travel, as public transportation is limited. For our trip, our car rental was from Budget through Auto Europe (888-223-5555 or visit www.autoeurope.com). Driving was very easy and we never encountered traffic congestion except in leaving Athens and at the ferry crossings.

From the town of Rio, we took the ferry to Andiro across the Gulf of Corinth. After waiting in line for the ferry, we drove toward the boat and then all of the cars started swerving in all directions and we didn’t know what was going on.

In September ’05, after staying in La Paz, Bolivia, at 12,600 feet, I spent two days at the Esmeralda Hotel (phone in Bolivia 010-221-36017, fax 36041 [from the U.S., phone ++591-221-36017] or visit www.hotelesmeralda.com) in Coroico, elevation 4,800 feet, to get warm and recover from the altitude.

My old guidebooks warned that the La Paz-Coroico highway was too dangerous for tourists, but I had read that the road had recently been widened and paved and was safer.

My wife and I took an excellent “Splendor of Ireland” tour with Harp & Shamrock Tours, June 7-19, ’05. (We opted for a 4-day extension, and our actual return was on June 23 because Aer Lingus had a mechanical problem that caused us to remain in Ireland a fifth day.)

Aidan Murray, the driver and tour guide, specializes in small-group tours of six to 10 people in a 14-passenger Mercedes bus. He has 24 years of Ireland tour experience.

One of the best bakeries we found in all of New Zealand’s South Island on our visit in April ’05 was Picton Village Bakery (46 Auckland St., Picton; phone 64 [0] 3 573 7082). It’s on the corner of Dublin and Auckland streets, about two blocks from the train station and the ferry landing.

On our trip to Australia in October several years ago, we spent two days in Melbourne, staying at the Hilton. We enjoyed this conservative, most British of Down Under cities with its many parks (we especially liked the Royal Botanic Gardens), museums, cultural events and attractive buildings.

Since I’m the consummate Francophile, I didn’t think any other country could lure me the way France does, but when Italy called, I’m awfully glad I answered, “Pronto.”