Shopping

Returning on April 7, 2013, from a tour of India, we had already gone through one security check and found our way to the gate for the United Airlines flight from Delhi to Newark, New Jersey.

We arrived at the gate before the security system was set up, so two of us decided to do some last-minute shopping and left our carry-on items with the third person traveling with us, Jill. While we ran errands, the security check was set up and Jill was required to submit my attaché case to be scanned.

We enjoy ITN and have been thanked by many people for making them aware of it. Unfortunately, our own travels have been put on hold as my husband recovers from a broken neck, the result of a fall. So this last Christmas, new travel clothes or gadgets were no longer the gifts of choice for him. When I found Keepsake Theme Quilts (Columbus, OH; 800/985-3323), however, my gift-giving problem was solved.

by Wayne Wirtanen, Contributing Editor

A rare-book dealer? A talented tailor? A source of coffee beans? ITN asked you to tell us about your favorite vendor outside of the US. Along with the details, we wanted to know the shop’s location or contact info and when you last made a purchase there. A number of subscribers wrote in.

We never visit London without stopping at John Sandoe [Books], Ltd. (10 Blacklands Terrace, Chelsea, London, England, SW3 2SR, U.K.; phone 020 7589 9473). It’s an easy walk from the Sloan Square Tube station.

Tell ITN about the funniest thing that ever happened to you while traveling in a foreign country. (ITN prints no info on destinations in the United States.) There are no restrictions on length. The ITN staff will choose each month’s winner, who will receive a free one-year subscription to ITN. Entries not chosen cannot be acknowledged.

This month’s winner is GEORGE COHEN of Warren, NJ:

The Swiss Knife Valley Visitor Center (Bahnhofstrasse 3, 6440 Brunnen, Switzerland) in Brunnen features information on scenic spots nearby plus a multimedia presentation on how Victorinox Swiss Army knives are made. (The knife’s ancestor was patented in 1897.) A museum as well as a store offering regional specialties and Victorinox products are on the ground floor.

REPORT ON NORTH KOREA

You don’t know till you go.

In April, a judge upheld a new law in the Netherlands that effectively ends the selling of marijuana to tourists. Coffee shop owners now will be allowed to sell cannabis only to registered members (2,000 maximum per shop) with valid local addresses and identification.

The ban went into effect on May 1 in three southern provinces and will apply nationwide by the end of 2012. Lawyers for the 700-plus coffee shops affected say that if they lose their next appeal, they’ll take it to the European Court of Human Rights.

“The Paris Shopping Companion” by Susan Swire Winkler with Caroline Lesieur (fourth edition, 2006, Cumberland House Publishing, Inc. ISBN 13978581825121 — 257 pp., $14.95 paperback).

(See Favorite Flea Markets)