Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

December 2006 issue

Australia pleasantries

I’m responding to the reader’s comment, “Anyone considering traveling in Australia should get a good road map in the U.S.” (Oct. ’06, pg. 4).

A friend and I spent two months touring Australia during April and May 2005. We traveled by plane, bus, ferry, train (The Ghan) and rental car. Before leaving the U.S., we bought a map of Australia to take with us for general reference. However, we stopped in each major city at the office of the Royal Automobile Club of Australia, showed our AAA membership cards and were able to buy excellent maps at a reduced rate. A couple of times they did...

April 2006 issue

Superb Emilia-Romagna trip

I reveled in a superlative trip to the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, Oct. 4-20, ’05. I planned it with the help and guidance of Leftheris Papageorgiou, owner of Hellenic Adventures (Minneapolis, MN; 800/851-6349 or www.hellenicadventures.com), which I learned of through their ad in ITN.

Mr. Papageorgiou provided printouts with descriptions of hotels in the historic centers of Bologna, Ferrara, Mantova, Modena, Parma and Milan, enabling me to make intelligent choices.

This was, perhaps, my 15th trip to Italy, but it was the first one in which every detail was tailored to my...

May 2006 issue

Restaurant in Bratislava

In the main shopping and tourist area of Bratislava, a fun restaurant with great regional Slovakian dishes is Staroslovenska Krema (Michalska ul. 14-16, Bratislava, Slovakia; visit www staroslovenskakcrma.sk). From a billboard outside, proceed downstairs into a large, multivaulted dining area with long tables in medieval décor.

I got a huge helping of best-ever, melt-in-the-mouth Wiener schnitzel with fresh veggies, and my wife had delicious “Princess” chicken with peaches. We also shared a huge plate of bryndzové halus’ky, a traditional treat of small potato dumplings, bacon bits...

October 2005 issue

Visegrád bridge

In the June issue, page 50, Kit Lane of Douglas, Michigan, asked if anyone had recently seen the old bridge in Visegrád, Bosnia. I’m happy to report that I saw that wonderful bridge on June 3, ’05, on an extensive tour of the Balkans. The bridge is in excellent condition, and if it did suffer any damage in the Bosnian wars, I certainly did not detect any except for broken protective glass around the lights that are on the walking side of the bridge.

I certainly agree with Kit that it is a beautiful bridge, and now I want to read the book that Kit recommended, “The Bridge on the...

June 2005 issue

The pousadas of Portugal — historic inns with character

by Arline Wills, Lynnfield, MA

It had been 20 years since our first visit to Portugal. When we returned in September ’04 we found that not a lot had changed, especially in the northern area. Women still carry baskets and bundles on their heads, men are seen leading donkeys laden with wood or market produce, and elderly widows are still all in black from head to toe. However, since becoming part of the European Union, Portugal has seen a great deal more road building than we found in 1974 and rivers are now navigable due to the dams and locks built for that purpose.

As we had...

November 2005 issue

El Salvador in depth

El Salvador is the smallest, most densely populated country in Central America, but it is bypassed by most group tour companies. In April ’05, I was lucky enough to find the “golden ticket” that got me not just into the country but entry into homes, social programs and even the American Embassy.

Global Awareness Through Experience, or GATE (phone 608/791-5283, fax 608/782-6301, e-mail gate@fspa.org or visit www.gate-travel.org), has been offering cultural-immersion programs in El Salvador since 1992. The company offers similar programs in Guatemala, Mexico and Eastern Europe.

September 2005 issue

Surcharge for rising fuel cost

In August of 2004 we booked the trip “Athens, the Greek Islands and Beyond” for June 4-26, ’05, with Grand Circle Travel. The total cost for two was $7,596.80. We were told that if we paid early in advance we could save $398 and that paying in advance would “lock in the cost of the trip,” so we paid the full cost in advance. However, we received a letter dated Jan. 19, ’05, from Grand Circle stating that we owed $110 as a “fuel surcharge.”

We went to the Grand Circle Travel Handbook and found the following under the subheading Ways to Save: “Lock in the cost of your trip. Pay in...

December 2006 issue

Exceeding posted limits

A reader recently “fumed” about speed traps in New Zealand after receiving a $25 fine for exceeding the posted 100 km/h speed limit by 10 km/h (Oct. ’06, pg. 79).

$25? Just wait until you get to Switzerland, where exceeding the posted limit by as little as either 2 or 3 km/h (depending on the officer’s equipment) incurs a fine much heftier than $25.

Let’s be prudent motorists and good ambassadors. LORENZ RYCHNER Denver, CO