Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

March 2011 issue

Paris hotel

After a tour of France in May ’10, my wife, Rose, and I stayed at the charming but small Hotel du Champ de Mars (7 rue du Champ de Mars, Paris 75007; phone +33 1 45 51 52 30) for three nights.

The hotel is in a wonderful neighborhood with lots of sidewalk cafés always busy with people, plus markets, shops and a bakery or two. There are two Métro stations nearby, and you can walk to the Eiffel Tower although it’s about eight or ten blocks.

Our room was very small but nicely decorated. We paid €98 (near $133) per night.

The front desk was run most of the time by the...

October 2010 issue

West Coast National Park, Cape Town

About an hour north of Cape Town, South Africa, on Route R27, West Coast National Park provides a totally different view of the coast and wildlife. Recommended! On your return to the city, watch for Rietvlei Nature Reserve, south of a small town named Table View. If the tablecloth (clouds) are covering Table Mountain, stop for a moment and observe Cape weather in action. It was from there, in October ’07, that I took this picture, about six miles northeast of Table Mountain, seen looming over Cape Town. — FRED KOEHLER, Orange, CA

March 2004 issue

Macau restaurant

We were in Hong Kong in November ’03 and took a day trip on the ferry to the former Portuguese colony of Macau. The ferry ride took just under an hour. After several hours of sightseeing in this unusual area, we got hungry and our guide dropped us off at Henri’s Galley (4 Av. Da Republica, Macau; phone [853] 556251 or visit www.henrisgalley.com.mo). It is located on the old waterfront and has a nautical theme. Seafood is a specialty along with a wide variety of Portuguese and Asian dishes.

The four of us had grilled fillet of sole. It was terrific! The portions were very generous....

June 2010 issue

Vilaró in Uruguay

In the article on Uruguay in the April ’10 issue, the author wrote, “… in planning my trip, I found useful Internet information in English to be elusive, and finding a US-based company with Uruguay-only offerings proved impossible.”

My wife and I took a spur-of-the-moment trip to Uruguay in March ’05, spending a couple of nights in Montevideo and a week in a timeshare in Punta del Este. Although speaking only broken Spanish, we had absolutely no trouble in finding our way and enjoying the many attractions of that very beautiful country. Advance planning certainly is helpful, but it...

April 2004 issue

London’s Bloomsbury

I paid a return visit to London’s Bloomsbury in November ’03.

Bloomsbury is that district in London that surrounds the British Museum and edges another district, Soho. Compared to Soho, Bloomsbury is sedate; however, in the years before and after the First World War, from 1900 to the eve of the Second World War, Bloomsbury’s artists, writers, critics and Bohemian ways rivaled those of Paris in the 1920s.

The area continues to delight me. I haven’t grown weary of the West End or Russell Square or the Royal Opera House and its lovely gift shop.

The area is dotted with...

February 2005 issue

A few thoughts on personal security

During a February ’03 trip, my pocket was picked in Santiago, Chile. The last time I was a victim of street crime was in 1966 when a band of street urchins stole my wristwatch in Saigon.

I’m an experienced traveler and have made many visits to big, dangerous, third-world cities, like New York and Los Angeles, so I was not only angry at the thief, I was angry at myself for becoming so complacent that I let down my guard.

We were starting down the steps into a subway when I felt a thief’s hand thrust deep into my right pocket. I grabbed his wrist and turned, but the thief broke...

September 2010 issue

Friedrichshafen flat

My husband and our three adult children and I rented an apartment in Friedrichshafen, Germany, home of the Zeppelin Museum, in June ’10. Friedrichshafen is on the shore of Lake Constance, and we took the ferry there from Romanshorn, Switzerland.

We rented through the Internet at the owner’s website (www.ferienhausmiete.de/ferienhaus_suche.php?land=1). Mr. Deutschle met us at the apartment and showed us how everything worked.

The holiday flat was very clean. It had two bedrooms for two persons each, plus a child’s bed; a living room/dining room with another bed (and a door,...

March 2005 issue

Calling on IsCard

This is a follow-up to my letter in the February ’05 issue, page 16, regarding making phone calls through Iscom, Inc.

While calls can be made with the IsCard FROM the U.S. to Austria (Country Code 43) at the rate of nine cents per minute from a regular phone and 49¢ on a mobile phone, Austria is not listed as a country from which to call TO the USA, although at least 50 such countries are listed. Per-minute rates may change and can be found at www.IsCard.com, or call 212/324-1100.

Also, regardless of which card one possesses, there are always charges for the use of a pay...