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We stayed in an outstanding B&B in South Rustico, Prince Edward Island, in April ’12. The Barachois Inn (Prince Edward Island, Canada; 800/963-2194) was a splurge, at about $240 per night, but a memorable one.

We stayed in a building built near, and in the same style of, the original inn. There was a large, comfortable living area and a bed area with a refrigerator and microwave. The bathroom had both a shower and a Jacuzzi. There was also a deck.

The owners were friendly and helpful and served an unusually good breakfast. We were there before, in the fall, which is a...

For our stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 21-23, 2012, during Oceania Cruises’ 14-day Stockholm-Dover cruise aboard the Nautica, our group of 12 preferred to have a private guide rather than take the ship’s big-bus tour. An ITN subscriber had given rave reviews (April ’09, pg. 59) to the guide Natalya German Tsarkova (phone +7 921 391 1894, email natalygerman@gmail.com, www.original-tours.com). I contacted her in January. 

As have other ITN readers, we slightly modified Natalya’s standard 3-day tour. We paid $430 each, which included a Russian visa, the guide services of Natalya...

I have found that agents at many foreign airport security checkpoints are concerned about batteries in carry-ons. My most bizarre incident occurred in January ’13 when I was leaving Bamako, Mali, on a tour with Universal Travel System (Santa Monica, CA). 

After my carry-on passed through the scanner, our tour escort, Herb Gobles, and I were pulled out of the line for a detailed check of our carry-ons. The agent checking my bag confiscated my spare AA and AAA batteries that were packed in plastic containers and also took the batteries in my flashlight. When I protested, he allowed me...