Known as the Town Clock (or Old Town Clock or Citadel Clock Tower), the clock tower seen in the December 2017 mystery photo stands on Citadel Hill in the city of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and its clock has been keeping accurate time for over 214 years.
Dear Globetrotter:
Welcome to the 504th issue of your monthly foreign-travel magazine, yours because you and your fellow readers keep it going by being subscribers and providing the bulk of the material for each issue. Your participation is the key.
I had visited and admired many Muslim countries, but I had yet to observe daily life in the Gulf nations, which pair great wealth and deep conviction to Islam and have played a critical role in world history, both past and present.
In May 2017, my wife, Iris, and I started a 42-day trip to the South Pacific with an evening Air New Zealand flight from Los Angeles to New Zealand.
After the article “Building Your Travel Bucket List” appeared in Contributing Editor Randy Keck’s column (Jan. ’17, pg. 56), ITN asked subscribers to each send in two lists of international destinations, excluding locations in Europe (which is so popular among travelers) and in the United States (which ITN does not cover).
Having traveled extensively in Spain over the years, in May 2017 we set our sights on an area new to us, the rugged region of Galicia, in the northwest corner of the country.
Because I am a military retiree, we are able to catch hops on US military aircraft to many wonderful destinations, and getting to Spain from Charleston, South Carolina, was relatively easy. Our 8-hour flight from Charleston to a Navy base in Rota, about two hours by bus south of Seville, delivered us there in mid-morning.
Just off base, we went straight to a local travel agency, Paco Travel, to arrange the beginning of our trip. We don’t like to plan ahead too much; serendipitous travel is our style.
Flights from Seville to the major Galician cities do not run frequently, but we found a great one leaving the next morning. We traveled by bus to Seville and on to Seville’s airport the next morning. In just over an hour, a comfortable nonstop Vueling Airlines flight took us to A Coruña (aka La Coruña in Castilian Spanish), a thriving city near Spain’s northwest tip.
Beginning on April 10, 2018, Basic Economy passengers on Delta Air Lines flights to and from Europe and North Africa will each be charged a $60 fee for one checked bag and a $100 fee for each additional checked bag. Delta codeshare partners Air France, KLM and Alitalia will be charging the same fees.
Passengers in every class other than Basic Economy will not (yet) be charged these fees.
Orloj, the 15th-century astronomical clock mounted on the southern wall of the Old Town Hall in Prague, Czech Republic, was removed from its setting on Jan. 8, 2018, for repairs and is scheduled to be returned in August 2018. The Town Hall reopened on Dec. 18 after being closed six months for restoration.
