Travel Tidbits

Fethiye, Turkey, has a wonderful small market with everything you might wish to buy — great jewelry, rugs, spices. . . . On a June-July ’04 tour with Treasures of Travel (Edmonds, WA; 800/572-0526), I found wonderful things there for my home and for my friends. — PEGGY LONG, Portland, OR

In Helsinki, Finland, I took the zoo ferry, called Korkeasaari. This short ride showed me a beautiful view at the harbor and landed me at the zoo, on a lovely island of trees and granite outcroppings. The sheer granite is perfect for the Eurasian goats that clamber on the natural cliffs in their cages. The zoo was great for seeing animals I never get to see normally: musk ox, Mongolian ponies, forest reindeer, bearded vultures and various owls and eagles. — MARY K. TAYLOR, Rockport, TX

I keep all our travel items in a large container in the spare closet so I can be ready to go anywhere within an hour. It includes hats, travel bags/pouches of all sizes, duct tape, electrical converters/adapters, umbrellas, locks and a variety of travel gadgets for any destination. I also keep a cosmetic bag packed with my daily essentials, ready at a moment’s notice. Throughout the year, I look for trial samples of things to use for travel. — CLAUDIA REED, Las Vegas, NV

Antwerp, Belgium, has to be one of the most magnificent cities in Europe. It was a pleasure to go back to the museum Rubenshuis (Wapper 9-11, 2000 Antwerp; phone +32 [0] 3-201 15 55 or visit http://museum.antwerpen.be/rubenshuis) and realize that they move the paintings around. — MARVIN PRIMACK, Stockton, CA

Klaipeda, Lithuania, is a good jumping-off point for the Curonian Spit as well as Nida, a quaint fishing village with many B&Bs. The 5-minute ferry ride from Klaipeda to the Curonian Spit cost only a couple of dollars including the transport of our rental car. The sand dunes in Nida are gorgeous. Some of them are being lost to erosion, so twine made of grapevines has been arranged to hold the dunes in place. It is very picturesque, and on our June visit, wild roses were growing, making for great photos. — TERRY LOEF, Pacific Palisades, CA