Report Cards
NEWS FROM ITALY…
• We traveled in Italy, April 19-May 5, 2010, and visited the small, hilltop village of Tereglio. Thirty-nine kilometers north of Lucca, it is located amid luxuriant chestnut forests in the Apennine Mountains and near the entrance to Orrido di Botri Nature Reserve. Mid-valley of the Serchio River, it is an excellent area for hikers, as there are many small villages nearby.
Tereglio has fantastic views of the valley and trees below. There is a car park at each end, as the long street is too narrow for cars. They use Vespas or a small, three-wheeled pickup to get around, but they can only go partway down the street, which at one point drops 76 steps. I’m 85, and my knees got a workout.
• The B&B La Fagiana (Via di Castello, Tereglio, 55020 Coreglia A., LU, Italia; phone 011 39 0583 762179) is a delightful, three-story unit with eight rooms. We paid €55 (near $67) double per night, with breakfast
• There is a delightful restaurant, La Crepa, owned by Claudia Lucchesi, who cooks wonderful Italian meals for around €10-€15 each. Her brother Mauro owns the bakery and delicatessen. Her aunt Maddelana owns a tiny dry-goods store, the only one in the village.
• Claudia showed us through an old family home that she and her husband totally remodeled and now rent.
The lovely, small house (V. Castello 32, Tereglio, 55025 Coreglia A., LU, Italia; phone 011 39 0583 762113 or [mobile] 011 39 3290656677 or e-mail claudiogonnella@virgilio.it) sleeps two people and consists of a very modern, small kitchen and a living/dining room with fireplace. Upstairs is a bedroom with a king-sized bed (unheard of in this small village) and a beautiful, modern bathroom. The rate for one week is €300.
— Elvera Rollins, Modesto, CA
NEWS FROM ENGLAND…
On June 16, 2010, I ate at the pub Thomas Becket (21 Best Lane, Canterbury, England; phone 01227 464384), one block off the main, pedestrian High Street.
Delicious food and great atmosphere. I had an omelet with choice of ingredients plus chips and salad for £6.95 (near $10.50). Very generous portions and quite tasty. There was a chalkboard with about six “lunch specials” in a similar price range. Opens at noon daily.
— Pam Ames, San Diego, CA
FROM AUSTRIA, CZECH REPUBLIC & NETHERLANDS
• I traveled with Casterbridge Concert Tours (United Kingdom; phone 011 44 1935 810 810), April 15- 22, 2010, on the tour “Great Cities of Music” with a group of 93. The cost of the tour was $2,700 per person, including airfare from New York.
On April 16 and 17 we were in Salzburg, where we all found the Schwarzler Hotel Neutor (Neutorstrasse 8, Salzburg) too noisy with windows open and too hot with them closed.
In Vienna on April 18 and 19, my room in Hotel Mercure Imlauer (Rotensterngasse 12, Vienna) faced the inner courtyard and was silent.
In Prague we enjoyed the Mövenpick Hotel Prague (Mozartova 1, Prague, Czech Republic). Of the three hotels, I thought this was the best. Fabulous breakfast.
• I also booked rooms for friends and myself in Amsterdam, after the tour, at the NH Amsterdam Centre (Stadhouderskade 7, Amsterdam). It’s a fine hotel and ideally situated near tram lines, the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum.
Through Priceline.com, the cost was $100 per room per night (April 30 and May 1) and it was a steal. Breakfast cost €17.17 (near $21) for all we could eat, and we could not have done that in a restaurant.
— Jon Lafleur, Kent, CT
FROM NEW ZEALAND…
• Prior to a New Zealand cruise, my husband and I used our Hilton HHonors points to stay overnight at the Hilton Auckland (phone 64 9 978 2000) on Princes Wharf, Feb. 1, 2010. The hotel was wonderful (US$256-$597) and very convenient for touring the city using the hop-on/hop-off Explorer Bus (one-day adult pass, AUD35, or US$32).
• The following day we flew to Invercargill on the South Island and stayed at the Victoria Railway Hotel (Leven & Esk streets, Invercargill; phone 0800 777 557 or +64 3 218 1281). We paid NZD94 (US$67) for two, including breakfast. We would highly recommend this hotel as well.
— Nanci Alexander, Lexington, KY