Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

August 2009 issue

Debarked early due to odor on board

My husband, Roger, and I boarded the MS Marshal Koshevoy in Nessebar, Bulgaria, for a Black Sea/Dnieper River cruise-tour to Kiev, Ukraine, Sept. 15-27, 2008, operated by Orthodox Cruise Company (Alabyana, 5, 125057, Moscow, Russia). We booked the tour through Russian Empire Cruises.

Upon boarding the ship, we smelled sewer gas. The odor was quite strong in the bathroom of our cabin, an upper-deck stateroom on the third of four decks. The ship was scheduled to depart at 22:00 but did not due to weather.

On the 16th, we went to the reception desk and complained about the odor...

January 2009 issue

Visiting Greece

My husband, Ray, and I took a tour of Greece and the Greek Islands, June 13-27, 2007.

Greece comes alive between 9 p.m. and midnight. This is when the cities grow festive as families socialize, children play and restaurants get crowded with evening diners. If you don’t adhere to the local rhythm, you will find “ghost towns” in the afternoon and miss the essence of the country. Be sure the itinerary you pick allows you to be in port until at least 1 a.m.

We found the Greek people to be warm and friendly. Anticipate friendly smiles and interactions everywhere.

For a...

December 2011 issue

Solid advice

A reader asked where to find insect repellent and sunscreen in solid form (Sept. ’11, pp. 50-51), which would not need to go into the TSA-required “311” bag in your carry-on.

Cutter Outdoorsman has a solid insect repellent that is 30% DEET. (It’s sold in drugstores and outdoor-gear stores; one ounce costs about $7.50.)

Also, I just bought another Neutrogena Oil-Free Sunblock Stick (SPF 30) at a CVS Drug Store. It cost $8.99 in the store, but they don’t always have it in stock; on their website, it costs $9.99. Several companies make solid...

July 2009 issue

Boutique Museums: Roman ships

A really good small museum is the Museum of Ancient Shipbuilding (Neutostr. 2b, 55116 Mainz, Germany; phone ++4961 31 28 66 30, www.mainz.de — click on “culture,” then “museum”) in Mainz.

It showcases the Roman ships found in the mud on the shores of the Rhine during construction of a parking structure for a Hilton hotel 10 years ago. Five Roman ships have been preserved, with life-size models built to show what the ships actually would have looked like.

There’s a workshop where you can watch people preserving, restoring and building wooden boats. You can easily walk through...

December 2008 issue

Oman’s transformation

Oman is an incredible country, the creation of one man, Sultan Qaboos, who took control of the country in 1970 at age 30.

Then a land of poor nomadic Bedouins with their camels, Oman transformed into the “Switzerland” of Arabia. It has safe water, beautiful roads, schools, hospitals, 24-hour-a-day electricity, and cities that are safe to walk in day or night. We saw no visible police or soldiers during our visit.

Beautiful new homes were everywhere — it was hard to find a building built before 1970 — and we saw no street people or beggars.

MARK STONE

...

June 2011 issue

Back to London

My fiancée, Maxine, and I spent four great days in London in September ’10. I had been there for business many times during the ’70s and ’80s, but this time it was strictly to enjoy the sights as enthusiastic tourists. It was Maxine’s first visit.

We traveled with another couple, who made arrangements through an online agency for a car from Heathrow Airport to our hotel, the Royal Park in Bloomsbury. (Unfortunately, she does not remember the name of the online agency.)

As our primary form of transport, we took the Hop On/Hop Off bus to see all the major sights. We rode the...

February 2010 issue

Wine bars in Paris

Most visitors to Paris go with a list of recommended restaurants, but I thought ITN readers would like a list of wonderful wine bars, part of the true Parisian experience. I visited all of the wine bars listed below from January to September 2009, most several times.

Reporting on the prices is somewhat of a problem. For years, the tax on restaurant meals was 18.6% while the tax on fast food was just over 5%, which led to riots in the streets, literally, with chefs in white toques throwing eggs. Finally, very recently, the government reduced the tax at regular restaurants to the same...

January 2010 issue

Highlights of Nicaragua

Just our luck! My husband, Frank, and I picked the rainiest week of the year when we visited Nicaragua in October ’08. Fortunately, almost every day had some sun, except the Sunday we watched an NFL game in our room during a sideways rainstorm.

We spent three nights in Granada, three in San Juan del Sur and one near Managua airport before an early-morning departure. Except at the hotel in San Juan del Sur, we spoke Spanish throughout our trip.

Because we were arriving late at night in Managua and had read about crimes against tourists driving to Granada, we arranged for a...