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February 2007 issue

For the most euros per dollar

I think I have found the best way to get the most for our dollar as it continually declines against the euro.

On a trip my wife and I took to Italy, Austria and Germany in October-November ’06, I carried a credit card, a debit card and just a few hundred euros in my pocket.

The debit card I used to get euros from ATMs. Because I have direct deposit from my work to the debit account, there were NO fees charged for these withdrawals. And when I got my statement from the bank, I calculated that the amount the euros cost me was basically the same as the listed exchange rate! I...

August 2007 issue

Planning for northern Spain

My husband, daughter and I traveled to northern Spain for 16 days, April 23-May 9, 2007. We’d all been to Spain and Portugal quite a few times and always stayed in paradores or pousadas. I’ve always found, after the fact, that I hadn’t taken advantage of the “deals” offered to seniors or for extended stays, so this time I contacted Gary at Adios Travel (3743 NE Third St., Ocala, FL 34470-1353; 800/313-7030, www.spainparador.com).

We were three adults staying in two rooms for 12 days. All visits were for at least three nights, with one exception of two nights. Our total cost for...

September 2008 issue

In lieu of loo

We did the tour “Unforgettable Spain and Portugal” with Grand European Tours, Oct. 3-17, 2007. The tour itself, starting in Madrid and ending in Lisbon, was very good (I just looked at the pictures again) but for one thing.

We had a bus with a bathroom, but the guide told us not to use it as it was too difficult to clean.

She said to tell her if we had to stop, which was done with her remarks, “It’s five miles out of the way, but if you have to go, you have to go.”

Not a great way to conduct a trip!

KATHRYN WALTERS

Roswell, NM

ITN sent a copy of...

January 2007 issue

Pick-me-up in Kobarid

If you’re visiting Kobarid, Slovenia’s, award-winning Kobarid Museum, you’ll do well to have a meal at Restavricija Kotlar (Kobarid, Slovenia; phone 386 [0] 5 38 91 110) before leaving town. It’s located on a square only a 2-minute walk from the museum.

In a village of fewer than 1,500, this white-tablecloth restaurant was an unexpected find on our October ’05 visit. There are at least three dining rooms; we were seated in a midsized room that was filled with sunshine.

Minutes after we were seated, the largest room was filled by a bus tour group. Considering the lack of...

July 2007 issue

Stockholder credit

I was surprised by the reader’s letter “Re Shore Tours, Stockholder Perk” (Sept. ’06, pg. 30) complaining about Holland America Line’s (HAL’s) customer service. While experiences are individual, I have found HAL’s customer service personnel to be unfailingly prompt and helpful.

I too own Carnival Cruise Line stock and always take advantage of the shipboard credit benefit when I sail on any of the ships owned by Carnival Corporation. Information on stock ownership must be submitted in advance of the cruise. My wife, Kathleen, and I have been on seven cruises with HAL, the last being...

May 2007 issue

Scouting out a flight Georgetown-Paramaribo

My wife and I have traveled to much of the world, but what stumped us was how to go by air from Georgetown, Guyana, to Paramaribo, Suriname. When we plugged the flight into the usual search engines, no answers appeared. Somehow we knew that an airline called META existed and flew, or once did fly, to that destination, but we couldn’t find it online.

We purchased BWIA tickets for a January ’07 round-trip flight, Miami-Trinidad-Georgetown, at a cost of $522 each. (On Jan. 1, 2007, BWIA became Caribbean Airlines.)

Since we drove to Miami in order to catch the flight, we decided...

February 2007 issue

Guides in Russia

In planning our trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg in July ’06, I noted three private guides recommended by ITN readers and, after a series of e-mails, selected Alexei Fetisov (Oct. ’05, pg. 122) from Palladium Travel Agency (Artilleriyskaya St. #1, Office 160, St. Petersburg, Russia; phone 7-812 579 6644, fax 6584 or visit www.palladium.spb.ru) to make my arrangements. Of the three, he gave the most detailed itinerary based on my expressed interests.

We found the guides in his service to be highly educated, knowledgeable about the sites visited and passionate about their country....

August 2007 issue

Paris restaurant

Restaurant L’Impasse (4, Impasse Guéménée, 75004 Paris, France; phone 01 42 72 08 45 or visit www.limpasse.com) is a tiny, bistro-style restaurant which I visited Jan. 16, 2007. Within a 2-minute walk of the Bastille Métro stop, it’s tucked away in a dead-end street off of rue St. Antoine, in the fourth arrondissement. It is closed for lunch on Saturday and Monday and is closed all day Sunday.

In the summer you can eat outdoors at tables on the sidewalk without much traffic, except for the occasional driver who disregards the name (which means “dead end”), rushes down the street and...