Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

June 2005 issue

The pousadas of Portugal — historic inns with character

by Arline Wills, Lynnfield, MA

It had been 20 years since our first visit to Portugal. When we returned in September ’04 we found that not a lot had changed, especially in the northern area. Women still carry baskets and bundles on their heads, men are seen leading donkeys laden with wood or market produce, and elderly widows are still all in black from head to toe. However, since becoming part of the European Union, Portugal has seen a great deal more road building than we found in 1974 and rivers are now navigable due to the dams and locks built for that purpose.

As we had...

November 2005 issue

El Salvador in depth

El Salvador is the smallest, most densely populated country in Central America, but it is bypassed by most group tour companies. In April ’05, I was lucky enough to find the “golden ticket” that got me not just into the country but entry into homes, social programs and even the American Embassy.

Global Awareness Through Experience, or GATE (phone 608/791-5283, fax 608/782-6301, e-mail gate@fspa.org or visit www.gate-travel.org), has been offering cultural-immersion programs in El Salvador since 1992. The company offers similar programs in Guatemala, Mexico and Eastern Europe.

October 2006 issue

Gauguin to skip Cook’s Bay

Readers should know that Regent (formerly Radisson) Seven Seas Cruises is no longer planning to dock the Paul Gauguin regularly at Cook’s Bay, Moorea, French Polynesia.

We spend three weeks each spring on Cook’s Bay on Moorea and always frequent the Gauguin docking area, visiting with passengers and vendors and enjoying the Gauguin’s visit. On our trip in March-April ’06, we noticed the ship’s absence from Cook’s Bay. We were told that the ship, when stopping on Moorea, now plans to anchor in Opunohu Bay at Papetoai.

From a passenger’s point of view, this is a most...

December 2006 issue

Exceeding posted limits

A reader recently “fumed” about speed traps in New Zealand after receiving a $25 fine for exceeding the posted 100 km/h speed limit by 10 km/h (Oct. ’06, pg. 79).

$25? Just wait until you get to Switzerland, where exceeding the posted limit by as little as either 2 or 3 km/h (depending on the officer’s equipment) incurs a fine much heftier than $25.

Let’s be prudent motorists and good ambassadors. LORENZ RYCHNER Denver, CO

September 2005 issue

Allow cell phone use on planes?

Knowing that lawmakers are considering allowing cell phones to be used on planes, in the July ’05 issue (page 122) Rich Harvey of Athens, Ohio, asked if anyone else was opposed to the idea. Several readers replied, as follows.

Cell phone use on planes? NO, NO, a thousand times NO! It’s bad enough that passengers can now use their cell phones before taking off and after landing. How many times have you had to listen to dozens of loud, inane conversations? “We’re taking off soon.” “We’ve just landed” and so on. Or some businessman in the next seat shouting at his secretary.

...

June 2006 issue

Traditional tango

On a South American trip in November ’04, we attended a tango show at El Querandi (Perú 302 [C1067AAH] Buenos Aires, Argentina; phone/fax [54/11] 5199-1770 or visit www.querandi.com.ar). It was arranged through our hotel and cost $40-$50 for the show and dinner.

About two-thirds of the performance was dancing and showed how tango dancing has evolved through the years. The dancing was very much in the traditional tango style with all its sensuality. The orchestra was also superb.

We also encountered several excellent tango dancers busking on the pedestrian street and in the...

November 2006 issue

Viking Surkov to Moscow

My wife and I started planning in the summer of 2005 to take one of the Russian ships of Viking River Cruises (5700 Canoga Ave., Ste. 200, Woodland Hills, CA 91367; 877/668-4546). We were interested in specific dates in 2006, in order to celebrate one of our birthdays and our anniversary. Our time slot fit the schedule of the Viking Surkov, with a departure from St. Petersburg on June 25 and arrival in Moscow on July 5.

We made our cabin reservation with Viking and then made our own airline reservations with United and SAS. The cruise and flights came to about $8,500, not including...

October 2006 issue

Ronciglione, Italy

Ronciglione, about an hour’s drive north from Rome’s Fiumicino Airport, is near Lake Vico, a summer playground for Italians from Rome. It was early November when we visited, and the town was bustling during the day and quiet at night. Some of the restaurants were closed for the season.

We rented an apartment and based our stay in this medieval hill town where “real people” live. Ronciglione was not touristy or overimpressed with itself, it seemed to me. People were pleasant and helpful. Out early each morning for fresh bread, we watched shopkeepers sweeping their portions of the...