Travelers' Intercom | International Travel News

January 2007 issue

Sights in Amsterdam

The hub of Amsterdam is Dam Square. When we visited the city in July ’05, there was always lots of activity here — jugglers, mimes, musicians giving impromptu concerts. . . . The magnificent Royal Palace is on the edge of the square. Across from it is the Gothic De Nieuwe Kerk (new church), dating from 1414, where kings and queens are invested. It is worth a visit to marvel at its vast interior and to see the interesting art exhibits on display.

A few blocks away is De Oude Kerk. Built in 1250, it is the city’s oldest building and reportedly has the oldest timber roof in Europe....

March 2006 issue

Consider Guatemala

Having made three trips to Guatemala, when I read Judith Anshin’s story in the January ’06 issue it brought back many happy memories of this beautiful land and of the wonderful people who live there. I was, however, saddened that no mention was made of the devastation that hit Guatemala during the recent hurricane season.

Mudslides destroyed entire villages (including a small village adjoining Santiago Atitlán (which Anshin visited), hundreds lost their homes and many were killed. I realize that this happened after Anshin’s visit (and that there were many areas that suffered natural...

July 2006 issue

Heads up for Outback drivers

While on my independent tour of Australia in March ’06, I was waiting for the Adelaide-Alice Springs train to board and got into a conversation with Lois, a lady who had lived in Alice Springs for 20 years.

When I told Lois that I was renting a car and driving in the Outback, she warned me not to stop for Aborigines if they tried to flag me down on the road. She said they would not hurt me, but they might have a group hidden in the bush waiting for me to stop who would then intimidate me into taking them wherever it was that they wanted to go, for all practical purposes...

December 2005 issue

Chiran Peace Museum

The place that most interested me during our Japan trip was Chiran. Chiran was the site where young men flew on kamikaze flights, and today it is the site of the Chiran Peace Museum.

It was April, and the road in from the entrance of the site was impressively beautiful with azaleas and numerous stone lanterns. After arriving, we went into a large, beautiful park and a museum of photos, memorabilia, two Zero planes and a Kawasaki fighter. The plane looked like one of our P-47s, and it appeared that it used a large Mercedes-Benz engine that was displaced on one side of the plane....

April 2006 issue

Buenos Aires ‘tango’ shows

My wife, Judy, and I and two friends took a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, in November ’05. We stayed at the Wilton Plaza, having arranged our reservations through a Peruvian online travel service (e-mail reservations@argentinas-hotels.com).

As soon as we arrived, we had — out of the blue — an e-mail message waiting for us at the hotel desk from the office of an English-speaking guide, Maximiliano (call me “Max”) Lopez (maxlop@argentina.com). This was followed by a call while we were unpacking. I gathered that he had been referred to us by the Internet travel service.

We...

May 2006 issue

Lessons from an apartment stay in Italy

For a trip to Italy a few years ago, for 17 days we rented an apartment in Ronciglione, an hour’s drive north of Rome’s Fiumicino Airport. There were advantages and disadvantages to having a base and making day trips.

• Advantages — Had we not been stationary, we never would have seen the nearby, tiny, off-the-beaten-track towns, let alone linger in them over coffee watching local life go by, or peered into hardware shops at vegetable seeds and pottery plant holders (which we purchased at a fraction of what a gift shop would have charged). We also wouldn’t have gotten to know a few...

October 2005 issue

Money Matters Overseas

(First of two parts, jump to part 2)

ITN asked readers to write in about how they deal with money and making purchases overseas (anywhere outside of North America and the Caribbean). We asked, “Do you procure some cash of the country you’re traveling to before you leave the States or wait until you step off the plane and look for a bank or automatic teller machine (ATM)? What type of card do you use? Instead of cash or travelers’ checks, do you prefer using credit cards for purchases? What advice do you have for others?”

Some of the responses we received appear below. (Note...

June 2005 issue

Rude awakenings on cruise

ITN was mailed a copy of the following letter, sent by a reader to Holland America Line.

I am writing in reference to our cruise on the MS Noordam, May 9-19, ’04, out of and returning to Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy.

This was a cruise we chose to celebrate our golden anniversary on May 16. For this special occasion we picked a cabin in one of the best categories (B) and were very disappointed. The cabin, number 68, was large and very nice, but of the nine days at sea, we were able to sleep past 7 a.m. on only two days, and often we were unable to take a nap in the afternoon....