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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...

For me, the highlight of a visit to Tunisia was ancient Carthage. The city of Tunis has a number of suburbs. One is Carthage — modern and bustling — but located within it, on the coast, is ancient Carthage. Since I took Latin, I’ve remembered that one Roman senator always concluded his speeches with “Carthage must be destroyed.”

We took the tram to the suburban train to ancient Carthage, where we spent about half a day. There are a number of locations to tour — a museum, a Roman bath and other attractions — but the most interesting, to me, was perhaps the smallest: the man-made...

Beautiful treeless islands, cool clean air and sunny days marked our 2-week “Windmills and Waterford” cruise, around the British Isles, Aug. 23-Sept. 6, ’05, on Holland America Line’s ms Prinsendam.

The blend of cities, small towns and islands had something for everyone, including golfers. Cities included Dover, Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast, with excursions offered to London and Edinburgh. The Isle of Man, Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis, the Hebrides, Kirkwall on the Orkney Islands and the privately owned Guernsey island of Herm were most enjoyable.

We also visited Waterford...