Travelers' Intercom

In late summer ’05 we booked with Cruise West, through TravLtips, a Central American cruise to take place during the Christmas holidays. At the time, we noted the ship’s departure on our calendar but forgot to note that we had to be in Costa Rica the day before. You can imagine our embarrassment upon arriving at the airport to be told, “But your flight left yesterday.”

An immediate call was placed to TravLtips (Flushing, NY; 800/872-8584) to explain our dilemma. On that same day, TravLtips rearranged our air and cruise bookings for a departure in early January, while keeping us...

My husband, Al, and I traveled through Holland and Belgium, April 18-May 6, ’05, at the peak of the spring flower season.

We planned the trip ourselves and drove a rental car, a Ford Fusion (similar to a Ford Focus). It cost $35 per day plus taxes and Schiphol Airport pickup ($75). We rented it through Auto Europe (Portland, ME; phone 800/223-5555).

Petrol was €1.30 a liter, which translated to about $6.25 a gallon. (And Americans think $2 per gallon is high.)

We stayed eight days in Amerongen in a conveniently centrally located B&B, de Utrechtse Heuvelrug (visit...

The Ostheimers mentioned The Tin Shed Sheepskin Shop (Rangitata 22 RD, Geraldine, South Canterbury, New Zealand; phone +64 3 693 9416 or, free within N.Z., 0508 504 006, fax 693 9531 or visit www.thetinshed.co.nz) on the South Island of New Zealand (Dec. ’05, pg. 103). I’ll second their recommendation. The place is literally a tin shed, but they have a great selection of New Zealand woolen products.

When I stopped there in July of 1998, I found out what a “mattress overlay” was. They are made in Christchurch of sheep fleece sewn through a stretchy backing with great big pockets in...