Travelers' Intercom

For our stop in St. Petersburg, Russia, June 21-23, 2012, during Oceania Cruises’ 14-day Stockholm-Dover cruise aboard the Nautica, our group of 12 preferred to have a private guide rather than take the ship’s big-bus tour. An ITN subscriber had given rave reviews (April ’09, pg. 59) to the guide Natalya German Tsarkova (phone +7 921 391 1894, email natalygerman@gmail.com, www.original-tours.com). I contacted her in January. 

As have other ITN readers, we slightly modified Natalya’s standard 3-day tour. We paid $430 each, which included a Russian visa, the guide services of Natalya...

My daughter, Debra, and I spent a lovely weekend in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain, Oct. 19-22, 2012, staying at the 5-star, 18-room, boutique Hotel DO: Plaça Reial (Plaça Reial 1, 08002 Barcelona, Spain; phone +34 934 813 666, fax 933 020 970), located a very short walk from La Rambla. She found it on the Internet, and the cost for three nights was €700 (near $923), including VAT.

Although the hotel was beautiful, the room comfortable, the service impeccable, the included breakfast superb and the “pillow menu” interesting (you can choose what type and firmness you like),...

At David’s Fresh Noodle (No. 213 13th Street, Phnom Penh, Cambodia; phone 855 12 351 890 or e-mail som_bath@yahoo.com), I had the best restaurant food of my three weeks’ stay in Phnom Penh, Nov. 4-23, 2012.

This little place was clean, with maybe eight tables, and there were many choices, not just noodles. I had fried calamari and hand-cut French fries that weren’t at all greasy for $2.90 plus a Coke for $1.

The restaurant was just a short walk down 13th Street from the National Museum. The owner runs a children’s charity (Palm School of Tom Village in the Tom Community of...