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March 2010 issue

Turkey on the cheap — in Marmaris

I spent 26 days in Turkey in May ’09 traveling solo and on the cheap. Excluding airfare, my total expenses were $951. I wrote about my visits to Bodrum (Oct. ’09, pg. 14) and Selçuk (Jan. ’10, pg. 30) and now cover Marmaris.

On day eight, I walked to the bus station in Selçuk and picked up a ticket to Marmaris (TL30, or about $19). The bus company was Pamukkale (phone 0 232 892 3961). I would have to go to the town of Ayden first and then switch to a bus that went straight to Marmaris; there was no bus from Selçuk straight to Marmaris that early in the season.

I walked back...

December 2010 issue

Travelex prepaid debit cards

My husband, Nelson, and I traveled to France in June ’09 and to England and France in July-August ’10. Each time, we took cash to Washington Dulles airport and, before our flight, found a Travelex counter and got a Cash Passport prepaid debit card in euros. Each had a magnetic stripe but no chip.

What I particularly liked is that these prepaid cards were not linked to any bank account, and if one were lost, stolen or compromised, Travelex would put an immediate stop on it and issue us a new card.

Because we got a better rate having one account with more money rather than two...

January 2005 issue

Hitting the museums in Germany

We traveled to Germany, May 7-June 2, ’04. We had seen much of the country’s natural beauty, the Romantic Road and other attractions on a previous trip. This one was planned with art as the main objective.

In FRANKFURT we were booked at the Kaiserhof Hotel, which, despite the grandiose name, is a simple but adequate tourist hotel. Our room cost €170 ($217), including an abbreviated breakfast. The Kaiserhof turned out to be in a convenient location, steps from the railroad station and — great for us — a short walk from the Stadel Museum. Of course, the clerk at the hotel had the...

April 2010 issue

Re Maori maraes

Just a note re the photograph and text on New Zealand on page 80 of the March ’10 issue. The writer uses the word marae for “village,” and this is not correct. A village is usually called a pa or pah, which originally meant a fortified village but these days refers to most rural Maori settlements.

A marae is a sacred, open meeting area usually situated in front of the whare runanga, which is the communal meeting house.

The marae is the basis of traditional Maori life, and there are many customs and traditions associated with it. Guests, particularly foreigners, can be there...

May 2011 issue

Croatia and Slovenia Experiences

Articles my husband, R.C., and I read in ITN helped us plan our fall ’09 trip to Croatia and Slovenia. We went to Plitvice National Park because every article we’d read about Croatia mentioned this destination. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen another place quite like it. The color of the lakes is so special, black-and-white photos cannot do it justice. We spent an entire day walking the park’s paths.

We also read Yvonne Michie Horn’s article “The Adriatic Coast” (Feb. ’09, pg. 6), which had us looking for the “winged lion” all up and down the coast of Croatia.

Here are some...

March 2004 issue

Notes on Sweden

We wanted to share notes from a vacation we had in Sweden, July 16-28, ’03. This trip certainly is one we will repeat. We gathered information from the Swedish Travel & Tourism Council (www.visit-sweden.com) and from articles written by ITN subscribers, some of whom we contacted.

We were a little reluctant to try the express train from Arlanda Airport to Stockholm, but it was inexpensive; we paid a family rate of $23 for the two of us. We had our luggage carts from entry and merely took the elevator to the airport’s lower level and boarded the train.

We chose the Sheraton...

July 2005 issue

Enjoy horchata

My wife and I took a short holiday in the Valencia region of Spain in September ’04 and bring good news for those suffering from cholesterol problems! Let me introduce you to a popular drink called horchata.

This drink is based on the chufa (tiger nut), grown in the sandy silt soil of the region and enjoying a temperate climate without frosts in the first months of the growing cycle.

According to researchers at the University of Valencia, the fatty acids of horchata are similar to that of olive oil — good for the heart (in preventing arteriosclerosis) and perhaps capable of...

April 2004 issue

Cruise aborted

On our way to St. Barts and ultimately Manaus, Brazil, aboard the Olympia Voyager in December ’03, our eagerly awaited “Grand Amazon Cruise” was aborted — a great disappointment to most of the passengers (and we never used our Brazilian visas).

When the company that owned the ship went bankrupt, we were diverted from St. Barts and stranded for 12 days in the outer harbor at St. Thomas. Since St. Thomas has never been one of my favorite places, these were very long, boring days.

The service crew and entertainers on the ship were terrific. They did all they could to make our...