Travelers' Intercom

June 2021 issue

World Expo fan
By Fred Steinberg

My first World Expo exposure was Expo 67 in Montreal, Québec, but I became an inveterate fan after attending HemisFair ’68 in San Antonio, Texas, and Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan.

Held every two to three years, world’s fairs started in London with the 1851 Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, followed by the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris.

I have attended World Expos in five countries, from Italy to Japan, and am always excited to find each holding a unique perspective, though all feature the current technological developments and...

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March 2021 issue

Kenya COVID entry rules
By Sarnia Guiton

On Nov. 21, 2020, moving to my new home, I flew from Vancouver, BC, Canada, to Nairobi, Kenya, on Lufthansa.

While I knew of Kenya’s Ministry of Transport’s directive that proof of a negative result of a PCR-based COVID-19 test, taken within 96 hours of arrival, had to be presented for entry into that country, what I wasn’t aware of was that it had to be presented at check-in at the airport before leaving Canada.

I was fortunate that my test result had arrived by text on my phone that morning. Some people were unable to fly because they had not known of the...

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April 2021 issue

2021 visit to Yucatán, Mexico
By Harry Conwell

Having traveled each winter for 45 years, I had limited options for foreign travel in winter 2020-2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel within Mexico was possible, so I decided to visit the Yucatán Peninsula.

From Houston, Texas, on Dec. 30 I flew to Mérida, capital and largest city in the state of Yucatán. In the airport, security checked my temperature and sanitized my hands and luggage (spraying it) before I left the terminal.

I took a taxi to Hotel del Peregrino (Calle 51 #488; phone +52 999 924 3007, hoteldelperegrino.com), from where I made further travel...

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May 2021 issue

Hacienda de Los Santos in Álamos, Sonora
By Lynn Meadows
This sign sits atop Mount Alamos. Left to right: Tom and Lynn Meadows and friends Vince and Susan.

When people think of Mexico, most are thinking of the small coastal towns along Baja and on the mainland where cruise ships stop, but, in the northwest, there is another part of Mexico that is well worth visiting.

In the state of Sonora, in the foothills of the Western Sierra Madre, is the town of Álamos. Dating back to the 17th century, Álamos was founded by Spanish colonists. They were followed by mining barons and then imperialists and revolutionaries. With a current population of around 20,000, the town is a historical monument and state historical site.

A wonderful...

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December 2016 issue

The North Pole with Quark
By Jo Rawlins Gilbert

When Quark Expeditions sent me information about a North Pole trip aboard a Russian nuclear icebreaker, it was the Murmansk stop that sold me. I remembered that during World War II, merchant mariners took chances sailing to that Russian port in the Arctic to deliver supplies to our Soviet allies.

I previously had a good experience with Quark Expeditions (Seattle, WA; 888/332-0008, www.quarkexpeditions.com) in the Antarctic. For this Arctic trip, I chose their least expensive fare ($26,750). I later upgraded (at no extra cost) so my roommate and I could have a larger room.

...

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October 2015 issue

Procuring cash in Colombia
By Stephen O. Addison, Jr.

I should have paid more attention to Julie Skurdenis. Appended to her June 2012 “Focus on Archaeology” column, regarding Bogotá’s La Candelaria neighborhood, was a brief narrative of the difficulties she had using her cell phone with a SIM card purchased in Bogotá plus problems using ATM cards there. My cell phone worked fine in Colombia, but I suffered difficulties in obtaining cash.

The day before my wife and I were to depart on our July 2015 trip, it dawned on me that I should get some Colombian pesos in advance. My bank (Wells Fargo) didn’t have pesos...

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June 2016 issue

London’s Paddington neighborhood
By Stephen O. Addison, Jr.

One rarely hears the phrase “affordable and convenient lodging” used in the same sentence with London. I had been dreading tracking down a hotel for our December 2015 visit when our English friends John and Jennifer Bradshaw gave us a great tip about the Paddington neighborhood, located in northwestern Westminster, northeast of Bayswater and west of Marylebone.

At their recommendation, my wife, Paula, and I booked a room at St. David’s Hotels (14-20 Norfolk Square; phone +44 20 7723 3856, www.stdavidshotels.com), a “bed-and-breakfast hotel” on Norfolk...

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October 2020 issue

Relaxing in Chania, Crete
By Marvin Feldman
Marvin Feldman on the promenade at the Old Venetian Harbor in Chania, Crete. Photo by Carole Feldman

To begin our Greek adventures in 2019, my wife, Carole, and I, courtesy of the US Air Force (due to my status as a military veteran), flew from California to the US Naval Support Activity (NSA) Souda Bay in Chania, on the island of Crete.

Our 13th-century Venetian hotel, Porto del Colombo Boutique Hotel (Old Town, Chania; phone +30 28210 70945, portodelcolombo.gr), formerly the French Embassy, was a jewel. Our room, which we had booked on Expedia.com, cost about €80 (near $95) per night, including breakfast, and overlooked Chania’s stunning Old Venetian Harbor. We stayed...

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