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Along with seven other adventurous souls, I took a 15-day tour of Ethiopia offered by Patrick Syder Travel (Zenobia House, 23 Bowmans Close, Steyning, West Sussex, BN44 3SR, U.K.; phone/fax +44 [0] 1903 879737).

This classic itinerary through northern Ethiopia, April 12-26 2011, cost £1,790 (then, $2,873), including three domestic flights on Ethiopian Airlines, full board, an outstanding guide and the personal services of Patrick Syder, himself.

Ethiopia is one of two countries in Africa that were never colonized (the other is Liberia), although it was occupied briefly...

My wife and I took the tour “Highlights of Spain and Portugal,” Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2010, with Trafalgar Tours, having booked it through our AAA agent. Including our round-trip airfare, Cleveland-Atlanta-Madrid, the 14-day/13-night tour cost $6,000 for two plus another $1,300 for the optional tours.

Our group numbered 48 people on one bus. The main destinations were Madrid, Cordoba, Grenada, the Costa del Sol, Torremolinos, Seville, Lisbon and Porto, with the tour ending back in Madrid. The distance covered was some 2,000 miles.

The company’s brochure lists this trip as “...

We returned from France on May 27 to find the June ’09 issue and Abbie Salny’s letter titled “Heads up on Paris Métro” (page 14), which said there are no longer any ticket booths in the Métro stations, only machines that accept credit cards or cash. There are, indeed, manned ticket booths in the Métro, just not in every station.*

We tried to use our American credit card in the ticket machine at the Gare de Lyon station, but it was rejected. European credit cards have a chip in them that is lacking in ours. Several times over the last decade, we have tried to use our credit cards at...