Travelers' Intercom

October 2009 issue

Boutique Museums: Loaf here

One of the most unusual and fascinating small museums that my husband, Gordon, and I have ever visited is the Museum of Bread Culture (Salzstadelgasse 10, 89073 Ulm, Germany; phone +49 731 69955, fax 731 6021161, www.brotmuseum-ulm.de). It’s located only a few blocks (easy walking distance) from the magnificent Ulm Cathedral.

The museum examines the history of bread making, from ancient to modern times, around the world. A time line of exhibits shows the various kinds of grains used in baking bread, the progression of ovens from their beginnings, bread plates and platters, and much...

CONTINUE READING »
April 2011 issue

Credit card double whammy

On at least two occasions in Europe, when I used a MasterCard to buy souvenirs in a town busy with American tourists, the charge slip that I was given to sign for the purchase of an item priced in euros had language at the bottom stating that the purchaser agreed to have the charge made in US dollars instead, with the conversion to dollars made at a very unfavorable exchange rate.

Although this information was printed in English, it was in the space that, on charge slips at home, is usually taken up by advertising, so buyers often just sign these forms without reading that text....

CONTINUE READING »
May 2011 issue

Game of Kenya

Our first game drive in the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya was very exciting! We spend about three hours driving all over the park and saw three different types of giraffes, Grevy’s zebras (lots of them), Grant’s gazelles (ditto), a secretary bird, warthogs (ugly critters), oryx, Cape buffalo (big mean looking and very plentiful), impalas, elephants, gerenuk (a giraffe-necked gazelle that stands on its hind legs to eat from the tops of bushes), guinea fowl and lots and lots of baboons.

The dainty little gazelles and ba­­boons must have had a death wish: they didn’t get out of the...

CONTINUE READING »
September 2009 issue

Seafood in BA

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, a new restaurant in Barrio Norte called Cilantro (Anchorena 1122; phone 11 4966 2941, e-mail cilantro1122 @gmail.com) is a welcome place to get interesting food beyond the much-touted beef and ubiquitous pizza places.

Created by an Israeli immigrant, it offers fresh seafood and a menu with Mediterranean and Asiatic overtones. In December ’08, entrées ran about $12-$18 per person, with excellent wine for only $5-$8 per glass.

SANDY LUDEMAN Eugene, OR

April 2011 issue

Pickpockets in BA

Waiting for our cruise-tour aboard the Norwegian Sun to begin with Vantage Deluxe World Travel (Boston, MA), we spent three days in Buenos Aires in late March ’10. Luckily, on one of our city tours the local Vantage guide filled us in on a tourist scam.

The perpetrators spray you with brown mustard, then rush up with tissue to help clean off the offensive stuff, pointing up into the trees and blaming the birds for the mess. In the process, they pick your pocket or steal belongings.

The next morning, on a walk in Plaza San Martin, that very thing happened to us. We passed two...

CONTINUE READING »
February 2009 issue

Compensated for misdirected bag

I took the 16-day “Italian Masterpiece” tour with Cosmos, Sept. 29-Oct. 14, 2007. The trip began with two days in Venice, then the itinerary led us south to Rome, which we reached on Oct. 3. From there we continued back to Venice.

The first leg of the flight over was on United Airlines and the last on Lufthansa. When we arrived in the Venice area from Zürich, my suitcase was missing. I waited for the next flight, but it was not on that one, either. The others were visiting Venice while I spent the afternoon waiting for my luggage and filling out forms at the lost-and-found. I then...

CONTINUE READING »
August 2009 issue

Cathedrale d’Images

Two sites in France paying homage to artist Pablo Picasso this year were mentioned in ITN (June ’09, pg. 70). I would like to add a third.

In the mountain village of Les Baux de Provence there is an underground rock quarry that has been transformed into a “Cathedrale d’Images,” where huge images of Picasso’s works are projected onto the quarry walls, accompanied by music. The total effect is awe-inspiring.

Our visit to the quarry turned out to be the highlight of our Grand Circle Travel river cruise, “Cruising Burgundy and Provence to the Côte d’Azur,” April 27-May 8, 2009,...

CONTINUE READING »
January 2009 issue

Deutschland music cruises

The MS Deutschland, a 520-passenger ocean liner of Peter Deilmann Cruises (Alexandria, VA; 800/348/8287, www.deilmann-cruises.com), offers theme cruises, including classical music cruises. I was aboard for the Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2008, classical music cruise from Hamburg, Germany, to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

The basic cruise cost started at $5,391 per person, double occupancy, and included airfare from New York, European airport transfers, meals, all shore excursions and all musical performances aboard the ship. Additional costs were $265 air taxes, $125 port charges and $130 fuel...

CONTINUE READING »