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A recess off Postojna Cave’s walkway is filled with what appear to be icicles transformed into stone. Photo: Patten

Slovenia’s Postojna Cave exceeded all my expectations. 

First of all, it was the largest and most impressive cave I’d ever visited. Secondly, its many outstanding formations of stalactites and stalagmites as well as columns extending from the cave floor to the ceiling were more spectacular than any I’d seen elsewhere. Then there were the cave’s mysterious olms, the world’s largest troglodytic amphibians.

I visited the cave on Sept. 16, 2012,...

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The angel singing “Ave Maria” in Postojna Cave. Photo: Barnes

My husband, Nick, and I were fortunate to visit Slovenia’s Postojna Cave on Christmas Day 2012. For five days a year, starting on Dec. 25, there is a holiday pageant inside the cave.

During our visit, after riding a small train for eight minutes deep into the cave, we saw a small choir singing Christmas carols. Following the long path through the cave, we encountered living tableaus of the story of Jesus’ birth.

 

It began with an “angel,” a woman in dazzling white robes under...

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The sign

At Ephesus, Turkey, this sign showing a man falling really gets the point across.  — DOUG RITTENHOUSE, Port Angeles, WA

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An amusing sign.

On our trip to Myanmar with ElderTreks (Toronto, ON, Canada; 888/741-7956), Jan. 17-Feb. 5, 2011, our group was much amused by this sign located at 8,000 Buddhas Cave, in the town of Pindaya, Shan State.

ELLEN JACOBSON Centennial, CO

While on a group safari in Botswana in June 2013, my wife, Sandy, and I stayed in the jungle at Stanley’s Camp, located in the Okavango Delta near the Moremi Game Reserve and operated by Sanctuary Retreats. Intrigued by a brochure in the hotel lobby for a camp that retrains “bad boy” elephants and allows visitors to see the rehabilitated animals up close, we paid $428 each to see the elephants (charged to our closing bill at the camp).

Only guests at one of the two...

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Stephen and Paula on the rue du Conseil in Turckheim, France.  Photo: Addison

Visits to France’s scenic Alsace region should always include sightseeing in some of the enchanting, medieval villages along Alsace’s wine road. Located in the foothills of the Vosges Mountains, these atmospheric, small villages are filled with half-timbered structures with intriguing shops and restaurants. Wineries are common there and typically offer tastings, as my wife, Paula, and I discovered during our visit in late November 2013.

In this region, wineries were...

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Statue of Jesus in the Santa Maria Sopra Minerva Basilica in Rome. Photo by Nili Olay

My husband, Jerry, and I used several methods to see the sights before, during and after a cruise with Windstar Cruises (Seattle, WA; 206/292-9606), Oct. 22-Nov. 8, 2013. We went from Athens to Rome, stopping at several charming Greek and Italian islands along the way, including Sicily. These places are so well known, I don’t need to describe their highlights, but here are some suggestions that, hopefully, will add value to other travelers’ trips.

In Athens, we stayed at...

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While we were in Bodrum/Milas, Turkey, in March 2014, I visited bank after bank in an effort to find one that would exchange American Express Travelers’ Cheques. Nobody would change them.

In the past, this was never a problem; even the hotels would cash them. But this time everyone said ‘No.’

IRMA HESS

Mt. Vernon, NY