On May 22, ’04, I called Grand Circle Travel to see about reserving the “Great Rivers of Europe” trip taking place Aug. 29-Sept. 16. I spoke to Robert in Customer Service and told him we wanted to reserve that date and the extension to Brussels. He checked and informed me that there was one cabin still available, cabin 101. I made the reservation and gave him my Visa number for the deposit of $1,000. He told me to call the company to initiate the final payment when the invoice and...

Friendly faces, lively music, colorful art and beautiful churches are what my husband and I found on our 12-day “Danube and Black Sea Sampler,” a river cruise from which we returned on Oct. 17, ’04. The cruise was offered by Vantage Deluxe World Travel (90 Canal St., Boston, MA 02114-2031; phone 800/322-6677).

After flying from the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky Airport to Chicago, we boarded a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt, then went on to Bucharest, Romania. The first night was at the...

A friend and I got together recently to compare notes and photos from our 2004 biking adventures in Europe.

My husband, R.C., and I, Donna Pyle, have done seven trips with Hindriks European Bicycle Tours (Box 6086, Huntington Beach, CA 92615; phone 800/852-3258 or visit www.hindrikstours.com), most recently to the Andalucia region of Spain but also including the Danube in Austria and Hungary, the Czech Republic, northern and southern Holland, the Cotswold region of England and Poland...