During a 2-week trip to Italy in May 2016, I spent my final nights at the little Agriturismo Ca’ Beatrice (Via Triestina, 99/A, 30173 Favaro, Veneto, Italy; phone +39 041 635 322, www.agriturismocabeatrice.it), located in the Veneto region.I had booked it again (see Dec. ’14, pg. 31) partly for its proximity to the Venice Marco Polo Airport, as I had a 6:30 a.m. flight out. Even though, when wanting to reach Venice proper, it was a bit of a time-waster to have to take a...

I was issued a Visa debit card through my Chase Private Client account in January 2017. The accompanying material definitely said that the card could be used at any ATM anywhere in the world with no foreign transaction fee (FTF). An ATM fee might be charged, but Chase would reimburse me for that fee.*I’m quite elderly, so any future foreign travels will not be adventurous; nonetheless, I was also very impressed to be given a phone number to call that is manned by a Chase concierge...

The Republic of Karelia lies in northwestern Russia along the border of Finland. A friend and I, both senior women, toured the area at the end of June 2016.Through Patriarshy Dom Tours (Vspolnyy per., 6, Moskva; phone +7 495 795 09 27, www.toursin russia.com), a travel agency that a friend of mine in Moscow recommended, we had booked the 6-day, 5-night “Grand Karelia Tour” offered by Nordic Travel (26 Kuybysheva St., Rm. 100, 185035 Petrozavodsk, Russia; www.nordictravel.ru).We...