Report Cards

April 2013 issue | Appears on page 4

Guide in Ecuador. Travel arranger in Australia. Accessibility of Myanmar's capital. Paris restaurant

REPORT ON ECUADOR…

After a week in the Galápagos Islands, four of us took a day of leisure in Quito, Ecuador, Feb. 4, 2013. Our hotel recommended a guide, Fabian Pulloquinga ([email protected]).

Fabian and his driver, Marco, picked us up at the hotel at 8:30 a.m. and returned us by 5 p.m.; we set the times. We paid $68 each. Fabian’s van was modern and clean, and Marco drove well and cautiously.

We toured Quito and the market town of Otavalo and had lunch in...

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March 2013 issue | Appears on page 4

Schiphol Airport car rental. Disney Cruise Line's Disney Fantasy. Colombia tour.

NETHERLANDS REPORT

For a week in the Netherlands, Dec. 20-27, 2012, my wife and I rented a car at Schiphol Airport from BB&L Car Rental (phone +31 20 6557900).

Reserving it over the Internet six to eight weeks in advance, our Category-A car cost €212 (near $283), all inclusive, with an extra driver allowed and unlimited mileage. We had a 3-door Renault Twingo with manual transmission and a GPS — a small car but perfectly suited to two people and the narrow roads of Holland...

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February 2013 issue | Appears on page 4

Sydney hotel, restaurant. Company for Russia tours.

REPORT ON AUSTRALIA…

Australia has become quite expensive, and Sydney will definitely get your wallet’s attention. Hotels in the heart of downtown are very pricey, but in October ’12 my husband and I found a jewel within walking distance for considerably less money. In the Potts Point area, the Victoria Court Hotel (122 Victoria St.; phone +61 2 9357 3200, fax 9357 7606) calls itself a boutique B&B.

The building dates from 1881, and there’s no elevator, but the rooms have...

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December 2012 issue | Appears on page 4

Chip-and-PIN cards preferred in Netherlands. SE Asia cruise-tour and Siem Reap café. Grindelwald apartment. Laundromat in Harwich.

REPORT ON NETHERLANDS

The information about using ATM and credit cards with embedded chips for travel in Europe didn’t register with me before a trip in August-September 2012.

My husband, Ray, and I had no problem buying a train ticket in Copenhagen at the station or using our non-chip (magnetic-strip) cards in Norway or Sweden, but when we arrived at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport our luck stopped. Neither the ATM machine, the manned GWK Travelex money-exchange booth nor the...

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November 2012 issue | Appears on page 4

Barcelona restaurant. Dubrovnik driver. Beer house in Tallinn. Restaurant in Split.
By Connie Martin

ON CROATIA & SPAIN…

• In Barcelona, SPAIN, my partner, Jerry, and I tried Restaurant Cátedra (Via Laietana 5, Supteniente Navarro #19, Barcelona; phone 932 954 620 or e-mail [email protected]), located within three blocks of Old Town and featuring good regional food at a reasonable price.

For about $15 each, we had the 3-course menu: salad or soup, choice of one of four entrées (among them, steak and salmon) and dessert plus bread and wine or beer. This was on Aug. 13...

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April 2012 issue | Appears on page 4

Botanical garden and day-tour company in Dominica; Bucharest hotel, and London flat.

REPORT ON DOMINICA…

During a January ’12 Southern Caribbean cruise, we visited a botanical garden in Dominica that we thought was exceptional.

Papillote Tropical Gardens is located on the southwestern side of Dominica, about 40 miles inland from Roseau, the capital (though the roads are hilly and windy, so the actual road distance is farther). It’s in the foothills of Morne Micotrin and almost adjacent to Trafalgar Falls.

Papillote is a true tropical garden, with a...

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March 2012 issue | Appears on page 4

Bangkok restaurant; Paris apartment; Passau and Munich hotels, and Sofia hotel

REPORT ON BANGKOK…

Four friends and I went to lunch in Bangkok at the Paris Bangkok Restaurant (120 Soi Saladang 1/1, Silom Bangrak 10500, Bangkok, Thailand; phone 02 233 1990) on Dec. 16, 2011, and the food there was exceptional.

I ordered a set menu consisting of a duck foie gras appetizer and steak entrée, and the others had entrées of salmon, tuna and chicken Basquaise plus dessert and two bottles of St. Christopher wine.

One friend said his salmon was the best he’...

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February 2012 issue | Appears on page 4

Driver in Jordan; Rome restaurant; United's business class; Munich apartment, restaurant, and Prague lodging, dining, museum.

REPORT ON JORDAN… For our November-December 2011 trip to Jordan, we hired a private driver, Jehad Abu Saeed, whom we highly recommend. Jehad was courteous and a good driver and had a clean and comfortable car. He showed up on time and was always waiting by the car when we finished touring a site. When we wanted to adjust our plans for the day, he was happy to oblige. He is not a guide and will not accompany you into the various sites, but, typically, there were guides available for hire at...

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