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...

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 cafecatedra@gmail.com), 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...

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’...