As my wife, Judy, and I traveled for 37 days in Central Europe, late August through early October 2010, we found a number of restaurants we would recommend.

In BUDAPEST, Hungary, we had dinner at Dunacorsa Étterem (1051 Budapest, Vigado tér 3; phone [+36] 1 3 186 362), Aug. 30 and Sept. 1. This restaurant, overlooking the Danube, offers fine dining inside and outside. There was a wonderful three-piece orchestra playing classical music. Our bill for two was $40, which included a bottle...

Upon returning from a September-October 2010 trip to Ethiopia, I had two occasions to use the papers that I had squirreled away relating to the trip.

When I landed at the airport in Addis Ababa after a Lufthansa flight, I realized that my almost-new suitcase with the four rotating wheels (which I had purchased after hunting all over town) was badly damaged. The zipper was broken, there was a dent in the frame and the material was torn.

Even though I was tired, I persisted in...

I enjoyed Lew Toulmin’s October 2010 “The Cruising World” column, reviewing various cruise lines, but since he has not sailed with Holland America Line (HAL) and I have done at least five of their cruises (from 1997 to 2009, Alaska twice; Australia to New Zealand; the Baltics, and the Mediterranean), I want to share some of my observations.

Lew said that HAL “attracts an older, quiet… crowd.” During the school year, this is probably the case; however, during Christmas and the summer...