The food on our trip to Turkey was wonderful. Lots of lamb, of course, but the big surprise was the quality and variety of seafood. Best grilled fish ever! The surprise treat was the fried mussels on a stick. The mezes, or starters, were another surprise; a modest mom-and-pop restaurant would offer eight or 10 choices.

Restraint is in order, however, because you really should try the lentil soup — I tried it in 12 places and each version was delicious and different from the others —...

There is now an alternative to paying €14 (near $26) for a 15-minute ride on the quarter-hourly Heathrow Express from London’s Heathrow to Paddington Station.

On June 12, 2005, Heathrow Connect began half-hourly rail service on the same tracks but with a big difference, a fare of €9.50 ($17.50) and a slower, 25-minute ride as it stops at five stations en route, including Ealing Broadway, which is conveniently served on adjacent tracks by the London underground.

An extra 10...

Ecuador is currently being flooded with near-perfect counterfeit bills, mostly arriving from Colombia. As a result, Ecuador’s commerce and banking sector is no longer accepting any U.S. 100-dollar bills. Even the banks will not exchange these bills, at present.

This might not seem odd at first glance, but the legal currency of Ecuador is, in fact, the U.S. dollar (adopted in late 2000).

All other U.S. bills are still being accepted. While U.S. coins are also accepted, Ecuador...