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Every year, I try to travel by car to a different destination in Romania. During my April-May visit in 2015, I made a 3-hour drive from Bucharest to Măldărești. Part of that drive was on a beautiful highway, which gave way to magnificent mountain scenery.

Romania has many conaculs (manor houses) that have been purchased by private individuals and turned into guest houses. In Măldăreşti I stayed at Conacul lui Maldăr (Măldăreşti, jud. Vâlcea, 247370, Romania; phone +40 744 394 362, www...

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Since London is one of our favorite cities, my friend Mary and I add a visit there to the beginning or end of any tour in the area. In May 2015, after a tour of England, we chose to stay — for the sixth time — at our favorite London lodging, a flat in Chelsea (6 Tite Street, Chelsea, London; wonderfulchelsea@aol.com) that is advertised often in ITN’s Mart section.

Ted and Marie Phillips live upstairs and are fabulous hosts.

In the flat, the electric fireplace is topped by a...

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In the Editor’s November 2015 “Boarding Pass” column, he warned of an online-hotel-booking scam, and I must take friendly issue with advice given on page 58 that describes what to look for after clicking on a link within a suspicious email. You should never, ever click a link that you haven’t verified first. There’s an important reason for this rule.

As the Editor stated, a scam site may ask someone to enter private information, which subsequently will be misused. This is known as “...

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Malaysian Borneo proved to be interesting. Its people were exceedingly friendly. 

Highlights of the tour that my wife, Joann, and I took, May 7-21, 2015, included seeing orangutans, visiting the bat-infested Niah Caves (where man settled 40,000 years ago) and meeting people of the Iban tribe.

The Ibans live in groups of about 300 each in longhouses, all 300 under one roof, each family having one room. Formerly, Ibans were headhunters. Fortunately, they now are peaceful....

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Four of us did a driving trip in southeastern Italy in October 2003. We had a fantastic time! During our 2-week trip, we visited Rome, Venice, Florence, Amalfi, Tuscany, Mt. Vesuvius, Pompeii, Pisa and the Cinque Terre, but it was our off-the-beaten-path destinations near the “heel of the boot” of Italy that made the trip very special.

This portion of Italy has hundreds of trulli (round stone structures with conical roofs that shelter people and animals), but the town of...

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My letter about the best day on which to book certain domestic flights on United Airlines was printed under the title “Wednesday’s Fares” (Aug. ’15, pg. 50). 

I recently booked a round-trip flight from EWR (Newark, New Jersey) to LAX (Los Angeles, California). For almost two years, I had been going to United’s website (www.united.com) on Wednesdays and booking my flights. I usually book six to eight weeks in advance, but this time I had to wait to finalize dates and, three weeks...

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There are great bargains on transportation in London, as I learned in July 2015.

I purchased an Oyster card in a Tube station. Available from machines or cashiers, Oyster cards can be used for any public transportation in London. I paid £10 (near $15.50), and four days later at a different station I got back the £5 that I hadn’t used. Visitors can also buy Oyster cards online at https://visitorshop.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/london-visitor-oyster-card.

I used the Oyster...

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Heading to Dubrovnik, Croatia, on May 30, 2015, I was sitting in Premium Economy Class on a Lufthansa flight from New York to Frankfurt. Without having removed or even loosening my seat belt, I leaned forward in my seat to talk to my daughter, Dorie, who was sitting in front of me, and I bruised my liver!

I don’t think my seat belt was cinched too tight for just sitting, but I should have loosened or unfastened it before leaning forward. 

I knew immediately that I had done...

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