The legend of Santa Claus

Americans have been celebrating Christmas since colonial days, almost always with Santa Claus, in one form or another. We’re accustomed to seeing the jolly old elf in his flying sled, decked out in red with a flowing white beard, squeezing down chimneys and leaving gifts under our trees. But in a certain town in Italy, they take the legend of Santa Claus a little more seriously.

            Down in the heel of Italy’s boot you can find the Basilica di San Nicola in the town of Bari. Nearly a thousand years ago, the remains of the bearded gift-giver known as St. Nicholas were interred beneath the church that bears his name. Well, most of the remains, anyway.

            Nicholas was a real-life Christian bishop who was born in what is today known as Turkey around 270 AD. During his 67-year-long life, Nicholas became known as the Wonderworker for the many miracles attributed to his intercession. He’s the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, unmarried people and students in various cities and countries in Europe. His habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the modern version of Santa Claus.

            Nothing was written about Nicholas until centuries after his death, but some of the legends are remarkable. He rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house for three straight nights, so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. He is said to have calmed a storm at sea, rescued three innocent soldiers from execution, and chopped down a tree possessed by a demon. For a time he was imprisoned by the Roman emperor Diocletian.

            Nicholas was buried in his hometown of Myra, or perhaps on an offshore island. Some 800 years later, with the Byzantine Empire in turmoil, Italian sailors seized about 75% of the saint’s remains from his burial church and took them to Bari. Two years later, Pope Urban II inaugurated a new church to house the remains and personally placed the relics in a tomb beneath the altar, where they remain to this day.

            Present-day residents of Bari welcome the Christian pilgrims who come to the church, but they perceive their local hero as very distinct from Santa Claus. Celebrations for St. Nicholas Day begin on December 5, with street concerts, parades and traditional food. Young girls looking for a husband line up in the basilica, praying for betrothal.

            In Italy, St. Nicholas morphed into Father Christmas in the 16^th century, bringing presents to children and sliding down chimneys. In the next century, Dutch settlers brought the legend to New Amsterdam, their colony on the American island of Manhattan. Santa’s red uniform wasn’t commonly seen until the 1930s, when it was popularized by Coca-Cola in an advertising campaign.

            Bari has started to cash in on tourism linked to St. Nicholas, with guided tours to the basilica and the local museum that houses artifacts, along with street tours that feature murals, including one in which the saint is doing yoga, believe it or not. The tours are on foot but also on bicycle and rickshaw. There’s even a popular local beer named San Nicola.

            Interested in traveling to Italy? Bari is only one of countless historical sites you can see there, and we can send you wherever you want to go, from the Alps down to the tip of the boot and Sicily. Chiamaci! (That’s Italian for “Give us a call!”)

 Airline fashion "do's"

We’re written occasionally about fashion “don’ts” for airline travelers. Some things are pretty obvious, even though we’ve all seen them occasionally: pajamas, bikini tops, flip-flops, and so forth. But what about airline fashion “do’s”? CNN Underscored recently outlined some guidelines that seem pretty sensible

·         Fit. Avoid clothing that’s overly tight or too small. Loose-fitting garments are best. For things like women’s leggings, make sure the material is soft and stretchy.

·         Material. Stick to cozy fabrics that look nice, like cotton or cashmere. You’ll be sitting in your outfit for hours, so you want material that feels good against your skin, isn’t itchy and has some give or stretch.

·         Layers. You won’t have access to temperature control for some time when you’re on a plane or train, or in an airport. Wearing layers is the key to comfort during your trip. Always have something warm to put on; it’s easy to take off a layer if you’re too warm, but if you’re too cold and don’t have something to put on, you’ll pay for it.

·         Function. This is where thinking of the purpose of your trip comes into play. Leisure, or business? If it’s a work-related trip, choose fabrics like wool or cashmere that look professional but don’t need ironing. Leisure travelers have a little more leeway, but should select clothes that can be mixed and matched for variety. Backpackers or anyone not checking luggage should wear and pack items that can dry quickly in order to wash and reuse clothing items when needed.

It's also a good idea to remember where you’re going and pack accordingly. Americans tend to be more relaxed than Europeans, for example, but when we go over there, we need to remember that we’re not in Kansas (or Wisconsin) anymore. Many European restaurants have dress codes, and we’ve heard of U.S. visitors being refused seating at restaurants because one or two of the party were wearing tennis shoes or shorts, or both. Women visiting the Middle East should prepare to wear clothing that’s modest by our standards, regardless of the weather, along with shawls to cover their heads when visiting religious sites. Men should be aware that open-toed sandals, cargo shorts and tank tops may cut it in American summers, but they’re usually considered very poor taste when abroad.

      Ready to put your fashion sense to the test overseas! Give us a call!  

 

Travel tips for long flights

All of us are used to flying economy class, or what used to be known as “coach,” and putting up with all of its…challenges, shall we say? Wisconsin comedian Charlie Berens has a great take on one of them, the obnoxious fellow passenger: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYMxDRj62aY

            Lufthansa, the German airline, may have a solution. Its new cabin design for the privately-owned version of its new widebody aircraft, the 777X, includes your own bedroom with a king-size bed and a bathroom including a rain and massage shower. But if such amenities are eventually included in commercial aircraft, they’re bound to be pricey. So, back to economy class we go. But how to make it more tolerable, especially for long flights? CNN Underscored, a product and recommendations guide, has some tips:

·         Pick the right airline. Not all airlines are created equal. Travelers can use online tools like SeatGuru to see if the airline and aircraft you’re scheduled on has particular in-flight amenities. Sometimes options of competing airlines aren’t available, but when they are, you might be able to help yourself by requesting an airline with more than a few basic amenities.

·         Ask for an emergency exit row seat. Seats in these rows offer as much legroom as first class, if not more. You’ll have to verbally agree to assist your fellow passengers in the event of an emergency, but odds are strong that you won’t have to worry about that.

·         Wear comfortable clothing. You want to feel good on the trip, and dressing appropriately is always helpful. Wear loose-fitting clothing, compression socks, two or even three layers in the event the plane is chilly, and make sure your outfit is relatively stylish. Things to avoid include open-toed footwear (especially for men), tee shirts, and anything that might be worn to the beach or around bedtime. (Yes, people sometimes board long-haul flights in bikini tops or pajamas.)

·         Bring ear plugs or noise-canceling headphones. If you’re not inclined to watch movies on a flight, you’ll like ear plugs, especially if you want to sleep. The headphones give you the best of both worlds: superb sound for movies or music, and near-total silence when you want it.

·         Get a good neck pillow. There’s the simple one, available at every airport, that’s basically three-quarters of a doughnut. Now, though, you can get them with upgrades, like a hoodie pillow. The hoodie can be pulled over your eyes to block out light and keep your head warm at the same time.

·         To avoid back problems, bring a lumbar pillow. Economy seats are not nearly as comfortable as first-class, and don’t compare to your easy chair back home, so proper lumbar support is vital, especially for long flights. Don’t want to buy another pillow? Roll up your jacket and use it for lumbar support.

·         For long flights, a compression mask/eye pillow. Not only will this combo keep out light and help you sleep, but its gentle compression provides relief from headaches.

·         And, to get even more comfort…There’s now an inflatable travel pillow that will allow you to lean forward and rest against the pillow, which sits in your lap and is held in place by your hands looped through side vents. The 45-degree angle of the pillow provides an alternative to leaning back in the seat. There’s even a type of foot hammock available now, for the vertically challenged passenger whose feet might not reach the floor when their seat is reclined. The hammock hangs from the tray table and provides support for the feet.

Ready to face the challenges of economy class? Whether you’re traveling coach or want to upgrade, we’re ready to help. Give us a call, and we’ll get you in the air in comfort!

Popular wintry destinations

We know it’s coming: winter. Officially, not until the winter solstice on December 21^st, but for all practical purposes, it was here around the first of November, with the first serious snowfall of the season. We grumble a bit, hunker down and resign ourselves to riding it out, again. Many of us circle that week on the calendar when we will be flying to someplace warm. But others celebrate the arrival of the snow, and if they circle any dates, they’re thinking about going where there’s even more of it.

            The National Ski Areas Association says Americans made more than 65 million journeys to play in the snow last year, with more expected this winter. More than six million were to the Midwest, and surprisingly there were four million to the Southeast, not exactly known as a bastion of winter fun. But some southern locations were among those cited as the most unique and popular wintry destinations:

·         Blowing Rock, N.C. This family-oriented resort has been around for more than 60 years. Several ski-lift options include one that’s a hand-pull contraption. Three terrain parks and a skating rink offer winter fun for the whole family.

·         Ober Mountain, Tenn. Snow tubing begins here before Thanksgiving and lasts into March, with ski and snowboarding season lasting almost as long. An aerial tramway connects downtown Gatlinburg with the mountain.

·         Ski Santa Fe, N.M. Thirty minutes by car from the city, this winter resort has 86 trails and on-site horseback riding and wellness activities. The resort’s beginnings go back to 1936, with a ski-lift tow rope powered by an automobile engine.

·         Taos Ski Valley, N.M. With abundant steep, challenging terrain, the area offers great skiing and a town with real Old West flavor, originally settled by miners in the 19^th century.

·         Ketchum, Idaho. Downhill and cross-country skiing in this northern Rockies area rivals that found farther south in Colorado, without the crowds.

·         Antelope Butte Ski Area, Wyo. Nearly two dozen ski runs down Bighorn Mountain aren’t all this area has to offer. The town of Shell got its name from the large number of fossil shells found in the area. Visitors can also see the tracks of dinosaurs and geologic formations going back 2 billion years.

·         Park City, Utah. The largest ski resort in the U.S. covers over 7,300 acres of diverse terrain, offering ski runs that start as high as 10,000 feet with more than 3,200 feet of vertical drop that challenges advanced skiers. More than 330 trails and 40 lifts draw skiers from all over the world, including those who came for the 2002 Winter Olympics. The Lodge at Blue Sky, a 3,500-acre private ranch, has been recognized as one of the world’s 50 best hotels.

·         Mount Baker, Wash. Rated the snowiest ski resort in the world, this place consistently receives the highest volume of snow on the planet and claims the record for most snowfall in one season, 95 feet. Just south of the Canadian border, the area boasts isolated slopes that attract skiers who enjoy challenge combined with solitude.

·         Aspen, Colo. Many winter enthusiasts want to go where they might possibly rub elbows with celebrities, and Aspen’s four mountains, luxurious hotels and resorts, not to mention the town’s boutiques and gourmet restaurants, fit the bill.

·         Mauna Kea, Hawaii. A winter skiing getaway in our 50^th state? Yes, indeed. Mauna Kea is one of five volcanos in the state and is revered as sacred by native Hawaiians. It’s name means “white mountain,” referring to the perpetually snow-capped peak. Skiers and snowboarders are in for a unique experience when they come up here during the December-to-February season, because they’ll share the peak with telescopes from 11 countries in the world’s largest astronomical facility.

Ready to get in some skiing this winter? Give us a call, and we’ll get you to the slopes!

Valuable lessons learned through travel   When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. That applies to travel as it does to everything else, and there are quite a few folks stranded in Istanbul, Turkey, right now who are probably thinking they should’ve thought twice before putting their money down.             Only this time, it wasn’t just about putting money down, in some cases six figures’ worth. Many also sold their homes and disposed of most of their belongings. They were going to live on a luxury cruise ship for three years as it circled the globe, so why keep a house back home? It all sounded…well, almost too good to be true. Turns out, it was.             Life at Sea Cruises offered the opportunity of a lifetime, and 111 cabins were sold. The line’s inaugural voyage would be aboard a German cruise ship that had been retired by that line last summer. Money was put down by folks enticed by the thought of a retirement adventure that would certainly beat driving an RV around from campground to campground. The ship would pick them up in Istanbul on November 1, so over 200 passengers gathered there, only to be told the day before that the departure was postponed 10 days and relocated to Amsterdam. Then, before many of them could make their way to Holland, it was pushed back again, to November 30. But 13 days before that date, the passengers were informed the cruise was cancelled.             CNN reported last week that on November 16th, the Germans had sold the ship to another company. Life at Sea’s CEO resigned, but then recorded a video that was emailed to every passenger, admitting that she wasn’t speaking on behalf of her former employer but telling the folks that yes, the cruise was off, sorry about that. Everybody would be getting their money back by the end of February 2024.             Two days after the ex-CEO’s video, the owner of Life at Sea’s parent company, Turkey-based Miray Cruises, sent all the passengers an email confirming that the cruise would not be sailing. They couldn’t afford the ship, he said, and he was “extremely sorry for the inconvenience.” Investors had supported the purchase initially, but the current turmoil in the Middle East had caused some of them to withdraw their support. It would’ve cost upwards of $50 million to purchase and refurbish the ship and without additional outside investment, that wouldn’t be possible.             Miray had a smaller ship that was initially considered for the voyage but rejected because it was deemed too small, and the line wouldn’t change those plans. CNN said that ship is at the heart of a defamation lawsuit brought by Miray against Life at Sea’s former managing director, who jumped ship, so to speak, along with several other key executives last May. He’d called the ship “unseaworthy.”             It appears Miray is attempting to make things as right as it can, short of actually getting a ship and sending its passengers on their way. The company has promised full refunds and is arranging for them to receive the personal belongings they’d shipped to the line in advance of the planned cruise. Company executives went to Istanbul to meet with passengers to assist them in getting home.             Many of the passengers spoke to CNN about the debacle, although they wanted to remain anonymous since their refunds hadn’t come through yet. One said, “I had the next three years of my life planned to live an extraordinary life, and now, nothing.” Many said they felt “let down, deceived, betrayed.”             Is another cruise option out there? Maybe. The former Life at Sea CEO is now running another company, HLC Cruise Lines, and in her video she told the castaways that HLC was putting something together that might work if about half of them “transferred” to her new company. HLC’s website currently offers “boutique cruise liners” selling duty free gold bullion, diamonds and gems on board. But did they have a ship? Well, sort of; HLC said they might be able to put something together by March. Meanwhile, remember those erstwhile Life at Sea execs who bailed on the company last year? They’ve put together their own company, offering low deposits and guaranteed introductory rates for anybody who signs up for their long-term cruise. Do they have a ship yet? Well, no.             CNN didn’t say how many of those stranded Life at Sea passengers booked their cruise-that-never-happened through a travel agent. We suspect it wasn’t too many of them, if any. Anyone inquiring at our office, for example, would’ve gotten the benefit of our research, which would’ve found right away that Miray, the parent company of Life at Sea, only does short cruises in the Aegean Sea, which is a far cry from a three-year, round-the-world voyage. Red flag, anybody?             Whether you want to go around the world or somewhere closer to home, give us a call. We’ll find something for you, and it’ll be a trip you can count on!

 

Airplane Etiquette

            Air travel, while more popular than ever, also seems to be more stressful. As airlines struggle with delays and cancellations, tweak their boarding plans and generally try to make life for their customers at least tolerable, the customers—that would be us—deal with the big things, and the nagging little things, too.

            The numbers themselves are staggering. According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. airlines flew over a trillion revenue passenger miles in the 12-month period ending September 1, 2023. One passenger mile is equal to one passenger going one mile. This is an increase of 17.4% over the previous 12 months. Planes flew at about 80% of capacity, which might seem surprising, since every time we get on a plane it seems to be jam-packed. Capacity hadn’t really changed from one year to the next, and airlines actually increased the number of flights by about 4%, so why does it seem flights are not only more full, but more uncomfortable than before?

            I have a feeling it’s more a case of passenger behavior on flights than it is with planes being more crowded. Many reports have hit media outlets in recent months about unruly, or at least impolite, passenger behavior. Travelers seem to be paying less attention to “airplane etiquette.” A recent article in USA Today listed the 7 most offensive airplane behaviors, based on a survey by Skyscan. Here they are, from the least-offensive on the list to the most:

·         Switching seats. Maybe you’ve paid extra for the window seat, or one with more legroom…and when you board, someone asks you to switch. “I want to sit next to my kids,” they might say, or “I want to be closer to the bathroom. Would you mind?” Chances are, you do mind, since you paid extra to sit exactly where you are.

·         Using both armrests. Having a seatmate who won’t share armrests can be very annoying. Nearly a third of travelers say using both armrests is an etiquette no-no, even if you’re in the uncomfortable middle seat. A three-seat row will have armrests on the left side of each seat, so the middle-seater should only be using the one on their left, not the one on the right; that belongs to the window-seater.

·         Reclining your seat. About a third of travelers say they don’t like it when the person in front of them reclines their seat, especially if they do it suddenly. That means trouble if you have your tray down and a glass of water on it. And if it’s hot coffee…Better to ask the person behind you before you recline.

·         Taking off your shoes or socks. Many travelers, especially on long flights, want to doff their footwear, but that can be a problem if you wind up with bare feet. Not only is it poor hygiene, very few people want to look at your feet. And they certainly don’t want to smell them.

·         Unwanted conversation. Chatty seatmates are an annoyance to 40% of travelers, according to the survey. Introducing yourself is fine, and making a courteous offer to converse is okay, but many of us want to just sleep or lose ourselves in a book or a movie during the flight. Most passengers will respect that, but some apparently think that seeing their seatmate put earbuds in isn’t good enough to keep them from launching into a story about Aunt Harriet’s casserole. That leads us to our top two airplane etiquette violations, which are actually tied for first in the survey:

·         Using speakerphone. Taking calls on your phone is one thing; then, only half of the conversation is bothering your seatmates. But if you put the caller on speakerphone, this crosses yet another line with many travelers. The growing prevalence of in-flight connectivity, as passengers demand constant access to the internet, is making this phenomenon more common. And finally…

·         Personal grooming. This includes clipping fingernails (or, worse, toenails), painting nails, applying makeup, trimming facial hair, and every other grooming practice that should be done in the privacy of a bathroom. Everybody has a memory of watching Grandpa clip his nose hair, and while it was funny when we were kids, it’s not funny now.

There are others that showed up on the survey but weren’t that common, fortunately. Our favorite? Probably the one that a woman put on TikTok last year, of the woman sitting in front of her, draping her very long hair over the seat and right over the passenger’s screen and onto her tray, almost getting dipped in her coffee. The video went viral and drew some 2.4 million views.

Ready to get out there and see how airplane etiquette is doing, first-hand? We’ll help you get there. Give us a call!

 

 

Family Vacations

Last summer, my husband and I brought our kids along on a cruise to Alaska. The group numbered six adults and one precocious five-year-old: our grandson, Pax Marolda. We’d chosen the NCL Encore specifically because of its itinerary and its plethora of kids’ activities, including a go-kart track, laser tag and hologram gaming. Pax loved everything, especially the ice cream parlor. (He wasn’t that thrilled when his grandfather introduced him to billiards, though. Maybe because no screens were involved.)

            He wasn’t the only child on board, by a long shot. Cruise lines have offered specialized fare for underage travelers for years, with some lines, like Disney, catering especially to families. But land resorts have lagged somewhat behind cruise lines in children’s offerings. Caribbean and Mexican resorts have traditionally attracted couples who were more than happy to escape the winter back home and leave the kids in the care of their grandparents or aunts and uncles for a week.

            That’s changing, though. Travel Weekly reports that resorts have been investing heavily in kid-friendly activities and play centers. This is good news for parents who didn’t really want to leave their kids behind. And the best news—the trend is to educational fare along with traditional playtime activities, which means no computer screens. (Cue the hallelujahs!)

            The all-inclusive Club Med launched Children’s Clubs way back in 1967, but it has built on and expanded its offerings ever since. Now, it’s adding a Baby Club to its Club Med Marrakech La Palmeraie resort in Morocco. The company says Baby Clubs will cater to the growing number of “millennial families with young children” who have been flocking to the resort. Children account for about 21% of Club Med’s guests in Europe and Africa, a percentage that’s gone up since 2019, the last year of pre-pandemic travel. Americans are especially kid-heavy, with 41% of Club Med’s U.S. guests comprised of families.

            At the Six Senses Ninh Van Bay in Vietnam, parents will see an amazing playland for their kids, Vooc Village, over 5300 square feet of fun. Among its 58 activities are a jungle gym and a splash area, and indoor offerings include organic gardening, yoga, Little Mixologist and Junior Photographer classes. Kids can also opt for spa treatments like foot massages and herbal ball compresses, plus a “make your own body scrub” session. Local artisans help teach Vietnamese origami, Hoi An lantern making and native musical instruments. Perhaps best of all, the Village is WiFi-free.

            Closer to home, Viceroy Hotels recently introduced its V Team Kids platform, designed to look at things from the kids’ perspective. There are plenty of projects waiting for kids in Viceroy’s resorts in Los Cabos, St. Lucia and even their property in Serbia. Viceroy resorts without dedicated kids spaces are also implementing the program with available space. Each V Team Kids activity is designed to fall under one of four “core pillars”: creativity, community connection, exploration of the local terrain and, of course, playfulness.

            Kids clubs are no longer just places at the resort or the hotel where parents can leave their children for a couple hours while they go to dinner or a show. The new kids clubs offer traditional games and toys, of course, but also engage kids in immersive, educational and cultural activities. Disney got a leg up on this some years ago; when our son Jim was 11, we took him to Disney World, where he spent time at Epcot in art classes, giving us a welcome break from the hectic theme parks. But what Disney offered kids in the 1990s is a far cry from what many other properties are providing today.

            Interested in a family trip? Give us a call, and we’ll help you get you to the place where parents, and their kids, can all have a great time!

 Airline boarding strategies

Any airline traveler knows that the least-favorite part of flying these days is jostling for seats. Even though every one of them is assigned and well-marked, that doesn’t necessarily make it easy to get in, especially if you have a window seat and the adjacent seats are already occupied.

            It’s said that the first dispute over seating on a plane took place on December 17, 1903, when Wilbur and Orville Wright flipped a coin to see who could get on board their rickety one-man biplane for the first-ever powered flight. (Orville won, and he had to lie down on his stomach for the 12-second, 180-foot flight.) Airlines have been searching for the most efficient method to seat their passengers ever since.

            United Airlines might have come up with something that actually works. It’s called WILMA, for “window, middle and aisle.” Last month, United started boarding passengers in economy class with window seats first, designed to reduce the time planes spend sitting on the ground while passengers jostle for their seats. Variations of WILMA have been around for a while, but United thinks it’s come up with one that will do the job. It spreads passengers out along the aisle so that more people can stow their luggage at the same time.

            Customers in first class and business class will see no change in their routine, which is already pretty efficient. There’s also no change for those with priority-boarding privileges, including travelers with disabilities, unaccompanied minors, active-duty military and families with children age 2 and under. United will allow family groups to board together, even though only some of them will have window seats. The new policy will be in effect for all domestic flights and some international routes.

            Average boarding time has increased by two minutes since 2019. That doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but over the course of a day or two it can add up, increasing delays, which in turn lead to all sorts of problems for the airlines and their passengers. Tinkering with the boarding process has been going on since airlines started charging fees for checked bags many years ago. Those fees encouraged passengers to bring bigger carry-on bags, which generally are still free except on low-cost carriers like Spirit and Frontier.

            As well all know, wrestling our luggage into the overhead bins can be time-consuming, not to mention uncomfortable for people sitting nearby. If a few passengers are taking their sweet time while stowing their bag and finding their seat, it can make the difference between a flight departing on time or registering as delayed in the government’s official statistics, and no airline wants to be moving up that particular leaderboard.

            No doubt the other major carriers will be watching United’s plan closely. If it works, rest assured that Delta and others will be copying it, probably applying their own fancy acronyms to the process. As long as it works and makes the boarding process more efficient, we really don’t care what it’s called!

            Ready to get on board? Give us a call! We’ll get you flying, window seat or not.

Halloween Travel - if you dare.....

It’s Halloween, with its make-believe ghosts, goblins and assorted other costumed trick-or-treaters, engaging in a tradition that goes back a long time in America. But have you ever thought about traveling somewhere that might actually have ghouls in its history? If you have the nerve, then maybe Transylvania is the place to go.

            It’s a real place, not just something made up in horror movies and vampire novels. Known as “the land beyond the forest,” Transylvania is a region in central Romania, bordered on the east by the forbidding Carpathian Mountains. There really was a Dracula, and he lived here.

            Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel introduced the Dracula legend to Victorian-age audiences, to be followed 34 years later by the classic movie starring Hungarian-born Bela Lugosi. Stoker’s villain is based on legends surrounding the real-life, 15^th-century nobleman named Vlad Ţepeş, known as “The Impaler” for his favored method of dealing with opponents. It is said about 80,000 of them discovered Vlad’s fondness for long spikes from the sharp end. Fun fact: genealogists say that Britain’s King George is the great-grandson 16 times removed of old Vlad.

            Traveling to Transylvania can be like going back in time. It has earned its monicker as “the last truly medieval landscape in Europe,” with horse-drawn carts, shepherds tending their flocks and villagers making hay. Twenty-first-century infrastructure might be lacking in many places, so patience is a must. Trains can be slow, so busing between destinations is preferred, and hiring a car to drive you around is recommended. A Hungarian phrasebook comes in handy, too. Hungary ruled this region for a thousand years until Romania annexed it at the end of World War I.

            Ready to explore one of Europe’s treasures? Here are some things you’ll want to see:

·         Thermal springs. Transylvania has many resort towns famed for their therapeutic waters. The mineral mud and warm salty waters of Bear Lake in Sovata are rumored to cure infertility. In Covasna, you can indulge in a sauna of post-volcanic gases, mainly carbon dioxide with a dash of sulphur, thought to benefit cardiovascular health.

·         Bear watching. The Carpathians are home to wolves, lynx and Europe’s largest population of brown bears, who flourished under the communists because only the dictator, Nicolae Ceauşcu, was allowed to hunt them. The Forestry Commission escorts visitors to places in the wild where they can indulge their wildlife watching to the fullest.

·         The world’s most amazing road. Most Transylvanian roads need a lot of work, but the Transfăgărăşan Road, a 1970s-era military road, winds through the mountains to a lake and through a 900-meter-long tunnel before continuing down into the forests of the Wallachia region. Heavy snow keeps the road closed for all but a few months of the year.

·         Plum brandy. My husband and I sampled palincă in Hungary once, and you never forget that fiery first taste. Around 45-proof—more if it’s the homemade variety—it packs a punch. Served at room temperature, it is downed in one gulp with a hearty “Noroc!” (“Cheers!” in Romanian.)

·         Bran Castle. If Hollywood could build the ultimate vampire castle, it would be this one, near Braşov. This 14^th-century castle was built by the Saxons as a bulwark against the threat of the Ottoman Empire to the east and south and later housed troops to protect German settlers in the region.

·         Poienari Citadel. For serious Dracula fans, this is the real deal. Vlad lived here in the 15^th century, repairing and consolidating the original 13^th century structure. It was still used after his (apparent) death in 1476, but earthquakes brought down much of the structure. The ruins that are still standing can be reached by determined hikers.

 

Eastern Europe is a fascinating place, and you’re probably not going to find a more interesting part of it than Transylvania. We’ll be glad to help you get there—if you dare.

 

Decreasing the risk of lost luggage

When I travel with my husband, Dave, there’s one thing I never have to worry about: luggage tags. These are the ones with the bar codes that are applied at the airport when we check our bags. As soon as Dave lifts the bags off the carousel, he tears the tags off and drops them in the nearest wastebasket, sometimes while we’re on the move to get to the shuttle.

            But many times I travel solo, or with friends or colleagues, so I have to handle my own tags. I almost always take just one bag, and I’m pretty good at removing the tag at the airport, but sometimes I’m focused on getting home to the point where I don’t notice the tag till I lift the bag out of my car, like the other night when I returned from Mexico. But Dave was right there to take care of that pesky tag for me.

            I’ve yet to go to the airport with an old luggage tag still in place, but it happens to other folks, perhaps more often than we’d think, and the old tags could cause a problem for your new trip, especially if you’re taking a different airline.

            Making it especially important is this: we’re not necessarily talking about the long tags that are wrapped around your bag’s handle. There’s that little bar code tag that is slapped onto your bag, and that can cause a problem. USA Today reports that a TikTok video, posted by someone who appears to be an airport employee at Ontario International in California, warning travelers to make sure that little sticker is not on your bag when you check in for your next flight. If it’s still there, the scanning computer could see the old one, rather than the new one, and send your bag to the wrong destination. (The video, posted August 22, had garnered nearly half a million views inside of a month.)

            The chances of a stray old tag causing such a problem are slim, but they’re not zero. Leaving old tags on your bag     is only going to increase the odds in favor of a problem. Most mix-ups involving luggage occur during connections. Checked bags are moved from one plane to the next very quickly, and most of the time it works well, but only if the system’s computer scanners pick up the bar code and send it to the right location for transport to the next plane.

            There is not a universally used luggage-handling system, but all of them use computers, scanners, conveyor belts and tilt-tables to get the job done. Think of an old-fashioned pinball machine, with various doors and levers routing the ball here and there. Now, think of the ball being encoded and sent on a deliberate route through the maze so that it drops into a pre-determined hole. All of this is happening very quickly, too. There’s not much margin for error, and if a bag winds up somewhere it’s not supposed to be, it’s almost always the fault of the bar code. Not that the code itself is corrupted, but it’s simply the wrong code, and that’s usually because it’s the old sticker.

            But bags to get lost, in spite of the best efforts of travelers to make sure old bar codes are long gone and airport personnel doing their best to route the bags properly. Staffing shortages and high travel demand have caused some issues since the pandemic. The problems are said to be significantly worse in Europe, for unknown reasons.

            What to do if your bag is lost? Some travelers keep detailed lists of what they pack in a checked bag, especially if there’s anything of real value. We always recommend to our clients that they keep really valuable items, like jewelry, on their person or at least in their carry-on bags. But these days, making a list on your phone isn’t that hard, and you can also add photos of particular items. It’s also a good idea to have a photo of your bag, and a description.

            If your bag doesn’t show up at your destination, don’t leave the airport. Go directly to the luggage counter and give them a detailed description of the bag, including the photo. By law, airlines must compensate passengers for “reasonable, verifiable and actual incidental expenses that may incur” due to a delay in getting one’s bags. The maximum liability limit for domestic flights is $3800. If the airline can’t find your bag, they must compensate you for its contents within liability limits. Airlines provide their lost-luggage policy in advance of a trip, too.

            How often does this happen? The Department of Transportation issues a monthly Air Travel Consumer Report, and the most recent says that in July 2023, only ¾ of one percent of bags were mishandled by U.S. airlines. That doesn’t sound like much, but it translates into 339,618 bags (out of over 45 million). The airline with the best record is Allegiant Air, with 0.16%, and at the bottom of the list is United (1.07%). Delta, the carrier used most often by our clients, was sixth overall at 0.63%. Compared to July 22, for virtually the same number of total bags handled, the mishandled rate increased by about 60,000 bags.

            The odds of our bags arriving with our flight are heavily in our favor, but there are things we can do to increase the odds, like removing that pesky barcode when we bring our bag home. We’ll help you with little tips like this, and lots more. Give us a call!