Sunday, April 24, 2011

STEVE & PAT'S CHEAP TRAVEL NEWSLETTER - SPRING 2011

WHO ARE WE?
We are Steve & Pat, the Travelin' Tanenbaums.  We are the authors of The  Cheapskate's Guide to Vacations and The Cheaptskate's Guide to Cruises (Citadel-Kensington Press). 
Our CTN newsletter has published continuously since 1999 and is proudly celebrating its 11th Anniversary. Steve is currently a 'Budget & FREE Travel' expert with AllExperts.com. In addition to our books we have written national magazine articles and have made numerous radio & TV appearances. We early retired from our day jobs in 1999 and embarked on a seven year travel odyssey, globe-trotting six months per year. Currently, we average about 2-3 months of exotic travel yearly.  During the Summer of 2009 we were living for one month each in Barcelona and Paris, two of our favorite cities. Just weeks ago we returned from our Summer 2010 trip to Italy where we spent three weeks exploring Tuscany and then settled down, spending a glorious month living in a bargain penthouse apartment in Florence.   


Pure and simple, we enjoy a love of travel and do our best to share travel related comfort, convenience and money saving TIPS with our loyal readership. We always encourage and appreciate reader input. Our travel 'motto' these many years remains: NOTHING BEATS FREE TRAVEL!

ONLINE CTN IS A HUGE SUCCESS
MAKE IT FREE AND THEY WILL COME....
OK, so no surprise that CTN's subscriptions sky rocketed with the advent of our FREE online CTN. This is the best way to share our savvy TIPS n' TALES with the traveling public. As we have always said.....nothing beats FREE travel!

HOW TO GET YOUR FUTURE FREE CTN EDITIONS:
It is always best to receive the newsletter on the day it is published. To do this send us your email address and we shall add you to our subscription list. Rest assured, e-mail addresses are kept strictly private. Send your free subscription request to: stevepatctn@yahoo.com
Or you may simply Google our CTN periodically for new issues.THANKS TO ALL

THE NEW BLOG 'LOOK' - The column on the right is a vertical 'album' of many of our favorite travel photos. Want to view some or all of Steve's 200+ YouTube videos? First, go to YouTube.com. Then, in it's search box type screen name: worldromer. You will have instant access to Steve's videos.
FONT SIZES: Due to technical glitches there may be occasional mismatched text sizes and fonts. 
3D FUN: Grab of pair of those old red/blue 3D glasses. Some of our videos and personal photos are in very cool to view 3D. ALSO, most photos are clickable for larger size viewing.
MISCHIEVOUS LINKS:  There may be occasional glitches with some LINKS.  If any LINK, when double clicked, indicates the link is broken or otherwise not working try copying and pasting the link to your browser's address line.  If that does not help drop us  an email and we shall send you a workable LINK.
FIRST EVER GUEST CTN COLUMNIST:  Joyce Gleeson-Adamidis is a long time friend and author of:  If I Were Not Upon the Sea (Under the Captain's Table) which is available at Amazon.com. We met Joyce some years ago during our incredible 32 days Celebrity cruise from Rio to San Diego, California.  Joyce, herself a California native, was a former cruise director who happened to marry the  Greek Captain of her Celebrity cruise ship. Before their recent retirement to Greece the couple spent many years together at sea raising their son aboard ship. We thank and applaud Joyce for offering her very special Greek insights to our CTN readers. Welcome aboard Joyce!
NOTE: MOST PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE WHEN YOU 'CLICK' ON THEM

 THIS ISSUES HIGHLIGHTS 
THE HORROR OF IT ALL - EXPIRED MILES
OUR IRELAND B & B QUEST
TUSCANY:  HIGHLIGHTS OF OUR SUMMER 2010 ADVENTURE
GIZMO COLUMN:
    BEST ULTRA LIGHT WEIGHT DIGITAL SCALE?
    MY NEW SONY HX5V DIGICAM - 7oz of PHOTO ‘MAGIC’
    SELF PUBLISH YOUR OWN HARD BOUND TRAVEL PHOTO BOOKS
    AT PRICES ALL CAN AFFORD
GREECE: OFF THE BEATEN PATH
The HORROR of it all.... YOUR MILES HAVE EXPIRED!We are savvy travelers, experts, know-it-alls, been there done that types....so how in the world did we awaken a few weeks ago week to learn that 204,000 of our Hawaiian Airline program miles had EXPIRED???? Horrors of all program miles had descended, like a black cloud, upon us.The back story: We always espouse using multiple airline free travel programs including our favorite American AAdvantage and other major programs i.e. United Airlines, Hawaiian Air, British Airways, Delta etc. The more secondary programs we have the better. That lesson comes home to roost when we occasionally learn that needed seats on one program are not available and ne of our back-up programs comes through for us.  An unavoidable consequence of having such multiple programs is the absolute need to KEEP TRACK the miles and avoid their expiration.

We decided to use AwardWallet.com to keep track of our multiple airline/hotel programs. That worked well until we learned that AwardWallet had problems contacting several programs and also failed to update current miles. When we looked up Hawaiian Airlnes on our AwardWallet list it read “unknown.” This paved the way for our above ‘horror’ story. The next pave stone was Hawaiian Airlines 2009 change of their miles expiration policy from three years to eighteen months. For reasons we can not explain this one got by us. By chance, when AwardWallet erroneously told us some of our American Airlines were expiring we decided to review all our programs. When we did this with Hawaiian we could not believe our PC screen.  Yet, there it was....horrors of all horrors....just one month earlier our 204,000 miles had been WIPED TO ZERO.  This was the closest we had come to using our home defibrullator!

In this situation there is only one thing to do ASAP and that is to enter into a very serious damage control mode. We are VERY good at this.

We Googled the issue and learned that most airlines permit ‘reinstatement’ of expired miles. Some with a single payment i.e. $250 and others like Hawaiian charge varying amounts. It seems that Hawaiian charges the outrageous price of $50 per each 5,000 miles. That would have cost us $2,040 for our 204,000 miles which in turn amounts to about 50% of the purchasing power of those miles. Meaning, for example, Hawaiian will charge $300 to reinstate 30,000 miles. Assuming a flight to Maui is $600 then we would be paying 50% to reinstate. This was a totally bad news option.

Instead we Googled Hawaiian’s fax number and put together a letter on our best legal letterhead. Two thirds of the letter emphasized that we were decades old loyal Hawaiian Airlines customers, loved their program and needed their help. We wanted reinstatement and a waiver of any related fees. We attached two 18 month old statements (we had no recent activity) that showed our miles were set to expire after three years on March 31, 2011.  By sheer coincidence this all happened just two weeks shy of the old three year expiration date. Another few weeks later and we would have been dead in the water, with no arguments in sight.
Our letter emphasized that we had no knowledge of the change from three years to eighteen months and truly that seemed to be the case. We ended the letter with a not so friendly legal threat. If Hawaiian did not reinstate our miles we needed every piece of correspondence sent to us these past two years plus the name of their CEO and person running their Hawaiian miles program. Hawaiian knew this matter would not end with their denial of our request.

We called their customer service line the next day. Their representative had us holding for six long silent minutes as she went to find and read our fax letter.  We next heard this:
I read your fax and discussed it with my supervisor. Since we can not  CONFIRM that    you received notice of the change in our program we have put the miles back into your account.

It was over....total 100% VICTORY....and probably the quickest such consumer victory in our long history of consumer tangles. With those few words we had recouped our 204,000 'expired' miles.

A few words about PROGRAM TRANSACTION ACTIVITY. The expiration of our Hawaiian miles was all the more depressing considering that it would have taken only one current program ‘transaction activity’ to prevent expiration in the first place. Any such single transaction activity  will start a spanking new 18 month expiration period. Most all airlines work this way whether their expiration period is 18 or 36 months. One welcome exception is Delta Airlines. Delta recently did away with expiration of its program miles.

You can Google the various options available for doing a ‘transaction activity’ for each airline. Here are a few that are common to most:
1) Use the airline’s related credit card to buy gas. A single such purchase is a transaction activity that starts the 18 or 36 month clock all over again. BUT we usually cancel most airline cards after we get our bonus miles.....

2) Purchase airline miles online. Before faxing our letter to Hawaiian we purchased 500 on each of our two Hawaiian accounts. We easily did this online paying $13 for each 500 miles. All airlines consider this to be a transaction activity that re-sets the expiration clock.
3) Use an airline’s portal to go shopping. Ex. We go the BA.com and then to British Airways online shopping which takes us to Ebay. Any purchase at any BA vendor is a valid transaction activity. We just received 2000 free miles via an AA email we received soliciting us to join AA’s new online shopping program. The program is similar to the BA shopping portal with free registration and many stores paying upwards of 8 miles per dollar spent. This link for the AA shopping portal does not show the email offer for 1000 bonus miles each: 
LINK: https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/
But unless and until this LINK is deactivated it does have the free miles offer for signing on the to free AA shopping program.
https://www.aadvantageeshopping.com/RegisterNowSpring.aspx?promoCode=FBQ104A11&WT.mc_ID=442
4) Make a purchase or rent a car or stay at a partner hotel and be sure to give them your airline program number for credit. Again a valid transaction activity.

Lessons for us all:
1) If you ‘think’ you have program miles that expire in three years make sure the airline has not gone the route of revising this down to eighteen months as is commonly being done these days.
2) Calendar all your various programs expiration dates (easily done when we often work with one year calendars)
3) Every 6-12 months check on the current expiration policy of your airline programs
4) When expiration dates are approaching use any of the above mentioned (or other method you may find) to do a transaction activity to stop the expiration and re-start the 18 or 36 months running again.

OLUR IRELAND B & B QUEST

Our upcoming eleven weeks journey to Europe will find us, between our one month each in Barcelona and Paris, spending two weeks exploring the Republic of Ireland. Our pre-trip research was spent in bulk finding lodging in Dubin for one week and then on the road. Our one week Ireland ‘circuit’ will find us driving from Dublin to the ‘interior’ medieval city of Kilkenny, then to the coastal villages of Kinsale, Dingle and Galway and then our return to Dublin for our flight to Paris.

On one hand we are well aware of the well publicized economic crisis in Ireland and on the other hand we have found that prices of food and lodging in the UK is always higher then most other European countries. With our research completed and all our Irish booking made this is the perfect time to share our bargain ‘finds.’

Let us premise this with the short list of our travel lodging needs and/or preferences:

Must fit our budget of no more then $100/day including all taxes/fees
Included daily breakfast is a big plus
Ground floor or one flight of stairs maximum unless, of course, there is a lift
Wi-fi has become a necessity now that we take our net book with us
Excellent location either walkable or very near to major local sightseeing
Self catering which meant a studio apartment with kitchen for our one week in Dublin
Great user reviews
Nice architectural features would be a plus

Here is what we found and booked:

DUBLIN: We found down town prices way to high so nothing within budget that met our needs. We found and booked Solar House located in Clontarf a few short tram stops from Dublin’s city center. Solar house looks like a B & B but is actually quite different. They offer all bedroom suites that are essentially super amenity laden studio apartments. We snagged a studio with the following amenities:

Super king size bed
Balcony with easy chairs
Full mini-kitchen with dining table
Private bath with power shower
TV and  phone
Welcome breakfast
Location: Just 3 tram stops, about ten minutes, from Dublin center.

The price on an older link was 350 euros/week.  The current new discounted price is the lowest price we have ever booked, just 198 euros for the week which amounts to $39.60 per day.

Did we mention that a few steps from the tram, when returning in the evening to Clontarf, is a convenient ‘open till midnight’ supermarket which adds to the overall convenience of this choice. Check out the solar architecture of this very unusual lodging.

Note: Because of the super low price Solar House is cash and carry. We sent a 50 euro travelers check as a deposit and will pay the balance in cash when we check out.

LODGINGS ON OUR ONE WEEK IRISH DRIVE:

STOP #1: KILKENNY is considered one of the  best preserved medieval towns  in Ireland and is the only inland town we shall be visiting. It is home of famed Kilkenny Castle. The Kilkenny web site adds this: This medieval city is characterised by many beautifully restored buildings and winding slipways - it is small and compact enough to explore on foot, yet full of fascinating historical buildings and contemporary shops, design galleries and restaurants.

Kilkenny Castle , one of the most magnificent castle's in Ireland was built by the Normans who arrived in the city during the 12th century.
We chose FANAD HOUSE. First check out the cool architecture meaning this is one fun looking B & B. Next amenities. And how about an awesome castle just across the road:
    * All 12 rooms are en-suite
    * We booked their larger king bed + single bed room               
    * Tea/coffee facilities
    * T.V. * Phone * Hairdryer
    * Wi-Fi throughout
    * One room suitable for the less-bled
    * Free private parking  
    * Full Irish breakfast
    * Location: Fanad House is a five minute walk from Kilkenny City centre and overlooks the          magnificent Kilkenny Castle gardens as in..... the castle is across the street!

PRICE: We paid a 7 euro deposit to hold the room. Full price is 70 euros = $98


STOP #2 KINSALE: Further south we follow Rick Steves advice and bypass the city of Cork to stay at the a colorful coastal resort village of Kinsale for two nights.

About Kinsale: Kinsale in County Cork is one of the most picturesque, popular and fashionable resorts of the south-west coast of Ireland. Famous for its beautiful yachting, sea angling, Dolphin & Whale Watching Trips, gourmet restaurants and golf.

Kinsale town nestles between the hills and the shoreline, a maze of narrow streets, never far from the water and little changed in many hundreds of years. Amongst buildings of later periods are those of another age with historical links to the French, Spanish, British and Americans.

In Kinsale we found another colorful B & B, Woodlands House. The amenities for Woodland House include:

Location: Quiet street within walking distance to the town center
Twin en suite room with T.V. room safe and phone
Free private parking
Free Wi-Fi and free use of their computer
4 Star approved
Recommended by Frommers
Includes an extensive MENU breakfast including home baked breads

Note: We the above B&Bs have good to excellent Trip Advisor ratings

PRICE: Special rate of 60 euros per night ($84) which is one of our best B&B deals

STOP #3: We next drive to the coastal village of Dingle for another two night stay.




First, a bit about Dingle and the cool drive we shall be taking:
Slea Head Drive is an amazingly beautiful route that goes around the westernmost coast of the Dingle Peninsula, with spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean as well as sea cliffs and islands, beaches and mountains, Irish villages, and ancient archaeological sites such as beehive huts, stone forts, and castle ruins. The route begins in Dingle and passes through the Gaeltacht region, which includes the villages of Ventry, Dunquin, Ballyferriter, Ballydavid, and Feonaght, before returning to Dingle.

This is one of the most delightful looking B&Bs we have ever seen.

Tower View is described as:
Our Bed & Breakfast B & B Dingle accommodation is situated in a quiet location overlooking Dingle Harbor. We are just minutes from Dingle town centre where Irish traditional pubs and restaurants can be found.

Amenities include:
We have another larger two bed (queen and single bed) room
Room is one flight up but at the front of the house with a sea view
Includes full Menu driven breakfast
Use of their delightful looking sun room
TV
Wi-Fi
Garden
Mini farm....want to know more about this one! Read on.....

Tower View's friendly animals will appeal to children and adults alike. Year-round, sheep, ducks, hens, friendly dogs, and a pony reside in the backyard, and in the spring, they are joined by many adorable lambs romping around in the field.  The hens and ducks provide eggs that are included in Towerview's breakfasts, and some of the sheep are friendly enough to be petted and kids will enjoy feeding them leftover toast from breakfast.

 PRICE: 75 euros per night ($105). 

STOP #4: Our final sightseeing stop is the costal town of Galway.

Location: St Jude’s Lodge is on College Road, on the Dublin side of Galway City, we are only a couple of minutes walk from the tourist office and the recently renovated Eyre Square. The city's attractions are literally, on your doorstep. The greyhound race track is across the road, whilst the pubs, cafés, shops, cinemas and even the ten pin bowling alley, are readily accessible on foot.

A word about Galway: The centre of Galway city has many narrow winding streets which are perfect for exploring on foot. Places to visit in the city include Eyre Square, the Latin Quarter; including Shop Street with its cosmopolitan shops and cafés, and Lynch's Castle which is the grandest 16th century house in the city. Where the River Corrib widens out to meet Galway Bay, there is the Spanish Arch which was built in 1584 to protect the harbour. The old quays and Long Walk are the prefect place for an evening stroll. There are many festivals events throughout the year including Galway Race Week, the Galway Arts Festival and the Clarinbridge Oyster Festival.

Very nearby Salthill which is Galway's seaside resort. Salthill has been a tourist destination since the start of the nineteen hundreds. Why?
# Salthill Beach, Ladies Beach, Palmer's Rock & Beach, Blackrock
Largest ferris wheel in Europe
# 2 km long promenade, locally known as the Prom, overlooking Galway Bay with bars, restaurants and hotels.
# Blackrock Diving & Viewing Tower
# Leisureland, swimming pool, pitch and putt & fun fair park.
# Palmer's Rock scuba diving, boat and jet ski slip way.
# Salthill, Claude's and Caesar Palace Casinos
# O'Connor's Famous Pub
# Atlantic Aquarium
# Salthill Park and Bandstand
# Seapoint Leisure Center

Because of Galways super resort ‘back yard’ prices for lodgings do not come cheap. Basically, one gets a bit less whilst paying a bit more. Then again, we kept our eyes on the fact that Galway was a single night stop. With that said we booked the following:

Larger double and single bed room on the ground floor
Private bath
Wi-Fi and cable TV
Breakfast
Free parking

PRICE: 70 euros ($98)

OUR SUMMER 2010 TUSCANY HIGHLIGHT IN BLAZING HD VIDEO

LUCCA: One of the most memorable highlights of our recent two-month trip to Italy was our leisurely four days visit to the medieval walled city of Lucca.

We have two Lucca videos. The first video begins with a summary of Lucca’s colorful history and then whisks you away for a fun-filled day on the famed Lucca Wall.


The second video finds us exploring Lucca main piazza and church, shopping streets, the site of the Roman theater and a visit to the ‘off-the-beaten-path’ to the Pfanner mansion and gardens.


Have a seat, kick back and enjoy our Lucca and several more Tuscany videos. If your computer can handle HD be sure to pull down the ‘setting’ menu below the video and to the right, then select 1080p for ultimate viewing. If that will not play you may set it for the 720p and again lower until your PC plays them properly.

TURIN: 
MOLE ANTONELLIANA: 


Turins top attraction is the magnificent 360 degree view of Turin from atop the city’s tallest building.  The building, known as the Mole Antonelliana, is not only the city's tallest building but has also become the very symbol of Turin and is named after its builder Alessandro Antonelli.  The ‘mole,’ as it is locally known, was built over a 26 year period from 1863 until 1889. It was originally designed and built as a synagogue. However, due to cost overruns the local Jewish
community terminated their involvement in the project, built their synagogue elsewhere and turned the building project over to the city of Turin.

In Italian "Mole" (literally, "size") indicates a building of monumental proportions. Construction began in 1863 and was completed 26 years later, after the architect's death. Today it houses the National Museum of Cinema, and it is believed to be the tallest museum in the world. The town’s Cinema Museum is located in the Mole. In addition to the marvelous 360 degree views from atop the Mole there is the exciting interior open air elevator that rushes locals and tourists alike to the upper view floor.  Before heading over to the Mole we were told that entrance lines were running about one hour.  Do not believe everything you are told even by the best intentioned. We arrived at about 1pm, got on the long line and were surprised that our wait time was only thirty minutes.

Enjoy our HD YouTube video or our Mole experience including a neat view our our descending elevator ride.


SASSY SUPERGA TRACK TRAMWAY: Perhaps the second most popular Turin ‘outdoor’ sightseeing adventure is the Sassy Superga Track Tramway ride to a Turin mountain top. It all began back in 1884 with the Agudio cable railway. The railway was converted to a rack tramway in 1943 and today climbs about 2,000 feet using original 1943 cars. Two tunnels (one fun one is on our YouTube video), great scenery and awesome views are just some of the reasons that make this a ‘must-do’ Turin adventure. 

Thumbs way up for this bargain priced get-a-way right in the heart of Turin.
Note: Due to the very heavy overcast we snagged only one cool view shot on the way. Regardless, the 2000 foot journey was well worth the effort if only for the tram ride and mountain top church with its lovely floral gardens. Join us for the ride vie our HD YouTube video:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WYJVxOcdk

PORTO MAURIZIO & IMPERIA (ITALIAN RIVIERA)
Our Fall 2010 CTN edition discussed our marvelous Porto Maurizio Septembre 20 street apartment and included our YouTube video of the street and nearby Porto Maurizio beach. Here is our expanded version of that video which also includes our exploration of sister town Imperia just across the river. See Imperia’s shopping streets, impressive street market (a smaller version of the famed San Remo market with many of the very same vendors), the town’s main piazza and fountain, church and Imperia’s very own beach and palm tree lined promenade.

You will now have the ‘rest of the Porto Maurizio/Imperia story’ which shows all why this was one of our favorite resort visits of all time.

FLORENCE
MARKET CENTRALE: We love markets of all kinds and descriptions.  Sure, we favor outdoor flea markets selling endless varieties of most items known to man/woman but we also eat to live and great indoor, covered mostly food markets have their own charm and hey we are cooking in our aparments.  The largest covered market in Florence is the Centrale Market. Enjoy a very short but entertaining musical interlude by Centrale Markets 'Accordion Man."


While on the subject of food Steve, who is a NY Deli ‘maven’ at heart heard that they sell a specialty sandwich in Florence called Bollito. Even more interesting he heard that Bollito is a brisket sandwich. Was this true? If so, could Florence be rivaling NY and LA delis with their own versions of dripping wet and delicious brisket sandwiches? Did Michael Angelo enjoy a good Bollito during breaks from sculpting his David?

Enjoy Steve’s Brisket Quest video. 


FLORENCE OFF THE BEATEN PATH: A COOL MUSEUM PLUS A SPRAWLING PARK WITH WILDLIFE

 TIP: Run do not walk to visit the Stibbert Museum and park/gardens

Frederick Sitbbert (1838-1906) was an English citizen born in Florence who himself remodeled his house in the form of a neo-Gothic castle. The major love of his life was his ‘one of the best in the world’ collections of military armor and weapons. His 19th-century eclectic taste found him arranging parts of his collections by themes in various rooms of the house. The items cover periods from the Middle Ages to the Napoleonic period and from Europe to the Far East.


Of outstanding fame is the Sala della Cavalcata (Hall of the Cavalcade), then reconstructions of the splendid armour of the Islamic world, from North Africa to central Asia, and India moghul. The armoury section is completed by the elegance and colors of the Japanese warriors in the rooms that take their names, where the costumes and most significant objects from this refined culture create a nucleus which for the abundance and quality of its items is considered one of the world’s best collections. In one hall alone we viewed about a dozen life sized, armored horses!
The Stibbert Museum is nothing less then fascinating and memorble.
Here is the LINK to the museum: http://www.museostibbert.it/
And this informative english web site:

Museo Stibbert
Via Stibbert 26 (055 475520).
Open 10am-2pm Mon, Tue, Wed, 10am-6pm Fri, Sat, Sun.
Closed on Thu.
Admission: 5 euro.

PARK AND GARDENS: Just outside the museum are the lovely park and gardens open free to the public. The sprawling garden grounds are perfect for picnics and offer statuary and a pond with ducks and hoards of turtles. Enjoy our video tour of the park and gardens.


ICE CREAM TIP: Go to Belgium for chocolates and go to Italy for GELATO! Okay, okay, for m any of you it comes as no surprise that we are declaring Italy’s gelato to be some of the best ice cream on planet Earth. On the other hand have you seen gelato in glorious HD? Read on.....

Two months in Tuscany found us running into as many Gelato shops as there are stars in the night sky. Siena's Gelato 'art' rose to such a level that we simply had to SHARE....ENJOY this fun, zero calerie treat and a lively Italian sound track:




MAY BE ONE OF THE BEST TRAVEL DIGITAL SCALES
Many travelers, including us, have long ago concluded that a travel scale is essential in these days of greater luggage restrictions and outrageous surplus charges for even slightly overweight luggage. On top of this are the special needs of longer term travelers, like ourselves, who use multi-airlines on any given 2-3 month journey.  Such trips often entail the use of either smaller budget airlines such as Ryan air with its extra low 32 pound check-luggage limit and Aer Lingus with its more reasonable 44lb checked luggage limit. We shall be dealing with Aer Lingus on our legs from Barcelona to Dublin and Dublin to Paris. Most international flights out of the U.S. like our upcoming American Airlines flight to Barcelona have maintained their 50lb check-in luggage limit.

Our old scale is itself a bit on the heavy side weigheing in at about 6oz. It served well but has its limitations. Major among those is that it requires two people to use it. One person lifts the luggage while the other must wait for the dial to stop swinging and the quickly read it before the person holding the 50lb heavy luggage collapses. Then, to be certain we usually repeat this at least one more time.
Enter the new crop of digital travel scales beckoning with their touted ‘advantages’ over the above older manual models.  The Balanzza company specializes in travel scales and their new Truco three pieces-in-one carry on luggage. Balanzza has provide me with their newest light weight travel scale, their Balanzza Mini scale for field testing on our upcoming trip.

Here are some of Balanzza’s selling points on their newest Balanzza Mini Scale:

*This 3rd generation Balanzza scale is a step forward in digital scales design being the smallest and one of the lightest travel scales available in the market
*In addition to its ergonomic and compact shape it has a strong strap to secure the luggage offering the most natural way to lift heavy objects so there is less stress to one’s hands..
* The screen is located on the upper side of the scale...making it easier to see the weight while lifting it with one hand
* Even better, lift with two hands, wait for a beep and then set the luggage down and simply read the digital weight.
*Balanzza MINI has the same durability, strength and features as its predecessor and the warranty and quality of all the Balanzza Digital Scales.
Item Model Number
BZ400 MINI
Dimensions
L 4.75 inches / 12 cm
W 1.6 inches / 4 cm
H 1.25 inches / 3.10 cm
Weight 0.2 lbs. / 0.100 Kgs.
Colors
Grey and Green.

PRICE: List price $24.95
Discounted Price: Amazon.com now offering for $17.90 with one five star user review.

FIELD TESTING: Check our field test results in our Summer 2011 post-trip CTN. 


Early results: Since the web site does not indicate an accuracy (+) or (-) number I can note that web sources say it has accuracy of to (+) or (-) 3 ounces. My very early singular test used our heavy EZ cart luggage (even though heavy its large four wheel design makes it near weightless during   travel use).  Five consecutive measurements  were:  18.6, 18.6, 18.7, 18.7 and 18.7. So far so good.

MY NEW SONY HX5V DIGICAM - 7oz of PHOTO ‘MAGIC’
Front/back view (looks 'attached' but does not fold open)
You may recall that I recently purchased (in 2010) a new ‘dream’ Sanyo HD2000 camera. What kind of camera is it? These days the answer to such a question is often not as easy as it seems. Sanyo, for its part, calls the HD2000 a ‘Dual Camera.’ I clearly bought the HD2000 as a camcorder for filming ultra-high definition 1080p videos. On the other hand it is such an advanced piece of gear that is can shoot 8 mega pixel stills simultaneously while it is shooting videos. 8 mega pixel stills and 1080p HD video... hence the Dual Camera nomenclature. Is that all very clear?

My post-trip field test of the HD2000 included my two thumbs way-up review and recommendation as well as LINKS to my 1080p YouTube videos. The HD2000's videos are nothing less then spectacular for a light-weight near pocket-sized 11.2oz camera. My review and video LINKS are found in our Fall 2010 CTN at:

With all this in mind Patty had just one question......Steve, why do you need to buy yet another new digital camera?  My answers may find you running to your key board to buy your own Sony HX5V. 

Here are my main reasons for buying the Sony HX5V:
1. While my Sanyo HD2000 is super a super light 11.2oz HD video work horse it is not a true mini-pocket camera which means I must carry it in my rucksack.
On the other hand my new Sony HX5V is every bit a pocket digicam weighing in at just 7oz including battery.  Check out the below comparison photos of both cameras side by side.


 The HX5V’s ultra-small size permits me to literally wear it, in its form fitting case, on my belt.  Whenever I leave our hotel or apartment this camera is literally on my body and ready to film in a matter of seconds. It is an amazing ultra-light back-up camera.
2. Ever lose a camera, drop a camera, have a camera malfunction, have a camera (urrgghh) stolen.....having a back-up camera means never having to say you are sorry for missing great Kodak moments.


More reasons why I recommend carrying a 7oz back-up camera?
          a) Lapses: I admit it. There are times I have left our hotel or apartment with no memory card or no battery or no spare battery and/or a nearly dead battery.  I have great peace of mind knowing that should my HD2000 die on me I have my cool HX5V hanging on my waist and ready to go.
        b) Instant When something exciting happens that requires instant filming I can pull the camera from my waist camera case almost instantly versus the inherent lad time it takes  to get my HD2000 (light as it is) out of my rucksack and then out of its case. 
        c) I once had a $2,000 Sony camcorder go ‘down’ in Thailand. It started chewing up the mini digial DV tapes. I was dead in the water, photographically speakinig, until it was repaired in Paris.
3. I have shot most of the world with still and video cameras. More recently I shot Paris and Barcelona in 3D. The Sony HX5V will let me shoot the world with its proprieatary   Sweep Panorama which captures images up to an astounding 220 degrees, nearly fish-eye.
4. Price: My old Sony T-30 cost about $450 4-5 years ago. It takes great stills but has its limitations i.e. only 3x zoom and since it was made mostly for still photography it shoots only low resolution videos. My new Sony HX5V cost $224 delivered (free shipping and no sales tax helped keep this low price).

Let me conclude with a list of major specs that make the HX5V so very special plus some LINKS to detailed reviews.
Main features that all together are not found (to my knowledge)  on any other similar camera:
1. True pocket size at 7oz including battery
2. 10X optical Zoom
3. 10.2 megapixel for incredible enlargements and awesome cropping. In the below example you first see the 3X optical zoom shot with my now old Sony T30, then the ‘normal’ wide angle shot with my new Sony HX5V (it shoots very wide at 25mm), then the same shot at 10X optical zoom and finally I used Photoshop to enhance (further enlarge) a some people next to the batter. This is easily done because we are shooting at 10 megapixels.
4. Shoots awesome 1080i HD video (this is roughly equal to 780p which is DVD quality. In fact it is said that many can not see the difference between this and 1080p video.
4. Unique Sweep Panoramic feature (I would have bought it for this and the HD alone). Seeing is believing. Here is the original non-panoramic shot followed by the awesome 180-220 degree panoramic version:




5. Built in GPS for locating your photos on the globe
6. Burst of ten shots in less than one second
7. Face recognition. Point the camera at yourself, press self timer and it takes the photo only   when it sees your face in the center of the lens. It will do this for one or two people.
8. Special low light setting. In a church or museum the camera will take about 5 photos in less then a second and then combine the available light from all the shots to create an dramatically improved photo.
9. Takes two instant shots in case the subject blinked in one of them.
10. Much, much more detailed in the following material. 
SONY WEB SITE and lots more info and reviews:
Here is an 8 page British reveiw from March 2010. Be sure to enlarge the page seven Panoramic photo. Did I mention it also has a built-in GPS so you can, using the right web site, have each photo ID'd on a map so show exactly where it was taken.
Another thorough ten page review:

SELF PUBLISH YOUR OWN HARD BOUND TRAVEL PHOTO BOOKS
AT PRICES ALL CAN AFFORD
Over the years we have all seen and perused the fine photos offered in scores of coffee table books. We have seen and read such books on animals, flowers, space, oceans....you name it. Many of us have thought that our own best photos deserve to be in such a book.  Such dreams can now come true at bargain basement prices.

For many Groupon has quickly become a household money saving word.  We receive near daily emails that offer a variety limited time discounts on a variety of items and services. In any given month we have received discounts offers on restaurants, SF Bay dinner cruise, electric bike tour over the Golden Gate Bridge, half priced photo course, half price teeth cleaning etc. etc. Such offers are issued for a limited number of days and vendors usually limit the number of discount vouchers offered.

Recently I received another typical Groupon email but this offer caught my interest. Groupon was offering a Shutterfly already reasonably priced $30 hard bound 8" x 8" photo book with 20 pages for just $10. That was all I needed to ‘jump in’ and try my hand at creating my own hard bound coffee table photo book.
The result was outstanding and amazing. Once again Shutterfly delivered a super quality durable product. The hard bound book, which I increased from 20 to 43 pages at eight cents per extra page, has a cool cover page with photo, back page with photo and with the book title on both the cover and spine. By following the Custom book creation choice I was able to choose a travel motif for the front and back cover.  To maximize the 8"x8" format I choose a template that permitted full page edge to edge photos so that each of my photos were show as very nice sized 8"x*’ prints.

The delivered book seems identical in every respect to the best professional published coffee table books I have perused.  The pages are thick and durable and the quality of the color printing is astounding.

 To top all of this off Shutterfly creates a free cyber edition of the book with a LINK so that you may email your book to and and all family and friends. For the more tech minded Shutterfly also provides the embed code which I am now using to embed MY BOOK below right here in this CTN edition. By using this embed code you can instantly view my spanking new hard bound photo book page by curling page.



LINK to my 3D book:

GREECE OFF THE BEATEN PATH
 By Joyce Gleeson-Adamidis

There are three very special and interesting places in Greece that I absolutely love. It comes as no surprise that many others who have visited these places agree            wholeheartedly with me.

Vergina, a small village in northern Greece, is found 330 miles north of Athens,  located in the Imathia Prefecture of Macedonia. This ancient town was the burial site of Macedonian kings dating from the 11 -18 centuries B.C. The most important king being King Philip II, father of Alexander the Great.  The Royal Tombs Museum was created to protect and preserve the site.

My personal interest in the museum stems from the fact that I met Professor Manolis  Andronikos the man responsible for finding and excavating The Royal Tomb of King Philip II.  This magnificent museum, organized in 1993, a place of peace and solace,  filled with fascinating stories of times and events we would have enjoyed witnessing first hand. The professor was a quiet and unassuming man who spent his short life trying to find the remains of Alexander the Great. Instead, he located those of his father. With everything intact and looters kept at bay, this is one of the best finds of Greek heritage.

Upon reaching the museum do not blink or you may just miss it. The museum is protected under the grassy mound where the site was discovered. 

 Passing through the tomb's stone entry-way you come  upon a darkened area with various lighting features that highlight the finds of a King Philip's tomb. The tomb had been filled with paintings, gold, jewelry, ivory, marble, wood artifacts, battle gear and more. On the Doric temple facade, there is a marble door with an Ionic frieze that has a painting of Alexander the Great and King Philip in a hunting scene together. This is the only known surviving ancient Greek painting of its kind. The artifacts are carefully housed within glass structures for viewing and protection. Temperatures inside this museum are kept in proper form to preserve the tomb. Before leaving this fascinating tomb, don't miss Professor Andronikos memoriam  describing his life's work culminating in his discovery of the tomb. A well deserved honor for a man whose like we may not see

Details and contacts:

TWO OF MY FAVORITE ISLANDS: PATMOS and NAXOS




 My next favorite hideaway is the Island of Patmos. After the Germans pulled out in 1945, the island was left autonomous until 1948 when it joined Independent Greece along with the rest of the Dodecanese Islands. Far too few visitors to Greece enjoy    the rich history and atmosphere of this island. the island is home to The Monastery of Saint John the Theologian also known as Monastery of Saint John the Divine. This  is a Greek Orthodox Monastery founded in 1088. It was built on a spot acclaimed and respected by both the Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox. According to faith this  is where St. John the Apostle had his visions and wrote the Book of Revelations in the Cave of the Apocalypse.

In 1999, UNESCO declared both the Cave and the Monastery a World Heritage Site. For me, this is a ‘must visit’ destination. Enjoy the quiet, the smell of coffee, fried octopus and wild flowers, along with, the sound of young kids running on the streets and fishermen returning to the harbor with their early morning catch. These are surreal sounds and views that will never leave my mind.

To read more about Patmos, view: http://www.patmos-island.com/home.html

My third favorite is the island of Naxos. Here  is a great island hideaway and atmosphere that allows you, for a time, to forget the rest of the world. It is unique as it is the larger island making up the Cyclades chain. In addition to its mountain range there are some of Europe’s best rated  sandy beaches. The unique Meltemi winds create some of the world’s best windsurfing conditions. Most food is grown right on the island and local restaurants offer some of the best meats, fish and potatoes to be found anywhere.

The people here are easy going, friendly, warm and helpful making you feel right at home. My favorite lodging, Portobello Studios,  is outside the town near the end of the island. It is situated along a hillside with breathtaking sunset views and the sea rolling in just walking distance below. The sound of a Sheppard taking his sheep and goats for walks every morning reminds you of the simplicity of life. The sound of silence is appreciated and adored and the amount of freedom and rest one can gather is like no other place. Portobello Studios gets my highest thumbs up recommendation.

For information on Portobello: http://www.portobello-naxos.com/
For information on the island of Naxos: http://cliptank.com/

Greece offers unlimited opportunities to runaway, hide, explore, learn and create life-long memories. It is a country like no other that beckons you to return time and again. Here you always have that rare opportunity to walk the very grounds that the Gods bestowed upon Earth.


WISHING ALL HAPPY AND SAFE TRAVELS

                      STEVE & PATTY
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