Message Center

Sunday, May 4, 2008

What a Ham

PIGS DO FLY! Serrano ham [Travel Q&A, April 27] has been available for about a year at Balducci's in Washington and Bethesda. Unfortunately, you can't buy it freshly hand-sliced from a leg hanging from a hook as in Spain.

Marie Anderson

Chevy Chase

I HAVE TO strongly disagree with your comments about Serrano ham: There are many reasons to "dis" the USDA program. These are the people who for many years wouldn't let us import Argentine beef -- the finest in the world -- for protectionist reasons, but camouflaged it as health concerns. These are the people who won't let us import, even for personal consumption, epoisses and other fine European unpasteurized cheeses. (I know of one professional chef who claims to have smuggled an epoisses home in his child's diaper bag.)

I shall go on eating unpasteurized epoisses, proper Brie, Argentine beef and other similar products when I am fortunate enough to find them.

James Quinn

Arlington

Editor's note:

Point taken, but keep in mind that just because a food is safe for human consumption, that does not mean it cannot pose a threat to livestock and the cattle industry. What is safe for "personal consumption" is not the only consideration.

Travel Career

I MISSED the Web chat on Monday [2 p.m. at http://www.washingtonpost.com], but just read the transcript. For the person with international travel experience and potential interest in switching to a travel career: Northern Virginia Community College's Annandale campus offers a travel and tourism program (certificate and degree) that enables one to learn about a broad variety of career options and then specialize in any one of them.

Besides the core required courses, the university has offered classes in travel writing, tour guiding, home-based travel consulting, convention/trade show management, hospitality industry careers, etc.

I completed the program after getting bored with technology PR, and it was a good introduction to the industry.

Erika Christ

Viva Europa Travel

Alexandria

European Lodging

I WAS INTERESTED to read your ideas for locating cheap places to stay in Europe ["Cheap Sleeps Across the Pond," April 6] and wanted to share one of my own.

While my family was posted in Luxembourg for an overseas assignment, the dollar was weak, so we looked for inexpensive ways to stretch our vacation budget. I found the Web site at http://www.gites-de-france.com/gites/uk/rural_gites during a search for lodging.

The site offers properties in all regions of France, and the search mechanism makes it easy to find listings by availability, size, price, location, etc. It also offers listings of children's gites, campsites and chambres d'hote, and links to travel resources within France. (For listings in other European countries, see http://www.eurogites.org.)

Using the site, we rented for the week a lovely barn conversion in France. It was adequately furnished for our family of six, welcomed our large dog and was convenient to local shopping. Each morning, the baker came by offering fresh breads and pastries. It was a truly authentic French countryside experience.

Sabrina Volciak

Herndon

Passport Success

I HAD A fabulous experience with the D.C. passport office recently. It was 24 hours before our flight when I realized that my husband's and my passport had expired five days earlier. I called the passport office and made a same-day appointment for a passport.

Once there, we stood in a short line and were out the door in 20 minutes with a promise that our passports would be ready in two hours.

That office has often been vilified, so I wanted to give them a giant thank you for their incredible efficiency. Now, my passport photo is another story . . .

Ellen Kleinknecht

Bethesda

Luggage Charges

WITH THE NEW baggage charges, the airlines once again were thinking of their bottom line and not the hardships the new rule would have on some of their passengers. As a small woman, I used to travel with two small bags to evenly distribute the weight so that I could lift my bags onto buses and the check-in counter scale, and off the baggage-claim belt. I now struggle with a 35- to 50-pound bag and must depend on strangers to help me.

The major reasons given for this new policy is fuel savings. If that is truly the reason, then why not charge $25 for two bags that together weigh more than 50 pounds and less than 100 pounds?

Daphne Gemmill

Washington

Driving in Italy, Cont'd

I KNOW YOU'VE received numerous reports of driving tickets in Italy, but I thought I'd add ours.

We traveled to Italy in March 2007 and rented a car in Florence. While driving through the city, we took a wrong turn and ended up in a restricted traffic area.

About a week ago, we received a notice in the mail from the Firenze Police for that incident, charging us about $140. That was the first notice we had received. We were directed to a Web site where we could pay by credit card.

It's nice to know we're not alone on this issue, but it seems a harsh lesson to learn as tourists who had already spent a good deal of money there.

Barbara Van Woerkom

Silver Spring

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