Summertime Brings Learning Experiences

What I learned on my summer vacation--or was it the summer before?

Uscita means exit in Italian. When you’re speeding along an autostrada with a lap full of maps, that’s important to remember. Guasto means out of order; when you see that word on a gas pump or telephone or restroom, you’ve at least been warned.

Bargains are in the eye of the beholder. In the Acapulco airport I stood by an American woman whose head seemed encased in a doily. On closer inspection it was a white eyelet hat with drooping brim.

“I finally learned how to bargain in Mexico,” she confided. “You have to be firm. The boy asked $2 for this hat and I said, ‘No thanks. I wouldn’t know how to pack it.’ So he cut the price to $1 and said, ‘I’ll show you how.’ ” (The scene made me grateful for my crushable raffia Stetson from the Western Hat Works in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.)

Better Batiks

Caribelle batik from St. Kitts may be the silkiest, lightest batik in the world; they make it into gossamer gowns and cool cover-ups for the beach. It’s sold in many Caribbean ports and bears little resemblance to the waxy build-up batiks of Indonesia.

An especially jolly pub with terrific food is the New Moon in Biddisham, near Bristol, England. It’s the local of Royal Princess’ Capt. John Young and other British seafarers.

An especially good Wiener schnitzel is served at the Stadtkrug restaurant in the railroad station at Zell Am See in Austria. It’s operated by the Family Hermann in a room rich with candlelight, fresh flowers and lace curtains. Somehow, it is as quiet as it is convenient.

An especially tasty swordfish with, of all things, bearnaise sauce is a favorite at the Dolphin Striker tavern on Bow Street near the restored waterfront of Portsmouth, N.H. The Striker chowder and cherrystones are also worth a detour.

Fine Chocolate in Italy

An especially fine bittersweet chocolate is Perugina, made in Perugia, Italy.

The Palazzo Ravizza in Siena is a tempting bed and breakfast establishment in a 17th-Century villa within the old town walls. Its large Tuscan garden spells serenity.

In Venice, two pensions caught my eyes as I strolled on Zattere Island near the magnificent Church of Santa Maria della Salute. They face the Giudecca Canal; guests were sipping coffee beneath signs that said Seguso and Calcina, if my scribbled notes hold true.

Gatun Lake, at the heart of the Panama Canal, is the third largest man-made lake in the world, after Lake Nasser in Egypt and Lake Mead on the Nevada-Arizona border. Gatun covers an area the size of Barbados.

Panama hats are made in Ecuador.

Or so I was told on my summer vacation--or was it the summer before?