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Rundown for the Week of October 19, 2001

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Leaning Towers by Martin Stott
You may already have the snapshot of yourself in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But that famous tower has been out of commission for more than a decade now. The restoration to reduce the tilt by about half a yard has taken 11 years and is now just about a month away from reopening to tourists. During the restoration, our reporter Martin Stott traveled to Italy to explore the allure of this 13th century tower.

Matthew Iribarne
I sat down recently with a man who has a particular passion for the road. He's an author, Matthew Iribarne, whose first work of fiction, "Astronauts and Other Stories", centers on road trips that unfold into personal odysseys. As Matthew puts it, the very nature of being confined in a car pushes us to learn more about ourselves as well as our fellow travelers.

Delta Flight #15
Here at The Savvy Traveler, we have gotten wind of one exemplary story of the kinder, gentler era of travel and we want to share it with you. Thousands of planes were stranded on September 11, many of them coming in from overseas and unable to cross the US borders. This is a story of Delta Flight #15, en route from Germany to Atlanta, that was forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland. All 10,000 or so people from the surrounding towns quickly came together to help all the passengers on Delta #15 and the other flights detained in Gander for four long, yet special days.

Beguiled on the Nile by Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker
Some travelers are wary of getting mixed up in the volatility of the Arab world at the moment. And it's a shame to miss out on some of most amazing places on the planet. But nothing's stopping us from listening in to a trip our contributors Lena Lencek and Gideon Bosker took down the Nile and putting Egypt on our must-see list for a future date. It's an upscale trip because Lena and Gideon know how to celebrate in style.

Unexpected Tunisia by Judie Fein
This is Diana Nyad. Here at The Savvy Traveler we constantly look for stories that point to the beauty of mixing cultures because we believe that's one of the great features of travel. It's not easy to find those cross-cultural stories from the Arab world right now, though. Friction is high at so many borders in that part of the world. We searched our archives and found this report from contributor Judy Fein from a little island off the coast of Tunisia. Judy was delighted and inspired to find Arabs and Jews there who live as brothers and sisters. And that wasn't the only thing about Ghirba that surprised her.

Diana's View
At Ground Zero

Question of the Week
Kindness of Strangers

Deal of the Week
Caribbean Deals

Travelers' Aid
Air Travel Update