Travel Article

Bravo to Aline Kazandjian for "The Homecoming" [Sept. 26]. With her richly descriptive style, Kazandjian interweaves historical, cultural, religious and contemporary images that should evoke great pride in her Armenian audience and prompt intrigue and awareness among readers less familiar with Armenia and its people. With the tremendous progress that has been made there since independence, today Armenia is not just for Armenians. Beth Broussalian San Diego If a writer chooses to introduce history in a travel article, I expect it to be fair and balanced.

No one writes about Carmel like Chris Reynolds ["Suitable for Framing," April 15]. What a beautiful piece, text and photos and nuggets of info only people who care would take the time to discover. I phoned my friend Sue McCloud, Carmel's mayor, to tell her to call Carmel Drug and be sure they have a copy of the Travel section intact. SHARON LAWRENCE Los Angeles Thanks for a wonderful and comprehensive travel article on the Weston family legacy and Point Lobos.

I thoroughly enjoyed John J. Linehan's article "Pumped Up in Pamplona" (March 28). It brought back memories of when I was in Spain last summer. As I was reading the latter part of the article, I knew beforehand that Linehan was talking about "El Juli," the wonder boy who turned full-fledged matador at the ripe age of 16. I was fortunate to see this boy "earn an ear" after a brave and skillful performance in the bullring of Madrid. I am an avid traveler, and it always gives me a great pleasure to read in the Travel section about all the places I have visited in the past and compare my experiences with your feature travel writers.

Regarding "Death or Illness: Airfare Refunded?" by Catharine Hamm [On the Spot, Nov. 4]: As infrequent travelers, my best friend and I signed up for a trip to New York City some years ago. Travel insurance was offered, but we weren't sure we'd need it. After much thought, we went with it. We were surely glad we had. The last thing we expected was for me to end up in the hospital just a week before takeoff. The company we dealt with was great. We had complete refunds. "Nonrefundable" means taking a big chance, so you really need to weigh that concept against insurance.

A good little travel article on Bratislava, Slovakia, by Alice Short ["Cultural Blender," April 29]. The cafe Presburg honors the original name of the city. It would have been nice if she had mentioned the great composer-pianist J.N. Hummel, who was born there. I also enjoyed the city; my main reason for stopping was Hummel's house/museum. C. Blanchard Santa Fe, N.M. :: I enjoyed the article on Bratislava, which evoked my appreciation for a similar city. It's an outpost of lively Austro-Hungarian culture (with a Slavic overlayer)

Fond memories of City of Light Merci to Chris Erskine for his wonderful souvenir of Paris ["The First Time I Saw Paris," Aug. 22]. He captured the essence of Paris, a city my husband and I have visited many times. The travel article happily coincided with Charles Fleming's article "Travel in the Time of Euros" in the Opinion section. Both gentlemen made our Sunday more enjoyable. Christine Ducey, Oceanside WWII Museum is a must-see David Freed's article about the National World War II Museum was excellent ["Lest We Forget," Aug. 15]

Betty Hughes, assistant travel editor of The Times, and staff writer Sharon Dirlam have been named winners in the second annual Lowell Thomas Travel Journalism Awards sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation. Hughes' story detailing her adventure at the wheel of a mobile home on a trip from Ohio to California won in the "Land Travel" category while Dirlam's account of a visit to Skagway, Alaska, was chosen in the "U.S. Travel" division.

Jerry Hulse, travel editor of The Times, has been named winner for the best destination article written about Mexico in 1987. Hulse's story on Copala, a small village outside Mazatlan, won first place acclaim over submissions by other U.S. newspapers and magazines, judges announced. Carlos Hampe, regional director of the Mexican Government Tourism Office, described the citation as "Mexico's highest and most prestigious award for travel journalism."

If you can't beat 'em, you can always join 'em. Demand Media Inc., often pilloried by the media pundits as a factory for online content, has struck a deal to provide travel articles and videos for one of the nation's biggest media brands, Gannett Inc.'s USA Today. The arrangement calls for Demand Media to create and maintain a new travel section for USA Today's website called Travel Tips. The section, which debuted Wednesday, is populated by thousands of how-to articles created by Demand's editors and freelancers.

You were on the right track when you said that "Many travelers . . . [are] worried about saving half an hour on their way out of the airport." However, that point needs to be expanded. Specifically, many of us carry everything onto a plane simply because we just hate to wait, and wait and then wait some more at baggage claim. If our bags would be waiting for us when we got to baggage claim, then we would never carry more than a briefcase or purse. JOHN L. WILLIAMS Hermosa Beach Speaking for what I feel is the majority of travelers, it is about time that the airlines bite the bullet, provide the carry-on policy and in turn arm their crews with the authority to control this abusive habit.