Here’s a European tradition we should embrace: Widespread nudity

Bare facts

Europe is more relaxed about nudity and body types.Credit: Getty Images

Brian Johnston, in his story about Euopean customs (Traveller, March 14) lists “widespread nudity” as a European custom we could do without. Brian’s opinion perpetuates the idea we should be ashamed of our bodies and keep them covered at all times. The idea that our bodies need to be covered to hide the “horror show of wobbling flesh” as opined by Brian, encourages us to be shameful of our bodies, especially the “wobbling flesh” bits. Northern Europeans (and others) have a healthy regard for all body types, regardless of how wobbly our bits are. Acceptance of all body shapes and wobbliness will help us fight the scourge of body dysmorphia. Widespread nudity as practised by northern Europeans is a practicable way of demonstrating acceptance of all body shapes and that no-one should be ashamed of their body.
Digby Drew, Kensington, Vic

Cultural crossroads

Colourful Cape Verde.Credit: Alamy

Thank you for the wonderful story on European customs with a special thanks for the part about the custom of “saudade”. In Cape Verde it is known as “solodade”, and considered a direct ancestor of African-American blues. Cape Verde has a high immigrant population to Portugal and the two song forms found themselves at home. Saudade is also found in Brazil, and an excellent account of it can be found in the writings of Clarice Lespector.
Alexander Elliott, Bilgola Plateau, NSW

Letter of the week: Inns and outs

The value choice.Credit: Alamy

So why is Airbnb popular? Hotels charge too much, way more than Airbnb accommodation. Hotels provide small, sometimes tiny, rooms; an Airbnb is usually way more spacious. My last hotel wanted $30 each for a continental breakfast; at my last Airbnb I made toast and tea for next to nothing. Hotel restaurants are very costly; I cook a simple meal at an Airbnb for a fraction of the cost. Hotels charge for parking; if I need it, I get an Airbnb where parking is included and doesn’t cost $25 a night. Airbnbs often provide little extras; hotels increasingly provide the bare minimum. Airbnbs don’t charge my credit card, sometimes $100, with the promise to refund it at their leisure. Airbnbs don’t charge a resort fee. We’ve used Airbnbs around the world. If hotels were better value I’d be more inclined to use them.
Claire Jones, Canterbury, Vic

Nightmare avoidance

Lee Tulloch’s column about sleeping on planes (Traveller, March 18) advising that sleeping tablets do the trick when all else fails, could have benefited by including that to enter certain countries, even in transit, with the United Arab Emirates springing to mind, you will need to produce a doctor’s prescription. Useful to know this, so your dream trip goes to plan.
Petra O’Neill, Paddington, NSW

Bitter pills

In response to Lee Tulloch’s column on sleeping on planes, we are fortunate indeed that travel on commercial flights is incredibly safe the world over, and incidents are rare. But if something does go wrong, it is vitally important that everyone on board has their wits about them, and is fully conscious, and capable of following the crew’s instructions. Being drugged up on anything at all that leaves you unable to wake up fast, groggy, confused, or not fully functional in any way, has the potential to turn you into a danger not only to yourself, but also to those in the seats adjacent, and even more significantly to the cabin crew whose job it is to do their best to save your life.
Karyn Maguire Bradford, Glen Alpine, NSW

Don’t bank on them

In the aftermath of several recent incidents of fires on aircraft caused by lithium batteries in power banks, it’s time for airlines to review the existing, and fairly lax rules, about transporting these devices. South Korean airlines and five others – Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, EVA Air, Scoot and China Airways – have now acted to tighten regulations, including requiring passengers to not store power banks in overhead lockers, and not use or charge them in flight. Given the real risks, the next step might be for all airlines to adopt these rules, and also have a process to check devices comply with International Civil Aviation Organisation guidelines, including that they are of good quality, and terminals are adequately protected to avoid short circuits.
Ross Duncan, Potts Point, NSW

Ice with that

Tinto de verano (red wine of summer) – a combination of red wine, soda and lemon in a big glass of ice.Credit: iStock

Spain has a similarly refreshing version of the piscine drink (Traveller, December 27). It’s the tinto de verano (red wine of summer) – a combination of red wine, soda and lemon in a big glass of ice. Most tapas bars around Spain sell it in some form. Perfect after a hot day of sightseeing.
Merrill Sells, Canterbury, NSW

Tongue-tied

Julietta Jameson gave me some good laughs in her piece about attempting foreign languages (Traveller, March 20). I am forever grateful and embarrassed that so many people in tourism speak English as a second or third language. They recognise that speaking English opens a whole new world of tourists. Good luck to them. Some English-speaking tourists bemoan the fact that the English our guides speak may not be word perfect. Try learning any language, as Julietta did, unsuccessfully. Always smile and be grateful that countless others have taken the trouble to speak to you in your language.
Lindsay Somerville, Lindfield, NSW

Long reply

I’m probably not the first or only traveller to point out to Angelika von Sanden (Traveller Letters, March 8) that, although Europe is indeed magnificent and fascinating, even there it’s not possible to have both long days and long nights. In August, a few weeks before the Equinox, she’ll be experiencing the waning of summer light, so may still have fairly long but gradually shortening days and correspondingly shorter but gradually lengthening nights. It’s the way the world works.
Marie Goldsworthy, Geelong, NSW

Close encounter

Thank you, Catherine Marshall, for your evocative piece about Victoria Falls (Traveller, February 18). Decades ago, I was wearing a bright yellow raincoat, running across a bridge, on the Zambian side of the Falls. Totally awestruck by the “thundering smoke” I was suddenly stopped in my tracks by a large baboon, its piercing eyes locking onto mine. We shared a fleeting moment of connection before it darted past me. That moment in my homeland Africa is forever etched in my memory.
Rhoda Silber, Manly, NSW

Tip of the week: Great Danes

The Design Museum in Copenhagen celebrates Denmark’s global impact on design.Credit: Alamy

The influence of Denmark on design is global and the Design Museum and the Danish Architecture Centre in Copenhagen are full of innovative furniture, thought provoking art installations and futuristic urban buildings. It reflects the Danish philosophy of outstanding architecture that respects the community and the environment.

Looking for a unique scanner at the Design Museum, I held my ticket under the elegant white cylinder on the chic red stand, realising my mistake when it deposited a blob of hand sanitiser on my ticket. Meanwhile, the Copenhagen Card is the best way to see the beautiful city and its magnificent attractions.
Leona Jorgensen, Rowville, Vic

Blue no more

Having read lots of online articles about how to deal with money in Argentina, we travelled there last year armed with $US2000 in freshly minted $100 notes, ready to buy pesos as required through the “blue market”. None of it was necessary as it turns out. We exchanged $100 at the blue rate. Everything else we paid for on a Wise debit card and got an even better exchange rate than the blue rate. Save yourself the stress, take a small amount of US dollars as some places either don’t take cards or occasionally electronic funds transfer machines might be inoperable due to power outages.
David Harrison, Winmalee, NSW

Smart stops

Credit: Jamie Brown

The best value of the hop-on hop-off bus is that it allows you to get your bearings when entering a new city. Tickets are usually good for 24 hours, so I buy my ticket mid-morning and remain on the bus for the entire circuit, taking note of sights deserving of a return visit during my stay. Sometimes there are multiple routes within the same city, which you can complete in the same day. As the ticket is still valid the next morning, I can use this as a means of transport to get to one of my noted sights.
Ray Czajko, Kensington, Vic

Tourist tracking

I am writing this on the city to Preston Number 11 Melbourne tram. I thought, what a great way to see the city and to have an idea how the locals live. I have ridden the rails in Lisbon, Rio, Milan, Tokyo and Sydney. Each system has its own quirks in ticketing systems. Once you get to know Myki and others, the travelling is interesting and easy.
Michael Copping, Oatley, NSW

Pick-up lines

We organised a car hire in the Netherlands, to be picked up on a Sunday. The car hire company accepted our money. On arriving at the pick-up site, it was closed, as it was a public holiday. Not a great inconvenience to us, as it happened, and we went back the next day. There was no car. “You didn’t pick it up when you said you would, so we sent it back”. They did, however, give us an upgraded car, so all was not lost.
Mia David, Wollongong, NSW

Family matters

Thank you Ben Groundwater (Traveller, March 5) for supporting the joys of overseas travel as a child, then with one’s own children. In the ’70s and ’80s my father shared the same view: travel broadens the mind of a small child: see how others live, show respect to all people and for all lands, leave no footprint, do no harm.

The Grand Canyon when I was 10; Disneyland Anaheim at 10, then 17; Tokyo also aged 10. The kindness of a local helping to decipher a city map; travel by bullet train; an introduction to tempura udon noodle soup are just a few of my impressions but the list of visual memories is endless. When questioned about our travels, Dad replied that if he and Mum, two adults, could not manage a small child, there was something wrong.
Belinda Coombs, Ermington, NSW

The Letter of the Week writer wins three Hardie Grant travel books. See hardiegrant.com

The Tip of the Week writer wins a set of three Lonely Planet travel books. See shop.lonelyplanet.com