Curtis has a history background, and for that reason her favorite travel destination is Cordoba in southern Spain. The greatest attraction of the city is its cathedral, which she considers "one of the most astounding historical monuments in the world."

The cathedral was originally constructed between the 8th and 10th centuries as a Moorish mosque on the site of a Roman temple, and later of a Visigothic church. The amazing thing about it is that the Christians did not destroy the mosque, considered to be Europe's most beautiful. Instead they built their church inside it, keeping the original building intact. Even though the building has officially been a cathedral for more than 750 years, the locals call the building, "La Mezquita," the mosque.

"Seeing all he religions and time periods of history overlaying each other, for anyone with any sort of history background, it is overwhelming," she said.

Cordoba is also a great walking city, Curtis explained.

"Every time you turn a corner there is some historic thing to see, or a wonderful restaurant to eat in, or a cafe to stop off in," she said. Those who make the uphill trek to the Alcazar during the summer would find immediate relief from the heat. The Moorish palace and gardens often seem to be a refreshing 10 degrees cooler than the surrounding area. It may be the many fountains set in the Islamic architecture, as much as the landscaping, which create the refreshing setting.

Another walk Curtis suggests is to the Calahorra Castle, seat of the University of Cordoba, which is reached from the central city via a Roman bridge of 16 arches over the Guadalquiver River.

On her walks she has learned of, the vast history of cordoba. It flourished as a major Roman settlement from the 1st to the 5th century, and was then captured in succession  by the Visigoths and the N46ors. In 756 Abdar-Rahman made Cordoba the capital of Moorish Spain, and for the next 250 years the city was one of the world's great commercial and intellectual centers.

The material well-being of Cordoba declined after the 11th century as Moslem rule in Spain disintegrated, but the city remained a hub of literature and scholarship. In 1236 the city was captured and made part of Roman Catholic Spain by Ferdinand III of Castile.

Lake Bled, Slovenia
Alan Levy, editor- in- chief,
The Prague Post

Alan Levy was already a renowned US journalist when he moved with his family to Prague in 1967. He was an eyewitness to the reforms of the Prague Spring, the Soviet invasion of August 1968, and the repression that followed. His account of these events, "Rowboat to Prague," became an underground classic, and was responsible for his deportation in 1971. He and his family lived in Vienna for 20  years, but returned to Prague in late 1990 when he became founding editor of The Prague Post, widely regarded as the best English -language newspaper in Eastern Europe.

Levy's favorite European travel destination is Lake Bled, in northern Slovenia, which he first visited in 1987 while on assignment for the International Herald Tribune. In the northwestern most corner of the country, near the borders of Austria and Italy, Lake Bled lies on the southern slopes of the Karawanken range of the Alps. The Slovenian capital, Ljubljana, is about 40 miles to the south.

Levy stayed at Vila Bled, the former summer residence of Marshal Tito that was converted to a luxury hotel in 1984. Although the luxury of Vila Bled was impressive, Levy considers the highlight of that trip to be something much more simple.

"One of the very special things that made it my favorite lake in Europe were the swans flying in formation," Levy recalled.-"Up until that point, swans were always ugly birds that hissed at you when you went by." He has been to Lake Bled four or five times since that first visit, and each time has seen the swans flying.

When Levy returned to Bled in 1995 with his family, they lived for a month in a farmhouse. This arrangement was part of a program organized by the agricultural cooperatives of Slovenia. He recommends the farmhouse option for anyone traveling with small children; his two-year-old grandchild was with him for the month, and the freedom of the farm was a big advantage.

For Levy, one of Lake Bled's most interesting sights is the 15th century Christian church on an island in the middle of the lake. The island can be reached via rowboat in 10 minutes, or by one of the piloted gondolas, called pletnas. There are 99 steps from the lake to the church, which pilgrims used to climb on their knees. At the top of the steps is the church's "Wishing Bell." Legend has it if the bell rings on the third pull, the bellringer's wish will come true.

On cliffs rising 100 meters above the lakeshore is Bled Castle, which dates from the 11th century, and was the seat of the bishops of' Brixen for 800 years. It currently houses a museum that traces the history of Lake Bled and its settlements from the Bronze Age to the middle of the l9th century, and a small, 16th century chapel.

Ericeira, Portugal
Tom Estes, restauranteur, Paris

In 1969, Tom Estes, a young school teacher from Los Angeles, took a vacation to Amsterdam. Several years later he had the idea of opening the first Mexican restaurant in The dream became reality in 1976 when he opened Café  Pacifico, with one  of his former Mexican American students as  chef. Since then, Estes has  opened restaurants in  London, Paris, Cologne, Milan and, most recently, Sydney. After 10 years in Amsterdam, he moved to Paris, where he currently lives.

Portugal was the first place Estes chose to take a European vacation after moving to Amsterdam in the 1970s. He said "the landscape and the people reminded me of old California" and he returned four more times to explore different areas. He highly recommends the seaside town of Ericeira, just over the border of the Estremadura region north of Lisbon.

At the center of Ericeira is Praca da Republica, which Estes describes as "a typical Latin town square where you can spend hours having coffee and watching the people go by." The square's name relates to the town's place in recent history. On Oct. 5 1910, Portugal's last monarch, Dom Manuel 11, learned that an angry republican mob was advancing on him from Lisbon. He fled to the harbor at Ericeira and sailed into the safety of the British colony of Gibraltar. A plaque on the side of the Santo Antonio Chapel above the harbor records this event and there are related documents, including British newspaper reports, in the small municipal museum.

The cobblestone streets of Ericeiras old fishing quarter are lined by adobe houses painted white with bright blue trim. Alternatively, you can always spend the day enjoying Ericeria's fine beaches. Swimming is not permitted at Ericeira's main beach because it is reserved for the fishermen. However, the Praia do Sul to the south is a fine, sand beach set in front of dramatic cliffs.

To the north is Praia de Sao Sebastiao. This beach was named after the young king who led an army of 18,000 soldiers in a crusade against the Moors. In 1578, at the battle of Acacer-Quibir in North Africa, the king and 8,000 of his men were killed, but the Portuguese people refused to believe the news of the king's death. A legend grew among "Sebastianists" that he would reappear one day to lead them back to glory.

Of course the food is of special interest to Estes, and Ericeira is well known to the Portuguese for its seafood, particularly lobsters and crayfish. The local speciality is acorda de mariscos, a shellfish stew made by soaking bread in shellfish stock, then cooking it in olive oil and garlic and adding eggs and shellfish. Estes also praises the Portuguese for producing good, natural wines. The best known varieties from the area are the light, dry red Colares and the local alternative to port, the sweet Setubal muscatel dessert wines.

Fredrikstad and Lillehammer, Norway 
Kevin McCloskey, accountant, Oslo

Kevin McCloskey recently worked out an itinerary for ffiends andfamilyfrom the US traveling to Norway this summerfor his wedding. He movedfrom New York City to Norway in December 1996 to be with his Norwegianflancee and to work in the Deloitte and Touche Oslo office.

McCloskey recommends Fredrikstad and Lillehammer, both within easy travel distance of Oslo. Fredrikstad is just over an hour by train, south of Oslo. Located at the mouth of Norway's longest river, the Glomma, Fredrikstad is named for the Danish king who built the fortified town in 1567.

Norway was ruled by Danish kings from 1387 to 1814, and played a significant role in the sequence of wars between Sweden and Denmark. The eastern approaches to Oslo, along the Oslofjord, were especially vulnerable to attack, and Fredrikstad became an important fortress. By 1635, Fredrikstad was the strongest fortress in Norway. It still functions as a military camp today and is the only surviving fortified town in Scandanavia.

McCloskey says that thanks to careful preservation, Fredrikstad's Gamlebyen, the Old Town, offers visitors "an opportunity to see what a Norwegian town looked like several hundred years ago." Many buildings in the historic district have been converted into studios for local artists, and their architectural integrity has been maintained.

Outside the gates of the Old Town is Kongsten Fort, the most impressive of the towns outlying defences. Thick stone and earth walls stand on a rocky knoll that offers views of the surrounding countryside. Underground chambers and passages illustrate military engineering techniques of the 17th century.

Lillehammer, host town of the 1994 Winter Olympics, is a two-hour train ride north of Oslo. Of course, for anyone interested in winter sports Lillehammer is hard to beat. In preparation for the Olympics, the Norwegian government spent two billion kroner on the town's sporting facilities, which are considered the best in the country. McCloskey recommends taking time to check them out.

Despite its claim to current fame, Lillehammer has much to offer beyond winter sports. It enjoys a beautiful location on the shore of Lake Mjosa, Norway's largest lake, and is rich in cultural and historical sites. The LillehammerArt Museum, located in the center of town, contains one of the nation's largest collections of national art. The exhibits contain pieces dating from the 1830s to the present.

The Maihaugen Open Air Museum consists of 150 historical buildings, ranging from manor farms to cottages used by the poorest yeoman workers. The buildings exhibited in this museum were gathered from all over the Budbrands Valley and were reassembled and furnished in 17th to 18th century style. Two key exhibits are farms dating from the late 17th century, complete with their various outbuildings and living areas. The oldest structure in the museum's collection is the Garmo Stave Church, dating from the year 1200. Stave churches, constructed entirely of wood, were built throughout Norway in the Middle Ages. An estimated 750 stave churches were built, but today only about 30 remain.

Most activity in "downtown" Lillehammer concentrates on the pedestrian part of the main thoroughfare, Storgata. It is lined with old wooden houses, reflecting Lillehammer's claim to be the oldest inland town in eastern Norway.

The New Forest, England 
Susan Kessler, managing director, Zagat UK, London

The Zagat restaurant guides are now the most widely read in North America. As managing director of Zagat UK, Susan Kessler is working for the same kind of success in London. Kessler was thefood and decorating editor of New Woman Magazine when she and her husband moved to London seven years ago. Soon afterwards, affiend introduced her to Tim and Nina Zagat, who were looking to launch the guide in the UK.

Every year at Christmas since 1993 Kessler and her husband have spent four nights at Chewton Glen Hotel, Health and Country Club, 90 miles south west of London in the New Forest town of New Milton, Hampshire. The 18th century manor house sits in a 70-acre garden.

As you might expect from a place recommended by Kessler, the food at Chewton Glen maintains a high standard, with a Michelin star restaurant kept in the capable hands of chef Pierre Chevillard. This year the hotel was ranked number one in Europe and 13th in the world by the Conde Nast Traveler readers choice poll. Kessler says she returns each year because "it is very welcoming with wonderful staff who treat you like family."

The hotel is located on the southern edge of the New Forest, which despite its name is actually one of the few primeval oak woods remaining in England. Its 145 square miles of heathland and woods, make the New Forest the largest area of unenclosed land in southern Britain; motorists are advised to yield to the semi-wild ponies that roam the area.

Those not disposed to ambling through the countryside will find things to see and do at the national automobile collection at nearby Beaulieu Castle, a shipbuilding museum at Buckler's Hard on the coastal edge of the New Forest, or sailing in The Solent, the strait between the New Forest and the Isle of Wight.