Renting an apartment in Paris

One great way to truly experience life in a European city is to rent an apartment. They’re usually less expensive and larger than a hotel room. If I didn’t have to check out hotels, I would always stay in an apartment. Many come with a washer/dryer combination that allows you to pack less. There are many apartments for rent on the Internet. Here are a few that receive good reviews.

http://www.vrbo.com/139753

www.rentalo.com

www.parisleftbankrental .com

www.ahparis.com

www.parisperfect.com

www.parisbandb.com (apartments and bed and breakfast)

Berlin's Holocaust Memorials: Remembering Jewish and Gay Victims of Nazi Rule

The Denkmal für die Ermordeten Juden Europas (Memorial to the Murdered European Jews) is a powerful and massive, five-and-a-half-acres memorial. 2,711 gravestone-like columns honor those Jews killed by the Nazis. It opened in May, 2005, after years of planning and controversy. When you are walking along the cobblestone walkways between the pillars, it is intended to invoke a feeling of being lost, alone and disoriented. The paths between the pillars slope down as you move deeper into the memorial. There’s an underground center that includes the known names of those killed in the Holocaust along with letters from those on their way to concentration camps. It’s truly a remarkable memorial that recalls the unimaginable. Info: Ebertstrasse and Behrenstrasse. Tel: 030/26394336. Open at all times. Information center open daily 10am-8pm. Admission: Free. S-Bahn: Unter den Linden. http://www.holocaustdenkmal.de/

On the other side of the street (Ebertstrasse) is a concrete slab with a small widow where you view a same-sex couple kissing. This is the Monument to the Homosexuals Persecuted During National Socialism. Homosexuals were rounded up by the Nazis during World War II, forced to wear pink triangles, and sent to concentration camps.

iPhone top language translation apps (but not with menu translators)

Budget Traveler Magazine looks at iPhone Top Language Translation Apps. You still need to purchase Andy's Eating & Drinking guides to help you translate a menu!

Our favorite apps work with or without Internet access. Because, chances are, Wi-Fi hotspots aren't the only places you'll need help with the local lingo.

By Reid Bramblett, Tuesday, August 11, 2009

BEST FREEBIE
World Nomads
Free

Languages: Twenty-three, including Arabic, Cambodian, Cantonese, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Lao, Malay, Mandarin, Nepali, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Australian—the last app is handy for translating otherwise incomprehensible Aussie slang.

Usability: The World Nomads apps present lists, divided into categories, of a few dozen basic travel phrases. After tapping through the categories, such as "places to stay" and "directions & transport," you can select an appropriate phrase and hear an audio clip of a native speaker pronouncing it—a high-end feature we're surprised to find in a free app.

Frustrations: Dining phrases are missing—a big drawback.