Girlfriend Getaways!

Last week, Christopher Winner, the Rome-based editor of The American magazine, answered more than 100 reader questions about Italy in one of Budget Travel's weekly live chats. (Read the informative transcript by clicking here.) Winner's publication recently picked the best dining spots in top Italian cities. I trust this list partly because it's written by English-speaking Italians and American ex-pats and is intended for use by English-speaking visitors to Italy. I also trust this list because... ... I've sampled a few of the top restaurant picks myself, and I know they're fantastic choices. One of the picks is Da Abele in Milan, which serves the best risotto I've ever eaten in a restaurant. (Its creaminess and toasted nuttiness are the stuff of dreams.) Winner's list includes restaurants that are located outside of the main tourist districts. Da Abele, for one, is located several subway stops away from Milan's pedestrianized tourist zone. Visiting a restaurant like Da Abele offers a chance to truly eat like a local, instead of dining at one of the usual suspects listed in a guidebook. During my visit to Da Abele last fall, I was seated in a room with four tables. Seated around me were a family celebrating a father's milestone birthday, a set of three fashionably-dressed friends having a girl's night out, and a pair of middle-aged lovers. No tourists were in earshot. If you've tried any of the restaurants on 1">the list, we hope you'll post your comments below. For a glossary of Italian terms to help you find your way around Italian dining, click here. You'll find free recipes that emphasize Bolognese cuisine by clicking here. The recipes come from The Silver Spoon, which is "Italy's answer to the Joy of Cooking." For Budget Travel's advice on renting an apartment in Venice, click here.

Ever wanted to go between the moon and New York City? Head over to 43places.com, where you can browse hundreds of different places both familiar and fictional. The free (just create a profile) site is based on the idea that every person should visit (or aspire to visit) about 43 places. Travelers can make lists of the places they want to go and help others by rating all the places they have been. Places can range from well-known cities to fictional settings, such as Narnia and Middle Earth. For travelers, the site pretty much serves the same function as TripAdvisor, letting users post their own thoughts about places, but it adds a dimension by allowing people to post thoughts about places they'd like to go. The site also allows users to add descriptive tags to places, such as "cafe," and then search to find other locales that have the same tags, such as other cafes worldwide. 43places.com fits nicely within the ranks of TripAdvisor and IgoUgo. It's pretty fun to see where other people have been compared to where they want to go; just watch out or you may go mad to the tune of Christopher Cross.--Lindsey Ramsey

Out of Atlanta: Check out the two-day fare sale that Airtran is running. The discount airline is offering tickets for travel during the month of May (with some dates excluded). A sample round-trip fare between Atlanta and L.A. is $190, after taxes and fees. That's about $120 less than the typical fares on that route, according to our quick search online comparing other fares. Out of New York City and Washington: On the fancier end of the airline spectrum, MAXJet, the all-business class airline, is running a special that ends today. Travel between Washington Dulles and London Stansted starts at $1,000 roundtrip. Travel between New York JFK and London Stansted starts at $1,200 roundtrip. (To read more about MAXjet's five feet of legroom, four course meals, and other perks, click on this Budget Travel article.) For package deals for travel elsewhere, visit our Real Deals section.

For Budget Travel's May issue, we compiled a list of 15 Places to Visit Before Age 15. Not all of our readers agreed with our list, which you can find by clicking here. Among the passionate complaints is the question: "What planet are you all living on?"... (Feel free to add your own opinions in our comments section.) Did the people who picked this list ever think there might be life outside of the Northeast? I mean 9 out of the 15 are in the N.E., there's a whole lot more country out there! What about the Rockies???? Mount Rushmore??? (AWESOME vacation for children) Iowa State Fair??? (You can't get more Americana than that) Denali National Park, Alaska? (Yeah, cause I can afford to take my five kids to Hawaii too). Any of the Great Lakes (my favorite is Lake Michigan, by the way; Mackinaw Island kids love!) Gatlinburg, and the Smoky Mountains. There's also a little known place called Yellowstone???? By the way do you really think "Ground Zero" would be appreciated by an eight year old? I would not consider that an appropriate "family vacation destination". What's up with Alcatraz? As one of the top 15 places in all of America for children?? Whew-wee! What fun! Do you guys even have kids? I mean I'm all for these highbrow educational vacations, but think they would be better grasped by teenagers. As a mother of five kids ranging in ages 15-7, I've been on A LOT of vacations with children, and have seen what they like and don't. I've also been very discouraged trying to take them places I wanted to go, only to have to hurry through them because they weren't old enough to appreciate it.--J. O'Neal, via the Internet. What planet are you all living on? I am 55 years old and I haven't been to half of those places yet. I like "Budget" Travel because it seems to be a travel magazine for those of modest means. Your list of places to see by age 15 could truly only be accomplished by the very well to do. Perhaps you meant to run this piece in Conde Nast?--Fred Doyle of Alexandria, Virginia. I think someone is on something...in this climate of middle class people trying to keep body and soul together, i find it very disrespectful for you to print an outrageous list of places to see before the kids are 15...not everyone had an unlimited budget for travel and i think we all do what we can...but this is out of bounds...yes, the list is wonderful, and for their l6th birthday how about a BMW?...and then people complain that the young generation is spoiled, self-centered, and egotistical...how about an article giving overworked, under-appreciated parents a break and concentrate on places of interest, educational and cultural, that are within a 100-mile radius of their homes...from that platform, you could branch out to the geographical area they live, etc....i am 70 years old, i have an unlimited budget for travel, and have not been to all of these places (have been to many, many more not listed) and if i had seen all of this before i was 15, i would be bored now...i am very disappointed that you have joined the legions of businesses that are not at all interested in raising children to be sensitive, aware of what they have (and what other people don't), and grateful...instead it is "where are we going this year???????" How about a soup kitchen this Easter, a Salvation Army center food bank, or a meals on wheels trip? Travel is wonderful, but let's not confuse what we want with what we need for body, mind, and spirit......and not put everything on the credit card.--Anne Cameo, via the Internet.