The Lost Girls monkey around in Peru

McCarran International Airport in "Sin City" has opened a new rental-car facility that puts all of its companies in one place. On the plus side, the airport is now running a single fleet of buses--which all look alike--to shuttle passengers who are renting from any of the companies. This bus fleet replaces the various vans run by the airport's 10 competing car-rental companies. On the down side, the new car-rental facility is about three miles from the airport. That puts most of the lots at a further distance. So, next time you fly into Las Vegas, plan to spend a few extra minutes picking up your rental car. And before you depart, consult this website.

Rosie O'Donnell's cruise company for families with gay members, R Family Vacations, has decided that its ship won't stop at Bermuda after all--because it didn't want passengers to have to deal with protests by church groups. What a shame. The best way for people to get comfortable with us--and by "us" I mean both gay people (which includes me) and also anyone who feels different from society at large--is to actually interact with them. It's a missed opportunity, and a surprising one from someone who makes a living being upfront and outspoken.

Our new issue of Girlfriend Getaways officially comes out today, and we're proud like new parents. It's a treat to work on a different magazine sometimes, even for the guys. Though I had a weird moment talking about Girlfriend Getaways on Fox News recently... After asking me all of the normal questions, the host, a woman, asked me if I had any advice for women out there about how exactly they should go about asking permission from their husbands to take a girlfriend getaway. I froze... Permission? What decade is it?

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.