Unfair treatment on cruises?

You've got less than two weeks to pull together your Mother's Day gift. (M-day is May 11.) How about buying a gift card at BedandBreakfast.com that is redeemable for a stay at one of 4,000 B&Bs;? Even better, the site will donate 10 percent of the purchase price to American Forests' ReLeaf Fund, an organization that plants trees where they are needed most. To plan a full-fledged mother-daughter getaway, see our roundup of Real Deals.

I recently spent a week in Istanbul with three girlfriends, and we relied on two guidebooks—the Lonely Planet Istanbul Encounter and Eyewitness Travel's Top 10 Istanbul—that offered (sometimes contradictory) cultural etiquette advice. Both books stressed that physical contact between men and women should be limited and that public displays of attraction were a definite taboo. So we were surprised when we often saw Muslim girls in headscarves canoodling with their boyfriends in very public places. We were also led astray by the inadequate guidebook discussion of how Turkish men would treat us—a group of young American women traveling without male companions. No one attempted to follow us, and there was never a time I felt unsafe. But I wasn't prepared for the constant verbal harassment we received. (One of my colleagues was visiting with her boyfriend around the same time and didn't encounter the same boldness from Turkish men.) Most of the comments came from shopkeepers trying to lure us into their stores. Several men told us we were beautiful, and one told my friend he wanted to start a family with her. The comments were innocent enough, but grew frustrating as the week progressed. While the unwanted attention didn't prevent me from having a fabulous trip, it's something I think women should be prepared for when heading to Istanbul.—Liz Webber Ever been to Istanbul? Share your experiences and some tips for future visitors below.

A new museum celebrating '60s counterculture and music is set to open this summer on the site of the 1969 Woodstock festival. The Museum at Bethel Woods in Bethel, New York (about 90-minutes north of Manhattan) will be an addition to the 2,000-acre Bethel Woods Center of the Arts. The museum, opening June 2nd, will house exhibitions that combine film footage, interactive displays, and artifacts—bring on the bell bottoms! (bethelwoodscenter.org.museum, museum admission $13) Consider planning your visit to sync up with one of the concerts at Bethel Woods' 15,000-seat outdoor theater. Tickets for this summer’s acts, such as Ringo Starr, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Steve Miller, are already on sale, starting at about $26. There's also an open-air market selling crafts and produce, and, of course, the concert fields of the original Woodstock, if you're feeling nostalgic. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Road Trip to the Catskills: A Heap of Old-Fashioned Fun, Only Two Hours From New York City