Planning a trip? There are apps aplenty for that

If you have a smartphone or other intelligent mobile device, you're aware that there are applications (better known as apps) for just about anything. Travel is no exception, and here are a few of the latest apps available:

* Rick Steves, the radio-TV Europe guru, has a free app, Rick Steves' Audio Europe, for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. Designed to help heighten traveler’s sightseeing experience, it organizes Steves’ library of audio files – 25 audio walking tours of Europe’s top sights plus 200 tracks of travel tips and cultural insights from his radio shows -- into geographic-specific playlists covering all of Europe. Learn more at www.ricksteves.com or go directly to the iTunes App Store.

* With the free Copenhagen Open app from Wonderful Copenhagen, you get loads of information about the top sites, museums, palaces and the like. The app also includes excellent suggestions
for best-kept-secret restaurants, bars, clubs and shops in the city's laid-back residential neighborhoods, where you might feel conspicuous pulling out a guidebook, but searching for info on your phone just makes you look like you belong.

* Kayak.com has a new version of its travel app for iPhone/iPod touch that features a redesigned user interface, and maximizes speed and reliability of search functions. The app continues to include a number of free services such as flight, hotel and car rental search, itinerary management and flight tracking, but has added new features including translation for 10 European languages, a car service search and expanded booking options. The app is can be downloaded free for iPhone and iPod touch devices through iTunes and the App Store.

* Whether you’re home or on a road trip to an unfamiliar place, the free Poynt app uses your phone's GPS and cell site location to know where you are and directs you to the nearest and/or cheapest options to fuel up. Poynt also lets you find restaurants, make reservations, search movies, theaters and showtimes, and seek out businesses. To download, visit www.m.poynt.com from your BlackBerry, iPhone, Android or Windows Phone 7.

* It's not exactly an app, but Hotwire.com now has a mobile site with on-the-go access to Hotwire’s features and deal availability via your smartphone’s browser. The site offers the same discounted hotel and car deals as the full site, which Hotwire says can get you up to 50 percent off. Visit hotwire.com from your smartphone to be re-directed to the mobile site at http://m.hotwire.com.

* The website alOt.com has launched Compare Airfare Prices for finding, comparing and booking travel via a desktop app. The company also has maps, weather and shopping apps. Find the info at at www.alOt.com.

Trivial question

This city was once called Yerba Buena. What is its name today? (Answer somewhere below.)

Dash toward $250 savings with this cruise line offer

Norwegian Cruise Line launches its Freestyle Dash limited-time offer tomorrow, with savings on cruise vacations to Alaska; Bahamas & Florida; Bermuda; Caribbean; Europe; and Hawai’i.  People who book by March 18 will receive up to $250 to spend on board for shore excursions, spa treatments or dinners in any of Norwegian’s Freestyle Dining restaurants (based on cruise length and category). The offer also includes  reduced cruise deposits at time of booking, plus free upgrades fleet-wide. See a travel agent, call  866-NCL-CRUISE (625-2784), or visit www.ncl.com.

Search Amazon.com for cruises

Worth quoting
"Travelling is the ruin of all happiness! There's no looking at a building here after seeing Italy." -- Fanny Burney


It's no joke -- $10 skiing on April 1

On April Fool’s Day,  skiers and riders who donate at least three nonperishable food items at Okemo Mountain Resort in Ludlow, Vt., can purchase a full-day lift ticket for $10. All donations will go to a local food bank. And that is just one of the spring events planned at Okemo. You surely wouldn't want to miss the Joey Jam, Slush Cup pond-skimming competition and, new this year, a wet and wild Tug o’ War. Get the details by calling 802-228-1600 or by visiting www.okemo.com.

Fabulous fact

The world's largest  estuary is the Saint Lawrence River, which connects the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean and is mostly in Canada. The estuary is over 1,900 miles long and the watershed occupies 390,000 square miles. The largest U.S. estuary is the Chesapeake Bay, which is 200 miles long  and encompasses 64,000 square miles. An estuary is the wide part of a river where it nears the sea, letting fresh and salt water mix. But you already knew that.

Grandparents declare Independence a fine destination

Independence, Mo., is promoting itself as a good fit for grandparents looking for a fresh place to take grandchildren. Wagon rides, the National Frontier Trails Museum, Puppetry Arts Institute, Children's Peace Pavilion, the Truman Library, parks, "spraygrounds" and the Adventure Oasis Water Park appeal to both seniors and children. For info, call 800-748-7323 or go to www.visitindependence.com.

Trivial answer

Yerba Buena is known today as San Francisco.