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for the best in design, service and quality. ⇑⇓WHAT A PILE OF SCHENGEN! After reading the April 14 'Lectronic about U.S. citizens having to leave Schengen Area countries for at least 90 days in every 180 days — making it difficult if not impossible to cruise the Med, as all the European countries bordering the Med are Schengen Area — I had to look to make sure you weren't publishing it on April 1. How silly does it get? Jimmie Zinn Dry Martini, Morgan 38 Richmond YC

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Jimmie — We didn't believe it either when we first heard of it because it sounded so ridiculous. After all, what very large collection of countries, many with economies in recession, wouldn't want to make it easy The new regulations would make for relatively affluent visitors to cruising the Med extremely chal- spend money, hire their worklenging. In yellow are Schengen ers, and generally contribute Area members, and in pink, those to their GDPs? We know that's that are legally bound to join. the philosophy of the antigentrification crowd in Oakland, but at least most Eurocrats have recognized the folly of that thinking and are scrambling to review and modify the relevant parts of the treaty. ⇑⇓BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE I was pondering on the Schengen Area issue and wonder if a visit to Gibraltar would satisfy the requirement of nonSchengen Area individuals having to leave Schengen Area countries for at least 90 out of 180 days? Marc Bodian Averi, Bristol 35 Boulder, CO Marc — Gibraltar is under British jurisdiction, and is not in the Schengen Area, which makes it seem as though it might be a loophole country. But how many cruisers would want to spend three months in a country that's only 2.3 square miles — or about 1/20th the size of San Francisco? Morocco, just eight miles across the Straits of Gibraltar, and absolutely a non-Schengen Area country, would seem like a much more attractive option. But remember, unless you're already in southwest Spain, it's a long way from Schengen Area countries to either Gibraltar or Morocco. ⇑⇓TAKE A HOLIDAY IN TURKEY If you look at the European cruising problem, you'll note that Turkey is not included in the Schengen Area. And for a good reason. Half of Turkey currently lives in Germany. They emigrated after World War II as guest workers, and never left. As a result, guest workers from outside the Schengen Area, not just Turkey, have become a huge economic drain on those countries that provide free medical care and other social-support programs. Thus the 90-day visa limitation on Schengen Area countries is not much different from visa limitations on non-Schengen Area visitors to French Polynesia. But there may be ways around it. Do a little research on your ancestry and you may discover that you're eligible for citizenship in an EU/Schengen Area country. Once you jump through the hoops, and they range from simple to substantial, you're golden. Nick Salvador