Travel Briefs

The restored remains of ancient Roman houses uncovered beneath the 16th-century Palazzo Valentini in Rome are now on permanent display.

Le Domus Romane di Palazzo Valentini (Via IV Novembre 119/A; phone +39 06 32810) features mosaics, decorated walls and polychrome floors.

In addition, there is a multimedia museum (offering a “virtual tour” of re-created rooms, peristyles, baths, salons and kitchens) and a large model of the area as it would have appeared at the time.

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The iPilot Flight Simulator Experience at Munich Airport lets you “pilot” a Boeing 737 Next Generation with a fight instructor, choosing from 500 routes (such as flying over Hong Kong or from Munich to Innsbruck over the Alps).

A simulation flight costs €69 (near $96), half hour, or €129 ($178), one hour. Open 10 to 9 daily on the arrival level of Terminal 2. For reservations, phone 089 97583700 or 0162 8477738 or visit www.flyipilot.de.

“La Venice Biennale 2011,” the 54th International Art Exhibition in Venice, Italy, June 4-Nov. 27, 2011, has 89 countries participating at 12 venues. In addition to contemporary visual arts, it includes a film festival (Aug. 31-Sept. 10), a theater festival (Oct. 10-16) and a music festival (Sept. 24-Oct. 1). Tickets and events calendar at www.labiennale.org.

Visual arts are at Giardini Park and Arsenale, and one entry to both sites costs €20. At Giardini Park, 30 countries have...

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2011 marks the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy. Through November, special events are planned in Turin (the country’s first capital) at the Officine Grandi Riparazioni, a complex of workshops, and La Venaria Reale, a royal palace.

Among the offerings are exhibitions on 150 years of Italian fashion and the history of Italy since its unification.

And once a month until November, Royal Dinners will be held in the Great Gallery of the Reggia di Venaria, each featuring...

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The annual festival Eurochocolate (www.eurochocolate.com [in Italian only]), in Perugia, Umbria, central Italy, Oct. 14-23, 2011, will draw hundreds of thousands to attend cooking classes, seminars, tastings and exhibitions on all forms of chocolate. In the medieval streets, stalls will sell all forms of food with chocolate — ice cream, cakes, pastries, etc.

In honor of the 800th anniversary of Reims Cathedral in Reims, northeastern France, special services, concerts and exhibitions are being held May 6-Oct. 23, 2011.

A free light show, “Dream of Color,” projects lights onto the cathedral’s façade, highlighting details of statues and showing colors once visible. A 20-minute loop runs on selected evenings: in June, Thurs.-Sun. at 11 p.m.; July, Tues.-Sun., 11; August, Tues.-Sun., 10; September, Thurs.-Sun., 9, and October, Fri.-Sun., 8:30...

During Berlin’s seventh annual Festival of Lights, Oct. 12-23, 2011, landmarks and monuments will be illuminated and international artists and lighting designers will present light installations, art and designs. Cultural events are scheduled.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the Kurfürstendamm and, during the festival, buildings on the famous boulevard will be artistically illuminated.

The festival is a free event that draws millions of visitors. For info on events and...

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Along with primatologist Dr. Biruté Galdikas, up-close interactions with orangutans in Borneo are featured with three sailings to Indonesia by Orion Expedition Cruises (New York, NY; 877/674-6687).

Dr. Galdikas, who founded the Orangutan Foundation 40 years ago, is guest lecturer, and passengers may spend two days at her base in Tanjung Puting National Park.

The 10-night cruise departs Bali Sept. 30 and Dec. 29, 2011, and Jan. 8, 2012, visiting Kalimantan, Tanjung Puting and...

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