Travel Briefs

In southeastern Switzerland, near the city of Pontresina, more than 1,800 ibexes (mountain goats) make their home on Piz Albris mountain. Around April-June, they migrate down into the valley to what has been dubbed an “ibex paradise.”

Visitors may encounter the animals on the Ibex Promenade, an easy one-kilometer hike. Seven stops contain placards with info about ibexes. During the spring season, free 1½-hour guided promenade walks (available in English) can be...

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In the Shinto calendar, days are assigned animal representations (tokens/emblems/totems) in a rotation. Each February on the Day of the Horse (falling typically in mid-February), a market for traditional kites can be found at the Oji Inari Jinja Shrine (1-26-26 Kishi-machi, Kita-ku, Tokyo, Japan; phone +81 03 3907 3032). The kites are each shaped like a yakko, a servant to a samurai. 

The tradition dates back to the Edo period (1603-1868), when people considered kites tokens of...

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Baguettes, patés and terrines — on the 3-hour “Taste of the Left Bank” food tour of Paris offered by Paris By Mouth (phone +33 9 70 73 66 99, parisbymouth.com), travelers will visit a popular Parisian boulangerie, a charcuterie and a high-end froma­gerie as well as a sweets shop and a wine merchant’s, sampling selected wares.

Tours are guided in English and include at least two hours of walking time. €110 (near $131) per person includes all provided...

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Covering the history of anesthesia from the first demonstration of ether in 1846 to the machines and equipment being used today, London’s Anaesthesia Heritage Centre (21 Portland Pl., London, England, W1B 1PY, U.K.; phone +44 20 7631 1650, ext. 7, www.aagbi.org/education/heritage-centre) was founded in 1932.

Housing over 4,500 objects, it comprises the archives of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain & Ireland (AAGBI), the Anaesthesia Museum and a rare- book...

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Founded in 1895 as a library for working-class citizens, Biblioteca Arús (Passeig de Sant Joan 26, 08010 Barcelona, Spain; phone, +34 932 565 950) now houses special collections on labor movements, anarchism and other societal campaigns.

Visitors can book a one-hour English-speaking tour of the beautifully appointed library, which is normally open only to card-holding members and researchers. Starting at 11 a.m., the tour, which costs €9 (near $11), is offered most Tuesdays and...

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Aerolineas Argentinas canceled flights to Venezuela on Oct. 9, joining a growing group of airlines that have ceased flying to that country, among them Delta Air Lines, United Airlines, Aeromexico, Avianca and LATAM. Concerns over safety and security as well as the hyperinflation of Venezuelan bolivars were cited as reasons for ending flights. As of press time, nine airlines had flights to Venezuela: Air Europa, Air France, American Airlines, Avior Airlines, Caribbean Airlines, Copa...

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Climbing will not be permitted on Australia’s Uluru (Ayers Rock) starting on Oct. 26, 2019. The decision to ban climbing was made by the landmark’s owners, the Anangu, who consider it sacred. The Australian government returned Uluru and the surrounding land to the Anangu, who had lived there before European contact, in 1985. 

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In 2014, it was discovered that art dealer Cornelius Gurlitt, son of Nazi art dealer Hildebrand Gurlitt, had hoarded more than 1,500 unreported works of art in his Munich apartment, most suspected to have been stolen by the Nazis. Cornelius died before facing trial for tax evasion, and he left his collection to the Kunstmuseum Bern. Until March 11, 2018, more than 400 of the works can be seen in two locations. • Kunstmuseum Bern (Hodlerstrasse 12, Bern, Switzerland; phone +41 31...

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