Europe

A highlight of my two-month trip to Spain in February and March ’11 was a day trip from Ronda to Benaojan to see La Cueva de la Pileta, which contains some of the oldest cave paintings found in Europe. Amazingly, the public may view the original prehistoric paintings (not reproductions). I visited the cave in the first week of March. I took the train from Ronda (round trip fare, €5). Guided tours of the cave are about an hour long, cost €8 (near $10.50) and are limited to 25 people. Tours leave hourly from 10 to 1 and 4 to 6.

For many years throughout the British Isles, the “parish holidays” program was a fund raiser for Anglican churches. For many American visitors, it offered a joyful way to participate in local life and customs at a very reasonable cost. Since 2005, my husband, Lou, and I have enjoyed three parish holidays. The program officially came to an end in 2010, but I was happy to learn that in 2011 an independent parish holiday was being offered in Bridgnorth, Shropshire, July 5-12.

REPORT ON JORDAN… For our November-December 2011 trip to Jordan, we hired a private driver, Jehad Abu Saeed, whom we highly recommend.

To mark 60 years of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the UK is holding the Diamond Jubilee during 2012. Main celebrations, June 2-5 (official holidays). Among events — pageant, Windsor Castle; BBC concert, Buckingham Palace; 1,000-boat flotilla on the Thames; “Big Jubilee Lunch” in many towns, and lighting of beacons (bonfires) in many places.

Other special events during the year — Items from Royal Collections will be exhibited. Ten of Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings will tour to five museums. In August and September, diamonds exhibition at Buckingham Palace.

by Randy Keck (First of two parts)

Whenever my husband, Bernie, and I go to Europe, we enjoy flying Lufthansa, and when we go to Germany, which most recently was in September ’10, we like to arrive in and depart from Munich.

My wife and I parlayed our SkyMiles into a trip to France and would like to recommend a few chambres d’hôtes which provided good accommodation and real contact with the local people.

For our 50th anniversary, my wife, Judy, and I took our children and grandchildren (11 people in all) for a two-week vacation in Italy.

While traveling outside of the US, have you bought a CD of music typical of the country or area? A recording of the Berlin Philharmonic while you were in Germany, perhaps? Or maybe a CD of a street performer? For those of you who did, we asked that you tell us about the music and the artist plus any advice you might have on the subject. Responses appear below.

Thalys began, on Oct. 30, running a direct train linking Paris’ Gare du Nord with Brussels International Airport once a day. The high-speed morning train takes one hour 47 minutes (one way).