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The structure of the museum Corpus, 21 miles southeast of Amsterdam, near Leiden, incorporates the form of a 115-foot-high seated human figure. On a 55-minute tour, visitors can, for example, climb inside a giant nose, smell fresh hay and feel a blast of wind from a giant sneeze.
Tours depart every seven minutes, with exhibits demonstrating digestion, neuron function and more. 9:30-5:00, Tuesday-Sunday. €16.50 ($22). No children under eight.
Britain’s largest nationally protected wetland, The Broads, offers bicycling, boating and fishing on its shallow lakes and waterways.
The website www.thebroadsbybike.org.uk offers 11 printable bike routes, from five to 23 miles in length. Bikes can be rented from centers around the lakes for from £7 ($12) for two hours to £14 for all day (discounts for more bikes or child’s rental).
Contact Broads Authority (18 Colegate, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1BQ, U.K.; phone [01603] 610734, www.broads-authority.gov.uk).
When it was decided to pull down a little-used baseball stadium in Osaka, Japan, city planners and the site owner instead converted it into an unusual park space.
On Bazaruto Island, Mozambique, guests at the Indigo Bay Resort can swim in the Indian Ocean with some of the resort’s six South African Boerperd horses, floating on their buoyant bodies.
Usually offered once a week (at high tide) with a horse trainer and subject to weather and tide conditions, the activity is complimentary to resort guests, both novice and advanced riders. Regular trail riding in forest and on dunes is also available.
In Japan, Christmastime has some Western-style decorations, with many cities displaying elaborate light shows and tree decorations, but many Japanese celebrate Christmas on the 24th rather than the 25th.
For young couples, Dec. 24 is the most romantic day of the year, while many families go to Kentucky Fried Chicken for their dinner and later have a Christmas cake that can cost $20 or more.
New Year’s Eve is rather quiet, with no big fireworks celebrations or crazy parties.
The Lisboa Card allows free unlimited travel in Lisbon, Portugal, on Carris buses, trolleys and funiculars, the metro and the CP train lines Rossio-Sintra-Oriente and Cais do Sodré-Cascais. Cardholders also receive free admission at 25 museums and historic buildings plus 10%-50% discounts at some 40 restaurants and shops.
Available at many locations, including rail stations and the Lisbon airport, the card comes in one-, 2- and 3-day increments and costs €15-€32 (near $20-$43) adult or €8-€16 ($11-$21) child. Phone +351 218 4 50 660, www.askmelisboa.com.
In Porto, Portugal, the Porto Card offers free entrance or discounts at museums, monuments, shows, cultural institutions, restaurants and traditional shops and on tours and Douro River cruises. It also provides free travel on almost all metro connections and throughout the STCP network (buses, tram, aerobus and Guindais funicular) and on CP suburban train, Valongo-Coimbra.
The 125-foot motor yacht Parranda carries up to 16 passengers plus a naturalist guide and crew of seven on 8-day cruises in the Galápagos Islands. Walk on volcanic islands, snorkel with sea lions or paddle a kayak through mangrove lagoons. The ship is fitted with stabilizers, and cabins have private facilities with freshwater showers.
In 2009, cruises Feb. 19-28, March 19-28 and June 18-27 cost $5,295 per person, double occupancy (international airfare not included). Add round-trip Ecuador-Galápagos airfare of $410.
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) revolutionized painting in Italy with his passionate style, and his works and life are the focus of a 13-day/12-night cruise of MS Columbus, Sept. 20-Oct. 2, 2009.
The Columbus, built to carry 420 passengers, will have only 236 on this cruise, which includes Rome, Naples, “Magna Graecia” (classical-era Greek colonies) and Sicily in Italy; Valetta in Malta, and Tunis, Tunisia. There will be private concerts, lectures on art and volcanoes, and chances to see Caravaggio’s works in their original settings.
In Oberammergau, Germany, the Passion Play has been reenacted every 10 years since 1633. The 41st play will be held May 15-Oct. 3, 2010, and involve over 2,000 actors, singers and musicians.
Tickets cost €49.50 ($69) to €165 ($229) and are charged a 10% booking fee unless bought in person the day of the play. Packages, which include a ticket to the play, are available: one night, €199-€575 (near $276-$798), and two nights, €275-€839 ($381-$1,164), depending on accommodation.