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Wicklow Head Lighthouse, by the Irish Sea about an hour’s drive south of Dublin airport, was built in 1781. The interior of the 95-foot-tall stone tower was remodeled by the Irish Landmark Trust (25 Eustace St., Temple Bar, Dublin 2, 50 Bedford St., Belfast, BT2 7FW, Northern Ireland; phone +353 [0] 1 670 4733) and now contains six octagonal rooms and a kitchen.
Dating from the 15th century and a convent for 150 years, historic Gillis House (phone 0131 623 8933) in Edinburgh, Scotland, is now a guest house.
Set in the Bruntsfield area, it offers three-star bed-and-breakfast accommodation with 19 bedrooms, all with bathrooms en suite. £40 (near $60) for one person or £60-£70 for two.
In 1834 the building was extended to include St. Margaret’s Chapel, and there is a large garden full of apple trees.
The “Otto Wagner Vienna Map” shows the locations of 26 buildings in Vienna, Austria, designed by the architect, who was influential in Art Nouveau and Modernism.
The exhibit “I, Augustinian: Woman of Action, Sister of Faith,” celebrating the contributions of the Augustine religious community to Quebec’s health care system, runs to March 20, 2011, at the Musée de l’Amérique française (2, cote de la Fabrique, Québec City, Québec, G1R 3V6 Canada; 866/710-8031 or 418/692-2843, www.mcq.org/index_en.html).
Predating Angkor Wat by 500 years, the Sambor Prei Kuk archaeological site — halfway between Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat, Cambodia — contains over 100 temples and other structures dating from the seventh century AD.
Located in Kampong Thom province, the complex consists of three groups of temples spread over a three-square-mile area. The temples are dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva. The site, once called Isanborei, was the capital of the kingdom of Isanapura.
Over the protests of Spain’s scientific community and preservationists around the world, the Spanish Culture Ministry announced that it plans to reopen the Caves of Altamira to tourism, possibly by the end of this year. The caves, discovered in 1868, contain prehistoric art estimated to be from 14,000 to 20,000 years old.
In Papua New Guinea, a ban on the selling and drinking of alcohol was implemented in the Southern Highlands province in May. Police feel that excessive drinking has contributed to an increase in interclan violence that has killed dozens and hope the ban will reduce crime.
Estonia received approval from the European Union on May 12 to begin using the euro as its currency as of January 2011.
The 16 countries that use the euro as legal tender are Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. Not part of the EU but also using the euro as their currency are Andorra, Kosovo, Monaco, Montenegro, San Marino and Vatican City.
The five Caribbean islands that make up the territory of the Netherlands Antilles, in the West Indies, have voted to change their status and, as of Oct. 10, 2010, no longer will be one political unit.
Curaçao and Sint Maarten will govern themselves as autonomous countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
On the Tunisian National Tourism Office website, www.cometotunisia.co.uk, you can select a type of activity (shopping, horseback riding, dining) or topic (adventure, culture, history) and a group of marker “flags” appears on a map of the country. Click on one and a description pops up. Click “add” and it goes on a list for you to print out later. You can also schedule a daily itinerary.