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Travelers at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol might try a tour on the Floating Dutchman, an amphibious bus that holds 48 people. For the tour of two hours and 45 minutes, passengers transiting Schiphol should allow at least a four-hour stopover, timing it for one of the tour departures daily at 9, noon and 3 from Schiphol Plaza.
On the Saturday closest to the full moon, enjoy dinner at sunset in a field on a hilltop farm in Jamaica’s St. Elizabeth parish. The monthly dinner, prepared at tableside, has a rotating menu. Among dishes that have been served are local fruit cocktail, lamb with coconut milk and penne with lime basil.
Almost 9,000 guided day trips in more than 150 countries (mostly in Europe, the Caribbean and South America) and most major cities are listed on the booking and review website Viator.com. Users can build an itinerary for a location and book all the tours online.
Searches for the excursions can be filtered by location, region, city, dates, type of activity and more. Search results can be sorted by price, best sellers and travelers’ ratings. Each tour listing shows the itinerary, times, price and inclusions and exclusions.
iPhone users can load over 2,000 walking tours of more than 180 cities worldwide with GPSmyCity applications.
For two generations, the art-collecting Nahmad family has invested in classic paintings, including works from the Impressionist, Surrealist and Abstract periods by Picasso, Kadinsky, Magritte, Monet, Modigliani, Renoir and Degas.
For the first time, over 100 pieces from the private collection will be exhibited in one venue, the Kunsthaus Zürich (Heimplatz 1, CH-8001 Zürich, Switzerland; phone +41 044 253 8484), Oct. 21, 2011-Jan. 15, 2012. Open 10-6 Sat.-Tues., 10-8 Wed.-Fri. CHF22 (near $27) adult or CHF14.50 senior.
As ITN went to press, the State Department had travel warnings on 35 destinations: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahamas, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Guinea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel/West Bank/Gaza, Kenya, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Lebanon, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Mexico, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Republic of South Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
New Zealand’s normally warm and “winterless” North Island was hit by a freak snowstorm in mid August that brought almost a week of freezing winds, ice and snow. Roads and highways in the central areas were briefly closed due to snow, which some areas hadn’t seen in over 70 years. Also, more than 700 homes in Wellington were without power, and train, bus and cable car services were shut down.
The UN Food & Agriculture Organization warned that a new strain of flu virus, H5N1, may cause a resurgence of the disease this fall and winter. Currently, original and variant forms of the H1N1 virus have been reported in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and China. Other areas recently reporting cases are Bulgaria, Israel, Mongolia, Nepal, the Palestinian Territories and Romania.
What precautions to take? Wash your hands often, avoid obviously ill people and avoid contact with birds, both domestic and wild.
During a 48-hour general strike on Aug. 24-25, an estimated 50,000 to 200,000 people marched in Santiago, Chile, while around the country more than 600,000 others joined in the strike.
Any travel in Haiti should be with organizations with solid infrastructure, evacuation options and medical support systems in place, says the US State Department.