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About 200 kilometers north of Moscow, one of the most recognizable sights along Russia’s Volga River is the belfry of St. Nicholas Church, located in the Uglich Reservoir near the relocated town of Kalyazin. Towering 244 feet above the water, this structure was the subject of our October 2015 mystery photo. The church and monastery were completed in 1696, and the bell tower was added from 1796 to 1800.
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(Part 3 in a series)
The best cemetery I have visited is one I went to in summer 2014 in Zermatt, SWITZERLAND: the Mountaineers’ Cemetery (Englischer Viertel 8, 3920 Zermatt; phone +41 27 967 23 14, www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Attractions/Mountaineers-cemetery).
In a salt mine in a hill by the city of Turda, Romania, visitors can enjoy a 20-minute boat ride on an underground lake (RON10 [near $2.50]), a carnival wheel (RON5), mini-golf (RON10) and bowling (RON10).
The Salina Turda mine operated from 1075 until 1932. Using the same shaft that miners used, visitors take an elevator nearly 400 feet to the mine’s floor. An English-speaking guide may be booked in advance for RON50.
Under the Snowdonia Mountains, the world’s longest underground zip-line (and deepest) was opened at Conwy Falls, North Wales, in March 2015 by Go Below Underground Adventures (Snowdonia, Wales, UK; phone +44 1690 710108, www.go-below.co.uk/default.asp).
The Swiss “Family Trips” app allows travelers to search over 1,000 destinations and events in Switzerland by region and age group to plan appropriate family trips. The app, available for free for iOS and Android, also can suggest accommodations.
For travelers without access to a laundry, the Scrubba Wash Bag is a watertight bag with a washboard-surface interior for cleaning clothes. One wash load can include two shirts and two pairs each of pants, underwear and socks. To use, place clothing in the bag with some liquid soap, add warm water up to the fill line, then seal the bag and buckle it shut. Rub the clothes against the flexible washboard for 30 seconds to three minutes. Clothes can be rinsed in the bag or in the bath, after which you hang the clothes to dry or first roll them in a towel to speed up the drying.
In Hong Kong, the first museum dedicated entirely to the June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, China, the June 4 Memorial Museum (5/F Foo Hoo Centre, 3 Austin Ave., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, P.R. China; phone +852 2459 6489, http://64museum.blogspot.hk [in Chinese only]), opened in April 2014.
These are among cultural experiences offered to guests of The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto (Kamogawa Nijo-Ohashi Hotori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto 604-0902, Japan; phone +81 75 746 5555, www.ritzcarlton.com/en/properties/Kyoto).
• “Samurai Experience” — learn kenbu techniques with real swords while traditionally dressed. ¥8,000 (near $67). 5-6:15 p.m. every Tues. and Thurs.
• “Sushi Masterclass” — make maki rolls with chef Masahiko Miura. ¥3,500. 3:30-4:30 p.m., second Sunday each month.
Located at the confluence of the Yarapa and Cumaceba rivers in the Peruvian Amazon, the Treehouse Lodge (US contact in Bountiful, UT; 435/879-5839, www.treehouselodge.com) comprises eight bungalows connected by suspended walkways radiating from the central lodge, all built in the forest canopy at heights of 25 to 65 feet.