In Amsterdam, 12 of us girlfriends stayed at Hotel Fita (Jan Luykenstraat 37, 1071 CL Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 [0] 20 679 09 76, fax 664 39 69), Dec. 28-31, 2012.
This delightful, 15-room hotel is in an excellent location near the museums and a tram stop. The owner, Roel, and his staff made us feel so welcomed and were helpful with suggestions and maps.
In the hotel district of Cancún, Mexico, the Maya Museum (Kukulkan Blvd., phone 01 998 885 3842, [website in Spanish only]) opened Nov. 1, 2012. Its three 4,400-square-foot exhibition halls, with sections of architecture, include more than 350 artifacts (pottery, everyday objects, etc.) plus 14,000-year-old Maya skeletons discovered in underwater caves. Open 10 a.m.- 7p.m. Tues.-Sun.; closes 10 p.m. Thurs. Admission near $5 but in pesos; adults over 60 and children under 13, free.
Next door, the San Miguelito archaeological site also is open.
The impetus for our trip to Paris in May-June, 2012, was to visit the new World War One museum, the Musée de la Grande Guerre du Pays de Meaux (rue Lazare Ponticelli, 77100 Meaux, France; phone +33[1] 60 32 14 18). It was built to house one man’s personal collections, from thimbles to ambulances. It opened in November 2011 and is state of the art.
At the slip in Northern Ireland where the Titanic was built, the Titanic Museum (47 Donegall Pl., Belfast, BT1 5AD, Northern Ireland; phone +44 28 9076 6399) offers visitors nine galleries full of interactive exhibits chronicling the building, maiden voyage and 1912 sinking of the ocean liner. Purchase tickets in advance. £13.50 (near $21) adult.
Open 9-7 Mon.-Sat. and 10-7 Sun., April-September, and 10-5 daily, October-March.
Sea City Museum (Havelock Rd., Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 7FY, U.K.; phone 023 8083 3007) has two permanent exhibitions. “Southampton’s Titanic Story” focuses on 500-plus families who lost family members in the tragedy and on the city’s role in the steamship industry. “Gateway to the World” tells of the various peoples who passed through the city, from Roman traders to Victorian industrialists. £8.50 (near $14) adult or £6 senior. Open 10-5 daily.
In Switzerland, the Espace Horloger - Vallée de Joux, or Joux Valley Museum of Watchmaking (Grand-Rue 2, 1347 Le Sentier, Switzerland; phone +41 21 845 75 45), reopened in May 2012 after an 8-month renovation.
The museum, an hour’s drive or a 90-minute train ride from Geneva, showcases timepieces from the 16th to 19th centuries and ranging from table and travel clocks to Gothic and planetary clocks. Interactive exhibits show the skills involved in watchmaking.
9-day/8-night tour in ITALY, June 25-July 3, 2013. Highlights: In Florence, Uffizi Gallery, David, da Vinci Museum/shop for ceramics in Deruta/frescoes, sculpture in National Museum of Umbria/Assisi/cheese-making demo & tasting/Chianti/privileged seats for Siena’s Palio horse race. Land, $10,995 (if six or fewer travel) or $7,395 (seven or more). Single supp., $1,220. Abercrombie & Kent (Downers Grove, IL; 866/252-3836).
by Sandy Fox; Scottsdale, AZ
My husband, Ed, and I love learning about the history and culture of a country so tend to gravitate toward natural history and folk or open-air museums. In April 2012 in Arnhem, the Netherlands, we toured the Openluchtmuseum (Sept. ’12, pg. 53) and on another day enjoyed the Zuiderzee Museum (Wierdijk 12-22, 160 1LA Enkhuizen, NL; phone +31 [0] 228 351111, fax 351212).
In its time, Bergen was one of the most important cities of Northern Europe. Founded in 1070 by King Olav Kyrre on the western coast of Norway, Bergen served briefly as the country’s capital from 1217 to 1299 before the capital was moved to Oslo.
Its importance was also directly related to its growth as a trading center, especially after 1350, when it became one of the principal foreign trading posts of the Hanseatic League.