November 2012

Košice, Slovakia, and Marseille, France, are the European Capitals of Culture for 2013.

Planned events in music, drama, art, history and literature in Košice are listed at www.kosice2013.sk.

Hadrian’s Wall was constructed in northern England early in the second century AD to protect the Roman colonies from the attacks of the Picts in Scotland*. A 7-mile stretch of the wall, between Great Chesters and Housesteads, was repaired recently. The section, part of what is known as the Clayton Wall (for a 19th-century philanthropist who undertook its preservation), is bordered by the ruins of the Aesica fort to the east and Vercovicium fort to the west.

On Egypt’s Giza Plateau, six Old Kingdom tombs, constructed in the Fourth Dynasty (2890-2686 BC), are to be opened by the end of 2012. The most famous, that of Princess Meresankh III, granddaughter of the pharaoh Khufu, has been closed to the public for 25 years.

The other tombs were built for the overseer of the House of Life, the overseer of the soul priests, the overseer of the king’s farms, the overseer of the royal treasury and King Khufu’s treasurer. The restored tombs have façades, rock pillars, large chambers and decorated walls.

Transitioning from paper to polymer currency, Canadian banks began issuing plastic 100-dollar bills in November 2011. In March 2012, plastic 50-dollar bills were issued, followed by 20-dollar bills in November; these are available through ATMs. The remaining denominations should become available in 2013. The partly transparent bills have holographic features difficult to counterfeit.

In Europe, fuel prices are reported to have risen more than 30% over those of 2011. Rising oil costs and additional fuel taxes applied by revenue-strapped governments are attributed as the cause. In September 2012, prices for unleaded petrol ranged from a low in Romania of (an equivalent) $1.64 per liter ($6.21 per gallon) to a high in Norway of $2.63 per liter ($9.95 per gallon). Diesel fuel ran even higher. Visit www.theaa.com and click on “Driving,” then “Latest Fuel Prices.”

Tourists will be largely unaffected by an August 2012 increase in Cuban import duties.

(Third of three parts)

(1 of 2 on Portugal)

Two of Portugal’s most remarkable monasteries — Alcobaça and Batalha — lie within 12 miles of each other 80 miles north of Lisbon. One celebrates a tragic love, and the other, victory in war.

Above Zermatt, Switzerland, the Glacier Palace (P.O. Box 378, 3920 Zermatt, Switzerland; phone +41 27 966 81 00, fax +41 27 966 81 01) is a 990-square-meter “palace” (sometimes a wedding venue) hollowed out of the surrounding glacier. Attractions inside the palace include ice sculptures, a 10-meter-long ice slide and a scenic viewpoint.

The palace is accessible year-round from two elevators behind the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise cable car station. Admission is CHF8 ($8).

If the tide is out, you can walk a quarter-mile cobblestone causeway to St. Michael’s Mount. Don’t worry if you linger on your tour of the castellated mansion atop this tidal island, a mirror image of Normandy’s famed Mont-St-Michel directly across the English Channel. When the tide comes rushing in, a motorboat ferry will carry you back.

Most visitors travel to the island for the sole purpose of wandering the public, grand rooms of the castle, owned and continuously lived in by members of the St. Aubyn family since 1646.