Travel Briefs
Oz Tracks Pass
For travel until March 31, 2009, Great Southern Railway (422 King William St., Adelaide, S.A.
Bike Portugal’s Costa Azul
Explore Portugal’s Costa Azul on a one-, 3- or 7-day self-guided bicycle tour with Blue Coast Bikes (Setúbal, Portugal; phone +351 96 819 8872, www.bluecoastbikes.com… or write P.O. Box 837, Twin Lakes, WI 53181).
Catch Mini Israel
El Al has partnered with Mini Israel, a park near Latrun with scale models of over 360 tourist attractions in Israel, to offer airport check-in, security checks and luggage transfer to passengers who wish to visit the park before departing Ben Guryon airport.
BMW Museum, Munich
In Munich, Germany, the BMW Museum (Am Olympiapark 2; phone +49 [0] 180 2 118822, www.bmw-museum.com) reopened on June 19 after four years of redesign and construction. Located next to BMW World, it is closed Mondays. €12 ($19) adult.
Hermitage Amsterdam
With exhibitions from the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, Russia, Holland’s new Hermitage Amsterdam will reopen in spring 2009 with ten times the space of the current Hermitage Amsterdam. Visit www.hollandartcities.com.
Airport parking
AirportParkingReservations.com (Suffield, CT; 800/727-5464) offers a listing of parking lots near 65 U.S. airports. The service allows price comparisons and the ability to reserve a space instantly for a fee equal to the price of the first day of parking plus $5.
The Chocolate Lady
In Suffolk, the shop The Chocolate Lady (Bower Hall Farm, Steeple Bumpstead, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 7EG, U.K.; phone +44 0 1440 730346, www.thechocolatelady.co.uk) offers 5-hour chocolate-making courses, covering materials, tempering, molding, truffles, dipping, coating and packaging.
When Berlin Wall fell
The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall on Nov. 9, 1989, will be celebrated in 2009. A number of museums commemorate the event: GDR Museum, Wall Museum, Allied Museum, German National History Museum, Stasi Museum, Plattenbau Museum.
Mawson huts, Antarctica
The 27-day “Icebergs & Emperors” voyage, departing Hobart, Australia, on Dec. 12, 2008, visits the wildlife oases of the sub-Antarctic islands, the east coast of Antarctica and the historic huts of Sir Douglas Mawson, with his great-granddaughter Emma McEwin on board.
Travel bottles
Pitotubes (199 E. 52nd, Ste. 362, Boise, ID 83714; 208/853-1416, www.pitotubes.com) offers TSA-compliant travel containers. All the bottles hold fewer than three ounces and are shatterproof, leak-proof (even under pressure changes) and refillable. Tops can interchange a pump or spray head.
Military Cruise Deals
The company Military Cruise Deals (Walker, MN; 866/964-5482 or visit www.militarycruisedeals.com) offers a search engine for finding and booking cruises, guaranteeing military discounts for the cruises found on their website.
Helsinki tram tour
In Helsinki, Finland, for about €2 ($3) you can hop on Tram No. 3 (in either direction, T or B) and do a figure-8 through the city. The self-guided tour lasts about an hour. Among stops are South Harbor’s Market Square, the Opera House, the Natural History Museum, the Rock Church and Senate Square.
Eyre Peninsula
On the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, you can spend AU$89 (near US$82) on a “Seafood & Beyond…” rewards card and get AU$100 (US$92) worth of discounts at participating hotels, attractions and tours along the “Seafood & Aquaculture Trail.”
Drought on Cyprus
Four years of minimal rain has prompted the government of Cyprus on the southern, Greek-supported part of the divided island to contract with Greece to send tanker ships of drinking water. The ships dock near Limassol and pump the water through an undersea pipeline to the island.
Hokkaido railpass
The new Flexible 4-Day Hokkaido Pass from Japan Rail Hokkaido allows travel on any JR Hokkaido train on any four days within a 10-day period. The railpass costs ¥18,000 (near $171) for an ordinary car and ¥25,000 ($238) for a first-class car.
Rent a bike in Paris
In Paris, the self-service bicycle rental service Velib allows anyone to pick up and drop off any of more than 20,000 bikes at 1,450 automated stations.
Cell phones, Kuwait
Talking on cell phones while driving in Kuwait became illegal as of May 1. Violators will be fined 15 dinars (near $56). The law does not apply to people using hands-free calling equipment. A law passed earlier prohibits eating or drinking while behind the wheel.
TSA ‘Diamond’ lanes
To reduce the overall delays at security gates, the Transportation Security Administration (www.tsa.gov) has started a system of Diamond Self-Select security screening lanes at select U.S. airports.
Princess in Panama
Princess Cruises (800/774-6237, www.princess.com) has announced that all 2009-2010 Panama Canal transits of 15 days or longer will include a second day at port in Fuerte Amador. The stopover allows travelers to visit Panama City, the Panama Canal Railway and the Soberania National Park rainforest.