Travel Briefs
‘100 Experiences in Japan’
With the categories Traditions, Outdoors, Cuisine, Cities, Nature, Art and Relaxation, the booklet “100 Experiences in Japan” describes things to see or do that were handpicked by the Japan National Tourism Organization.
Baltic coast trail
At 1,200 kilometers (746 miles), the Baltic Coastal Hiking trail follows the Baltic coast from southernmost Latvia to Tallinn, Estonia. A detailed map, with suggested section itineraries and sights, can be found at coastalhiking.eu/en.
Beach-to-beach Sydney trail
The Bondi to Manly Track, connecting two of Sydney, Australia’s, most famous beaches, opened Dec. 8, 2019. The nearly 50-mile trail follows the coastline from northern Sydney through the central city to southern Sydney, also crossing the Harbour Bridge.
Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague
Located in the House at the Black Madonna (Ovocný trh 19, Prague, Czechia), so-called because of the Baroque, gilded statue of the Madonna embedded in the corner of the building (constructed 1911-1912), the Cubism section of the Museum of Decorative Arts (phone +420 778 543 902
Marriott info breach
Marriott International announced on March 31 that the company had detected a breach in its customer information databases, affecting all hotel chains owned by the company. The breach exposed the names, contact details and loyalty account information of up to 5.2 million people.
Ecuador waterfall disappears
San Rafael Waterfall, at nearly 490 feet the highest waterfall in Ecuador, disappeared in late February after the Coca River, which fed it, diverted into a sinkhole upstream believed to have been created by a series of landslides earlier in the month. Naturalists do not believe the waterfall will return naturally.
Sleep in a vintage train car, UK
In Dorset, England, visitors can stay in a restored Victorian train car, the High Cross Camping Coach (Whitecross, Netherbury, Bridport, Dorset; phone +44 1308 488701, campingcoach.co.uk), located in the garden of High Cross Cottage.
Amsterdam Red Light tour restrictions
In a reversal of a plan that would have completely outlawed guided group tours in Amsterdam’s Red Light District (May ’19, pg.
Tour historic Poland mine
In the town of Tarnowskie Góry, Upper Silesia, Poland, a silver mine with sections dating back to the 15th century is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visits can be made only on a guided 90-minute tour (available in English).
Budapest pinball museum
More than 130 pinball machines that visitors can play, some dating back to the 1930s, stand in the Flipper Museum (Radnóti Miklós utca 18, Budapest; www.flippermuzeum.hu/en), housed in the basement of a 19th-century building in central Budapest, Hungary.
Art on a French submarine base
In four submarine bays on a former submarine base in Bordeaux, France, works of famous artists are projected on the water and on walls 39 feet high in the digital art space Bassins de Lumières (Impasse Brown de Colstoun, Bordeaux; www.bassins-lumieres.com/en), which opened April 17
Jamaica culinary walking tour
Visitors can take a culinary walking tour in the historic port city of Falmouth, Jamaica, with Jamaica Culinary Tours (Kingston, Jamaica; phone +1 876 586 1817, jamaicaculinarytours.com).
Trevi Fountain barrier
A barrier has been set up around Rome’s Trevi Fountain to stop people from sitting along its rim. As described by Rome’s mayor, the barrier will neither block views of the fountain nor prevent people from throwing coins.
Plum factory museum in Portugal
Elvas, in eastern Portugal, has a long history of preserving plums in syrup.
English ‘Gin Experience’
At The City of Manchester Distillery (21 Red Bank Parade, Manchester, England; cityofmanchesterdistillery.com), visitors can join a 3-hour “Gin Experience.”
LATAM leaves oneworld
The South American airline conglomerate LATAM is leaving the airline alliance oneworld on May 1.
Bogotá market tour
Visitors to Bogotá can take a private-group, guided walking tour of the city’s largest market, Plaza de Mercado de Paloquemao, with Foodies (Bogotá, Colombia; phone +57 321 5160483, foodies.com.co).
MGM Resorts hack
MGM Resorts has revealed, after the stolen information was posted online, that a hack of their guest databases in the summer of 2019 exposed the personal information of more than 10.6 million guests. The stolen information included names, addresses, telephone numbers and, in some cases, passport numbers.
Tokyo miniatures
With multiple tiny cityscapes — real and fictional — across 8,000 square meters on four floors, Small Worlds Tokyo (Ariake Butsuryu Center, 1-3-33; smallworlds.jp), the world’s largest miniatures “theme park,&rdqu
Abu Dhabi mangrove boardwalk
More than 4.5 kilometers of boardwalk meander through a saltwater mangrove forest environment — home to numerous bird and aquatic species — in Jubail Mangrove Park (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; phone +971 56 303 2423,