On Nov. 10 in Egypt, after four years of renovations, the courtyard area around the Sphinx at Giza reopened to visitors.
Sitting in a horseshoe-shaped courtyard, the Sphinx was carved out of a limestone quarry that was the source of the stone blocks used in constructing the pyramids and temples of the Giza Necropolis. The renovations included shoring up walls of the quarry and repairing cracks in the neck and chest area of the Sphinx.
In Amsterdam, the life of Vincent van Gogh, his development as an artist and his influence on art are examined in a new, building-wide, permanent exhibit at the Van Gogh Museum (Paulus Potterstraat 7, 1071 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 20 570 5200, www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en).
Along with his paintings, the museum now includes drawings and letters from the artist. Subjects such as his mental illness and suicide are addressed in the museum for the first time.
Tickets now can be purchased online for North Korea’s state-owned airline Air Koryo. In September, Spain-based airline ticket broker Destinia (US residents, phone +34 91 524 24 00, http://destinia.us) became the first agency to offer the tickets online.
The website offers three round-trip routes: Pyongyang-Beijing, China, starting at $962; Pyongyang-Shenyang, China, from $1,233, and Pyongyang-Vladivostok, Russia, from $1,865.
A new observation deck has opened in the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. An existing deck on the 124th floor was closed for two months in 2010 following an elevator breakdown (April ’10, pg. 80). The new deck, on the 148th floor and featuring an outdoor terrace 1,821 feet in the air, is the world’s highest viewing point within a building. (Now second highest, at 1,601 feet, is the one in Guangzhou, China’s, Canton Tower.)
A museum dedicated to culture and art of the Maasai- and Maa-speaking peoples opened in Nairobi in early 2014. It includes exhibits on marriage, livestock, mythology, medicine, religion and social organization plus a replica of a Maasai manyatta, or hut.
The Maa Museum, Kenya’s first privately registered museum, is located at the Enashipai Resort (office on 5th Floor, Prosperity House, Westlands Road, Nairobi, Kenya; phone +254 20 5130000, www.enashipai.com).
Morocco has opened its first major museum since becoming independent from France in 1956. Featuring modern and contemporary Moroccan art, the Muhammed VI Museum (Angle Avenue Moulay El Hassan et Avenue Allal Ben Abdellah, 10,000, Rabat, Morocco; phone +212 [0] 5 37 76 90 47, www.museemohammed6.ma [in French only]) opened in Rabat on Oct. 7, 2014, after 10 years of construction.
Its first exhibit, “1914-2014: 100 years of Creation,” includes pieces created within the last 100 years from more than 150 Moroccan artists. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Wed.-Mon. Entry, MAD20 (near $2.30).
In Paris, the lower level of the Eiffel Tower now has a glass walkway through which visitors may gaze down 187 feet to the ground below. The walkway is part of a $38.4 million renovation in which shops, restaurants and a museum were added to the first level. To allow better views of the city, that level’s safety barriers now curve outward.
In Bois de Boulogne Park in Paris, the Louis Vuitton Foundation for Creation (8 avenue du Mahatma Gandhi, Bois de Boulogne, 75116, Paris, France; phone +33 1 40 69 96 00, www.fondationlouis vuitton.fr/en) opened on Oct. 27.
Designed by architect Frank Gehry and comprising 12 soaring, disjointed glass panels, the 41,441-square-foot museum is the new home of the Louis Vuitton company’s art collection. It will also feature temporary exhibits and artist performances.
In London and Manchester, England, 35 statues have been outfitted with tags that allow smartphones to play audio clips — some humorous, some historical — of each statue “speaking” about itself.
At each statue, visitors will see a circular blue plaque with a QR code to scan or a URL to type in in order to hear the speech. Playing the roles are actors, such as Patrick Stewart, who voices “The Unknown Soldier” in London’s Paddington Station. A list of statue locations, with printable maps, is at www.talkingstatues.co.uk.
At Seven Mile Beach in the city of Gerroa, two hours south of Sydney in southeastern Australia, visitors can enroll at Surf Camp Australia (P.O. Box Q1284, QVB Post Office, NSW, 1230, Australia; phone, toll-free in Australia, 1800 888 732, www.surfcamp.com.au).
From Aug. 24 to May 31, qualified instructors teach surfing courses in 2-, 3-, 5-, 7- and 10-day programs. Each includes accommodation on site, meals, transfers, surf equipment (including surfboard and wetsuit) and a daily video. Costs run AUD345 (near $299) for two days to AUD995 ($863) for ten.