Escape to Shape (New York, NY; 601/818-8137, www.escapetoshape.com) is offering a week-long fitness vacation in Marrakech, Morocco, May 2-9 and May 9-16, 2009. The trip includes a 7-night stay in a luxurious private desert home and a variety of fitness classes and excursions.
The last Royal Mail ship — which sails the South Atlantic between St. Helena, Ascension Island, Walvis Bay, Cape Town and Tenerife (and the UK twice a year) — will reach the end of its working life in 2010.
The UK Dept. for Int’l Development had announced plans in 2005 to build an airport on St. Helena, to open in 2010; however, due to government delays and the credit crunch, the project was placed on hold in November 2008. If construction started immediately, the airfield would not be completed until after the date the RMS St. Helena is to be decommissioned.
The Saga Rose, built in 1965 (as the Sagafjord), will depart Southampton, England, for its 44th and final cruise, a 37-night voyage through the Mediterranean, on Oct. 30, 2009. The 587-passenger ship will visit Barcelona, Venice, Rome, Corfu, Dubrovnik, Rhodes, Alexandria and Casablanca.
Highlights include the Pyramids of Giza, a Venetian masked ball and a celebration in Vigo, where the Saga Rose will be joined by her sister ship, Saga Ruby. Fares run £8,999-£16,629 (near $12,260-$22,655).
In Laeken, a 15-minute drive from Brussels, the Royal Greenhouses (61 Domaine Royal, Avenue du Parc Royal, 1020 Brussels, Belgium) open to the public for three weeks every year, as the flowers are in full bloom. The tallest of the towering glass structures is large enough to contain full-grown palm trees.
In 2009 they are open April 17-May 10, from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 1-4 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. Friday and 9:30-4 and 8-10 Saturday and Sunday. Entry, €2.50.
CORRECTION — ITN incorrectly reported (Feb. ’09, pg. 84) that Costa Rica had dropped its 3% hotel tax and was to replace it with a flat fee of $15 to be added to air tickets. The Costa Rican Consulate confirmed that that plan was not carried out and that the current exit fee of $26, to be paid at the airport upon departure, is the only fee being charged to tourists.
The free map “Zürich Shopper’s Paradise” covers Zürich, Switzerland, and the nearby towns of Baden, Zug and Winterthur. Suggestions for relaxing breaks are included. Contact Zürich Tourism (phone +41 44 215 40 00, www.zuerich.com). Shipping is free.
Venice, Italy’s, online reservation system Venice Connected (www.veniceconnected.it) helps visitors book and prepurchase public tourist services. It includes passes for public transportation, parking, museums, restroom cards and more. All of the passes are reduced in price if purchased online at least 15 days in advance of your visit.
In Geneva, the International Museum of the Reformation (4, rue du Cloitre, CH-1204, Geneva, Switzerland; phone +41 22 310 24 31, fax 310 74 45, www.musee-reforme.ch) will hold an exhibition honoring the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin.
Among other events, “A Day in the Life of Calvin,” April 24-Oct. 31, 2009, will feature a simulated 3-D character of Calvin who, inside 2x2-meter pavilions, goes through activities and conversations of his daily life in the 16th century. Admission, CHF15 (near $14).
Every Wednesday, May through August, Copenhagen Castle Concerts (www.castleconcerts.dk) puts on free performances of classical music in the churches of historic royal residences in and around Copenhagen, including Frederiksborg and Kronborg. The concerts start at 5 p.m. May and June, 5:30 p.m. in July and 4 p.m. in August.
Contact Wonderful Copenhagen (Gammel Kongevej 1, Copenhagen V., Denmark; phone +45 3325 7400, www.visitcopenhagen.com).
The Berlin Philharmonic orchestra (Simon Rattle, conducting) will perform an open-air concert at Berlin’s Waldbühne Amphitheater on June 21, 2009, at 8:15 p.m. The program includes works by Aram Khachaturian, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Igor Stravinsky.
A concert ticket costs €21 or €28 ($27/$36), depending on the seat. Visit www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en or call (030) 254 88 999.