The Grand Circle Corporation companies Overseas Adventure Travel and Grand Circle Travel are offering this Best Price Guarantee: if a solo traveler booked on a 2010 OAT or GCT trip finds a comparable trip at a lower price, the company will match the lower price and take an additional $500 off.
Rest Easy is an all-natural, cinnamon-scented nonpesticide that kills and repels bedbugs and other small insects, such as bed mites. It is available in two-ounce travel-size bottles (twin-pack, $13.95) at retail stores such as Bed, Bath & Beyond or online (www.pestproductsonline.com).
This year, two New Year’s Eve events will take place at Sydney’s iconic Opera House.
In the Opera House’s Concert Hall, Australian and international singers and the Australian Opera & Ballet Orchestra will present a concert, with hits such as “Nessun Dorma” from “Turandot” and “I Could Have Danced All Night” from “My Fair Lady.” At the same time, in the Joan Sutherland Opera Theatre, a production of “La Bohéme” will take place. Both events will end before a fireworks show over the harbor.
Drawings and sketches by Renaissance architect and designer Gian Lorenzo Bernini, most famous for designing St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, will be exhibited Nov. 9, 2014-Feb. 1, 2015, at the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig (Katharinenstrasse 10, 04109 LEIPZIG, Germany; phone +49 341 216 990).
200-plus pieces from the museum’s collection as well as loans from Rome, Vatican City and Austria will be displayed.
To download a brochure with a city center guide, maps and info on events around the Christmas markets in Leipzig, Germany, Nov. 25-Dec. 23, 2014, visit this page and click on “Christmas Market and Year-end Celebrations 2014.” Examples —
• “Magic Nights” Christmas dinner show, Nov. 21-Dec. 31, at Historic City Baths (Markt 9, 04109 Leipzig; phone +341 96 28 88 63, www.dinnershow-leipzig.de [German only]).
Wine, spirits or other bottled liquids can be safely transported in carry-on or checked luggage in inflatable, durable-plastic Vinnibags. Vinnibags hold bottles and jars of many sizes and shapes, from standard 750ml wine bottles to olive oil and perfume bottles. Place a bottle into the bag, then inflate and seal it. Flat when not inflated, VinniBag is reusable.
$28 each with free shipping at www.vinnibag.com… or $29.85 plus $7.99 shipping from Magellan’s Travel Supplies (800/962-4943).
The “Swiss Hike” app, from Switzerland Tourism, can be downloaded for free on Apple’s App Store. Covering each of 32 hikes all over the country, with info on duration and difficulty, the app shows topographical maps overlaid with restaurants and lodgings.
When the Crystal Serenity sails out of Seward, Alaska, and above the Arctic Circle to New York, Aug. 16-Sept. 17, 2016, it will be (at 68,870 tons), by far, the largest cruise ship to have traveled through the Northwest Passage. On Sept. 2, people other than Crystal Society members may book cabins, which start at $45,510 per person, double.
For a young child on a plane who may be more safe with something other than a seat belt meant for an adult, extra security is offered with the Child Aviation Restraint System (CARES).
Comprising straps and buckles weighing one pound and able to be packed flat or bundled into a 6-inch-tall bag, CARES can be used on window and center seats but not in exit rows. There is no minimum age to use the harness, but children must be between 22 and 44 inches tall and weigh at least 22 pounds.
On Nov. 9, 2014, Berlin will celebrate 25 years of the reunification of Germany. Events include a street party outside the Brandenburg Gate on German Unification Day (Nov. 9), a bus tour that follows the route of the Berlin Wall (until Dec. 31), a tour of nuclear bunkers in East Berlin (until Dec. 31) and an exhibit on East German refugees (until Dec. 31). Find locations and ticket prices at www.wall.visitberlin.de/en.