The website www.PACforKids.com, run by a nonprofit organization, provides details for travelers who want to take gifts or financial support to children in developing countries. The site includes sections on what to give and what not to give plus tips on locating appropriate recipients. It also lists a few other websites helpful to those wishing to give charitably when traveling.
The Bastogne War Museum (Colline du Mardasson), a new museum dedicated to the Battle of the Bulge and WWII, will open on March 22, 2014, in Bastogne, Belgium, just 1½ hours from Brussels. This modern, interactive museum is located close to the famous Mardasson Memorial. 10 a.m to 5 p.m. daily (until 6:30 p.m. on weekends). €12 (near $16) adult, €9 senior and €8 child (6-18 years).
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of World War I, the Musée royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire militaire - Bruxelles, or the Royal Museum of the Army and of Military History - Brussels (Parc du Cinquantenaire 3; phone +32 [0] 2 549 60 49), will house the exhibition “It’s our History,” Feb. 7, 2014-April 26, 2015. Through artifacts, testimonies, multimedia displays, film and immersive spaces, it will focus on the conflicts leading up to the war and the effects it had on shaping 20th-century Europe.
Two of the amphibious DUKW (Duck)boats used for land-and-water tours in London and Liverpool have been temporarily banned after accidents put passengers at risk during the boating part of the excursion.
No passengers or crew were injured when one of the Liverpool boats sank or when another caught fire in London. Investigations pointed to problems with the foam used to improve buoyancy.
In September 2013, the cruise ship Costa Concordia was pried loose from the rocks near Giglio island on which it had run aground off the coast of Italy on Jan. 13, 2012.
Using pulleys and counterweight systems, it took about 18 hours to rotate the ship upright, though it’s not floating yet. The plan is to, in spring 2014, refloat the ship using welded-on flotation devices filled with air and tow it to a scrap yard to disassemble it.
The domestic airline Southwest Airlines (800/435-9792) announced in September a change to its “no show” policy.
The Leipzig Christmas market, a tradition that goes back to 1458, is one of the largest Christmas markets in Germany. The 2013 market will feature a fairy-tale forest, a model railway display, and holiday performances in the city’s many churches. The market will have about 250 stalls.
In Belize, Francis Ford Coppola’s Turtle Inn Resort (Placencia Village; phone 011 501 523 3244 or, in the US, 800/746-3743) offers 2-tank dives off Gladden Spit, where whale sharks swim in the spring. The world’s largest fish, the filter-feeding whale shark, has been recorded to reach as long as 41 feet and weigh up to 21½ tons.
In Barbados, visitors to the Mount Gay Rum distillery (Spring Garden Highway, Bridgetown; phone 246 425 8757) may take a 45-minute tour of the facility that includes a tasting session.
Available 9 a.m.-3:45 p.m. Mon.-Fri. Admission costs $10 (includes tour) or, (advance booking required) including lunch and transport from Bridgetown hotels, $50.
Quito Tour Bus (phone 2435 458 or 2458 010), the city’s first double-decker tourist bus service, allows passengers to hop on and off at 12 bus stops throughout the city.
The 3-hour ride, departing daily from Ave. Naciones Unidas every hour from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., covers all the major attractions in the north and center of the city.