Travel Briefs

In Lincoln, 140 miles north of London, a year-long restoration is underway of one of the most important examples of medieval stained glass in Europe.

In January ’04 we spent 15 nights at the beautiful Curaçao Marriott Beach Resort & Emerald Casino (phone [599-9] 736-8800, fax [599-9] 462-7502). This 5-star resort is first class. We paid $229 for a nice double with a beautiful view of the blue and green waters of the Caribbean.

The open-air lobby, typical of hotels in this area, was so pleasant to walk through anytime of the day or night.

The “Directory of Clinical Consultants in Tropical Medicine & Travelers’ Health” is a resource for travelers seeking referral to a specialist in tropical medicine and/or travelers’ health, whether for pretravel counseling and immunization or post-travel evaluation, consultation and treatment. The directory, which lists physicians’ office hours and the services they provide, is available at no charge and can also be accessed at www.astmh.org.

To order a copy, contact ASTMH.

The 12th edition of “Health Hints for the Tropics” is available from the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene. The 50-page booklet includes the chapters Preparation for Travel; Immunizations; Malaria Prevention; Travelers’ Diarrhea; Special Health Problems; Advice for En Route and After Returning, and References and Resources. Individual copies are $5, postage included.

Scoot through rainforest in Queensland’s Lamington National Park on an all-terrain Segway. Segway tours are open both to guests and day visitors at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat (Lamington National Park Rd., via Canungra, Queensland 4275, Australia; phone +61 7 5502 4911 or, within Aus., 1800 688 722).

To ride a Segway, you must have closed shoes and weigh 100 to 265 pounds, with no heart or balance conditions, etc.

In southeastern Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, the botanic garden and art gallery Centro de Arte Contemporânea Inhotim (Rua B, 20, Inhotim, Brumadinho, MG, Brazil 35460-000; phone +55 31 3571 9700) spans 5,000 acres and offers two dozen art pavilions with contemporary art by Brazilian and international artists.

Admission is free on Tuesday, BRL20 ($10) Wed.-Thurs. and BRL28 ($14) Fri.-Sun. Extra, a BRL10 pass gives use of hop-on/hop-off electric vehicles driven by staff between three stops in the park.

Starting in the Renaissance, European royalty began assembling Kunstkammers, collections of “curiosities and wonders” from both the natural and man-made worlds.

Want to see a model of the Tower Bridge made of 264,345 matchsticks? How about the Beatles sculpted in chewing gum? Or Marilyn Monroe’s makeup case, a Mini-Cooper covered in more than one million Swarvoski crystals or a maze of mirrors to meander through? These and hundreds more objects, from the wacky to the disturbing, can be seen in London at Ripley’s Believe It or Not! (The London Pavilion, 1 Piccadilly Circus, London W1J 0DA, U.K.; phone +44 [0] 20 3238 0022), one of Ripley’s 30 “odditoriums” worldwide.

The Posture+ by BackJoy Orthotics (Greensboro, GA; 800/222-5569) is a portable sitting device designed to prevent pressure points from developing by tilting your pelvis upright and distributing your weight evenly. I tried the product over several weeks while working and did have a more upright posture when sitting and a decrease of pressure on my tailbone.

The last operating section of Latvia’s historic Stukmaņi-Valka narrow-gauge train line, which opened in 1903, runs through picturesque countryside between the towns of Gulbene and Alūksne. Departs Gulbene daily at 1 and 6 p.m., reaching Alu¯ksne at 3:25 and 7:55 p.m., respectively. 2.40 lats ($4.30) each way. Purchase tickets on board.