Dedicated solely to exhibiting New Zealand art, the national art gallery in Wellington, Te Papa Tongarewa (55 Cable St.; phone +64 04 381 7000, www.tepapa.govt.nz), opened a new wing called Toi Art on March 17, 2018. Toi Art adds 42,840 square feet of space on levels four and five of the gallery.
Open daily, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Entry is free, though charges may apply to some short-term exhibitions.
While in the Rhine-Main region of Germany, visitors can get two days of free public transportation as well as discounts at many sites and on activities with the RheinMainCard (www.frankfurt-rhein-main.de/en/Information-Planning/RheinMainCard). Cities that can be visited with the card include Frankfurt-am-Main, Mainz, Bad Homburg and Offenbach.
In northern Switzerland, you can take a boat to the base of Rheinfall, the largest waterfall in Europe, and climb the stairs on the pinnacle of rock at its center. Including the climb, a ride lasts about 30 minutes.
Travelers can go whale-watching almost any time of the year with Whale Watch Western Australia (Freemantle Fishing Boat Harbor, Perth, Western Australia, 6160, Australia; phone +61 499 111 322, www.whalewatchwesternaustralia.com).
On expeditions leaving from Bremer Bay, look for orcas from January to March. From Fremantle, seek blue whales from March to May. Spot humpback whales from May to August from Augusta or from September to December from Freemantle. From Albany, watch for right whales from July to September.
It consists of six metal balls orbiting in tracks around a representation of the sun, all operated by the original hand-made gears and pulleys, and it accurately shows the positions of all the planets known when it was constructed. Located in northern Netherlands, it’s the world’s oldest working planetarium, built by amateur astronomer Eise Eisinga in 1781 on the ceiling of his living room.
According to the US Department of State, the US Embassy in Israel will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, into the current consulate building, in mid-May. A new building is scheduled to be constructed on the property by the end of 2019.
President Trump announced on Dec. 6, 2017, that the US now considers Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel, as does Israel, itself. All other countries with diplomatic relations with Israel consider Tel Aviv to be the capital.
In Lhasa, Tibet, China, a fire damaged part of the Jokhang Monastery, one of the holiest places in Tibetan Buddhism, on Feb. 18. The cause of the fire and the extent of the damage are not clear, but Chinese authorities reported that cultural artifacts were not damaged. Parts of the monastery reopened to the public the next day.
The more-than-1,000-year-old monastery, 2½ miles east of the Potala Palace, is a pilgrimage destination for Tibetan Buddhists.
The Greek island of Santorini now limits the number of cruise passengers allowed to land to 8,000 per day. The island averaged about 12,000 visitors per day in 2017. Authorities have also asked cruise lines to better schedule their arrivals and shorten their stopovers so that groups of visitors can be more evenly spread out over the day.
As of April 1, anyone taking a guided tour of Amsterdam’s Red Light District is banned from staring at the women behind the brothel windows who are advertising their services. Amsterdam officials hope that the law will cut foot traffic in the area, which has become crowded with tourists.
Tourists, themselves, will not face punishment for staring, but the tour guide and company will be fined if any of their group members are caught flouting the law.
Australian authorities have issued new rules for swimmers visiting the Great Barrier Reef on a tour. Anyone whom tour guides determine is an “at-risk” swimmer will now be forced to wear a life vest while in the water. In addition, some swimmers will be required to be paired with partners.
In 2016, 10 people drowned at the reef, including four tourists.