The “Foliage Train,” known locally as the Centovalli (100 Valleys), runs 52 kilometers between Domodossola, Italy, and Locarno, Switzerland. It operates from mid-October to mid-November each year, when the trees begin to shed their leaves. Each car features full-length windows.
Designed to resemble a merchant street from the 1950s, the Shin-Yokohama Raumen Museum (2-14-21 Shinyokohama, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama-City, Japan; phone +81 45 471 0503, www.raumen.co.jp/english) serves ramen in the style of nine different regions of Japan from its “storefronts,” including a facsimile of Rairaiken, the first-ever ramen restaurant, opened in 1910, serving food based on the original recipes. The museum also includes a gallery of ramen history and offers noodle-making workshops.
The Centers for Disease Control approved Royal Caribbean International’s Freedom of the Seas to embark from Miami on July 2 for a Bahamas cruise — the second cruise approved to leave from the US since the CDC suspended cruising on March 14, 2020.
The underground passageways and corridors, or hypogeum, of Rome’s Colosseum opened to the public for the first time in the modern era on June 26 after a lengthy restoration. Entry to the hypogeum is included with an “Underground and Arena Full Experience” ticket (€22, near $26). Tickets can be purchased at www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm.
In 2015, a portion of the underground known as the Beehive, where elevators took gladiators and animals up to the arena floor, was opened to the public (Oct. ’17, pg. 69).
At press time, most countries in the world allowing US travelers to enter required that passengers each present a negative COVID-19 test regardless of vaccination status. Likewise, US travelers must present a test when returning to the US. With the website TestforTravel (https://testfortravel.com), travelers can search for their nearest testing center in cities across the globe.
Darwin’s Arch, a natural rock arch off the coast of Darwin Island in the Galápagos Islands, collapsed due to natural erosion on May 17, leaving behind two pillars now being called the Pillars of Evolution. Though the arch and Darwin Island are off limits to landings, the water surrounding the arch is a popular scuba diving spot.
The Centers for Disease Control approved a Caribbean cruise scheduled to leave from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on June 26 with Celebrity Cruises (888/751-7804, www.celebritycruises.com), making it the first paid cruise to depart from the US since March 2020. Other lines had previously been approved for test cruises, ones without paying passengers.
In order to skip the testing phase, Celebrity guaranteed that at least 95% of the crew and passengers would be vaccinated for COVID-19.
A Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, was diverted by a fighter jet to Minsk, Belarus, on May 23 so that Belarusian authorities could arrest a dissident journalist and his girlfriend who were on board. Air authorities in Belarus told the pilots that a bomb threat had been made against the aircraft.
In northern Iceland in winter, visitors can take a snowmobile tour on frozen Lake Mývatn with Nonni Travel (Brekkygata 5, Akureyri, Iceland; phone +354 461 1841, nonnitravel.is). Guests at base camp will receive snowmobile lessons and safety instructions (no previous experience necessary), then follow the guide onto the lake for a leisurely paced 1-hour tour.
At the top of Cabo Girão, a sea cliff on the south side of the Portuguese island of Madeira, visitors will find the glass-bottomed Cabo Girão Skywalk 1,900 feet above the Atlantic Ocean.
While standing on the circular skywalk, visitors can see the city of Funchal 5 miles to the east. Nearby, a cable car, the Teleferico do Rancho, takes visitors to the village of Fãja de Cabo Girão at the bottom of the cliffs, which is unreachable by foot or automobile. A round trip costs €5 (near $6).
For Madeira tourism info, visit www.visitmadeira.pt/en-gb.