The International Symposium on Birding & Aviation Conservation, organized by Holbrook Travel (Gainesville, FL; 800/451-7111, www.holbrooktravel.com), is taking place Jan. 5-7, 2017, at the Selva Verde Lodge & Rainforest Reserve (www.selvaverde.com), located in Sarapiquí, Costa Rica.
The town of Moneygall in County Offaly, Ireland, has commemorated its distinction of being the home of President Barack Obama’s maternal great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearny, with the Barack Obama Plaza (Junction 23 M7, Moneygall, Co. Offaly, E53 F342, Ireland; phone +353 505 45810, barackobamaplaza.ie).
On the West Pier on Brighton Beach in Brighton, England, the vertical-cable-car tower British Airways i360 (West Pier, Brighton, England, UK, www.british
airwaysi360.com) began operating on Aug. 4, giving it the world’s highest-rising observation deck.
Passengers enter a donut-shaped observation pod, capable of holding up to 200 people, which rises 450 feet to offer views of up to 26 miles in all directions. The pod docks in the i360 beach building, which contains restaurants.
With App in the Air, you can track your flights, receive real-time schedule and gate changes and access guides and maps to 9,000 airports worldwide. Quick links on the app assist you in hiring taxis and purchasing train tickets. (As of press time, train tickets are available only from London Heathrow Express and Moscow Aeroexpress.) The app also tracks miles flown for mileage programs.
Placed on buildings throughout Russia, there are bare metal plaques commemorating victims of Josef Stalin’s purges. Under the project name Posledny Adres (Last Address), each plaque records (in Russian Cyrillic) the name, date of birth, occupation, date of arrest and date of execution of a person who lived in that building. Some buildings bear multiple plaques.
The plaques were installed by volunteers, with assistance from Memorial (memo.ru/eng), a Russian organization dedicated to preserving the memories of victims of Soviet persecution.
Three-hour guided bicycle tours through Heidelberg, Germany, are offered Monday to Saturday, April through October, through Heidelberg Marketing (phone +49 6221 5840 223). Sites visited can include Old Town, Tiefburg Castle and the Old Bridge (customized routes on request).
In a group of up to 10 people, a tour costs €121 (near $135) per person with an English-speaking guide or €110, German-speaking. Bike and helmet rental, €18.
Opened in Zürich on Feb. 28, the FIFA World Football Museum (Seestrasse 27, 8002 Zürich, Switzerland; phone +41 43 388 25 00, www.fifamuseum.com) explores the history of soccer and how the sport and FIFA, its international governing body, have changed.
Starting service in May 2017, the luxury train Belmond Andean Explorer will travel between the Peruvian cities of Cusco and Arequipa, making frequent stops on three itineraries: 3-day, 2-night Cusco-Arequipa; 2-day, 2-night Arequipa-Cusco, and one-day, one-night Cusco-Puno. The 2-night journeys take passengers across the high plains of the Andes, stopping by Lake Titicaca and Colca Canyon for local touring opportunities.
Visitors to Beijing, China, can hitch a ride on modern buses styled to look like Dangdang trolley cars, which ran in Beijing from 1924 to 1966. Passengers are taken on a 6-mile route with 15 stops, including the Palace Museum, Tiananmen Square and Qianmen (gate). An English-speaking guide is present on each bus to describe the sites along the tour.
A National Trust Touring Pass provides access to more than 300 National Trust properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. (Scotland has a separate National Trust that is not covered by the pass.)
The pass must be purchased online in advance and picked up at one of the participating properties in the UK. Not all N.T. properties are covered by the pass. A pass for one adult costs £26 (near $34) for seven days or £31 for 14 days. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/features/touring-pass.