The 180-page “Vincent van Gogh Atlas” has maps detailing places the painter lived and worked, including Amsterdam, London, Paris and Auvers-sur-Oise, plus photographs, drawings and letters related to each location.
Released by the Van Gogh Museum (Paulus Potterstraat 7, 1071 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 20 570 5200, www.vangoghmuseum.com), it’s available in English, French and Dutch at the museum and on its website. €23.54 plus €18.15 shipping to the US (near $47 total).
In Shandong Province in eastern China, a $48 million restoration of the Temple of Kongfuzi (Confucius) began on July 18 in the city of his birth, Qufu, and is expected to take three to five years. Kongfuzi was an important politician, philosopher and religious leader in ancient China whose work inspired the philosophical system and religion known as Confucianism.
The Soviet-era KGB, which was known as “Cheka” in Latvia, performed espionage and secret-police work in Eastern Bloc countries, including the Baltic States and East Germany. The KGB’s activities in Latvia are the focus of a permanent exhibition that opened in February 2015 in the former Latvian KGB Headquarters, the Corner House (Brivibas Street 61, Riga, Latvia; phone +371 27875692, www.liveriga.com/en/7166-the-corner-house). Visitors will see prison and dungeon cells, KGB offices and a memorial to victims of the KGB.
Originally built in Canada in 1958 to house Prime Minister John Deifenbaker and key members of the government in case of a nuclear attack, The Diefenbunker (3929 Carp Rd., Carp, Ontario; 613/839-0007, http://diefenbunker.ca) is now a museum dedicated to preserving Canada’s role in the Cold War.
The 100,000-square-foot bunker and museum offers guided and self-guided tours through its restored rooms, including the government situation center, the Bank of Canada vault, the Prime Minister’s quarters and medical facilities. The museum also has temporary art exhibits.
On Aug. 6, the Suez Canal opened a new expansion that allows greater amounts of 2-way traffic to move through the waterway.
The 21-mile bypass along the center of the 120-mile canal cost $6 billion and took one year for 43,000 laborers to complete. It is estimated it will reduce wait times for ships queuing to enter the canal by as much as eight hours. It is the third expansion of the canal since the passage first opened in 1869.
Nearly 20 crocodiles can be seen up close in Hartley’s Lagoon, 40 minutes north of Cairns, at Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures (Captain Cook Hwy., Wangetti Beach, Queensland 4879, Australia; phone +61 7 4055 3576, www.crocodileadventures.com).
Also, lizards and turtles can be seen on self-guided walks along with cassowaries and other tropical birds in a walk-through aviary. There is an interpretive educational center, and tours of the Crocodile Farm show how the sustainable commercial use of wildlife contributes to wildlife and habitat conservation.
In 2015, Leipzig, Germany’s, Christmas markets are open 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Nov. 23-Dec. 22, and 10-8, Dec. 23. To download a brochure with maps and an events schedule, go to www.leipzig.travel/en/Discover_Leipzig/Shopping/Christmas_Magic_Leipzig_2029.html and click on “Leaflet ‘Leipzig — Christmas Market & Year-end Celebrations 2015’.”
The exhibit “Munch: Van Gogh,” comparing the lives and work of Norwegian artist Edvard Munch and Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, runs until Jan. 17, 2016, at the Van Gogh Museum (Paulus Potterstraat 7, 1071 CX Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 20 570 5200, www.vangoghmuseum.com). It includes one of Munch’s paintings “The Scream.” Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sun.-Thurs. & 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. €17 (near $19) adult; child up to 17, free.
Local stonemasons, with the assistance of UNESCO, in July finished restoring 14 mausoleums in the city of Timbuktu, Mali, three years after Islamic fundamentalists destroyed them.
In July, the first American female captain in cruise industry history was selected by Celebrity Cruises (Miami, FL; 844/418-6824, www.celebritycruises.com). Captain Kate McCue of San Francisco, California, took command of the Celebrity Summit in August. McCue graduated from California State University’s Maritime Academy and has 15 years’ experience managing ship logistics.