During an October ’12 trip to Europe, my husband and I spent the night in Burgos, Spain, where we toured Burgos’ cathedral. Of all of the churches we visited on our tour, this one most impressed me. Each generation of Spanish nobles spent money on this cathedral, and the chapels, done in various styles, all were magnificent. — MARY TAYLOR, Rockport, TX
A subscriber wrote about his day trip to Montserrat, Spain, to see the Black Madonna (April ’13, pg. 46). He and his companions had purchased their tickets at a tourist information office near the harbor in Barcelona, below the Christopher Columbus statue. They took a train from the Barcelona Espanya station to Montserrat.
by Larry Kritcher, Coconut Grove, FL — This month, Rita and Larry Kritcher continue their account of their private tour of Ethiopia. We rejoin them as they leave the southern part of the country to explore the historic northern route.
10 days/9 nights, Nov. 2-11, 2013. Highlights: Daily yoga and meditation sessions/Pura Luhur Uluwatu temple/legong dance show at Ubud Palace/cycle through Ubud rice paddies/Don Antonio Blanco Museum/walk through rainforest and swim under Les Waterfall/West Bali National Park/snorkel at Menjangan Island/Ulun Danu Temple. Land, $1,995. Single supp., $650. Sacred Earth Journeys, Ltd. (Burnaby, BC, Canada; 877/874-7922).
I was going to be in Beijing in June ’11 with some time to spare. What to do? I have always been interested in Buddhist monasteries and had visited most of the important ones in Tibet (Gandan, Sera, Drepung and Tashilhunpo of the Yellow Hat sect) but not two elsewhere in China: Labrang and Ta’er Si (aka Kumbum). They are quite near each other, but I felt I had time to see only one, so I chose Labrang, near Xiahe, in Gansu province, northwest China.
In Christchurch, New Zealand, the Canterbury Museum (99 Cashel St) has an exhibit about the 6.3-magnitude earthquake that hit the city in February 2011. “Quake City” explores the seismic activity in the region, runs films and displays objects damaged in the quake, notably the fallen spire of the ChristChurch Cathedral. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily. Entry, NZD10 (near $8.40).
(Second of two parts on Italy)
My wife, Jane, and I arranged a private tour in Ethiopia for 18 days, Dec. 16, 2012-Jan. 2, 2013, with Yama Ethiopia Tours (Haile G/sellasse Ave., Haile Building 5th floor, No. 507, P.O. Box 14973, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; phone +251 116 628710).
We asked any of you who attended a concert, a recital or any music or dance performance or stage production outside of the US in the last few years to tell us how you learned about it and how you obtained tickets. The responses this month, comprising part 11 in this ongoing series, are about events attended in France.