At the Museum of Russian Vodka in St. Petersburg, a 30-minute tour covers the history, production and traditions of vodka and concludes with an optional tasting of some of the 213 varieties. Tour, RUB300 (near $5.30); tour plus tasting, RUB450. Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
My husband, Jim, and I spent May and June of 2014 in a rental home in the small village of Paziols in southern France, very close to the Spanish border. Our intention was to find a location where the residents didn’t speak English. We found it!
We had progressed to Level 5 in Rosetta Stone, but, though the residents seemed to understand us, we had difficulty understanding their dialect laced with Spanish and Catalan. Nevertheless, we had marvelous experiences in an area that’s been rather undiscovered by Americans.
Situated just 18 miles north of Venezuela, Aruba is a Caribbean island only 20 miles long and six miles wide. The island is one of the safest Caribbean destinations, where even the water is safe to drink.
In the Dordogne region of France, my wife and I had the privilege to stay for seven nights at Moulin de la Ville (Le Village, Beaumont-du-Périgord, France; phone +33 5 53 22 47 35, www.moulindelaville.com) in September 2014.
In Germany, the world’s longest beer garden and bar will stretch more than a mile on Berlin’s Karl-Marx-Allee, Aug. 7-9, 2015. The Berlin International Beer Festival will have 340 breweries from 87 countries serving 2,400 types of beer, plus 20 stages with live music. Free entry. Visit www.bierfestival-berlin.de (in German).
Located in Abu Dhabi’s Yas Mall, ROGO’s is the world’s largest roller coaster-inspired restaurant.
Diners at the 2-story, 360-seat restaurant place food orders using handheld digital tablets while seated at their tables. Food is delivered in a covered pot or jar strapped to a tray that slides, secured but gravity driven, down one of 30 “roller coaster” tracks that loop and twist around the dining room.
(Second of two parts)
One of the sources I check when I’m researching a destination is Global Greeter Network (www.globalgreeternetwork.info).
