The 1950s red Spårakoff Beer Tram, a traveling bar, serves Finnish beer and other beverages while you tour Helsinki, Finland. The 40-minute ride starts from the Mikonkatu tram stop, near Helsinki’s Railway Square, and makes five stops, including the Helsinki Opera House.
In 2009 the tram operates Tuesday-Saturday, May 19-Aug. 29, with departures every hour from 2 to 8 p.m. Tickets, available on board and at the kiosk on the Esplanade, cost €8 ($10.50).
6-day/5-night tour of SPAIN includes cooking classes. Highlights: In Seville, “tapas crawl,” Jewish Quarter, wine tasting/two classes on cooking local specialties/sherry bodegas in Jerez/vineyard tours/Arabic baths in Ronda/Iberian ham tasting. Land only, from $2,050. Single supplement, $325. Discount if not participating in cooking classes. Epicurean Ways (Charlottesville, VA; 866/642-2917, http://epicureanways.com).
At almost 2,000 feet high, Takao-san Mountain is 30 miles from downtown Tokyo — perfect for a day trip of casual hiking; for nonhikers, cable cars and chairlifts are available.
At the cable car’s summit station is the beer garden Takaozan Beer Mount, with a metropolitan view.
The president of Kenya declared a national disaster in January and requested aid for the nearly 10 million people facing acute food shortages. The drought, limited planting due to disrupted farming after the post-election turmoil, almost total crop failure and reduced herds are the causes.
The worst-affected regions are in the eastern, coastal and central provinces. Some areas in the Rift Valley and northeastern provinces have shortages as well.
14 day/13-night culinary tour of ITALY, Sept. 23-Oct. 6, 2009. Highlights: In Emilia Romagna region, explore Etruscan history in Bologna/pasta cooking lesson/day trip to independent REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO/visit a caseficio, where Parmesan cheese is made/learn about, cook with and taste the wine and food of the Veneto region/attend workshop on Barolo wine in Piedmonte region/Chapel of the Holy Shroud, Church of San Lorenzo in Toreno. Land price, $5,575. Single supplement, $650.
9-day/9-night tour in France and Spain, Oct. 3-11, 2009. Highlights: In FRANCE, explore Biarritz’s Les Halles marketplace with a chef; learn to cook Basque specialties/in Bayonne, visit a chocolatier/go wine tasting/shop in markets of St. Jean Pied du Port and St. Jean du Luz/in San Sebastian, SPAIN, do a “tapas crawl.” Land price, $3,695. Single supplement, $400.
Your Great Days In Paris (Medford, MA; 781/391-6183).
Featuring world-class accommodations and select meals, the 10-day “Women in Style” safari-and-spa package from South African Airways (888/722-4872, www.flysaavacations.com) includes airfare from New York or Washington, DC; internal flights; four nights’ Cape Town (Kirstenbosch, Franschhoek, cooking demonstration, chauffeured shopping, more); two nights in Stellenbosch wine region (half-day winery tour plus spa day); two nights at Thornybush Private Game Reserve in Hoedspruit (game drives), and transfers.
Many travelers tramp through Europe like they’re visiting the cultural zoo. “Ooh, that guy in lederhosen yodeled! Excuse me, could you do that again so I can take a picture?”
In northern Nigeria, heavy rains during August and September caused extensive flooding. About two million people in 5,000 villages in Jigawa state were displaced by the floods. In Kano state, two dams were abruptly opened without proper warning, adding to the disaster.
The rains hit at harvest time, destroying many crops. The UN estimates that 12 million people will be affected by food shortages.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, located 16 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean, opened in 2005, part of the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort (2034, Maldives; phone 960-6680629, e-mail maldives@conradhotels.com). Dinner in the 12-seat, transparent, Quonset-hut-shaped restaurant costs $320 per person.