Food & Wine

7-day, 6-night, “active”-level, cycling culinary tour in northwestern ITALY, Oct. 3-9, 2021. Avg. 30 miles biked daily. E-bikes available. Highlights: Transfer from Turin to historic Pollenzo for bike fitting/in Langa wine area, cooking class at winery, dinner at 3-Michelin-star restaurant/truffle hunting/13th-century Castello Grinzane Cavour/Fontanafredda Estate, known for Barolo wine. $5,995 ppdo. Single supp., $495. Tourissimo (Turin, Piedmont, Italy; in US, 857/997-0051, www.tourissimo.travel).

12-day, 11-night culinary and cultural tour, Aug. 6-17, 2021. Group limit, 12. Highlights: In Warsaw, medieval Old Town, 17th-century Palace on the Isle, Warsaw Uprising Museum, cooking class/in Częstochowa, Jasna Góra Monastery/in Kraków, Cloth Hall, Oskar Schindler’s Enamel Factory, pierogi cooking class/Wieliczka Salt Mine/Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial & Museum/in Rybna, Jura Vineyard/in Zakopane, funicular ride, cheese tasting. $4,395 ppdo. Single supp., $700.

As we’ve had to postpone our travels because of the pandemic, I believe a weekly dose of travel dreaming can be good medicine. Here’s one of my favorite memories from Portugal — a reminder of the fun that awaits us at the other end of this crisis.

On the “Traditional Czech Food Tour” with Taste of Prague (Hastalska 15, Prague, Czechia; phone +420 603 252 810, www.tasteofprague.com), visitors can taste 10 to 12 traditional Czech recipes at four restaurants, with local beer and wine included. The 3½-hour tour involves walking about 1.2 miles through Prague led by a local foodie. CZK2,500 (near $112) per person. Maximum group size, 10.

Good Food Ireland (www.goodfoodireland.ie), a website designed to assist travelers in finding eateries and shops across Ireland, launched a new “Experiences” webpage on which travelers can browse and book food experiences in the country.

Experiences include cooking classes, tastings and tours, and activities such as brewing and foraging. Led by local farmers and producers, experiences highlight Irish ingredients. Visit www.goodfoodirelandexperiences.com.

France’s government announced a ban on outdoor heaters at restaurants, cafés and bars on July 27, citing their environmental impact. The order also includes a ban on restaurants keeping their doors open while using air-conditioning, another waste of energy.

A government official stated that the ban would not begin until after the winter of 2020-21 so that restaurants hurting during the COVID-19 pandemic can seat people outside with heat, to help those businesses recover.

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My husband, Josip, and I headed to Australia in late January 2020. This was my fourth visit and Josip’s first.