Travel Briefs

October 2009 issue | Appears on page 70

London art fair

Featuring Old Master paintings and antique ceramics, jewelry and furniture and more on sale from over 260 individual galleries, the Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair (Earls Court Exhibition Centre, London SW5 9TA, UK; phone +44 0 20 7370 8211, fax 8221, www.olympiaartsinternational.com) will be held in June 2010. 

Tickets cost, on June 4 (preview day), £80 and on June 5-13, £10 single or £18 per couple in advance or £14 single or £22 per couple at the door. Open 11 a.m.-7...

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October 2009 issue | Appears on page 73

Hop-on / hop-off Potsdam

In Potsdam, Germany, Rail Europe (800/622-8600, www.raileurope.com) offers a hop-on/hop-off double-decker bus tour which stops at 12 sites of cultural interest, including Luisenplatz (for its fountains), the Film Museum (€3.50) and the palace gardens of Sanssouci Park (entry to Sanssouci Palace, €8 or €12).

A pass for one circuit, including live commentary in English, costs $21 adult and $16 senior. Tours operate 9:20 a.m.-2:20 p.m. April 8-Oct. 31, 2009.

October 2009 issue | Appears on page 76

Allergy warning cards

For travelers with allergies, SelectWisely.com (Box 289, 2 Main St., Sparta, NJ 07871; 888/396-9260, www.selectwisely.com) offers advice on their website and sells customized translation cards with warnings for food allergies (ex., shellfish or nuts), health problems (ex., diabetes or asthma) and/or special diet limitations (ex., vegan, gluten-free).

The cards use simple graphics to illustrate the items prohibited, and some include translated warning sentences in the language you...

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October 2009 issue | Appears on page 76

KeyToss for mobiles

If you use a mobile phone that can access the Internet, there is a Web application that bundles tools for travelers.

KeyToss (www.keytoss.com) includes the Flight Status tool (tracks airline flights), a hotel search and reservation function (using Hotel.com’s database of over 85,000 hotels worldwide), a translation tool (15 languages), a currency rates tool, a single search bar that accesses over 50 search tools (i.e., Google, Yahoo, MSN, Wikipedia, etc.), news feed summaries (RSS...

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October 2009 issue | Appears on page 76

Skyscanner fare browser

The website www.skyscanner.net helps travelers find the absolute lowest airfare when travel dates are flexible. On Skyscanner, users do not have to put in a specific travel date but can browse a graph of the lowest prices for entire months, including multiple airports, to find the lowest airfare. The site searches 675,000 routes of more than 600 airlines worldwide.

October 2009 issue | Appears on page 76

Walk Scilly

A series of guided walks showcasing the flora, fauna and history of the Isles of Scilly will be held March 29-April 4, 2010, on St. Mary’s Island. Local experts will lead over 20 walks, with topics such as archaeology, gardens, castles, beaches and birds. Isles of Scilly Tourist Office (St. Mary’s, Isles of Scilly, TR21 0LL, U.K.; phone 01720 422536, fax 424048, www.simplyscilly.co.uk or www.walkscilly.co.uk).

October 2009 issue | Appears on page 76

Monkeys’ pig-out

To thank monkeys for attracting tourists, over 2,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables are set out for monkeys to consume at the Monkey Buffet Festival, held on Nov. 26 every year in front of Pra Prang Sam Yot temple in Thailand’s Lopburi province, 94 miles north of Bangkok. About 600 monkeys normally arrive for the massive buffet, watched by hundreds of people.

October 2009 issue | Appears on page 88

Orange tossing in Ivrea

The main event at the Carnival of Ivrea (Antico Palazzo della Credenza, 10015 Ivrea, Italy; fax 0125 641521, www.carnevalediivrea.it), to be held in 2010 on Feb. 13-16, is the Battle of the Oranges in the public squares of Ivrea, 30 miles north of Turin.

The battle has its roots in people who would throw oranges along with confetti and flowers from windows above the parade. During the battle, the teams on foot represent the commoners in revolt while the teams in the carriages...

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