Travel Briefs

May 2008 issue

B&Bs in India

Paying Guest Houses (F-25 A, Hauz Khas Enclave, New Delhi, India; phone +91 9891980627) provides an online listing of B&Bs/homestays in India.

The website www.payingguesthouses.com currently lists 39 accommodations in Delhi, New Delhi, Gurgaon and South India and includes photos, prices and numbers of rooms. Prices run 1,400 to 3,800 rupees (near $35-$95) per night.

September 2008 issue

Kenya whale shark safari

The gentle whale shark, the world’s largest fish, is seen each year off the southern coast of Kenya. Researchers tag them on expeditions from October through March, but peak season is February-March and visitors may watch.

Visitors stay at beach resorts and can join the almost daily 4-hour trips leaving from Pinewood Village in Diani. Whale sharks stay near the surface, and snorkelers can swim nearby during the tagging process.

A donation of €100 (near $158) per person goes to the research foundation. Contact Nimu Njonjo of East African Whale Shark Trust (Aqualand Watersports...

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August 2008 issue

The Chocolate Lady

In Suffolk, the shop The Chocolate Lady (Bower Hall Farm, Steeple Bumpstead, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 7EG, U.K.; phone +44 0 1440 730346, www.thechocolatelady.co.uk) offers 5-hour chocolate-making courses, covering materials, tempering, molding, truffles, dipping, coating and packaging. 

Each course, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., costs £150 (near $298) per person and includes refreshments and a gourmet lunch. Reservations a must. 

October 2009 issue

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 feeds), weather forecasts and even file transfers (from phone to computer or vice versa). 

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January 2009 issue

Van Gogh’s twilight

In Amsterdam, the Van Gogh Museum (P.O. Box 75366, 1070 AJ Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 020 570 5200, fax 570 5222) will exhibit the artist’s evening and nighttime scenes, Feb. 13-June 7, 2009.

There will be 32 paintings (including “Starry Night,” on loan from the MoMA in New York), 19 works on paper and five sketches. Tickets cost €18.50 (near $23) and may be purchased online.

July 2009 issue

Byzantine mosaic

A 1,500-year-old Byzantine mosaic, which was found during an excavation in 1957 and has been undergoing restoration at Jerusalem’s Rockefeller Museum since 2006, was reinstalled at its original site this spring at the settlement of Ma’on-Nirim in Israel’s western Negev Desert.

Once the floor of the apse of a synagogue, the 12x25-foot mosaic depicts, among other subjects, a candelabrum, a shofar, animals and scenes of wine production plus an Aramaic inscription. Entry is free and handicapped accessible. Israel Goverment Tourist Office (New York, NY; 888/774-7723; www.goisrael.com)....

May 2009 issue

Middle Ages manuscripts

“Masterly Manuscripts,” an exhibition of more than 100 manuscripts produced in Utrecht in the Middle Ages, is running at Museum Catharijneconvent (Lange Nieuwstraat 38, 3512 PH, Utrecht, Netherlands; phone +31 [0] 30 231 38 35, fax 231 78 96, www.catharijneconvent.nl), May 16-Aug. 23, 2009. It focuses on artistry and production plus the impact of book printing around 1473. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. €8.50 ($11).

December 2009 issue

Catacombs closed

The Paris catacombs are closed indefinitely because of damage caused by vandals in September.

Visited by over 200,000 people each year, the catacombs are part of a large network of underground tunnels which are stacked with human bones. Photos of the damage showed skulls and bones scattered along the walkways.