Scotland by trikeLooking for a different way to see Scotland? Try doing it from the seat of a Trike, a three-wheeled chauffeur-driven motorbike with a 1600cc engine and space for two passengers. For tours of more than 40 minutes, you wear a helmet with an integrated headset communication system so you can talk to the driver or other passenger.
Trike Tours Scotland offers tours of 11 areas, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, Loch Lomand, St. Andrews and the countryside. The 75-minute Edinburgh trip, for example, costs 45 pounds (about $95) per person and visits the city center, Grassmarket, Holyrood and Arthur’s Seat.
For a scenic tour, try the Perthshire area. The two-hour trip costs 115 pounds per person and visits Dunblane, Stirling, Doune, Callander and Loch Lubnaig.
Find more details and photos at www.triketoursscotland.com.
WWI battlefields tourOn Sept. 26, 1918, nine U.S. divisions began the final offensive in the Meuse-Argonne area of France. A few months later, the disintegrating German army surrendered.
You can visit the area and learn all about what happened there during a World War I Battlefield Tour from Aug. 11 to 15. The walking tour is led by Marcus Klauer, a captain in the German army and author of four books about World War I, and American Randy Gaulke, who has toured the area since 1986.
The themes of the first three days on the battlefields are “Focus on the German Army’s Installations,” “I Corps and the Race to Sedan” and “V Corps, III Corps and East of the Meuse.” The fourth day is spent at St. Mihiel, and the last at the Verdun 1916 battlefields.
The group is kept small to facilitate discussions and work on such skills as reading French battlefield maps.
The tour costs $600, with participants responsible for their own lodging, transportation and meals. Organizers will help those who need assistance.
For more details, go to the Web site www.meuse-argonne.com.
Art history in LondonIf you’re interested in the cultural world preserved by London’s many museums and galleries, you might want to consider an art history tour of the city led by Dr. Andrew Laurie Stangel, former director of the Art History Tours program of the Armed Forces in Europe.
The tour, March 16-22, covers the masterworks of painting, sculpture and architecture from antiquity through the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque and modern times. The program includes slide orientations on art history, visits to the British Museum, National Gallery, Churchill’s Cabinet War Rooms, Westminster Abbey and the British Library. There also is free time for other sightseeing and shopping.
The cost is $1,490 per person, double occupancy, and includes six nights’ accommodations, breakfasts and organized tours. For more details, contact Stangel in the States at (603) 774-7308, or by e-mail at artifacts@gsinet.net.
Best BetsENGLAND: In 1607, Londoners decided to celebrate the freezing over of the River Thames by organizing a Frost Fair. Although the river doesn’t freeze very often these days, the Southwark area of the city still celebrates the occasion. This year marks 400 years since that first gathering, and Friday through the weekend it takes place again on the river walk outside the Tate Modern Museum and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. On the program are working ice sculptors, street theater, workshops, food, warm wine, a winter market with more than 70 stalls, and children’s activities, including free husky dog-sledding rides for those under 12. Friday evening features a lantern procession of 300 children, and Saturday afternoon a traditional Thames Cutters race hits the river. Festival events are scheduled for 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The Southwark Web site is www.visitsouthwark.com.
GERMANY: Twice a year, in summer and in winter, Munich holds its colorful Tollwood Festival on the Theresienwiese. It is a multicultural festival in which more than 70 percent of the events are free. On the program are operas, variety shows and musicals, as well as the International Market of Ideas, where you can buy arts and crafts and ecological products. The Christmas market is considered one of the best in the city. At the end of the year, the festival closes with a giant New Year’s bash. The festival will run 2 p.m. to midnight weekdays and 11 a.m. to midnight weekends through Dec. 31. The Christmas market is open until Dec. 23. For details, go to www.tollwood.de/english.
— Jayne Traendly
