Travel Briefs

December 2009 issue

Carmelite Priory Museum

In Malta, the Carmelite Priory Museum (Carmelite Priory, Villegaignon St., Mdina, Malta; phone +356 2702 0404, www.carmelitepriorymuseum.com) opened its priory and church to the public in June. 

The Carmelite Church, built in 1675, has an unusual elliptical floor plan, and the newly restored priory shows how the Carmelite friars lived. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. €4 adult.

September 2010 issue

Buzzroam SIMs

Buzzroam (Level 19, Two International Finance Centre, 8 Finance St. Central, Hong Kong, China; phone, in the US, 415/829-5219) offers global SIM cards with attractive rates.

Examples — calls from France to the United States cost 41¢ per minute, while Mobal.com charges $1.36 per minute. Calls from China to the US cost $1.36 per minute with Buzzroam as opposed to $3.59 with Mobal.

Instructions are given on how to forward your mobile phone number in your home country to ring your prepaid SIM number.

August 2010 issue

Edinburgh convent to B&B

Dating from the 15th century and a convent for 150 years, historic Gillis House (phone 0131 623 8933) in Edinburgh, Scotland, is now a guest house.

Set in the Bruntsfield area, it offers three-star bed-and-breakfast accommodation with 19 bedrooms, all with bathrooms en suite. £40 (near $60) for one person or £60-£70 for two.

In 1834 the building was extended to include St. Margaret’s Chapel, and there is a large garden full of apple trees.

October 2010 issue

Tour under Colosseum

In Rome, after a $28-million renovation, part of the Colosseum’s underground system of tunnels and galleries was opened to the public late this summer for the first time in decades.

Small groups of visitors, accompanied by a guide, now can enter the underground complex through the Porta Libidinaria, the gate that gladiators once walked through to meet their fate.

Under the partially reconstructed floor of the 2,000-year-old amphitheater, the backstage apparatus is visible that once sent lions, buffalo and other surprises up slave-powered elevators and through trap doors into...

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April 2008 issue

Chinese cruise pax to Taiwan

Taipei has dropped its ban on Chinese tourists arriving by ship. Taiwan has banned direct sea, air and trade links with China since 1949.

On Feb. 18 and 19, 2008, when the Rhapsody of the Seas docked at Keelung Habour, nearly 700 Chinese nationals were allowed to visit the mainland for day tours — the largest group of Chinese tourists to visit at one time. Taiwan currently restricts the number of Chinese tourists to 1,000 at one time.

November 2009 issue

White­chapel Gallery

In London, the Whitechapel Gallery (77-82 Whitechapel High St., London, E1 7QX, U.K.; phone +44 [0] 20 7522 7888, www.whitechapelgallery.org) has doubled in size, reopening with expanded galleries, exhibitions, collection displays, archives and more.

Free weekly poetry readings, art lectures and open screenings of films are held on Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. For Wednesday and Friday evenings, ticketed events in music, performance and workshops can be booked in advance.

Open year-round, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday. Free admission. Dining room and café on premises.

February 2008 issue

MAXjet fails

MAXjet, the all-business-class airline based in Dulles, Virginia, declared bankruptcy on Dec. 24, 2007, and ceased flying. Booked passengers should seek a refund from their credit card companies or travel agencies. For more info, call MAXjet at 888/435-9629 (in the UK, phone 44 [0] 1279 216 428), e-mail info@maxjet.com or visit www.maxjet.com.

July 2010 issue

Smoking ban in Syria

In April, Syria became the first Arab country to implement a ban on smoking in public places. Smoking is now outlawed on public transportation and in schools, cinemas, theaters, restaurants and cafés. The traditional Arab nargile, or hubble-bubble pipe, is included in the ban. Fines for violating the ban run SYP500-SYP100,000 (near $11-$2,769).