Marienbad is well worth a visit if you’re in Bohemia. It’s really “old fashioned” with fancy 19th century buildings, lots of really good gifts and cheap places to eat. The Chopin festival in August is a highlight not to be missed but come prepared with formal clothes to wear to any concerts.

Our visit to Skagen, the northernmost tip of Justland was very pleasant . We watched the CNN weather reports for many days for Arhus and the forecast always seemed to be cloudy or rainy. When we neared Skagen the clouds disappeared and the locals told us that the weather there is nearly always clearer than in Aalborg or Arhus. This was borne out by our observation of the many outdoor eating places.

The harbour sports a cluster of small fish restaurants, so it’s best to first get your one Krone per ten minute parkering chit from the machine, then walk around to make your selection. My fish-of-the-day was excellent but next time we’ll sit outside at one of the several al-fresco places and have a less formal lunch with some beer in the sun as the locals do. “Downtown”, a few blocks from the harbour also sports some very nice small restaurants.

September has so far proven to be a very pleasant month in this area. Temperatures are moderate, the rolling landscape picturesque as the farmers literally ‘make hay while the sun shines’. Count on it being always windy: why else would there be so many windmills?

At the center of the city lie Tiananmen Square, most commonly associated in the Western memory with the crushed democracy movement of 1989, and the ancient Forbidden City. Zhengyangmen Gate opens onto the southern end of Tiananmen Square. Straight ahead is the “Maosoleum,” otherwise known as the Mausoleum of Chairman Mao (Mao Zhuxi Jinian Tang), where the body of the highly admired leader has been preserved (like Lenin in Russia and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam) since 1976. The Square is lined on the west side by the Great Hall of the People (Renmin Dahuiguan), where the National People’s Congress convenes, and on the east side by the Chinese Revolutionary History Museum (Zhongguo Geming Lishi Bowuguan), composed of twin museums detailing the history of Chinese civilization and the Communist revolution of the 20th century. At the northern edge of the Square is Tiananmen Gate (The Gate of Heavenly Peace), which connects Tiananmen Square to the Forbidden City (Gugong) through a vermilion archway bearing a large portrait of Chairman Mao. The Imperial Palace, one of the most stunning examples of ancient architecture in China, is so dubbed because it was off-limits to all except royalty until it was opened to the public in 1949 (as depicted in Bernardo Bertolucci’s film The Last Emperor). The vast complex is impossible to explore fully in a single day, but audio tours are available to help visitors to navigate the highlights in a limited period of time.

Just north of the Forbidden City is the 14th-century Jingshan Park (Jingshan Gongyuan), whose mountaintop offers a spectacular vista of the Imperial Palace and the cityscape. Adjacent to Jingshan Park and northwest of the Forbidden City is Beihai Park (Beihai Gongyuan), home to the Ming-dynasty White Dagoba (a Tibetan-style Lama temple) and the five-meter-long Nine Dragon Screen.

The Hague (Den Haag)
Willem II moved the royal residence to The Hague in 1248, and with him came parliament buildings, museums, and sprawling parks. The Dutch queen and princes still call The Hague home, with their palaces tucked in among stores and restaurants and pubs. During the North Sea Jazz Festival (www.northseajazz.nl), the city draws in world-class musicians and 50,000 swinging fans. For the rest of the year, The Hague, officially named ’s Gravenhage, is a buzzing center of government where museum-gazing and embassy-sleuthing will likely be the sophisticated pleasures that define a stay in the central city.

Parkpop
(523 90 64; www.parkpop.nl/english). Hosts what the Netherlands hails as the largest free public pop concert in the world. Held on 3 big stages in the Zuiderpark during late June every year.

Greenhouse Coffeeshop
Koediefstraat 14 and Elandstraat 18 (362 07 50 or 362 39 68; www.coffeeshop-greenhouse.nl). Where you can drop in for some good deals on weed and hash. ƒ25/€11,36 gets you up to 3.3g of the “Greenhouse Special” marijuana. Pool ƒ2/€0,91. Open 10am-midnight.

Omniversium
President Kennedylaan 5 ( 0900 66 48 37; www.omniversium.nl). Right by the Gemeentemuseum, screens massive-screen Omnimax films in a futuristic setting ƒ18/€8,18; kids ƒ13/€5,91; seniors ƒ16/€7,27.

Seldom does one think of a trip to New York City?be it the first or fiftieth?without considering searching for tickets to some fantasmagoric entertainment extravaganza. Whether your preference is a special effects spectacular such as The Phantom of the Opera, a bawdy comedic dance show like Chicago, a tearjerker like Les Miserables, or dramatic masterpiece like Uncle Vanya, Manhattan has it all compressed into a few square blocks along the Great White Way. And that?s not to mention the Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway venues that dot the cities, offering comparable and often better performances in much more intimate settings at much lower prices.
While recommending a specific performance to a diverse audience of readers would be a shot in the dark, we can offer some helpful ways to navigate your way through the melee that is the New York theatre scene (with perhaps a few digs for some favorites along the way).

Playbill offers a full listing of which shows are running at which theatres and when
A wonderful first stop in planning your theatrical adventure, even before you decide which show you want to see, is Playbill, a website run by the folks who publish the programs for most Broadway performances. Not only does it offer a full listing of which shows are running at which theatres and when?with, of course, a handy-dandy link to Telecharge so you can purchase your tickets online?but it also gives listings for Off-Broadway shows as well as regional theatre and national touring company performances throughout the country. In addition, Playbill is a great source for finding accommodations and restaurants near your theatre as well as information on the history, cast, plot, and commendations of each show.

Sigmund Freud, in his analysis of dreams, linked flying to sex. Of course, that was in the days when taking to the skies was something safest left to birds; today’s combination of hauling oneself to the airport hours ahead of time, only to sit for ages on the ground in a stuffy steel cylinder waiting for take-off clearance–and not even having the opportunity for a cigarette anywhere in the whole ordeal–is enough to give even Aphrodite a headache. Whoever said “getting there is half the fun” had clearly never spent thirteen hours in a cramped seat stuck between two grossly overweight sisters, one incessantly talkative and flatulent and the other snoring loudly, while a hyperactive five year old child behind you uses your seat back as a kickboxing target and the 7-foot giant leaning back in the chair in front obscures your view of a six-month old movie which, since naturally your headphones don’t work, has taken on a curiously Chaplin-esque air… and that’s without even mentioning the food.