During the Australian summer the penguin colony on Phillips Island is home to nesting boxes and hungry chicks, sometimes two to a box. Located 90 miles east of Melbourne, the Island is a must see attraction. Each evening a thousand penguins come ashore after gathering fish in the rich offshore waters and feed their chicks. The penguin parade of returning adults can be seen from viewing positions with the penguins only feet away from the spectators. Photos are not permitted of the parade but earlier in the day we did see these chicks awaiting their meal ticket.

We will always ask you if anyone in your traveling party is allergic or has sensitivity to certain foods, chemicals, feathers, etc. Our mission is to offer you the best options for a fantastic vacation. We routinely contact hotels, cruise lines and tour operators to verify that their culinary and hospitality operations will ensure that our guests enjoy allergy-free experiences.

Harvest time brings out festivals around the world from apple picking here in Virginia to olive pressing in Italy. The annual Alba Truffle Fair, held each October to early November in the village of Alba in northwestern Italy, is ground zero for celebrating some of the world’s finest “tartufi bianchi,” or white truffles, considered by many as one of the world’s richest flavors. Even if you didn’t get an invitation to the auctions where fanatics will bid up white truffles into the tens of thousands of euros, you can join the happy crowds and browse the weekend town markets for truffle oils, cheeses, and more or settle into a local café for menus celebrating mushrooms in more ways than you thought possible. Naturally, no Italian celebration is complete without medieval costumes, parades and contrada – neighborhood – contests. In Alba they race donkeys in the annual competition for neighborhood bragging rights.
Please check out our website for a comprehensive list of Italian festivals.

How would you like to visit the Nuremberg Toy Museum, tour a BMW car production facility, bike in the German countryside, ride Segways in Vienna, go whitewater rafting and see the Lipizzan stallions? These activities and more are part of the 2016 Uniworld Danube Discovery river cruise, especially designed for families. European river cruising is changing with the times and the cruise lines are rushing to accommodate families with more spacious cabins, special facilitators and children’s activities designed for families to learn more about European art, culture, music and history.

Where is Christopher Columbus? With Columbus Day coming up this weekend, do you know where he is buried?

Columbus passed away in Spain in 1506 after having made four voyages to the New World. In respect to his wish to be buried in the New World, the great explorer’s remains and those of his son Diego sailed in 1537 to Santo Domingo where they were interred in the local cathedral. In 1795, when Spain lost Hispaniola to France, the remains were sent to Spanish Havana for safe keeping. After the Spanish-American War of 1898 Columbus father and son were shipped back to Spain where their remains were entombed in the Cathedral of Seville. Today the Seville Cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site where you can see Christopher Columbus’ impressive bronze casket borne by the likenesses of four Spanish Kings.

The story has an interesting twist. In 1877 a lead coffin was discovered in the Santo Domingo cathedral inscribed with “don Crisobal Colon.” Since then the Dominican Republic has claimed Columbus’ remains and you can visit the Columbus burial monument there. Meanwhile in Spain, experts recently tested the DNA of their holdings and claimed that Spain has Columbus!

Considering how traveled Columbus was in his lifetime perhaps it is fitting that the Admiral of the Seas is shared by the New and the Old World.