News for the Traveler
In the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch country, Lancaster Bicycle Touring offers trips along ligthly traveled back roads in the Amish area. Guided weekend and five-day tours are offered from May through October. Each tour is planned in varying distances along the gently rolling terrain so you can choose the lenght of your daily ride.
Each tour is accompanied by leaders who know the area, and a van transfer luggage and any purchases bought along the route. Bicyclists stay in first-class hotels, and meals for the group are served in local restaurants.
Each of the tours provides a special feature, such as a visit to the Pennsylvania Farm Museum of Landis Valley, cycling through the horse country and Amish farmland, or a stop in Hershey for a chocolate tour.
For more information write Lancaster Bicycle Touring, PO Box 70, Nottingham, Pa. 19362.
If chocolate is one of your favorite foods, indulge yourself on a Chocolate Lovers' Tour of Switzerland. It's a chance to go behind the scenes to learn the secrets of the chocolatier's art in the factories of Lindt, Sprungli Tobler, Suchard, Nestle, and Chocolaterie du Rhone.
The trip leaves from New York, via Swissair, direct to Zurich on Oct, 24. Time will joying the beautiful scenery. Special meals have been arranged, including a luncheon at a mountain chalet near Lucerne and a cheese and beef fondue dinner. On another evening, the well-known Bern dish Berneplatterm will be served, with chocolate fondue for dessert. The tour will end in Geneva Oct. 31, with flights back to New York on Sunday morning, Nov. 1.
The tour is limited to 30 members. For a brochure giving more information and a reservation form, write s. K. Murti, Journeyworld International Ltd., 155 East 55th Street, New York, N.Y. 10022.
The Vermont Quilt Festival at Northfield, northern New England's largest quilt event, is celebrating its fifth anniversary from Sept. 4 through 7 with a major expansion of activities. To the exhibition of antique quilts, the judged show of new quilts, and the sales of old and new quilts will be added the following: workshops featuring some prominent names from the quilting world, a fashion show, showings of the award-winning film "Quilts in Women's Lives," and appraisals of antique quilts.
The exhibition of 80 antique quilts, featuring treasures from the Shelburn Museum, the Vermont Historical Society, and private collections, runs from noon to 5 p.m. daily Sept. 5, 6, and 7; there is no admission. The exhibition hall will also be the site of sales of old and new quilts, other quilted items, and quilting supplies.
Additional information about any of the events may be obtained by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope to Vermont Quilt Festival, Box 349, Northfield, Vt. 05663.
The French are very excited about their new high-speed electrified railroad, whose trains will carry passengers between Paris and Lyon, with a connection to Dijon. The TGV, or Tres Grande Vitesse (very high speed) travels at an average of 165 miles an hour, making it the fastest passenger train in the world. The 386-passenger train will be operational in part of Sept. 27, shortening the time between Paris and Lyon from 4 hours to 2 hours, 45 minutes. In 1983 when the line is fully completed, the journey will take only 2 hours for the 264-mile run.
The ride is smooth and comfortable in the sleek, elegant train. Seats are arranged two on one side of the aisle and one on the other in first class, and two on each side in second class. The fare will be the same on the TGV as for other, slower trains on the Paris-Lyon route.
The specially prepared track was built to follow the contours of the land, with concrete, instead of wooden ties, no rail crossings, and special underpasses for livestock.
