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It may be called the Music City Brewer's Festival, but you don't have to be a brewer to attend Nashville's best beer festival - being a lover of summer's best beverage is the only prerequisite.

This mega-beer fest pours the good stuff from more than 50 local, national, and international breweries on July 31, 2010 in Hilton Park. To keep the inevitable crowds from being too overwhelming, the fest sells a limited number of tickets to two sessions: one from 12 - 4 p.m. and one from 6 - 10 p.m. Take your pick of times then get ready to sample. You'll get to taste the good stuff from tried-and-true breweries like Heineken, Sierra Nevada, and Stella Artois; from regional favorites like Abita (Louisiana) and New Belgium Brewing (Colorado) ; and from micro-brewery standouts like Dogfish Head and Magic Hat. If the suds aren't enough to tempt you, the food and music should be: Each session features live bands and food available for purchase from local eateries like specialty hot-dog slinger The Dog of Nashville and 12 South Taproom and Grill. If you somehow haven't gotten your fill of beer, get one more before hitting the hay at Sessions Lounge at the Sheraton Nashville Downtown Hotel. Your sure to have sweet dreams knowing that 15% of your ticket price was donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

This is one event you'll want to bring mints to: The Elephant Garlic Festival, held August 6 - 8, 2010 in North Plains, Oregon, dishes up everything from garlic kettle corn to garlic ice cream. It's just a short drive from the Westin Portland.

Now in its 13th year, the festival, with its cheeky motto, "Fun Stinks," attracts thousands of garlic lovers who are fans of both the taste and the health benefits - the fest likes to point out that there are claims garlic can cure age spots, improve circulation, and help fight cancer. As for why it's the Elephant Garlic Festival? The bigger the better - more to eat! Food obviously plays a big part, with plenty of garlic-kissed dishes. Snack on garlic sticks, have a dinner of garlic pasta salad, garlic biscuits and gravy, and garlic sesame chicken, get your daily serving of veggies by way of a garlic Caesar salad and fire-roasted corn on the cob with garlic butter, and end your day with a sweet...treat? Garlic Italian ice and ice cream will be on hand. Once you've gotten your fill, there's still more fun to be had: Saturday morning gets off to a speedy start with the Garlic Festival 10K run and two-mile walk, followed by a parade during which the event's Garlic Festival Ambassador will hand out...yep, garlic. There's also a beer and wine garden, arts and crafts for sale, live blues, bluegrass, and classic rock, and a car show.

Perhaps you want to tour some of the great, iconic buildings of Europe such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower, and the House of Parliament, but your travel plans permit only one stop in Europe, in the city of Brussels, Belgium. Well, you are in luck, for Brussels' unique attraction known as Mini-Europe will help you achieve your goal in quick, miniaturized form. It's easy to find, located as it is right at the base of the city's most prominent icon of its own, the science-evoking Atomium. Don't have time to run with the actual bulls in Seville, tour the remains of the Berlin Wall, or brave a visit to Mount Vesuvius? Mini-Europe has you covered, with more than 300 models to make you feel like a giant King Kong-esque rendering of a lumbering human as you move past all these intricate tiny landmarks that make you feel like a mighty giant.

Of course, this is no true substitute for jet-setting from city to city, but when practicality doesn't allow such amazing globetrotting, this is sure an educational and downright humorous way to make up for it during your time in Belgium. Mini-Europe is easily accessed when you stay at the brand-new Aloft Brussels Schuman, which has a number of special opening offers. Have you enjoyed visiting any theme parks similar to Mini-Europe, such as Window of the World in Shenzhen, China? Please don't hesitate to share those experiences with us in the comments section below.

[Image via seebeautifulplaces.com]

Relive your childhood (or what you wish your childhood had been like) for an afternoon at the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art, located just east of Seattle in Bellevue. With more than 1,200 dolls on permanent display, it is renowned as one of the finest collections in the world.

Opened in 1992, the museum's dolls range from the antique to the modern, allowing you to truly travel back in time. Among its collection: a bisque doll from 1885 that shines a light on the exquisiteness of French doll-making; the first Barbie created by Mattel in 1959; a 1920s Japanese doll made out of ground oyster shell; a doll of Charles Lindbergh made in the late 1920s; an ivory-headed Eskimo doll; and a German paper doll from the 1860s, complete with changes of clothing and bonnets. It also goes beyond dolls: You'll find teddy bears, doll houses (including one with a working elevator made 100 years ago), and other miniatures. The exhibits are constructed in a way that allows you to look and learn - about the history of doll making. And what doll museum would be complete without English gardens? Be sure to take a stroll through them before heading back to the Westin Bellevue.

[image via newsweek]

Sometimes your eyes can deceive you - or is it your brain that tells the lies? Either way, you can have fun with the ideas of illusion and perception at Edinburgh's Camera Obscura and World of Illusions, one of the Scottish capital's oldest and most unusual attractions. Since 1853, visitors have gathered at the "Outlook Tower" for its camera obscura show, along with amazing views of Edinburgh and three galleries with a range of optical experiences. The camera obscura show is a delightful way to see Edinburgh, with live moving images of Edinburgh projected on a moving table through a giant periscope. The Rooftop Experience provides stunning vistas of the Royal Mile, the Pentland Hills, the Royal Observatory, and St. Giles Cathedral. The World of Illusions includes a Magic Gallery - complete with X-ray machines, kaleidoscopes, and virtual fish tanks - along with Edinburgh Vision (pictured), a collection of unique pictures of the city, and Light Fantastic, comprised of fascinating holograms from around the world. Learn how holograms are made, peruse the holo-portrait gallery, and get close to a hologram of a giant tarantula, if you dare. Edinburgh's Camera Obscura is a short walk from the Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa, Edinburgh.

[image via camera-obscura.co.uk]

Paella. Gazpacho. Spanish food is just so good. Once you can eat your fill of it - and then some - in Barcelona, you may find yourself out of luck. That's where Cook & Taste comes in - its fabulous cooking classes take you from market-to-table.

Located in a real Spanish kitchen environment in the heart of Barcelona, Cook & Taste's half-day cooking classes include an option (simply a must!) to start with a walking tour around what the Guardian has declared "probably the best market in the world" - the famed Boqueria market. There, you'll speak to purveyors and get plenty of tips on how to select the best and freshest ingredients for your dishes. Once back in the kitchen, you'll spend a few hours preparing your dishes, which can include classics like tortilla espanola (potato omelet), seafood paella, and sopa de tomates (tomato soup). Don't be fooled into thinking that learning how to make Spanish standards will be too basic. The excellent teachers provide plenty of hands-on cooking time, incorporate unique ingredients (like cuttlefish bought fresh from the market), and share dining etiquette tips you'd be hard-pressed to learn elsewhere. Cook & Taste also welcomes children, too, who also get to share in the meal-making fun. When the cooking is done, you eat! Enjoy the fruits of your labor, plus plenty of wine, before heading back to the W Barcelona.

If you're a fan of puppets, there's a museum in Atlanta you need to visit. The Center for Puppetry Arts is the largest puppet museum in the country, with displays of different puppet styles throughout the ages, including marionettes, hand puppets, finger puppets, and shadow puppets. (My favorite: the "Wayang Klitik Lady," a colorful Indonesian puppet with long, expressive limbs.) In addition to its historical collection of more than 1000 puppets, the center keeps the art alive with a never-ending series of puppetry performances and workshops. Families with young children will appreciate Weather Rocks, an original puppet musical with facts about rain, snow, and other weather events. The Little Pirate Mermaid, meanwhile, tells the story of the Sea King's daughter who rescues a pirate in a storm. But not everything is G-rated in the puppet world. More mature audiences will howl along with marionettes, robots, and stop-motion animation in Xperimental Puppetry Theater, a diverse gathering of puppeteers who try out new ideas in story, technique, and style. Naturally, there's something for Muppets fans too: Jim Henson: A Man and His Frog is on long-term display, so visitors can witness the origin of Kermit himself. It's a beautiful thing. Starwood has hotels throughout Atlanta, including the nearby Sheraton Atlanta Hotel.

Want to see the best of Lima, Peru, but not really into the whole daytime tour-group thing? Take an alternative tack by way of Bike Tours of Lima.

Run by a company committed to safe, healthy, earth-friendly, and interesting tourism, you have four options to choose from, and the Night Bike Trip is one of the coolest. The four-hour excursion is designed to get you inside the vibrancy of Lima at night. You'll pedal through the San Isidro and Miraflores neighborhoods and make several stops: The tour will take you to the Olivar area, which boasts famed ancient olive trees; to the illuminated Huaac Pucllana ruins, which were built nine centuries before the Incas started constructing Machu Picchu; the Larcomar shopping center; the Bolognesi Square; and a number of parks. There is a focus on the nightlife - bars, restaurants, and discos - that can be found along the way. Appropriately, the tour ends with a drink in a traditional local bar. If you're more into early bird-style tours that will get you into bed at the Sheraton Lima Hotel & Convention Center a little earlier, check out the Bay Tour. It starts in the bohemian Barranco neighborhood, then takes you past fishing piers, beaches, and along the city's oceanside parks.

Deutsches Currywurst Museum celebrates a German national fast food phenomenon known as currywurst, a snack usually made with sliced pork sausage and laden with a curry-based sauce. No longer a well-kept secret in Germany, currywurst is exploding in popularity in New York via food carts that have imported it to America and is starting to make rumblings in other cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. In any case, it might rightfully still be a surprise that an entire museum is dedicated to currywurst, but it's sure a great place to start from ground zero and learn about it. Guided tours are now luckily available in English, or you can simply have your own curious wander around, snap some photos behind a snack shop booth while fantasizing about having your own currywurst stand, watch clips of the super sausage in German popular culture from film to television, or take home some kitschy gifts. It'll all be fuel for your next currywurst adventure: Finding a good one to eat on the street after your visit!

This unique attraction is located just a few blocks from your stay at The Westin Grand, Berlin. It is sure to be a memorable part of your experience in a city bursting with fascinating future memories. What are the strangest museums you've ever visited during your travels? Please let us know about them in the comments section below.

German engineering isn't just confined to the country's excellent automobiles. It works its way into all facets of life in the country, including one of the world's biggest - and smallest - attractions. Miniatur Wunderland in Hamburg is the largest model railway on earth, with 900 trains, 12,000 carriages, and more than 11,000 meters of track winding through tiny versions of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and America. Its intricate designs and lifelike characters will have you staring for hours, uncovering something new with every twist and turn. The Alps area, for example, integrates attributes of authentic mountain life and miniature people performing four seasons of activities, from skiing and rock climbing to picnicking in green pastures. America depicts a few of the country's more bizarre landmarks, including Carhenge in Western Nebraska and the luminous casinos of Las Vegas - which use more than 30,000 miniature lights. But perhaps its most impressive section is the city of Hamburg itself (pictured), which recreates in amazing detail such attractions as Hagenbecks Zoo, the Köhlbrandbrücke, St. Michael's Church and even a teeny tiny Wunderland within Wunderland, complete with the smallest train in the exhibition at a scale of 1:900. It gives an entirely new meaning to the idea of miniaturization. The museum is minutes from Le Royal Méridien Hamburg.