01:00 AM EST on Sunday, November 28, 2004

Sturbridge has a place for kids

While you're at Old Sturbridge Village for its "Christmas Traditons by Candlelight" program (see next page), you might want to bring the kids to the Village's new Kidstory, a discovery gallery designed for children ages 3 to 10 and their families. The new, 1,600-square-foot learning gallery features areas where youngsters can try on period clothes and imagine life in a 19th-century household, on an 1830s farm, or shopping in an early New England country store. Two Discovery Centers also include boxed activities and games for families. This is the first phase of a multi-year project that will result in an intergenerational learning center called History Gateway. Contact: (800) 733-1830; www.osv.org.

English artist's love for horses

And if our cover story persuades you to put Fort Worth's Kimbell Art Museum on your cultural calendar, here's what you should know about its current show, "Stubbs & the Horse," running through Feb. 6:

Few artists have been as fascinated by the horse as England's George Stubbs (1724-1806). Popular with the English gentry who were similarly obsessed, his equine portraits and studies earned him a good livelihood.

But there were downsides to his calling, such as when he spent 18 months dissecting and drawing the bodies of dead horses on an isolated farm so that he would have a fuller understanding of their anatomy.

There are saddle horses, as in Lady Lade (1793); race horses, as in Gimcrack on Newmarket Heath, With a Trainer, a Stable-Lad and a Jockey (1765); and carriage horses, as in The Prince of Wales' Phaeton, With the Coachman Samuel Thomas and a Tiger-Boy (1793).

Grimmer renderings are A Lion Devouring a Horse (1769) and a dissected view of a horse from his book The Anatomy of the Horse (1758).

The centerpiece of the show is the thoroughbred portrait Whistlejacket (1762), which has never been seen before outside Britain.

Cultural package at The Nathan Hale Inn

Culture closer to home is offered by The Nathan Hale Inn, a full-service hotel in Storrs, Conn., which has a two-night classical and cultural package starting at $197 a person, double occupancy. Included are a deluxe room, daily full American breakfast, one cocktail coupon per person for Abigail's Lounge at the inn, a voucher of $25 a person for the inn's Blue Oak Cafe, two tickets for a production at either the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts, Connecticut Repertory Theater, or von der Mehden Recital Hall, and admission to The William Benton Museum of Art, the University of Connecticut's Contemporary Gallery, the Jorgensen Gallery, and the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry.

The package, 25 percent off regular costs, is available through April 30. Call (860) 427-7888 or visit www.nathanhaleinn.com. For packages at other lodging places in eastern Connecticut, visit www.mysticmore.com or call (800) 363-6569.

Forbidden City restoration

China plans to tear down a museum to restore the original appearance of its imperial palace in a sweeping renovation of the Forbidden City that will last until 2020.

The towers and gates of the 600-year-old palace, where 24 emperors lived in central Beijing, are shrouded in construction scaffolding as hundreds of workers repair, repaint and retile them.

The palace is so dilapidated after a century of war, fires and political upheaval that most of its 8,000 rooms are closed to the public. Still, it is China's single biggest tourist attraction, drawing some 7 million visitors a year.

The Forbidden City, completed in 1420 during the Ming Dynasty, is the world's biggest palace. Despite decades of neglect, it is considered the biggest and best preserved specimen of classical Chinese architecture.

Hawaiian landmark heads to the bottom

Change is coming to a venerable symbol of Hawaii, as well. One of Maui's most recognizable landmarks -- the twin-masted Carthaginian II in Lahaina Harbor -- is headed to the bottom of the sea. But even in its new home, it will remain a tourist attraction.

The ship, which has fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair, was closed to the public last year. It has been sold to Atlantis Submarines, which plans to sink it off Lahaina this winter as an underwater sight for its submarine tours.

Don't lament its passing, says Keoki Freeland of the Lahaina Restoration Foundation, its previous owner. "You hate to see it go," he said, "but it was never authentic, by any means."

The square-rigger, meant to evoke Lahaina's whaling and mercantile heritage, was actually built in 1920 in Germany and spent most of its life hauling cement around the Baltic Sea.

Best airline entertainment

United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airways and SriLankan Airlines offer the best overall entertainment aloft, according to the World Airline Entertainment Association's Avion Awards. The contest evaluated 44 passenger airlines. Qantas Airways won for best inflight magazine, American Airlines for best inflight audio, and Air France for best video magazine-style program. More information: www.waea.org.

Disneyland hotel package

Disneyland is partnering with hotels in the area to offer three nights' accommodations for the price of two through Dec. 19, for trips booked by Dec. 17. The package, which also includes a four-day pass good at Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, preferred seating at three park shows and other extras, starts at $209 a person, double occupancy, at the Red Roof Inn (the hotels on Disney property are not included). Information: (877) 700-3476 or www.disneyland.com.

The Google of travel

Just as travelers begin to understand that no single Web site displays prices from all travel sellers, a group of companies is betting they can attract customers by making the search process less of a chore.

The latest search site to enter the travel landscape is Kayak.com, which joins companies like CheapFlights, SideStep, Mobissimo and Yahoo!'s FareChase in the race to become, essentially, the Google of travel. These sites don't sell tickets or accept reservations; they simply display prices available for flights, hotel rooms or car rentals, and refer customers to other sites to buy, typically getting a fee for the referral. (Another site, ITASoftware.com, earns money from licensing its technology, not referrals.)

"We're a technology company that focuses on travel search, we're not a travel agency," said Steve Hafner, co-founder and chief executive of the Kayak Software Corp., which unveiled its search tool at kayak.com Sept. 30. For now, visitors can search for round-trip flights and hotel rooms; the company is still developing the technology for a broader range of searches, like one-way tickets or rental cars.

One of Kayak's most useful features is the ability to sort and filter results. Once you've searched for a flight, Kayak offers a toolbar that lets you narrow down the options displayed -- say, by eliminating flights on airlines you don't want to fly, restricting the results to a particular price range or specifying the time of day you want to travel.

But much as these sites aim to build a better search engine, they still have some quirks. Travelers complain that the prices they find at these sites aren't always available, and that they don't necessarily display flights from all airlines -- Southwest being a notable holdout. Plus, SideStep.com requires travelers to download software to use its search tool, though the company plans to introduce a Web option in January.

Lights aglow in Toronto

Toronto's Cavalcade of Lights sets this Canadian city aglow with a month of holiday events, sparkling displays and neighborhood tours through Jan. 2.

Created in 1967 to showcase Toronto's newly constructed City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square, the event includes the illumination of the square and a giant Christmas tree with 100,000 lights. Other highlights include an ice-skating show at the square's outdoor rink, fireworks every Saturday night in December, lighting displays in other parts of the city and tours of seven neighborhoods. Some 50,000 people are expected to take part this year.

For more information visit www.toronto.ca/special--events or call (800) 499-2514.

Online travel auction

Global travel -- by plane, ship or train to beach resorts, golf courses, ski slopes and spas -- is up for grabs in the second annual online auction sponsored by the Society of American Travel Writers.

Through Friday, bidders and browsers may log on to www.satwauction.com to check out more than 150 travel opportunities on six continents. You don't have to be a society member to bid.

Among the highlights:

Three nights in Florence's new Villa la Vedetta, on Conde Nast Traveler's Hot List of the world's 100 best new hotels.

Five nights in an oceanfront casita in Belize or the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.

Two round-trip business-class tickets on Malaysia Airlines.

Flights on Spirit, AirTran, JetBlue, IBERIA Airlines and South African Airways.

Golf getaways in St. Andrews, Scotland; Colonial Williamsburg, Hilton Head, Arizona, Alabama and Louisiana.

Resorts in Hawaii, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Mexico and the United States.

Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, JW Marriott, Renaissance and Mandarin Oriental hotel stays.

Luggage, books, travel gear and gift baskets also are up for bid. Proceeds support travel writers' professional development programs.

'Giant Heart' beats again

The "Giant Heart" of Philadelphia's Franklin Institute is beating once again after six months of surgery -- better known as intensive renovations. Originally built in 1953 as a temporary exhibit, the heart has touched millions of lives as an educational tool. The heart, suitable for a 220-foot-tall person, is part of the museum's newest exhibit, "The Giant Heart: A Healthy Interactive Experience." The exhibit gives a new generation of children a memorable experience in a 5,000-square-foot science wonderland pulsing with interactive devices and information about the heart, health and wellness, blood, and diagnosis and treatment. Contact: (215) 448-1176; www.fi.edu.