Today...

The 10th annual Christmas fair in Budapest opens: stock up on paprika, Tokaj, sweets and crafts while listening to carols. A giant advent calendar appears on 1 December (budapestinfo.hu ).

This week...

A huge rugby ball promoting the 2011 Rugby World Cup host, New Zealand, will open next to Tower Bridge on Wednesday; visitors can step inside for a journey around New Zealand or take part in Maori culture workshops (newzealand.com ). In Australasia itself, the Southern Star observation wheel in Melbourne (120m, just shy of the London Eye's 135m) opens on Friday (thesouthernstar.com.au ). Also on Friday, a Sports Museum opens in Los Angeles, with 30 galleries of baseball and basketball memorabilia (sportsmuseumla.com ).

In the diary...

Emirates is launching the A380 between Heathrow and Dubai on 1 December. Passengers in First will have access to shower spas and an onboard lounge; those at the back will get seats with a deeper recline and 1,000 entertainment channels (emirates.com ). Also on 1 December, the trendy Mondrian apartment-hotel will open in South Beach, Miami, overlooking Biscayne Bay (mondriansouthbeach.com ).