For the Travel section, writers and editors selected special items to profile from a dozen cities. Brussels: Chocolate. Nearly half the chocolate consumed in the world is eaten in Europe, and Belgium--with average consumption of 14.99 pounds per person a year--certainly covers its fair share. While Brussels, the country's capital, is home to hundreds of chocolate makers, what makes a visit necessary is the rich heritage of traditional chocolate makers. Budapest: Paprika  The job of preparing Hungarian paprika was once considered too dangerous for mothers to do. A woman who touched her children upon returning from work risked burning them, so only the elderly and unmarried were allowed the delicate task of separating the skin from the flesh. But by the early 20thcentury, sweeter varieties and a machine turned paprika into a common feature of all Hungarian cuisine. Lisbon: Tiles  Is there a bluer country than Portugal? The blue sky and Atlantic Ocean embrace the land. The blue moods of Fado, the dark folk music, form the national soundtrack. And all across Portugal, the typically--blue designs of azulejos--ceramic tiles--are spread across churches, castles, palaces, university halls, parks. The result is a beautiful land of Christian saints, Portuguese kings, historical glories, aristocrats  at leisure, seascapes and so on. Madrid: Guitars Walking into one the Madrid's storied guitar makers' workshops can feel like stepping into the past. Curly wood shavings, from the palest pine to ebony, fall onto the floor as artisans  turn some humble wood into works of art. It's painstaking work--all done by hand--with classical guitar models and the methods of making them changing little over the last century. Which city can be a splendid setting for a film?
Brussels. Budapest. Lisbon. Madrid.