HAT do Mozart, Rembrandt, Cezanne and Picasso have in common with Jamestown, Albuquerque and the Swiss Guard? All are celebrating very special anniversaries this year which promise to crowd local calendars with commemoratives events.

Does the idea of actually listening to your favourite Mozart classics in Salzburg where he was born sound appealing? Born there 250 years ago, his unforgettable music composed during a short but very productive life will be everywhere in that Bavarian town this year . . . along with the famed Mozart Kugel chocolates and every kind of souvenir imaginable. He wrote his first minuet at age five and sites associated with him abound.

This is also the 40th anniversary of filming in Salzburg and its scenic environs and it was re-released to celebrate the event. So music will definitely be filling the air.

Spain will be celebrating the 125th anniversary of Picasso's birth in Malaga and other parts of the country associated with the Spanish painter's early life.

Museo Picasso opened in 2003 in the heart of Malaga's historic district housed in Buena Vista Palace, built between 1516 and 1542. Works regularly on display cover all aspects of the artist's work ? oils, sculpture, sketches, prints and ceramic pieces.

From March to June 11, his work normally on display at Antibes, France's Grimaldi Palace will be at Malaga on loan. Visiting Antibes on several Riviera trips, I was told he'd been invited to set up a studio there in 1946 and he responded: "I'm not only going to paint, I'll decorate it too."

Now will travel to Malaga with 73 works as part of the celebration. See www.museopicassomalaga.org.

Since Malaga is on many Mediterranean cruise itineraries, that region is expecting a very busy season. If you have a cruise itinerary including that port, it should hold special appeal. Probably the anniversary observances that will have the most interest for Bermudians are those scheduled at Jamestown, Virginia. Although settlers from the Virginia Company didn't arrive there until 1607, Virginians are so enthused about that upcoming event, they've decided to make it an 18-month celebration.

Since many of the new facilities and programmes planned are already in place, they opted to get an early start. A new theatre and special exhibition building will offer new insight into lives of those who founded America's first permanent settlement. There's been extensive recent archaeological research ongoing, along with DNA testing of early burials.

A new river front discovery area covers the Powhatan Indians, Europeans and African cultures that existed in 17th-century Virginia. You may want to go early and avoid next year's crowds. A film, , starring Colin Farrell, covering that intriguing period of history has also been favourably reviewed.

Holland has scheduled a year-long calendar of events in connection with the birth of Rembrandt in 1606. So famous today that few even remember his last name ? van Ryn. One of the 17th-century's master painters, his name today is synonymous with the Netherlands' cultural heritage.

Every corner of the small country that artist called home will seem like a page from his past. Ranging from his Leiden birthplace to the Rembrandt House Museum where he lived from 1639 to 1656, all major sites will be part of walking tours.

And, of course, Amsterdam appeals to walkers, thanks to its cobblestone streets and long canals. On my first trip there, several of us stood mesmerised while a rescue crew hauled a small car out of one of those canals. They implied it happened with some regularity.You'll want to check Internet listings to learn about special events. One will certainly be the music and light production called from June 2 through August 6.

Orchestrated by British film director Peter Greenaway, it will be presented on a stage in front of Rembrandt's famous 215-square-foot Nightwatch at the Ryksmuseum. A film by that director about the artist's life will be released next fall.

hear the name Rembrandt without remembering the colourful lakefront entrance way to a friend's parents' residence. His refreshingly individualistic artist parents had met in Paris when the father (a descendant of English artist Hogarth) was studying at Ecole Beaux Arts and the mother was en route around the world with her mother and father.

The father later achieved fame designing America's grandest early palace-like theatres, which gave an impressive listing in .

On the entrance wall was a large painting of the father duplicating Rembrandt ? hat, cloak, the works. In front of it stood a tall pedestal bust of him in similar style, all done with a sense of eccentric good humour. And the house's interior was equally dramatic.

An elaborate carved dining room set imported from a Bavarian castle was perfect setting for the mother's personally hand-painted porcelain. An oil lamp from an ancient Egyptian tomb sat atop a fireplace mantel vying for attention with rooms full of treasure.

It was great fun to visit there to play bridge while the delightful mother, a bridge master who played with the likes of bridge guru Charles H. Goren, offered us helpful advice. It was a family that believed in bringing part of the world back with them to preserve memories . . . something many of us emulate!

Meanwhile, closer to home, Albuquerque, New Mexico will celebrate its tricentennial with literally hundreds of events from April 16 through October 6. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived, it became a colonial outpost so named to honour the Duke of Albuquerque, Viceroy of New Spain.

Those who visit both the New Mexico one and the Spanish area will feel a similarity of impressive, vast and open desert landscapes. Albuquerque's web site has a long list of specific events. They vary from a native American "gathering of nations" to the opportunity to meet our favourite award-winning author, Tony Hillerman, acclaimed for his mysteries set on the Navajo Reservation. Their popular International Balloon Fiesta is set for October 1-9.

you know it was once part of Mexico, claimed as a US Territory during the Mexican war, and attacked by the Confederacy? The Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1880; it became the 47th state in 1912 and part of Route 66 in 1926.

You'll hear about more such events in the news as the season progresses. Another involves the 100th anniversary of the death of famed French artist Cezanne, which will focus attention on his well-preserved studio at Aix en Provence, France.

It's still surrounded by a wooded garden area where he enjoyed painting. A local artist had set up an easel outdoors during my visit, adding a touch of nostalgia to the location that looks like he'll return momentarily.

Cezanne's banker father wanted him to study law, but the son preferred art. Although he failed the examination to enter Paris' Ecole Beaux Arts, his natural talent triumphed and will be widely displayed in Provence this summer.

Parking near his hillside studio was a challenge that involved walking some distance, so proceed with caution. Local police are on alert when it comes to parking here.

We're running out of space before getting to the Swiss Guards who have been protecting the Vatican for 500 years. Philadelphia is another on the anniversary list, observing the 300th anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth.

And in case you haven't heard about it yet, but your youngsters most probably have, galas are still observing Disneyland's 50th anniversary. And to enhance the theme of , there are a variety of special packages out there your travel agent will know about. There's even a tour.

They all sound interesting and are places this traveller has already visited, sometimes several times. But one especially stands out as a place this journalist definitely would like to revisit this year. The Pike's Peak, Colorado region, will be celebrating the bicentennial of Zebulon Pike's 1806 expedition.

It was one of the West's great adventure expeditions, but the public never heard all that much about it then, since Pike didn't have the ear of President Thomas Jefferson, as Lewis and Clark did on their westward trek.

Since my paternal grandfather travelled to that area frequently at the turn of the century as a Northwestern Railroad executive to check on gold shipments out of Cripple Creek . . . and mother's family drove up to Pike's Peak summit in 1926. It seems the place to go for nostalgia sake.

We still have that low-hundreds summit toll ticket from 1926 in our possession, along with others when taken there as children and young adults. The route was only opened in 1914 by developer of the famed Broadmoor Hotel . . . unpaved, of course. And for years climbing it, radiators boiling, remained a challenge for early drivers.

Pike didn't climb it, but did survey and map much of the surrounding beautiful countryside.