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Most visitors to Istanbul probably don’t realize that there is a fortress there. Located on the western shore of the Bosphorus (just south of Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge) is a fortress that dates back to pre-Ottoman rule. Rumeli Hisarı (“roo-mel-li hee-sah-ruh”) was built in 1452 by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror in preparation for his invasion of Byzantine Constantinople. The sultan built the fortress across the Bosphorus from the Anadolou Hisarı. Strategically, the two fortresses are located at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus which allowed the Ottomans to prevent aid and supplies from ever reaching Constantinople. These days, the fort is a museum and a nice place for a stroll to catch magnificent views of the Bosphorus from the European side. There is a small entry free. The fort is closed on Wednesdays. In my opinion, the best time to go is Saturday morning because there is a town, within easy walking distance, that holds its weekly market then. Plus, there are plenty of cafes to catch a bite or drink. There are several ways you can get to Rumeli Hisarı but I took the No 559C bus from Taksim Square. It ends at the town above the fortress and it’s about a 10 minute downhill walk from there. You can catch the return bus to Taksim. Just ask the driver for information. Not many tourists come to Rumeli Hisarı so you can catch a bit of local life that’s not been tainted by tourism. You’ll truly be off the beaten path!

This castle was erected with an ancient ring-fort, around the early part of the 13th century. It became a strategic fortress during the following turbulent years. It was the property of the Earls of Kildare for nearly 300 years until the rebellion in 1536, when it was forfeited and granted to the Earls of Desmond who gave the castle its present name. We got there in the evening, after visiting Adare Manor and the town, and could not go inside but I sure wish we had the time to go closer to the ruins.

When you tell your friends that you’re headed here, everyone will chime in about the dish that you have to get. ‘Make sure you try the smoked salmon flatbread!’ ‘The burger, be sure to get the burger’.’ ‘The donuts! You have to get the donuts!’ It’s good to know that with breakfast, brunch or lunch, they don’t take reservations. Be prepared to possibly wait and hang out on the porch swings or hang out at the bocce courts and play a while (they’re about a 10-minute walk from Boon Fly). With dinner, they do take reservations and I’d encourage you to get those well-ahead. If you’ve had a big bike ride in nearby Napa Valley or are headed in to downtown Napa for a concert or event, Boon Fly Cafe is just 5 miles away and will leave you with your belly full and happy.

The wax resist dying technique of batik is one of the symbols of Indonesian culture. Although it actually came from Java to Bali with the Majapahit Kingdom in the 14th Century, the Balinese now consider it as much part of their culture as the Javanese. You can find beautiful batiks all over Bali but one of the most impressive batik makers in Bali is Pak Tjok Agung who has a workshop and small shop in his home village of Pejeng near Ubud. This isn’t on the main tourist trail and purposefully so. Pak Tjok uses natural fibers and dyes and local workers to try to support the local community without the need for tourist dollars, which makes Pak Tjok’s textiles sustainable as well as stunning. Pak Tjok’s workshop is about 15 minutes north east of Ubud in the village of Pejeng. www.tjokagung-indigo.com

Chef Darren Walsh has come a long way since the 2001 New York Times review in which food critic William Grimes wrote that his Manhattan restaurant, Papillon, served “two-star food in a no-star setting”—all the way, in fact, to Guadalajara. The Irish chef, who trained in France and headed restaurants in New York, brings all these cultural and culinary influences—and many more—to Lula Bistro, where his food and presentation finally achieve parity. Diners can look forward to a seasonal, modern European tasting menu, complete with French-meets-Mexican dishes like beef filet, duck confit, and octopus, as well as a sophisticated wine list with several Mexican vintages.

When I first stepped into the blue folds of the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi I thought this must be what Superman’s Fortress of Solitude looks like. It’s that blue found in the water of higher latitudes, a blue that looks photoshopped although no photograph seems to be able to reproduce it with fidelity. Most of the time you and the other hotel guests are dressed in the hotel-issued technical gear: snow suits, balaclavas, moon-boots, mittens, caps. But when you sleep in the cold hotel you strip down to your long underwear, lock your things in a locker, carry a sleeping bag and sleeping sheet to your room, and try to get as comfortable as possible on the reindeer skins. One tip to remaining comfortable is to go easy at the hotel’s ICEBAR. The drinks, inspired by and named after the rooms in the cold hotel, come in hollowed cubes of ice and go down a little too smoothly. The bathrooms, contrary to the supposition made by my friend on Facebook, are not made of ice but you do have to walk outside to reach them at night. We dressed and went to straight to breakfast when we woke. (It is busy in the locker and shower area in the morning.) I ate a protein-rich meal to restore the lost kilojoules and then sat for forty-five minutes in the sauna. When you check out you receive a diploma (write out the name of each guest if you want individual diplomas) perfect for you to share it with the very friends who thought you were nuts for wanting to sleep in the ice and snow and the cold.

Cavell’s Cook Shop hides in plain sight along the road that hugs the shore on Antigua’s southwestern coast. Its humble, nondescript outward appearance bears every likeness of a simple storage shed or roadside workshop. Thick, encroaching foliage on either side further suggest its owner might prefer his or her place to maintain a low profile. The long line of cars regularly parked astride the road outside Cavell’s at all hours of the day, however, tells a different story. So too do the savory aromas emanating from beneath her galvanize roof, and the smiles on the faces of her steady stream of people filing in and out of here. You see, small and simple though it may be, Cavell’s is the prime spot for real local food in Antigua. The sun pounding down on the galvanize roof combined with the heat put forth by the various cooking apparatuses maKe standing inside Cavell’s feel like limin’ in an oven. No one was complaining, though. Cold Wadadli’s and good company have a way of keeping things cool here. Come to Cavell’s with a smile, some patience, and an open mind and you’ll make friends of the broad swath of local Antiguans, representing all walks of life, easily.

The 40-room John D. Rockefeller estate is sometimes described as being modest compared to other Gilded Age mansions on the Hudson. While it is true that it doesn’t have the same over-the-top quality of the Vanderbilt mansion, it does have one thing that distinguishes it from the other estates nearby, its gardens. Laid out at the beginning of the 20th century with Frederick Law Olmsted (of Central Park fame) leading the project briefly before being replaced by William Welles Bosworth, the gardens are one of the best examples of Beaux Arts garden design in America. Bosworth’s design consists of a number of different gardens spread over terraces descending from the house, many with views of the Hudson and the Palisades on the other side. (The Rockefellers helped protect the land on the opposite side of the river, assuring their views would never be ruined.) Japanese, French, and other styles are contained in separate garden rooms, while the grounds are also home to a number of contemporary sculptures, fitting given the Rockefellers’ legacy as patrons of the arts. It is only possible to visit Kykuit on guided tours offered from the beginning of May to the end of September. (Members of the Rockefeller family continue to use other buildings on the estate and they are apparently not interested in having visitors wander away from Kykuit and drop by unannounced). Choose the “Landmarks Tour” if you are interested in spending more time in the gardens than the house itself.

Oporto is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the oldest European cities dating back to the 4th c. “Oporto " means the port. Oporto is famous for among other things Port wine. Port wine is fortified wine. These wines are world renowned. They are produced in the Douro Valley in Northern Portugal. At harvest time, the grapes are picked from the vines on the steep steps of the Douro Valley and taken to the various cellars in Vila Nova de Gaia. Until the late 1960’s the wines were carried down the river in flat bottomed boats called barcos rebelos. In the 1700’s, there were several hundred of these vessels carrying the Port. In the 1930’s there were about 300 plying the river. Today Port is sent by rail and road. You can still see the barcos with their sails with barrels on board in the river on the shores of Vila Nova de Gaia. They are there to show the history of the vessels and Port wine. You can sign up for tours of the various wine cellars. There are many such as Taylor, Graham, Croft, and Ramos Pinto. The tours are fun and offer different samples of Port and sometimes biscuits and chocolate. Your hotel desk clerk will help you or check out an information center. I crossed the D.Luis I Bridge on foot and descended to Vila Nova de Gaia. I checked out the history of Port wine. Great experience! There are several restaurants that serve traditional Portuguese food. After dinner enjoy an expresso and a glass or two of Port.

Named for the wife of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who presided over New South Wales in the early 1800s, this site provides one of the most spectacular views in town. Find the historic carved-rock ledge in the Royal Botanic Garden, east of the Opera House, where you’ll drink in a vista encompassing the Bridge, harbor and distant mountains, along with historic sites like Kirribilli House (the prime minister’s residence), the island of Fort Denison and the Navy Dockyards at Woolloomooloo.

This iconic bar sits on stilts above the sea at the Hotel Bakoua in the sultry resort area of Trois-Ilets, just across the Bay of Fort-de-France from the island’s capital city. People don’t come here for the drinks (stronger and better can easily be had elsewhere). They don’t come for the snackfood, or to ogle the topless beauties on the shore either (okay, perhaps a few are attracted by the latter). No, instead they come for the vibrant sunshine, the spectacular views across the Bay, and the soothing sea current that massages those who wade into the waters surrounding the bar.

Established in 1877 by the British governor of Ceylon, Sir William Henry Gregory, this two-story Italian-inspired building showcases artifacts—pottery, swords, jewelry and more—from many periods of Sri Lanka’s history. Some of its displays are devoted to the northern city of Anuradhapura, the ancient capital of Sri Lanka and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are also treasures like an elaborate throne used by the last ruler of the Kingdom of Kandy, Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe.

I love public art and one of my favorites is “The Awakening,” which was created by the famed American sculptor, J. Seward Johnson, Jr. The Awakening is an iconic sculpture was originally installed by the artist at Hains Point in Washington, D.C., but was moved to National Harbor in 2008 when the developers purchased it. The Awakening consists of five separate pieces of metal, embedded in the ground, giving the impression of a giant man struggling to free himself from the ground. The left hand and right foot look like normal body parts. The left right hand, bent leg, and the bearded face with mouth mid-scream, are the parts that convey the pain of the man’s struggle to free himself. At any given moment, you will someone posing in front of one body part or another for a photo op. Kids especially love to clamber onto the man’s head. You can tell from the photo which part are my favorites! The way the foot and the fingers bent, the veins and folds of the skin—it’s all amazingly realistic. At National Harbor, The Awakening has been installed at the small beach area by the marina. It’s a great place to let the kids loose to have fun in the sand, and for the adults to admire a great piece of public art!

Stepping into the London EDITION, it’s clear to see that Ian Schrager, the man responsible for the legendary nightclub Studio 54, and mastermind of the first-ever “boutique hotel,” has yet again repeated his successful formula. Since it launched in September 2013, the EDITION has become a celebrity favorite, with all the attendant publicity that brings. It’s not without merit, either. The open-to-all Lobby Bar is—in signature Schrager style—the communal hub of the hotel, where freelancers click away on free-to-use iMacs during the day and a statuesque, fashionable crowd transforms the space into a lively cocktail bar at night. The EDITION’s somewhat unlikely partnership with Marriott seems to be a hit, with Schrager bringing his particular brand of cool to the marriage and Marriott investing a discernible level of service, which transforms what could have been an intimidatingly hip address into what is a genuinely comfortable place to be.

Business at the front, party at the back: that’s the ethos behind this hotel, which opened in London’s financial district in 2012. Weekdays, the clientele in the lobby bar and brasserie is all business, the conversation a gentle hum of meetings. But the hotel has a lively side. On weekends, a young, fashionable crowd from nearby Shoreditch and the ever-growing tech center Silicon Roundabout comes for the DJs that regularly include big names such as Ricardo Villalobos. Owners D&D London—the city’s leading hospitability group and brains behind such restaurants as Coq d’Argent—have made food the focus of their first hotel. Within one year of opening, the top-floor, fish-focused restaurant, Angler, already had a Michelin star. And then there’s the art. Sir Terence Conran’s design firm created modern interiors accented with pop-art prints, full-wall installations, and playful sculptures, many created by British artists living and working in the area.