Search results for

Stallmästaregården began its life as a somewhat rural stablemaster’s farm. This was before Queen Kristina decided, in 1645, that she wanted to host her midsummer festivities here, at which point the stablemaster rapidly transformed the farm into an inn. Now, despite being within the city limits, Stallmästaregården feels like a rural retreat, flanked as it is by the expansive Royal Haga Park and scenic Brunnsviken Bay, in addition to its own verdant gardens. A painstaking restoration and redesign has left the onetime farm still rustic and homey, true to its 17th-century inn background, while simultaneously infusing it with healthy doses of both midcentury and contemporary Scandinavian design. The true star is the restaurant, an unpretentiously stylish destination that serves gourmet Swedish cuisine to discerning locals and out-of-towners against a picturesque natural backdrop. But the best part comes when everyone goes home and the inn is left to the guests.

The Power and the Glory is a cool bistro in the center of Cape Town that has attracted a cult following among locals. The relaxed style, the bearded staff, the folding chairs, and the sidewalk stools may remind you of a Brooklyn cafe. If you can snag a chair, it makes for a great place to work or to have a meeting over a light breakfast. In the evening, the place is usually packed with revelers. Try the quiche in the morning, the pretzel bun hot dog in the evening, and the Nutella cheesecake for dessert.

There are several small towns around Alaska that make visitors of years past smile. Talkeetna sits pretty high atop that list. A good stopping point between Anchorage and Denali National Park, the town is at once a history stop, arty spot, beer fill-up, hearty food destination, and mountain climbing mecca. Talkeetna is the first step for everybody setting out to climb Denali. But it’s also the go-to for visitors who enjoy quirky little towns with huge personalities. Thanks to cruise-ship bus tours, the town does get a bit overrun during the summer months—but it’s still worth swinging in. And if you happen to be in Alaska during the winter and want to attend a very Alaskan event, don’t miss the Bachelor Auction. The entire town gets revved up and pretty darn drunk. It’s damn fun.

Casa Vicente is an institution in this desert city—Tucson’s outpost for tapas a la española. Just south of the downtown core, a couple of blocks from the neo-Baroque façade of the Cathedral of San Agustín, this restaurant also features live music on weeknights: classical guitar, flamenco, and even tango lessons. This particular evening, we tried chipirones rellenos, a trio of baby calamari skewered and stuffed with green tomatoes and spices. In a town more known for its tacos and burros (a.k.a. ‘burritos’ elsewhere), it’s appropriate, if somewhat uncommon, to find Iberian fare. Tucson was founded in 1775 as an outpost of the Spanish empire, decades before it became Mexican, and then in the mid-19th century, it finally became part of a U.S. territory. (And, by the way, the sangría here rocks.)

With its lanes of thatched-roof, old-Irish bungalows fronted by flowering gardens, lovely little Adare is beloved by a certain subset of Irish grannies as the prettiest village in Ireland. It’s easy to see why: An hour south of Shannon Airport on the river Maigue, the town has charm to spare (although it’s quite touristy these days). Adare’s crown jewel is east of the town center, where the 19th-century Adare Manor lies with its pergola-covered stone walls, turrets, and gables on 840 acres of manicured gardens and wild woodlands.

Designed in grand Gothic Revival style and completed in 1862, the manor took 30 years to build—and provided valuable industry for villagers during the potato famine years. Inside, it’s a castle with some quirks: 365 stained-glass windows and 52 chimneys, for instance, for each day and week of the year. Rooms have four-poster or carved-mahogany beds, sitting areas, and semi-chintzy drapes.

The country’s third-largest city, and the largest in central Vietnam, Da Nang has become one of the country’s key ports thanks to its location on both the coast and the Han River estuary. The city itself is a typical bustling Vietnamese metropolis with relentless scooter traffic, but a number of attractions make visiting worthwhile. The town’s Dragon Bridge opened in 2013, but what makes it special is that every weekend evening the steel-arch dragon that forms a part of the structure spits out real fire from its head (the bridge is closed to traffic at the time, allowing crowds to see the spectacle up close). The Marble Mountains—five hills that seem to have just sprouted up in the south of the city—are an arresting sight. The Son Tra peninsula, with a marquee attraction known as Monkey Mountain, offers some good hiking and excellent sea and city views; you’ll also find the 220-feet-tall, gleaming-white Goddess of Mercy statue here. The sandy stretch east of the city center (given the nickname China Beach by American soldiers during the war) is crowded with restaurants, bars, and some seaside hotels.

The Maremma region of southern Tuscany, about an hour south of Siena, is an area of olive groves, wooded valleys, and ancient legends. One such tale, dating from the days of the Etruscans and Romans, chronicles an epic battle in which Jupiter threw lightning bolts at Saturn—and missed. As the story goes, when the bolts landed on the ground, they formed the bubbling hot springs now known as the Terme di Saturnia. Full of therapeutic minerals, the hot springs feed a variety of pools throughout the valley that have warmed and healed centuries of bathers. Today, you can soak up the goodness at the luxury Terme di Saturnia Hotel & Spa, which offers therapies performed with the waters, or at a free public bathing spot. To find the main one, head down a dirt path just outside of town, past a parking lot and changing area, until you spy a waterfall feeding a series of natural pools, each turned white by the mineral-rich water.

Though it lacks a beach, this family-owned and professional diver–managed resort on the rocky coast just south of George Town has direct ladder access into the Caribbean. Grand Cayman’s two famous underwater sites, Eden’s Rock and Devil’s Grotto, are just a short swim away, and boat trips offer the option of two daily dives (including night dives). Images by some of the world’s most respected underwater photographers decorate many of the tiled and comfortable smoke-free rooms, some of which have kitchens and private balconies or terraces. The vibe is laid-back; post dive, guests sit by the pool or swap stories at the palapa bar, which has the island’s best sunset vista. Managers Anne Briggs and Lisa Evans, the granddaughters of Sunset House’s founders, make sure everything runs smoothly and ensure visitors explore the best of Grand Cayman both on shore and underwater.

Having recently opened its doors to the public, the Factory on Grant Avenue in Norwood aims to be a destination for promoting the arts, crafts, design and a bit of individuality as it hopes to inject some renewed interest in the old neighborhood. The Factory features an artisanal bakery, a glass blowing studio, a screen printing workshop, an art gallery, boutique clothing stores and even a flower shop. Over the years, the popular Grant Avenue in Norwood has declined somewhat, with a proliferation of massage parlors and mini supermarkets. With the new Factory having opened early in 2014, Norwood seems to have a new buzz about it which, hopefully, will lead to other new ventures and establishments popping up too.

The Oriental Plaza, located in Fordsburg, just west of the old CBD, is home to many an Indian store owner who specialise in beautiful exotic fabrics and other clothing items and related trades such as tailoring. That’s not to say that the Plaza is limited to those items, as there are spices and curios too, amongst other things. It is a favourite shopping destination amongst locals who are looking for designer fabrics and good deals on those items. While you’re resting from all the price haggling, you can enjoy a good curry or some samoosas or any number of Indian dishes from one of the stores inside the plaza, or venture out and find one of the many restaurants nearby.

Come here and you’ll find a solar-powered bookstore, a Guatemalan restaurant, pubs, galleries, cafés, and this brick wall tribute to Gregory Colbert’s “Boy Reading to Elephant.” (The words that come to mind when I pass this street art are “tell me a good story and I’ll never forget.”) Just a few blocks north of downtown, and a few blocks west of the University of Arizona, Tucson’s Fourth Avenue district is a pedestrian eat-work-drink-play neighborhood with a new streetcar/trolley system. Construction is done, shops and restaurants are open, and you’ll find hardly a chain along the eclectic streetscape. From college kids and downtown workers, to artists, professors, and out-of-towners, Fourth Avenue is where the Old Pueblo welcomes techies and yuppies along with the ex-hippies... And, every winter and spring, for decades now, the neighborhood hosts a Street Fair—hundreds of thousands of people come for the arts, crafts, food, and music.

Since its founding in 1903, the DMA (as locals call it) has grown to become one of the top 10 largest museums in the country, with a permanent collection of over 24,000 works culled from around the globe and spanning over 5,000 years of history. Works by boldface Western names like Renoir, van Gogh, Warhol, Rothko, O’Keeffe, and Wyeth lead to extensive collections dedicated to art and antiquities from Africa, Asia, and South America; in between, limited-run exhibits might focus on Native American works, Asian textiles, or emerging contemporary artists. In addition to hosting popular events that engage the whole family, the museum is also committed to supporting Texas artists via foundations and special programs, and offers a searchable Texas artists database to help spotlight these native sons and daughters. Dine on casual, gluten-free Mediterranean fare at the plaza-side Socca, or head to the ever-popular DMA Cafe—set in a striking atrium—for globally flavored dishes inspired by works in the permanent collection.

An Easter Monday spanking with a hand-made whip of twigs (pomlázka) may not seem like the ideal way to bring about good health and fertility, nor the best way for a boy to get eggs from the village girls, but this centuries-old tradition still lingers on in the smaller towns and villages of the Czech Republic. In the eastern region of Moravia, this is often replaced by the equally dignified dousing by cold water. Thankfully, neither option needs to be experienced to enjoy the festive atmosphere of Easter in Prague. In the Czech Republic, Easter is a nearly week long celebration. Even under the strictly non-religious days of Communism, Easter was an important celebration of springtime and its symbolic rebirth. Easter markets can be found on three of Prague´s most famous squares – Old Town Square, Wenceslas Square and the Square of the Republic. Decorated Easter eggs, hand-made wooden toys, puppets, lace and a variety of foods can be found throughout the weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. There are also cultural performances including traditional folk dancing and local choirs that are worth checking out. The markets can get crowded, particularly on Easter Weekend, but it’s still usually less packed than during peak summer months.

Hailed as one of the country’s first true boutique hotels, Hotel San José started its life as a 1930s tourist court and became a 1950s roadside motel before falling into disrepair in a bad part of town. In the mid-1990s, Liz Lambert bought it and transformed it into a minimalist, mid-century–inspired hot spot, the first of her distinctive Bunkhouse hotels, and the South Congress neighborhood changed with it. Although it’s now a must-visit for out-of-town hipsters (and its bar a hangout for trendy locals), the hotel stays true to its roots; a majority of the furniture was made by local artisans from reclaimed wood and Texas leather, the three most affordable rooms have a shared bath, and Lambert’s experience renovating the hotel and contributing to the neighborhood’s gentrification prompted her to make the documentary The Last Days of the San Jose.

Nowadays, SoCo is Austin’s hottest neighborhood, and Hotel San José is in the heart of the action, hosting local and touring bands in its courtyard and parking lot, and offering some of the city’s best coffee at Jo’s, its affiliated café. Plan to spend at least one evening making new friends over Shiner Bocks at the long tables in the courtyard lounge.

I hate wimpy hamburger buns--you know the kind: pickle juice and grill marks bleed through the sad white carbs...Downtown Flagstaff’s Diablo Burger rejects mushy bread in favor of hearty “db"-branded English muffins. Their beef patties are from just down the road a bit, where the cows are grass-fed, open-range, hormone & antibiotic-free...The cheese--local. Beer on tap? Almost always regional. The potatoes for their Belgian-style fries? From the local “food-shed” too. “Landscape-scale conservation that you can taste,” they say. Savor a beefy taste-of-place on your way to or from the Grand Canyon, or linger a while in this college-ski-town that defies Arizona‘s all-desert reputation. The outdoor seating area boasts a mural that is redolent of Hieronymous Bosch and Picasso. Chew on that at 7,000-ft. above sea-level... (Diablo Burger has also opened a second location a few hours south--down in Tucson...)