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Oaxaca’s Casa de la Ciudad is housed in a big yellow building just a couple of blocks from the Zocalo. On the ground level you’ll find the Andres Henestrosa memorial library which contains over 50,000 volumes, and some rooms that are used for temporary exhibits. Make your way across the central patio and up the steps to the second floor, where you’ll find, among other things, a room that has two very large aerial photos (about 12 square feet) of Oaxaca city on the floor. One of the photos was taken in 1990, and the other in 2006. They call this the “foto-piso” (photo-floor). It’s fun to walk over it and pick out landmarks and see how Oaxaca has changed over time. The Casa de la Ciudad often has exhibits dealing with urbanization and architecture, and it also hosts workshops, concerts and other events. It is open daily from 9 am to 8 pm, and admission is free.

coffee in Santiago is even worse than in Paris (if that can even be possible?) but lucky for picky people like me, Wonderful cafe makes a very respectable + smooth cappuccino. It comes with latte art as well. Light lunches and other foods (i.e. bagels) are also available. Located in the up-and-comng Lastarria neighbourhood. You are welcome!

Around 11,000 humpbacks—a quarter to a third of the global population, by some estimates—visit Hawaii from November until early May. They migrate here to mate and give birth. Intensely focused on procreation, these marine mammals don’t eat and can lose up to a third of their body weight while frisking in warmer waters. Nonetheless, the gray giants remain impressive, reaching 52 feet long and weighing up to 40 tons. That bulk doesn’t deter them from spectacular aerial displays of breaching and slapping the surface with their heads, fins, or tails, though! Boat tours like Captain Dan McSweeney’s Whale Watch Learning Adventures remain popular, but you can also spot these amazing creatures off the western Kohala Coast or Holoholokai Beach Park, and from campgrounds in Waipiʻo or Pololū valleys.

Tango is as essential to Buenos Aires as pizza is to Naples, so the Anselmo Hotel is a perfect fit for the city, with its location in the heart of the San Telmo neighborhood—known for spontaneous street dancing—in a 1906 mansion once belonging to tango composer Anselmo Asiento. The hotel is perched on Plaza Dorrego, a lively public space surrounded by cafes and shops which especially gets going on Sunday, when the San Telmo antique fair and flea market spills into the street, attracting shoppers, musicians, and revelers. Clean-lined, modern furniture and black-and-white photographs of Buenos Aires compliment the building’s original wooden shutters and wrought-iron balconies. Sip a glass of Malbec in the cozy wood interior of the Acacia bar and restaurant, or take it outside into the calm inner courtyard. A small gym is available if you haven’t gotten in enough steps wandering the neighborhood’s cobblestone streets or tango dancing the night away.

This local favorite breakfast spot has quickly become Los Cabos’ worst-kept secret. Far removed from the main tourist zone, Restaurant Bar Campestre has for years catered to local businesspeople, families, and in-the-know visitors. Even after a renovation that upped seating capacity, it remains a no-frills flavor palace well worth the wait for a table and the effort to find it. Come early for a heaping serving of chilaquiles (strips of fried corn tortillas). They’re available with red or green sauce, and topped with chicken or steak. All the breakfasts pair perfectly with just-squeezed orange juice and cup after cup of fresh-brewed coffee.

Both of Waikiki’s Outrigger hotels are a good value, but this one is a little bigger and a little quieter. It’s right on the beach, just north of the main resort cluster, and though a short walk to the middle of the action, far enough to feel out of the fray. The hotel itself is a quintessential Hawaiian family resort—big and friendly, with an unmistakable good-time vibe, old-school Polynesian decor throughout, and any number of activities on offer. The pool is set back from the beach and nothing fancy (no waterslides, no swim-up bar, and up against a giant wall), but it’s large enough for a serious game of Marco Polo, and there are plenty of lounge chairs to go around. Perhaps the best reason to stay here is the beach—a fairly narrow but sparkling white strand with more elbow room than its sister beaches; the rocky bottom may have something to do with that, but it’s a good place to learn to surf and a great place to catnap in the sun. One warning: the hotel lobby may feel overly commercial to some, what with a row of gift shops and a hard-to-miss timeshare desk, but it’s easy enough to ignore, if you wish.

Telluride was a fount of local liquor in its Wild West heyday. Today, the town is returning to its boozy roots with help from Telluride Distilling Company, which produces gluten-free vodka (made entirely from sugarcane), whiskey (finished in charred oak sherry barrels), and peppermint schnapps (based on a recipe from the Alps). Stop by the distillery for a bartender-led tour, then treat yourself to a Telluride Mule cocktail, made with ginger beer that’s also brewed on-site.

Atop Cap Diamant (Cape Diamond), at the city’s highest point, the Citadelle overlooks Old Québec, the St. Lawrence River, and the Plains of Abraham. There have been defensive structures here as early as the French period—in fact, the location of Québec City was chosen because Samuel de Champlain saw the strategic advantages that Cap Diamant offered. The fortifications you see today, however, date to the 19th century: They were built after a failed attempt by Americans to conquer Québec City during the War of 1812. Students of World War II history may be familiar with the Citadelle as the site of the Québec Conferences, when Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Canada‘s prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, met to plan their countries’ strategies during the war. The Citadelle is still an active military base; the museum inside is devoted to the 22nd Regiment, which makes its headquarters here.

Though it is just outside the French Quarter, St. Joseph’s Cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks of the colonial era in Hanoi. The neo-Gothic church was modeled after Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral and sits on the west side of Lake Hoan Kiem. The church dates from 1886, making it the oldest church in the capital city. (Vietnam has a Catholic population of around 4 million people.) After the Viet Minh officially took control of North Vietnam in 1954, following the Geneva Accords, Catholic leaders and institutions were repressed and St. Joseph’s was closed for decades. In 1990, services resumed, and now several masses take place each day, sometimes drawing more worshipers than can fit in the building.

Barista Parlor introduced artisanal coffee to Nashville when it opened its lofty, art-filled space in a former auto repair garage in 2012, serving top-notch small-batch roasters from around the country such as Counter Culture, Intelligentsia, and Stumptown. Two local outposts later, the company has evolved into a roaster-retailer, importing and roasting its own coffee beans for the first time. Try the zesty, fruity Daredevil or the cocoa-inflected Golden Sound while you take in the interiors, which pay homage to Tennessean talent: Doughnuts come from nearby bakers including Five Daughters Bakery in Franklin, and an enormous pixelated mural of a ship by Nashville artist Bryce McCloud covers the back wall.

Support local artists and designers at the Patio del Liceo. The namesake courtyard, tucked away from Avenida Santa Fe’s hustle and bustle, connects art galleries, clothes and shoe shops, and, notably, boutiques selling eco-friendly home decor. Walk to the end of each gallery level to watch designers at work: Many of the spaces also function as workshops where the goods on offer are made. Pick up a beautiful book at Brezal, the glassed-in stall in the main entry hall; get a customized gift for your pet at Think Animal; or take home some local music from Mercurio Disquería. Afternoon visits are recommended, as many shops don’t open until 4 p.m. or later.

Fusion, one of Playa del Carmen’s oldest and best-loved beach bars, has an indoor restaurant area, but it’s most famous for its outdoor lounge, right on the sand, under palm trees, and hard by the Caribbean. Fusion’s central location in the busiest part of the downtown area makes it ideal for enjoying a day under a palapa’s shade, or a night out on the town with live music and fire shows. The menu offers a variety of international cuisine, so you can find almost anything you’re craving, whether it’s tacos, Argentine empanadas, or classic pub grub à la burgers and wings.

It’s got trendy cocktails, DJs, and a fashionable crowd, but the real reason to head to this swanky lounge is for the views—of the sea, the sky, and the whole of Barcelona below. Located 26 stories up, on the topmost floor of the renovated oceanfront W Hotel, the sleek bar is wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass; there’s simply no better spot to watch dusk fall and the lights of Barcelona twinkle on than from a coveted window seat here. The cocktail menu changes seasonally, but mainstays include the watermelon martini and passion fruit martini; there’s also a rather good sushi menu. DJs start spinning at 11 p.m. on weekdays, midnight on weekends, and that’s when the party really gets started—after all, nothing happens in Barcelona before 10 p.m. Be sure to reserve a table in advance, and dress smartly.

Even though artisanal ice cream parlors (Vero, Venchi, Bacio di Late, Officina del Gelato) have been moving into the best locations in Rio’s southern districts, none has quite nailed the style of Europe’s great ice cream masters. That said, the Italian tradition of gelato has clearly come to dominate the scene in this city that lives to eat frozen confections. First-timers to Gelateria Momo are advised to choose between a variety of chocolates and the caramel with fleur de sel. If you become a regular, pay attention: There’s a new flavor every day, including—naturally enough—a full line of tropical fruits. Add-ons include waffles and organic coffee, and everything is served in an ample, pleasant, living room–like space.

The ‘60s and ‘70s in San Francisco were synonymous with psychedelic “hobbies,” but tripping in the new millennium on Pier 39 is something you can now enjoy, legally, with the entire family. This labyrinth of 77 mirrors and black lights is reminiscent of a carnival fun house, and finding your way out of the 2,000-square-foot kaleidoscope of glowing twists and turns and befuddling dead-ends puts the fun in funky. While ‘80s music thumps, kids race through and into the walls, while adults feel their way down endless neon hallways. Created by Charles Magowan (who, no surprise, studied psychology at Yale), the Mirror Maze is a trip for all ages, and at just $5 it might be the cheapest one you’ll find in San Francisco.