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Although it’s in Amsterdam‘s Oud-West, you’ll feel like you’ve landed somewhere in the Far East when you dive into the Asian-inspired street fare at HappyHappyJoyJoy. The latest brainchild of Chef Julius Jaspers of TV’s Top Chef fame, as well as the inspiration behind such popular Amsterdam hotspots as Julius Bar & Grill, Supperclub and Nomads, features a fusion of Asian flavors in starter-size dishes with Thai, Malay, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Chinese and Korean influences. Bring a few friends and order two to four dishes each for an evening of tapas-style sharing. Choose from typical dim sum specialties like steamed dumplings and spring rolls. Or opt for bao buns, curry and noodle dishes, salads, soups and sweets, all spiced according to your taste. A selection of Asian sodas, teas and beers rounds out HappyHappyJoyJoy’s drink menu. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner, for dining in as well as take-out. But why would you want to eat at home when you can dine in buzzing surroundings in an upcoming Amsterdam neighborhood, with a view of sizzling woks and hissing steamers, under a ceiling of bright red umbrellas?

Very few of the newer bars in San Sebastián hit the mark on ambience, food, drinks and service. Sirimiri, in the heart of the old part, does it all. The wooden beams make the narrow bar feel cozy, and the attentive young waitstaff draws a crowd, creating one of the Old Town’s buzziest atmospheres. The big draw is the cocktail list, which is ever-evolving and features about 50% vermouth-based cocktails. Not feeling a cocktail? Try a sweet, red vermouth on the rocks...it will take you an entire vacation to work your way through the list. The bar food is pintxo fusion at its best, from squid croquetas to pork buns.

Why we love it: A historic hotel where Old Florida elegance meets contemporary style

The Highlights:
- Unique amenities like a tennis complex, golf course, and private marina
- A wide range of dining options to suit everyone’s tastes
- A prime location near Tropicana Field and The Dalí Museum

The Review:
A member of Historic Hotels of America, the Vinoy Park Hotel opened in 1923—a Mediterranean Revival property overlooking Tampa Bay, designed for America’s elite. It served as a training facility for the Army Air Corps for a brief time in the early 1940s, but reopened as a hotel in 1945 and continued operations until 1974, when it closed in disrepair. Following a $93 million restoration and expansion in 1992, the hotel reopened once again as the Vinoy Renaissance, complete with a new guest tower and an 18-hole golf course designed by Ron Garl.

Today, the Vinoy also features 360 guest rooms and suites, complete with well-lit workspaces, pillowtop mattresses, and Aveda bath products, as well as two swimming pools (one heated), a spacious tennis complex, a 5,000-square-foot fitness center with complimentary workout classes, and an elegant spa offering massages in poolside cabanas. Thanks to the hotel’s waterfront location and private marina, guests can even charter a boat for the day and explore the bay. Dining options range from sushi on the Veranda Patio to farm-to-table fare at Marchand’s Bar & Grill. The culinary standout, however, is Paul’s Landing, named for a Navy carpenter who once fished, farmed orchards, and cured meats and seafood along the St. Pete waterfront. Don’t miss the citrus-glazed shrimp and grits, or the crispy Brussels sprouts with key lime.

The system of canals and chinampas (cultivated artificial islands fashioned from the area’s swampy soils) that has survived in the far-south neighborhood known as Xochilmilco once stretched all the way to the Centro. To this day, the community is known for its plant nurseries and vegetable gardens. These ancient landscapes now contribute to what has become one of the most singular pleasure gardens in the world, where visitors hire “gondoliers” to propel boats known as trajineras as they sail these channels in the company of floating mariachis and food vendors, partying teens, and extended families out for a picnic lunch. Since a tour is usually a four-hour-plus investment (it flies by), ask your oarsman to take you to Xochimilco’s more-rural precincts, where you’ll enjoy marvelous quiet, far from the madding crowd, in the company of cranes, curs, and picturesque cornfields.

Near the base of the landmark Rialto Bridge, the historic Rialto Market is well worth a wander. Seek it out in the early morning when it provides an authentic local experience (and awesome social-media ops), with fishmongers hawking their fresh seafood catches and local produce merchants setting out seasonal fruits and vegetables. When you’ve finished exploring, go grab breakfast and a strong coffee at one of the nearby trattorias. If you’re a real foodie, consider exploring Rialto Market with a local guide who can delve into the history and also introduce you to Venice street food.

The longest lines in the city form every day at Café Medina, a haven of Mediterranean-inspired breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch dishes in the Library District. The decor here feels like a minimalist version of 1920s Paris, with aged walls, mismatched light fixtures, and a mosaic entranceway. Equally charming, the eclectic bistro fare ranges from pistachio-rosewater Belgian waffles to halloumi couscous and a harissa burger, spiked with preserved lemon and tucked into a pita with baba ghanoush and two fried eggs. Don’t miss the blistered flatbread, ideally paired with the honey-black-pepper mascarpone side. And finish with a lavender latte, a house-made turmeric soda, or a superb craft cocktail. If you don’t want to wait, skirt the crowds by visiting Tuesdays or Wednesdays for lunch, or arriving at 2 p.m. (an hour before last call).

There are no guarantees the Northern Lights will start dancing on the night you look skyward, but it’s so worth taking the chance. One of the great rewards for hanging out in Alaska once the dark and cold settle over the state, the Northern Lights (or if you want to be scientific about it, aurora borealis) serve up a light show that is equal parts science, magic, and art. Your best bet for catching the light show is to head away from city lights. That’s one of many reasons it’s worth making the trip to Denali National Park, open year-round. When the park’s summer crowds disappear, visitors feel as though the massive national park is an intimate personal space.

Across the river from the heart of the old town, the historic Gablerbräu dates back to 1429 and offers the usual mix of Austrian favorites, including schnitzel, Tafelspitz, and goulash, plus seasonal apricot dumplings and the local Salzburger Nockerl pastry. The local draft beer, Gabler Zwickl, is a good choice, but it’s the atmosphere that really makes this place worth a visit. While the chance to dine outdoors on a cool summer evening in Salzburg is hard to pass up, the classic decor inside should not be missed. Ask for a spot in the Richard-Mayr-Stube, a cozy dining area with murals, vaulted ceilings, stained-glass windows, and a charming old tile stove.

If the weather and smog conditions cooperate, the views from the top of Victoria Peak, aka the Peak, will make your day. Go in late afternoon to catch the sunset and then the glittering, lit-up nightscape of Hong Kong. Getting up to Hong Kong Island’s highest point, at 1,800 feet above sea level, is part of the fun. You can always opt for a bus, train, or taxi, but for the best taste of Hong Kong, ride the outdoor (but covered) Mid-Levels escalators, something you won’t find anyplace in the world. It will take about 20 minutes to travel via the series of 20 escalators and three moving walkways up to the Peak Tram, a historic century-old funicular railway that makes the rest of the steep trip to the top.

Because of its unique climate and volcanic soil, markets in the Azores feature exotic produce not found anywhere else in Portugal. Annonas (similar to pawpaw or custard apples), araçal (somewhat like guava), yam, peppers and the ever-present sweet pineapple can all be found at this market. More local bounty can be found at Rei dos Queijos, a fromagerie that sells cheeses from the nine islands.

One of Caye Caulker’s best beach bars is also its friendliest. Set right on the Split—a narrow channel dividing the island’s north and south portions—Caye Caulker’s most social corner invites tourists and locals to gather for a swim off an extended dock, or to enjoy a cocktail and music. Lazy Lizard’s recently upgraded look includes a variety of umbrella-covered wooden picnic tables, seating under palapas, and a new beach extension with steps leading into the shallow sea areas for easy entry. On the menu, you’ll find typical bar bites: burgers, fish tacos, and full meals like a lobster plate. The bar holds occasional full-moon parties, live music, family-fun days, and beach volleyball tournaments.

Thai monkeys living in Lopburi, north of Bangkok, have a festival have not only in their honor, but one created specifically for them, each November. Begun by a local businessman hoping to boost tourism to the province in 1989, today the Monkey Buffet Festival attracts thousands of tourists. They come to watch some 3,000 local monkey’s gorge themselves on some 4,000kg of apples, bananas, cakes, and other sweets all served to them in a complex of temples dating back to the 10th century. It’s quite an experience, witnessing so many monkeys in what resembles a competitive eating contest, but offers fun for more than just the monkeys. The festival also features music and dancing for humans, and many people come dressed in monkey costumes.

Blackbird Caye Resort is the gateway to the stunning Belize Barrier Reef, but so much more than a stopgap hitching post for scuba nerds. Stretched across two miles of palm-fringed beach on the windward side of the Turneffe Atoll, Blackbird is set against a backdrop of more than 4,000 acres of untrammeled jungle, mangrove forests, sprawling lagoons, and migratory bird habitats. Many guests come to Blackbird to get under the water and at the reef – some of the best diving sites in Belize are a short five or ten minute boat ride from Blackbird’s dock – though this isolated island paradise has plenty to offer visitors looking to stretch their land legs. 18 ocean-view cabanas, each with its own private balcony and hammock, hold dominion over the Caribbean Sea. The Poolside Bar is a great place to unwind after a hot day in the sun, while the gallant High Tide Bar, with at least two feet in the sea at any one time, offers an excellent happy hour and complimentary snacks, including island fare like lion fish fingers, ceviche, conch fritters, and fried grouper. One of the top dive resorts in the world and a postcard-perfect island paradise, Blackbird is at once home away from home, and your own secluded hideaway. Photo Finish: Nikon D800 | 24-70mm f/2.8 lens | Aperture f/7.1 | ISO-640 | Shutter 1/30 sec.

Manhattan can, famously, feel like endless rows of apartment blocks and office towers for most of its length. At least above 14th Street, a regular grid of streets and avenues, bisected only by Broadway, has transformed the city into a dream for real estate developers. The green spaces interrupting the pattern—Union Square, Gramercy Park, Madison Square Park—are few and far between, with one enormous exception: Central Park. Running from 59th Street to 110th Street, and between Central Park West (Eighth Avenue) and Fifth Avenue, it is one of the world’s largest urban parks, measuring some 843 acres. It is the masterpiece of the 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted working in collaboration with Calvert Vaux. Inside its borders are stately allées and naturalistic scenes, ice-skating rinks (in the winter), an enormous reservoir, and a faux castle. The park is hugely popular, and so to call it an escape from the bustle of the city is often not accurate, especially on mild summer days and the first warm ones in the spring when thousands of residents head to its playing fields, bike and run along the road that loops the park, and enjoy picnics on the Sheep Meadow or one of its other lawns.

As a travel writer and a kama’aina or “child of the land” in Hawaiian, I know about Waikiki hotels. Growing up not far from the Waikiki of the late 1960’s and 1970’s, I have watched Waikiki transform from a simpler time when there were fewer hotels, showrooms had live entertainment with local celebrity singers and hula dancers performing every night, and a sprinkling of small bars were scattered like shells along the sands of Waikiki. In that long- ago time you could take an evening walk on the beach and listen to the Hawaiian music under the stars.




So much has changed since then. The Waikiki of today along bustling Kalakaua Avenue is such a compacted array of luxury brand stores, chain restaurants, and concept eateries, that some visitors may find it a bit contrary to their idea of relaxation. So they head to an outer island. But enchanting Oahu should not be overlooked because of its popularity, so I’ll tell you about an oceanfront oasis on the beach at Waikiki that you’ll love.


There are two sides to Waikiki: The Diamond Head side, and the Ewa side. The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort is situated on the Ewa end of Waikiki on what was once referred to as the Kalia area. The famous Hawaiian water-man Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing, and an Olympic medalist, was born here in this well-populated residential area. There was also a small hotel with thatched roof cottages along the beach called Niumalu Hotel. Decades later in the 1950’s Henry J. Kaiser (and partners) bought most of the land up, negotiated leases, dredged a tidal area and created a lagoon. Then he built rooms, restaurants, and bars, and opened his Hawaiian Village Hotel in September of 1955. Soon he added an incredible marvel of an aluminum dome that was constructed in 20 hours and built as an entertainment venue. He later sold the property to Conrad Hilton.


The Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort has also made changes over the years by revamping its oceanfront 20-acre layout. Because of its size, manicured gardens, several pools, various room types, shopping, a luau venue, and multiple restaurant offerings, all along the largest expanse of Waikiki Beach, it is the only true resort in Waikiki, But I did promise you an oasis. So here is the secret: the Hilton’s Ali’i Tower.



The beachfront Ali’I Tower is a quiet “hotel within a hotel” in the large resort. Guests staying at the Ali’i Tower have their own front desk and concierge, a private pool and deck overlooking the beach, fitness room, and private bar. All of the rooms feature understated design and upscale amenities. Guests sporting their Ali’i Tower bracelet can go to the front of any line at the ever-popular Tropics Bar & Grill or Rainbow Room. Tip: Book the corner Diamond Head Oceanfront rooms on the upper floors. Your two lanais give you an expansive view from Diamond Head, across the surf spots along the reef, all the way to the Tapa Tower and Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon, the marina, and across the ocean to Ewa Beach. Don’t miss the Friday Night Fireworks from your balcony. The Hilton Hawaiian Village has been continuing this beloved tradition since 1988. So settle in at the Ali’i Tower and relax knowing that you have found a slice of the old Waikiki that still exists.