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The central hub of downtown Amsterdam is Dam Square, and it’s been at the heart of the city’s history since the 13th century. Today, the open-air public space is ringed by shops and restaurants and packed with people, including street performers and tourists en route to nearby attractions like the Royal Palace, the National Monument, and the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church), where you can catch a horse-drawn-carriage tour of the city.

This restaurant in northwest Tasmania—defined by a blond wood wall, white bucket chairs, and stoneware dishes—wouldn’t feel out of place in hip Hobart, or even in Sydney or Melbourne. It’s Scandinavian in style, but the food veers more French and Italian: pork, chorizo, and pea risotto; seared scallops with pickled fennel; duck rillettes; a lemon brûlée tart with raspberry chantilly cream. But seven-course degustation dinners and acoustic-guitar sessions are very, well, Tasmanian. Degustation dishes could feature everything from mint-cured ocean trout and sous vide squid for starters to entrées of slow-cooked lamb belly and confit duck served over charred peach purée and prosciutto.

Gaa is located directly opposite Gaggan, Bangkok’s most famous eatery, which was named the best restaurant in Asia in 2017. The brains behind the venture is Garima Arora, former sous chef at Gaggan and chef de partie at Noma. A native of Mumbai, Arora doesn’t shy away from her Indian roots. They are balanced, however, by international influences, including prominent Thai flavors. As you would expect from someone with her pedigree, Arora gives full rein to her creativity throughout the tasting menus (10 or 14 courses), with dishes such as grilled pork ribs marinated with split-pea miso and served with chopped shallots, spring onions, and pomegranate seeds showcasing her talent.

Soup kitchen by day, rock club by night: Pustervik is the former theater that has become the heart of the Gothenburg music scene. Local bands as well as international acts like Drive By Truckers, Future Island, and Billy Bragg fill the stage. And sometimes there are club nights with names like the Ping-Pong club. Yes, that means you can play table tennis while drinking your beer.

Among the most loved and respected purveyors of fine antiques and Thai art is OP Place. Built in 1908, OP Place features a plethora of art galleries and shops offering a spectrum of wares ranging from Asian handicrafts to jewellery, fabrics, antiques, artworks, Thai silk and carpets. Even if you’re not in the market for antiques, the building itself deserves a visit. Neoclassic architecture and a manually operated lift add to the sense of grandeur.

Dick Mack’s has been one of County Kerry’s best-loved pubs since 1899, and the shelves and walls are packed with bottles and memorabilia that tell the story of its history as a shoemaker and the famous faces that have popped in over the years, including Julia Roberts, Timothy Dalton, and Dolly Parton. There’s also an in-house leather workshop (open weekdays). If hunger strikes, pop out the back and you’ll find food trucks such as Chewy and the Beast serving up tasty burgers and shoestring fries. Live bands often play in the rear yard, and the most recent addition to Dick Mack’s emporium is a brewhouse making craft beer (tours available). It’s a Dingle experience not to be missed.

Founded in 1954, La Cueva, in the seaside town of Barranquilla, gained renown as a favorite watering hole of some of Colombia’s most famous artists, writers, and intellectuals, most notably the so-called Barranquilla Group—which included Gabriel García Márquez—and painter Enrique Grau. All-night affairs were said to be equal parts pontification and house party, with a dollop of boogie. Today’s La Cueva serves a varied menu and invites visitors to relive the bohemian spirit of the artists who put this place on the map (some of their faces adorn a portrait that takes up an entire wall). Jazz bands play here on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

This 27-acre attraction in North Vancouver gets the heart racing with a suspension bridge that bounces 230 feet above a forested river gorge. Even more spectacular, however, is the Cliffwalk, a labyrinth of walkways along the granite flank of the valley. Get a bird’s-eye view of the area during the Treetops Adventure, a canopy expedition through the upper tiers of 250-year-old Douglas firs. The experience doesn’t come cheap at $46.95 per adult, but it does include free shuttle service from downtown and mini-tours that cover the flora, fauna, and First Nations involvement in the park. From late November to late January, Capilano strings holiday lights around the canyon and decorates the world’s tallest living Christmas tree.

With its rich soil and tropical climate, Goa is an ideal setting for growing spices. Several plantations in the area offer guided tours, elephant rides, and lunches served on banana leaves but Sai Organic Farm and Herbarium goes beyond traditional spice tourism. Managed by an Ayurvedic doctor, the plantation also includes herbal gardens with aromatic and medicinal flora. Should you be suffering from a common cold, rash, asthma, or even kidney stones, the staff is quick to recommend Ayurvedic remedies. After walking the grounds, visitors can enjoy a Goan lunch prepared with freshly cultivated herbs and spices. Here, organic-farming methods reign supreme to assure the purity and quality of the plants (and also to preserve the site’s ecotourism designation). Sai Herbarium is welcoming and educational, and leaves a smaller footprint on the important spice zones of Goa.

“From the outside, this looks like a regular Taiwanese restaurant and bar, with traditional furniture and decoration. But upstairs is a performance area that accommodates around 100 guests. There are at least three or four performances a week; my band Aphasia has played here. The shows start very late—typically 9 p.m.—and go as late as 2 a.m. You can party all night!” —KK Yeh

This appeared in the November/December 2017 issue.

Starting in 2014, this collection of historic buildings was reinvented as a gastronomic hub—helping to revitalize the city’s downtown in the process. An early 20th-century citrus packing warehouse became the Anaheim Packing House, a virtual United Nations of food: Walking through the 42,000-square-foot hall, you’ll find citrusy ceviche at Urbana, fried chicken sandwiches at Sweetbird, garden-fresh hot pot at Rolling Boil, organic curry at ADYA, and matcha shaved snow at I Am. Craft beer—quickly becoming a signature of Southern California—is in no short supply, thanks to bars like Anaheim Brewery, housed inside a 1925 mission revival building. A circa 1917 marmalade factory became the MAKE Building, where you can linger over a flight of California reds at Pali Wine Co. or a plate of pulled pork at Jav’s Barbecue. The compact district is distinctly Californian, from the succulents and air plants inside to the palm trees and olive groves of Farmers Park outside—a grassy knoll where, at any given time, you might happen upon a free yoga class, a gardening demo, or a live acoustic band playing under the sun.

The grand koa wood staircase was shining with a new coat of oil as the focal point of the room; it’s beautiful curves lead the eye gently from the second floor down to the first floor. Men and women dressed in ornate gowns and neck-restricting tuxedos floated around the staircase receiving each other with a proper handshake or curtsy. The party was just beginning as horses pulled up to the ultra modern palace depositing people of stature out of their buggies. The year was 1882 in the island nation of Hawaii. Even though I like to live in the present, I couldn’t help but imagine the past as I was led through the Iolani Palace in Oahu. The docent painted a perfect picture of arriving at a ball in the mid 1880’s – the sites, sounds, and even the dinner entries that would be served. After the docent led tour you can have the pleasure of saying the you’ve been in the only palace in America! More Info: Iolani Palace Tour Information: Guided Docent Led Tours – Adults: $20 / Children (5-12) $6. This tour is available from 9:00 a.m. to 11:15 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Audie Tours – Adults: $13 / Children (5-12) $6. This tour is available from Monday through Saturday 11:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Be sure to check the times and costs on the website which will have up to date information and details. Get all of the details including great historical information, information on the restoration, and learn about upcoming events on the Iolani Palace website: www.iolanipalace.org.

Over the past two centuries, the covered market at Borough, not far from London Bridge, has become one of the country’s most famous foodie spots. From Wednesday to Saturday each week hundreds of traders gather to sell homemade breads, hand-reared pork, artisan chocolate and all manner of ingredients—plus excellent coffee, fresh juices and organic wine. Plentiful samples add to the convivial vibe, and restaurants around the market’s edge provide additional sustenance for longer stops.

This West Hobart café has long been known for sourdough: stone-ground, organic fruit, fig and walnut—you name it. But the owners of Weston Farm took it over in 2013 and added new breakfast and lunch favorites that outshine the bread—from baked eggs over chorizo hash coated in saffron yogurt to pork and fennel meatballs smothered in spicy paprika sauce. Most produce comes from the farm, including the smoked paprika, which won gold in the 2017 Delicious Magazine awards. (The farm also rents out a cottage overlooking its olive groves.) A mini marble-bar bakery, Pigeon Whole Bakers, fronts Franklin restaurant and is run by the original Pigeon Hole baker, Jay Patey. This is now the place to get your sourdough bread and doughnuts.

Already a landmark on the Bangkok skyline, the 77-story MahaNakhon tower was designed by the Dutch firm OMA and opened at the end of 2016. The mixed-use tower encompasses the Bangkok Edition Hotel, nearly 50 floors of the super-luxury Ritz-Carlton Residences, and the MahaNakhon Observation Deck, offering tourists 360-degree views of Bangkok from its top four floors. At the base of the tower, the MahaNakhon Cube is home to markets and restaurants such as Dean & DeLuca and L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.