Search results for

Everyone who visits Santa Fe walks along the famed Canyon Road. Originating as an old footpath that once accessed water, it now primarily showcases an expansive range of shops and galleries with Native American art and landscape paintings. A stroll is not complete without a stop at one of the award-winning restaurants, a la Geronimo and the Compound.

St Stephen’s Green is a welcome spot of calm and green set in a Georgian square in the centre of Dublin. At around 20 acres, it’s large enough to feel you have escaped the bustle, but not so large that you can’t easily return to the fray once you are ready. There are formal manicured lawns and gardens in the middle, a large lake to the north - good for swan-watching - a bandstand and play area, and plenty of benches and other picnic spots. St Stephen’s is probably not the sort of place you’d deliberately set out to visit, but chances are good you’ll end up there anyway: it’s just off Grafton Street (one of the main shopping streets), and near other attractions dotted around what is known as Georgian Dublin, such as Merrion Square and Leinster House (the seat of Irish parliament).

It’s no surprise that the opening of this beloved gastropub back in 2007 coincided with Orlando’s rise as a culinary hot spot. While its owners James and Julie Petrakis have not stopped opening other ventures around the city (including at Disney Springs), this local favorite—known for its Cask & Larder beers and sophisticated Southern fare—has hardly waned in popularity. Start with the charcuterie platter (a spread of rillettes, dried sausage, and salami), then choose from favorites like shrimp and grits and the enormous Pub Burger, which comes topped with caramelized onions and buttermilk blue cheese. Whether you come for happy hour, dinner, or something in between, expect a lively atmosphere that’s perfectly suited to groups.

Though it has a silly name, the Potato Head Beach Club on Seminyak beach is a cool spot to spend the day. A collage of antique 18th-century veranda shades surrounds an amphitheater-like space that contains a beach bar, a grassy lawn, and an infinity pool. Three additional restaurants (one homey, one Southeast Asian, one high-end) and a stellar concert lineup make Potato Head a destination, morning ‘til night. A soon-to-open boutique hotel will extend the party even further. Jln. Petitenget, Seminyak, Bali 80361, Indonesia, 62/(0) 361 473 7979.

Being in Santorini was like a dream come true. The breathtaking views were like none other I had ever seen. The white buildings against the beautiful blue sea. I spotted these two dogs and thought to myself, “Wow! What a life. What I wouldn’t give to be able to live here and enjoy this view on a daily basis.” They looked so relaxed sitting in the warm sunlight. Every time I look at this picture it takes me back to that moment. I was literally speechless. Just soaking in my beautiful surroundings. We were on a tour, headed to a wine tasting, and we stopped for pictures. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. This was an unforgettable trip, better than I could have ever imagined.

The U.S. Capitol Building is the epicenter of all D.C. political action—this is where the country’s most important battles are fought. Home to the House of Representatives and the Senate’s meeting chambers for more than two centuries, it’s also an art gallery in its own right, with priceless paintings and murals adorning the walls and ceilings. Take the free guided tour and marvel at the parade of political heroes and villains who have roamed its halls during pivotal moments in U.S. history. The Capitol is located within easy walking distance of the Library of Congress, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Botanic Garden.

When Beijing’s hutongs—narrow alleyways that connect to form mazelike neighborhoods—were originally built, they were lined with stone houses that had central courtyards. In 1949, with the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there were more than 3,000 hutongs; so many have been razed since that time that there are now fewer than 1,000. The remaining hutongs are where locals chat with their neighbors, sit outside on hot summer nights, buy fruit, and tend to their gardens, all without leaving their own alleyway. Seeing this side of traditional Beijing life is delightful and serves as a marked contrast to the many shops, restaurants, cafés, and bars that now occupy the courtyard homes lining the alleyways.

From the dusty street, the Hotel El Convento in León, Nicaragua, beckons with its stately façade and red Spanish-tiled roof. Step inside and you instantly feel at home amidst ornate period furnishings that are surely a far cry from the building’s humble beginnings as the 1639 San Francisco Convent. The elegant Restaurante El Victoriano offers an indoor-outdoor retreat centered on the hotel’s manicured, tropical courtyard—an example of the colonial hacienda style found throughout León. The restaurant is a meeting place for people from all walks of life—aged former Sandinistas who now hold positions of leadership, locals splurging on a fine meal, or foreign students from one of the city’s many Spanish language schools seeking tranquility and an excellent cup of coffee.

With its endless array of high-quality hotels and lodges, decent restaurants like Tamarind and beach bars galore, Mombasa is far and away the most developed spot on the Kenyan coast. Due to its energetic, busy feel, and the fact that it’s still a huge trading port, many tourists choose not to stay in Mombasa and instead use it as a hopping off point for the various other options on the Kenyan coast. That said, the beaches here are as golden and glistening as anywhere else on the coast, and the old town, with its narrow cobbled streets and the scent of spices wafting through the air, is well worth experiencing. Given that Mombasa has been ruled by the Portuguese, Arabs and the British, there are a number of fascinating historical ruins worth seeing here, such as Fort Jesus, and a wealth of Portuguese and Islamic architecture dotted around town. There’s also a snazzy new luxury yacht marina for the millionaires interested in visiting in style…

Since launching her handbags and accessories line in 2008, accessories designer Clare Vivier has mastered the delicate combination of Parisian chic, American prep, and California cool. While her brand has spread to seven boutiques across California and New York, her flagship shop in Silverlake may best personify her brand. Two walls of windows let the California sun stream in each morning and afternoon, and shadowboxes designed by local architect Barbara Bestor hold the goods that lure passersby along Sunset Boulevard. Technicolor best sellers such as the La Tropezienne, Simple Tote, and coveted Foldover Clutches may sit on copies of the most recent Paris Review or Louis Vuitton City Guides, which are also for sale. Everything in the well-rounded space has a connection to France, Los Angeles, or Vivier herself. The shop stocks jewelry by her friends Annie Costello Brown and Grace Lee, for example, along with French Veja sneakers and candles from West Hollywood’s iconic Chateau Marmont. Pro tip: Head here for a last-minute gift—clutches and other leather items can be monogrammed on the spot.

The interior of the Catholic Church of the Assumption, in the heart of Soufrière town, will surprise with its decidedly Caribbean hues and French design: an ornate wood ceiling vaulted to resemble the ribs of a boat, baby blue pillars, and brightly colored stained-glass windows. Visitors are welcome to join in the Saturday evening mass at 6:30 or Sunday morning mass at 8:30, both with the sermon in English and Creole. A quick and respectful tour is also possible at other times to admire the architecture, including the partially blue-painted exterior. While there is no printed information on the church inside, it’s worth a stop.

Out of the tragedy of the plague arose the Karlskirche, perhaps the most magnificent of Vienna’s baroque churches. One of the final designs by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, the genius behind the Schönbrunn Palace, Karlskirche commemorates the outbreak of 1713. The Karl who gave the church its name was the Counter-Reformation’s Saint Charles Borromeo, who cared for plague victims in 16th-century Milan. The church dome, rising above two columns inspired by Trajan’s Column, is illuminated at night and is a prominent Vienna landmark which be seen from many points in the city. A vibrant fresco in the cupola by Johann Michael Rottmayr glorifies Saint Charles. On Karlsplatz, in front of the church, two of the legendary architect Otto Wagner’s finest art nouveau metro stations remain; one of them now houses a café.

Those who just stumble upon the Hundertwasserhaus apartments in the Third District will likely be wowed by the buildings. Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s funky, mid-1980s organic housing complex is weird and gorgeous with a wavy, eclectically painted facade that looks like something out of a cartoon. With trees growing on its terraces and roof, it’s the antithesis of staid imperial Vienna. A freethinker if there ever was one, the artist, architect, and environmentalist Hundertwasser could be called Austria’s Gaudí. Visitors can learn more about him in the ground-floor café. Nearby, Hundertwasser designed the Kunst Haus Wien art museum out of an old Thonet furniture factory, while up the Danube Canal an incineration plant’s chimney got the Hundertwasser treatment with trippy colors and a funky golden ball on top.

Gottfried Semper and Karl von Hasenauer may not be household names abroad, but in the Vienna of Franz Joseph’s time they were towering architects. The duo was responsible for the soaring cupolas and sweeping staircases of two stunning mirror-image cultural institutions on the Ringstrasse. In the Kunsthistorisches (Art History) Museum, famous stairwell-roof frescoes are by Gustav Klimt, and the rich assemblage of works includes Pieter Brueghel’s Tower of Babel, Caravaggio’s David with the Head of Goliath, and works by Dürer, Raphael, and Velázquez. The sister Naturhistorisches (Natural History) Museum is home to one of Europe’s oldest pieces of art: the famous Paleolithic goddess figure known as Venus of Willendorf. There are also displays that range from insects to dinosaurs and flora and fauna collected worldwide.

As you take in its dome made of gold-filigree laurel leaves, the utter modernity of the Secession Building stuns you. Joseph Maria Olbrich’s glorious exhibition hall just off the Ringstrasse is more than a century old, and is one of the most beautiful legacies of the great intellectual and artistic period known as fin de siècle Vienna—when the city’s coffeehouses were frequented by the likes of Freud and Klimt and the architect of the day, Otto Wagner. Not many cities can claim their own art movements, but the Vienna Secession was a reaction to the staid art of the late Hapsburg empire. “To every age its art, to every art its freedom” proclaims the inscription (in German) on the facade of the building which also has a 112-foot-wide, 1902 Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt.