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One of the best things about Calgary is the winter playground in the center of town. Canada Olympic Park, on the western edge of the city, features a ski hill, snowboard park, cross-country trails, an Olympic luge track, Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame, and a glass elevator that takes you to the 1988 Winter Olympic’s biggest ski jump, as well as skating facilities and restaurants. It also offers private and group lessons, so you can brush up on your sport where World Cup and Olympic athletes train. Plan a day to hit the slopes, or forget the skis and come explore the park’s less strenuous attractions that celebrate winter.

The Cloisters, a museum devoted to medieval art and architecture, is a delightful respite from the hustle and bustle of NYC. This tranquil treasure is definitely worth a half day (or more) trip on your next visit. A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Cloisters opened in 1938 and is located in Fort Tryon Park in northern Manhattan. Perched on a towering cliff, the museum offers commanding views over the Hudson River to New Jersey and the George Washington Bridge. The buildings include elements from medieval sites from Europe (primarily France) and renowned artwork includes the Unicorn Tapestries and the Annunciation Triptych, but the heart of the museum is the cloistered garden. This lush space consists of an interior courtyard surrounded by covered walkways. The flowering garden within invites contemplation and appreciation of a different time. The Cloisters includes a broad terrace with expansive views across the Hudson. The view is so prized that in 1901, J.P. Morgan purchased 12 miles of the New Jersey coastline to protect it from excessive quarrying and in 1933 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. donated 700 additional acres of NJ to preserve The Cloisters’ view. Be sure to include time in your visit to explore beautiful Fort Tryon Park.

Visiting the InterContinental Bora Bora Thalasso Resort on assignment, I feel like the only single person from here to Guam. Every year, Bora is voted among the world’s top honeymoon destinations, and right away you realize everything is designed to propagate the human species. The grounds are thick with palm trees and fat ferns leading up to some of the most beautiful water on the planet resembling a translucent creamy liquid light. Every day at 2 p.m., a school of stingrays shows up in knee deep water to be fed by guests. This is highly popular for the dozens of young honeymooners because their Facebook photos come out amazing in the clear water. The star attractions are the 80 overwater villas stretching into the lagoon along four curved wooden piers. Prepare to be blown away. The villas are over 1,000 sf with cathedral beam ceilings, handsome wood furnishings and a huge living room opening out to a large wooden deck. A ladder extends to a second deck perched a couple feet above the water, where you’ll spend a lot of time while other guests kayak by and wave hello. In the center of the villa, my bed faces a floor-to-ceiling window framing the volcano. These particular units were voted “World’s Best View from the Bedroom” on TripAdvisor a few years ago. The hotel can also set you up with a catered romantic dinner for two on the lower deck. Candles, pillows, frangipani flowers, French champagne and lobster soup—who can resist the romance?

Centrally located in Stockholm, the King’s Garden is a lively urban garden/park/plaza that connects the harbor with one of Stockholm’s main shopping districts. It contains a series of “outdoor rooms” including a formal entrance, fountain with planting parterres, stage for performances, a lawn area (was that artificial turf?) and a plaza with a sunken pool surrounded by steps ideal for people watching, oddly focused on a TGI Friday’s Restaurant as a focal point. There is lots to do here and this popular space is bordered by restaurants, galleries, cafes and night clubs. The King’s Garden has been dubbed “Stockholm’s outdoor living room” and there is a full schedule of concerts and performances throughout the summer (when I visited) as well as an ice skating rink in the winter.

Wonderful catamarans that you can rent right off the beach.

A good start to your visit to Québec City is a stop at the Observatoire de la Capitale, just past the Parliament Building. The observation deck on the 31st floor of the Marie-Guyart Building stands 725 feet high and offers 360-degree views of the city. From here, the highest building in the city, you can get a sense of the lay of the land—Old Québec jutting out into the St. Lawrence River, Cap Diamant to its south, the Louise Basin marina and St. Charles River to its north. New signage added in 2016 provides cultural, economic, and historical background on the sights below. After you have surveyed the city, descend and explore it on foot.

The ancient Romans used aqueducts to carry water from distant springs into central Rome. As the empire decayed, so too did these ambitious public works. When Rome experienced a renaissance—not to mention a population boom—in the modern age, popes took cues from the emperors before them and repaired these ancient water channels. To celebrate their grand projects, they built massive public fountains like the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola on Janiculum Hill. Dubbed er fontanone (“the big fountain”), this 17th-century structure was commissioned by Pope Paul V to commemorate the repair of the Traiana aqueduct that tapped a spring near Lake Bracciano north of Rome.

The Hawke’s Bay region of New Zealand‘s North Island features many excellent vineyard restaurants, but Elephant Hill certainly enjoys the area’s most spectacular location. Facing the Pacific Ocean on the Te Awanga coast, it boasts stellar views of the nearby Cape Kidnappers to complement its superb bistro menu. Secure a table on the expansive deck of Elephant Hill’s über-modern building, and try its wines made from sustainably grown fruit alongside seasonal plates that regularly include local seafood, venison, duck, and lamb. Some outstanding Elephant Hill wines forging an international reputation include its Reserve blend of merlot, malbec, and cabernet sauvignon grapes, and a superb chardonnay that is an ideal match for fine-dining dishes in the Southern Hemisphere summertime.

Fancy yourself a brave one, do ye? Aye, aye, then the Cliffs of Moher are right up your alley. Ireland‘s most popular tourist destination does not disappoint, though visiting during the middle of the day means you’re going to have to share the walking paths with plenty of other folk - most of them American visitors in their finest Notre Dame Fighting Irish t-shirts. Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon and you’ll have the cliffs, beautiful light, and ancient rock monsters all to yourself. That’s right; rock monsters. That’s one giving tourists the finger right there in the ocean.

Although the Smoking Goat is credited with pioneering a culinary renaissance in a once-sleepy corner of North Park, nothing else about chef Fred Piehl’s flagship restaurant screams “culinary vanguard”—and that’s precisely what devotees love about the place. Regulars come here for the reliably exquisite staples: French onion soup with what’s essentially an open-face grilled cheese sandwich afloat in rich veal broth; duck fat truffle fries with pecorino romano and mustard aioli; beef cheeks à la Bourguignonne with carrots, cioppolini onions, cherry tomatoes, mashed potatoes, and braising jus; and other creations that blend traditional French tastes with sustainable, organic San Diego–sourced ingredients. While dinner at this rustic, romantic spot is hardly the time to eat lightly, if you want to go vegetarian, opt for the indulgent raclette au gratin with fingerling potatoes, cornichons, and toast, along with a salad of poached and raw pears with mixed greens, pistachio pesto, and champagne vinaigrette. And as befits the restaurant’s caprine theme, the goat cheese cheesecake with poached peach and whipped cream is a favorite dessert.

North of the Yangtze, it’s all about wheat instead of rice. Named after China’s northeasternmost region, this beloved chain serves hand-rolled wheat dumplings stuffed with savory pork or fresh veggies and boiled until the center is juicy. As delicious as the pork jiaozi are, the vegetarian dumplings might be the real stars: Try the tangy mushroom and bok choy dumpling or the green pepper, cilantro, and white cabbage. Warning: Prices here are scandalously cheap, so you’re probably going to order...a lot. Locals also love the stir-fried eggplant and potatoes (di san xian) and smashed chicken (xiang su ji).

A fixture with Glasgow’s cool kids, Chinaski’s continues to thrive. It may not look like much from the outside, but interiors inspired by novelist Charles Bukowski, a great selection of music and some excellent drinks and bar food ensure its popularity. Although more famed for its drinks, dishes such as crisp whitebait and parmesan crusted rack of lamb prove that the kitchen knows its stuff.

Sitting right next door to the Basilica of Notre-Dame in the heart of historic Montréal, St-Sulpice Seminary is the second-oldest building on the island. (The oldest is the 1671 LeBer-LeMoyne House, roughly six miles from the center of the city, which now houses the Musée Lachine.) The seminary dates from 1687, and remarkably it is still used for its original purpose: to house and train Sulpician priests. Sadly, this means the building is rarely open to the public. (Rarely is not an understatement here—apart from some tours in 2017, the last time the general public was allowed through its gates was in 1967 during the Expo.) Though you can’t tour the building, you can admire its gray stone architecture from the street. Especially noteworthy is the clock on the façade, built in Paris and installed in 1701, making it one of the oldest such clocks in North America.

While it’s tough to verify El Fenix’s claim that this was one of the forefathers of Tex-Mex, there’s no denying that the homegrown chain is as much a part of culinary history as it is of Dallas’s. Started in 1916 by Mexican-immigrant Mike Martinez (and renamed El Fenix in 1918, as a nod to the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth), the original café first served standard American fare, then slowly began introducing more “exotic” Mexican flavors, then combination platters that featured both cuisines—thus was born Tex-Mex, El Fenix style. Generations of Dallasites have grown up with signature dishes like the homemade chile con queso dip, cheese or sour cream chicken enchiladas, and legendary tortilla soup, which is loaded up with crispy tortilla strips and chunks of cheese and avocado. As at the beginning, you’ll find American dishes with a Mexican twist, too, like cheeseburgers topped with Monterey Jack cheese, pico de gallo, and guacamole. The combination platters are particularly popular, as are the lunch specials. Though there are now over 20 locations all over the Metroplex, the downtown and North Dallas spots are notable for their long histories and old-school vibe—and for the real feeling you get that many of your fellow diners have been El Fenix regulars their whole lives. You might even spot a famous face among them, as the casual restaurants are a popular stop for visiting celebs, musicians, and pro athletes; Mick Jagger was even known to pop in when he was dating Dallas girl Jerry Hall.

If you find yourself on Middle Caicos, don’t miss one of the most dramatic shorelines on the islands, along Mudjin Harbor. The three-mile-long stretch has tall limestone cliffs that drop directly into the water, interspersed by sandy coves. The ocean here is often too rough for swimming or snorkeling, but there are excellent walking trails, including the historic Crossing Place Trail that provides great views of the coastline. Mudjin Harbor also has two large sea caves that you can explore from the beach.