Search results for

To while away time, you can go people-watching and vintage shopping in Stockholm’s answer to New York’s SoHo—South of Folkungagatan, called “SoFo” on Södermalm (“Söder” to locals). This busy bohemian district boasts some of the edgiest cultural experiences in town. Visit stores like Sneakersnstuff for funky limited-edition sneakers and running shoes, or wade through rows of vintage clothes at Beyond Retro, offering styles from Victorian-era attire to 1990s grunge-rock Pearl Jam–inspired clothes, with every era in between. If you’re into vintage—vinyl records, throwback clothes, paraphernalia, odd knickknacks—you won’t find them anywhere else if you don’t find them in Stockholm’s SoFo district.

A stay at this resort offers the best of many worlds: easy access to San Antonio and its airport, proximity to scenic Hill Country and its wineries, and plenty of on-site amenities to encourage you to hang around. Spread over 600 acres, the property includes an 18-hole golf course, a nine-acre water park (with a winding lazy river and 650-foot rapid river ride), hiking trails, and a 30-room spa, where treatments incorporate Texas-grown ingredients like lavender and sassafras. The facilities fan out from the LEED-certified main building, which houses 1,000 warm, comfortable guestrooms, many of which look out onto the main pool. There are also enough restaurants to warrant a multi-day stay, from an organic-focused spa bistro and a sports bar with local brews, to a Texas-inspired main restaurant and a fine-dining steakhouse set among the golf greens. Each spot uses ingredients sourced within a 150-mile radius of the hotel, and aims to highlight Texas wine and beer. While the kids are off enjoying the water park or video game arcade, adults can take a tequila tasting class or settle into a rocking chair with a good book—then everyone can meet around the indoor or outdoor fireplaces to trade stories.

Here’s another touristy place, but great for the kids- and adults too, if you love ocean creatures! There’s an underwater shark exhibit, huge jellyfish exhibit, narwhals, sea otters, animal shows, penguins, roller coasters and more. I’d never seen a walrus before up close and dang, those things are huge! This place is a little pricey to go often, so we only go if visitors who stay with us want to check it out. But it’s definitely worth seeing at least once!

The urban beaches of San Sebastián necessitate a chic swimsuit. If you forgot yours, or simply want a swimwear souvenir, Goiuri is the hands-down best swimsuit shop in town. They offer flattering suits of all types, with a mix-and-match ideology that makes finding a fab fit super easy.

La Madame is one of the most forward-facing dining spots in San Sebastián. It’s one of the only place in the city where you can find well-executed fusion cuisine, with touches of American, Japanese, French and Basque cuisine and perhaps THE only that has a real cocktail program in place. It’s a dark, vibey spot. Call ahead for reservations and go hungry. Mondays are special menu days, each with a different theme.

A novel way to combine great food with a classic city tour, the double-decker Crystal Bus provides delicious sightseeing. Nibble Chinese dim sum prepared by the restaurant One Dim Sum (which was awarded a Michelin star in 2012), while driving past more than 20 of Hong Kong’s most famous sites (and stopping at one for photos), from the Hong Kong clock tower to the 1881 Heritage Building, a 197-foot-high Ferris wheel, and Portland Street, the city’s famous red-light district, known for its neon. Each tour—one at lunch goes from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and another at teatime from Kowloon to New Territories—lasts about 2.5 hours. Both start at No. 7 Hankow Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, in Kowloon.

Central Plaza is a lovely place to spend the day and watch the community wind down in the evening. During the day, the plaza is full of music and children playing, and the surrounding streets are full of restaurants, shops, and art galleries. As the sun sets, the plaza gets quieter; the town’s lights turn on, and the children leave, one-by-one, to go home for the night. Stay late and enjoy the peace and quiet of the sleepy plaza, or head down one of the side streets and partake of the local nightlife!

T. Loafer is hard to miss thanks to its colorful exterior, patched together from more than 20 salvaged window frames. Order a cup of hibiscus lemongrass tea and a pastry made with locally grown fruit. The shelves are stocked with books, regional crafts, and photographs processed in the darkroom downstairs. 886/(0) 9-3781-7612. This appeared in the November/December 2012 issue.

Taiwanese-style shaved ice desserts (known as “bao-bing” in Chinese) consist of large bowls of finely shaved ice topped with a variety of sweets, including condensed milk, beans, jellies, and fresh fruit. For fifteen years, Ice Monster was a tiny open storefront hawking mango shaved ice on Taipei’s famous foodie destination, Yongkang Street. Its recent move to the trendy East District includes a thorough re-branding as well as a creative expansion of their menu. Although Ice Monster’s mango shaved ice is still a must-order, non-traditionalists will enjoy digging into their new innovative creations like taro and red-bean milk “avalanches”, or sampling a few of their handmade popsicles. My personal favorite is a tribute to Taipei’s most famous drink: a “deconstructed boba milk tea” made with milk tea shaved ice and served with tapioca “bubbles” on the side. 886/(0)2-8771-3263

Sucré opened a couple of years after Katrina swept through a bustling stretch of Magazine Street not far from the Garden District. It quickly established itself as the city’s premier destination for chocolates, macarons, gelato, and, well… basically anything with sugar. The original shop is bright and modern rather than cluttered and fussy, and the intricately decorated confections are neatly housed in chilled cases, like jewels in a vitrine. But there’s nothing precious about the tastes here—it’s all big, bold flavors. If you’re here around Mardi Gras season, ask about the seasonal king cake, all lustrous and gilded. Sucré also recently opened a French Quarter outpost with an upstairs tearoom.

Verde is actually two stores in one. It carries one-of-a-kind accessories, jewelry, and gifts, which makes it stand out as one of several unique shops in the Midtown Village district of Center City. Serendipitously, the boutique shares space with Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates. In fact, you can watch the chocolate confections being made in the back room by peeking through the large window. A shopa-choco-holic’s dream! While in Midtown Village, venture across the street to another notable shopping stop, Open House, which sells Philly-themed items as well as a curated selection of housewares and accessories.

The 17th-century estate where Simón Bolívar died in 1830 is the site of several Bolivar monuments as well as an art museum featuring works by Latin American artists inspired by Bolívar, the hero who freed Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela from colonial rule. The estate serves as the city’s botanical garden, also worth your time for its magnificent, centuries-old trees.

Few restaurants more than 150 years old can be called trendy, but in innovation-crazy San Francisco, there is novelty in the classics, and Tadich Grill is the classic. The late Chronicle columnist and unabashed San Francisco-lover Herb Caen was also a frequent visitor. There’s a martini named after him, made with vodka, or as he called it, Vitamin V. The serious nature of the restaurant’s wood paneling, brass fixtures, and waiters in starched white aprons is matched by the food. No need to tinker with classic recipes for fried sand dabs or crab Louie, and the oysters and Hangtown fry are fine the way they have always been. The cioppino is by far the most popular dish on the menu, with about 27,000 bowls dished out a year. People come to Tadich Grill because they know what they’re getting: friendly service, great seafood, and a taste of San Francisco itself.

Located 2 km from Zitacuaro, Michoacan, Rancho San Cayetano is an oasis of calm and an excellent base for seeing the monarch butterflies at Cerro Pelón. Lisette and Pablo Span are your kind and efficient hosts who, in butterfly season (October and November), will set you up with information and trips to see the butterflies. The place is worth a visit any time of the year, however: Lisette runs the kitchen and serves superb, multi-course dinners and heavenly breakfasts. There are comfortable ranch-style cabins, a lovely swimming pool, a patio for reading or day dreaming and all of it is surrounded by a forest of pines and fruit trees.

Driving between Globe and Show Low in the White Mountains east of Phoenix, US 60 curves and descends dramatically into the Salt River Canyon. Some call it the ‘mini Grand Canyon.’ The highway snakes down some 2000 feet before climbing back up... Spring brings snowmelt and whitewater rafting...by late summer, the monsoon rains are keeping the river muddy and turbulent...Several parking areas allow you to pull off the two-lane road; breathe in the views, stretch your legs on Apache land.