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In a city like Houston, which is bursting with international flavor, it’s not difficult to find fantastic Indian food. But Anita Jaisinghani, co-owner of the beloved Indika, serves up the best of the best with Pondicheri. The menu here revolves around unique takes on India’s street foods, including pakoras and a daily selection of samosas. In terms of main dishes, the best way to sample what’s being offered is by getting the vegetable or meat thali—a daily selection of dishes and sides perfect for sharing. Other standouts include desi fries (French fries dusted with Indian spices), naan with roasted garlic, and fresh-baked cookies.

Each Saturday from October to July (and once a month in August and September), the marina of Cabo San Lucas becomes a stage for local artists, musicians, and performers to peddle their wares and showcase their creative skills in the Circuito Cultural (Cultural Circuit), an event started by local entrepreneurs. Artists display their work from noon to 10 pm and live music and dance keep crowd entertained from 6 pm to 11 pm. The performances aren’t just Mexican in inspiration or origin; recent highlights even included Scottish country dancing.

Mexico City’s Centro Histórico has some fine bars, clubs, restaurants, and hotels where you can enjoy a copa or a cocktail, but if you’re looking for a side of good jazz to go along with your drink, then, the place is Zinco. Housed inside the vault of a former bank, Zinco feels old-school atmospheric and its small size keeps things intimate. Shows feature both Mexican (yes, there’s a thriving jazz scene in Mexico and international artists. Arrive early to ensure you snag one of the few tables and a waiter who will dedicate himself to refreshing your cocktails throughout the night.

Whether or not you plan to purchase some of the Mexican pottery known as Talavera, which comes only from Puebla and nearby communities, you owe yourself a visit to the venerable Uriarte building, a 20-minute walk from Puebla’s old-town zocalo. Established in 1824, Uriarte has showrooms and a garden court full of premium quality home-interior and outdoor decorative times, place settings, and tiles, all intricately painted and with the characteristic milky-white glaze. You’ll find less expensive examples in other parts of the city (although “seconds” are available here), but Uriarte will give you an appreciation of the craftsmanship that dates back to the 1500s.

We become so small when entering a place of worship, this local woman especially as she made her way to the entrance of the Cathedral of San Gervasio in Valladolid. It wasn’t Sunday. I’m sure of it because Sundays in Mexican city centers are usually much busier with families wandering around the city and going to mass. On this particular day there were just a few folks going about their usual routine.

Move over cupcakes: Popsicles are the next big dessert craze in Orlando. After my stroll around Lake Eola, I stopped at the popsicle shop Hyppo. You won’t find the popsicles of your childhood here. Hyppo’s version is inspired by Mexican paletas (ice pops) and comes in two varieties: milk-based and ice-based. When you walk in, you’re greeted by a colorful cooler of pops with seasonal flavors that might include pistachio-coconut, the Elvis (peanut butter, banana, and honey), cantaloupe-black pepper, strawberry-basil, key lime, and even some bourbon-based options.

The concierge at the hotel was skeptical. The cab driver was amused and skeptical. Lucha libre, or Mexican wrestling, is clearly an unsophisticated embarrassment, tantamount to telling a visitor to the U.S. to watch Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Attending a match, though, is a way to see a side of Mexican culture not found in museums or historic churches, but one that definitely uses some of the same mythology, iconography, and pageantry seen there. The crowd shouts, chants, and laughs through performances featuring dancing girls, inept referees, men in lavish and ridiculous costumes (a caveman with a plastic club, fur boots, and a skimpy loincloth), and some honest-to-God astounding feats of athleticism. Matches—loud and funny and thrilling—take place on Friday nights and occasionally during the week. Tickets can be bought in person at the arena, but arrive early to avoid a long line and use your time to shop the stands set up outside for handmade lucha libre wares (wrestling capes, masks, T-shirts, onesies for infants).

I first visited Wahoo’s Fish Taco in Denver and have been going back ever since. It seems much more appropriate that Wahoo’s, with its surfboarding theme, has a location in Hawaii. The location I frequented is in Ala Moana. Time permitting, I would get my food to go and sit at the Ala Moana Beach park for a picnic dinner. Wahoo’s has a good selection of burritos, salads, and tacos. A pitcher of margaritas or local beers are usually popular with a group as well! If you collect stickers, just ask at the counter and if they have any on hand, they will gift one to you.

Baja California Sur is less saturated than other Mexican seasides, but some of the beaches, like Balandra, attract a crowd. For a bit of Baha California Sur quiet, take a boat ride or a thirty-minute hike (no flip-flops, please) to Playa La Escondida. The beach is blanketed with white sand, surrounded by mountains, and bumps up against clear blue waters. Remember to bring all food, clothing, and other goodies you might need for your day as there are no shops or services.

Maison Collard’s claim to fame is a cookie so hard they have to print a warning on it. Legend has it, during the great siege of 1466, the people of Dinant were starving and had only two things at their disposal: flour and honey. They made these into dough and baked it. Later, they began to stamp patterns into the hard dough, with brassware found in their kitchens. In reality, there is little historical evidence to support the existence of the couque before the 18th century. Throughout the period, couques were decorated with depictions of important historic events. Although the tough dough is no longer kneaded by hand, the cookies are still pressed into hand-carved pear wood moulds. Popular shapes include animals, fruits, and scenes of Dinant. Nowadays, sugar and spices are also frequently added to the mix. Couques sold these days must be labeled with a warning advising people not to bite into the hard cookie. Instead, you are advised to dunk it in a beverage, to soften it, or break off a small piece and suck it. In fact, couques are traditionally given to babies to suck on while they are teething. More Information: http://cheeseweb.eu/2013/08/flamiche-couques-de-dinant-foodie-favourites-wallonia-belgium/

Husband and wife Gil and Rebecca Gutiérrez run the ranch known as Zandunga, some twenty minutes from central San Miguel. Every Sunday—and only on Sunday—the family-friendly ranch opens its gates to visitors and guarantees fun, in everything from live jazz and blues to outdoor dining and dancing, plus impressive country-style buffets groaning beneath grilled meats, tacos and other regional delights. The gringos love it, but you’ll see locals and Mexican tourists there, too. A day in the country that won’t bust your budget.

New Zealand’s native bush is the kitchen for Maori master chef Charles Royal. The exclusive culinary tours he leads around Rotorua and Taupo are perfect for adventurous foodies. There’s no mystery as to where your food comes from—it’s all sourced and prepared according to Maori tradition, by you, your classmates and your instructor.

The Seminyak food scene just keeps getting better, and Bikini, a stylish new restaurant and bar, has upped the ante by taking both interior design and food plating to a much sexier place. Extraordinary dishes—foie gras parfait cigars or elderflower-pickled beets and goat-cheese ravioli or roast suckling pig drizzled with pear and cherry vinegar—provide the basic ingredients of an unforgettable dining experience. If you can’t make up your mind, opt for the Feed Me tasting menu. Bikini is also gaining a reputation for its cocktail menu and skilled bartenders.

Much of Mexico City’s fervid contemporary art movement—galleries and collectors abound; the scene is now a launching pad for Mexican artists looking to conquer the world—can be traced to art patron Eugenio López Alonso, heir to the Jumex packaged-juice fortune, who over decades has amassed Latin America’s most extensive contemporary art collection and brought dozens of artists to the international spotlight. The collection’s flagship museum, itself a work of art by the British architect David Chipperfield, is a surprisingly intimate exhibition space that supports a rotating calendar of shows; the basement bookstore will delight bibliophiles and design freaks alike. Right nearby lies the Museo Soumaya, whose dramatic architectural form (which earned it the nickname “the Blender”) makes up for a collection some consider erratic.

After years at its original, jewel-box-like (and maybe even a little solemn) location, the city’s high temple of Mexican regional cuisine has moved to a more expansive—some say more relaxed—space. It includes more light, a bar area for “taco omakase,” and large windows overlooking the garden, plus a groovy, midcentury accent that might recall Manhattan’s late, lamented Four Seasons restaurant. Changes aside, diners can still count on a six-section prix fixe menu, with each section home to multiple bites involving an astounding variety of local ingredients that even most Mexicans have never tasted, all exquisite enough to have placed Pujol on several best-restaurants lists for years running. And yes, you still get a taste of chef Enrique Olvera’s mole madre, well over a thousand days in the pot as of this writing.