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Foodies, rejoice. Torvehallerne is a one-stop shop for several meals, snacks, and gourmet groceries or gastronomical gifts. It’s an airy, light-filled building with all kinds of purveyors, from fantastic coffee shops, chefs cooking fresh pasta and serving it hot to you at the counter, a farmers market outside, a tapas bar, you name it. If you’ve ever been to Florence, think of Mercato Centrale, but in a nicer setting and housing more variety. Ride your bike there to grab a bite or to spend the day enjoying its bounty.

When you’re considering Peruvian souvenirs, things like coffee, pisco, and alpaca scarves come to mind. But Peru is also known for ceramics, and you can find marvelous examples at Seminario’s. Its founders have taken motifs from Peru’s past and made them their own, offering ceramics that blend ancient and modern graphic designs. Buying a practical souvenir like a coffee mug ensures that your presents will be put to good use, while other more unique and purely artistic pieces can make you look at ceramics in a whole new way. Visits include a short video presentation on the studio’s history, a tour of the workshop and, sometimes, meeting the founders themselves. Warning: the on-site store will likely have you buying as much for yourself as others, but don’t worry—the workshop ships everywhere.

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.

On the non-descript, busy corner of Bucareli and Morelos streets in Mexico City is a café with a famous history: Fidel Castro and Che Guevarra met here at Café La Habana several times, chain smoking and drinking strong coffee, to plan the Cuban Revolution. Nowadays, you can still get excellent coffee—and pretty good food—while you plan something a little less dramatic (but more enjoyable), like your vacation itinerary. Old journalists and businessmen congregate here for hours on end while salt-of-the-earth, slightly surly waitresses take your order and bring you your food and drink. Come for breakfast and order their chilaquiles, motuleños, or molletes, and wash it down with an espresso or café americano.

Milan invented the art of bel cafè, the pedicured bar for a delicious morning coffee or afternoon aperitivo. Passerini has a delicious selection of pastries for mornings and afternoons, and is the ideal hideaway for an aperitivo in the city center.

The sun sets over Istanbul as I am coated head to toe with aromatic clay and served fresh fruit sprinkled with pistachios under the heavenly dome of a 457 year old hamam. Tenderly, my attendant washes me before lathering my body with olive oil soap and encasing me in a plume of ticklish bubbles. Like a mother to a child, she washes me again as the call to pray of the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia echo outside. This is ‘life’ at the Aya Sophia Hurrem Sultan Hamami. The hamam is named after the famous 16th-century Ottoman icon Hurrem, or Roxolana as she is also known. Hurrem went from slave girl to favored concubine, to legal wife of the most popular Sultan Suleiman. She gave birth to princes and princess and greatly influenced the politics of the Ottoman Empire. The hamam was built by Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan to honor her in 1556. It is nestled between the Blue Mosque and Aya Sophia. The hamam offers 5 star packages with 5 star services that leave you completely blissed out. I had the uber-relaxing 90 minute Ab-I Hayat Package consisting of wash, body mask, scrub, bubbles and 40 minute oil massage. Whilst other hamams are cheaper, you won’t be disappointed here. Private changing rooms and massage rooms, golden bath bowls, silk and cotton towels, tasty blackberry sherbet drink—the personalized service is truly special. With the motto, “Some rituals never die” the hamam’s luxuries will leave you feeling like Sultan Hurrem herself.

Tucked into a former cobbler’s workshop, Boot Café is making a determined bid to be the city’s tiniest (and most Instagrammable) specialty coffee bar. In a robin’s-egg-blue storefront, the café pours lattes made with beans from the highly regarded Parisian roaster Belleville Brûlerie and foreign roasters such as Five Elephant in Berlin. It’s a tight squeeze but worth a visit for bagels, cakes, and expertly pulled shots.

Pop by the Strada Nuova in the early morning for a cappuccino in the sunshine between the beautiful palaces. With a few coffee bars to choose from, you can always find a small table outside to enjoy the passersby as they head to open their shops and catch their buses. (Personally, I love the M cafe and bar inside the Palazzo Rosso, but there are plenty to choose from!)

Once Istanbul’s notorious prison, a lavish conversion in 1996 transformed this site, set amid the squiggle of lanes behind the colossal competing domes of the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, into the city’s landmark Four Seasons Sultanahmet. Built in 1918, the hotel’s ornate neoclassical architecture has been finely restored, while the enclosed exercise yard is now a courtyard garden where guests can escape the hustle of the historic quarter. Classically designed rooms are awash with light blue and green hues and subtly scattered Turkish textiles and motifs.

On a hot summer’s day, cool off with cocktails overlooking the old city’s minarets on the rooftop A’Ya Lounge. Eagle-eyed history fans can hunt for the 1938 graffiti left by a former inmate on a pillar near the courtyard. Being neighbors with the Hagia Sophia has extra benefits. The Four Seasons’ Extraordinary Experiences service offers a privileged chance to explore Emperor Justinian’s greatest achievement without the crowds, on an after-dark tour of the Hagia Sophia.

Le Buzz is the place to hang out and caffeinate on Tucson’s northeast edge. They roast their own coffee, bake their own pastries, and they’re on the way if you want to pick up something for a picnic on your drive up to Mount Lemmon above the desert. Don’t let the strip-mall location fool you. This institution is a beloved “third place” for the local community. Sit here among TV-anchormen, novelists, horse-trainers, students, biotech-spandex-clad-cyclists, couples on dates, crossworders-content-to-be-alone... Pastries are just the beginning—the quiches are killer, you can get carnitas skillets, reubens, and buckwheat pancakes—and the coffee is among the best in all of Arizona. Take a bag of beans with you... ...and if you’re here mid-week, breakfast pastries (if there are any left) are half-off after 3 p.m. The almond croissants are perfect for dipping into an afternoon latte...And be warned: Saturday mornings, you’ll have to compete with the cycling-spandex-crowd for a table.

On arrival to Istanbul, many tourists order the chicken şiş (chicken kebab) for a meal because it’s familiar and safe, but they’re really missing out on some of the best food in the world! I encourage anyone visiting Turkey to gastro-travel through the country’s tasty cuisine and sample the many Ottoman dishes and succulent regional kebabs on offer. My favorite place to take guests is Fuego Cafe & Restaurant in Sultanahmet. Fuego opened in early 2012 and is fast becoming one of the most reputable restaurants in the tourism precinct. The outstanding service by owner-operators Can, Ali, Mehmet and Salih has earned the restaurant accolades. Try the Ali Nazik (minced beef on yogurt, eggplant and tomato mash), Hünkar Beğendi (tender lamb on a bed of smoked eggplant puree) or pilic dolma (stuffed chicken with a rich saffron sauce) and wash it down with a glass of Turkish wine from the comprehensive wine list. The restaurant is also open late, so pop in for a nightcap or two on your way back to your hotel. If you’re a coffee drinker, ask Can, a former barista, to brew you a cappuccino, latte, espresso, French coffee, Irish coffee, or even a herbal tea. Fuego welcomes guests for breakfast, lunch, and dinner all through the year and can accommodate people with food intolerances—just ask your waiter for recommendations.

The worldwide success of this Montreal-born leather goods brand, which now has stores everywhere from Paris to Tokyo to Hong Kong, is no secret: m0851 bags are beautifully crafted here in the city by artisans who have worked for the Mamarbachi family for decades. The no-sweatshop mentality surprisingly doesn’t equate excessive prices, and the best thing is, these bags are designed to last, made in materials that change and improve as they age. Every year brings a new palette of beautiful earthy colors, and in addition to the bags and travel gear, there are coats and clothes perfectly suited to any Canadian season. This is the flagship location, but you’ll find three other sales points within greater Montreal.

The former residence of Würzburg’s prince-bishops, this UNESCO World Heritage site is one of the most important Baroque palaces in Europe. It was—remarkably, given its scale and level of detail both inside and out—built almost entirely within a single generation. Court architect Balthasar Neumann oversaw the construction, while leading architects from Germany and France created the fabulous ornamentation. Woodcarvers, sculptors, and artists from Italy—including Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, regarded as one of the greatest fresco painters of the 18th century—also contributed to the design.

Rebuilt after World War II, the palace now features a bevy of architectural styles, from German and Viennese Baroque to French château. Inside, the White, Imperial, and Garden halls are can’t-miss attractions, as are the grand staircase and ceiling fresco by Tiepolo and the Mirror Cabinet. Before leaving, be sure to take a walk in the court gardens, which feature fountains, charming yew trees, and a group of cherub statues by Johann Peter Wagner.

The Seattle Great Wheel, completed in June of 2012, is located at the Seattle Waterfront. It is a little expensive, and nerve-wracking on the way up, but it’s worth it. The Ferris wheel is one of the biggest in the U.S., and provides a spectacular view of Elliot Bay, Downtown, and much more. In addition, at one point during the ride, it actually goes over the water!

This covered food market dates back to 1786 (there has been a market on the site since 1610) and today it’s a bustling indoor food market with everything from fresh fish to spices, cheeses, oils and homemade cakes on sale. It’s also a hub of social activity for the city, where people meet for a shop and a chat. Wander around the market to sample some of the region’s best produce – from the fresh fish landed on the pier at east Cork fishing village Ballycotton (Ballycotton Seafood Ltd) to the Toonsbridge Buffalo Mozzarella from The Olive Stall. Farmgate Café on the market’s upper balcony level looks over the market hall and is a great place for people-watching and soaking up the atmosphere while tucking into fresh oysters or seafood chowder, or coffee and cake.