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Open seasonally from June 1 through October 1, Moraine Lake Lodge is, as its name suggests, set right on the stunning turquoise waters of the glacier-fed Moraine Lake in Banff National Park. The lake is one of the most photographed locations in Canada, and the view once appeared on the back of Canadian $20 bills. The original lodge sprang from a teahouse that offered overnight camping at the turn of the 20th century, with the first lodge house dating back to the 1920s. A full redevelopment began in the late ‘80s, with new buildings designed by acclaimed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson. The cabins and rooms all feature custom-built log furniture, and many rooms have wood-burning river-rock fireplaces. The rooms’ design reflects the soaring Rocky Mountains outside, with warm earth tones alongside cozy blankets and deep soaker tubs. All rooms are free of TVs and telephones, allowing guests to unplug from modern-day distractions, although there is Wi-Fi. It’s likely that cell phones will not work here either.

Driving along the countryside in northern Portugal near Oporto I saw the spectacular hillside vines of the famous Douro Valley spread out in front of me for miles. The sight was breathtaking. I saw the steep hillsides with the vines on the terraces. The vines were loaded with grapes that in a couple of weeks would be ready for harvest. The vineyards were first established in the 12th century by Cistercian monks. There are numerous Cistercian monasteries in the area. UNESCO declared the Douro Valley a World Heritage Site in 2001. The Douro Valley produces the grapes for port, red, and white wines. Douro tours are available and run from a few hours to a few days. The cruises run from April to October. If you want to see the harvest picking of the grapes plan your tour for September. A drive through the Douro Valley or a cruise down the Douro River is an experience to savor. If you get to northern Portugal, look into a side trip to the Douro. You won’t be disappointed.

In my opinion there is one event in Tulsa that is by far the most entertaining thing to do in our city. Each summer cyclists from all over the globe come to Tulsa, OK for the Tulsa Tough Bicycle Races. The event lasts three days and is host to children’s activities and concerts in addition to the races. The pinnacle and highlight of the weekend is Sunday’s races on Riverside drive. The course runs alongside the Arkansas River and then winds through hilly residential areas. A hill named " Cry Baby Hill” is the scene for one massive block party. Freaks of all shapes and sizes line the street on both sides(which is not barricaded) while riders whiz through the ensuing anarchy. In between laps the party keeps pace with the riders. Impromptu jam bands and Djs’ keep the party going throughout the day until the last race of the day (with a purse of over $10,000 dollars) is finished and the winning riders join the crowd, PBR in hand.

Pass through the iconic arched doorway at College Green and enter the elegant quads, handsome architecture and verdant lawns of Trinity College, one of Ireland‘s most prestigious universities. Among its many attributes is the atmospheric 18th-century Old Library, whose most precious tome is the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells, a priceless illuminated manuscript. Also worth a visit are the college’s Douglas Hyde Gallery, devoted to contemporary art, and the thought-provoking Science Gallery.

Part of the University of British Columbia, this museum houses one of the finest collections of Northwest Coast Aboriginal art, including bentwood boxes, feast dishes, totem poles, and canoes from the Haida and Coast Salish people. Some of these artifacts are displayed in a soaring grand hall with views of the Point Grey cliffs. Visitors can also look forward to a respectable European ceramics collection, with earthenware and stoneware from the 16th to 19th centuries, and a rotunda with works from Haida artist Bill Reid, including the massive Raven and the First Men, made out of laminated yellow cedar.

A few blocks from Villa Ada and the Via Salaria, Gelateria Fatamorgana sells Maria Agnese Spagnuolo’s edible works of art. Each flavor is made from all natural ingredients, without chemical additives or artificial flavors, and many are lactose free. Spagnuolo’s whimsical creations are often seasonal and always draw on quality produce, spices and herbs. In the summer, try panacea (ginseng, almond milk, and mint) with ananas e zenzero (pineapple and ginger). There are a number of chocolate variations ideal for winter, including Kentucky (dark chocolate and tobacco). Fatamorgana also offers gluten free gelato, a rarity in Rome where so many shops use additives containing gluten. There are three other branches.

Painted by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, the frescoes on the Sistine Chapel ceiling are considered some of the finest art ever produced. These religious paintings include nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, of which The Creation of Adam is undoubtedly the most iconic.

“What better way to understand yoga than to travel to its birthplace?” says Katie Christ. Two years ago, the food stylist put her life in San Francisco on hold to spend two months studying at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India. “It was the biggest luxury I have ever allowed myself.” Katie had been practicing Iyengar yoga, a style of hatha yoga that focuses on alignment and uses props like blocks and belts, for more than 10 years when she decided she wanted to study in India.

She applied to RIMYI, where the venerable B.K.S. Iyengar (above), the founder of Iyengar yoga, occasionally teaches with his son and daughter. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” says Katie. “There’s no music. No incense.” RIMYI requires each applicant to have eight years of Iyengar experience plus a letter of recommendation from his or her yoga teacher. Acceptance can take up to two years. The year before she attended, Katie traveled to Pune for two weeks to experience life in the city.

That first visit happened to coincide with B.K.S. Iyengar’s 90th birthday. “I had no Indian garb appropriate for the festivities, so I went shopping, and in one afternoon I saw so much. A woman making a rangoli, a traditional folk art design, let me try to draw one with colored powder on the street. At the market I saw a man whose sole job was to peel garlic bulbs. I tasted the most amazing chai, made by a chai wallah who used pliers to crush fresh ginger into a pot of milk with tea leaves and ground spices. I knew I wanted to stay. [On my second trip] these experiences would become part of my everyday routine.”

The institute doesn’t provide housing, so Katie used her first visit to find a flat to rent for her two-month stay. “I had the perfect commute: a 10-minute walk through a public garden where I would watch teens flirting on benches and women in saris and sneakers taking their morning power walks.” Classes were held six days a week: two-hour sessions led by a member of the Iyengar family and three hours of open practice each day, and an hour of pranayama (controlled breathing) once a week. “In open practice, I experienced incredible generosity from students who were advanced teachers,” says Katie. “If someone recognized that I was struggling, they would come over to help me achieve better alignment. Several times Geeta Iyengar [the daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar] called out to give me specific instruction.

I felt incredibly fortunate, considering there were up to 120 students in a class.” When she wasn’t in class, Katie and her Australian neighbors, all senior Iyengar teachers attending the institute, would hit the markets and seek out the best chai, Indian sweets, and chappals (sandals). On Sundays they took trips to sights like the ancient sculptures and paintings in the Ellora and Ajanta caves. Katie felt her body becoming stronger and her head becoming clearer with each passing day. “The goal of yoga is to calm the chatter of the mind. When I arrived I had tons of chatter,” she says. “After practicing so intensely every day for two months, the chatter became a murmur.”

From $450 for a one-month program, not including meals and accommodations. 91/(0) 20-2565-6134, bksiyengar.com. This story appeared in the January/February 2012 issue.

Maui’s quiet town of Wailuku is home to some of the world’s most artful doughnuts. The owner of Donut Dynamite!, who goes by her nom de cuisine “Madame Donut,” started the business as a food truck. In 2016, she opened this brick-and-mortar location after she won the “Backyard Barbecue” episode of the Cooking Channel’s Sugar Showdown. Trained at the Culinary Institute of America, she brings a high-concept approach to her signature sweets, with standout flavors including bacon-maple, cheesy hammy, and a lush purple number featuring Molokai sweet potato and poi (a Native Hawaiian staple made from taro roots). Don’t miss the legendary Cinnamon Toasty Crunchy, topped with finely diced croutons made in-house, and be sure to get to the shop early—it opens at 6 a.m. and often starts running low on doughnuts by 9 a.m.

Turkey isn’t known for its beer, with most menus dominated by the serviceable yet flavorless Efes. The craft beer movement has been gratefully welcomed (especially by expats), and a few breweries have popped up in Istanbul in recent years. The Populist brewery is part of Bomontiada, a massive complex of art and performance spaces, shops, restaurants, and nightlife on the site of the former Bomonti Beer Factory, which closed in the 1950s and was abandoned for several decades. Populist’s food menu is standard pub fare, with a few surprises like a lamb burger with Carolina mustard sauce and a flatbread pizza with kokoreç (better-than-it-sounds grilled lamb intestines). The rotating selection of 12 beers on tap might include a Belgian Turkish wheat with anise and a hoppy IPA. To reach Bomontiada, take the metro to Osmanbey, and from there it’s a 10- to 15-minute walk through a historically diverse and rapidly changing neighborhood.

Bermuda waited 45 years for a new-build hotel, but the Loren has proved worth it. Situated on eight acres fronting the turquoise sea near the center of the archipelago, the architecturally sleek luxury property eschews standard tropical patterns and pastel palettes in favor of warm modernism, with world-class art, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a sculptural glass staircase off the lobby. Each suite provides a plush landing thanks to marble baths with freestanding tubs and private terraces with ocean views, plus sumptuous Sferra towels and bath products by Malin + Goetz. For those who don’t want to drive the 20 minutes to Hamilton, the elegant seasonal cuisine at Marée (Bermudan baby greens with goat cheese croquettes and wild strawberries, local snapper with fava bean puree) exceeds expectations, and the botanical-infused treatments at the beachside spa will make the real world seem like a distant memory.

The Baccarat Hotel takes its crystal so seriously that it has white-gloved “glass attendants” tending to its champagne flutes, wine glasses, goblets, and more, keeping them sparkling night after night. That same assiduousness extends to the rest of the property—the French crystal house’s first venture into the hotel business—which opened in 2015 in a 50-story glass skyscraper, built by noted architecture firm Skidmore Owings & Merrill, with 114 guestrooms and 60 residential apartments. As expected, the highlight here is crystal: custom chandeliers abound, Baccarat table lamps and sconces adorn the rooms, and, in the lobby, there’s a mesmerizing LED-lit display of nearly 2,000 Harcourt glasses, the brand’s most iconic design. Lavish elements extend beyond what shimmers and shines, however. Rooms and suites feature plush, four-poster beds topped with custom linens, as well as red-enameled minibars stocked with Maison Ladurée delicacies. Those in need of even more pampering can head to the hotel’s spa, the first-ever from luxe skincare company La Mer, with treatment rooms accented by hand-painted murals. While the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is just across the street, the hotel has an impressive collection in its own right, with photography by the likes of Slim Aarons, Ellen von Unwerth, and Nan Goldin.

One of the most beautiful bits of Bimini are the mangrove forests – yet this unique eco-system rarely gets the attention it deserves. Bimini’s mangroves are home to many important island species, including lobster, conch, sharks, the Bimini Boa, and the critically endangered smalltooth sawfish. This delicate system is seriously threatened by development – an important marine reserve may soon be leased out to hotel developers, who would destroy much of what little mangrove remains. Often, one first-hand experience is enough to show visitors that change is needed. You can support the health of the mangroves by choosing a low-impact tour with a local guide or kayak or paddle board adventure to explore the mangroves – local guide Strata G Smith (as well as Ebbie David and Ansil Saunders) can combine mangrove visits with charter tours (depending on tides and boat size). Photo courtesy Kathleen Fisher/Bimini Healing Arts

Cemeteries don’t often end up on a traveler’s “must-see” list - unless they are going to Vienna. The massive Zentralfriedhof, or Central Cemetery, isn’t actually centralized. In fact, it lies far to the south of the city. With over 300,000 internments and around 495 acres, it’s one of the world’s largest cemeteries and the final resting place for a who’s who of Austrian cultural icons. Most notable are the final resting places of Vienna’s greatest musicians, including Beethoven, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss I & II, and even Falco. Architect Adolf Loos, sculpter Fritz Wotruba, and a crypt of Austrian presidents also make for a fascinating look at the country’s more well-known residents. The grounds also hosts the Art Nouveau Dr. Karl Lueger-Gedächtniskirche (Memorial Church), a Russian Orthodox Chapel, and burial grounds for Jewish, Muslim and Buddhist faiths. The cemetery is easily reached by S-Bahn and bus. Buses also travel between the sections, as do horse-drawn carriages.

An oasis so idyllic, you might first think it’s a mirage, Hotel Fellah is an eight-acre retreat that fuses Moroccan culture with a hipster design aesthetic and a farm-to-table ethos. Locals, artists in residence, and guests mingle in the art center and library, and at the educational farm, kids groom donkeys, milk goats or collect eggs that are sold in neighboring villages. The small café opposite the swimming pool is run by Touco, a resident of nearby Tassoultante village. Don’t miss his tagine, or—even better—pick ingredients from the garden and ask him to show you how to make it.