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Long the heart of the Condesa district (even during the dark days following Mexico City’s devastating 1985 earthquake), today’s Parque México is the quintessential urban park. Well-manicured with ample seating and a recently refurbished open-air forum that plays host to groovy neighborhood events as well as perennial skateboarders, the park’s venerable trees provide shade to the area’s easy-on-the-eyes crowd of joggers, dog walkers, cute old folks, and amorous teens. Along the garden’s perimeter, some of the city’s smartest apartment houses (often in flawless art deco style) share space with cool cafés, kicky boutiques, and crowded restaurants. Few city pleasures surpass Parque México’s people-watching (and pooch-watching) over coffee or cocktails, as golden sunlight streams through branches onto lively, see-and-be-seen sidewalk venues.

This iconic landmark in London is popular for a reason...it’s breathtaking! Did you know that Big Ben is the name of the bell inside the tower, not the clock? While you are there, check out the Houses of Parliament (if they are in session). Afterwards, stroll across the lovely bridge and rise the London Eye!

The main branch of the New York Public Library is one of the country’s grandest Beaux Arts buildings, a temple to learning on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd streets. At the end of the 19th century, John Bigelow, who oversaw the Tilden Trust, decided that as New York was becoming a global financial capital, it required a grand public library. When the Astor and Lenox libraries faced financial difficulties, he convinced them to merge and, with the Tilden Trust, underwrite the library that now stands next to Bryant Park. The firm of Carrère and Hastings was entrusted with the design, and construction began in 1902 on the building that would be the largest marble structure built up to that time in the United States. The elegant main reading room with its soaring carved-wood ceilings is the highlight of its interiors. The library hosts temporary exhibitions related to literary and cultural topics that draw on its extensive collection of books and other printed materials. The two beloved lions in Tennessee marble—Patience and Fortitude—have stood at the entrance to the library since it opened in 1911 and were created by sculptor Edward Clark Potter.

Vancouver’s most famous urban space, the thousand-acre Stanley Park, epitomizes everything that locals here love about the outdoors, and visitors have many ways to explore the expansive grounds. Hiking trails weave around totem poles and hemlock trees, while at the beaches, you can swim, people-watch and picnic. Rent a bike or a pair of in-line skates for a scenic ride along the Seawall, or wander through the many gardens where rhododendrons, azaleas and roses bloom.

Conquistadors built Panamá Viejo, the first European settlement on the Pacific Coast of the New World, in 1519. The original site was abandoned in 1671 after Henry Morgan’s pirates attacked and the residents relocated down the coast. This second settlement, now called Casco Viejo (old town), is the historic district of Panama City. Together, both locations make up a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At Panamá Viejo, visitors can explore an archaeological site with famous ruins, while Casco Viejo is abuzz with the markets, cafés and nightlife found along its narrow streets and in its classic waterfront buildings.

Starting out as one of the United Arab Emirates’ first food trucks, Meylas is no longer so much about grabbing a quick bite of local culture on the go, as it is about experiencing the traditional flavours in a small cafe decorated like a “canteen” from a bygone era. You will feel like you’re at the start of the modern development in the UAE. Dallah (traditional coffee pots), henna, shopping bags, postcards, and children’s games are on display and for sale if you choose to take a bit of that culture home with you.


Of course, the food and hospitality is at the center of attention. Locally sourced ingredients contribute to chbaab, a pancake served with date syrup and salonat badu, the traditional bedouin stew made with chicken or lamb. At the end of the meal, you’ll find several sweets like khabees that are spiced with cardamom and saffron or legeimat, which reminds me of a donut hole sweetened with dates syrup and topped with sesame seeds. Coffees and teas are prepared the way they used to be and should not be passed up at the end of the meal while you mull over the days events. I recommend ordering a smattering of anything that looks interesting off the menu to share.

All those Willamette Valley pinot noirs you’ve heard about? This is the wine shop in Portland where you’ll find many of them. Fresh off a move in 2016 to a former brasserie, Park Avenue Wines now covers 8,500 square feet of space and includes a wine bar called Bardot, storage for your wine (wine lockers!), and plenty of room for evening tasting events. Northwest wine aficionados will want to join one of the wine clubs, one of which focuses solely on wines from the region. As a place to start an education about the wines from the Willamette Valley and environs, it’s hard to beat.

The Berns knows how to party. A Gilded Age palace of luxury and hospitality in the center of Stockholm, the opulent building began life in 1863 as a restaurant, before transforming into a hot nightlife spot. When it was reinvented as a decadent boutique hotel filled with understatedly luxurious modern decor (there’s that signature Scandinavian style), the Berns combined those pasts, opening not only one of the city’s top restaurants—in a previous iteration, Asiatiska was Sweden’s first Chinese restaurant—but some of its coolest bars and dance clubs, one of its most sought-after concert venues, and some of its most exclusive electronic music clubs. Suffice it to say that, although the gilded, airy main bar and dining room is always lively, filled with attractive, designer-clad Swedes, the building practically buzzes come evening. Not that any of this scene disturbs the rooms upstairs, because the second most important part of a good night out is a good sleep, and the Berns doesn’t disappoint there, either.

Lamu, one of the most magical destinations in Kenya, is famed for being the oldest and best-preserved example of a Swahili settlement in East Africa. The Old Town has been inhabited for over 700 years and is made particularly beautiful by the assortment of Swahili, Arabic, Persian, Indian, and European architecture. Since 1370, different cultures have been lured to Lamu, making it an important trading port along the East Africa coast. Nowadays it enchants visitors with its narrow cobbled alleyways, wandering donkeys, weather-beaten stone buildings, hidden courtyards, and the sight of rustic wooden dhows sailing in the distance. Visit the local mosques, wander the streets of quaint Shela village, sail over to the luxurious Majlis Resort for a swim and a cocktail, or while away the hours on an ornate roof terrace.

When you’re looking for a fun night out, why not opt for one right on the Danube? The chic Motto am Fluss restaurant is located within the terminal for the Danube Canal ferries, but it’s like no dock you’ve ever seen before. The futuristic and super-bright space looks like a sleek cruise ship itself. On the lower level, the restaurant, with its black-and-white-checkered floor and silver orb lamps, reflects Venetian influences. Here, you can linger over breakfast in the café until 4 p.m. In warmer months when the weather is good, the terrace is the place for cocktails or biodynamic Austrian wines. On weekends, DJs add to the already-high cool factor in the trendy riverside spot.

There are certainly flashier beach clubs on Capri, but Torre Saracena is a relaxed place with killer views of the Faraglioni rock formation and a terrific restaurant that locals love. For the beach part of the equation, swim in the transparent aquamarine waters and lounge on the narrow beach of white pebbles or the wooden deck built over the water and set with chairs and umbrellas. For the restaurant part, head to the terrace over the beach. The food there is extraordinary. Try tiny, pepper-flecked sautéed shrimp, cold octopus salad, and pasta e piselli, a comforting mix of basil, peas, cheese, and spaghetti. (To call the food “locally sourced” is an understatement: Beside the kitchen door, some shallow saltwater pools are filled with live oysters, clams, and lobster.)

With the rise of IMAX, cultural institutions and museums have become the places to see repertory films on the big screen. Abu Dhabi has its very own world-class repertory-film program—and best of all, it’s free to attend the screenings. Located at the Manarat al-Saadiyat complex in the city’s Saadiyat Cultural District, Cinema Space shows films from all over the world, including restored classics and family movies. In the past year, Cinema Space has featured—among many worthy films—a stunning restoration of Stanley Donen’s Two for the Road, Disney’s 20,000 Leagues under the Sea, and the Oscar-nominated Macedonian film Before the Rain. Check its site to see what cinematic treasure will be showing when you’re in Abu Dhabi.

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.

As the first boutique hotel in Koreatown, the Line might have been able to get away with cutting a few corners while still attracting a cool clientele. It probably didn’t need to get the hottest young Korean-American chef in L.A. on board (to run one of the most comprehensive and exciting restaurant and bar networks yet seen, by the way), nor did the Sydell Group—the arbiters of cool behind the Nomad Hotel in New York—have to put their stamp on it. The hotel would have been nice enough had the concrete midcentury building not been entirely reimagined by designer Sean Knibb, known for designing half the cool spots in L.A. and more than a few celebrities’ homes. There didn’t need to be a desert greenhouse–inspired pool deck that’s become a hangout for beautiful people at all hours, nor did the famously trendy Houston Brothers (of no Vacancy and Harvard & Stone) have to throw in a midcentury-inspired cocktail bar. Nor did the typical hotel gift shop have to be reimagined as a design and lifestyle store curated by Poketo. The rooms and suites would have been just fine had they not been turned into artsy, industrial-style lofts, outfitted with original commissioned artwork, a minibar of Korean and Western snacks, and Baxter of California toiletries. Of course, all of this did happen, and now Koreatown is home to one of the hottest hotels in L.A.

The most famous remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall gets its name from its location on the east side of the Spree River, as well as from its collection of political and satirical murals. Originally painted just after the wall fell, the murals were repainted (or in some cases painted over) in 2009 as a way of cleaning up the increasingly decayed originals and in recognition of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall. Today, a fence partly protects the gallery to prevent vandalism of the murals, but people throng here nonetheless, especially in summer. A museum at the site tells the fascinating story of the structure through interactive displays, original newsreel footage, and filmed interviews with Berliners who lived on both sides.