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Former professional cyclist George Hincapie, who competed in the Tour de France 17 times, is now trying his hand as a hotelier. In 2013 Hincapie opened Hotel Domestique in South Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Guests can sign up for multi-day “Climb with Hincapie” retreats that include morning rides, recovery massages, and trainer-led core building classes. The hotel can supply Trek road and mountain bikes and guests can send in measurements or get fit on site. More of a leisure rider? Cruise the area’s scenic bikes trails, which pass vineyards and forest. Even if you don’t ride, you can enjoy the hotel’s excellent restaurant or sign up for its cooking classes.

The last time Paris ran out of bread, there was a revolution. Now the price of baguettes and the days bakeries close are monitored to ensure affordable, fresh bread is available in every neighborhood every day of the week. Pôilane is popular for its remarkable country loafs (pain de campagne) and Du Pain et des Idées for their baguettes. Gerard Mulot and Blé Sucré are particularly famous for viennoiseries which include croissants, pain au chocolat and apple turnovers that locals usually enjoy over breakfast. Pâtisseries with tantalizing names like Pâtisserie des Rêves (the dream pastry shop) or the friendly Joséphine, display traditional eclairs, tarts and macarons next tempting desserts that look almost too pretty to eat.

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.

If you’re looking for the epitome of “Hipster Berlin,” you can’t find anyplace more suitable than Mein Haus am See. In the most hip area of Mitte, Rosenthaler Platz, the cafe is more than just a coffee spot. It’s also a bar and club. During the day, you’ll see locals working on their laptops or drawing in sketchbooks, but when dusk starts to settle, the lights will dim and usually a DJ will be setting up the sound system. Get a seat in the back of the stadium benches and watch time just pass by. As an added bonus: Mein Haus am See offers free Wi-Fi and is open 24 hours!

I’m not sure I’d choose the combo of pizza and oysters for a menu, but after eating at Short & Main’s nearby sister restaurant Market, I’d trust just about anything to come out of their kitchen. Much to my surprise, starting a meal with the sweetest of light, local oysters made a perfect beginning to the delicious brick oven mushroom pizza that followed. Thin and crunchy crust just the way I like it, combined with local and fresh ingredients. Additional local raw bar and salad items round out the selections. If the timing is right, don’t miss the $1.00 oyster available the first and last hour of service. I can’t wait to return.

The Carnivore is a long time favourite for locals and tourists alike who want to have a good buffet of game meat. There’s Giraffe, Crocodile, Imapala, Kudu, Springbok, amongst other traditional and more western dishes on the menu and all are very tasty! The restaurant works on a stop-go basis with servers coming to your table with large skewers of sizzling meat, straight off the grill, and only ceasing when the stop sign is displayed. However if red meat isn’t your thing, there are vegetarian and fish dishes available. The decor really makes you feel like you’re in the deepest, darkest reaches of Africa, even though you’re just a stone’s throw away from civilization!

Not unlike the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Empire State Building in NYC, the Mont Royal acts as a natural landmark for orientation-challenged travelers. The “mountain” (some would call it a big hill) overlooks the entire city and offers unparalleled panoramas of downtown and the Eastern Townships south of the city. The entire mountain is actually a city park, with many things to do besides admiring the view: tam-tam jams, bird watching, cycling, forest treks—and even skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, and sledding in the winter. Brownie points if you make it to the Kodiaronk lookout at dawn, in time to see the sun rise behind the skyscrapers.

Baseball fans will appreciate a stop at Luther Williams Field, the second-oldest minor league stadium in the country. It started as the home to the Macon Peaches in 1929. Since then, the names and teams associated with the park have changed, but many notable players have passed through the iron gates. Pete Rose played for the Macon Peaches and while the Macon Braves were an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, future players Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Rafael Furcal and John Smoltz spent time here. The Macon Pinetoppers currently play at the field, which has also become a filming location in the movies 42 and Trouble with the Curve.

South Mumbai’s 3.5-kilometer-long (2.1-mile-long) waterfront promenade is a popular spot for walking and jogging. Flanked by palm trees and the Arabian Sea on one side and Art Deco buildings on the other, the busy road culminates at its northern end in Chowpatty Beach, famous for its bazaars, fairground rides and food stalls. The best time to walk the boulevard is at sunset, when the twinkling streetlights resemble a string of pearls, giving the promenade its nickname: the Queen’s Necklace.

This place may be small, but its food and drink selection is mighty. Family owned and operated, this cozy local spot is a true gem for authentic Colombian food and drinks in the suburbs of Illinois. The shop and owners are absolutely delightful, and they go out of their way to ensure a wonderful dining experience. You can have breakfast, lunch or dinner, but I’d recommend if you are short on time to at least stop in for a healthy drink. The folks at Colombian’s Taste make wonderful fruit drinks using guanabana, maracuya, lolu and mora. I tried the Colombian lemonade and now am hooked. This place is a true find!

Mylopotas beach is a stretch of sunny beach lined with bars, restaurants, hotels, and a youthful party scene. Depending on the day or time of day this stretch of beach could be quite and lazy in the sun or have music and people dancing on cars. Either way Karma beach bar is a chill open air bar with pillow seating on the raised floor and hammocks hanging everywhere. The pizza is delicious and perfect for a light beach snack on a sunny day. They have a great drink menu including island cocktails and prosecco fruit mixers. We lounged our first day away in the hammocks here sipping on cool drinks.

There are so many places to visit in this neighborhood, but I don’t see a lot of tourists strolling here, maybe because it’s located in one of the seven hills, Santana. But this is a neighborhood with more than 400 years of history, so if you’re not into climbing those steps, just use Lavra’s lift, it will take just few minutes. Stroll around Casco Velho (meaning “old town”), visit the ancient parish of Campo Santana that in old times served as a bullring and flea market, and skip the tourist trap of restaurants next to Coliseu dos Recreios. Here in Pena neighborhood, you will be among the locals, tasting Portuguese food and enjoying views over Lisbon.

Are you looking for a funny, original, and practical gift? In this shop you will find it. Pillow cases with phrases like “I love you too” or with swallows or frogs (that might turn into a prince). If you take your lunch to work, check out the lunch set (bag, box, and pot). And for the kitchen, there are many colorful accessories. Some time ago, I bought a scratch map, where you can scratch the countries you’ve visited. The shop also had another map where you color the countries visited till you have the all world in color. And you can take it with you, because it comes in a tube.

We have lived overseas for many years, around different American bases but no matter where we are we can always enjoy a good fireworks show on the 4th of July. This time it was at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) that we got to see them. What is really great about this is that people from all the NATO countries got to enjoy them too, families and friends included. We were sitting on the grass and around us were people speaking so many languages and all celebrating America’s most special day. It was pretty neat. *SHAPE is not in Soignies but Casteau. I choose Casteau and then Soignies appears in the location. Not sure why.

If you’re a fan of history and/or photography, be sure to spend time at Charles Fort in County Cork. This National Monument of Ireland is the bastion on the water’s edge near Kinsale, and is open year round. The fort was built on the site of an earlier stronghold known as Ringcurran Castle, that was featured prominently during the Siege of Kinsale in 1601. The fort you see today was built in the 1670s and 1680s to a star fortification design - a layout specifically designed to resist attack by cannon.