travel
San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter gets a hefty does of Italian style this fall with the opening of The Keating’s 35 room boutique hotel. Italian designers like to use slick surfaces and low-slung furniture, but the Keating employs that style with particular aplomb– the designers are also the guys behind Ferrari and Maserati. While it’s not a car themed hotel, the Pininfarina team did take historical and ergonomic cues from Italian vehicles. Next year a signature restaurant and eight premium suites are set to open, but until then expect the in-room espresso machines, attentive staff and sexy underground lounge to get your motor running.
Nicholas Butterworth, former CEO of MTVi is in the process of starting a to develop a new online travel channel called Travelistic . He describes it as YouTube meets The Travel Channel, meets YouTube. I think it sounds like a good idea. There are so many sites out there to post your travel pictures online, why not a place to post travel movies so that your friends and family can watch them. They are in private beta at the moment, so I have nothing in regards to interface or features, but I’ll keep you posted.
Paris Muse offers high-quality private tours in front of the world's greatest art collections. Their instructors are trained and experienced art historians. They are native English speakers, with teaching experience at top American universities, including Harvard University, New York University and University of California at Berkeley. They live in Paris because they are preparing publications and/or writing their Ph.D. dissertations in art history. After taking a look at their website you will see their impressive list of gallery and walking tours throughout Paris. You can even book your tours online.
The Napa Valley Vintners are coming to San Francisco for one night only. Join them for a wine tasting with a nightclub vibe: try wines from big bottles from more than 60 Napa Valley wineries, meet the people behind these incredible wines, enjoy hors d'oeuvres, and listen to the DJ spin while you sip, savor and mingle.
Tickets are $25 per person. If you pay with your American Express card, you will receive a $5 discount for each ticket. Tickets will only be sold online - no tickets available at the door.
Nightlife Napa Valley
LIMN Gallery in San Francisco
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
8:00 - 10:00 pm
292 Townsend St
San Francisco, CA 94107
L’Hotel du Nord is a slick new old restaurant with yummy plates and classic, white-tiled interior complete with wooden bar and uban atmosphere. If any of the places situated along the picturesque Canal St. Martin provide the perfect setting for a romantic dinner for two, then this is it. Also highly recommended for a late-night dessert on a balmy summer evening..
Continue reading "L'Hotel du Nord ~ Paris" »
Yield Wine Bar is a small, intimate wine bar located in the heart of San Francisco's historic Dog Patch Neighborhood. Yield is such a welcome addition to my tiny growing Dogpatch Neighborhood. Owner Chris Tavelli was the former sommelier at Millennium Restaurant and brings a great knowledge of organic, bio-dynamic and sustainable wines. They are committed to supporting sustainable winemaking and agriculture, as well as family owned and operated wineries. As such, all of the wines featured on their wine list are environmentally friendly — they are made by wineries that are wholly committed to the practice of organic, biodynamic or sustainable agriculture. Most do not use any chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides throughout the wine-making process, and some have even taken it a step further and received certification for these practices. All of them are as focused on making the best wine possible as they are on making it in the most environmentally conscious way.
Yield Wine Bar is open Tuesday through Saturday from 5:30 p.m. until 12 a.m., and Sundays from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m.
2490 3rd St San Francisco, CA 94107 (415) 401-8984
For a decade, Wallpaper has been the first to uncover the best new design and urban travel spots across the globe. We think their first book publishing venture, the Wallpaper* City Guides, is the perfect way to present this decade of experience in ruthlessly researched, design-conscious handbooks for the discerning traveller. They don’t waste your time by suggesting too many things — they just suggest the best, the most exciting, the most beautiful. The first 20 are published this month and another 20 every six months after that.
Buy them online at http://www.phaidon.com/travel/
Awhile ago we blogged about Travel podcasts. Since then much has changed in the world of travel podcasts with some of the big travel book companies like Lonely Planet and Rick Steves getting in on the action.
Amateur Traveler:Well traveled host Chris Christensen delivers practical advice on more than 50 destinations. 35 Minutes; travel news and interviews. Updated Weekly
Lonely Planet: Authors report breaking news on specific locations and discuss topical travel issues. 30 minutes; update bi-weekly.
Rick Steves’ Europe: Interviews with knowledgeable guests make up for dull caller questions. 60 Minutes update weekly.
Travelers’ Tales: Tim Cahill, Simon Winchester, Pico Iyer discuss their often humerous wanderings. 60 Minutes. Update monthly.
The only way to the Bay of Fires Lodge is to walk—12 miles for two days along squeaky white sand. Good thing the rare Forrester kangaroos know the way. Architect Ken Latona's spare shedlike design, complete with roof-water collection, gray-water treatment systems, composting toilets, and 100 percent solar power, has won every award in the book. Still, the greatest prize is spending an evening by the glow of the outdoor fire pits, waiting for those Tasmanian devils to whirl into view.
Continue reading "Bay of Fires Lodge ~ Tasmania Australia" »
On September 23rd Kermit Lynch will throw his yearly “Provence in Berkeley Festival”. On Provence Day they recreate some of the gastronomic pleasures of Provence. They close the parking lot to cars, set up tents and tables, peel a ton of garlic, fire up a big bed of coals, and uncork a medley of delicious provencal wines.
Provence in Berkeley Saturday, September 23rd, 2006
11:00 AM to 4:00 PM 1605 San Pablo Avenue (at Cedar St.) Berkeley, CA 94702
Those of you familiar with Milk & Honey, the private and reservations-only bar in NYC are going to be excited to hear about Bourbon & Branch, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco. Dahi Donnelly and Brian Sheehy from Swig and Anu have brought on Todd Smith, the former and longtime bar manager of Cortez, and are opening a reservations-only bar in the old 501 Club space on the corner of O’Farrell and Jones. The vibe will be 1920s-inspired, offering a relaxed environment for those who want to avoid the crowds and mayhem that crowd most city bars, especially Thu-Sat.
Bourbon & Branch
Corner of O’Farrell and Jones
San Francisco, CA
Vals Spa, Switzerland
In a remote valley in southeastern Switzerland, the contemporary architect Peter Zumthor has elevated the ancient thermal bath to the realm of the sublime. Contrasts between light and shade, especially in otherworldly grottoes of quartzite shrouding softly lit pools, inform the experience. Incomparable Alpine views from outdoor spaces serve as a reminder that nature is the preeminent architect.
Mountain, stone, water - building in the stone, building with stone, into the mountain, building out of the mountain, being inside the mountain - how can the implications and the sensuality in the association of these words be interpreted, architecturally? The whole concept was designed by following up these questions; so that it all took form step by step.
Family Winemakers of California
Sunday August 20th 12:00 - 4:00 PM
Fort Mason Center
San Francisco, CA
Tickets for the general public are $35 in advance; $45 day of event. They are on sale at Fort Mason Box Office, (415) 345-7575, or via Ticket Web.
The Dwell on Design Conference + Exhibition hosted by Dwell, America’s premier modern design magazine, will view architecture through the lens of prefab, sustainability, affordability, and urban design via a dynamic group of speakers and engaging industry partners.
Experience the Dwell on Design Prefab Studios, Modern Markets and Dwell Design Source Studios by joining Dwell this September for an extraordinary event revealing the most engaging design issues of the day.
Continue reading "Dwell on Design Conference + Exhibition ~ San Francisco" »
Back in 2001, Alexandra Marnier-Lapostolle decided to giver her award winning wind, Clos Apalta, its own facility in Chile. Now her $9 million cream winery is up and running. Go for a tour and luch or better yet snag on eof the four chich bungalows overlooking the vineyards. Reserve now for a weekend during spring harvest. Two-night stay for two, $1500 all inclusive.
Copenhagen is seemingly made for design tourism, and the Square is the perfect downtown hotel for travelers who need a little Arne Jacobsen in their lives—and the bright crimson Egg chairs in the lobby look positively retro next to the glowing green glass of the reception desk. The hotel takes its name from its location, on Copenhagen’s central Town Square, and is conveniently located next to the Tivoli Gardens and the Strøget, the famed pedestrian mall.
Continue reading "The Square Hotel Copenhagen" »
Quintess is one of the finest luxury vacation clubs in the world. A Quintess membership establishes an incredible new luxury lifestyle for you and your family. They combine the grand opulence of a multimillion dollar home with services and amenities found only in the best five-star resorts. Together, with amenities and programs provided through our destination partners, Quintess members receive access to one-in-a-lifetime experiences that no other luxury residence club can offer. Properties include private apartments that would each sell for around $4 million, in New York, Paris, Napa, and Cabo, with Florence London in the works. Memership is a $345,000 onetime fee; annual dues of $21,000 for 30 days a year then $250 a day thereafter.
Since opening their restaurant Les Trois Garçons in London's East End in 2000, the trio of Hassan Abdullah, Stefan Karlson and Michel Lasserre have blazed a trail at the most fashionable end of the UK hospitality scene. Their Loungelover bar, just around the corner from Les Trois Garçons, has picked up a clutch of awards for its wildly eclectic interiors and creative cocktail menu, and their latest venture, Annex 3, near Oxford Circus, has become one of the glitziest spots in the capital.
The turn-of-the-century building has previously been a library, a seedy pole-dancing club and a restaurant, but by the time the team bought it, the interior resembled a hideous salmon pink terrazzo bathroom. Out came the tacky tiles, revealing an original mosaic floor, which became a feature of the bar where two red stiletto chairs from a Parisian shoe shop and a tin model of a fairground ride from Sweden take centre stage. An enormous eagle from the Isle-sur-la-Sorgue flea market, surrounded by 1970s Perspex lights, greets guests in the reception area, and a mosaic sculpture of a boxer emerges from a gold wall close by.
Continue reading "Annex 3 ~ London" »
Chateau Eza and the medieval village of Eze sits 400 meters above the Mediterranean, on the Moyenne Corniche, or middle road, a Roman roadway that connects Monte Carlo and Nice. From here, obviously, it is possible to truly enjoy the Côte d'Azur, while keeping the crowd at arm's length.
The remoteness is probably what appealed to Sweden's Prince William; the chateau was once property of the Royal Family, and William spent thirty years here, pursuing his writing career. It's still quiet here, an ideal place to get some writing done, though the decor is distinctly un-Scandinavian, with luxe fabrics and French antique furnishings.
Continue reading "Chateau Eza ~ Eze, France" »
Post Ranch Inn is blessed with one of the most extraordinary locations on the face of the earth, a place of such breathtaking beauty it’s hard to believe it’s even accessible by mere automobile-driving mortals. Big Sur is the most scenic destination along California’s most scenic drive, Highway 1, which links Los Angeles with San Francisco and features such curiosities as Hearst Castle and Steinbeck’s Monterey along the way.
Of course what Highway 1 mostly features is natural beauty, and some of the last unspoiled places in America. It would be difficult for any man-made structure to compete with these cliffside views of the Pacific, or the majesty of the redwood forests; but this strange and decadent little hotel holds its own.
Modernist architect Mickey Muennig settled in Big Sur in 1971, and has been responsible for most of its notable buildings ever since. Post Ranch Inn is his only hotel design, and indeed it’s hard to imagine it translating into some kind of movable hotel template, comprising as it does a number of discreet house designs, each uniquely suited to its location.
Continue reading "Post Ranch Inn" »
The term design hotel has found wide currency in recent years, and has devolved into a vague superlative, almost without referent. Today any hotel built after 1900 calls itself a design hotel, as though in opposition to those hotels which were not designed but which assembled themselves, of their own free will, from free-floating clusters of furniture, bedding, and masonry.
So it may strain the reader's patience when we refer to Hi Hotel as a design hotel, but there is really no more concise way to put it. Every aspect of the Hi Hotel, from the décor to the toiletries, was designed by Matali Crasset, a Philippe Starck protegé, and the style is somewhat familiar to those who have seen Starck's work — but somehow even more whimsical, more vibrant. A variety of schemes come in a variety of colors, from “White & White,” which resembles a hospital room, to “Digital,” whose walls are covered in foot-high pixels of blue and green, and “Monospace,” in bands of blue, white, and red.
Continue reading "Hi Hotel ~ Nice, France" »
Started by Sebastien de Jaegher aka Joon four years ago as punk/skate label, Noir Kennedy has just released their 7th collection. He began designing clothes because he didn’t find anything that he wanted to wear so he decided to makes his own Their influences comes especially from the musical medium, rock and roll of the seventies , Quadrophenia while passing by Minor Threat or Dispatch Mode. But also the skate, punk, trash scene in which he sepnt a good part of his youth and which particularly inspired him
If you didn't know it was there, you'd just pass this amazing store. around the corner from l'eclaireur [homme] this is definitely not one to pass up if you love skinny jeans and punk rock. Also good for anyone who wants to check out an interesting store concept.
Noir Kennedy 22 rue du Roi de Siecile Paris
According to Deserio.com the top skyline in the world is Hong Kong, China. Accoring to deserio.com “ Hong Kong has a whopping 43 buildings over 200 metres tall, 30 of which were built in the year 2000 or later!!! It also boasts four of the 15 tallest buildings in the world… that's all in one city! Hong Kong’s skyline shows a large selection of distinct sky-reaching towers, with beautiful night lighting and reflection.”
My personal favorite is Tokyo (picture below) Not that I have been to Tokyo but the I like the picture the best.
AmanResorts meets Africa at Marrakech’s Amanjena Hotel. It’s another departure from tropical island-chic for the chain that started a decade and a half ago in Phuket with Amanpuri. Designed by the American architect Ed Tuttle to conform harmoniously to its surroundings, Amanjena bears a distinct Moorish influence, miles from the Balinese style of its Far East sisters.
Aman addicts rest easy, though: all the elements are in place to make Amanjena a regular stop on the never-ending world tour of those jet-setters who are so loyal to this particular brand of luxury that they’ll hardly think of staying anywhere else.
Continue reading "Amanjena Hotel ~ Marrekech" »
When Avec opened in late 2003 as the quiet sister of Blackbird, the holiest establishment on Randolph Row, Avec was expected to be its downgraded bistro cum wine bar. Conceived as a casual, rustic, looser turn for Blackbird’s impeccably trained chefs, it turns out that the food at Avec is (arguably) better.
A dazzling wine list presents 120 bottles of traditional, often unknown varietals from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal; some 30 selections are ingeniously presented in 250 ml. bottles or carafinas, essentially making them glass-and-a-half or one- third-bottle pours. A clean, modern and organic space of naked cedar slats, hickory floors, blond oak benches and a back display of emerald-green wine bottles, Avec’s diners sit at long communal tables or at the stainless steel bar.
The new design hotel Yasmin is situated just around the corner from the Wenceslas Square in the heart of Prague. The hotel is surrounded by the most significant historical and business monuments of the city.
A team of Czech creatives, including artists from Studio Najbrt and designers from local firm Mimolit, have turned a neoclassical building into a super-modern, Asian-inspired hotel. The restaurant is divided by abstract red steel sculptures, the bedrooms are lit by Moooi tube lights and, in the bathrooms, multiple mirrors reflect black tiles in a space punctuated by Starck fittings.
Yasmin four stars hotel offers first class facilities. 198 luxury designed rooms, including 11 suites fully air-conditioned, equipped with minibar, safety deposit box, luxurious bathrooms, satellite LCD screen TV, pay-TV and high-speed internet access.
Rooms: from €220 which you can book online
The gadget of the month is Samsung’s new YP-D1 Pocket DSC MP3 Plater, which debuted at CES. It’s an MP3 player and a digital camera all in one. Forget about crappy camera phones and use this two megapixel, 4X zoom instead. It shows pictures and text files on its 1.8” color screen and uses its USB connection to hook up to your TV to reveal all the docs on a larger screen. Besides holding hundreds of MP3s it also has an FM radio. You can’t buy it yet but it will retail for $299
Next month, renowned 17–story circular building in the heart of LA’s post Brentwood community will be unveiled as the new handsome new Hotel Angeleno. Embracing a sleek interior design accented by polished wood and modern earth tones, the botique hotel geatures 209 guestrooms and suited with the latest modern amenities, including 300–count Italian linens, wireless internet access, flat screen TV’s and private balconies. Guests can also take advantage of four exceptional meeting places, a full fitness center and heated outdoor pool. At penthouse level, Lounge offers authentic Italian steakhouse style dining and one of the finest panoramic views in the city.
Just 100 meters away by escalator from the ski runs and cable cars of the Silvretta ski arena in Ischgl Austria is the Hotel Madlein, the most extraordinary place in the Alps. This first-class hotel offers every luxury that one can imagine: cuddle room, family apartments, and now, new designer suites. A traditional Austrian chalet on the outside... but inside you'll Þnd a totally unconventional Zen-inspired interior. Rooms are light, spacious and airy, with swish modern furnishings. The loft-style designer bedrooms have bathrooms whose walls are made from frosted glass. The emphasis throughout is on stone, glass and wood to reflect the mountains, which you can see everywhere, from the floor-to-ceiling windows to the Japanese garden. There's entertainment at Pacha nightclub, and a Sushi Lounge and gourmet restaurant.
"World's Best Awards" from the editors at Travel + Leisure magazine. I have yet to experience any of these airlines, and have always heard great things about Cathay Pacific. But I am most surprised by the fact that not one Domestic American airline is in the top six.
Singapore Airlines
800-742-3333
www.singaporeair.com
Cathay Pacific Airlines
800-233-2742
www.cathaypacific.com
Emirates
800-777-3999
www.emirates.com
Thai Airways International
800-426-5204
www.thaiair.com
Virgin Atlantic Airways
800-862-8621
www.virgin-atlantic.com
Source: Travel + Leisure magazine
The Tumi Electric Adapter makes going international easier now with this innovative design: it has 4 adaptor configurations in one unit. Works for laptops, cell phones and small appliances in 150 countries. Features a replaceable electric fuse and convenient case. Most travel adapters are ugly and bulky but this travel adapter is something no international jetsetter should be without.
Buy it online @ Flight001
Courtesy of the same minds that brought us Mexico City’s Hotel Habita and Condesa DF, as well as Playa del Carmen’s neighboring Deseo, Hotel Básico is a high-design boutique hotel — but, like its sisters, a highly individual one. In this case it’s a concept that’s far from city glam, with floors made from recycled tires and twin rooftop pools made from converted oil tanks.
Unfinished concrete walls and exposed ductwork lend an industrial feel to the guest rooms, like something from a Bond villain’s island stronghold. Raised platform beds sit at the center of each room, surrounded by the sort of accessories you don’t often see in a hotel room — flippers for diving, a soccer ball, a Polaroid camera. A live video feed brings the beach conditions right to your plasma television, in case you need to check the surf or the scene before venturing out.
For all the funkiness, though, the Básico is anything but basic; the Caribbean view from the rooftop pools is stunning, and the pool deck cabanas come with built-in mattresses for luxurious lazing. Downstairs, an open-kitchen restaurant fashioned after a traditional puesto serves fresh and authentic Mexican seafood on a patio shaded by leafy trees
Secrets of Paris is a free, monthly e-newsletter started by Heather Stimller-Hall back in January 2001 as a way of sharing her latest finds with friends (both French and foreign) living in Paris. Through word of mouth alone it has become a very popular source of alternative Paris information for both residents and visitors, with subscribers from 24 countries.
The newsletter is completely ad-free, and includes tips on upcoming events, where to eat, shop, sleep and go out at night, as well as money and time-saving hints. Basically, it includes anything she finds interesting about Paris that isn't in the mainstream press. Topics include everything for drinking and dining to book event and hotel news. For anyone taking a trip to Paris or if you just dream of living in Paris, this is the newsletter to read.
Heather is also the author of the The Adventure Guide to Paris & Ile-de-France which you can buy online @ amazon.com
K West is a bit out of the way; its Shepherd’s Bush location is not exactly glamorous, but still just minutes from Central London by subway and a short hop from Notting Hill. In fact, we picked this hotel for people in the music industry as it is close to venues and studios. As such, it is reasonably priced with a cool vibe.
A recent redesign has found K West looking rather contemporary, yet not severely modern. The style of the moment is “less is more” — the palette is restrained, earthy, and the decor minimal and a bit bland in the least expensive rooms, lending to the slightly Zen aspirations of the hotel.
Relaxation is key, after all; the full name is K West Hotel and Spa, and the philosophy is: if circumstances prohibit an escape to Bali or Thailand, then settle into Shepherd's Bush for the next best thing. In reality, Spa is a bit of an overstatement, but these services may just the thing to rehabilitate a damaged psyche.
Continue reading "K West Hotel ~ London" »
Whenever in Bali, Indonesia, you should try the reflexology treatments offered by Chill Out Spa, in Seminyak district.
Located in a shopping area nearby the beach, with several hotels and Villas in its surrounding, this Spa has a modern and minimalist decor and offers a relaxing combination of relexology and acupressure. Therapists will relieve stress (and jet lag), helping to make you feel more balanced for the rest of the day.
It is also very unexpensive when it comes to US dollars or Euros. The 1 hour treatments cost from 80,000 iRp to 100.000 iRp (less than US$ 10).
Their address:
118 Jl.Kunti,Seminyak - Bali, Indonesia
Open: 10.00-22.00 (last rsv. at 20.00)
On October 30, 2006, a small group of far-sighted travellers will set off on a unique journey. They will visit a remarkable selection of South America’s most exciting and important destinations—places that embody the mystery of lost civilizations, the diversity of modern city life, the vigor of traditional folkways and the power of untrammeled nature. They will enjoy the unparalleled luxury of fine hotels, elegant resorts, and gala dining and entertainment events. They will fly point-to-point aboard a private jet exclusively dedicated to their comfort, convenience and safety. They will never forget their Circumnavigation of South America, 2006.
Your Own Private Jet
On every point-to-point flight of your itinerary, you’ll travel on board your own private, custom-reconfigured 757 jet. It’s the ultimate way to travel. Routes and schedules are chosen for your convenience: You fly direct, with no layovers or connecting flights, bypassing hectic airport lines and delays. Because your capable 757 can land at smaller, less crowded airports on its own timetable, remote destinations are suddenly within easy reach. Boarding and luggage-handling are expedited, as are Customs and Immigration formalities on cross-border arrivals. Your baggage always travels with you.
Access to the jet and its baggage hold is monitored and controlled at all times, under the careful scrutiny of the plane’s staff and security officers.
At $44,000 this isn’t for those of you with a full time job. You need to have already have made the big bucks to take a month off and pay $44,000 for you and your significant other. Or you can just order a brochure
Proving that size really doesn’t matter, Arab-kitsch cocktail lounge Andy Wahloo draws a formidably fashionable set crowd in here and fight for a coveted place on an upturned paint can .Andy Wahloo - created by the people behind its neighbour 404 and London’s Momo and Sketch - is Arabic for ‘I have nothing’. From head to toe, it’s a beautifully designed venue crammed with Moroccan artefacts, and enough colours to fill a Picasso. Quiet early on, there’s a surge around nine and the atmosphere heats up as the night gets longer.
Address: 69 rue des Gravilliers, 3e, Paris, France
Phone: 01-42-71-20-38
Through Marquis Jet's exclusive alliance with NetJets®, the worldwide leader in private aviation, the Marquis Jet Card enables access to the prestigious NetJets fleet with a simple payment for 25-hours of occupied flight time. There is no long-term commitment, no large capital outlay and no hidden costs. You can fly your 25 hours at your leisure, renew or simply walk away when you are finished; it's that simple.
Some of the many Marquis Jet Card program benefits include: Exclusive access to the NetJets fleet of over 500 aircraft
Guaranteed availability 24 hours a day, 365 days a year
Highest standards of safety, security and personal service
Access to thousands of airports in North America and Europe
10 aircraft types to choose from
Exchange your jet for a smaller or larger cabin depending on your needs
Freedom to exchange between NetJets North American and European fleets
No "deadheads" or "empty leg" charges within NetJets primary service area
No long-term commitment
Request Information
Located in Manchester’s Chapel Wharf development, on the Salford side of the River Irwell, at the foot of Santiago Calatrava’s forked Trinity bridge, the Lowry Hotel is without a doubt the queen of the Manchester hotel scene. From the outside, the building’s bowed glass face draws attention; interiors set themselves apart with a cool and crisp, almost Scandinavian look, quite at odds with the comically plush furniture and swank boudoir atmosphere that have become the hip Brit-boutique standard.
Rooms look out through floor-to-ceiling windows, many over the river, and are not just smart, with sleek modern furniture and cool neutral tones, but functional as well, with broadband internet and writing desks with ergonomic chairs. And if it’s over-the-top luxury you want, you’ll find it here, whether it’s a Presidential Suite complete with a baby grand piano, or just the services of a 24-hour bath butler, on hand to draw you a bath mixed with anything from Dead Sea salts to rose petals to champagne.
The Lowry Hotel
50 Dearmans Place, Chapel Wharf
Manchester M3 5LH, United Kingdom
164 Rooms
Rates from GB£130.00
Wireless in-flight Internet has been available on a handful of international carriers ever since 2004. But several companies are planning to expand service dramatically over the next two years on international and even domestic flights.
Boeing's Connexion service, which is already on 100 planes—including those flown by Lufthansa, SAS, Japan Airlines, and Singapore Airlines—will be installed on at least 100 more by the end of 2006. OnAir, a joint venture between Airbus and the telecommunications firm SITA, currently provides only in-seat text-messaging and Web-based e-mail from mobile devices; however, the company plans to add high-speed Wi-Fi access by 2007. KLM, Iberia, Northwest, Virgin Atlantic, and Qantas are among the 11 airlines who already contract with OnAir. Verizon Airfone is said to be working on wireless Internet, too; however, its service would be limited to domestic flights.
But the spread of in-flight Internet may not please all passengers. Savvy business travelers are already using Connexion to place unlimited international calls from 30,000 feet with free Internet phone services such as Google Talk and Skype All you need is a laptop and a computer headset. So much for getting a little peace and quiet on that red-eye.
Tasca do Edgar, in the corner of Rua Alice (Alice street) and Rua Mario Portela (Mario Portela street), in the neighborhood of Laranjeiras, in Rio de Janeiro, is one of the most delightful places to go and to experience "how to be a carioca".
Do not expect waiters able to speak English. All you can expect is to go to a place not usually spotted in the tourist guides that can offer an atmosphere of what real Rio de Janeiro is all about.
The Portuguese entrepreneur José Luis Ribeiro (better known as Juca) also owns "Bar do Serafim", just across the street and "Adega do Juca" (Juca's Cellar) that is situated nearby, at Gago Coutinho street. His commitment is to offer real good food in an informal environment where families and friends can meet to eat.
The menu is full of Brazilian dishes for you to choose. The samosas - filled with carne-seca (dried meat), shrimp, crab, siri (a soft-shell crab) or cheese - or the codfish croquettes are a great choice to start. Then order a seafood special or try the Brazilian feijoada (typical pork and black beans stew). Ask for a caipirinha or a chopp (draft beer) to drink. If you find enough room for dessert, do not hesitate to ask for one of the marvelous Portuguese yolk-based dessert specials: Pastel de Belém, Toucinho do Céu, Pastel de Santa Clara. They have a big glass window at the counter where you can see the sweets before ordering. Just stand up, have a look, order and wait for the divine dish to come to your table.
And, in these Brazilian summer months, if you go on Saturday, you will have a bonus: in front of Tasca do Edgar, every Saturday before Carnival the rehersals of "Volta, Alice" Carnival Band take place at 5 pm. The parade is scheduled for February 27, at 5pm.
info:
Tasca do Edgar
Rua Mário Portela, 16 - Loja A
Phone: 2558.9447/ 2558.5582
Opens Tue-Sun from 10am. till the last client
Major credit card accepted
No valet parking.
Miss Tanaka is one of the most romantic places to have dinner in Rio de Janeiro. Nearby the district of Jardim Botânico, the Japanese food restaurant is located just in front of one of the greener areas of the
city.
It counts on several charming ambients to have dinner, including a backyard with a folding roof, which allows you to see the stars and the moon in a clear carioca night. Other ambients are special as well
- the tatami mats (Japanese mat), the room with gift wrapping paper walls, the red lantern ambients, the entrance room that has a small lake...
The Japanese food menu is creative and sophisticated. And you can see the sushimen working not only behind the counter but in the big kitchen (it is has glass window for you to admire their work). We
suggest you to try the Shimeji appetizer (mushrooms cooked in sake), hot roll sushis and the beautiful (and tasy) tempuras (fried vegetables and shrimps).
info:
Miss Tanaka
Rua Pacheco Leão, 758, Jardim Botânico
Phone 3205-7322
Working Hours: 18h/0h (mon.), 18h/2h (tue-fri.), 12h/1h (sat.) and
12h/0h (sun.). Major credit cards accepted.
Valet parking at night
It's hard to imagine how it could happen, but a beach resort in the southern Atlantic once renowned for its picture-perfect white and pink sands somehow dropped off the traveler's map. In 1959, when Juan Trippe, founder of Pan American Airways, opened his exclusive Cotton Bay Club on Eleuthera, the 110-mile-long by 2-mile-wide Bahamian island quickly became a playground for wealthy Americans. Then hurricane damage and the demise of Pan Am sent the elite elsewhere, and investors set their sights on nearby Harbour Island and the Exumas. Slowly but surely, however, Eleuthera is rebounding. Last year, Continental added new flights to the island from Miami and Fort Lauderdale. The venerable Cove resort has recently been transformed into a stylish retreat, and a hotel at the center of a real estate development called Pineapple Fields is now accepting guests. And by the end of the year, Eleuthera will see the debut of several small luxury hotels, plus Starwood's 1,500-acre Cotton Bay Villas. This upscale, ecologically sensitive resort, owned by Bahamian locals, will leave the landscape of kamalame trees and pigeon plums largely untouched, and its beach will be the domain of only the lucky few. .
The House at.. Hautefage was designed as a bucolic bolthole for writers, musicians and film-makers; a place of rest, retreat and rustication, perfect for the creative polish or final push. Of course, if you want to just kick back and enjoy the scenery, pool and the lovingly understated interior (two and a half years in the making), and leave your creative juices simmering elsewhere, you can do that, too.
Service levels are dictated by the guest. If you want your food shopping and cooking done, that can be arranged. And, as the retreat is in France's gastronomic heart (there are two Michelin-starred restaurants within ten minutes' drive), the food is something to get excited about. Indeed, so keen are Gillis and Maclean on local fare, they're looking to produce a food range under The House At name, with a London store planned in the near future. The House At only opened last summer, but the pair are already thinking about adding a screening room, editing suite and recording studio. So if your rom-com, short film or difficult second album needs a little quality time and attention, this is the perfect place to retreat to.
For Booking Inquiries contact Kle Savidge @ kle@thehouseat.com
Can a Zen Buddhist monk improve your skiing? Find out at a Utah session of Ski to Live, a one-of-a-kind, spirituality based ski and snowboard clinic where skiers delve deeper into the powder by looking deeper into the self. Participants in the four day clinics discover new strengths while facing their fears on the slopes and in life. Former professional extreme skier Kristen Ulmer was inspired to create the program when she realized that good skiing has less to do with technique than it does with the state of mind. Participants start the day with yoga, then hit the slopes with thoughtful instructors, including Ulmer, intent on pushing past mental and physical boundaries. In quiet afternoon settings, Zen Master Genpo Roshi leads all persuasions of powder hounds down a path of self-discovery. The result is the clarity of pure awareness, which can increase control over the thoughts that affect physical performance, including skiing. Ski to Live takes place at Snowbird Resort, January, 5–7; Alta, Utah, March 23–26; and Sugarbush , Vermont January 27–29
Some cities are filled to the brim with chic and hyper-modern designer hotels, but Paris could always use another one. As such, Hotel Sezz is a welcome addition to the landscape, the perfect antidote to the prevailing antique hotel trend. Here, in the 16th arrondissement (hence the name), Starck protégé Christophe Pillet has created a dramatic and stylish space, a hotel that would turn heads in Milan or Barcelona and looks all the more surprising in staid old Paris.
But first you have to find it; rather than sandwiched between designer shops and department stores, Sezz is tucked away down a quiet street in an upscale residential neighborhood, with not a shop or restaurant in sight. And the facade itself is absolutely classic, offering no hint of the fantasy inside.
Once through the doors, it’s another world, one dressed not in the flashy whimsy of a Starck, but in Pillet’s own original style, a black-and-red futuristic boudoir chic. Walls of exposed grey stone convey a subterranean atmosphere, and the ultra-modern furniture is severe and masculine. It all feels a bit like the devil’s own bachelor pad, with the freestanding bed occupying the center of the room atop a thick crimson rug. Bathrooms are impeccably designed, with oversized tubs easily large enough for two. And while the single room may be passing out of style, the singles at Sezz are possibly the best we’ve ever seen.
Public spaces include the first Veuve Clicquot champagne bar in Paris, certain to become one of the city’s most in-demand nightspots, and a jacuzzi, hammam and massage room in the basement, for when that oversized soaking tub isn’t doing the trick.
San Francisco International Art Exposition: Featuring more than 75 international galleries representing more than 2,000 artists, this year's show is an eclectic collection of modern and contemporary artwork in a variety of artistic styles and media that range from painting, drawing, photography and printmaking to sculpture, video, installation and mixed media.
From museum-quality masterworks by Andy Warhol, Georgia O'Keeffe, David Hockney, Edward Weston, Richard Avedon and Willem de Kooning to works by young, cutting-edge artists, the San Francisco International Art Exposition provides private collectors, museum curators, corporate consultants and art enthusiasts with an opportunity to view and select work from a comprehensive exposition of 20th century art
Fort Mason, San Francisco
Thursday, September 29 – Sunday, October 2, 2005
Hours:
Thursday, September 29: 11am – 7pm
Friday, September 30: 11am - 7pm
Saturday, October 1: 11am - 7pm
Sunday, October 2: 11am - 6pm
Located bang in the centre of Stockholm, La Camera has a slick interior, courtesy of Scheiwiller Svensson Architects, the menu consists of appetisers from which you can pick 'n' mix accordingly, while the epic cocktail menu promises to be the talk of the town.
The two-day Tropical Green conference will be an invaluable experience for architects, interior designers, developers, city planners, politicians, and voters in search of learning the ways of 21st century design that will both help the environment and their wallets.
You can register online with a cerdit card by following this link or calling (800) 715-2443. Checks may be made payable to METROPOLIS magazine. Please mail your check and registration form to METROPOLIS Products, P.O. Box 576, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. Please complete one form for each individual.
In essence air travel consolidators enable travellers to compare flight prices across a range of airlines for a particular flight route on at the same time period. This enables travellers to save time and money by comparing a range of airlines simultaneously to determine not only the most cost effective airline, but also the most convenient time to travel and airline to travel from/to where there are several options.The core benefit of using an air travel consolidator is that you can inevitably find not only the cheapest flight route, but also the most affordable flight at the most convenient time. As the online travel market has grown over the last decade, so the number of travel consolidators on the net likewise has increased, and is due to eclipse traditional offline travel consolidators within the next two years. Indeed, the benefit of using an online air travel consolidator is that you are able to not only compare several airlines using one consolidator, but in fact quickly and conveniently compare several travel consolidators' best prices for a particular travel route against one another. As such you are effectively comparing 'the best quote' across a range of 'best airfare' quote providers. While many online air travel consolidators may offer the same flight routes by the same airline, the relationship and deals that they have which airline will inevitably vary, as such one consolidator will be able to quote a far more cost effective price on the same flight as another airline.
Continue reading "Air Travel Consolidators" »
One hundred of San Francisco’s finest restaurants will offer three-course prix-fixe menus at $21.95 for lunch and/or $31.95 for dinner. A la carte menus will be available as well. Available exclusively to Visa cardholders, "Dine About Town San Francisco" gives diners the rare opportunity to try out hot new restaurants and revisit some favorites at tempting prices. Experienced Dine About Town-ers know to make reservations as soon as the dedicated Web site, goes live A list of all 100 participating "Dine About Town San Francisco" restaurants, searchable by cuisine and location, will be available. Through a partnership with OpenTable.com, the leading provider of free, online reservations for diners as well as guest and table management systems for restaurants, reservations at the participating restaurants can be made online at www.sfdineabouttown.com.
Just declared the #1 US hotel in the west by Travel and Leisure magazine and a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, The Rusty Parrot Lodge & Spa is located at 175 N. Jackson Street, just minutes from Jackson's Town Square, renowned for its fine shopping, art galleries and restaurants. Established in 1990, the Rusty Parrot is a 31-room lodge that has established itself as the lodging choice of discerning travelers worldwide. Well-appointed rooms are designed with in-room wood burning fireplaces, down comforters, and one-of-a-kind, hand-crafted furniture. Rooms are available with king- or double queen-size beds and feature baths with oversized soaking tubs, with in-room massages available in front of a roaring fire. To further pamper guests, the Rusty Parrot provides complimentary thick bathrobes, boutique bath amenities and nightly turndown service to every room.With close proximity to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, guests often make the Rusty Parrot Lodge and Spa their home base as they make day trips into the parks. The lodge is twenty minutes from Jackson Airport; twenty minutes from Jackson Hole Mountain Resort at Teton Village and ninety minutes from Grand Targhee ski area. A complimentary public shuttle service and private van service is available to bring guests to and from the ski resort.
The action takes place over three levels at the sleek new Garrett Café Bar at the Bairro Alto Hotel in Lisbon. Colourful light boxes and a rotating light display are warm and inviting on the main level; Chinese lacquered tables and screens spice up the Mezzanine; while the Igloo-lounge in the basement offers cool, minimalist surroundings perfect for private parties. Go along towards the end of the week and sip Champagne and Pimm's cocktails while local DJs spin their favourite tunes.
Praca Luis de Camoes, 8, Lisbon Portugal
All coach sets are not created equal. True, nearly every U.S. airline economy cabin is packed like a sardine can these days, but some are packed tighter than others. You can get closer to comfort by being picky about the models of aircraft you fly and then trying to engineer yourself into the best seat on the particular plane you've selected.
I've been comparing a lot of coach cabins lately, tape measure and seating charts in hand. On a Continental Airlines 737 from Newark to Denver, my seat cushion measured 18.5 inches across. The pitch—the distance from row to row, which is a measurement of legroom—was 31 inches. There was no inflight entertainment, and it took some squeezing to get my garment bag into the overhead compartment. For my flight from Denver back to Newark, I opted for a United Airlines 777 instead. My seat cushion measured 20 inches across, the pitch 32 inches. I had my own personal seatback video screen with a choice of movies and television shows, and there was tons of space in the overhead compartment.
Next came an American Airlines 757 from JFK to Seattle. This time my seat cushion measured 18 inches, the pitch 35 inches. My theory that American must be trying to attract the tall and thin was confirmed on my return flight. I managed to snag an exit-row seat: Although it was only 17 inches wide (thanks to immovable, hip-confining armrests), it afforded an extra 7 inches of legroom.
On only four flights, then, I had experienced seats with cushions anywhere from 17 to 20 inches wide and row-to-row spacing of anywhere from 31 to 42 inches, and I had decided it was high time I investigated how coach travelers with a flexible schedule can land themselves the best possible seats. Here's what I found:
Go for two-aisle plans
Wide bodies, which are typically, which are typically used on long-haul and transcontinental flights, have long been more popular than one-aisle planes. They have roomier seats, more storage space, and a less confining—as long as you don't end up in middle seat in the center section. (For a list of wide-bodies used on domestic routes, and their percentage of middle seats, see "How likely are you to get stuck in a middle seat?")
Continue reading "How to Get the Best Coach Seat" »
Cassis is a town I fell in love in the year I lived in Aix-En-Provence. Cassis is a beautiful resort town just west of Marseille. Hemmed in by high white cliffs, its modern development has been limited and it retains much of the charm lost by its more high-profile neighbors. Built on the side of a hill, the old village is centered around a shady square where the inhabitants come to cool off and play 'pétanque' on summer nights. Portside posing and drinking aside, there's not much to do except sunbathe and look up at the ruins of the town's medieval castle, built in 1381 and now currently a hotel called the Chateau de Cassis. Perched atop Les Falaises Soubeyrannes the 13th-century Château de Cassis is a stunning hotel with five romantic suites accessed via a warren of staircases or tunnels and a fantastic view of the Mediterranean and the town of Cassis.
5. Banff/Lake Louise, Alberta, Western Canada
Located in the heart of Canada's Banff National Park, Lake Louise ranks as one of the most scenic mountain resorts in North America, if not the entire world. Banff/Lake Louise has three different ski areas (Mount Norquay/Mystic Ridge, Sunshine Village, and Lake Louise) that are roughly 50 km apart (yes, they use km outside of the US).
The Insider's Guide to the Best Canadian Skiing has labeled Norquay as "an unforgiving brute legendary for its unrelenting vertical and monster moguls."
4. Vail, Colorado, Western United States
Legendary Vail markets itself as "America's favorite resort" and deserves to be ranked amongst the world's top five all-around ski resorts. As the largest single ski area in the United States, Vail offers roughly 5,300 acres of skiable , terrain.
Let's not forget the fastest high-speed detachable quads on one mountain. No small feat, I'm sure. Vail offers much more with several art galleries, museums, ballooning, dog sledding, ice skating, hockey, snowmobiling, and much more.
3. Zermatt, Switzerland
While neighboring Gstaad is one of the world's top resorts with its three five-star hotels and St. Moritz is more popular, most rank Zermatt as Switzerland's top resort. A remarkably peaceful getaway, the village is peaceful thanks to its car-free environment. Amazingly picturesque, Zermatt holds the world's second biggest lift-served vertical drop and receives huge snowfalls thanks to its altitude (and some help from snowmakers on the lower slopes).
2. Kitzbuhel, Austria
While St. Anton holds the crown of "Europe's liveliest ski resort," and Innsbruck is home to one of Europe's liveliest and most beautiful cities (the International Olympic Committee must have thought so as well, as the city hosted the Winter Olympics in 1964 and 1976), Kitzbuhel is considered the "Pearl of the Alps" and is the most famous holiday resort in the Austrian Tyrol. This 700-year-old village offers visitors the charm of an alpine village. Skiing began in the winter of 1892.
1. Whistler/Blackcomb, British Columbia
These two towering mountains provide the best skiing in North America, with the biggest vertical drop. It's funny what a difference 30 years and $600 million can make. Yet there was not much there but a mountain for courageous hikers.
Whistler's charming village offers everything snowboarders and skiers crave; cafes, international stores and over 100 restaurants that cater to all tastes including Chinese, French, Greek, Italian, Mediterranean, Mexican, and Thai cuisine.
Food is key after partaking in the activities that really make Whistler legendary. Whistler quickly rose through the ranks to become one of the strongest contenders for the much-disputed title of "world's greatest ski resort." Over the past decade, Whistler was consistently voted "Best North American Ski Resort" by North Americans. The Japanese repeatedly rank it as their favorite international destination.
There is certainly no dearth of slopeside luxury and service around the globe. We even discovered a swanky ski property in Lebanon (the IC Mountain Resort & Spa Mzaar), but it didn’t make the cut because just getting there is more dangerous than navigating a black diamond run. Instead, we’re simply giving you—as we always do—our favorites, chosen for their locations and style. Among them you’re sure to find a mountain retreat that’s just right for you.
Continue reading "Top 10 Ski Resorts" »
Hotel Palafitte is perfect for those with no taste for the tropics, or anyone who appreciates an inventive and inspiring hotel, Hôtel Palafitte is a South Pacific-style overwater bungalow hotel, located not in the Maldives but on the waters of Switzerland’s Lake Neuchâtel, at the foot of the Jura mountains, with a stunning view of the Alps across the lake. Completed just in time for the Swiss Expo.02, this is an utterly futuristic execution of a timeless concept. After all, farmers lived in houses on stilts above the waters of this very lake some five thousand years ago — but never quite like this.
Continue reading "Hotel Palafitte Neuchâtel, Switzerland" »
"The greatest and finest atlas ever published." -Koeman I, Bl 56 The finest and most comprehensive baroque atlas was Joan Blaeu’s exceptional Atlas Maior, completed in 1665. The original 11-volume Latin edition, containing 596 maps, put Blaeu ahead of his staunch competitor, mapmaker Johannes Janssonius, whose rivalry inspired Blaeu to produce a grandiose edition of the largest and most complete atlas to date. Covering Arctica, Europe, Africa, Asia, and America, Blaeu’s Atlas Maior was a remarkable achievement and remains to this day one of history’s finest examples of mapmaking. This reprint is made from the National Library of Vienna’s complete, colored, gold-heightened copy, thus assuring the best possible detail and quality. The book’s introduction, by the University of Utrecht’s Peter van der Krogt, discusses the historical and cultural context and significance of the atlas; Krogt also provides detailed descriptions of the maps, allowing modern readers to fully appreciate Blaeu’s masterwork.
Buy it online at Amazon.com
The recently opened 226-room Hilton Vancouver Washington sets a new, urban precedent for the eco-hotel. The downtown property, which is owned by the city of Vancouver, Washington, and is the centerpiece of its revitalization plan, is slated to become the second hotel in the United States to receive a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating, a certification awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council and one of the most difficult for any building to receive. Designed by the Portland architecture firm Fletcher Farr Ayotte, the hotel is exemplary in its energy efficiency, water-use reduction, sustainable construction and operation, and promotion of alternative transportation. Perhaps most significant, however, is the hotel's adoption of a simple formula: build green, save money. The property is expected to recoup the additional cost for its energy-saving technologies in less than two years and save approximately $86,000 annually through reduced energy costs. By demonstrating the ease and economic feasibility of building green, the Hilton Vancouver Washington has paved the way for other large, urban hotels to embrace environmental responsibility.
When it comes to France, it's not so much where you go that matters, but how you do it. Long-term Paris resident Stephen Clarke gives an insider's guide to getting good service.
Via | The Guardian |
Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista is a luxurious 5 stars hotel integrated in an ancient Venetian Villa immersed in a park of 20.000 square meters and set in Corrubbio (Verona) in the heart of Valpolicella, well-known area of great wines. Contemporary art is the central theme of the Villa Amista, in which many objects of art are exposed by well-known international artists such as: Vanessa Beecroft, Anish Kapoor, Peter Halley, Sol Lewitt, Arnaldo Pomodoro, etc. The magical atmosphere, created by vast spaces ornamented with paintings, decors, and objects which garnish this magnificent villa is the essence of harmony and visual satisfaction. The hotel offers 60 rooms totally different one from each other designed for comfort, quiet and an emphasis on making every guest feel at ease. In addition, the rooms are fully equipped with access to the latest voice and internet communications technology.At our Restaurant Amista clients will be delighted by our Chef who creates dishes that bring out the beauty and subtlety of every ingredient. The love and pleasure taken in the preparation of each dish together with an attention to detail all contribute to the warm and comfortable atmosphere. In the summer season an open-air swimming pool is at disposal of the clients; there are also excellent Wellness facilities, ideal for guests who would like to devote time to health and wellbeing.Whether toning up tired muscles or taking a relaxing massage, the Byblos Art Hotel Villa Amista offers several possibilities including; Sauna, Turkish Bath, Massages, Mud Bath Treatment, Hydrotherapy, all under the professional training of Henri and Miss Dominique Chenot.
The wine bars I most enjoy are those that open early in the morning, have an unpretentious neighborhood atmosphere, and feature good food, friendly people and reasonable prices. Most of the wines offered at these places sell for anywhere from 5 -10 Euro per glass and one can easily dine at most of these places for under 12 Euro. I especially those wine bars whose owners re- cognize that wine is meant to be drunk with food, and whose specialties are simple, bistro style dishes that can range from cold plates of cheese or charcuterie especially designed to match the wines that are being offered. My true favorites have no printed menus, and both the wines and the daily culinary offerings are hand-written on blackboards that are hung behind the bar.
Continue reading "Paris Wine Bars" »
Discover the South American continent's most pristine, magical regions aboard our new small cruiseships, the M/V Mare and Via Australis. These Expedition Cruise Ships take you around the island of Tierra del Fuego, through the legendary Strait of Magellan, Beagle Channel and Cape Horn. Their second vessel (Via Australis, built in 2005) will allow their program to offer 2 weekly departures from Punta Arenas (Saturadys and Wednesdays) and 2 weekly departures from Ushuaia (Saturdays and Wednesdays) giving passengers the option of 3-, 4- or 7-night journeys visiting the world's southernmost cities and Cape Horn. Disembarkations into uninhabited islands and fjords take place daily in Zodiac motorized rafts, allowing passengers to see penguins and other wildlife colonies, the region's most important glaciers, and Cape Horn. Daily lectures on specialized area subjects (Glaciology, Native Cultures, Navigation Routes, Flora and Fauna, and Penguins) complement the experience.
CRUCEROS AUSTRALIS. TEL (Toll-Free): 877-678-3772; FAX: (305) 534-9276;
If you'd rather not be home for Christmas, here are three London hotels where you'll find a festive welcome. At The Langham Hotel a butler will wrap your presents while you have a massage. An alternative Christmas menu (offered in addition to turkey) includes venison and pork belly. A two-night stay for two costs £1,485. 020 7636 1000; www.langhamhotels.com. As well as dinner on Christmas Eve and lunch on Christmas Day, treats on offer at Dukes Hotel include Christmas stockings and family movies in the Marlborough Suite. A two-night stay for two costs £840. 020 7491 4840; www.dukeshotels.com. Mandarin Oriental is offering a £123 room rate over Christmas, including cocktails in the Mandarin Bar and porters to collect purchases from nearby boutiques. Christmas lunch costs £200 per person. 020 7235 2000; www.mandarinoriental.com
2005 marks the centenary of the constitution of the group of artists called Brücke, founded in June 1905 by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, who at the time were architecture students in Dresden. Emil Nolde, Max Pechstein, Cuno Amiet and Otto Mueller were among the most outstanding painters who later joined this association, which broke up definitively in 1913. The eight intensive years of activity of this group witnessed the greatest development of the first period of German expressionism, which went through various stylistic phases marked precisely by the artistic objectives shared by its most important members.
Continue reading "Brücke: The Birth of German Expressionism" »
Frog travel bags are agile, light and colourful. their bodies are soft and elastic. the frog line explores these traits in aesthetic and technological terms, creating a uniquely-shaped product suitable for travellers that love distinctive design. Thanks to its innovative shape and materials, frog teams a lightweight but strong structure with an adaptable volume: polypropylene trolley shell, aluminium tow-bars, three-yarn flock fabric elasticised and expandable in the soft sections. several styles and colors available.
About Mandarina Duck: Italy, the year is 1977. two childhood friends, already long-standing business partners, decide to branch into leatherwear taking their inspiration from a brightly-plumed oriental duck that symbolises happiness and loyalty: this is how mandarina duck started out. the liveliness and spirit of this little duck were instilled into a breakthrough backpack, 'utility', which changed the rules of the game. almost thirty years after such a brilliant start, mandarina duck continues to be original and independent, but also modern, coming up with innovative new products, year after year.
You can buy them On-Line @ Flight 001 or Unica Home
I had a chance to stay at the Mill Valley Inn this past Saturday night. I was in town to check out a show at the Sweetwater Saloon. This intimate hotel is tucked away in a redwood grove at the foot of majestic Mt. Tamalpais, just steps away from the bustling town plaza, where galleries, fine restaurants, boutiques and theaters abound. The Mill Valley Inn combines the sophistication of a small European hotel with the cozy charm of a historic California mill town
You can book a room via Tablet Hotels.com
They don’t call them travel podcasts but Sounds for Sights is offering downloadedable, self-guided audio walking tours for sights and cities around the world.
Sounds for Sights was created by two friends who love traveling, the outdoors and New York City. Being a tech-savvy pair and disappointed with other group, book and bus tour options, they considered additional ways to provide an entertaining and educational destination guide. While spending time in the city, they noticed the obvious prevalence of iPods and wondered what other purposes they could serve besides simply playing music. Being visitors themselves, the answer was clear; develop helpful and fascinating self-guided audio-walking tours that could be downloaded and enjoyed at a person’s convenience. Although the concept of prerecorded audio guides was not brand new, little attention had been paid to providing quality content in a convenient and highly portable package, which was easily accessible online. Most tours cost $5 and last around 45 minutes.
Via | Jaunted |
USA Today published this list today of places to visit this winter. Included is the list and a brief excerpt from each city in the article. You can read the full article here.
Austin, Texas - Known as the live music capital of the world, Austin combines Texas charm with a funky, free-spirited vibe. Winter temperatures range between 60 and 70 degrees in January, February and March, allowing travelers to take advantage of the city's many outdoor activities without the oppressive summer heat. The mild temperatures are ideal for running or biking around the Town Lake hike and bike trail, exploring the music venues in the Warehouse District or on Sixth Street, and wandering South Congress Avenue (or SoCo, locally) in search of Tex-Mex and barbecue.
Beijing - While Beijing's winter weather is not considered ideal by many travelers, the off-peak prices may make the temperatures more bearable. In winter, Beijing is relatively tourist-free, except, of course, during the weeks of the Chinese New Year celebrations in late January and early February. Because winter is Beijing's off-peak travel season, visitors can see major historical sites such as Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace without the hordes of tourists that flock to the sites in July and August.
Germany - This winter, there are noteworthy celebrations and events in several regions of Germany. Many parts of the world will celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth in 2006. A range of musical events will take place in January and February in Germany, including events in Berlin, Dresden and Munich. In February, several German cities also stage elaborate Carnival celebrations, complete with parades, music, costumes and food. Some of the larger celebrations will occur in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf.
Paris - Like most of Europe, Paris' off-peak travel season occurs during winter. However, winter is a great time to bundle up and take to the streets. The City of Lights stays alive with both Parisians and tourists in the colder months, sipping cafe au lait at cafes, or ice skating (for free) at the Hotel de Ville.
Vancouver - Vancouver was recently ranked the top city in the Americas by a Conde Nast magazine reader survey, based on factors including culture, restaurants and shopping. The home to the 2010 Winter Olympics offers a variety of activities, both indoor and outdoor, for travelers this winter. And, no matter what idea "Canada in winter" brings to mind, the weather in Vancouver is not inhospitable, with winter temperatures
hovering in the 40s.
Movie Colony may seem a strange name for a hotel, although we must say it beats naming the place after its street address. It’s named after its neighborhood, it turns out, where the stars came to escape the pressures of Hollywood and spend some (more) time in the sun. Cheap and easy jet travel took the stars farther afield, to Miami and elsewhere, and Palm Springs has become a more low-key destination, still an easy drive from Los Angeles, and with prices within the reach of the common people.
The building is a landmark, designed by Albert Frey in 1935, and it’s a textbook example of the Art Deco style that was then the standard. Today the hotel is packed with references to that era, with kidney-shaped couches and those vaguely Jetsons-looking coffee tables. Modern touches include wi-fi internet, DVD players, and exquisitely comfortable pillow-top king beds, with 400-thread duvets.
Downtown Palm Springs is just blocks away, though you may spend most of your time lounging by the pool, in the shadow of the stark San Jacinto mountains. Perfect for a taste of old Hollywood glamor—book one of the townhouses (our money is on the Sinatra) for the real star treatment.
726 North Indian Canyon Drive
Palm Springs, California 92262, United States
Book it online @ Tablet Hotels
I was born in Detroit and my parents lived there for 30 some years, but I have never heard it called the Paris of the Midwest. But according to dETROITfUNK that is exactly what it is. Now I wouldn’t go that far but they do have some beautiful pictures of French renaissance architecture in Detroit. This is the Detroit that I remember.
Right under the sun: Landscape in Provence from Classical to Modernism.
Provence was a cradle of modern art, inspiring Cezanne, van Gogh, and a horde of Post_impressionists, but this how reaches further back, to find the roots of the region’s aesthetic allure in 18th-century Arcadian and Italiante landscapes and the 19th-century fascination with Marseilles, gateway to the orient.
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Sept 22–Jan 8
Update: Artblog has a great wrap up of the show complete with beautiful pictures
How do you fly to London for $100 round-trip? Hong Kong for $300? Rio for $150? Mexico for FREE? Easy. Travel as an air courier. There are numerous air courier companies that will fly you to cities around the world for prices that no consolidator or Internet special can beat.
Being an air courier requires nothing more than signing up, being willing or able to travel light on short notice, and being responsible enough to meet a representative in an airport for a few minutes before beginning your vacation. It’s not hard, but like some other alternative transportation options, it requires a little more planning than simply buying a ticket and climbing aboard. This basic guide to courier travel will get you started.
Continue reading "Air Courier Travel" »
Here is a list of my top 5 travel gadgets.
HP Photosmart 475 GoGo Photo Printer, $299.75
Great for folks on vacation, as they can store the photos on the printer and reuse the camera's media card to take more pictures. Available at: amazon.com
Phillips Pet1000 DVD Player, $349
It's a compact portable DVD player. Available at amazon.com
Archos Portable Media Center AV700, $799.95
Think of this as a TiVo to Go. The AV700 can record your favorite TV shows when you're at home, even store photos; then, when you're on vacation, you can watch all your favorites. It plays video, shows photos and can store music, like an iPod. Available at: amazon.com
Sling Media Slingbox, $249.99
Just as the AV700 will let you take your favorite shows with you anywhere, the Slingbox will let you access your shows from anywhere over the Internet. A program running on your laptop computer can talk to a box you hook up in your house to your cable box or DVR. Then, from anywhere in the world, you can get a broadband connection. You can watch your favorite shows and even change channels. Available at: amazon.com
This month the French, Cinematheque Francaise, grandly opened up in its new quarters in Frank Gehry's "fantastic" building in the east of Paris right on the edge of the Parc de Bercy. Orginally comissioned as the new home for the American Center, a hub for experimental music, dance, and theater in Paris since 1932, the building opened in 1994 with great fanfare. Gehry himself has said that his creation reminded him of a dancer with her "tutu" in the middle. For me, the building resembles nothing more than the kind of house you read about in fairy tales, with all the rooms going up, up, up to the sky (not very practical, in fact: architects had to entirely re-do the inside of the building to adapt it to the needs of the new Cinematheque). Dominique Brard, the french architect chosen by a jury for the $41 Million rehab says it was possible to reconfigure the interior without altering the stone exterior, and form the start Gehry gave his blessing for change. Gehry told the jury not to revere the building.
Amazon.com plans to let consumers search more than 100 travel sites for deals. Visitors will use SideStep Inc.'s travel search engine on Amazon to shop for rooms and airline tickets from brands like JetBlue Airlines, Hyatt Corp., Thrifty Car Rental and American Airlines as well as online agencies and consolidators. Visitors who click through will transact at the brand's site. This partnership would begin early next year and it would give Sidestep access to customer accounts of more then 52 million Amazon users. Sidestep.com specializes in offering a search engine that hunts for cheap travel fares for customers. They do not sell tickets and travel packages themselves.It will be interesting to see if they eventually start taking bookings on their site. Watch out SABRE.
East Berlin’s answer to retro Vegas, featuring one huge, monumental, paved pedestrian plaza, surrounded by boxy, tinted glass, mid-sixties high-rises housing shopping malls, hotels, a train hub, and an elusive casino. This is Communist architecture at its garish best, though most Berliners loathe it. Why do we like it? Because it's stark, gaudy, and Space Age, and features an awesome over-the-top needle that takes you far above the city streets. Then again, we didn’t have to put up with the Communist reign of scarcity either. Apparently, while most East Germans suffered severe food shortages, the neighboring storefronts of Alexanderplatz were showcases of coffee, chocolate and liquor, with prices only the Commie elite could afford.
A centerpiece of Alexanderplatz is the World Time Clock, which keeps time for all the cities of the globe (in fitting tribute to GDR inefficiency, during our visit the clock was two hours off for every city on the planet). There’s also plenty of open air food stalls, including the quirky sight of portable food vendors cooking Bratwurst on stoves that hang off their necks. Germans love a good circus. And there's no better circus in all of Berlin than Alexanderplatz.
Were you lucky enough to get word of Expedia’s pricing problem this week? If you were you would have booked a room at either the Hilton Osaka or the Hilton Tokyo. Both had rooms as low as $2/night if booked on Expedia.com. Expedia has been asked if they would honor these rates and here is their solution. “If a booking was made for the month of November, Hilton will honor the reservation at the quoted price. But if a booking was made for December or beyond, it will be cancelled – unless it is part of a package, which Expedia.com will honor.” Wish I had been so lucky. Combined with cheap flights from San Francisco to Tokyo you could have had quite a vacation in one of the worlds most expensive cities.
Coming on the heels of Michelin's rankings of New York restaurants, the annual Zagat airline survey has been released. Tops in the premium segment include Continental Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Aloha Airlines, United , and American . In the economy segment you'll find Midwest, JetBlue, Song, Frontier, and Independence Air. That's all and good, but what I really wanted to find out was who is ranked tops for food. We all love airplane food here at Urban Zeitgeist, so we were curious. Surprisingly the same airlines came up, except Midwest Airlines pushed Independence out in the economy section. More amusing than anything else on the site though are the quotes from the reviewers:
If you are like me somtimes you find yourself bored at work dreaming of living in a foreign country. The more exotic the better. And if you are like me you also then start looking at what your dollar will buy you around the world. Well today I came across the site callled Prime Location. Its a great agency that allows you view houses, apartments, and land all over the world. It covers homes for sale as well as rentals. Obviously I am not the only one interested in buying seconcd homes abroad. The NYTimes had an article not to long ago about this very thing.
Why not take a break from work? Stuart Rees Jones, founder of Camps International, which has taken school-leavers to Kenya to work on community-run projects since 2002, launches a programme for 'grown-up gappers' this month. Groups of up to 20 volunteers help out on a variety of schemes, such as building classrooms, teaching and working at an elephant sanctuary.Their feeling is that world-minded travellers are motivated by being able to “give something back” to less fortunate communities in the third world. Camp Kenya Life offers you an opportunity to meet your Life challenges and to contribute your efforts and inspiration, directly to some of Kenya’s underprivileged communities.
Smart Travelling, the special travelling community. Smart-travelling.net members find here the hippest places, hidden highlights and hot tips for more than twenty European countries.
Hotels, bars, galleries and restaurants have to meet two specific criteria: they must be original and unusual. Smart-travelling is a personal travel guide, not trying to please everyone but striving to fit the community members like a bespoke suit.
Smart-travelling is devised for determined and discerning travellers with a sharp sense of style and atmosphere who are always on the lookout for something new, spending sometimes more and sometimes less. It is for people who travel alot, are curious and open-minded and who seek both the big thrill and the tiny oasis of luxury. Bilingual German-English.
Try this. Go to Google and type in San Francisco to London nov 18 to nov 12 and see what you get. It looks something like this:
When you click on one of the travel brands like Expedia, Hotwire, and Orbitz, you are taken to the brand's site where the search has magically been conducted for the dates you inputted into the search engine. Similar to the way Booking Buddy works, but w/o the ability to input one-way or round-trip. Interesting application. And what if advertisers could post their deals for these destinations? Sounds like a great a great future adwords campaign if it becomes popular.
A head for business combined with a love for all things Scandinavian inspired Catarina Norman to develop the idea for Flicka. She recognized that while San Francisco readily embraces new cultures, design trends and shopping experiences, the city lacked a destination for Scandinavian style. Refining and developing the concept over the past year with Malin Leschly, a Swedish transplant with a Stanford MBA, it became clear that Scandinavia's unique blend of tailored, modern designs, coupled with respect for tradition and quality, would fit perfectly into San Francisco - a hotbed of innovation set against a Victorian backdrop.
Flicka showcases Scandinavian lifestyle with a variety of women's fashion and design items. Flicka's products meld a clean, simple look with a fashion edge from designers who embody the Scandinavian ideal of being trendy yet timeless. The Flicka boutique at 1932 Fillmore Street is a cool, comfortable and inviting place, infused with Scandinavian style.
Flicka is located at 1932 Fillmore Street, between Pine and Bush. There is metered parking along Fillmore Street, and there is a big parking lot with 2-hour parking one block away on California, between Fillmore and Steiner.
Throw out the stereotypes about Zurich and its stuffy bankers and chocolate shops—the Widder defies all these with strikingly inventive design, while never forgetting about the fundamentals that make Swiss hotels some of the most professional in the world.
Cobbled together from eight medieval townhouses on the Old Town side of the Limmat river, the Widder's traditional exterior gives away no hint of the ultramodern interiors inside. No two of its 42 rooms are alike, and in fact each building's interior differs widely—expect anything from architecture-office chic, metal catwalks suspended by cables, to a sort of arts-district loft-renewal look, with visible ceiling beams and exposed brick or stone walls, to the beyond-traditional baroque looks of the Haus zum Pferch, with its ornately carved woodwork and minimal modern furniture.
Continue reading "Widder Hotel Zurich" »
Yahoo on Wednesday unveiled an online travel service that helps consumers not only book flights and hotels, but plan, organise and share trips via the internet. Yahoo has spent the past 18 months honing its new Trip Planner service. It weaves together many of Yahoo’s existing services such as maps, bulletin boards and local listings and allows consumers to create and print personalised trip itineraries. It also integrates services from Flickr, the online photo sharing company that Yahoo bought earlier this year. “The launch of Trip Planner and our expanded community and content offerings are just the beginning of our plans to build the ultimate online travel resource,” said James Slavet, general manager of Yahoo! Marketplace – Travel and Autos. It aims to do “what a great executive assistant or travel agent would do, but allows you to do it yourself,” he added.
Go check out Travel & Leisure and read about the up and coming neighborhoods across Asia. Here is what they say about the Top 6 neighborhoods.
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong: A creative hub of café and consumer culture
Samcheong-dong, Seoul: An artists' colony and collectors' haunt
Chinatown, Singapore: A 21st-century take on the old-world trading post
Thonglor, Bangkok: The definition of Thai Modern (known here as 'dern)
Da-An Road, Taipei: Taiwan's designer enclave
Julu Road, Shanghai: A new-world spin on Old Shanghai
If you are in New York this weekend don’t miss the AAF Contemporary Art Fair The contemporary art fair is the place for new and established collectors to discover and buy paintings, drawings, sculptures, video, photography and limited edition prints from distinguished galleries, all priced from $100 - $10,000. This year the Fair will host more than 140 galleries with approximately a quarter of the exhibitors from Europe, Canada and South America.
AAF will feature a variety of events during the four day Fair including a video and new media program, a weekend lecture series, a curated MFA candidate exhibition and children’s art workshops.
Thursday through Sunday October 27–30 2005 Pier 92, 52nd & 12 Ave. New York City
Exhibitor List
The ultimate guide to the world's most special places to stay, from the author of the best-selling Hip Hotelsseries—featuring eighty remarkable destinations, many new to this book.
Herbert Ypma, creator of a whole new genre of style and travel books, has selected a galaxy of destination hotels that make travel dreams become reality. Every one is, in every sense, a Highly Individual Place.
This large-format, worldwide guide is divided into six sections—Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, North America, and South America—each with its own introduction and atmospheric historical map. You will be tempted, among a host of other alluring possibilities, by a stay in a classic Italian palazzo with a romantic rose garden, a magnificent mud Casbah set in a lush oasis, a traditional Japanese inn with a Zen ambience, a contemporary Tasmanian lodge overlooking idyllic turquoise waters, a rugged log cabin in the heart of the American Wild West, and an elegant colonial-style ranch set in acres of horse-riding country.
Featuring over 1,000 of Ypma's beautiful color photographs, this spectacular book will inspire and delight travelers everywhere.
Buy it from Amazon.com
Wikitravel is a project to create a free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide travel guide. So far they have 6682 destination guides and other articles written and edited by Wikitravellers from around the globe
The project was begun in July of 2003 by the two founders, Evan and Maj. It was inspired by Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/), the free encyclopedia, and by the needs of travellers for timely information that long book-publishing cycles can't seem to meet.
Wikitravel is built with the spirit of sharing knowledge that makes travel so enjoyable. Whenever travellers meet each other on the road, they swap info about the places they came from and ask questions about places they're going. We want to make it easy to share that knowledge and let others share it; our copyleft license means that the facts you know can spread far and wide.
Go check it out and plunge forward if you feel inspired
The installation by Canadian writer and artist Douglas Coupland (Generation X) reflects on the impact of building toys –– how they affect our perceptions of the world and what we do as adults. Inspired by the 1960s toy kit Super City, Coupland has devised for the CCA an imaginary “future city” densely layered with elements of his own mental universe.
The exhibition continues until 20 November
11 August-20 November
Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1920 rue Baile, Montreal Canada
Airtroductions: If you’re the kind of person that likes to put on your headphones the second you board a plane, this site is not for you. But if you’re the kind of person the headphone-wearers are avoiding, then you’ll love Airtroductions. Targeting frequent flyers, Airtroductions gives users the opportunity to connect with others of their choosing for air travel. Whether professional or personal, users create a profile which is posted on the site. After entering an itinerary, users are then notified when others are booked on their same flight. Given the option to send an anonymous email, flyers can try to meet up before the flight and even try to sit next to each other
Laughing Squid turns 10 this year, so they are throwing a big party to celebrate our decade long experiment in underground art, culture and technology.
The party will be at Varnish Art Gallery & Wine bar 77 Natoma St San Francisco, California
Continue reading "Laughing Squid 10th Anniversary Party" »
Eos Airlines, a new luxury carrier mentioned here previously, has opened the doors to its plush 48-seat Boeing 757s and is flying its first flights today. Operating exclusively, at least for the time being, between New York and London, Eos’ planes feature seats with 21 square feet of space, 78-inch pitch, completely flat fold-out beds with Tempur-pedic pillows, an “oversized” table for dining and work, and a extra seat for conversing with guests. Eos is currently flying one flight each way every day at an introductory rate of $5,000 round-trip.
Via Luxist
The One Club teams up with Stash DVD magazine to present Onescreen — 60 minutes of film, commercials, viral, video, and design from 2005. Keeping with the One Club's commitment to raise the standards of advertising by opening up the medium to extra-commercial work, this program offers new output from the Designers Republic, Lobo, Nakd, MTV, and PostPanic; music videos from Nine Inch Nails, Alias, and SoCal's Valley Arena; illustrations from Derrick Hodgson and Dalek; and a rare chance to see what's pumping out of ad agencies Wieden + Kennedy Tokyo Lab, Modernista!, and TBWA Paris. DJs SMC and DRM keep things lively all night.
Continue reading "Onescreen" »
For the third year running, the Frieze Art Fair — London's contribution to the ever-expanding international art scene — takes place in Regent's Park. With more than 150 exhibitors from around the world, all focused solely on contemporary art, the fair can be a jamboree of the most manic dimensions. The scale of the event means exhibitors need to stand out, so alongside the traditional, you can see rather strange, shocking or gimmicky work. A speedy tour of what's going on globally, backed up with fascinating talks and on-site art projects, Frieze is no quiet stroll in the park.
Continue reading "Frieze Art Fair" »
Construction on the biggest San Francisco hotel in nearly 20 years is about to begin on a South of Market site a block away from Moscone Center.
The 550-room InterContinental hotel at Fifth and Howard streets will be geared toward the city's growing convention business and feature 43,000 square feet of ballrooms, meeting rooms and prefunction space
InterContinental Hotel
Address: 888 Howard St.
Rooms: 550, including 14 suites
Height: 32 stories (320 feet)
Developer: Continental Development Corp.
Architects: Patri+Merker; Hornberger+Worstell Completion date: November 2007
Amenities: Two ballrooms, 21 meeting rooms, fitness club, swimming pool, 90 valet parking spaces
There are a bunch of new travel podcasts sprouting up all over the internet. All you need is a digital music player to get the skinny on urban destinations.
iToors Walks & Rides are dramatic audio tours taking you to a city's most interesting places by topic. You'll get the insider scoop on the lives, legends, stories and gossip that make a place come to life. We'll throw in a few facts for good measure, but these are anything but dry and academic.
Students at Marymount Manhattan College created Art Mobs. They've produced (unofficial) audio guides for MoMA, and they're making them available as podcasts
Blue Brolly is a U.K based company that produces self guided walking tours in and around London/
Antenna Audio gives you a behind the scenes look at Chicago’s Millennium Park through interviews with architect Frank Gehry and artist Anish Kapoor
Rock al Parque (Rock in the Park) in Bogotá is the biggest and best annual rock festival in Latin America. Now into its tenth year, 300,000 people are expected to squeeze into Parque Simón Bolivar to enjoy the consistently great line-up.
For three days Bogotá's rock fans can enjoy a wide variety of international, national and local bands performing for free. In the weeks leading up to the event, local up-and-coming groups take part in a battle of the bands for the privilege of performing.
The festival began in 1995, attracting around 50,000 fans. Past performers include Manu Chao, inventors of the ska sound The mighty Skatalites, Kinky from Mexico, the rocking Robi Draco Rosa, the masters of Colombian dance music Sidestepper and Andrea Echeverry from Aterciopelados.
Isn’t interesting that some of the cheaper, budget hotels offer free wi-fi while many upscale hotels charge you up the wazoo for it? I mean come on I shell out $250 to stay in the W in San Diego and I have to go to the lobby to get free Wi-Fi. I just doesn’t make sense to me. Well the Gay Financial Network put together a list of hotel chains offering free Wi-Fi and if that isn’t enough take a look at our post about free Global Wi-Fi hotspots.
Designed in a remarkably authentic Arts and Crafts style, and patterned after some of Greene and Greene’s historic Pasadena houses, the Lodge at Torrey Pines shows a respect for history that’s rare on the prefabricated Southern California coastline. And all the more impressive is the fact that despite the century-old look, it’s brand new; this hotel was completed in 2002, and hewed strictly to traditional tongue and groove methods of craftsmanship, as well as modern building regulations.
The site, as well, is something to behold—adjacent to the Torrey Pines State Reserve, the hotel sits on a bluff overlooking a rocky coastline, surrounded by stands of pine trees and acres of sagebrush and sandstone. You’re just north of La Jolla, and just south of Del Mar, with the hotel’s cars available to chauffeur you to destinations in town; yet within the resort’s grounds, the feeling of seclusion is nearly total.
Book the Hotel
Continue reading "Hotel Watch ~ The Lodge at Torrey Pines" »
Contemporary artists, gallery-owners and collectors flock to the Foire Internationale d'Art Contemporain (FIAC) at the Porte de Versailles, one of the major dates on the worldwide calendar of modern art. This year's event offers 174 galleries representing 23 countries, with newcomers including Canada, Cuba and Japan.
FIAC has enjoyed something of a revival in recent years. Illustrious guests have included Micheline Szwajcer from Belgium, Waddington Galleries from the UK and Metro Pictures from the USA. The fair places an emphasis on the work of young, emerging artists, and stalls by newer galleries such as NW Projects London, Art & Public Geneva and Pepe Cobo Seville. Drawing, painting, printmaking, video art, sculpture, photography and installation are all available for perusal or purchase.
Two new airlines are opening this fall to and will be flying strictly upper class service no economy.
MAXjet claims to be the first carrier to offer an "all-business-class trans-Atlantic service," with one-way fares as low as £599, or about $1,050, which it says are "50 to 75 percent less than current fares in the marketplace."
MAXjet will operate Boeing 767-200ER aircraft, with 102 seats, allowing each passenger about 1.5 meters of legroom in a 2-by-2 configuration. The inaugural flight will leave Kennedy at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 1 and arrive at Stansted at 7 a.m.; the first westbound flight departs Stansted at 10 a.m. Nov. 2, arriving at Kennedy at 1 p.m.
Eos, named for the Greek goddess of the dawn, is led by the former British Airways executive David Spurlock and offers daily flights with an initial fleet of three Boeing 757s, replacing the usual mixed-class configuration of 200 or more seats, to carry 48 passengers in "premium tailored suites" of about 2 square meters, or about 21 square feet. Seats recline into an almost 2-meter flat bed. Passengers can call up meals and snacks at any time. And a second seat is provided for colleagues, allowing them "to comfortably meet, work or dine together."
Eos's unrestricted round-trip price of £3,500, or about $6,190, from London to New York is almost half of the British Airways first-class round-trip fare of £6,659. Eos is offering an introductory fare of £2,500, about $4,400, "for a limited time" at www.eosairlines.com.
The inaugural flight is scheduled to depart from Kennedy at 7:05 p.m. on Nov. 1 and arrive at Stansted at 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 2. Westbound flights will leave London at 10:30 a.m. and arrive at Kennedy at 1:29 p.m. on the same day.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, Vancouver is the world’s most liveable city. The stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure of the cities were assessed. Each got a percentage and the lowest score defined the most agreeable place to live, according to the e-mailed survey. Vancouver was ranked high in part becuase of a lower perceived threat of terrorism. I spent two days in Vancouver this past spring and absolutely loved it. Seemed to be of a cross between San Francisco and Boulder, CO without the street people.
- Top 10 Cities
Vancouver
Melbourne
Vienna
Geneva
Perth
Adelaide
Sydney
Zurich
Toronto
Calgary
Tablet Hotels has a great listing of unique hotels in Vancouver. My pick is the Opus Hotel
Travis Smith, who just returned from a trip to Singapore has a great theory about traveling and being a tourist. It is not that groundbreaking but I have just never seen anyone put it into words so well. He believes tourism can be reduced into six categories
- Learning something new
- Eating something new
- Buying something new
- Watching something new
- Doing something (physically) new
- Meeting someone new
Go check out his site and see what you think
de Young Museum Grand Opening
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Saturday, October 15 - Sunday, October 16
Open around the clock • Free General Admission
The de Young celebrates its re-opening in Golden Gate Park with a 31-hour museum marathon, FREE to the public!
The museum will be open continuously from 10 a.m. on October 15 until 5 p.m. October 16. The opening weekend program includes music, dancing, food and a full schedule of performances by local groups throughout the museum grounds. To memorialize the occasion, a photo opportunity station will be located near the historic sphinx sculptures.
Continue reading "de Young Museum Grand Opening" »
From todays USA Today comes a very handy list of global Wi-Fi hotspots around the word. These are sorted by type of location, i.e. restaurant, train station, library etc., but there is also a search function at the bottom that lets you find hot spots by city and country. A great bookmark for a world traveler. I, for one, dream about checking my email at the Piazza Immacolata in Sicily
Via Gadling
Acetaie Aperte is an annual festival during which Modena's vinegar producers - most of them family operations that age the product in household attics - offer tastings and tours to the cuisine-curious. Local restaurants offer vinegar menus featuring the ways Modena's most famous edible export can be savored: brushed onto grilled asparagus, drizzled on fresh squash tortelloni, sprinkled on crumbly shavings of parmigiano, or on wild strawberries.
Continue reading "Acetaie Aperte ~ Modena Vinegar Festival" »
Warmed by the Gulf Stream Quiberon in Brittany is a town almost entirely devoted to thalassotherapy, the water based french solution to overeating and overwork. THe treatment consists os a strcit schedule of doctor prescribed seaweed wraps, hot ocean-water, and jet-spray showers, the parcours aquatique, and multicourse meals of fewer than 1,000 calories (including red wine). Thalassotherapy experts strongly suggest at leaste six days of "cure" for patients to derive the full benefit from the treatment.
Look for Hotels in Quiberon
Remember when flying was fun? That was the question Boeing Airlines asked people in its unprecedented survery intended to influence the design of its next jet the 787. Now that the design has been frozen Boeing is about to roll out an airplane that promises to reprise the golden age of travel
Prior to the 787, engineers had always dominated airplane design at Boeing. Sure, they listened to what airlines wanted, but there was seldom any direct feedback from the flying public For this plane, however, beoing took into account passanger complaints: carmped seating, restricted movement, bone dry air, and did something about it.
Continue reading "Boeing 787 ~ Dreamliner" »
Some say Sonoma County, with towns like Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Glen Ellen and Sonoma, is the mellow little sister to big-brother Napa. There's something about the slower pace—and soothing, dynamite wines—that makes us agree. However, our heart really lies in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma. The Russian River valley is a bucolic mixture of grape vines, apple tree's, redwoods and of course the river. Running its way all the way to the pacific ocean, the Russian River is a playground for families looking to escape the summer heat and a peaceful haven bordered by orchards, farms and vineyards. Attracted 140 years ago by the world's premier redwood groves, first loggers and then travelers came to see the ancient forests then called Big Bottom. Today, the Russian River area is a vacation destination offering fine restaurants, wineries and activities. The Russian River is made up of small eclectic hamlets and towns.
Continue reading "Harvest in the Russian River Valley" »
Next tuesday will be the kickoff of the Pop Montreal festival. Pop Montreal was fired on the collective impulse of friends and colleagues to create a meaningful and vibrant music festival. In three years we have grown to include a bold cross-section of art forms and events, never losing sight of our focused mandate to reflect the community to which we belong. In 2004, the festival ran a sleepless super-saturated 5 nights. Fans, journalists, musicians and industry representatives met in common spaces to experience a whirlwind of the best, most captivating, music and underground culture in North America . In addition to nights packed with music of every tone, colour, and sensibility, we staged events to focus attention on political and social activism, independent film and photography (and as always, unhinged loft parties stretching beyond the wee hours of the morning).
If you go make sure you see The Slip playing friday September 30th at Le Swimming The Slip are an organic jazz/indie rock band originally from Providence, RI but supposedly have moved to Montreal.
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