NICARAGUA it's eco! And the food is good! Enough said
If the name Oliver North means anything to you, there’s a good
chance that Nicaragua doesn’t jump to your mind when you think of a
relaxing, high-end, spa-filled vacation. For the past 30 years, the
country has been fighting its image as a land of guerrilla warfare and
covert arms deals. At first, only travel writers took note; over the
past several years, various publications have declared the country the
next great destination. However, if the booming eco-lodge business is
any indication, Nicaragua’s moment might finally have arrived.
Category:
America
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS a decade later, museums reopen, fancier than ever
Imagine that the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan
Museum in New York were partly closed for renovations for almost a
decade — at the same time. That’s basically what happened in Amsterdam,
with the closings of the Stedelijk, the city’s design and contemporary art museum, in 2004 and the Rijksmuseum
in 2003. The Stedelijk finally reopened at the end of September with a
new, sleek bathtub-like extension, and the Rijksmuseum will reopen in
April with much fanfare after a complete redo by the Spanish architects
Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. The Van Gogh Museum too, will reopen in
May, after a much shorter renovation.
Imagine that the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan
Museum in New York were partly closed for renovations for almost a
decade — at the same time. That’s basically what happened in Amsterdam,
with the closings of the Stedelijk, the city’s design and contemporary art museum, in 2004 and the Rijksmuseum
in 2003. The Stedelijk finally reopened at the end of September with a
new, sleek bathtub-like extension, and the Rijksmuseum will reopen in
April with much fanfare after a complete redo by the Spanish architects
Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. The Van Gogh Museum too, will reopen in
May, after a much shorter renovation.
Category:
Europe
MERGUI ISLANDS, MYANMAR live-aboard diving in a remote archipelago
With white sands, coconut trees and 800 mostly uninhabited
islands, the Mergui Archipelago on the southern coast of Myanmar has
been tantalizing travelers for decades — sitting right there on the map
but seemingly just out of reach. That’s changing as the country takes
baby steps toward democracy and the region becomes more accessible to
tourists with a budget for live-aboard boat trips. Only a handful of
companies are running trips to the Mergui islands right now, so expect
all the clichés: lazing on deserted islands
inhabited by a seminomadic population.
inhabited by a seminomadic population.
Category:
Asia
PUERTO RICO a spate of new hotels and restaurants animates the island
The ease of traveling to Puerto Rico from the mainland United
States (no passport or foreign currency) has made the island more a
mainstream getaway than an exclusive haven. But a string of new resorts,
some with a nod to the island’s storied past in tourism, have opened in
and around San Juan. The Condado Vanderbilt,
a stately 1919-vintage hotel on the oceanfront in San Juan that had
been closed since 1993, opened an upscale restaurant called 1919 in
October. Its 323 rooms, spread between the historic building and two new
towers, are expected to open by this summer. About 20 miles west of
town, the Ritz-Carlton’s new Dorado Beach
opened last month with 115 rooms all facing the ocean, 11 miles of
walking and biking trails,
a spa with treehouse massage pavilions and a restaurant from the chef José Andrés.
The ease of traveling to Puerto Rico from the mainland United
States (no passport or foreign currency) has made the island more a
mainstream getaway than an exclusive haven. But a string of new resorts,
some with a nod to the island’s storied past in tourism, have opened in
and around San Juan. The Condado Vanderbilt,
a stately 1919-vintage hotel on the oceanfront in San Juan that had
been closed since 1993, opened an upscale restaurant called 1919 in
October. Its 323 rooms, spread between the historic building and two new
towers, are expected to open by this summer. About 20 miles west of
town, the Ritz-Carlton’s new Dorado Beach
opened last month with 115 rooms all facing the ocean, 11 miles of
walking and biking trails,
a spa with treehouse massage pavilions and a restaurant from the chef José Andrés.
Category:
America
PORTO, PORTUGAL finally, places worthy of Porto's vintages - at table wine prices
Portugal’s economic pain is your gain in Porto, one of Western
Europe’s great bargains. New boutique hotels and restaurants, like the Yeatman,
dramatically perched above the Douro River featuring Porto’s first
Michelin-starred restaurant,
have brought a fresh burnish to
this Unesco-protected city where labyrinthine narrow streets, ancient buildings
and black-cloaked students inspired a young English tutor who
lived here in the early 1990s named J. K. Rowling.
have brought a fresh burnish to
this Unesco-protected city where labyrinthine narrow streets, ancient buildings
Category:
Europe