Smag31 Ford’s Theater The tragedy of Lincoln’s assassination here in 1865 kept this theater closed for over 100 years, but now it is the home of a vibrant theater company as well as being a museum and historic landmark. Top-notch performers and directors stage exciting plays here . Auditorium, Ford’s Theater Arena Stage Internationally renowned as … Read more
The Fashion Centre at Pentagon City The local cliché is that this expansive mall has become the new downtown shopping area, even though it is not in the city center. But it is less than 10 minutes away by metro, and there is a train stop right in the mall. Nordstrom and Macy’s are the … Read more
Top 10 Vistas Roman Forum from Campidoglio Walk around the right side of Palazzo Senatorio for a postcard panorama – floodlit at night. Il Vittoriano Climb the “Wedding Cake” for vistas across the Imperial Fora . Gianicolo The Eternal City is laid out at your feet from a lover’s lane perch across the Tiber . … Read more
San Clemente The many layers of this fascinating church reveal the changing ideals of Rome in various eras . Ceiling, San Clemente Underground font, San Clemente Catacombs The burial tunnels of Rome’s early Christians are like a honeycomb beneath the consular roads out of Rome, especially along Via Appia Antica. Grave niches stacked like shelving … Read more
Felix The shining pinnacle of Hong Kong bars is set in Kowloon’s famous Peninsula Hotel. Philippe Starcke designed Felix, and the result is coolness incarnate. Let the experience envelope you, beginning with the dedicated elevators and their light effects, to the untrammelled delights of Felix’s restrooms. The harbour views are an added bonus. If you … Read more
Hong Kong Dishes Cha Siu This is virtually Hong Kong’s national dish. The name literally means “fork roast”. The tender fillets of pork are roasted and glazed in honey and spices, and hung in the windows of specialist roast meat shops. Cha siu is classically served thinly sliced, with steamed rice and strips of vegetables. … Read more
Casa PATAS If you’re interested in Flamenco but don’t know your cantadores from your bailadores, this lively club is a good place to get acquainted with the scene. Rated by madrileños for its class acts, the show usually starts around 11pm or a little later and continues into the small hours. Beforehand you can have … Read more
Estadio Santiago Bernabéu The venerated Real Madrid football club celebrated its centenary in 2002, although this 75,000 seater stadium was not completed until 1946. It is named after Santiago Bernabéu, the club president who brought the team five successive European championships in the 1950s. This success has continued – in 1998 FIFA, soccer’s world governing … Read more
Beijing Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant Lots of restaurants specialize in Beijing’s most famous dish, and debate rages endlessly over who serves the best fowl. This place is less over-blown and over-priced than many of its rivals, and for that it gets our vote . Beijing Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant Preparing Beijing duck Guizhou Luo Luo … Read more
Tea being poured in a Beijing restaurant Check the local press for details of cooking classes Beijing duck The best-known dish in north Chinese cuisine. The duck, a local Beijing variety, is dried and brushed with a sweet marinade before being roasted over fragrant wood chips. It is carved by the chef and eaten wrapped … Read more
State Street A slew of chain stores line this legendary street , but it’s the two old-time department stores that make it unique. The former Marshall Field’s, now Macy’s, here since 1907, has merchandise to satisfy every wealthy woman’s needs. At Filene’s Basement the prices are lower, but the variety is still extensive . State … Read more
Unless otherwise stated, all attractions have Disabled Access. Chicago Children’s Museum The engrossing, imaginative exhibits here emphasize doing – be it digging up a dinosaur bone or designing a water channel. A central, three-story rope tunnel immediately snares the attention of older visitors, though there are age-appropriate attractions for infants to pre-teens. If this place … Read more
Munich no longer has a closing time for bars; many stay open until 3am or later. Several museums feature attractive cafés, including the Glyptothek, the Kunsthalle (Hypo Kulturstiftung), and the Lenbachhaus. Schumann’s Munich’s top bar since 1982, now in a new location on the Hofgarten. Most tables are reserved for regulars, so be sure to … Read more
Although nobody at GoldenEye really pushes the James Bond thing, Ian Fleming wrote the Bond books here. His house, from which the resort takes its name, overlooks the sea, and there are cottages with names such as Vesper and Solitaire. GoldenEye recreates the ambience created by Ian Fleming in the 1940s. Hidden away from the … Read more
The hotel industry is rapidly expanding its spa menus to include child0frinedly treatments and parent-and-child packages. The Conrad Maldives (www.hilton.com), for instance, offers an Ice Cream Spa for kids aged four to 12, with treatments in 11 flavors – from apple pie to lavender lullaby. Conrad Maldives The Mandarin Oriental Miami (www.madarinoriental.com) has a teen … Read more
Mention Skye to ramblers worth their saltand the word Cuillins with swiftly appear in the conversation. In terms of grandiose and brutal terrain, few mountain ranges in Britain can compare. The violence of their volcanic birth was tempered by the ice age that followed, with basalt and gabbro rock splitting and corroding at different rates … Read more
Built on wool Lavenham, Suffolk Lavenham is six miles north-east of Sudbury. Wool was also the reason for the wonderfully rich and colorful medieval half-timbered villages of East Anglia, and Lavenham is probably the best-known and most complete. Medieval houses such as the Guildhall and Wool Hall sag and creak crazily with age around the … Read more
A village within a henge Avebury, Wiltshire Standing stones of the henge at Avebury, Wiltshire, England The 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey famously wrote about Avebury that it “did as much excel Stoneheng (sic) as a Cathedral does a Parish Church.” The magnificent Neolithic henge, which encompasses the medieval village, olus the double stone circles hat … Read more
Behind their charming facades, Britain’s villages hide many mysteries. Rose-framed cottages and the ancient church tower cluster protectively around the oak-shaded green. Here, in summer, the crack of willow on leather indicates that cricketers are conducting their weekly ritual, to utter bemusement of foreign visitors. There’s nothing more English than the village. Behind their charming … Read more
The ITC Grand Chola sets a new benchmark in luxury. We got a first look. Don’t be confused: regular visitors to Chennai will know the name Chola from as far back as 35 years ago, but that hotel has since been rebranded (it’s now known as My Fortune, Chennai). Meanwhile the highly-awaited ITC Grand Chola … Read more