In case your budget allows it or you just want to impress your future spouse, Forbes.com came up with the 2006 list of world's most expensive restaurants (building on their 2005 article).
As the French say, Bon Appetit!
Under rather sad circumstances, the NY Times published what was probably R.W.Apple's last submission to that publication.
The article, titled Global Gourmet, gives us the author's top 10 favorite restaurants in the world. Why weren't I surprised to see that 6 out of 10 restaurants were from Europe? Ahhh, the charms of the Old World! Please note the author's preference for smaller town restaurants in France, Italy, and Spain.
FLEURIE, France
SANT’AGATA SUI DUE GOLFI, Italy
SAN SEBASTIÁN, Spain
BRUSSELS, Belgium
LONDON, England
GOTHENBURG, Sweden
Enjoy!
It was bound to happen sooner or later. While Prague and Budapest will probably remain Expat Central for a little longer, the interest is bound to shift East - to Romania and Bulgaria.
The NY Times opened the gate with a positive travel review of Bucharest, clearly stating the reason why the Romanian capital will most likely become the next Prague: cheaper & less crowded.
Here's a brief list of reasons to go:
- cheap
- good food
- cheap
- excellent performing art scene
- cheap
- revamped city skyline/infrastructure
- cheap
- did you know Bucharest used to be called Little Paris?
- cheap
- Byzantine churches
- and more...
I recently discovered Wide Angle - National Geographic Greatest Places. Beautiful photography (as always).
This book pretty much covers everything in the world. As far as Europe is concerned, it spans several chapters.
Since pictures (especially National Geographic ones) are worth more than a thousand words, I would not even attempt to describe the beauty of those places. However, if you could get a copy of the book (in stores or at your local library), you might get some new ideas for discovering Europe.
Central and Eastern Europe travel ideas:
- visit the gardens and palaces in St Petersburg, Russia
- go see the painted monasteries of Romania (featured: Moldovita)
- go people-watching in Austrian coffee shops - Salzburg, Austria
- watch kids at play in Istrian Peninsula, Croatia
- go for a ride in a horse-drawn wagon on a snowy day in Bavaria, Germany
- visit Europe's largest white pelican colony in Romania's Danube Delta - Lake Rosca, Romania
- enjoy scenic mountain views in alpine village Hallstatt, Austria
- visit Moscow's Red Square - Moscow, Russia
- discover turn-of-the-century beehives at the Ethnographic Museum in Roznov, Czech Republic
- discover simple life in rural Slovakia - Parnica, Slovakia
- visit the Liechtenstein Castle in Germany
- face history at splendid Church of the Resurrection (location where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated) - St Petersburg, Russia
- admire the scenery across The Caucasus Mountains in Russia (and find out why some people check the race box: Caucasian)
- discover The North Wall of Mount Triglav, rising 9,393 feet above the Vrata Valley, Slovenia (previously immortalized in one of Albrecht Altdorfer paintings)
- mingle with the locals in Bialowieza, Poland
- observe nomadic life style with gypsies in Buzescu, Romania
- have you ever considered visiting Dracula's Castle, in the region of Walachia, Romania (spooky) - actually the Bran Castle, near Brasov, Romania
Northern Europe travel ideas:
- how about swimming almost naked in the midst of winter - Blue Lagoon - Iceland ?
- spot perfect symmetry while visiting St Mary's Cathedral and the Georgian row houses surrounding it in Edinburgh, Scotland
- visit the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England
- go pub hopping in Ireland
- walk along the streets of Gamla Stan, the medieval center of Stockholm
- uncover centuries of histories at The Althing, where Iceland's leaders have met each year since 930 a.d. - Thingvellir National Park, Iceland
- Lake Bandak - Telemark, Norway
- discover stone burial chambers - Betws-y-Coed, Wales
- visit the local cemetery in Inverness, Scotland
- take your kids on a geography tour - walk along the brass strip marking Zero Longitude at Greenwich, England
- see how economic forces have altered once profitable working coal miles in Big Pit in Blaenavon,Wales (a popular museum)
- climb atop Ben Nevis, Scotland (highest mountain in Britain)
- visit London
- attend the Annual Braw Lads Gathering in Galashiels, Scotland
- visit Britain's largest Puffin Colony in St Kilda
- breathe history in Machynlleth, Wales
- admire the ancient tradition of burning fishing boats (to send the spirits of the dead to heaven) on Finland's Seurasaari Island
- visit the beautiful gardens of Hampton Court, Greater London, England
Western and Southern Europe travel ideas:
- running of the bulls - Pamplona, Spain
- ride a gondola in Venice, Italy
- go swimming in Lake Thun, Switzerland
- find out what happens when people don't buy laundry dryers - Genoa, Italy
- discover what inspired Claude Monet along France's Canal du Nivernais
- the architecture of Casa Mila, Barcelona, Spain
- more impressionist inspiration at Gervais Courtellemont, France
- relax with the locals in Place des Vosges, Paris, France
- take your kids white stork spotting in Spain
- visit the harbor of Honfleur, Normandy, France
- admire beautiful painted facades in Lisbon, Portugal
- how many tulips can you pick in Keukenhof, The Netherlands
- admire Switzerland's Bernese Alps
- attend a Basque Festival in Bayonne, Pyrenees-Atlantique Department, Aquitaine Region, France
- see Mount Etna, Sicily, Italy
- go shopping in Milan, Italy
- visit Tuscany, Italy
- find out why bulls are garlanded in Agia Paraskevi, Lesbos, Greece
- make your way up to a Basque Sheperd's cottage (looks challenging)
Budget Travel Online wants people to submit and vote for the movies they found inspirational. They have done that in 2005, they want your suggestions in 2006. Slogan: "The 10 films that are inspiring us to travel--and how you can re-create the best moments yourself".
Since this is supposed to be an annual list from the movies released that particular year, I find the idea of proposing 10 movies a bit exaggerated. There are not many movies out there that would truly inspire us to travel.
Case in point, Match Point, which made the Budget Travel Movie Quest 2005 list. Aside from being captivating in a disturbing way, the movie did not entice me a bit to go visit London. But alas, I risk being unfair and unbalanced.
Here's their top 10 for 2005 - read and make up your own mind.
10. Sahara
9. Match Point
8. Grizzly Man
7. Everything is Illuminated
6. Duma
5. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
4. Brokeback Mountain
3. Memoirs of a Geisha
2. Pride & Prejudice
1. March of the Penguins
Also, if you so wish, submit your 2006 entries to this email.
The final chapter from the book Royal Gardens of Europe by George Plumptre is taking the reader from Big to Small, showing how the small and the private became - in time - the new beautiful.
The author recommends:
Fredensborg Palace - Lake Esrum, Denmark
Balchik - Balchik, Bulgaria
Castle of Mey - Caithness, Scotland
Laeken - Brussels, Belgium
Isola Bisentina - Lake Boselna, Italy (near Orvieto)
Highgrove - Gloucestershire, England
Enjoy your trips!
Without a doubt, many of today's impressive royal gardends would not be on display without the tremendous work of restoring and preserving the centuries-old gardens.
Here are a few the author recommends:
Hampton Court - London, England (the supreme Royal Garden, as proclaimed by the author)
Het Loo - Apeldoorn, The Netherlands (garden completely destroyed, then completely restored)
Isola Bella - Lake Maggiore, Italy
Charlottenburg - Berlin, Germany ("considered by many the greatest braoque palace and garden composition")
Beloeil - Brussels, Belgium
Again, the book is Royal Gardens of Europe by George Plumptre.
It seems that horticulture was long a passion of the kings and queens of Europe, as their royal gardens often displayed exotic plants. Some of them actually became of international interest for the variety of plants, turning into veritable botanical gardens.
Le Park du Vasterival - Dieppe, France (Eastern Normandy)
Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew - London, England
Osborne House - Isle of Wight, England
Chateau de Belvedere - Brussels, Belgium
What makes a Royal landscape....truly royal? Find out visiting the following:
Tsarskoye Selo (Pushking Palace during Soviet times) - St Petersburg, Russia
Konopiste - Prague, Czech Republic
Pavlovsk - St Petersburg, Russia
Wilanow - Warsaw, Poland
There are elements of landscape inspired from the English gardens and perfected in some exotic locations - Russia, Czech Republic, Poland.
Mainly, a chapter on royal weekend escapes .
Aranjuez - Aranjuez, Spain (just south of Madrid)
Sanssouci - Potsdam, Germany (former residence of Prussian king Frederick the Great)
Drottingholm - Stockholm, Sweden
Schonbrunn - Vienna, Austria
La Quinta del Duque de Arco - Madrid, Spain
Schwetzingen - Mannheim, Germany
You have to read the book. I almost packed up tonight, these gardens are amazing!
Well, don't worry, I won't provide a detailed account of this chapter because I don't want to get sued, plus it's impossible for me to to speed read the fascinating details. I will let you discover them.
In good blogging, web 2.0 (insert cliche here) fashion, I will instead provide a list. (Listmania!!!)
Versailles - Versailles, France (just outside Paris).
Nymphenburg - Munich, Germany
Palacio de Queluz - Queluz, Portugal
Peterhof - St Petersburg, Russia
Palazzo Reale - Caserta, Italy (near Sorrento, The Amalfi Coast)
Ok, so you could swing a Queluz - Paris - Munich - Italy package, maybe. But you should probably break it into two or three trips. How about Lisbon - Paris and then Paris - Munich? I don't know - ask the experts at European Destinations...
So you know Europe by heart. You've been to Paris 10 times, shopped in London 20 times, and vacationed in Italy first as a kid with your parents, did the hostel thing in Spain during college, (re)discovered Venice with your sweetheart. You are pretty much tired of "touristy" Europe, but you are in love with the Old Continent. What to do, what to do?
How about looking for some inspiration? (No, I won't mention Tuscan, Sun, Under, The) .
Here's a book for you: George Plumptre's Royal Gardens of Europe. It is not your typical coffee table book (not as heavy, half page photos, lots of useful information).
How can this book help you? Let's take a look at the index: you can read more about Gardens For Display, The Age of Leisure, Royal Landscapes, Botanists & Plantsmen, Great Restorations, and From Grandeur to Privacy. Aside from the chapter on the people behind the great gardens of Europe, you can pretty much find sufficient information for your next 2-3 quarterly trips across the Atlantic.
Enjoy. Next, I will review the chapters individually.
Or so would be the rough translation of the latest NY Times article on Paris: Paris, la nuit (ok, so we all know a bit of French, maybe). Elaine Sciolino (the chief of the Paris bureau of The Times) romantically explains why one should bother forgetting about jetlag and just go out and about the streets of Paris. (She is of course talking about the much safer centre-ville, and not about the incendiary banlieues). The reason is simple: "Inhibitions evaporate." Au revoir, New World puritanism. Bonjour (or rather, bonsoir) passionate (public) embraces. All poetic licenses and metaphors aside, she does make an excellent point: given the size, density, and popularity of Paris, it only makes sense to see the City of Lights by night.
Other interesting references in this article: movies. Elaine mentions Something’s Gotta Give, Everyone Says I Love You, and then proceeds to explain exactly how expensive and how elaborate the art of turning on the lights in Paris truly is. (no mention however of two not-so-glamourous movies La Haine and Banlieue-13, both dealing with the violence in the suburbs - and no mention is needed, as tourists probably have no business to conduct in those neighborhoods).
For more details, read the article here.
To embark upon an affordable vacation to Paris, go here and you could pay $509 for air + 5 nights this Thanksgiving, $555 for Christmas, $589 for New Year's. (air taxes not included, and of course do not expect 5 star hotels for these deals).