Category Archives: Travel

Destination Restaurants: The Halyard (& Jack’s Shack) At Sound View Hotel In Greenport, NY

From a Bon Appétit magazine online review:

The Halyard RestaurantImmediately upon checking into one of the Sound View’s cedar-paneled rooms, all clean white sheets and sailcloth pillows and views straight out onto the beach (ALL of the rooms at the Sound View look straight out onto the beach), I felt my blood pressure slow. For lunch, we jammed lobster rolls the size of our faces into our faces by the pool. Come late afternoon, we sat on our sandswept porch drinking canned rosé and watched the sky turn gold.

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The Halyard

Jack's Shack at the Sound View in Greenport NYFor dinner at The Halyard (Sound View’s hotel-restaurant-that-decidedly-doesn’t-suck), we grabbed a corner table on the open-air deck and ate peak-season heirloom tomato gazpacho and crisply seared scallops caught just a few miles away. Afterwards, loose on Greenport IPAs, we moseyed over to the piano bar for karaoke night and performed Alanis Morissette duets for a group of drunken Scottish people (all of whom are now our best friends) late into the night. It was a perfect weekend, the kind that made summer feel as endless as it did in the good old days, back before Google calendars existed.

https://soundviewgreenport.com/

To read more: https://www.bonappetit.com/story/sound-view-hotel-north-fork

Top California Hotels: The Farmhouse Inn Is A Culinary Destination In Sonoma Wine Country

From a Jetsetter.com online review:

Farmhouse Inn, CA roomDespite the overwhelming presence of boutique inns along the Atlantic, they’re not a strictly East Coast commodity. Case in point: Sonoma’s  Farmhouse Inn.

The 25-room property, located just 30 minutes from Calistoga and Napa Valley, attracts visitors from near and far with guest rooms done up in homey, (you guessed it) farmstead-style decor (think: plaid throws and rustic tree limb end tables, all adhering to a neutral palette of white, beige, and brown), brightened up by bouquets of fresh seasonal flowers. Farmhouse Inn, CA signBeyond its aesthetically-pleasing interiors, the inn also knows a thing or two about food—starting with a nightly turndown service that includes homemade cookies and milk, and ending with the Farmhouse Restaurant, an onsite Michelin-starred, farm-to-table dining experience with killer dishes like peach salad, chanterelle tortellini, and wild Alaskan halibut.

To read more: https://www.jetsetter.com/magazine/the-coziest-inns-ever/?

Future Of Camper Vans: The “Hymer VisionVenture” Looks, Designed Like A “High-End Apartment”

From a Curbed.com online review:

Erwin Hymer Group debuted the VisionVenture concept interior stairsThis year at Düsseldorf, the Erwin Hymer Group debuted the VisionVenture concept. Built on a Mercedes chassis, the VisionVenture is a forward-thinking camper that looks more like a high-end apartment than a striped-down adventure rig.

To accomplish this, the camper’s interior uses warm bamboo, gray felt, and leather, mixing woods with other materials to add interest. The living area is located in the rear with two white sofas and a center dining table that folds down below the passenger-side bench. The stand-out feature of the living room is the panoramic rear window and large side windows. Fold out the rear door, drop a lower gate and the van boasts its own rear deck—complete with slide-out electric grill.

Erwin Hymer Group debuted the VisionVenture concept interior

It’s an impressive lounge area, and the kitchen goes even further with a flush cooktop, sink, refrigerator, and ample storage. The styling is fresh too, with modular, deck-like wall paneling that works to hang plants or cooking equipment as needed. Integrated next to the kitchen is a compact slate-colored staircase—reminiscent of tiny house design—that boasts storage, motion-activated lighting, and access to an inflatable pop-up sleeping area. The upstairs bed sleeps two and takes advantage of big views through the rear roll-up window.

https://www.hymer.com/de/de/modelle/technologie-innovation/vision-venture

To read more: https://www.curbed.com/2019/9/5/20851580/rv-camper-van-hymer-concept-visionventure

Best Travel Shows: British Series “Travel Man” Is Helpful And Hilarious

From a New Yorker online article:

Travel Man PhotoOn “Travel Man,” Ayoade is fun to look at (snappy suits, thick-framed glasses, expression of amused diffidence) and fun to listen to. (Of a monastery turned hotel in Naples, he says, “As well as modish guff, like a rooftop pool and a spa, it retains attractive old shiz, like staircases dug into the hillside.”) His persona is warmly amused, broadly skeptical, and gently astringent—i.e., British. He’s not a joiner. His intros conclude with him saying, in that episode’s particular city and with that episode’s particular guest, “We’re here, but should we have come?” 

 

Travel Man: 48 Hours in . . .” is a British series in which the comedian, writer, actor, and director Richard Ayoade spends forty-eight hours in a city, accompanied by various friends—“some of the most available and affordable names in light ent,” as he puts it—and tells us about what to do there. “Mini-breaks are a swirling nebula of nonsense!” he says at the top of “Copenhagen,” during a brisk montage of him in Venice, Copenhagen, Vienna, and Moscow. “How can anyone go somewhere new and be expected to enjoy themselves without a decade to decompress?” Exactly, I thought. This is the show for me.

To read more: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-television/travel-man-richard-ayoades-travel-show-for-people-who-hate-travel

Top Travel Destinations: Ortigia Island, Historical Center Of Syracuse, Sicily

From a New York Times online article:

In Syracuse, taking a passeggiata, or evening walk, around the perimeter of Ortigia island, is a popular activity.CreditCreditSusan Wright for The New York TimesA passeggiata, or evening walk, around the perimeter of Ortigia reveals many notable structures and stories. Start from the Parco Letterario Elio Vittorini, on the eastern side, and head clockwise. As waves crash against the rocks below the sea wall, you’ll pass crenelated lookout points and the chiseled facade of the 17th-century Chiesa dello Spirito Santo, before finding yourself in the palm-planted gardens of the 13th-century Castello Maniace. 

Founded by Greeks around 734 B.C.,ortigia sicily map Ithe southeastern Sicilian city that Cicero called “the greatest and most beautiful of all Grecian cities” achieved a size and status in the ancient world that made it a rival of major powers like Athens and Carthage. Takeovers and makeovers by Romans, Byzantines, North Africans, Normans and others left their marks as well, influencing everything from religious art to the region’s distinctive savory-sweet-sour cooking style. Much of the ancient city has crumbled since Cicero’s day, though the ruins can still be explored in Syracuse’s celebrated archaeological park and museum. But the main attraction today is the historical center of Syracuse: Ortigia island, a maze of narrow streets, ornate Baroque churches and centuries-old palazzi.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/05/travel/what-to-do-36-hours-in-syracuse-sicily.html

Top Museum Exhibitions: “Gorham Silver – Designing Brilliance 1850–1970” At The Rhode Island School Of Design

From a RISD Museum online exhibit:

RISD MuseumEstablished in 1831, the Gorham Manufacturing Company adeptly coupled art and industry, rising to become an industry leader of stylistic and technological achievement in America and around the world. It produced public presentation pieces and one-of-a-kind showstoppers for important occasions, as well as tableware for everyday use. Its works trace a narrative arc not only of great design but also of American ambitions. In this volume, insightful essays are accompanied by gorgeous new photography of splendid silver pieces along with a wealth of archival images, design drawings, casting patterns, and company records that reveal a rich heritage of a giant in decorative arts and silver manufacturing.

Produced in collaboration with the RISD Museum, which has the world’s most significant collection of Gorham silver, this major new book casts new light on more than 120 years of grand aesthetic styles in silver, innovative industrial practices, and American social and cultural norms.

Website: https://risdmuseum.org/art-design/projects-publications/publications/gorham-silver-designing-brilliance-1850-1970

Top New Travel Videos: “The Coast Of Cornwall” Produced By IKWAI (2019)

Cornwall. Less Agatha Christie and more Poldark, you’ll stumble upon secluded fishermens’ villages and dilapidated copper mines perched on gustcliffs. The sea is never far. Seagulls’ cries echo wherever you go.

The Coast of Cornwall travel video by IKWAI 2019

And sheep decide to block your way on some lonesome road outside an unpronouncable town. Of course, there’s fish and chips (too much fish and chips). It’s pure bliss.

The Coast of Cornwall travel video by IKWAI 2019

Music: Tony Anderson – Younger

Website: https://vimeo.com/ikwai

 

Top European Cities: Cadiz, Spain Features “Delicious Andalusian Cuisine”, Ancient History

From a New York Times online article:

The neighborhood of La Viña is packed with open-air restaurants.CreditSebastian Modak The New York TimesOne of the reasons the province of Cádiz is on this year’s 52 Places list is food, as chefs in the area are innovating with pork and fish, the base ingredients here. I tried out a few of the white-tablecloth joints, but came away remembering the noisy, cheap tapas bars that have been around forever.

What makes Andalusian cuisine so delicious are the ingredients, and sometimes less is more. Why go crazy with reductions and infusions when freshly caught sardines sprinkled with olive oil are enough to elicit moans?

Cádiz, the province and city on Spain’s southwestern edge, is an underdog — and I’m among the many travelers who have spent years overlooking it. I know Andalusia, the southern region it is part of, well. For years, it’s been a meeting point for my family who has just as much wanderlust as I do and is spread across the world.

To read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/03/travel/cadiz-an-underrated-corner-of-spain.html

Culinary Destinations: Mexico City Food Markets, “Great Food Everywhere”

From a CityLab.com online article:

Juana Lomeli at Jamaica Market. Clemente Dadoo LomeliThe city’s great unifier and appeal is its cuisine, especially the street-food: corner quesadillas, fast food tents outside of subway stops, stews served over hand-made tortillas, deep fried chicken tacos, tacos topped with rice served from street stands or a make-shift diner in the back of a van. In Mexico City, one can find great food everywhere at any price-point and at any time of day.

Among the hundreds of markets in Mexico, every person finds the one best attuned to their needs and desires. In 52 years, I have visited my markets hundreds, perhaps thousands of times. In that time, my father passed away, as did the fisherman from the now defunct El Barco in San Juan, and, recently, the woman, who sold me lush, grainy yellow morel mushrooms. When I told my daughter about her passing, she too felt a pang in her heart. She can crystalize her image from memory; the tight, white braids, the rebozo she used to lay out the mushrooms and the fact that if those mushrooms made their way into our supper, she knew exactly where they came from. I courteously called her “La señora” for so many years that I now question if I knew her name to begin with.

To read more: https://www.citylab.com/perspective/2019/08/mexico-city-travel-food-market-cuisine-taco-best-cdmx/597034/?utm_source=newsletter&silverid=%25%25RECIPIENT_ID%25%25&utm_campaign=citylab-daily-newsletter&utm_medium=email