Skip to Content

Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.

Map of the world

cafe posts

An Insider's Guide To Exploring Uppsala, Sweden

An Insider's Guide To Exploring Uppsala, Sweden Apr 6th, 2013 at 12:00PM: Most people that go to Sweden for their first time head to Stockholm, a beautiful city that is well worth a visit. But just outside of Stockholm you will find another Scandinavian gem: Uppsala. It's a university town, and founded in 1477, the university is the oldest in Scandinavia. The fourth largest city in Sweden, Uppsala has managed to keep its quaint feel, the center a mixture of ...

The Perfect DC Museum Cafe: Mitsitam

The Perfect DC Museum Cafe: Mitsitam Mar 19th, 2013 at 12:00PM: Somewhere between pointing at planes at the Air & Space Museum and browsing the day's headlines at the Newseum, my baby fell asleep. We had a small window of time to eat and maybe even have an adult conversation, and a McDonald's inside a food court didn't seem appealing. There are a lot of great Washington, D.C., museums that are free and world-class, but not many great food spots amidst the ...

Tangier's Art And Cafe Scene

Tangier's Art And Cafe Scene Jan 7th, 2013 at 2:00PM: Tangier in Morocco is an interesting blend of European, African, and Middle Eastern culture. This has made it a longtime meeting ground and inspiration for artists and writers. The city is best known in the West as the residence of many of the Beat Generation writers. William S. Burroughs wrote "Naked Lunch" here and Tangier's International Zone inspired his Interzone, a setting that appears ...

10 Great Wi-Fi Cafes In NYC's Lower East Side

10 Great Wi-Fi Cafes In NYC's Lower East Side Jul 6th, 2012 at 9:00AM: As a freelance writer without an office to call home, it was probably inevitable that I would become intimately familiar with the cafes in my neighborhood. Thankfully, the Lower East Side of New York City offers dozens of options, each with different atmospheres but all with great gourmet coffee and blazing fast Wi-Fi. In recent months, I've fallen into a steady rotation of these ...

Summer Hotspot: Montreal, Quebec

Summer Hotspot: Montreal, Quebec Apr 10th, 2012 at 2:00PM: Hungry for some culture this summer? Skip the jet lag, high exchange rates and long museum lines in Europe for one of North America's most cosmopolitan and best warm-weather destinations: Montreal. The charms that contribute to Montreal's growing cultural reputation are already evident year-round, ranging from its cosmopolitan European-style cafes, a top-notch range of award-winning ...

Discovering the king of baristas in Croatia's caffeinated capital, Zagreb

Discovering the king of baristas in Croatia's caffeinated capital, Zagreb Dec 19th, 2011 at 12:00PM: Coffee is an obsession in Croatia, and in its capital, Zagreb, the coffee culture is as strong and prevalent as the locally prepared žižule grappa. And the coffee itself? It would knock the non-fat foam off a Starbucks latte any day. But it's not just about the flavor. Here, having coffee is as much of a social ritual as an essential kick-start to the day, and hours and hours are spent over a ...

Tucson's beloved Grill restaurant closes

Tucson's beloved Grill restaurant closes Nov 24th, 2011 at 5:00PM: Today marks my second Thanksgiving outside of the US (in Turkey, ironically) and as nostalgic as I am for Pepperidge Farm stuffing and canned cranberry sauce, this week I am missing another important piece of my past: the Grill restaurant in Tucson, Arizona. A landmark of downtown Tucson for decades, Grill (true regulars know to leave off the "the") shut its doors this week, leaving many current ...

In San Francisco, savoring a slice of heaven on France's Cote d'Azur

In San Francisco, savoring a slice of heaven on France's Cote d'Azur Sep 27th, 2011 at 10:00AM: p { margin-bottom: 0.08in; } September 20, 2011 -- I'm sitting on the sun-washed terrace of La Terrasse restaurant in San Francisco's gorgeous green Presidio. It's a spectacular Indian summer day, with the rays warming my bones and the bay sparkling in the distance under a cerulean sky. All around me, California Mission-style buildings – pale yellow walls, curving arches, terra-cotta ...

Salt, wine, and wealth in Spain's Basque region

Salt, wine, and wealth in Spain's Basque region May 23rd, 2011 at 3:00PM: In the modern world we don't give much thought to salt. We casually pick some up in the supermarket or tear open a packet at a café, but in the past salt was a vital and sought-after commodity. Everyone needed it for preserving food and as a source for iodine. Nobody could live without it and those who controlled its supply became rich and powerful. The Basque region of Spain was a ...

The best views of Oxford, England

The best views of Oxford, England May 4th, 2011 at 1:00PM: Oxford is the most beautiful city in England. Its famous "dreaming spires" have inspired generations of writers, poets, and scholars. The problem is, there are only two easily accessible spots to get appreciate Oxford's skyline at its best. This photo shows the Radcliffe Camera, part of Oxford University's Bodleian Library and where I work when I'm not feeding hyenas in Harar, Ethiopia. I ...

Tomoca: the best little coffee house in Africa

Tomoca: the best little coffee house in Africa Apr 25th, 2011 at 9:30AM: Ethiopia has a lot of great attractions--castles, medieval cities, even werehyenas--yet the thing visitors rave about the most is the coffee. And why not? Coffee was discovered in Ethiopia. Legend has it that long ago a boy was tending his flock and saw his goats eating unfamiliar berries off a bush. Soon they were dancing around and looking happy. The boy brought some of the berries home to ...

Cool cafe alert: Uganda, Jerusalem

Cool cafe alert: Uganda, Jerusalem Apr 20th, 2011 at 10:00AM: Jerusalem is gloriously beautiful city. It is also an overwhelming place. One of the world's most important religious cities is the site of ongoing conflicts over land and territory. It is difficult to visit Jerusalem without considering these issues. Even a short visit to Jerusalem (especially one that includes Palestinian cities to the north and south of the city) compels visitors to think ...

Fuglen, Oslo: The world's most stylish cafe-furniture shop

Fuglen, Oslo: The world's most stylish cafe-furniture shop Mar 16th, 2011 at 1:30PM: After a few days wandering around Oslo in the middle of winter, I felt as if I'd hit upon the city's essence. In a frenzy of reductive resolution, I decided that the Norwegian capital is best described as a city of winter sports-crazed jocks. My evidence: the many locals who made it abundantly clear that they couldn't wait to drive to their cabins in the mountains for a skiing weekend. That ...

Smoking ban takes effect in Spain today

Smoking ban takes effect in Spain today Jan 2nd, 2011 at 9:00AM: Starting today in Spain, it is illegal to smoke in any enclosed space where the public gathers. This includes bars, cafes, and restaurants. It will also be illegal to smoke in school playgrounds and near hospitals. Smoking will even be banned from TV shows. Spain joins a host of countries that have recently toughened up anti-smoking laws, including Finland, Egypt, and Syria. Countries with ...

Now that's a double espresso

Now that's a double espresso Nov 27th, 2010 at 10:00AM: Here at Gadling Labs we have an ongoing Open Office speadsheet cataloging the greatest, most delicious ounces of espresso sampled around the planet, and we believe that we may have a new leader in the "double" category. The place: Cafe Tortoni, halfway between the house of congress and Casa Rosada on Av. de Mayo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Here, ordering a grande cafe will get you something ...

Dutch coffee shops face crackdown

Dutch coffee shops face crackdown Nov 3rd, 2010 at 1:30PM: Is it the beginning of the end for Dutch tolerance of weed? The recently elected conservative coalition has promised a number of controversial measures, including curbs on immigration, banning Islamic face covering, and of more interest to travelers, cracking down on legal marijuana smoking. The Netherlands has been a destination for pot smokers ever since marijuana was made legal in the 1970s. ...

Five Brooklyn cafes with free wi-fi

Five Brooklyn cafes with free wi-fi Jul 6th, 2010 at 10:30AM: Brooklyn is full of cafés offering their patrons free wi-fi. Here are five particularly distinctive cafés with free wi-fi, strewn across Brooklyn, from neighborhoods ranging from Fort Greene (Smooch) to Ditmas Park (Vox Pop) to Red Hook (Baked). Are you more of a Manhattan girl or a Queens boy than a Brooklynite? Don't worry. I'll come up with some great café picks for ...

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's new flower

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia's new flower Apr 23rd, 2010 at 1:30PM: When I talk to NGO workers who have worked all over Africa, most say their favorite posting was Addis Ababa. Ethiopia's capital is a young city, founded by the Empress Itegue Taitu in the late nineteenth century. She named it the "new flower", and while the pollution and crowded streets don't give a very flowery impression, it's still an enjoyable and easy city to visit. I've already ...

Café du Monde: sippin' smooth at Jack's in New York's West Village

Café du Monde: sippin' smooth at Jack's in New York's West Village Mar 29th, 2010 at 1:34PM: It's 11:00 am on a windy, drizzly early March day in Manhattan's West Village, but I'm warm and dry in the cozy confines of Jack's Stir Brew Coffee on W. 10th St. Though the Mommas and Papas are singing, "Monday, Monday," it's actually Wednesday, Wednesday, and my last morning in New York after an exhilarating six-day visit. When I asked friends who are longtime lower Manhattan residents – ...

Boston's brunch and books

Boston's brunch and books Mar 26th, 2010 at 8:00AM: Though I've sworn off books in favor of my Kindle, there's still something electrifying about an indy bookstore. Throw food into the mix, of course, and the experience can be blissful. On my recent trip to Boston, I sought out Trident Booksellers & Cafe for this reason. The Newbury Street establishment is home to a rare bookstore-and-restaurant combination, Trident, where you can peruse the ...

Gadling Features

Categories

Become our Fan on Facebook!

Featured Galleries (view all)

Berlin's Abandoned Tempelhof Airport
The Junk Cars of Cleveland, New Mexico
United Airlines 787 Inaugural Flight
Ghosts of War: France
New Mexico's International Symposium Of Electronic Arts
Valley of Roses, Morocco
The Southern Road
United Dreamliner Interior
United Dreamliner Exterior

Our Writers

Grant Martin

Editor-in-chief

RSS Feed

Don George

Features Editor

RSS Feed

View more Writers