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 ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
cafe posts
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
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
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
Sep 27th, 2011 at 10:00AM:
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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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 ...Cafe du Monde: Savoring Berkeley's Caffe Strada
Mar 1st, 2010 at 5:03PM: For many years I have been talking -- dreaming -- about writing a book called Café du Monde. The book would be a collection off some two dozen essays, each one set in a different café around the world. The underlying notion would be my long-held (and repeatedly confirmed, latte by latte, croissant by flaky croissant) belief that spending a few hours in a café and really ...Gadling Take FIVE: Week of Nov. 22 --Nov. 28
Nov 28th, 2008 at 5:00PM: A person could get pretty depressed when taking a gander at how money, or rather the lack of it is influencing the places we love to go.
Perhaps some of the change is due to cultural shifts that would happen anyway. It's hard to tell sometimes exactly what condition is causing the change.
This week at Gadling, there are a few posts that have to do with changes that are taking place around the ...When in Rome...Keep an Eye on Your Purse
Sep 23rd, 2008 at 10:30AM: If someone mentions Rome, a lot of things come to mind. You might think of museums, fountains, narrow streets, the pope, the history....the petty thieves. A recent post by Elizabeth Rosenthal on IHT's Globespotters blog relates how Rome, while a great city and popular tourist destination, is not the idyllic spot some might expect. Pickpockets and bag snatching artists are out in full force in even ...Photo of the Day (09.02.08)
Sep 2nd, 2008 at 5:00PM:
I just got back from a quick Labor Day jaunt to Paris, which is the theme of today's Photo of the Day. Many an hour have I spent sitting on the Parisian streets with an espresso (or six), laptop and a few hours to soak in the culture. Perhaps I'm just a sad aficionado of cafe culture, but this is one of my favorite things about Paris. Flickr user Marni Rachel shot this photo, that, despite my ...
