Vancouver 2010

Hospitable host of this year’s Winter Olympics, abode of a burgeoning film industry known as the Hollywood North and called hometown by stars such as Ryan Reynolds, Michael J Fox and Joshua Jackson; Vancouver is the epitome of laid-back cool. Quietly having built up its cult following over the last few years, it has suddenly (almost surprisingly) popped up the city to see in 2010. Only a ferry-ride away from Seattle, the city of sea, yoga and bucketing rain is perfect for a weekend getaway or family trip – especially when the sun breaks through.

The great restaurants and world class shopping are major attractions of the seaside metropolis what really differentiates it from other North American cities is the ambience, or as we like to say, the vibe, bru. Vancouver is known throughout the world for its relaxed style, eco-consciousness, tolerance and seemingly collective love of exercise and the outdoors. This list contains the best of the west (coast, that is).

Granville Island

Take a five minute water-taxi to this bustling arts and gourmet destination. While

its main attraction must definitely be the fresh food market housed in rambling warehouses, a short stroll will take you to the boutique shops, theatres for both grownups and kids and even an arts university.

We heart: The postcard shop – full of vintage prints and retro notebooks. Perfect for cheap gifts. Also the Granville Island Tea Company – choose your leaves from hundreds on offer!

Stanley Park

Forming a peninsular of garden and trails on the west of downtown, Stanley Park flows seamlessly into the city and is where locals and tourists alike come to bike, blade, swim or run. Breathtaking views in all weathers mean that the circular trail running along the coast is always humming.

We heart: The people-watching opportunities. Sit on a bench and watch families swimming in the outdoor pool, self-elected mavens of cool blading past and young couples getting all schmoopy.

Sushi

In the city everything is all about the sea, so many of the restaurants are all about the seafood. Salmon abounds galore around Vancouver and the sushi restaurants are manifold and good. If you are a fan, enjoy, if not, try it out – you’ll be a convert in no time.

We heart: The fresh sashimi. And being able to find a sushi restaurant whenever we feel peckish.

Lululemon

Little known outside North America, this luxe yoga & active wear company is a Vancouver native, born in 1998 in a yoga studio and quickly growing to become a Canadian phenomenon. Cheap? No. But worth it – and the healthy-living quotes that make up their logo are always inspiring. The even give free classes and demonstrations from all their retail venues! Call me a fan.

We heart: The hoodies. High necked, distinctive design that comes in all colours of the rainbow. These are no ordinary hoodies.

Gastown

This quaint area stretches only a few streets up and across, but these few streets are a haven of good eating, productive shopping and great photo opportunities. Birthplace of Vancouver in 1867, the area is called after the maverick gold digger and saloon owner, John “Gassy Jack” Deighton.

We heart: Eating gorgeous food at the River Cafe while looking out onto the traditional steam clock. If you manage to take a photo of it without any tourists in your frame then count yourself lucky!

That about sums it up for me. Visit and write your own list, or add to mine on the comments section below!

Madrid Magic - City of Surprises

As a European destination, Madrid is often passed over for cities with more international cache – Paris, Amsterdam – even its own counterpart – Barcelona. Yet, as a favorite hangout of Ernest Hemingway, this is a city of living, eating, partying and shopping. Madrid contains all the things one might want from a European city – history, architecture, museums and galleries, beautiful parks, pavement cafés, great restaurants and a bouncing party scene, all with incredible Spanish flavor and style.madrid5

Here are a few highlights:

1. Palacio Real

Situated in the center of the city, this previous royal residence (now used for state ceremonies) is an architectural and artistic wonder, built between 1738 and 1764. Start off by admiring the symmetrical façade, equally beautiful when lit up at night or glowing in the morning sunshine. Must-sees inside include the Hall of Columns which is still used for functions, and the pharmacy (an antique collector’s dream, lined with ancient glass bottles and mortars and pestles. Informative placards educate visitors on the scarier aspects of 1800s medicine). Cross the interior courtyard – while imagining you live there – and enter the amoury. As someone who has always been far more interested in dashing knights than amour, it was amazing to see the contraptions that have been worn through the ages!

2. Parque del Retiro

Madrid’s Central Park – bigger than most suburbs and used by all for pet-walking, bike riding, yoga classes and boat rides on the lake – not only serves Madrileños with recreational facilities, but also contains architectural marvels such as the Palacio de Cristal. Visitors can enter the park through any of the eighteen elaborately designed gates and most of them eventually make their way through the mazes of paths and roads to Estanque, the boating lake. Built in 1631 and overlooked by a towering monument to Alfonso XII, there are rowboats for hire and plenty of spectators who while away their time buying ice creams and watching some of the 6000 fish to be found in the lake. Don’t miss the beautifully designed rose garden which flowers at impossible times of the year and boasts more than 4000 roses.

3. Plaza Mayor

Madrid’s most famous square was designed to hold 50000 people. Most of the buildings now house government offices. The floor of the square is surrounded by restaurants, bars, tourist information kiosks and shops. In the center you’ll find the horse-seated statue of Felipe III. The square, although always humming with people and music, is a lot more staid than it used to be – it was previously used as a bullring, open-air theater and an execution ground.

4. El Escorial

A day trip from Madrid, El Escorial is stately and unique – one part palace, one part monastery and one part mausoleum. Built by Felipe II to house the remains of his father, he instructed his architects to design it with “simplicity in construction, severity in the whole, nobility without arrogance, majesty without ostentation”. One of the complex’s most beautiful aspects is the library which is held in esteem for its possession of important holy writings dating between the fifth and 18th centuries, housed under intricately painted vaulted ceilings inspired by Michelangelo. El Escorial has been deemed one of the modern wonders of the world and has been declared a Monument of Worldwide Interest by UNESCO.

5. Art Galleries

Madrid is renown for its three biggest art galleries – Museo del Prado, Museo Thyssen Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. The Prado is housed in a large, low building situated along a leafy avenue. Among its claim to fame is its collection of Goya, Velazquez and Rubens masterpieces.

Not far up the avenue the smaller Museo Thyssen Bornemisza can be found, which houses paintings by Van Gough, Renoir, Degas, Picasso, Rembrandt and Dali. For visitors who become footsore, the charming garden café is the perfect place to refresh.

The last of the three main galleries (there are plenty more!) is the Arte Reina Sofia which boasts Picasso’s Guernica. Not only is the finished canvas displayed – an adjoining room also contains the artist’s rough sketches of the design and other Picasso works.

6. Dining

Madrid being the city of eating out, bars and restaurants are abundant, well-priced and always full of interesting people. Almost without exception, the bars serve delicious tapas and the restaurants boast adjoining bars. Aside from great wines and European beers, the drink of choice is Anis, preferably from Chinchon. This clear spirit made from aniseed has a madrid4liquorice taste and can be likened to Sambuca. Those in a celebratory mood should try Cava, the Spanish sparkling wine. After tapas, the most delicious and Spanish of Madrid food is paella – made with rice, vegetables, seafood and other meats, and usually served straight from the pan. Restaurant or bar recommendations are fruitless – there is so much to choose from. Walk down a street in any busy area and wander into places that catch your eye. Most have menus posted outside so you can see whether the food appeals, and whether their prices are inside your budget.

As a city, Madrid certainly has a unique body clock. Expect lunch to end anywhere before five pm, and supper only to start at 11pm. Although there is early business traffic, the streets only wake up after 10am when people of all kinds congregate in coffee shops for a traditional breakfast – chocolate con churros – fried pastry dipped in thick chocolate or black coffee.

Three Hours in Amsterdam

View this post at: http://www.thesoapbox.fm/2010/03/22/three-hours-in-amsterdam/

The free dictionary defines a layover as “A short stop or break in a journey, usually imposed by scheduling requirements”, but does not include the truism that it has become the curse of the modern traveler, as it can easily double the time of one’s journey.

A necessary evil to save money on flights, it is quite conceivable nowadays to fly half way around the world in the opposite direction to one’s destination before heading back the right way.

However, if one is lucky, layovers might not involve booking into an extortionately expensive airport hotel for the night or camping underneath a smelly metal chair outside your gate but rather a quick browse through duty free, followed by free champers in a plush airport lounge. Leaving Cape Town for New York, this is what my husband and I had in mind for our three-hour layover in Schiphol Airport. As we descended into the Netherlands we started chatting to the Dutch lady besides us, who recommend we get out of the airport and see the city, assuring us that we had more than enough time to jump on a train to downtown Amsterdam and explore.

This sounded a little risky to us, as we certainly could not afford to miss our connection, so we smiled and nodded politely — both wishing we really could see the city. She was very persuasive. Refusing to let us remain content with our browse/drink plan, she ushered us out through customs (having no bags makes this so easy), helped us to buy a train ticket (we had to try four machines and eventually used her credit card at her generous insistence) and pointed us in the direction of the right platform (it was not the correct platform, and we took twenty minutes to ascertain which one we should be on – our eyes big with fear at jumping onto a train and heading into Belgium).



The train ride was clean, efficient and ever so boring, the scenery industrial and the stations generic. Only until we pulled in to Amsterdam proper, however. Old buildings loomed imposingly over cobbled streets and bicycles were everywhere, some parked in stacks and some moving in frantic motion. We narrowly dodged them, as well as the cars, trams and buses as we walked around the main square and up the narrow streets. These, even at eight in the morning, were festively decorated with rainbow-colored flags, sidewalk café and coffee houses from whence people and music from all around the world poured out.

We finally settled on a café and attempted to order breakfast and coffees while we sat there quietly and tried to take in all that was happening around us. Funnily shaped vehicles appeared between bike riders of all ages — some towing carts as wide as a car, some transporting their children or pets while wearing high heels, floral dresses and absolutely no helmets. Getting food from our waitress and then eventually finding her to pay was painful, but we managed and strolled back to the station, hoping that the return trip would not take as long as the outbound one. We frantically checked the time as we waited and waited for the train to move. Finally it did, and we were in due course deposited back at Schiphol.

Luckily for us it is a well signposted airport, so we could literally run helter-skelter to our gate, hoping all the time that boarding was still open; ears pricked for announcements of our names. We joined the queue in the nick of time, sweaty and panting – attracting loads of weird looks from our fellow passengers.

Despite the excruciatingly close shave, we were thrilled that we had seen a little bit of this fascinating city and even managed to eat dinner in Cape Town, breakfast in Amsterdam and afternoon tea in New York with no airport meals included. All thanks to our convincing and charitable Dutch friend at whose insistence we explored her city!