If you find should yourself spending New Year’s Eve in a Spanish-speaking country, you may notice that the locals have an interesting tradition of their own for this special night. As the big…

If you’re a true fan of the complexities of Mexican cuisine (as in, beyond Taco Bell and “pass the Old El Paso”) I’m sure you’ve come across one of this country’s most sophisticated contributions to world cuisine, as well as its quintessential “special occasion” dish. There are a number of Mexican sauces referred to as moles (pronounced…

In 2013 it's hardly news that that dining options in big luxury hotels have for the most part evolved way beyond the good-quality-but-bland fare of yore, with high-profile marquis restaurants showcasing some of the world’s top…

The many immigrants who’ve made Paris home over the years have left an exotic mark tasty enough to justify a visit by itself — especially if you’re curious about unusual cuisines that may be hard to find even in, say, New York, London, or Los Angeles. And oftentimes they’re some of the less pricey — even least pricey — dining options around. Here’s my top seven, discovered on my last visit:



Algeria: Le Taghit This romantic, candlelit spot in…

Though I’m (quite obviously) not Estonian, I must admit to a lump in the throat on a cool, overcast morning as the gargantuan green-and-orange Tallink ferry pulled into this tiny Baltic country’s capital after a two-hour sea crossing from Helsinki.

It was July 2009, and I was embarking on my introduction to the shiny new…

Why in the world should you settle for all those cheesy malls and resort gift shops, the cruise-terminal complexes and hypercommercialized downtowns clogged with cookie-cutter perfume, watch, and T-shirt shops? If you know where to look, it’s still possible to find unique local products, atmosphere, or both. There are of course various straw markets and crafts centers on…

by David Paul Appell

For too many folks, Caribbean shopping in the 21st century seems to be all about duty-free malls, Rolex and Seiko shops, cheesy T-shirts, and made-in-China trinkets. Good thing there are still plenty of distinctive options where local flair and products can still be found —if you know how to smoke ‘em out. Following up on last week's…

I’m based in Miami, Florida these days, and both here and on my travels down to Latin America – and especially in and around the Caribbean — I regularly come across a board game that I had just a glancing acquaintance with growing up. Dominoes have been around for literally millennia, of…

As I travel around the Caribbean (and to some extent this is true in Latin America, too), I find nearly every island has some kind of homegrown hooch (often rum-based) that purports to be “medicinal” (and sometimes certainly tastes the part), often  including revitalizing, curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. And if you visit the…

On your visit to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, or Cuba, at some point soon you’re likely to find on your plate one of the locals’ favorite starchy staples: cooked plátanos (plantains -- and not just these three countries, by the way, but also various other Latin lands with Caribbean coasts and/or tropical…

I have a travel-editor friend whose open enthusiasm for Detroit I’ve always found hard to comprehend. Sure, it’s got a good cultural and arts scene and a vigorous melting pot going for it. But the larger picture overshadowing it all has always seemed to me that notorious blight, the derelict buildings, the stench of what to many is practically a failed city.…

Call me a masochist (or whatever), but even after sitting through the often cheesy but extremely popular annual song festival that is Eurovision and…

There are of course a bunch of Mexican patriotic holidays that come around every year.  But the that's caught on most outside Mexico is Cinco de Mayo – especially in the next-door United States, most notably out on the West Coast, but really, pretty much wherever there’s a taco/burrito/chimichanga emporium (I mean, when you’ve reached Omaha…).…

There are few animals – and offhand I can’t really think of any birds – with quite the mystique of the iridescent emerald-green denizen of southern Mexico and Central America known as the resplendent quetzal. Since they’re fairly rare (officially “near threatened”) and even more elusive, you’re very…

I’m standing on the deck of a mighty wooden treasure ship, 170 feet long and 495 tons, watching tourists amble and poke about – but I admit, in my mind's eye I’m picturing pirates, sailors, and skeezy, barnacle-encrusted zombies from Davy Jones’ locker slashing, parrying and whizzing through air filled with flames and…

In February 2009, Martinique and its sister island Guadeloupe took an unaccustomed turn in the world's headlines with heated general strikes over inequality and the cost of living, resulting in the first ever cancellation of Martinique's Carnival. The poobahs in Paris responded by raising salaries and other concessions, President Nicholas…

Upon turning from apartment building to hotel back in 1971, the Athenaeum

instantly became the latest and greatest in upmarket if buttoned-down hostelry swank in Britain's capital, attracting top celebs of the day. Inevitably, plenty of other properties have …