One of my favourite things about luxury hotels is the seemingly endless supply of designer toiletries – soaps, gels, lotions and shampoo – all in a conveniently compact, travel-friendly size. In fact, over the years I’ve amassed quite a collection in my own bathroom at home.
There’s an old adage that money can’t buy happiness. But the proven health benefits of retail therapy have almost completely dispelled this old proverb into oblivion. Retail therapy embraces a similar logic, namely that impulse buying can curb feelings of sadness and despair and bring on a sense of frivolity and delight – and I, for one, am a firm believer.
Most foodies want to experience local food trends, local chefs, and the local palate. Fork does all of these things, even with cheeky amuses bouches which wink at Philadelphia’s famous pretzels. Owner Ellen Yin is ever-present and makes a terrific ambassador to the city’s food culture, stopping at each table to welcome guests.
Vail Resorts has released its 2013-14 winter season lift pass prices to eight world-class ski resorts in North America.
Sustainable travel is in the agenda in Oregon with the recent establishment of the Oregon Travel Philanthropy Fund.
There’s a new, or perhaps old, kid in town and it’s pulling both the punters and the posh crowd to Philadelphia. The Barnes Foundation is probably THE most talked about opening in the art world these days. Its list of holdings alone is staggering: 181 Renoirs (the largest single group of the artist’s paintings), 69 Cézannes, 59 works by Matisse, 46 Picassos, and 16 Modigliani’s are just some highlights. Barnes also befriended and collected American painter William Glackens (70 of his works reside at the Foundation).
Peru is home to some of the oldest civilisations on Earth, the Inca Empire, and the world’s favourite starchy vegetable, the potato.
My first stop after check-in is never my room. It’s always the gym. I like to see what kind of sweat I can expect to get from what’s typically no bigger than a broom closet. Is there more than one treadmill? Does it have easy controls so I can do interval sets? Are there free weights, or is it limited to three cardio machines and a mat? When the hotel gym is that grim, I pray for flat pavements and breathtaking views.
NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has reached an exciting stage in its journey. Data sent directly to NASA has revealed that the Voyager 1 is progressing quickly towards exiting our solar system and eventually entering interstellar space.
Boston’s a city dear to my heart. I grew up just a couple of hours south, in Connecticut, a small state that straddles New York and New England; the best of both worlds.
A report to be released later this month will uncover the most visible boutique…
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Perched atop the Metropolitan Tower, overlooking Suzhou's heritage-listed gardens, famed Grand Canal and the majestic Taihu Lake is the Shangri-La…
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