May/June 2020

THE HOSPITALITY ISSUE

T R AV E L A S A F O R C E F O R G O O D

A FA R .COM

# T R AV E L DE E P E R

GO B ACK T O NAT URE IN

Australia p.102

THE BEST NEW HOTELS

EXPERIEN CE

WHERE

Canada

BY TRAIN

p.124

TA STE

Scotland

BY T HE DRAM

p.97

MEETS

oday

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK, USA

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CAP MAISON RESORT & SPA

HONOLULU, OAHU, HAWAII, USA

GROS ISLET, SAINT LUCIA

HOTEL XCARET MEXICO

CANCÚN/RIVIERA MAYA, QUINTANA ROO, MEXICO

EDGEWOOD TAHOE RESORT

STATELINE/LAKE TAHOE, NEVADA, USA

20_242 © 2020 Preferred Hotels & Resorts

JA MANAFARU

THE SANCHAYA

HAA ALIFU ATOLL, MALDIVES

BINTAN, INDONESIA

THE HARI HOTEL LONDON

THE FULLERTON HOTEL SYDNEY

LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

HOTEL CALIFORNIAN

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA, USA

HOTEL UNIQUE

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL

CONTENTS May/June 2020

114

A CITY ON THE VERGE

In Belgrade, a modern and cosmopolitan Serbia is opening up to the world.

ON THE COVER

The renovated Belmond Cadogan Hotel, a Stay List pick, blends classic elegance with contemporary hospitality.

Photograph by Emma Hardy

6 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

ALGIRDAS BAKAS, SPINE ILLUSTRATION BY VIOLETA NOY

by Nicholas Schmidle

CONTENTS May/June 2020

102 REWILDING AUSTRALIA

Humans have long sought to tame Australia’s unique wilderness.

Now some humans are helping nature push back.

by Emma John

124

IN SEARCH OF KINDNESS

A train trip through northeastern Canada reveals the country’s many layers.

DESTINATION INDEX ARGENTINA 18 ARIZONA 18, 74 AUSTRALIA 52, 102 BOLIVIA 60 CALIFORNIA 66 CANADA 124 8 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

CHILE 58 COSTA RICA 72 DOMINICA 66 ENGLAND 18, 68, 72 FRANCE 66 HONG KONG 52

ISRAEL 136 ITALY 18, 52, 70, 72 JAPAN 18, 50, 91 LEBANON 80 LOUISIANA 44, 62 MARYLAND 18, 44

NEVADA 44 NEW JERSEY 44 NEW MEXICO 34 NEW YORK 56 PENNSYLVANIA 54 RWANDA 68

SCOTLAND 97 SERBIA 114 SINGAPORE 56 SOUTH AFRICA 54 ST. BART’S 50 TAIWAN 71

TENNESSEE 44 UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 56 UTAH 58 WASHINGTON 58 WASHINGTON, D.C. 36, 68

DAVID MAURICE SMITH

by Colleen Kinder

WE

T H E E X P LO R E RS E U R O D A M in G L A C I E R B AY, A L A S K A

Today we’re getting closer to one of Alaska’s most precious treasures, Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve. We’re enraptured by the legends of an Alaska native from the Huna Tlingit tribe. We’re mingling with a park ranger who points out the incredible wildlife and gives us a real understanding of Glacier Bay’s history. Today we are exploring someplace new, until tomorrow when we’ll wake up and do it all again.

Call your Travel Advisor or 1-877-SAIL HAL, or visit hollandamerica.com

Ships’ Registry: The Netherlands Authorized Concessioner Glacier Bay National Park

CONTENTS May/June 2020

18 AFAR.COM

22 FROM THE EDITOR

24 FOUNDER’S NOTE

28 CONTRIBUTORS

136 JUST BACK FROM

Chef Alon Shaya takes his team to his Israeli homeland.

The Stay List 49 THE BEST NEW HOTELS OF 2020

Our favorite new lodgings are warm, inclusive, and know how to connect travelers to their destination.

Connect 80

49

RESIDENT Maison de la Luz

A member of Beirut’s new creative class reveals the city’s best spots.

91 FEAST

In a tiny shop in Tokyo, a master creates sweet, edible works of art.

34

36

42

44

NEW MEXICO REIMAGINED

SOCIAL CAPITAL

MIX

PAST IMPERFECT

Flamenco dance, green chile cheeseburgers, and hot springs: an onlyin-New Mexico road trip 10 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

What makes D.C. a destination?

A lot more than monuments

Inspired, inspiring, and just plain odd: our favorite state mottos

Overlooked American stories come to life at five new museums.

97 WORKSHOP

From water to whisky: how Glenfiddich distills the flavors of Scotland

DAYMON GARDNER

Wander

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Begin your ecofriendly journey to Colorado before you get there: Pack reusable water bottles and hot-drink tumblers. This green tip is one of the simplest ways to limit waste, and you’ll keep beverages colder (or hotter) for longer than single-use plastic ever could. Don’t forget that with the high altitude and dry climate, you should start drinking water as soon as you arrive—and don’t stop.

The gorgeous landscape, and the need to preserve it, makes living sustainably part of the state’s DNA, so by following suit, you’ll truly be living like a local. In your hotel, you may well find refillable

water stations and water carafes rather than bottles. Take advantage!

Also, support businesses like Denver’s Lacuna Juice and Yoga, which is completely plastic-free and working toward zero waste. At Unravel Coffee (in Denver and at the Gravity Haus hotel in Breckenridge), even to-go cups are reusable mason jars.

Another pro tip is to pack sunglasses— all that sunshine is bright!—and sunscreen, since the elevation in many parts of the state brings you closer to the rays. Bring a daypack for the impromptu hikes that Coloradans love to take, and a fleece or vest, since

mountain temperatures can fluctuate widely, even in summer.

Then pick up a few words of local lingo like “Front Range” (the mountains you see from Denver, otherwise known as the “Mile High City”) and “mud season” (late spring, when melting snow makes for great fishing and white-water rafting).

Get more tips on being prepared from the Colorado Tourism Office at Colorado.com/are-you-colo-ready; you’ll be feeling like a true Coloradan in no time.

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The DeBruce, Livingston Manor, New York “Dinner is included with a stay at this welldesigned upstate inn.

Over a meal that might include local mushrooms, trout, and cheese, diners can gaze through floor-toceiling windows at rolling hills. It’s magic!” —N.B.

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Toro Yaka Bush Lodge, South Africa “We ate in a boma outside under the stars after our game drive: a delicious cut of antelope with a wine reduction sauce. That, with great wine and stories from the day, was pretty memorable.” —L.S.

What’s your favorite hotel for a meal?

Lisa Abend @lisaabend, Chris Colin @chriscolin3000, Emma John @foggymountaingal, Ryan Knighton, Peggy Orenstein @pjorenstein, Anya von Bremzen COPY EDITOR Elizabeth Bell PROOFREADER Pat Tompkins EDITORIAL FELLOW Mekalyn Rose @mekalynrose

AFAR MEDIA LLC

The Mandarin Oriental, Miami “I always go to La Mar and order the salmon fusion and chaufa aeropuerto— a sublime dish with quinoa, shrimp omelet, and roasted pork—whenever I’m in Miami. So delicious.” —C.S.M.

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Andaz Tokyo, Japan “I sat at the tiny sushi bar next to two businessmen eating unusual sashimi and other delicacies.

They started ordering for me; I still don’t really know what I ate, but it was exquisite.” —J.G.

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Scandic Simonkenttä, Helsinki, Finland “Restaurant Simonkenttä has the best breakfast buffet anywhere. Perfect for mornings when the sun never comes up.

Even better for mornings when the sun never went down.” —D.D.

AFAR ID Statement AFAR® (ISSN 1947-4377), Volume 11, Number 3, is published bimonthly by AFAR Media, LLC, 130 Battery St., Sixth Floor, San Francisco, CA 94111, U.S.A. In the U.S., AFAR® is a registered trademark of AFAR Media, LLC. Publisher assumes no responsibility for return of unsolicited manuscripts, art, or any other unsolicited materials. Subscription price for U.S. residents: $24.00 for 6 issues. Canadian subscription rate: $30.00 (GST included) for 6 issues. All other countries: $40.00 for 6 issues. To order a subscription to AFAR or to inquire about an existing subscription, please write to AFAR Magazine Customer Service, P.O. Box 6265, Harlan, IA 51591-1765, or call 888-403-9001. Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to AFAR, P.O. Box 6265, Harlan, IA 51591-1765.

TAH IT I | FR EN CH P O LYN E SIA | FIJ I | S O UT H PACI FI C

Choose Your Own Adventure «

Experience the best beach party ever on Motu Mahana

» Enjoy a different international cuisine every day at lunch

LEARN MORE

Try your hand at stand-up paddleboarding

Hop on stage and learn how to do an authentic Tahitian dance

Contact your Travel Advisor, call 877-440-6119, or visit pgcruises.com/AFAR for more adventures!

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Stay for a little or stay for a lifetime, it never leaves you.

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Obtain the Property Report required by federal law and read it before signing anything. No federal agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of this property. This does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy where prohibited by law. The complete offering terms are in an offering plan available from sponsor. File no. H-110005

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SCOTT SUCHMAN, MARTA TUCCI/GALLERY STOCK, BRIAN GUIDO, DYLAN PRIEST/OFFSET.COM

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Let AFAR Be Your Guide

Meals you shouldn’t miss in Rome. Where to shop in Tokyo. Must-see neighborhoods in London.

A local’s take on Buenos Aires. This May, AFAR presents all-new guides to 10 of our favorite cities in the world.

Explore at afar.com/travel-guides.

18 AFAR

VOTE NOW!

YOUR NEXT CITY ESCAPES

Each year, we turn to you—the world’s best travelers—to tell us about the hotels, cruise lines, airlines, trips, and destinations that inspire your wanderlust. It’s that time again: The AFAR Travelers’ Choice Awards are back! Go to afar.com/travelerschoiceawards to weigh in. Voting closes July 2, 2020.

Did you know that you can eat James Beard Award–winning Sonoran hot dogs in Tucson? And check into a slew of new hotels in Baltimore?

Find out what smaller cities we’re making big plans to visit at afar.com/surprisingamerica.

MAY/JUNE 2020

Don’t book a flight.

Book a relaxed arrival.

Enjoy Swiss hospitality on board. swiss.com

Made of Switzerland.

FOR THOSE WHO WANT IT ALL

FROM THE EDITOR

Tradition With a Modern Twist TH ESE DAYS I S P E N D about a third of the year in hotels, traveling extensively for business and pleasure. Aside from my preference for two firm pillows, a real human being at check-in, and a classic negroni on the house cocktail list, I have some thoughts about what it means to be a truly great hotel in 2020. They’ve helped guide our picks for this year’s Stay List, AFAR’s annual celebration of the best new hotels around the world.

In the last decade, I’ve watched as hotels in major cities have focused on taking down the barriers between the community and the traveler. While the modus operandi at a resort was once to keep guests within the confines of its walls, today, hotels encourage guests to explore the local area and culture, while also inviting residents in to enjoy their restaurants and bars.

Hotels have also recognized that home-sharing services are here to stay and are taking cues from what they do well. In the past few years, I’ve felt a move away from staid and snobby hospitality, as the best hotels embrace a laid-back and inclusive attitude toward all guests.

Another development: Hotels are at last working toward becoming more environmentally sustainable, in everything from reducing restaurant food waste to eliminating single-use plastic. For more on the trends reshaping the hotel industry, visit afar.com/hospitality.

This, our third annual issue devoted to hospitality, celebrates ways cultures around the world make people feel welcome. On page 124, a train ride through Canada’s Maritimes shows writer Colleen Kinder the kindness for which Canadians are known.

The Stay List, on page 49, showcases extraordinary hotels that offer a deep sense of place and make all travelers feel at home. In the new age of hospitality, the world is a warm and welcoming place. Let’s raise a glass to that.

Travel well,

22 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

The Bar at the Belmond Cadogan Hotel in London, one of the hotels on this year’s Stay List (page 49), serves cocktails inspired by famous former guests.

EMMA HARDY

JULIA COSGROVE Editor in Chief

Every island has a story.

If you listen, it will speak to you.

HAWAIIROOTED.COM/ MAUI

FOUNDER’S NOTE

Stay Connected the world was struggling to contain the COVID-19 virus: Air travel between the United States and most of Europe was severely restricted, major events had been canceled, and health officials were asking us to keep our distance from one another.

At the time, it was hard to see to the other side of this crisis: when we would return to “normal.”

As you read this, that still might be true.

At AFAR, we take seriously our commitment to help serve you, the world’s best travelers, with information and stories that inspire, guide, and enable you to live your lives to the fullest.

Right now, that means both keeping you up to date on how the virus is affecting global travel and continuing to inspire you to travel when the time is right. I’m so proud of our coverage of the coronavirus crisis to date. Our team brings a sophisticated traveler’s perspective to the rapidly changing news, offering thoughtful context and insights. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to subscribe to AFAR’s email newsletter to stay connected with our community on a daily basis.

To sign up, go to afar.com/newsletters.

We also know that at times like this, it’s more important than ever to remember all that’s good and inspiring in our world. I hope this issue of the magazine offers a chance for you to think about your next trip, whenever that may be, and to stay engaged with all of the reasons we love to travel.

A S T H I S I S S U E W EN T T O PRESS,

At times like this, it’s more important than ever to remember all that’s good and inspiring in our world.

Good travels,

AYA BRACKETT

GREG SULLIVAN Cofounder & CEO

24 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

A place to do nothing.

And absolutely everything.

Architect. Mentor. Beekeeper.

A life well planned allows you to

While you may not be running an architectural firm, tending hives of honeybees and mentoring a teenager — your life is just as unique. Backed by sophisticated resources and a team of specialists in every field, a Raymond James financial advisor can help you plan for the dreams you have, the way you care for those you love and how you choose to give back. So you can live your life.

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Colleen Kinder Writer In Search of Kindness p.124

Nicholas Schmidle Writer A City on the Verge p.114

Algirdas Bakas Photographer A City on the Verge p.114

David Maurice Smith Photographer Rewilding Australia p.102

Perfect timing: “I went to Canada during the off season. Everyone kept saying if I’d come two weeks earlier more places would have been open, but I loved being there when I didn’t have to contend with anyone. I could get out of my car in the middle of a back road and watch wild moose.”

On track: “Alain de Botton writes in The Art of Travel that ‘journeys are the midwives of thought,’ and there’s something about trains that gives you a chance to think differently. It feels like sacred time to me.” Follow her: on Twitter @colleenkinder

Flavor shock: “When we came back from Serbia, we realized that the tomato or egg or piece of fruit we got from Whole Foods looked all nice and shiny, but it didn’t taste like anything compared to what we had in Serbia.”

A daring drink: “I have a lovehate relationship with rakija [fruit brandy]. I was in the Balkans from 2010 to 2012 on a number of different stories, so I drank a lot of rakija. You can actually feel the hairs growing on your chest as you’re drinking it, which is a bit much for me.” Follow him: on Twitter @nickschmidle

A local perspective: “I stayed near the food market on Drinčićeva Street in Belgrade and would have breakfast there often.

The early morning summer light falling on a ripe peach and the wrinkled faces of the local salesmen will stay with me for a long time.” Positive POV: “Belgrade is raw and strong, and this is reflected in its people and architecture. A lot of people struggle financially, but they smile and have fun anyway, more so than the people in countries where life is easier.” See his work: on Instagram @bakaspictures

Land of tales: “At Arkaba Station in Australia, I went up in a little plane to shoot some aerials early in the morning. There are these jagged, spine-like land formations. The Aboriginal people have stories about how serpents came together and created those ridgelines. Seeing it from the air gave me a sense of how unique it is.” Birds and beats: “I’m glad I’m not a light sleeper—at Lady Elliot the birds were so loud.

You need earplugs because it’s like a rock concert outside your room! I loved it.” See his work: on Instagram @davidmauricesmith

28 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL GEORGE

ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAM KERR

CONTRIBUTORS

DISCOVER MORE: with the airline that flies to more countries than any other

TURKEY

THIS IS THE GREAT OUTDOORS. Miles of trails, woods, water and stunning views.

Come experience mild to wild adventures in Kentucky.

KentuckyTourism.com

WHEN IT’S LIVE, I T CHANGES YOU Experience live for yourself with hundreds of the world’s most breathtaking entertainment offerings, from live theater to live sports to live music.

WANDER ALL AMERICAN

JULIEN MCROBERTS/OFFSET.COM

The United States is rich with experiences waiting to be discovered, whether on a visit beyond the landmarks in Washington, D.C. (page 36), at a museum that sheds new light on overlooked history (page 44), or on a road trip in New Mexico (pictured, and page 34).

It’s a big country.

Get out there.

MAY/JUNE 2020

AFAR 33

NEW MEXICO REIMAGINED

DAY 1

Albuquerque

There is more to New Mexico than Taos and Santa Fe. Along this less-explored route between Albuquerque and Las Cruces, travelers can explore Pueblo history, relax in healing hot springs, and take in landscapes of ochre mountains and forests teeming with quail.

by Adam H. Graham Illustration by Kyutae Lee

Chaco Culture NHP

Santa Fe

Albuquerque

Gallup 40

25

Albuquerque, New Mexico’s largest city, has caught the eye of curious travelers. Mayor Tim Keller, known for his love of heavy metal, has helped attract new creative businesses—both Netflix and NBC will open production studios here in 2020—and thus, creative people who are helping to shape the city. Visitors will find rich indigenous culture, new food halls, and a vibrant flamenco scene.

THE PUEBLO STORY

At the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Hopi curator Rachel Moore stages exhibits such as HERitage: Pueblo Women Paving Cultural Pathways, which features contemporary female artists and sculptors. Pueblo Harvest, the center’s restaurant, serves amaranth pancakes, greenchile-and-cheese biscuits, and other dishes made from ingredients in use since before European colonization.

OLÉ!

Surprisingly, ABQ is one of the world’s most important flamenco towns, credited with reviving the dance form in the 1950s. Tablao Flamenco Albuquerque, in Old Town’s Hotel Albuquerque, was the Southwest’s first authentic flamenco dance hall. It still holds regular weekend showcases featuring local and international performers. Intimate Casa Flamenca hosts tablao performances throughout the year.

40

WHERE TO EAT The 34,000-square-foot Sawmill Market, just north of

Socorro

Old Town, opened in March, with handmade pasta from Tulipani, wood-fired pies from Hawt Pizza Co., smoked brisket from Mr. Powdrell’s, and steaming bowls of ramen from Naruto. The three-story 505 Central Market, opening this summer off Route 66 in downtown, will offer Humble Coffee along with burgers, pizza, and beer.

25

Truth or Consequences

WHERE TO STAY The elegant 118-room Hotel Chaco in Old Town

features Pueblo-inspired designs in its rugs, stone walls, and exposed wooden beams known as vigas.

White Sands NP

Hatch 10

DETOUR WORTH TAKING The UNESCO-recognized Chaco Culture

Las Cruces El Paso

34 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

National Historical Park, about three hours northwest of ABQ, was a ceremonial and economic hub between 850 and 1250 c.e. Today a nine-mile loop drive passes five Chaco sites, and backcountry hiking trails lead to more remote ruins.

WANDER

DAY 2 / 149 miles • 2 hours and 10 minutes

Albuquerque to Truth or Consequences

Drive south on I-25 past the cholla-pocked mountains of Socorro County and take exit 79 to reach the walkable town of Truth or Consequences. Originally called Hot Springs, the village rechristened itself in 1950, after Truth or Consequences radio host Ralph Edwards dared a town to name itself after his show. T or C’s mix of artists, serenity-seeking spa lovers, and ardent environmentalists embodies the state’s zany cultural mash-up.

CREATIVITY ON DISPLAY

Art Hop, held on the second Saturday of the month, is the best way to experience T or C’s parade of characters, plus enjoy free drinks and affordable art.

Bounce between Main Street Gallery, Desert Archaic, and RioBravoFineArt gallery, then stop by Truth or Consequences Brewing Company for live music, which could include a surprise performance by septuagenarian punk rockers.

SPRINGS ETERNAL

Those seeking opportunities to soak can stop at the sign of the neon spur, marking La Paloma Hot Springs & Spa, where the water rises naturally from the earth, no pipes needed.

Or check out the lithium- and calcium-rich waters at Riverbend Hot Springs, a series of pools set on the banks of the Rio Grande. Guests can share space in the common pools or rent a private pool.

WHERE TO EAT Run by a couple from Vermont and Serbia, the

Me Gusta World Street Food Truck offers a locally sourced, globally inspired menu of elote, poutine, falafel, tacos, and more. At Latitude 33, a casual BYOB Asian fusion restaurant, the shishito peppers are laced with green chile ponzu, and the Korean glass noodles have gone vegan, with rainbow carrots, tofu, and shiitake mushrooms.

WHERE TO STAY Check into the 17-room Sierra Grande, situated on

one of four eco-minded Ted Turner Reserves in the state. Guests here are treated to ATV safari drives at the adjacent Ladder Ranch.

The chance to spot bison, bobcats, wolves, eagles, roadrunners, and endangered tortoises—and chat with conservationists in the field— makes this experience unlike anything else in the country. After bumping over the rough terrain, head back to the lodge for a candlelit soak in one of the 104-degree spring-fed baths.

DAY 3 / 78 miles • 1 hour and 20 minutes

Truth or Consequences to Las Cruces

Southbound Route 187, which hugs I-25, passes farmhouses, pancake-flat cotton fields, and fences choked with tumbleweed.

In the distance, the jagged Organ Mountains show their teeth to the sky.

PICK A PECK OF PEPPERS

En route to Las Cruces, stop in Hatch, a wee town where vendors sell Mexican pottery and green chile–infused everything. Three Brothers, on State Road 543 in Hatch, is the best of the pepper depots, offering a selection of powdered green chile, smoky chipotle, and flaming-red ristras (strings of chili peppers) as well as local honey and Mexican vanilla.

LOCAL GOODS

In Las Cruces, 45 minutes beyond Hatch, visitors to the Farmers and Crafts Market can stroll to the sounds of live music and shop for peaches, pecans, and tamales as well as turquoise jewelry and hand-turned woodware. The market runs from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays on Main Street and on Wednesdays at the Plaza de Las Cruces.

WHERE TO EAT Blake’s Lotaburger in Las Cruces is known for its

green chile cheeseburgers—the ultimate New Mexico road food.

For breakfast, sample “Christmas-style” huevos compuestos, meat topped with red and green chile sauce, eggs, and cheese and served in cup-shaped corn tortillas, at 63-year-old La Nueva Casita Cafe.

WHERE TO STAY Some travelers will choose to push on to El Paso,

Texas, just an hour south. But why rush Las Cruces? Instead, crash for the night in the town’s historic adobe inn, Josefina’s Old Gate.

DETOUR WORTH TAKING The newest addition to the U.S. parks

system, White Sands National Park lies 52 miles northeast of Las Cruces. To best experience White Sands’ surreal landscape of windswept gypsum dunes, hike a mile into the park and spend a night camping in the backcountry, the sparkling stars above.

WANDER

SOCIAL CAPITAL

By Natalie Beauregard, Barbara Noe Kennedy, and Kelly Magyarics

Eaton D.C.

The Red Hen

Beyond the monuments, Washington, D.C., comes to life in neighborhoods that bring people together for culture and food.

Amanda Moll, chef at Pom Pom

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: RICHARD BARNES FOR THE KENNEDY CENTER, R’EL DADE/MARCUS LLOYD, JENNIFER CHASE, JENNIFER HUGHES

The Reach

DINNER IS NEVER JUST DINNER.

C O C K TA I L S • D I N N E R • E N T E R TA I N M E N T • AT

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Neighborhoods to Explore

The coolest happenings in D.C. aren’t happening on the Mall.

They’re unfolding in areas such as Bloomingdale and Ivy City, where the locals live, work, and play.

The streets in this corner of northern D.C. are lined with trees and vintage row homes. Crispus Attucks Park, one of several pocket parks in the area, used to be an abandoned lot until the community transformed it into a green oasis.

Locals gather at the Boundary Stone Public House for craft beer, trivia nights, and live music; at the dive-ier Showtime bar, the jukebox is stocked with funk and soul. The rigatoni with fennel-sausage ragu at the Red Hen trattoria draws a crowd, so book in advance or settle in at the bar to wait for a table.

IVY CITY

Not long ago, travelers hardly gave this industrial zone north of Union Market a second glance. Today it’s full of chic spots to eat, drink, and socialize. Ivy City Smokehouse smokes its own salmon, trout, and whitefish.

City Winery hosts classes and musical acts such as the Magnetic Fields on its intimate stage. Supreme Core Cider incorporates sour cherries and hibiscus blooms into its adult apple juice. And Atlas Brew Works is D.C.’s only solar-powered brewery. The National Arboretum defines Ivy City’s east side, with 446 acres of azaleas, daffodils, and conifers from around the world, plus a bonsai museum.

The Red Hen

• For more highlights, check out the guide to Washington, D.C., on AFAR.com.

WHERE TO STAY The nation’s capital is booming with hip new hotels. Here are three to book.

HEAR IT LIVE

With a movable stage and room for up to 6,000 concertgoers, the Anthem, a new 57,000-squarefoot music venue in D.C.’s Wharf District, is a bigger, badder version of the city’s iconic 9:30 Club, also operated by event producer I.M.P. theanthemdc.com

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THOMPSON WASHINGTON, D.C.

Rooms offer views of the Anacostia River, plus minibars stocked with local snacks. At the restaurant Maialino Mare, Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group serves Roman food, including saltbaked sea bass and roasted suckling pig.

From $180. thompson hotels.com

EATON D.C.

This 209-room hotel combines superior hospitality with a mission for progressive social change.

American Son restaurant serves vegetarian Asian cuisine, and the Eaton House offers film screenings, yoga and meditation classes, and sound baths. From $129. eatonworkshop.com

RIGGS WASHINGTON, D.C.

Corinthian columns and barrel-vaulted ceilings reveal this building’s origins as the historic Riggs National Bank. In the old vault, guests will find Silver Lyan, the first U.S. venture from mixologist Ryan Chetiyawardana, of London’s Lyaness bar. From $340. riggsdc.com

ILLUSTRATIONS BY SAM ISLAND

FROM TOP: SCOTT SUCHMAN, JENNIFER HUGHES FOR RIGGS WASHINGTON, D.C.

BLOOMINGDALE

TA K E A VA C AT I O N F R O M YO U R VA C AT I O N W I T H T H E H O T T E S T R E S TA U R A N T S , T H E C O O L E S T S H O W S A N D T H E O N LY B E A C H O N T H E S T R I P. D O N ’ T J U S T D I P A T O E I N .

LEAP WITHOUT LOOKING AND DIVE IN .

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Global Fare

Meet the diverse chefs who are driving the internationalism of D.C.’s food scene.

MARCELLE AFRAM

KWAME ONWUACHI

AMANDA MOLL

The Caracas native celebrates Latin cuisine at Seven Reasons, with Amazonian ingredients such as katara (a spice made from fermented ants and roots) and plenty of veggies. His fusion bowls are the star at Immigrant Food, which also provides meeting space for immigration NGOs. sevenreasonsdc.com, immigrantfood.com

Afram helms Maydan’s central hearth and has mastered grilled dishes from the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North Africa. Her lamb shoulder with Syrian seven spice seasoning and wood-fired carrots with lemon and harissa pair well with wines from Lebanon, Israel, the West Bank, and other unexpected regions. maydandc.com

The winner of the James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef in 2019 spent his formative years in Nigeria, New Orleans, and New York. Kith/Kin is his ode to the African diaspora, showcased in jerk tamarind barbecue sauce, braised oxtail with pigeon peas, and cucumber salad with gooseberry piripiri. kithandkindc.com

Pom Pom’s executive chef draws inspiration from Southeast Asian, Latin American, and Mediterranean flavors, with creative dishes such as hamachi crudo with za’atar and zhug (a spicy green sauce) or Balinese roast duck with turmeric and fresh carrot kimchi.

Cocktails honor female authors and activists. pompomdc.com

POTOMAC PADDLE

For a duck’s-eye view of D.C.’s monuments, rent a kayak or paddleboard at the new Wharf Boathouse or at the Thompson Boat Center near Georgetown University. boatingindc.com/ boathouses

Kith/Kin

ART MEETS AUDIENCE

Maydan

Pom Pom

Maydan

A BETTER WAY TO GET TO THE AIRPORT

In September 2019, the Kennedy Center opened the Reach, a stateof-the-art expansion that seeks to connect artists with the public.

At once an arts incubator, performance venue, classroom, and green space, the Reach hosts movie screenings, shows, orchestra concerts, and festivals on stages indoors and out. Visitors can also watch rehearsals or simply relax on a lawn overlooking the Potomac. kennedy-center .org/reach

Washingtonians and out-of-towners alike are looking forward to the arrival of direct service to Dulles International Airport via the Metro’s Silver Line. Fingers are crossed for a 2021 debut. wmata.com

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GRID, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: SCOTT SUCHMAN, COURTESY OF KITH AND KIN, SCOTT SUCHMAN (2). RIGHT: RICHARD BARNES FOR THE KENNEDY CENTER

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STATE MOTTOS

Every state has its words to live by. Most are optimistic and rooted in history, some are head-scratchers—we’re looking at you, Maryland. And yes, New Hampshire, we know you’re tough.

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STYLING BY MICHELLE MAGUIRE

WANDER

PHOTOGRAPH BY KELSEY McCLELLAN

WANDER

New museums and exhibitions are exploring the overlooked experiences, histories, and legacies of minorities in the United States.

By Devorah Lev-Tov

Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum Carson City, NV

One of the uglier chapters in United States history involved the forced assimilation of American Indian children, who were taken from their families and sent to government-run boarding schools.

One such institution was the Stewart Indian School in western Nevada, which operated from 1890 until 1980. Following years of lobbying by alumni and tribal leaders, the school opened as a cultural center and museum in January. A permanent history exhibit displays school desks, a basketball from the school’s 1966 state championship team, and audio and video recordings of former students talking about their experiences.

A research room showcases yearbooks, tribal books, and photographs of the work of Hopi stonemasons and students; a storytelling room with children’s books from Nevada tribes offers a dedicated space for tribe members to share stories or lead crafting classes.

The cultural center’s Wa-Pai-Shone Gallery features works by contemporary Great Basin Native American artists. stewartindian school.com

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National Museum of African American Music Nashville, TN When the NMAAM opens its doors in early September, it will be the only museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating more than 50 genres and styles of music created or inspired

by African Americans.

The museum will use interactive displays to demonstrate this rich history, covering slavery songs, religious hymns, gospel, blues, contemporary R&B, hip-hop, and more.

Visitors will be able to experiment with beat-making via touch screens, sing along with the voices of gospel singer and TV host Bobby Jones and the Nashville Super Choir, and get an up-close look at traditional African drums, Whitney Houston’s leopard-print gown, and jazz musician Kirk Whalum’s saxophone. nmaam.org

MAY/JUNE 2020

Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience New Orleans, LA

Jewish immigrants settled all over the United States—including the Bible Belt. The Museum of the Southern Jewish Experience was founded in 1986 at a Mississippi summer camp but closed in 2012. The new version opens in New Orleans this fall.

Through hands-on exhibits, oral histories, archival documents, and a collection of more than 4,000 artifacts, the museum will explore how Jews living in Mobile, New Orleans, and other Southern communities influenced and were influenced by the culture of their new homes. msje.org

Harriet Tubman Museum Cape May, NJ Although abolitionist Harriet Tubman is commonly linked to Maryland, she lived in Cape May for three summers in the early 1850s.

Inside a restored early 19th-century parish home, the Harriet Tubman Museum is set to open on June 19, 2020—a date also known as Juneteenth, which commemorates the effective end of slavery in the U.S. In addition to documenting Tubman’s life and her crucial work on the Underground Railroad, the museum will house historic African art and exhibits on the local pastor who once lived in the home. harriettubman museum.org

2020 Vision at the Baltimore Museum of Art Baltimore, MD With its 2020 Vision initiative, the BMA made a commitment to spend $2.5 million this year to acquire and exhibit art made by female-identifying artists. Highlights include an installation

by Mickalene Thomas, a survey of Joan Mitchell’s painting career, video art

by Candice Breitz, and displays of works by Valerie Maynard and other Baltimore-based artists. The effort coincides with the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which granted U.S. women the right to vote, though in practice, barriers remained for minorities. artbma.org

The National Museum of African American Music will celebrate such legends as Aretha Franklin.

DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS/GETTY IMAGES

PAST IMPERFECT

THIS IS HOW WE VEGAS F ROM RARE TO WEL L D ONE WAGYU AT JEA N G EO R GES STE A KHOUS E S P IN N I N G T HE R OULET TE W H E EL C E LE B R I TY SI G HTI N G AT CATCH

YOU CAN ’T F IT I T IN YOUR POC K E T. THAT’ S W HY I T STAYS W IT H Y O U

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T HE S T AY L I ST

BEST NEW HOTELS

Eden Rock St. Bart’s

Labotessa

Raffles Singapore

Maison de la Luz

The Newt in Somerset

Adler Lodge Ritten

Aman Kyoto

Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia

Captain Whidbey Inn

J.K. Place Paris

Conrad Washington, D.C.

Nayara Tented Camp

The Chedi Al Bait

Lodge at Blue Sky

West Hollywood Edition

Belmond Cadogan Hotel

Rio Palena Lodge

Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica

Wilderness Safaris Magashi Camp

Rosewood Hong Kong Casa Maria Luigia Mt. Mulligan Lodge

Equinox Hotel

Kachi Lodge

Palazzo Daniele Hoshinoya Guguan

Posada by the Joshua Tree House

THE STAY LIST

The essentials of hospitality never change. Great hotels have always done everything they can to make every guest feel truly welcome. But today, the very best hotels also build genuine connections between their guests and their local communities.

Of the many hotels that opened in the past year, our editors and contributors personally reviewed and selected these 27 because they do all of that and more.

We invite you to read on for the new hotels worth traveling for.

AMAN KYOTO JAP AN

S T. B ART ’S

On the island of St. Bart’s— the epitome of barefoot luxury in the Caribbean— Eden Rock has reopened its doors following an extensive two-year renovation in the wake of Hurricane Irma in 2017. The 1953 grande dame is set on a hill above turquoise-hued St. Jean Bay, where the resort’s 37 guest rooms were reimagined by owners Jane and David Matthews with bright splashes of color and contemporary art. Some rooms now have private plunge pools. The Swedish designer Martin Brudnizki has revamped the Sand Bar restaurant in shades of green and gold—a color palette that extends to the Rémy Bar, which debuted in a new building. From $990. oetkercollection.com

By Lindy Alexander, Sara Button, Alexandra Cheney, Julia Cosgrove, Annie Fitzsimmons, Jennifer Flowers, Adam H. Graham, Aislyn Greene, Lauren Ho, Mary Holland, Andy Isaacson, Devorah Lev-Tov, Lyndsey Matthews, Heather Richardson, Ann Shields, Jane Sung, Shamilee Vellu, Nora Walsh, and Terry Ward.

50 AFAR

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LETTERING BY JULIEN PRIEZ

COURTESY OF AMAN RESORTS

EDEN ROCK

Wait for the forest to invite you in.

So goes the first rule of shinrin-yoku, or Japanese forest bathing. Savvy travelers will await the invitation at the Aman Kyoto resort in the foothills of Mount Daimonji. Surrounded by 80 acres of moss-covered forest that’s thick with native maples, cedars, and blue oaks, the resort’s 26 suites all have tatami mats, washi lanterns, charcoal timber slats, and cypress-wood soaking tubs. Even modern touches—heated stone bathroom floors, e-bikes—are discreetly incorporated into the ancient surroundings. From $1,400. aman.com

Los Angeles’ Hidden Gem Some things in life just can’t be described.

And to truly understand them, you must experience them yourself.

Escape to Terranea Resort on the Los Angeles Coast and receive up to off using COASTAL . | TERRANEA COM | TERRANEA

THE STAY LIST

ROSEWOOD HONG KONG H O NG K O N G

As Hong Kong navigates its political future, residents are embracing its cultural identity—and the Rosewood is a shining example. The local Cheng family, owners of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, pay homage to their hometown on 43 floors of the former New World Centre skyscraper. The 413 guest rooms, with their plaid wool rugs, textured walls (some covered in cashmere), and books and antiques, invite guests to gaze out at Victoria Harbour. The hotel’s best asset, though, is staff who make visitors smile, whether guiding them to the best egg tarts or leaving fresh pink peonies in their rooms. From $440. rosewoodhotels.com

CASA MARIA LUIGIA E MILIA- ROM AG NA , IT ALY

One of Italy’s most famous chefs has gotten into the hotel business.

Massimo Bottura and his partner, Laura Gilmore, opened Casa Maria Luigia in the northern region of Emilia-Romagna. The 18th-century manor, located in the countryside 15 minutes from Modena, doubles as a gallery for the couple’s art collection, which is on display in the 12 guest rooms and public spaces. Onsite restaurant Francescana at Casa Maria Luigia serves a nine-course menu with hits from Bottura’s three-Michelin-star Osteria Francescana in town. From $490. casamarialuigia.com

Q UEE N S L A ND , A U ST R A L I A

Mt. Mulligan Lodge shows travelers a part of Queensland that’s much less visited than the beaches on the coast. It takes a 35-minute helicopter trip or a three-hour car ride 100 miles inland from Cairns to reach the solar-powered property, set on a working cattle station. Near the main lodge, four pavilions, which hold up to 16 guests total, feature outdoor bathtubs with views of the sandstone escarpment called Mount Mulligan. Visitors can explore an abandoned mining town and drive all-terrain vehicles through boulder-strewn riverbeds and river red gum forests before returning to a flute of chilled champagne. From $1,070. mountmulligan.com 52 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

FROM TOP: FILLIPPO BAMBERGHI/PHOTOFOYER, JASON IERACE

MT. MULLIGAN LODGE

I N T R O D U C I N G E M E R A L D LU N A COMING SPRING 2021 Emerald Waterways adds to its fleet of award-winning ships the new Emerald Luna, which will sail the Rhine, Main and Danube. As comfort and innovation converge across our custom-built fleet, Emerald Luna will feature Emerald Waterways’ signature indoor pool that converts to a cinema at night.

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Contact your professional travel advisor, call 844.332.5405 or visit emeraldwaterways.com For new bookings made April 10 - June 30, 2020 on 2021 European river cruises, AFAR Magazine readers receive an additional $250 per person bonus savings. Off er available to residents of the 50 United States and Washington DC only. Off ers and fares are capacity controlled and may be extended, cancelled or withdrawn at any time without notice. Visit emeraldwaterways.com for complete terms and conditions. 20_EW0502

THE STAY LIST

LABOTESSA CAPE T OWN, S OUTH AFR ICA

In recent years, Cape Town’s Central Business District has become a hub for restaurants and bars, and its hotel scene is finally catching up.

Opened last August by first-time South African hoteliers Jan Fourie and Johan du Plessis, Labotessa is located in a 17th-century building on tree-lined Church Square.

The hotel has enormous rooms: The smallest are 700 square feet. All have French armoires, velvetlined couches, Diptyque amenities, and covetable views across the square toward Lion’s Head mountain. Even when the nightlife is in full swing, rooms are blissfully quiet.

From $340. labotessa.com

PH I LAD E LP H IA

Occupying the top 12 floors of the Comcast Center, the Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia secures Philly’s place on the jet-setter’s map. The 60th-floor Sky Lobby, reached via a hair-raising glass elevator ride, presents unrivaled views. Digital artworks in the public spaces project a future-is-now sensibility, and the 219 birchwoodaccented guest rooms offer a contemplative respite. Acclaimed local chef Greg Vernick runs Vernick Fish (try the salmon-belly ceviche), and Jean-Georges Philadelphia presents the culinary icon’s most beloved classics, such as caviar egg with vodka whipped cream. From $625. fourseasons.com 54 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

COURTESY OF LABOTESSA

FOUR SEASONS HOTEL PHILADELPHIA AT COMCAST CENTER

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The magnetic draw of Kauai’s sunny South Shore is profound. Its natural beauty, sublime. Its soulfulness, from the heart. Ways for families to live a spirited life, limitless. At Kukui‘ula, all that weaves into a place like no other to create a one-of-a-kind home home in the Hawaiian Islands.

Homes and homesites in a breathtaking setting, from $600K to $12M | 808.427.2570 | kukuiula.com

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Obtain a property report or its equivalent as required by Federal or State Law and read it before signing anything. No Federal or State Agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of the property. This is not an offer or solicitation in CT, NJ or NY or in any state in which the legal requirements for such offering have not been met. Warning: The CA Dept. of Real Estate has not inspected, examined, or qualified this offering. Fees, memberships and restrictions may apply for certain amenities. Details available. Price and availability subject to change. ©March, 2020. Kukui‘ula Development Company (Hawaii), LLC. All rights reserved.

THE STAY LIST

THE CHEDI AL BAIT S HARJAH , UNITE D ARAB EMIR A TE S

The Chedi Al Bait, in the emirate of Sharjah, is an elegant answer to the glitz of nearby Dubai.

Housed in an adobe-walled compound, the 53-room property evokes the history of Sharjah’s wealthy pearl-trading families. Guest rooms with timber ceilings, antique brass artifacts, and Arabic-style floor seating are connected by a warren of lamplit alleyways and secluded courtyards. Escape the midday heat in the shade of the outdoor café, where you can sample the housemade camel milk ice cream as the prayer call rings out from the mosque next door.

From $325. ghmhotels.com

EQUINOX HOTEL NE W Y OR K CI T Y

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RAFFLES SINGAPORE S ING AP ORE

Opened in 1887 and an icon of Singapore’s colonial past, the recently transformed Raffles remains sensitive to history while meeting the needs of modern travelers. Bathroom floors are covered in Peranakan-inspired tiles, and mahogany chairs and beds furnish the 115 suites, but today’s guests summon the hotel’s famed butlers with an iPad. Inventive cocktails await in the lobby’s new Writers Bar, and you can also order a classic Singapore Sling at its birthplace, the Long Bar, where the floors are still strewn with peanut shells. From $930. rafflessingapore.com

FROM TOP: COURTESY OF THE CHEDI AL BAIT, SHARJAH, COURTESY OF RAFFLES SINGAPORE

Located in a New York City skyscraper along the Hudson River, the Equinox Hotel— the first from the fitness and lifestyle brand—is adjacent to the city’s Hudson Yards multiuse complex and its newest landmark, the Vessel.

Those attractions draw plenty of tourists, and the hotel itself also brings in New Yorkers with its most impressive gym and spa to date.

(Guests have access to it all, from the cryotherapy treatments to the indoor and outdoor pools.)

The 212 guest rooms— sleek, soundproof cocoons with blond-wood floors, stone-topped vanities, and breathable, all-natural fiber mattresses—are designed to optimize rest. From $700. equinoxhotels.com

THE STAY LIST

LODGE AT BLUE SKY

W HI DB EY I SL A ND , W AS H IN G T O N

With its tranquil maritime charm, Whidbey Island, a two-hour car and ferry ride from Seattle, has always felt like a local’s secret. But the restored 113-year-old Captain Whidbey Inn just might change that. The main lodge was built from madrona and fir logs and has a large stone fireplace; the 12 upstairs rooms recently got a gentle refresh.

The real draw, though, is a group of four new stand-alone cabins—each designed by a different creative business from the Pacific Northwest. Edit, a modern home store in the town of Langley, curated its airy cabin with art

by David Price. From $225. captainwhidbey.com

RIO PALENA LODGE C H ILE ’ S L A K E D IS T R I CT

It’s a bumpy, 30-minute car ride from the tiny Palena airfield to this fly-fishing and skiing retreat in Chile’s Lake District. But the wild beauty of Patagonia’s snow-dusted peaks and the crystalline rivers and lakes teeming with brown and rainbow trout make it well worth the trip—even if visitors never pick up a rod. At the seven-room Rio Palena Lodge, owned and run

by Eleven Experience, visitors spend their days fishing, hiking, mountain biking, or heli-skiing.

At night, they retreat to pine-paneled guest rooms outfitted with indigenous Mapuche textiles. From $2,500. elevenexperience.com 58 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

UTAH

For all the beauty of Utah’s Wasatch Mountain Range, most of the area’s hotels are located in Park City for easy access to the ski slopes. But the remote setting of the Lodge at Blue Sky—a 25-minute drive from Park City— allows guests to feel truly immersed in the American West. Part of the Auberge Resorts Collection, the lodge features 46 rooms and suites, some with outdoor fireplaces, built from wood and limestone that blend with the landscape. Adventure seekers will love the cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and horse riding on the property’s 3,500 acres, but downtime is taken just as seriously: A 90-minute High West Whiskey Rubdown includes a shot of the local spirit. From $900. aubergeresorts.com

FROM TOP: ALEXANDRA RIBAR, COURTESY OF ELEVEN EXPERIENCE

CAPTAIN WHIDBEY INN

the future of sustainable travel

A Footprint Hurtigruten is Proud Of Hurtigruten has been passionately exploring the world’s waters since 1893.

Today, with climate change, plastic waste and unsustainable mass-tourism, Hurtigruten forges ahead and advances new standards for the expedition cruising industry: Launched the world’s first hybrid, electric-powered, expedition cruise ships Continues to build intimate, smaller capacity vessels with a maximum of 500 guests SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAN, CEO, DANIEL SKJELDAM

Became the first major travel company to remove single-use plastic from their entire fleet of ships, restaurants, and hotels Continually offers educational programs led by expert expedition teams with expertise in subjects including local culture, history, wildlife, ecosystems, conservation, and more Hurtigruten focuses on innovation, technology, and intentional measures to explore as responsibly as possible. The company is constantly improving how they reduce, recycle, and handle their waste—and sharing everything they learn along the way.

Discover the world and gain unforgettable experiences with Hurtigruten, where sustainable travel is their passion. +1 (844) 991-0487 HURTIGRUTEN.COM ONBOARD EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

THE STAY LIST

60 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

KACHI LODGE S ALAR DE UY UNI, BOLI VIA

Kachi Lodge—an arc of six geodesic domes in the middle of Bolivia’s famed Salar de Uyuni salt flats—is the first retreat to offer guests worldclass accommodations in the otherworldly landscape. Each tent is kitted out with flamboyant paintings by Bolivian artist Gastón Ugalde, and meals are prepared by a small team from Proyecto Nativa in Sucre.

Guests spend their days on guided walks and drives through the salar, then in late afternoon sample local wines and watch the sun sink into the white landscape. From $2,280 (twonight minimum). kachilodge.com

THE STAY LIST

MAISON DE LA LUZ NEW O RLE ANS

PREVIOUS SPREAD: JENNIFER CHASE. THS PAGE: STEPHEN KENT JOHNSON/MAISON DE LA LUZ

The antidote to the rowdy scene in the French Quarter? Maison de la Luz, a refuge in the trendy Warehouse District that’s across the street from its sister property, the Ace Hotel. The Maison’s 67 guest rooms were designed

by L.A.-based Studio Shamshiri and Atelier Ace with custom settees and snake handles on the shower doors. Paris consultancy Quixotic Projects created Bar Marilou, where locals congregate for cocktails and French bites, including pommes Marilou, crispy potatoes topped with crème fraîche and caviar. From $389. maisondelaluz.com

62 AFAR

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THEHAMILTONPRINCESS.COM

YO U ’ R E J U ST T WO H O U R S ,

from seeing a whole new picture.

BOOK NOW | CALL 1-800-441-1414 OR CALL YOUR TRAVEL PROFESSIONAL Quote PSMR to enjoy our ‘Summer Fridays Offer’ and enjoy your fourth night FREE with $100 food & beverage credit (min stay 4 nights, 1 night non-refundable deposit, full non-refundable if cancelled less than 21 days prior arrival). Book from Wednesday, April 15, 2020 until Friday, July 31, 2020. Stay from Friday, May 1, 2020 through Thursday, April 30, 2021.

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Why You Should Visit the

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS Now

Refreshed & Revived. The BVI has become virtually a new travel destination, thanks to intensive rebuilding efforts following 2017’s Hurricane Irma. Reopened and reimagined hotels have taken their place alongside the islands’ welcoming people, and now this tropical paradise is ready to celebrate. Here’s why the BVI landed a spot on AFAR’s coveted “Where to Go in 2020” list—and why now is the perfect time to visit.

More Eco Than Ever

Help make a positive impact by supporting the islands’ ever-greener businesses. Cooper Island Beach has launched both a solar-powered brewery and a turtle-tagging conservation program, while Scrub Island Resort offers transparent, LED-equipped kayaks for amazing views of the ocean floor. Sir Richard Branson’s Necker Island has introduced new wind turbines and increased its local sourcing of food; Oil Nut Bay, too, features locally grown, high-quality ingredients in its dishes.

Book your unforgettable trip now at bvitourism.com.

Want to Get More Involved?

Volunteer with Seeds of Love, which replants trees and gives visitors the chance to participate. Then head to the enhanced Baths National Park, or try Spring Bay and Savannah Bay as alternative options. And divers will love the new dive sites, some of which showcase wrecks transformed into underwater works of art.

Where to Stay?

The surge of resort reopenings in the BVI has been accompanied by an increased focus on sustainability.

One of the first Caribbean resorts to promote sustainable luxury, iconic Rosewood Little Dix Bay features 80 new guest rooms, suites, and villas.

Visit the spa, which uses indigenous botanical products whenever possible.

Valley Trunk Estate, whose name was inspired by trunkback turtles that nest on the beach in front of the resort, boasts tropical gardens that blend seamlessly into the landscape.

The new Quito’s Luxury Inn, a 21-room boutique property opened by homegrown music legend Quito Rymer, features locally made bath products and a restaurant dedicated to environmental stewardship.

Anegada Beach Club, Anegada.

NO SHOES. NO SHIRT. 5-STAR SERVICE. Uncover the true spirit of the Caribbean from sunup to sundown. Choose from spectacular resorts, cottages and villas, or deluxe sail boats — each offering world-class, untucked luxury that’ll exceed your expectations.

BVITOURISM.COM | 1-800-835-8530 Tortola | Virgin Gorda | Jost Van Dyke | Anegada | Cooper Island | Guana Island Little Thatch | Necker Island | Norman Island | Peter Island | Saba Rock | Scrub Island

THE STAY LIST

PA R IS

Paris isn’t lacking for grand palace hotels.

But when a new property from Italian hotel collection J.K. Place opened on a residential corner of the Left Bank, it brought a more intimate kind of hospitality to the city.

The former European consulate was converted into a hotel that feels like a chic friend’s townhouse, and it’s located within walking distance of the Saint-Germaindes-Prés shops and one block from the Musée d’Orsay.

Florentine designer Michele Bonan outfitted the 29 guest rooms with Italian cashmere throws in a nod to the brand’s home country, and French antiques from local flea markets— a reminder to guests that they’re in the City of Light. From $870. jkplaces.com

WEST HOLLYWOOD EDITION LOS ANG E LES

Just beyond the clamor of Sunset Boulevard, the West Hollywood Edition balances the dreamy minimalism of British architect John Pawson with inviting spaces guests can settle into, whether in the seating nooks of the art-adorned lobby or in one of the 240 light-filled guest rooms clad in neutral woods. A collaboration between legendary hotelier Ian Schrager and Marriott International, the Edition has three restaurants overseen by chef John Fraser of Michelin-starred Nix in New York. At the Roof, the Latin-inspired dining space, Peruvian scallops and empanadas dipped in pistachio mole pair well with mezcal and panoramic city views. From $475. editionhotels.com

CABRITS RESORT & SPA KEMPINSKI DOMINICA PO RTS MOUTH , DOMIN I CA

On a Caribbean island known for its untamed beauty, the Cabrits Resort & Spa Kempinski Dominica puts nature front and center. Opened in late 2019 alongside a national park, the island’s first true five-star resort showcases the teals and turquoises of glistening Douglas Bay from its glass-walled lobby.

The same view is on display in most of the hotel’s 151 guest rooms. Around the firepit at the RumFire bar, “bush rums” infused with island-grown spices such as ginger and turmeric distill the Caribbean’s essence into something drinkable.

From $545. kempinski.com 66 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

FROM TOP: JOE THOMAS, COURTESY OF CABRITS RESORT & SPA KEMPINSKI DOMINICA

J.K. PLACE

Let Us Be Your Guide A ONE-OF-A-KIND ALL-INCLUSIVE HOTEL

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THE STAY LIST

THE NEWT IN SOMERSET With the arrival of notable restaurants, shops, and art galleries, there’s much more to southwest England’s Somerset County than the spa town of Bath.

And the Newt in Somerset is a destination unto itself. Inspired by Babylonstoren, its sister hotel in South Africa, the Newt is set inside a 300-year-old family home. The 23 rooms, many with fireplaces and huge bathrooms, are divided between the original Hadspen House, Clock House, Granary, and the former Stable Yard. The true draw is the 30 acres of gardens and groves, which grow vegetables for farm-to-table dishes at the retreat’s Garden Cafe. $360. thenewtin somerset.com

CONRAD WASHINGTON, D.C. W AS H IN G T O N, D. C.

The sleek and modern Conrad in Washington, D.C., is the antithesis of a stuffy old Beltway hotel. Built as part of the new CityCenterDC development, the Conrad was designed

by Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron. The hotel has 360 serene rooms and 32 suites, all with floor-to-ceiling windows, some with views of the Capitol dome. A central atrium fills the lobby with natural light, and art installations encourage guests to stop and reflect. From $700. hilton.com 68 AFAR

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WILDERNESS SAFARIS MAGASHI CAMP AKAG ERA NATION AL PARK, RWANDA

Until recently, Rwanda’s main draw was its mountain gorillas. But it’s now a prime place to spot lions, black rhinos, leopards, and hippos— thanks to African Parks, an NGO helping to manage Akagera National Park. At Wilderness Safaris’s Magashi, a six-room lakeside camp that introduced world-class luxury to the park, straw “manes” on lampshades mimic Rwandan headdresses, and the black-and-white bar evokes local imigongo art. From $540. wilderness-safaris.com

JENNY ZARINS / CONDÉ NAST TRAVELLER © THE CONDÉ NAST PUBLICATIONS LTD.

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There is colorful.

Then there’s whirling flamenco dancers electrifying a historic Presidio a short spin away from a stunning Spanish colonial mission.

That’s more than beautiful, it’s

SANTA BARBARA RADIANT El Presidio De Sant a B ‡r bar a Ð t ak e a spi n SantaBarbaraCA.com All contents ©2020 Visit Santa Barbara. All rights reserved.

PALAZZO DANIELE G AG LIA NO D E L CA P O , I T ALY

The Puglia region has no shortage of restored palaces and farmhouses. But Palazzo Daniele took a less conventional approach, adopting the signature rustic-chic style that made its sister property, the G-Rough in Rome, an immediate hit. Inside the sun-faded palazzo’s guest rooms and public spaces, original 19th-century mosaic floors and frescoed ceilings are juxtaposed with contemporary art. The warm staff includes a pair of exuberant chefs, Donata and Patrizia, who belt out Italian pop hits while cooking up handmade pasta. From $480. palazzodaniele.com

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THIS PAGE: SERENA ELLER/PALAZZO DANIELE, FACING PAGE: COURTESY OF HOSHINO RESORTS

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HOSHINOYA GUGUAN TAIW AN

Embraced by a curve of the Dajia River, Hoshinoya Guguan rises against a dramatic tableau of emerald peaks. The hot spring resort, which lies two-and-a-half-hoursâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; drive south of Taipei, comprises 50 duplex maisonettes, each with a private indoor-outdoor bath with views of the surrounding mountains.

A stroll through the stream-laced garden or a spa treatment is an ideal precursor to the restaurantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kaiseki dinner, a multicourse feast that might include such Japanese dishes as steamed eel with tofu made from local ingredients. From $600. hoshinoresorts.com

THE STAY LIST

ADLER LODGE RITTEN S ÜD TIR OL, I TA LY

The strikingly designed Adler Lodge Ritten is reinterpreting the centuries-old wellness tradition of the Italian Alps. From the Bozen train station, a cable car ride takes guests up the slopes of the Renon mountain area to a main lodge and a constellation of modernist timber chalets that face a pond.

The 42 guest rooms are clad in knotty wood grain and have terraces with views of the Dolomites; each has a private sauna and a wood-burning stove. Don’t miss the spa, with its heated infinity pool facing the alpine landscape. From $600, including meals. adlerresorts.com

C OS TA R ICA

The glamping trend shows no signs of waning, and one of the most spectacular new options is located in northern Costa Rica’s rain forest. Sharing 62 acres with its sister properties, Nayara Gardens and Nayara Springs, Nayara Tented Camp features 21 tents on a hill facing the Arenal Volcano. The tents keep nature front and center, with dual indoor and outdoor showerheads and jungle-inspired wallpaper, plus verandas with infinity pools that draw water from hot springs. Between relaxing in the six thermal rock pools and nibbling on ceviche, guests can take walks with a naturalist to spot the red-eyed tree frogs, toucans, and sloths that live among the guarumo trees. From $1,200. nayaratentedcamp.com 72 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

BELMOND CADOGAN HOTEL LONDO N

Five-star properties in London can often feel stuffy, but the Belmond Cadogan Hotel is a welcome exception. With just 54 guest rooms, the Queen Anne–style retreat in Chelsea has the trappings of worldclass hospitality: dapper doormen, marble floors, and original artwork.

But personal touches invite you to feel at home.

A nearby bookshop curated the in-room libraries, and chef Adam Handling’s mother hand-knit all the tea cozies for her son’s on-site restaurant. Access to the Cadogan Place Gardens across the street, reserved for residents, offers a locals-only experience. From $605. belmond.com

FROM TOP: HANNES NIEDERKOFLER, COURTESY OF BELMOND

NAYARA TENTED CAMP

A Coveted Retreat Tucked away on a former coconut plantation, between the El Yunque National Forest and Expíritu Santo River, The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort is a pristine hideaway in Puerto Rico. Experience an unparalleled Caribbean destination from the refined comfort of this AAA Five Diamond and Forbes Five Star resort, a singular environment that seamlessly blends bespoke style with natural splendor.

As the only Certified Gold Audubon International Signature Sanctuary in the Caribbean, the resort collaborates with Soul of Bahía Foundation, a non-profit organization, whose main purpose is to promote the protection of natural resources and wildlife, contributing to community and local sustainability, through conservation initiatives and environmental education including support the protection of sea turtles and coral reef.

©2020 Marriott International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. St. Regis and their logos are the trademarks of Marriott International, Inc., or its affiliates.

The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico State Road 187 Kilometer 4.2, Rio Grande 00745, Puerto Rico 787 809 8000 Marriott.com/SJUXR

THE STAY LIST

POSADA BY THE JOSHUA TREE HOUSE TUCS ON, AR IZONA

COURTESY OF THE JOSHUA TREE HOUSE

Drive 30 minutes west from Tucson and the number of saguaro cacti increases until you reach a tiny dirt road next to Saguaro National Park.

Here, the five-suite Posada by the Joshua Tree House is a well-designed escape for desert lovers. Rich and Sara Combs, the husband-andwife team behind Californiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s popular Joshua Tree House, have brought their boho-chic style to the suites, all outfitted with retro-inspired Smeg appliances, wood-burning fireplaces, and earth-toned fabrics. On and around the 38-acre property, hiking trails offer scenic solitude. From $185 (two-night minimum). thejoshuatreehouse.com

74 AFAR

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Built to capture incredible ocean views, Villa Skyline is a modern paradise, just five minutes by car from Grace Bay beach. Located in Turks and Caicos, on the western edge of Grace Bay, Villa Skyline is perfect for a family getaway, couples retreat, or even a romantic, island honeymoon with a little extra space. Nearby, you’ll find duty-free shopping, Casablanca Casino, exciting nightlife, and the beautiful beachfront of Grace Bay. Sleek and stylish, Villa Skyline is a trendsetting estate, outfitted with state of the art electronics, designer furniture, and a minimalistic approach to decor, focusing on quality over quantity. www.villaskylineturksandcaicos.com

NEW ZEALAND IS A YEAR-ROUND DESTINATION We’re the locals down here in NZ but choosing our favourite season can be a little tricky. Spring delivers lush green hills dotted with blooming daffodils and summer brings long warm days, ideal for hiking. In autumn the leaves turn golden brown, with crisp blue skies and quiet trails, and winter puts on a snow show with some of the most scenic landscapes we see all year. So, you’re in for an epic time no matter when you visit!

ActiveAdventures.com/NewZealand • 800-661-9073

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2 Immersive Ways to Experience South Africa Now Known as “the Rainbow Nation,” South Africa offers something for everyone: iconic cities, world-class winelands, dramatic scenery, rich cultures, and of course, endless acres of wildlife.

Make 2020 the year you experience it all. Go with these two AFAR-recommended tour operators and be awed by their fascinating, immersive South African adventures.

TAUCK An Elegant Adventure in South Africa

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This 12-day trip, which hits the highlights of South Africa in style, is perfect for the first-time visitor. You’ll begin in Cape Town, with three nights at the world-renowned Cape Grace Hotel. Explore the city, revel in the beauty of the Cape Peninsula, and travel to the mountainous winelands to see the iconic Cape Dutch architecture and sample the famous wines.

Then it’s off to see creatures large and small. You’ll enjoy two days with expert trackers in Kruger National Park while staying at the luxurious lodges at Lion Sands. Move on to the intimate Sabi Sands Game Reserve, with accommodations at the Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge, where each thatched lodge is furnished in keeping with the indigenous culture. Continue on to fascinating Johannesburg, where you’ll tour the

Apartheid Museum and check out a local microbrewery. This incredible journey culminates with the chance to witness the majesty of Victoria Falls and spend time with the elephants of Zambezi National Park.

Book your South African adventure now at tauck.com.

HIGHLIGHT Lion Sands–Kruger National Park covers 12,000 acres and features one of the highest recorded densities of predators.

On game drives with pro trackers, you’ll have the rare chance to spot large concentrations of elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, wild dogs, and leopards.

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&BEYOND Travel with Purpose in South Africa This 11-day journey has a dual goal: experiencing the most iconic sites of this gorgeous country and participating in philanthropic activities.

Begin in &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, where game drives will focus on ďŹ nding the Big Five, as well as cheetahs and rare black rhinos.

Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll also have the chance to interact with the local KwaZulu-Natal communities, learning

about projects aimed at improving education and health care. Then travel to Cape Town and gaze in wonder at Table Mountain, take an optional ferry ride to Robben Island, and enjoy the luxurious Cape Grace Hotel. Meet the locals of this multilayered city while visiting projects focused on community uplift. Continue on to the spectacular Cape Whale Coast, where soaring mountains surround waters ideal for whale-watching.

Experience the thrill of breaching whales, then take in an educational facility for the unemployed or an

organic farm. A thrilling excursion to the African Seabird and Penguin Sanctuary rounds out this unforgettable trip.

Reserve your spot on the next exciting and immersive South African adventure at andbeyond.com.

HIGHLIGHT The excursions to see community programs in action offer one-ofa-kind opportunities to meet locals, learn about their day-today activities, and witness philanthropic organizations as they advance their mission to reach out and improve lives each and every day.

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The road less traveled brings the thrill of discovery to your journey—and it’s good for the planet, too. Colorado boasts an abundance of stunning spots off the beaten path that make for a magical visit.

to search for an ideal hike. Love to mountain bike? Consult the trails info, especially when visiting Gunnison County, where all 750 miles of singletrack trails are mapped.

Sure, you’ll find 58 peaks that famously soar above 14,000 feet (called “14ers”).

But Colorado also has a whopping 637 “13ers”—far more than any other state— which deliver equally unforgettable views and experiences. (Bonus: They’re also less crowded.)

Of course, immersing yourself in Colorado’s famous natural sites also rewards the senses—like the pictureperfect Maroon Bells in Aspen, and Hanging Lake, just east of Glenwood Springs. That’s why these towns have pioneered a timed-entry system, which not only enhances the experience for visitors but also helps keep the landscape pristine. (Be sure to book ahead, as slots fill up fast.) It’s a true win-win.

The same is true for less-trodden trails.

Download the Colorado Trail Explorer app or use a site like AllTrails.com

And wilderness areas aren’t alone in minimizing their footprints. Gorgeous Steamboat Springs has banned plastic bags and, like many mountain towns in Colorado, offers a free mass-transit system. The New Belgium Brewing Company, in Fort Collins, is one of the world’s most ecofriendly breweries.

And the C Lazy U Ranch in Granby has partnered with the Nature Conservancy to protect lands in perpetuity. No matter where you are in Colorado, innovation brings new meaning to the idea of traveling lightly.

Visit Colorado.com to explore low-impact itineraries.

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At Beirut’s Sursock Museum, modern Lebanese art is housed in a century-old building. It’s just one of the many places in the dynamic city where contemporary life bumps up against history.

Turn the page to get a local’s take on this new Beirut.

PHOTOGRAPH BY FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI

MAY/JUNE 2020

AFAR 79

CONNECT RESIDENT

SAVORING BEIRUT Cookbook author Bethany Kehdy grew up during the Lebanese Civil War, when fighting ravaged parts of Beirut.

Now she’s part of the young creative class that’s reimagining the city.

As told to Lindsey Tramuta

I

in Houston to a Lebanese father and an American mother from Texas, but we moved to Lebanon when I was a baby. I spent all of my formative years here. To escape the turmoil of the civil war (1975 to 1990), my family and I sought refuge in Baskinta, a village northeast of Beirut, at the foot of Mount Sannine, for about five years.

To this day, I think people are still healing from wartime.

At 22, I dropped out of the American University of Beirut to figure out what I wanted to do. I moved to Miami and worked in real estate but only found happiness when I started cooking the Middle Eastern food I was so badly missing. I’d invite friends over and experiment with recipes, some of which were merely rough instructions my aunt dictated to me by phone. I would spend Saturdays cooking and freezing meals. Still, a future in food didn’t become a serious consideration until I moved to London in 2008 and turned my recipes into a blog.

Food blogs were just emerging, and I came along at the right time, carving out an untapped corner of the web dedicated to Middle Eastern cooking. Shortly after that, I set up Food Blogger Connect, a conference for like-minded food devotees to come together, and I wrote my first book, The Jewelled Kitchen. Taste Lebanon, the culinary tour company I founded in 2009, was the natural next step. It took off quickly, mostly by word of mouth, because my first customers were fellow food bloggers flying in from all over the world to connect.

Today, my home base is Lebanon (though London is my second home), and I run three- to four-day treks across the country, including to once “off-limit” destinations like Baalbek and Tripoli, and I do culinary day tours of Beirut with a team of guides. There’s a booming bed-and-breakfast market that’s opened up the country not just to foreign travelers but to locals, too. Politically, things are challenging: We have a government now, so we’re no longer in a void. However, the government doesn’t represent the people, so we’re working to change that. The recent protests have made headlines, but this revolution has been predominantly peaceful. It says a lot about the Lebanese people.

WA S BORN

80 AFAR

MAY/JUNE 2020

Food writer and entrepreneur Bethany Kehdy offers travelers a taste of her beloved city.

For travelers coming to Lebanon, you may encounter some road closures, but they’re less now than they were in late 2019. Bring cash with you! The economic crisis that was building up prior to the protests has taken its toll.

Inflation has set in, people have lost their jobs.

But it’s still a beautiful country, full of resilient, hopeful people. And Beirut is a buzzing place that’s constantly evolving.

All of our activists, artists, and entrepreneurs have made the city an exciting and creative spot. For so long we were all trying to leave the country in search of opportunities, but now, the opportunities are here—if we create them. I’m working on opening my own restaurant in the Achrafieh district, an area shaped by its dining experiences. Other neighborhoods have been working on defining modern, postwar identities for years, like Gemmayze, now with its art galleries and heritage buildings, and Mar Mikhaël, known for its late-night crowds and coffee shops.

It’s good to be home.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY FRANCESCO LASTRUCCI

No other place in Alaska brings together glaciers, iconic wildlife, panoramic views and the comforts of a city.

Portage Pass

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The Corniche Beirut

“I go running here about three times a week.

It’s a wonderful gathering place along the water for people from all walks of life. You’ll see adults and children strolling and relaxing or enjoying a game of cards, without a care in the world. I love observing that love for the simple things in life.”

82 AFAR

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Kalei Coffee Co.

“A wonderful homegrown coffee roaster and coffee shop. I particularly love their second location, the newest, which occupies a late 19th-century heritage house with a lovely backyard garden with outdoor seating set up beneath the trees. It’s a perfect spot to kick back and relax.”

Plan BEY

“An independent publisher of artist books and prints, Plan BEY in Mar Mikhaël is also an exhibition space and shop where you can pick up a beautiful selection of contemporary cards, posters, books, and prints developed with local artists at their workshop.”

In Charleston, daily life is accompanied by a gentle harmony of church bells, rustling palmetto fronds, and lyrical sea island accents. Church steeplesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not skyscrapersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;dot the skyline, and a tangible connection to the past permeates the community. Never has this connection been more apparent than this year, as Charleston celebrates the 350th year of its founding. Learn more about this yearlong celebration at CHS350.org. History loves company.

EXPLORECHARLESTON.COM

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Seza

“Armenian food can be quite heavy, but Seza’s specialties are lighter—the kibbeh, freekeh with lamb, and eech (red bulgur salad) are all delicious—making this my favorite Armenian bistro in Mar Mikhaël. I always choose a table on the covered terrace. It’s homey!”

Sursock Museum

“This magnificent museum is dedicated to contemporary and modern art. Architecturally, it’s a stunning show of Venetian and Ottoman heritage: There’s Damascan woodwork and original tiling. It feels like an ode to the old Lebanon we lost touch with due to the war.”

84 AFAR

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Marash Street

“For an everyday souk experience, I bring my clients to this street in the old Armenian district on the edge of the city. It’s the best place to stock up on herbs, spices such as Aleppo peppers, every dried fruit and vegetable you can think of, and Armenian specialties.”

Orient 499

“If I could afford it, I would buy everything in this shop, founded in 2006 by Aida Kawas and Frank Luca. Orient 499 specializes in sustainable homewares and clothing produced by skilled craftspeople from Lebanon and all across the Middle East.”

Selim Mouzannar

“Selim’s jewelry is an excellent example of old meeting new. For so long, we had hypertraditional goods in Beirut, but his designs are fresh and contemporary, all while playing on the colors of the Mediterranean and heritage motifs.”

Aaliya’s Books

“Beirut has a lot of coffee shops, but not all of them are meant for lounging. Aaliya’s is one of my favorite spots to sit all day with a coffee and browse the English-language books. It hosts readings and jazz nights and also has a nice happy hour.”

One of the few places where Hemingway didn’t hang out.

For more than a century, Key West has been a haven for legendary artists, authors, poets and playwrights. Over the years, the names and faces have changed, but the appeal is as clear as ever. Come on down for a little quality hang time of your own. fla-keys.com/keywest 1.800.527.8539

Havana Cabana at Key West Waterfront resort with the largest pool in Key West, Floridita food truck & Mojito bar. Vespa and bicycle rentals available.

305-294-5541 or 866-849-3753 havanacabanakeywesthotel.com

Casa Marina, A Waldorf Astoria Resort This historic and iconic resort is home to Key West’s largest private beach.

Relax in style at this island paradise.

305-296-3535 casamarinaresort.com

Sunset Key Cottages An exclusive tropical island sanctuary of charming cottages, Latitudes beachfront dining and unforgettable sunsets await you, a boat ride away.

305-292-5300 sunsetkeycottages.com

The Reach Key West, Curio Collection

by Hilton Immerse yourself in an authentic Key West experience. Located on the island’s only natural-sand beach.

Steps away from Duval Street.

305-296-5000 reachresort.com

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Welcome Home to Florida

Magical Experiences Begin in Key West The end of the Overseas Highway is the beginning of your getaway in gorgeous Key West. One of the most unique destinations on earth, this iconic island is a mini melting pot, reflecting a variety of cultural influences, and a place where all are welcome. Spend laid-

back days enjoying colorful gingerbread houses, Hemingway history, galleries galore, adventures on the shimmering water, and culinary delights featuring delicacies pulled fresh from the sea. Evening begins with a sunset celebration at Mallory Square;

Learn more at fla-keys.com/key-west

the energy reaches a crescendo at Key West’s lively bars and clubs before night becomes morning and another laid-back day begins.

Recharge your batteries, rejuvenate your spirits, and be who you want to be with a visit to unforgettable Key West.

Charm, beauty, and individuality blend seamlessly on Key West, giving the island a distinct personality that sparks the imagination and lures travelers the world over. From relaxing days to amped-up nights, America’s southernmost point features sunshine, culture, culinary discoveries, and much more. Photos only go so far; the only way to fully appreciate Key West is to experience it for yourself.

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THE BEACH IS JUST THE BEGINNING...

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Pensacola Delivers the Experiences You Crave Miles of pristine beaches, crystal-clear water, and sun-drenched shores offer reasons enough to visit Pensacola. But look deeper and you’ll also find a wealth of historic, adventurous, and culinary discoveries around every corner of this Northwest Florida hot spot.

Pensacola boasts a charming downtown full of shops and galleries; fresh, innovative cuisine; and

much more. It all comes together in an area with more than 450 years of rich cultural heritage.

Choose from a range of places to stay: from cozy cottages to elegant hotels, and everything in between. Then bring the whole family to play on Pensacola’s sugar-white beaches and sample its many treasures hidden in plain sight.

Get a free Insider’s Guide at visitpensacola.com

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Soak in Some World-Class Culture in The Palm Beaches Visit The Palm Beaches and you’ll find an abundance of cultural treasures along 47 miles of sun-soaked beaches.

Discover world-class museums, endless performances, breathtaking tropical gardens, and historical sites.

Explore more than 30 unique cities and towns that comprise Florida’s Cultural Capital® and find what inspires you.

Take a closer look at WhereCultureAlwaysShines.com

Sun. Sand.

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See It All In The Palm Beaches.

Breathtaking performances await on every stage in Florida’s Cultural Capital®.

Take a closer look at WhereCultureAlwaysShines.com @PA LMBEACHCU LTURE FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS BOCA PHOTO BY PAUL RICHARDSON EAU PALM BEACH RESORT & SPA

Images, clockwise from top left: Norton Museum of Art; Ann Norton Sculpture Gardens; Mounts Botanical Garden; Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum

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WHAT TRAVEL EXPERIENCES TOP YOUR WISH LIST?

Cruise with us from Basel to Amsterdam, stopping at charming river towns in Switzerland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. It’s an intimate journey that includes airfare, exclusive access, and immersive experiences you’ll only find with AFAR Sailings. This unique event will happen only once, and space is limited. Learn more about this inspiring adventure and book now at afarsailings.com/amawaterways.

Whatever your love—a design hotel, in-flight amenity, cruise-ship shore excursion, epic adventure, or cherished cultural capital—we want to hear from you. Tell us what’s inspiring your wanderlust in AFAR’s annual Travelers’ Choice Awards. Don’t see your favorites nominated? Submit your own with our all-new write-in feature.

Vote now through July 2 at afar.com/travelerschoiceawards.

2020 AFAR CONVERSATIONS

On January 30, AFAR hosted another installment of our AFAR Conversations event, which brings together experts, partners, and media to discuss topics important to the travel industry. Held at the Conrad Midtown in New York City with partner Explore Charleston, this event delved into the very timely topic of sustainable luxury. AFAR Deputy Editor Jennifer Flowers led a discussion with three panelists: Kristina Kloberdanz, Mastercard’s first Chief Sustainability Officer; Daniela Raik, Senior Vice President of the Americas Field Division of Conservation International; and Hervé Houdré, the founder of H2 Sustainability Consulting. But it wasn’t all business; the event had a charming Southern feel with a unique “veranda”—a cozy space to hang out and chat, Charleston-style. Rounding out the Charleston theme was a Southern menu and a locally inspired drink, which everyone enjoyed amid the festive tones of a live jazz band.

Top row, left to right: Photos of Charleston. Joe Diaz, Cofounder, AFAR; Bruce Granet, Director of Catering and Events, Conrad New York Midtown; Senka Suljic, Director of Marketing, Conrad New York Midtown.

Terry Crowe Deegan, Executive Director, East Coast, AFAR; Greg Stranz, Executive Director, JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Kim Mesa, Vice President, JPMorgan Chase & Co.; Bryan Kinkade, VP Publisher, AFAR. Middle row, left to right: Catherine Dority, Director of Marketing, Explore Charleston; Greg Sullivan, Cofounder & CEO, AFAR. Kristina Kloberdanz, SVP, Chief Sustainability Officer, Mastercard; Hervé Houdré, Founder, H2 Sustainability Consulting; Daniela Raik, SVP, Americas Field Division, Conservation International; Jennifer Flowers, Deputy Editor, AFAR. Music Boutique jazz band, enhancing the cocktail party with Southern-inspired music. Bottom row, left to right: Kristina Kloberdanz in lively discussion with the rest of the panelists. Chairs on the Charleston-inspired veranda. Jennifer Flowers and Kristina Kloberdanz.

CONNECT FEAST

THIS IS NOT A PEACH In his humble Tokyo patisserie, Chikara Mizukami preserves the ancient art of wagashi.

by Nancy Singleton Hachisu

PHOTOGRAPHS BY KO SASAKI

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C

HIK ARA MIZUK AMI WORKS with an easy concentration as he rolls a piece of what looks like white Play-Doh in his palm, gently flattening it into a thick disk. He places a mound of anko—red adzuki-bean paste—in the center of the disk and smooths the dough around it to form an orb the size of a golf ball. Without breaking his rhythm, he picks up a light wooden tool and scores the soft sphere. Seconds later, he holds in his hand a tiny white peach, complete with the signature dimple. It’s marvelous. From two seemingly simple elements, he’s created a miniature work of art.

Mizukami is making wagashi, Japanese sweets composed of some combination of red bean paste and rice flour and traditionally served with green tea. The word wagashi describes a wide range of treats, from the humble mochi (made from sticky rice, and served either savory or sweet) and dorayaki (red bean paste sandwiched between disks of flat cake) to more complicated sweets such as dango (skewered mochi grilled over charcoal and served with a sweet soy glaze) and the intricate nerikiri (or seasonal) wagashi fashioned by Mizukami at Ikkoan, his tiny shop in Tokyo’s Bunkyo neighborhood.

Mizukami is a fourth-generation wagashi maker who learned the trade from his father. For the past 43 years, Mizukami has specialized in confections that honor the 72 micro-seasons on the traditional Japanese calendar. (The seasons each last about five days and have names such as mimizu izuru, meaning “worms surface,” for a season in mid-May, and kinsenka saku, or “daffodils bloom,” in late November.) The peach Mizukami has crafted marks the beginning of peach blossom season.

Tomorrow might bring a cherry blossom or a leaf. Each confection is as fleeting as a perfect spring day: The nerikiri dough, a combination of white bean paste and rice flour, has such a high water content that the sweet must be consumed within a day or two, before it turns inedibly dry.

Mizukami’s exquisite designs and commitment to the art form have elevated him to cult status in Japan. He’s been lauded as one of the

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This page, from left: Chikara Mizukami shapes nerikiri dough in his shop; dyed dough is pressed through a sieve to create fine flakes. Previous page: A peachshaped wagashi.

five best chefs in the country; he travels around the world to talk about and demonstrate wagashi making; and he has published a book, Ikkoan (Seigensha, 2016). Despite his fame, Mizukami retains a humble attitude and an appreciation for wagashi’s spiritual nature. As I watch, he dips a small bamboo straw wrapped in muslin into a jar of red powder made from beets, then blows into the straw.

The powder floats onto the peach in an uneven pattern, but he doesn’t move to fix it. “Why not?” I ask.

“This human element is essential to evoke divine imperfection,” Mizukami says, pausing to look up at me.

Wagashi have always had a spiritual connection. The sweets were developed during the Edo period (1603–1868), coinciding with the rise in domestic sugar production and the popularization of the Buddhist tea ceremony. They were further refined during the Meiji period (1868–1912) into what we now know as wagashi.

But here’s the important thing about wagashi, and how they most differ from Western treats: While they can be quite sweet, wagashi aren’t meant to be the star of the show. Their job is

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WHE RE T O FIND WAGASHI IN TOKYO Wagashi are still enjoyed at tea ceremonies, but travelers can also find them at local supermarkets, at chain stores such as Toraya, or even in department store basements. (Warning: The quality varies.) But one of the best ways to experience wagashi in Tokyo is to seek out small family-run shops. Like all traditional Japanese businesses, wagashi stores are not always identifiable from the outside.

Look for a hanging linen curtain called a noren, which marks the entrance. Here are four of the best (and yes, one is in a department store).

Ikkoan

Hidden behind a noren and a woodpaneled sliding door is Ikkoan, a small shop specializing in wagashi for the tea ceremony. Here, Mizukami crafts fresh, seasonal wagashi yearround. (Go at the start of the year for hanabira mochi and in spring for sakura mochi.) While other shops also create seasonal wagashi, Ikkoan is particularly known for its high-quality ingredients and refined flavors.

5 Chome-3-15 Koishikawa. Myogadani Station on the Marunouchi Line

Gunrindo

Do not be deterred by the unimpressive shop front with its small red noren.

Gunrindo’s daifuku (mochi stuffed with salted bean paste) are arguably the most flavorful in Tokyo. Get there early: The lines can be long, and the shop closes once it has sold out.

2 Chome-1-2 Otowa. Gokokuji Station on the Yurakucho Line

Shiose Sohonke

Founded in 1349, Shiose is one of Japan’s oldest wagashi shops. The confectioner uses a 600-year-old recipe to create Shiose’s famous manju, buns filled with lightly sweetened anko (adzuki-bean paste).

7-14 Akashicho. Hatchobori Station on the JR Keiyo Line

Suzukake

Located inside the Isetan Shinjuku department store, Suzukake offers a range of wagashi suitable for gifts.

The packaging—cream-colored wrapping with understated Japanese calligraphy—is among the most elegant in the city. 3-14-1 Shinjuku. Shinjuku Station, which is served by many lines.

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Clockwise from top left: Mizukami attaches a leaf; his Ikkoan shop in Bunkyo; sakura mochi for spring; the muslin-wrapped bamboo straw used to blow plant-based powdered dyes onto wagashi.

to support the tea. You enjoy the treat, then allow the bitter green tea to wash it away. Wagashi are designed to disappear.

Though wagashi continue to thrive, there has been an undeniable attrition in small family-run shops, typically because there isn’t a family member who can (or wants to) take over. Training an apprentice takes four years: In the first year, apprentices work in the shop; in the second year, they observe; the third year is spent working one-on-one with the master; and in the fourth year, they make wagashi on their own. Many aren’t up to the task.

“If the apprentice has not learned the craft after four years, a fifth year won’t make a difference,” Mizukami says.

Currently there are no contenders to fill Mizukami’s shoes, though his daughter is poised to run the business. (The art of wagashi is traditionally practiced only by men.) But he’s a young seventysomething, so a handover is not imminent.

“What happens if you don’t find the right person?” I ask.

Mizukami shrugs. “The shop will close,” he says.

And with that, he returns to rolling dough, creating his ephemeral treats.

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SCOTLAND, DISTILLED Glenfiddich Scotch whisky is a story of water and wood, patience and people.

by Jessica Colley Clarke

O From left: At Glenfiddich, whisky is served in a special glass known as a Glencairn; Glenfiddich employs many in-house coopers, craftspeople who repair barrels.

in Speyside, Scotland, I walked along a gravel path at the base of the Conval Hills, listening for the sound of the Robbie Dhu spring. I stopped to ask for directions from a local passing by, who pointed up the nearest hill: “Go that way,” he said. “Keep climbing, the spring will be on your left.”

As I walked, first I heard a trickle, then a gentle rush of water. I marched off the path and found a splintered wood staircase that led down to the banks of the spring. It looked overgrown and treacherous. Peering through wildflowers I finally caught a glimpse of water flowing over stones—the water that, downstream, becomes a key ingredient of Glenfiddich, the world’s best-selling single-malt Scotch whisky.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT ORMEROD

N A WA R M S U M M E R M O R N I N G

Glenfiddich is one of about 50 distilleries in Speyside, including other well-known makers such as Macallan and the Glenlivet. Glenfiddich produced its first batch of new spirit on Christmas Day in 1887. And for the past 133 years, the Robbie Dhu spring has been the distillery’s only water source. Even at peak production in the hottest summers, the spring has never run dry.

“Water defines how the distillery operates,” malt master Brian Kinsman told me later. “If we were to try to replicate the Glenfiddich process with another water source, the whisky would change,” he said. “Water is fundamental.”

That afternoon, I stepped inside the distillery to learn how the spring water becomes whisky. The first thing I detected was a strong, oatmeal-like aroma. Ian Millar, the former Glenfiddich distillery manager and my guide for the day, explained that I was smelling the mash, a thick mixture of ground, malted barley and spring water. (Single-malt Scotch whisky is always made from barley, not from grains such as corn or wheat, which are used in blended Scotch whisky. Single malt also refers to whisky made by a single distillery.) Millar led the way deeper into the distillery, and we peered into the mash tuns, 10-ton vessels where powerful blades transform the mash into a sugar-rich liquid called wort. In the next room, I caught a glimpse of wooden fermentation vats known as washbacks. After the wort cools, it’s pumped into these vats to ferment for 72 hours.

The result is a low-alcohol liquid known as a wash, which is similar in potency to a strong beer.

Distillation comes next.

I followed Millar into the stillhouse, where we stood in the shadow of stout copper stills with long necks, listening to their steady hum. He explained that after two distillations, the new spirit has reached its full strength and is ready for aging.

Glenfiddich ages its single malt in oak barrels for a minimum of 12 years. “Wooden casks are responsible for up to 65 percent of the final flavor,” he told me.

We left the still house and walked through towers of casks to reach the cooperage, a warehouse alive with the sound of hammering and the smell of smoke. Glenfiddich is unusual in Scotland for continuing to operate an onsite cooperage, where skilled craftspeople repair casks that once held sherry, bourbon, MAY/JUNE 2020

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and rum. This is where workers roll casks from station to station, replacing the metal rings that hold barrels together and toasting the interiors over an open fire to bring out a caramelized note in the wood. Millar told me to stick my nose in a barrel, and I bent down to breathe in the scent of charred wood and a sweeter note, like a mix of brown sugar and bourbon.

And then it was time for me to taste. We sat outside at a picnic table and Millar poured my first dram, Glenfiddich 18, then added a couple drops of water. “Water opens it up, ice closes it down,” he explained. The first mouthful of the dark, golden spirit was remarkably smooth, its complex flavors bringing to mind baked apples and toffee. A common misconception about Scotch whisky is that it’s smoky, but there are regional variations, and Glenfiddich is fruity, often compared to a green pear. It has a subtle sweetness, a pleasant viscosity, and no burn in the throat.

Blending, the process of marrying spirits from different casks to make the perfect single malt, is the final step of whisky-making. And that’s where Kinsman’s nose comes in. Between blending and checking in on maturing stock, Kinsman often noses 100 whiskies a day—and he spends much of his time in the Blending Room, a laboratorylike space overlooking the distillery. Inside, I got to put my own nose to the test: Millar tasked me with re-creating a 15-year-old Glenfiddich using only my sense of smell.

I sniffed Kinsman’s version, then used beakers filled with three different single malts to try to match the original’s aroma. Millar didn’t even need to taste it; we kept sniffing, swirling, and adjusting until it lined up and he gave a firm nod of approval.

The last leg of my Scotch whisky immersion took me to the warehouses. Glenfiddich has dozens of buildings where nearly 1 million barrels of Scotch whisky are aged. Inside Warehouse 12 it was silent, dark, and several degrees cooler than outside. I noticed a barrel stamped 1958; it has been resting in this place since before Hawaii was a state. Throughout the day, my nose had sniffed out the oatmeal of barley mash, the smoke of the cooperage, and my very own whisky blend. Now it was finally hovering over a cask of Scotch whisky that began as water in the hills more than 60 years ago. Millar removed the stopper from the top. I leaned down to the opening and inhaled.

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Clockwise from top: Glenfiddich has more than 30 copper stills; the distillery’s architecture mirrors its picturesque surroundings; the blending room where malt master Brian Kinsman works.

HOW TO VI SI T The Glenfiddich distillery is open every day and offers four different tours. Each tour includes an exploration of the distillery, but they differ in experiences and tastings. The two-hour Spirit of Innovation tour, for example, includes a tasting of five Glenfiddich single malts ($39). To make your own whisky, sign up for the 2.5-hour Solera: Deconstructed tour ($65). Or skip the tours and taste a Scotch whisky flight at the on-site Malt Barn restaurant and bar. Visitors can also taste rare whiskies, but be prepared: A dram—that’s about an ounce— of 1958 single malt goes for about $1,080. Reservations for tours are recommended. glenfiddich.com

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From its deserts to its reefs, Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique ecosystems have long been under pressure from human activity.

REWILDING

by Emma John Photographs by David Maurice Smith

AU S T R A L I A Now some humans are helping nature push back.

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The last words I hear before takeoff are from the man sitting behind me, finishing his phone call. “I’ll be out of contact for the next three days,” he says, as we leave the Adelaide airstrip. it’s hard to make out conversation over the noise of the twin propellers. The copilots exchange an occasional, untranslatable sentence of flight jargon. They’re so close I can’t shake the feeling I’m in an Uber; I have to resist the urge to lean forward and ask if I can charge my phone.

Down below are shades of khaki and tan and chestnut and russet, seamed with a single, deadstraight road. I’ve driven that road before on a previous trip through the South Australian outback: It takes you five hours north from Adelaide to the rugged Ikara-Flinders Ranges, where I’m headed now. I remember the city suburbs giving way to quaint country towns, wheat fields becoming cattle stations becoming wilderness, until there was nothing by the roadside but racing kangaroos.

You don’t get that unfolding drama on an hour-long flight, but you do get scale. South Australia’s topography reveals itself in crinkled shapes that seem to resemble the skin and spines of its scaliest animals. A ridgeline has the beveled back of a giant lizard. Riverbeds look like seismological snakes; not one of them winks with water.

There are hints, too, of a much younger species. This mass of land has been marked out in geometric lines, its trapezoid parcels proof that humans are trying to domesticate the place.

I spot plowed furrows and tap one of the pilots on the shoulder to ask what a farmer could hope to grow out here in the outback. “Nothing,” he says. “They’re rip marks, to stop dust storms happening when the wind blows.”

Australia is home to one of the largest remaining wildernesses on the planet. From its famous Red Centre desert outward—through barren

After that,

ILLUSTRATIONS BY PEITA BLYTHE

DUNNART

landscapes and inhospitable bushland, to ancient rain forests and coastal waters teeming with marine predators—this is a country that presents nature at its least tameable. And yet, since the arrival of European settlers in the early 19th century, humans have been trying to domesticate this land. Its natural environment has been under attack.

Farming, industry, and the reckless introduction of foreign species have decimated the native flora and fauna. Hundreds of plants and creatures that existed nowhere but here have been lost forever. And now there is a new threat: global climate change, which last year precipitated a bushfire season of unprecedented range. Dozens of people lost their lives, more than a billion animals were killed, and more than 45 million acres of land burned in the last year.

Such species as the long-nosed potoroo, a rodent-like marsupial the size of a rabbit, have lost so much habitat that they could be on the brink of extinction. Forest recovery will take decades, if not centuries.

A generation or two ago, the concept of “rewilding” a place as wild as Australia would have met with little support, but now the idea of returning cultivated land to its former natural state is an increasingly urgent cause. An army of organizations and individuals is aiming to reverse the destructive trajectory of the past 150 years of Australia’s history, to restore ecosystems as they used to function before colonization. Former mines, denuded of vegetation, have been reforested; no-fishing zones have been introduced in the oceans to restore marine biodiversity. The Tasmanian devil, in danger of extinction in Tasmania, is being reintroduced on the mainland in monitored colonies. Tracts of land that were once grazed by cattle and sheep are being transformed into wildlife sanctuaries—and attractive destinations for travelers.

I have come to witness Australia’s rehabilitation both on land and at sea—a trip that will involve two retreats in two very different locations, about 1,000 miles apart. Both are pioneers of the rewilding movement and, thanks to their longevity, are already demonstrating the successes such efforts can deliver.

My journey begins here in South Australia, where huge tracts of the outback have been given over to mining and pastoral land. Arkaba

Conservancy in the Ikara-Flinders Ranges was an unremarkable sheep station until 10 years ago, when its new owner, Charles Carlow, decided to dedicate its 60,000 acres to wildlife conservation. Since then, the farm has been entirely destocked, and its homestead converted into a lodge where visitors can enjoy the outback as it was always meant to be.

First, however, I have to get there. Arkaba’s signature offering for visitors is a three-day group walk, during which hikers stay in a sequence of permanent camps on the property. I’ll be hiking it with the seven other travelers who are on my flight from Adelaide. As the Ikara-Flinders Ranges emerge from the heat haze ahead of us, long tendrils of sandstone stretching in all directions, it feels as if we’re about to land on King Kong’s Skull Island. We’re a handful of strangers, tempted here by the promise of a guided walk across a remote and inhospitable environment that would otherwise likely kill us, but whose ancient majesty has no comparison on Earth.

We’re met at the landing strip by our guides, Louise and Alex , and begin our walk a little outside the boundaries of the Arkaba property, on the edge of a natural wonder eight times the size of Uluru. From the air, the elliptical mountain formation known as Wilpena Pound looked to us like a giant crater, a vast hollow bowl surrounded by jagged rock that reaches nearly 4,000 feet high. On the ground, it inspires a different kind of awe, as if we had been deposited back in the Mesozoic era.

The Pound’s traditional name, Ikara, refers to its use as a “meeting place” for the Aboriginal Adnyamathanha people. Exploited and expelled

Wilpena Pound is a mountain formation in the IkaraFlinders Ranges near the Arkaba Conservancy, a former sheep station that now houses guests.

ECHIDNA

when the Europeans began their land grab, the Adnyamathanha are now custodians of this extensive national park and the animals living within it. We haven’t gone far before we spot our first family of emus. Their outsize bird bodies have always made me smile, but that leggy bulk makes sense here, where they’re perfectly in proportion with the immensity of the landscape.

It takes the better part of a day to reach, and climb, Bridle Gap, a trail that will lead us out of the Pound, and we’re thankful for the eucalyptus trees that shade us as we walk. These particular eucalyptuses—river red gums—play a vital ecological role, Louise tells us: 40 percent of all wildlife here makes its home in their wood hollows. They’re beauties in themselves, their multicolored bark swirling with pattern, sometimes breaking out in salmon pink, other times revealing threads of gold that seem to melt down their trunks.

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building that housed the family who tried to farm this land in the 1880s, convinced, as were many pioneers, that rain would follow the plow. They were wrong, and their time out here was so tough that I feel a pang of guilt when we arrive at our first camp, with its timberconstruction sleeping shelters complete with cushioned mattresses, bucket-shower stalls, and a pre-prepared three-course meal. I’m not sure the Hills family was dining on juniper brisket and sticky date pudding every night.

Still, they would have shared in the greatest extravagance of all. The Australian desert delivers one of the clearest night skies on earth.

Before we fall asleep, we’re treated to the same

This western grey kangaroo is a regular sighting at Arkaba Conservancy.

Opposite page: Arkaba Conservancy has minimal pollution, which is ideal for stargazing.

bejeweled sky that has covered this land for millennia, one that cannot help but make you feel the smallness of the human claim on the universe.

It’s a surprise to me how markedly the scenery changes over the course of our walk. On our second day, the majestic parades of eucalyptus give way to open plains of scrubby acacia and stunted bush. Some slopes are covered in cypress pines, haunted by the white, bowed figures of their dead. Even the ground beneath us shifts color. For a couple of hours we find ourselves crunching over dark purple shale, the multimillion-year-old gravel of a meteor.

While our eyes attempt to take in the ever-expanding landscape and the vastness of the blue sky above, Alex keeps us on course, finding paths without markers, encouraging us up and over the steeper climbs. Louise is the tracker, spotting animal signs, parsing paw prints, and, occasionally, poking at scat with a stick. “See the feathers in the droppings?” she asks. “That’s how you can tell it’s come from a quoll.”

Evidence of quolls is particularly welcome: These small nocturnal marsupials were only recently reintroduced to the area. They had been all too easy prey for the most dangerous predator the Europeans ever unwittingly introduced to Australia—the cat. One of the most important operations in Arkaba’s rewilding mission has been the trapping and removal of feral animals: rabbits, foxes, goats, and especially cats, which have no natural enemies in this environment.

“Throughout Australia we’ve introduced animals that have just caused havoc,” says Alex. In addition to invasive species, the increasingly extreme climate is making survival harder at every stratum. We see plenty of life on our safari, such as the shingleback lizard, whose blunt tail looks like a head to confuse predators; and a walking bush—a clump of blond spikes that turns out to be an echidna. But we also see a lot of death. For every kangaroo we spot, be they big reds, western grays, or little Euros, we come across a sun-bleached skeleton. Some lie where they tried to find shelter in the shade of a tree’s roots. “The latest drought has hit them hard,” says Louise. “Even the ones that survive won’t breed.”

Kangaroos have the extraordinary ability to delay their pregnancies during lean times—“embryonic diapause.”

The vegetation, too, is doing all it can to hang on. Some trees have sacrificed limbs, cutting off their water supply until they fall off entirely.

The next morning, we wake at dawn under the vast rock facade of the Elder Range. It flares instantly at the touch of the sun, as if God has flicked a switch, treating us to a light show, a

SHINGLEBACK LIZARD

psychedelic sequence of orange and pink. The mountains are ancient seabed that predates the continent of Pangaea, raised by tectonic movement. Their sedimentary rock, jagging out of the ground at our feet like brittle wafer, is a multilayered geological treasure of sandstone, quartzite, mica, and much more.

We climb to the ridgeline. The panorama, with its rocky moonscape and sudden sproutings of tufty yuccas, stretches for miles in every direction. A snaking green line of trees marks an empty river, too dry to run.

From this vantage point, you can’t avoid the impact that sheep farming has had on the landscape; the long tracks where livestock have eaten their way through the bush are called “scars.” Closing in on the homestead, we come across Wards weed, an invasive species introduced to Australia in the early 20th century.

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And yet the sheer ambition of Arkaba Conservancy brings its own kind of hope. At our final dinner together, in the luxurious surroundings of the lodge, with its soothing pool and its well-stocked wine fridge, we congratulate ourselves on our stamina. But we also chew on the things we have seen. The indigenous nations that claimed these lands before the European invasion survived the harsh conditions because they lived alongside nature, rather than trying to conquer it; their name, Adnyamathanha, means “people of the rock.” It is still not too late to learn from them. another tiny plane on its way to the middle of nowhere.

There’s less to see from the window this time, just the azure surface of the Coral Sea. Until, that is, we spot our destination, a white dot in the infinite ocean, a coral cay so small the landing strip runs its entire length.

You could fit Lady Elliot Island into Arkaba more than 500 times.

An inventory of the island’s assets doesn’t amount to much. An unstaffed lighthouse, a small canteen restaurant, a pool table. Visitors are accommodated in prefab structures with a minimal footprint. But the attraction isn’t what’s on the island so much as what surrounds it: the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. Here are manta rays and reef sharks; turtles as old as your grandparents; fish they haven’t invented Pantone colors for yet. People fly to the island, 50 miles from the mainland, for one purpose only—to swim near and observe these extraordinary creatures.

Within an hour of stepping off the plane from Brisbane, I’m being fitted for flippers. I’m also extremely well briefed. Most of the staff on this island have degrees in marine biology or environmental science, and no one here gets into the water until they understand the significance of where they are: The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef system Earth possesses, and tourism has been one of the very industries threatening its survival. Pollution, fishing, and coastal development have also caused devastating destruction to the reef, with a 50 percent loss of coral cover recorded between 1985 and 2012. Since then, climate change has triggered mass bleaching, wherein the coral loses the algae that feeds it and is left extremely vulnerable to disease and death. Half of the coral on the Great Barrier Reef has been bleached since 2016.

“This whole reef is a World Heritage–listed marine park,” says Shari Kempshall, who became activities manager on Lady Elliot Island in 2018 after researching nearby islands for her studies at Griffith University.

“If we were on land, you wouldn’t be allowed to do anything to disturb it.” Instead, commercial fishing and trawling is still allowed in designated areas of the reef, sharks have been subject to a state-sponsored cull, and the Queensland government has thrown its support behind a controversial new coal mine that will bring both more polluted runoff into the state’s waters and more shipping across the reef. “It’s bizarre,” says Shari.

“Sometimes you feel you’re fighting a losing battle.”

But Lady Elliot remains a pocket of hope. In 2003, its owners lobbied successfully for the waters around the island to be declared protected Green Zones, where fishing is completely prohibited and tourism strictly regulated. The “no-take” policy extends to us all—no sneaking shells or coral home as a memento. But as I don my snorkel and drop into the water for the first time, I notice that my human urge to collect and acquire seems to have less power here. Perhaps it’s the sheer busyness of this vast aquatic community; its comings and goings are so mesmerizing, so independent, that my own existence feels exquisitely irrelevant.

Drifting with the current over the island’s submerged offshore reefs, known as “bommies,” is like taking a bus tour through an alien civilization. At first, my eye is caught by the brightest individuals: the angelfish that looks like a sideways ace of spades, the triggerfish daubed in neon street art, shoals of damselfish that strobe blue and silver as they change direction. (continued on page 112) A week later:

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Lady Elliot Island is an ecoresort located in Queensland, Australia, on the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef.

TRIGGERFISH

Pollution, fishing, and coastal development have also caused devastating destruction to the reef, with a 50 percent loss of coral cover recorded between 1985 and 2012.

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C OR AL SE A INDIAN O CE AN

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort

Arkaba Conservancy

Brisbane

Perth Adelaide

Sydney

Melbourne

ESSENTIALS

TASMAN SE A

By Mekalyn Rose

Writer Emma John chose her lodgings based on their outstanding rewilding efforts. Read on to learn more about visiting these conservation-minded retreats.

Arkaba Conservancy Set in the outback surrounding the Ikara-Flinders Ranges, the 1850s-era Arkaba Conservancy is a five-star bush experience where 2 percent of the room rate goes directly to conservation. It’s a scenic five-hour drive from Adelaide—or an hour-long privately chartered flight— to reach the retreat, which features four en suite guest rooms and a private cottage. All have verandas and are furnished with fleece-wrapped headboards; two have deep soaking tubs. There’s no Wi-Fi or television, just a small library with a fireplace; a swimming pool facing Arkaba Creek; and plenty of resident wildlife, including emus, kangaroos, mouse-size marsupials called dunnarts, and yellow-footed rock wallabies. Visitors explore Wilpena Pound and the Elder Range via bush walk, jeep safari, or the property’s single-engine plane, which offers bird’s-eye views of the landscape; a helicopter carries hikers to remote trails. Three nights from $1,660. arkabaconservancy.com

Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort At the southern tip of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, this ecoresort lies on a protected coral cay surrounded by a sanctuary for more than 1,200 species of marine life, including manta rays, turtles, and reef sharks. The island is one of the world’s top sites for snorkeling and diving, and daily activities include snorkeling tours in a glass-bottomed boat (equipment included), as well as nature walks that showcase the island’s history and ecosystem. Guests commit to a sustainability pledge that requires them to keep their distance from wildlife and to minimize their energy and water usage during their stay. Close to half of the resort’s 44 rooms are set along Sunrise Beach; two tented rooms offer lagoon views from private balconies. Seair Pacific offers daily flights to Lady Elliot Island from Hervey Bay/Fraser Coast, Bundaberg, Brisbane, and the Gold Coast. From $120, all inclusive. ladyelliot.com.au

It takes a while before I can perceive the sheer mass of life surrounding me. Tiny wrasses are suspended in the water like leaf litter. Even the ocean floor is barely visible beneath the thick black sea cucumbers, which Shari has described to me as “the vacuum of the sea” and “a very basic animal.” They have no heart and no brain, and they suck up seabed and poop it back out in a way that helps the coral to grow.

It’s a long way from the suave glamour of the giant rays that glide by. But what sea cucumbers lack in star power they more than make up for in dedication. I love them immediately.

The educational role of guides like Shari includes leading themed tours each day, which interpret the sights and sounds I’m encountering above and beneath the water. It’s on one of these tours that I learn the history of the place.

By the time the island was officially “discovered” by a 19th-century British seafarer—who named it after his ship—it was richly vegetated, covered in pisonia trees and octopus bush. The black “soil” that makes up this island isn’t soil at all: it’s weapons-grade guano. But with guano sought after as both fertilizer and an ingredient for gunpowder, the island was quickly mined to depletion. By 1873, its surface had been stripped bare, and just eight trees remained.

For a long while after that, the only people who lived here were a series of lighthouse keepers and their families, whose homemaking efforts included dynamiting the coral to create a swimming pool for their kids and planting nonnative poinsettia that immediately smothered the island. Then, in the late 1960s, a pilot named Don Adams spotted this pitiful plot from the air and decided to do what he could for it.

After purchasing the lease from the government, he began his own revegetation program, seeding species native to nearby islands, like casuarina trees, whose ability to retain nitrogen in the soil benefits nearby plants, and pandanus palms, which make cozy homes for tree frogs and birds. Successive leaseholders have continued his conservation efforts, including current leaseholder Peter Gash, who created a plant nursery at the center of the island.

No reward has been greater for Gash than watching birds return to the island. The booming population of white-capped noddies is considered a coup. They’re a rarity in the seabird world for making their nests in trees. And when courting, the male flies up to a potential mate, offering her a leaf that he’s dipped in the sea . The wedge-tailed shearwaters are harder to spot— they burrow themselves a home—but I hear their eerie wailing at night. It was this sound that kept European sailors from landing on the island: They were convinced it was haunted.

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Right: The original 1859 lighthouse on Lady Elliot Island was deactivated in 1995 but still stands. Below, from left: This green turtle recently hatched on the island; snorkelers explore the reef.

WHITE-CAPPED NODDY

Contributing writer Emma John wrote about Berlin in the March/April 2020 issue of AFAR. Photographer David Maurice Smith is profiled on page 28.

On my second day on the island, when I’ve traded the snorkel for scuba gear, I’m so distracted by the carnival of color that I somehow miss the giant green turtle until it’s right in front of me, head stretched out, peering around as if searching for someone it knows. I find myself backing away, trying to maintain my distance, not out of fear, but in reverence.

The reintroduction of octopus bushes, with their spacious roots, is providing safe space for turtles to lay their eggs—an attempt to recover an endangered population that will take decades to see results. The island also operates a nighttime blackout so as not to disorient them. Come sundown, we’re requested to keep our room curtains firmly closed. There’s something very likable, I thought, about a place that puts the needs of its reptilian residents above those of its human visitors.

On my final day, I take a behind-the-scenes tour. Chris Gabriel, the resort’s carpenter, shows me around the self-sustaining infrastructure, from the shed of photovoltaic batteries providing the island’s nearly 100 percent renewable energy, to the desalination plant meeting all its water needs. “I’ve worked my way around most of Australia,” says Chris, “and when I heard about this place I just thought, I want to work with people who are so passionate about the environment. I’ve got to be a part of it.”

No one here has any doubt that restoring the delicate ecological balance of both the island and the reef beyond will be the work of many more decades, and they see no point in inviting tourists if their presence itself causes strain on the environment. Here, as at Arkaba, there is a recognition that rewilding is not the responsibility of one generation, but of many.

The past decades have been drastic ones for this reef, and the past year a catastrophe for wildlife across the Australian continent. But rewilding is not just a response to an urgent environmental need. It addresses, too, a matter of human psychology: reminding us of our place on the planet.

The wild is wild for a reason, and a healthy relationship with it depends on a certain awe.

In recent years, war-weary Belgradians have embraced the outside world. But as Nicholas Schmidle discovers,

the most appealing part of the Serbian capital may lie in its traditions.

P H O T O G R A P H S BY A LG I R DA S B A K A S

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bojan bočvarov had a secret. It was almost too much for the dimpled 39-year-old to bear as he motored up a narrow road on a leafy residential hillside in central Belgrade. He could have taken my wife, Rikki, and me anywhere. Having just landed, we were jet-lagged and famished, easy to please. But Bojan had something special in mind. “This is a very low-known restaurant,” he confided with a devilish smile.

We had good reason to trust him. As the executive chef of a prosperous international restaurant group, Bojan knew the food scene in his home city well. But it wasn’t always that way.

He, like many his age, had fled the country in the late 1990s to escape nationalism, war, and the hard times that would follow.

He found work in fancy European kitchens and learned how to cook. A decade ago, he moved back home, joined the restaurant group, and soon was creating menus at Toro Latin GastroBar, a hip tapas spot on the banks of the Sava River in Belgrade, and Ambar, a popular Balkan restaurant in Washington, D.C., among other top-flight eateries. He and his colleagues took pride in exporting Serbian culture to the United States, while importing global cuisine to Serbia: Culinary cosmopolitanism felt like

an antidote against the worst of their country’s past and a way of recapturing the best.

As we drove around the next bend, Bojan gave a start. He saw a dozen cars, triple- and quadruple-parked in front of what appeared to be a simple home with a terra-cotta roof. It was the restaurant Stari Mlin, or “Old Mill.” His secret was apparently out. Blocking everyone in, he left a business card on his dashboard, in case anyone had to leave. Though he was doubtful.

Serbians were doing “slow food” long before it was cool, he said.

We took a wooden table outside, in the shade of a walnut tree. It was a cloudless spring afternoon. A waiter appeared with bud vases full of šlivovitz, a homemade plum rakija (brandy) that served as a sort of fermented currency throughout the former Yugoslavia. We raised our glasses, clinked, and took tiny sips of the not-sosubtle alcohol. Rikki coughed. My eyes watered.

“It’s a bit strong,” Bojan said, smiling.

“We also have apricot, quince, and grape,” said Dušan Dordevič, the owner of Stari Mlin.

A girthy, grandfatherly type with a handbroom mustache, Dušan stocked his kitchen with whatever appealed to him in the market that morning. He didn’t bother with a menu.

Did we have any food restrictions? None. “And you have enough time?” he asked.

“We’re in your hands,” I said.

“Believe in my kilos!” he replied, patting his waist.

He returned a few minutes later with four types of crostini, including pašteta, a pâté, and urnebes, a spicy pepper and cheese blend. Then came an addictive curd spread called kaymak.

Across the patio, some revelers celebrated a birthday, regaled by a guitarist and an accordionist playing traditional Serbian songs.

Plates of food began to arrive at our table.

“We continue with the beans, our way,” Dušan said, presenting a scalding dish of prebranac made with white beans, onions, and leeks. He made it seem like he had been doing this his entire life, but Dušan came to the restaurant business late, almost by accident. A trained economist, he lived in Belgrade until the late ’90s, when the economy tanked. “In our country, you know, it was very stupid things,” he said, shaking his head. Those stupid things included the rise of Serbian strongman Slobodan Milošević; Orthodox Serbs, Catholic Croats, and Muslim Bosniaks killing each other across the Balkans; economic sanctions; and war in Kosovo, which ended in 1999 after NATO bombed Serbian positions in what was then Yugoslavia. They fed Belgrade’s reputation as the capital of a bullying, pariah state. Trade dried up, at least until the revolution that toppled Milošević in 2000.

Having fled to the countryside, Dušan finally returned to Belgrade in 2010. The wars were over, life was beginning to normalize, and he had a concept in mind for a kafana, or tavern, where he could re-create some of his mother’s recipes.

Of course, he added, with a sly grin, “There’s always a secret ingredient. Some small touch.”

Serbia has become more cosmopolitan in recent years, but it maintains strong culinary traditions, which travelers will find at restaurants such as Salaš 137, pictured on this page and opposite.

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A cast-iron dish of ribič—slow-cooked beef shank so tender it flaked in my mouth like cod—arrived next, paired, on Dušan’s advice, with a rich, inky blend of cabernet sauvignon and vranac, a regional varietal from Trebinje, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. As the afternoon wore on, the birthday party got livelier; when the guitarist and accordionist struck the opening chords of a crooner’s ballad called “Skitnica,” several celebrants joined arms and sang along. “These guys are making a lot of money today,” Bojan said, nodding at the musicians. “When you’re drunk at a kafana, you always lose so much money, because you’re like, ‘This is my song!’ ” The cars were all still there when we finally left, after a three-hour meal.

N nearly 600 years ago, the Hungari-

ans reclaimed Belgrade from the despot Stefan Lazarević, who had ruled over the city for 24 years. For the next century the Ottomans attempted to seize power, eventually succeeding in 1521 and gaining control of the city. It carried on like this; Belgrade, and the broader Balkan peninsula, was a land of bloodshed and strife.

They were awful times. And yet Belgrade’s history of disharmony has contributed to its appeal today. It is culturally diverse and relatively free of Western commercialism, a city whose history feels both canonical and unsettled, the capital of a country reckoning with a troubled past as it embarks on an uncertain future.

Driving through the city center, Bojan singled out a pair of crumbling brick buildings.

“You can see where the bomb went,” he said, pointing to the spot where NATO warplanes targeted the defense ministry in 1999 to halt Milošević’s genocidal campaign in Kosovo. The ruins are, for some, a potent symbol of shame and tumult but for others a totem of identity,

Belgrade is known for its brutalist architecture—such as the Palace of the Federation, top center—but it’s also home to plenty of parks and riverside beaches where locals gather to eat and play.

and perhaps intent—a propaganda piece about Serbia’s unfinished business with Kosovo.

Indeed, contested history was what first brought me to Belgrade. In 2012, I went to the city on assignment for the New Yorker, working on a story about war crimes. I interviewed a Kosovar Albanian in Serbia’s witness protection program who claimed to have harvested organs from dead Serbian prisoners. (Only later did I discover that the witness had a record of providing false testimony.) The imagery associated with that story was dark and grotesque, and I projected that baroque rawness onto Belgrade. But in the years after that, I met a number of thirty- and fortysomething Belgradians who gushed over their city, describing it in ways that made it sound almost foreign to the one I had briefly encountered: A thumping nightlife. Enviable restaurants.

A city on the mend.

Belgrade owed much of its reputational rehab to ambassadors like Bojan, who when we met, was just back from six weeks in the States. He and his Serbian partners were opening a taco joint near Washington, D.C., to go along with their two Balkan restaurants

there. Their enthusiasm about exposing people to new tastes was unmistakable. That’s what had drawn me back to Belgrade: I wanted to witness its cosmopolitan turn.

What I saw during this trip was more subtle.

Sure, there were new ideas, imported by Serbians such as Bojan who had taken advantage of the country’s newfound openness and traveled the world. But Belgrade was still Belgrade. Bojan said living in the city often felt like living in a time capsule. The unexpected gift of his travels, however, was that he was finally able to appreciate the city’s Old-World side.

“Things here are very retro,” he said, over a heaping sausage platter, the following day.

“People with dirty hands, mud under their nails. The speed of the world hasn’t caught up with the Balkans.” Bojan relayed the story he was told as a youngster, about the first time his dad met his future mother-in-law. Bojan’s grandmother didn’t mess around: “She told [my father], ‘We eat fatty foods. We drink. We shout. We are loud talkers.’ ” Swabbing his finger in a puddle of salty oil at the bottom of the sausage platter, Bojan said, “This is the Serbian way.”

HUNG ARY

ROMANIA

CROATIA

BELGRADE

SERB IA B OSNIA AND HER Z E G OVINA

KOS OVO

MONTENE G RO ALB ANIA

NORTH MACED ONIA

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S several days— and too many rakija shots— later, we were on our way to a village outside of Belgrade when it began to hail. Our destination was Atelje Vina Šapat, a hilltop winery and bedand-breakfast. Marko Vilotijević, the general manager at Ambar and Toro Latin GastroBar, gripped the wheel with both hands. The hailstorm made his car sound like the inside of a bag of microwave popcorn. “This is a big problem for our fruits,” he said, wincing.

A husky man with a scholar’s knowledge and a barfly’s appreciation of good drink, he went on, “Nobody talks about our wines, but if you take the world and put the line”—a latitudinal axis—“from here, it goes through Tuscany to the Napa Valley.” (Close enough. Napa’s latitude is actually about five degrees south of Florence and six degrees south of Belgrade.)

But 70 years ago, he said, Serbian vineyards were producing respectable wines. Then, in 1948, the government nationalized all industry, including wineries. Quality plummeted. By the ’90s, there were fewer than 10 wineries in Serbia, he said. Today, there are nearly 500.

“Our wines are very young. They smell of fresh fruits,” he said, driving past apple and pear orchards edged with red poppies and elderberry trees. As we approached Atelje Vina Šapat, a pair of beekeepers in cream-colored suits and wide-brim hats emerged from a leafy patch that presumably housed their bees.

”WE EAT FATTY FOODS. WE DRINK. WE SHOUT. WE ARE LOUD TALKERS.”

This, Marko said, was a pride of Serbia: natural foods. Out here, in the Serbian countryside, “They feel what is organic and what is not,” he told me. “We don’t say organic. We say from the village. The eggs in my house? They’re yellow, yellow, yellow. When I buy different eggs, my son is like, ‘I don’t want to eat that.’ You don’t need a stamp to know what’s organic.”

When we reached the winery, Tanja Mrčić, the winemaker, and Nada Vukovic, the marketing director, greeted us with glasses of grappa.

Afterward, to cleanse our palates, we had a nibble of cheese with a ribbon of cucumber around it. Tanja and Nada led us into the winery’s cellar—rows of oak barrels, steel tanks standing sentinel. Tanja opened the spout at the base of one tank and filled our glasses with that year’s chardonnay-muscat blend.

“This is a summer wine,” Nada said. Marko buried his nose in the glass, noting, “You can feel the peach and the chamomile.” He went on, his eyebrows raised: “Can you imagine this with a couple of years?”

This page, from left: The end of a meal at Atelje Vina Šapat; a vendor at the Zeleni Venac Market. Opposite page: On warm days, Belgradians flock to the beach on Ada Ciganlija, an island on the Sava River.

THE AFAR GUIDE TO BELGRADE

Where to eat, stay, and play in the Serbian capital.

BY M E K A LY N R O S E

EAT

DRINK

Hidden away in a residential neighborhood, Stari Mlin isn’t easy to find.

But a meal here is worth the effort.

This is where Belgradians come to linger over authentic Serbian dishes— such as ćevapi, a spicy Balkan sausage, and đuveć, a vegetable stew—made with local ingredients. There’s no menu, just whatever the chef is inspired to cook from the day’s market haul.

A large patio where musicians often play traditional Serbian folk music adds to Stari Mlin’s homey appeal.

10 Plzenjska St.

Serbia’s national beverage goes full spectrum at Rakia Bar, where the menu includes more than 130 versions of the fruity spirit. Try the housemade plum rakija—the most ubiquitous variety—or a barrel-aged quince version made in Vojvodina, Serbia. Just don’t forget to eat between sips— rakija packs a boozy punch. rakiabar.com

STARI MLIN

AMBAR RESTAURANT

For a more modern take on Serbian food, head to Ambar, situated near the floating restaurants and splavs (nightclubs) on the banks of the Sava River. Travelers can try grilled sausage with house-made mustard or a selection of kaymak, a beloved Serbian cheese spread. Rakija, the Serbian national beverage made from distilled fruits, is the star of the drink menu. Ambar offers more than 40 varieties, including apricot, quince, and plum. ambarrestaurant.com RESTORAN SIROTI RIBAR

For a meal with a view, take a water taxi from the Belgrade waterfront to Siroti Ribar, about a 10-minute ride up the Sava River. The dockside restaurant traffics in—what else?—fish caught fresh each day. (If you go for lunch, you might spot fishing crews unloading their morning haul.) Travelers can enjoy smoked carp or catfish with a side of potato salad as they gaze at boats sailing by. Sava River, near the Neoplanta bus stop.

TORO L ATIN GASTROBAR

RAKIA BAR

PRŽIONICA

Until 2012, coffee in Belgrade meant a cup of thick, strong, Turkish-style brew, usually served with a piece of Turkish delight. Then Pržionica opened. In a sleek, laboratory-like space, baristas create espresso-based drinks and pour-over-style coffee made from beans roasted on site. There are no sandwiches, no pastries, just impeccable coffee in a minimalist environment. Dobračina 59 ATELJE VINA ŠAPAT

Flanked by vineyards and overlooking the Danube, Atelje Vina Šapat is one of Serbia’s best wineries and among its most bucolic. Located 45 miles north of Belgrade, it’s an easy day trip.

Travelers can tour the winery and taste Šapat’s wines, such as a chardonnay and muscat-ottonel blend or a cabernet aged in Bordeaux-style barrels. There’s also a restaurant with views of the vineyard. sapat.rs ML ADOST AND LUDOST

You can’t visit Belgrade without exploring its legendary nightlife. Mladost—translation “youth”— and its neighboring sister club, Ludost (which means “craziness”) are among the chicest and most well-known. Each has a distinct identity. At Mladost, you’ll find DJs and techno music (and during the day it functions as a café). At Ludost, the music skews disco, funk, and jazz. Both serve surprisingly good cocktails. mladost-ludost.com

DO

BELGRADE FORTRESS

Explore Serbia’s turbulent past at the historic Belgrade Fortress, perched on a cliff at the junction of the Sava and Danube Rivers. Built in the 2nd century by Roman invaders as a defensive structure and military camp, the fortress has been destroyed and rebuilt more than 20 times during its 2,000-year history. It’s now an important cultural site and museum chronicling Belgrade’s history—and a symbol for a city that grew through adversity. Admission $4, Terazije 3 KALEMEGDAN PARK

Just outside the Belgrade Fortress is the city’s largest and most picturesque park.

It was once the site of bloody combat (Kalemegdan came from the Turkish word for “battlefield”); now it’s a peaceful haven from the city, complete with walking paths, statues, and fountains.

RIVER CRUISES

A boat ride up the Sava River is one of the best ways to learn about Belgrade. Serbian Adventures (serbianadventures.com) offers daily 90-minute river tours that cruise past such iconic landmarks as the Belgrade Fortress and the Great War Island (a former defense site turned unofficial bird sanctuary), complete with audio commentary about Belgrade’s history and legends, available in both Serbian and English. Belgrade Boat Tour (belgradeboattrip.com) offers a similar three-hour tour that begins shortly before sunset.

Next door to Ambar is Toro, one of SAL AŠ 137 the city’s first Latin American restauAt this farm an hour’s drive northwest of Belgrade, travelers can fulfill their country dreams. Take a rants. Created by celebrity restaurahorseback ride or stroll the 27 acres, then settle into the farmhouse restaurant for such local treats as teur Richard Sandoval and his Ambar rakija made with fruit from owner Aleksandar Samardžija’s quince trees, foie gras with homemade business partner Ivan Iričanin, Toro spiced berry jam and goat cheese, and krempita (vanilla custard cake). salas137.rs offers small plates, such as steak tostadas with Brazil nuts and quail eggs and sea bass marinated in chipotle, that nod to a variety of Latin American cuisines. Vegan travelers should try the grilled avocado with corn pico de gallo; a gluten-free menu is also available. richardsandoval.com

STAY

CRNA OVCA

This tiny, colorful ice cream shop almost always has a line out the door. Crna Ovca rotates more than 150 inventive flavors, including a ricotta ice cream studded with honeycomb, and a sesame-and-coffee flavor flecked with chocolate-covered coffee beans that’s a local favorite. crnaovca.rs

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MAMA SHELTER BELGRADE

Located on Kneza Mihaila, the city’s liveliest street, Mama Shelter offers travelers access to the best of the city. (The waterfront and Belgrade Fortress are minutes away.) The hotel’s eclectic style extends from the graffitied lobby ceiling to the 125 rooms, each outfitted with wildly patterned rugs and furniture. From $97. mamashelter.com

later, in atelje vina šapat ’s restaurant, we sat at a round table with a white tablecloth and sweeping views of the vineyard. Our multicourse lunch started with a grilled Halloumi cheese that squeaked in my mouth, served with a smoky tomato jam and a bright peppermint pesto. At the bottom of the hill, the Danube snaked past.

After lunch, Marko lit a cigar and asked a waiter to top off his cabernet. “We like to sit at the dinner table for five, six hours,” he said, waving his cigar.

As we were getting up to leave, Nada, pulling her denim jacket over her shoulders, joked that even her makeup habits were subject to Serbia’s slow food tradition. “I tell my friends, ‘I’m not going out unless we stay out for 12 hours.’ I don’t want to put on makeup for just two hours,” she said. “Twelve hours?” I asked. “When you go out in Serbia, you never really know,” she said.

“It’s all so spontaneous.”

In the car, Marko detailed Belgrade’s habits: late dinners, dancing in nightclubs until 4 or 5 a.m., after-parties that wrap up with the sun, after-after-parties that bleed into brunch. Just the idea of staying up past midnight made me tired. Marko dropped us back at our hotel to take a nap; he went to put in a long shift behind the bar at Toro.

The Yugoslav Ministry of Defense building—once the headquarters for the Yugoslav Army—was bombed in 1999. Since then, the ruins have become a symbol of the war—and a macabre tourist destination.

We met a Serbian couple, Nenad and Sonja, for dinner at Toro later that night. A DJ was spinning down-tempo tracks when we entered the fashionable spot. Marko showed us to our table and sent over margaritas, along with artful plates of shrimp ceviche, tuna tartare, and coconut empanadas. Each was more delicious than the last. But I couldn’t help feeling oddly unmoved.

The truth was, I could eat tacos anywhere.

I had come here to write about Belgrade opening up to the world, but there was something more special about enjoying these traditional, I daresay, provincial recipes, perfected by a generation of war-weary restaurateurs with a newfound appreciation of home. I asked if we might go somewhere else. Not far. Just next door, to Ambar. We ordered ćevapi (a type of sausage) and praseće (pork roulade) and kaymak (that captivating spread), and I savored every bite.

After dinner, we went to a club in a formerly industrial area known as Savamala. Waitresses in heavy mascara floated through the crowd with their cocktail trays aloft. Disco balls hung from the rafters. Garage beats thumped. By the time we left, at 2 a.m., the line to get inside stretched out the door and onto the sidewalk.

If we liked that, Nenad said, we had to come back for Serbia’s huge annual electronic music festival, which draws some of the biggest acts from around the world.

We’d certainly think about it, I said. But less for the DJs. More for the kaymak.

Writer Nicholas Schmidle and photographer Algirdas Bakas are profiled on page 28.

... PHOTOGRAPHS BY MICHAEL GEORGE ...

THE POWER OF KIND ACTS, BIG AND SMALL.

... BY COLLEEN KINDER ...

DRAMATIC COASTAL LANDSCAPES, AND THE PEOPLE WHO SHOW HER

IN SEARCH OF KINDNESS

TINY TOWNS AND ELEGANT CITIES,

ON A TRIP THROUGH THE CANADIAN MARITIMES, COLLEEN KINDER ENCOUNTERS

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CANADA Rimouski Rivière-du-Loup

Mont-Joli Campbellton Bathurst Miramichi

QUÉBEC CIT Y

Gulf of St. Lawrence

Moncton Amherst

MONTRE AL

UNITED S TAT E S

St. Andrews

... MONTREAL ...

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Truro

HALIFA X

Raindrops smear down the windows of our sleeping car, pulling with them the glow of Montreal’s streetlights. Inside, we are warm and dry, entranced by the guitar strumming of a folk duo from Vancouver. We Love is a wondrous back door into a forare strangers, about to know each other’s names and eign culture, swift and intimate, but like destinations and feelings about the triple-tiered any access point, it has its limits. One perchocolate cake at dinner. We are retirees off to see son is one story. Canada is home to more newborn grandbabies and students just released than 37 million people and spans 3,400 from spring semesters; we are Ontarians and Nova miles. Canada is francophone, Canada is Scotians and a guy who fled Calgary for the sea- anglophone, Canada speaks 70 indigenous scented air of Prince Edward Island. We are in this tongues. I got a ticket on The Ocean to meet together—or at least on this together—this slow- some of those other Canadas. poke of a train that will trundle east from MonMy train odyssey began in Montreal, treal, through birch forests and marshlands, until the largest city in Québecois country. Wanwhat fills every train window is, at last, the blue of dering the comprehensively hip Mile End the sea beyond Halifax. neighborhood, I was two time zones and 10 The Ocean train, in operation since 1904, is worlds away from Alberta, a western prairie the finest way to wind through most of the east- province and my new home base. ern provinces of Canada, known as the MariMontreal is the perfume of fresh pain au times. Or such was my theory when I booked chocolat pouring onto the sidewalk, a fromagtickets through Via Rail (the Canadian equiv- erie where the circumference of a Brie wheel alent of Amtrak), snipping the 836-mile jour- inspires awe. So Parisian is the alchemy of ney into three segments. It was spring. It was Montreal that I expected haughty looks when the year I married a Canadian: a man to whom my bonjours! trailed off into English. the word “sorry” comes as readily as “hey,” a But Montreal, for all its elegance, is pretenman whose past jobs have included plant- sion-free. Montreal is Deter, my Algerian Caing trees and fighting forest fires. So friend- nadian cab driver, who rattled off a half-dozen ly with strangers is my mate that we have a food recommendations in our 20-minute ride: code for when I’m spent on small talk and Deter’s Go-To Italian, Deter’s Beloved Portuguese, need it to cease: a tug of the pinky finger, or Deter’s Must-Taste Bagels. Montreal is Habib, a in urgent cases, three.

Syrian refugee, who lit up when I sputtered a few I sometimes feel like I’m living along- words in Arabic. “You refreshed my morning,” side the classic embodiment of Canada, Habib said as we parted. I swapped out my heeled learning daily how place shapes a person. boots for running shoes and walked the city with a creamy grin on my face. We tend to think of friendliness as mildness—a limp or neutral element—but here, in a city stocked with reasons to intimidate me, the Canadian character felt more like a force, mighty enough to put me right at home.

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THE OCEAN’S SCENIC DOMES ALLOW

02

TRAVELERS TO GAZE AT THE PASSING LANDSCAPE.

... MONTREAL TO MIRAMICHI ...

In my pretrip fantasies of this train journey, I imagined myself perched in the panoramic lounge, readThe Ocean’s route, done as a straight ing until some smart stranger asked what my book was shot, is a journey of nearly 22 hours, about. No one, I quickly discover, needs a prop to meet tracing the mighty St. Lawrence River fellow passengers on The Ocean. Within seconds of plopnorthward in the night. You board at ping down in the viewing car, I’m deep in conversation suppertime, stuff yourself on okra with Alice and Megan and Sam. From Sam, a senior in college, I learn that, according to ravioli or beef bourguignon, waddle wide-leggedly to your cabin as the train rocks (“Sometimes, there are bruisings,” many Canadians, Prince Edward Island is just “the Island” Sandra, a veteran Via Rail rider, warns me), and let the soft and Newfoundland is “the Rock.” Got it. Love it. No need to ask Sam what he’s majoring in; I simply confirm: “You’re a thumping of train wheels on tracks soothe you to sleep.

It’s light that yanks me awake at 5 a.m., a great blast of it history major, right?” Indeed. Sam says things like, “The railroads made Canada,” then spoils me with the full story. flooding through the cracks of my curtains. I pull myself In the mid-1800s, Canada was a loose patchwork of up and gawk at where the train has taken us in the night. regions. Unless more connective threads united the counJust out the window: a beauty of a river, wide and ashgray, somewhere in the rural country where Québec ends try’s east and west, the United States was on track to subsume and New Brunswick takes us into its forests. Birch trunks all that lay west of the Canadian Rockies. But the leaders of pulse in and out of view, quick as the pages of a flip-book. British Columbia wouldn’t agree to join the Canadian Confederation until a promise was made: that a railroad be built, The last of winter’s snow patches hold their ground, linking them in. soiled light brown like lightly torched crème brûlée.

NOVA SCOTIA; THE OCEAN’S DINING CAR.

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: NEW BRUNSWICK’S

HOPEWELL ROCKS; THE HARBOR IN LUNENBURG,

B.C.’s strategy worked. The cross-country Canadian Pacific Railway was built masterfully and finished fast. The engineer who completed it in half the projected time was named Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, and he’s considered one of the reasons that Canada—as we know it today—coalesced.

If Sam’s our historian, Megan’s the keeper of contemporary train lore. A freckled Virginian who’s addicted to the Maritimes (“I need my four-times-a-year dose of Canadian”), Megan rides the rails in Canada so habitually that she knows the rhythms of the staff, how one female porter’s mother meets her daughter, without fail, at the Miramichi stop to hand off her favorite coffee drink from Tim Hortons.

I’m thrilled to spot this legendary mom when I get off in Miramichi—and the sacred coffee handoff is underway. Not only that, Megan’s there, smiling right beside the mother and daughter. It’s one thing to share insider tidbits with fellow wayfarers on the train. But this is something else; this is family. Passing them, I can’t help but marvel that even the seams of such a private moment are permeable to an outsider like Megan, a foreigner literally just rolling through.

Megan darts back onboard. Like Sam, she’s bypassing New Brunswick altogether. Some Canadians call New Brunswick the “drive-thru” province—a dismissal that rings through me like a dare. The opposite of driving through is dallying, so for two days, until The Ocean chugs back through Miramichi, I’ll wander, via rental car, the sea-soaked perimeter of New Brunswick.

... MIRAMICHI TO MISCOU ISLAND ...

03

New Brunswick’s northeastern nub is a wayward scribbling of coastline, as though the margins of this place were drawn by some lazy fisherman who wanted the sea to come to him. The outermost island on the peninsula is called Miscou, and I’m determined to get there, even if it takes all day. It will.

English radio drops off fast, as soon as I sally north on Route 11. The only province in Canada that’s officially bilingual (Québec is fully French), New Brunswick is a pastiche of towns that are either very francophone or very anglophone. These divides aren’t marked on my map but beIf the layers of history in New Brunswick’s come immediately clear. The Canadian flag disappears soil could speak, they’d talk to us in so many on me, replaced by another: a yellow star stamped upon languages.

We’d have to parse the Basque of the French tricolor of blue, white, and red. Pride not in 16th-century fishermen from the French of exCanada, but in Acadia. plorer Jacques Cartier. We’d hear Scottish émiAcadia is one of the regions of Atlantic Canada where grés, Jesuit missionaries, Acadian hunters. But 17th-century immigrants from France settled, alongside the local Mi’kmaq peoples. The French settlers got the oldest language spoken in the region, by a margin of many thousands of years, is Mi’kmaq. along with the Mi’kmaq; they intermarried. Some hisThe night before, unable to sleep, I had flicked torians frame that era in Acadia, wistfully, as a version on public radio, and the voice of a Mi’kmaq teenagof how harmoniously things might have gone.

How did things go? Violently. Beginning in 1755, the er flooded the darkness. Emma Stevens, a 16-yearold Nova Scotian, was singing the Beatles hit British rounded up entire communities, killing thou“Blackbird” in her ancestral tongue. sands, and forcing out up to 18,000 Acadians. Many Pu’tliskiej wapinintoq, her sweet voice rode Maritimers today identify as the ancestors of these exthe opening notes of a melody so deeply ingrained iles, many of whom made new lives in Louisiana. (The in the Western psyche. Kina’masi telayja’timk. word “Cajun” derives from “Acadian.”) Some Acadi. . . You’d think the Beatles had translated from ans eventually made it back here, determined to keep Mi’kmaq, not the reverse; that’s how gorgeously this their culture and dialect intact. indigenous language carries the “Blackbird” tune.

“It’s not the kind of French you hear in MontreLast year, when I set out on a road trip across al,” a Nova Scotian on The Ocean had warned me.

Canada’s prairies with my husband, he was giddy “It’s like French with a country accent.” Whenever about something we’d do to pass the time. As we drove she walks into a room where her Acadian relatives the width of Saskatchewan, he wanted to read aloud are speaking, they halt, skeptical that she can una report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commisderstand their distinctive local dialect. sion of Canada. I mistook this for a private fixation, a At last, I reach the bridge to Miscou. It feels personal reckoning: As a white male, my partner was less like a bridge than an archway, one you glide making it a point to open his eyes and ears to personup and over. I watch a landing seagull bump a al accounts of the damage done when indigenous Caresting seagull from atop a lamppost. Finally, I nadians were wrested from their communities and think, an asshole in eastern Canada. forced into “residential schools.” But this agenda was Down by the island’s lighthouse, two shagnot unique to my husband. I’ve come to understand it gy giants lope out into the road. Had I nevas modern Canada’s. er heard of moose, I’d tell you someone was Weeks after my trip, I won’t be able to get this rendicross-breeding camels, Clydesdale horses, tion of “Blackbird” out of my mind. Emma’s music video and Muppets up in Canada. They clomp off will have gone viral. One morning, I will hear a language loudly into the marsh, leaving me alone at I’ve never spoken come out of mouth as I sing in the the base of the lighthouse. I get out of my car shower: Tel pit-aw-sin. . . . I will have to work backwards, and smile when it reaches me: brine on the through the Beatles refrain I know by heart, to translate: breeze. It’s been a while. Ocean.

“All-your-life . . .” The three words that set up these final ones: “You were only waiting for this moment to arise.” In English, the lyrics seem to conjure up some imminent future. In Mi’kmaq though, I hear something that’s more about the past, how it’s right there waiting for us. Waiting for us to turn around.

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FROM LEFT: A LOBSTER FISHERMAN IN ALMA, CENTER IN GRAND ANSE, NEW BRUNSWICK.

NEW BRUNSWICK; THE LIGHTHOUSE-ESQUE VISITOR

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I LOVE CANADA . I LOVE FINDING THESE MICRO-KINDNESSES, THESE TINY DIFFERENCES; I â&#x20AC;&#x2122; M F I N D I N G T H E M N O T T I N Y AT A L L .

OF THE MOST SCENIC SPOTS IN THE MARITIMES. Give yourself a full week for this railway journey through Atlantic Canada, so you can hop on and off The Ocean train, savoring the sights and flavors between Montreal and Halifax. — C O L L E E N K I N D E R

FROM MONTREAL TO HALIFAX, IT PASSES THROUGH SOME

AS THE OCEAN TRAIN JOURNEYS THE 836 MILES

HOW TO DO THIS TRIP

RIDING THE OCEAN

The Via Rail Ocean train from Montreal to Halifax (or vice versa) is a 22-hour journey called “The Maritime Way,” though travelers can break up the trip by hopping off midroute. The Ocean departs three times a week (Sunday, Wednesday, Friday), and tickets for the summer season often sell out, so book early. Ticket prices vary greatly depending on whether you want to bed down in a sleeper car (which includes three dining-car meals per day) or choose to ride in economy. From US$132, viarail.ca

MONTREAL,QUÉBEC

C AF E AU N JA

An Iranian café and teahouse, this is an idyllic lunch spot for any travelers looking to rest their feet. Perk up with a Persian Fog (a concoction of black tea, saffron syrup, and steamed milk sprinkled with crushed pistachios) while you enjoy the café’s denlike lounge, where the walls are

decorated with Persian tiles and the bulletin board showcases upcoming events in Montreal’s Middle Eastern community. The koukou sandwiches—an herb-laced frittata on crispy Iranian bread— are standouts.

1448 Sherbrooke St. W. L E MO U NT S T E P H EN H OTE L

Located in a mansion that once belonged to

Lord George Stephen, the first president of the Canadian Pacific Railroad, this sleek boutique hotel situates you in Montreal’s handsome Golden Square Mile district. Bar George, the British-inspired bistro in the hotel, is a popular brunch joint with an opulent vibe. From US$288. lemountstephen.com MONCTON/ALMA/ ST.ANDREWS, NEW BRUNSWICK

LE S BRUME S DU C OU DE

A beloved bistro, Les Brumes du Coude is Moncton’s culinary star, voted one of the top 100 restaurants in Canada.

Chef Michel Savoie is

a native of the Acadian Peninsula, so regional Acadian flourishes accent his European fare. The restaurant is located in a stylish cultural center that was once a public school.

For dinner, expect locally sourced dishes such as snail fricassee on house-made brioche or Fundy scallop carpaccio. Brunch brings decadent dishes such as lobster eggs Benedict. Advanced reservations are a must. lesbrumesducoude.com

dramatic shores. One pet-friendly yurt is available. 877-RESERVE, pc.gc.ca/en

F UN DY NAT ION A L PARK

MIN IST ERS I SL AN D

Book one of five yurts in Canada’s breathtaking Fundy National Park, where you can watch the fog roll in and blanket New Brunswick’s famously

K EL LY ’S BA KE S HOP

At this fragrant bakery, the legendary sticky buns are sold hot from the oven. Located in the tiny town of Alma, just across the river from Fundy National Park, this beloved (and often packed) shop is the perfect place to stop for a sweet snack while on a coastal road trip.

8587 Main St. The former summer estate of Canadian railway baron Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, Ministers Island is a one-of-a-kind historical treasure, accessible only at

... MIRAMICHI TO MONCTON ...

low tide. Be sure to check the island’s tide schedule before attempting to drive across the damp sandbar! Also bear in mind that Van Horne’s decadent estate is only open for tours between May and October. An extensive trail network around the woodsy island makes this a great place to mosey and take in panoramas of the Passamaquoddy Bay. ministersisland.net TH E A LG O N Q U I N R ESO R T

A historic seaside hotel in St. Andrews that opened its doors in 1889, the Algonquin Resort is an elegant base for exploring the coastal reaches of southern New Brunswick. Many of the comfortable, spacious

04

The Ocean scoops me up after two days in Miramichi and on Miscou Island. Back on board, I fall into a sulk. I didn’t bother purchasing a sleeper-class ticket, since the ride to Moncton is a mere two-hour jaunt. Economy, I figured, would be fine. But I miss the sleeper’s lounge. I miss raiding the basket of complimentary pears and cranberry biscuits.

Like a duchess who has lost her fortune overnight, I feel demoted. My only consolation is a bag of pretzels, which would still be stuck in a train station vending machine had a dear porter named Denis not taken it upon himself to shake the machine until my snack bag fell to freedom.

Now every salty knot tastes like a gift from a stranger.

My stop comes fast, delivering me to the belly of the by the sea, but those along the Bay of Fundy province: Moncton. From there, I pick up a car and hit live with an especially frisky version of it. the highway to St. Andrews, a seaside town so far south I beat Susan to the bottom of a road, on the you can see Maine from its shores. shore of St. Andrews. Signs assure me that this I speed there, worried I’ll be late to meet Susan. For is our meeting spot: ministers island. weeks I’ve been making plans with this Canadian wom- Signs also warn me in capital let ters an, and every one of those plans have been qualified by that i must check the tide schedule and not the tides. Susan holds the keys to the palatial estate of attempt to cross if there is “water on the bar.” I Sir William Cornelius Van Horne, Canada’s railroad stare at the sandbar, which is still half washed in baron, but for much of any given day, the “road” to the seawater. When you’re literate in tides, it must property is underwater. be easier to trust that the 4 p.m. waters will reWelcome to life in the Bay of Fundy, where the cede, but all I see are waves rolling in. shoreline is a shifty hem, the water level rising nearSure enough, though, by the time Susan arly as high as a four-story building at peak tide, then rives, two lanes’ worth of quasi-dry surface has falling to nothing in a matter of hours. The dramatic emerged. “Hop in my car.” She motions me over, shift happens twice a day. Many Maritimers reside assuring me it’s fine to leave my sedan there. Un-

rooms have views of both the town and nearby Passamaquoddy Bay. From US$151. algonquinresort.com HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA

T HE B I C YC L E TH I E F

Situated on the Halifax Harbour, this cozy Italian bistro is, of course, all about the seafood, but with an Italian bent (lobster linguine, for example).

The cioppino, an Italian seafood stew, won’t disappoint, and neither will any dish featuring scallops. bicyclethief.ca P E T E ’ S F R O O T I Q UE AN D F I N E F O O DS

A hugely popular local grocery and fine goods emporium, Pete’s is a

delight to wander around.

Peruse Canadian and Maritime delicacies such as Montreal smoked meat and Digby scallops—and find the perfect souvenir to take home. petes.ca H AL I MAC A XE T HR O WI N G

If you want a little more action while exploring Halifax’s craft-brewing scene, pop into this brightly lit bar, where the thud of axes striking the wall blends with the clink of pint glasses.

Travelers can grab a lager from Quidi Vidi Brewing Company or a red ale from Hill Top Hops, and watch the action. For those who want to join in, a friendly staff member will walk you through the basics of axe throwing— once you sign a waiver. halimac.com

der Susan’s wheels, the wet sandbar is a trusty drawbridge, getting us all the way to the castle.

Van Horne’s summer home is nothing short of that: a castle. Susan tours me through the 50-room house, disappearing every few minutes to flick on a set of lights for the next wing and again to turn them off as we leave.

“If I forget and leave the lights on,” she says, “people in town will see.” Susan lives a short drive away in St. Andrews, but once she’s out here, at high tide, she might as well be alone in the wilderness.

“There’s no better feeling,” Susan tells me, sounding like a person about to describe her favorite kind of massage, “than when you are on the island at high tide and know that you are alone in this paradise of a place.”

Perhaps this was the charm for Van Horne, mastermind of a connected Canada.

As soon as Susan drops me off at my car, I’m swept with the temptation to drive the sandbar myself. It’s as wide as a six-lane highway now. I got this, I think. Hardly 10 seconds into my crossing, I feel my tires sink into a rut.

Shit. I do not got this.

I look up through the windshield and straight into the gaze of a man walking two golden retrievers. He sees me, my mess, my panic. Rental car. Tides. Nightfall. As quickly as I know I’ve royally screwed up, I know I’m about to be helped.

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... MONCTON TO HALIFAX ...

I know, as soon as I arrive, why Eve loves this place: the light. The library’s interior is so sun-drenched that it feels like a greenhouse for growing book lovers. All the more remarkable, then, to discover on floor three a station marked light therapy. While you pore over a novel, you can bask in mood-enhancing light—a kind of civic courtesy for survivors of Nova Scotia’s long, dark winters. “We have smaller light therapy lamps you can check out,” says a bespectacled librarian.

I love Canada. I love finding these micro-kindnesses, these tiny differences; I’m finding them not tiny at all. In 10 days, they’ve recalibrated how I move through space. They must have. How else can The man, who I’ll soon learn goes by Craig, calls out: “Reverse I explain my choice to walk right into a Halifax axeand hit the gas—hard!” I do as told until the whir of embattled throwing bar later that day, alone and sober? wheels gives way to the lurch of a car suddenly free. I keep reReader, I throw axes. I throw lots of axes, and when versing until what’s under my tires feels like a road without air one of my axes finally sticks—thanks to a long-lashed quotes, then I pause for Craig and the retrievers to catch up. college student named Alexandra who points out that Right there, midsandbar, we talk life—his kids, wife, taxes, the I “need more flick” in my wrists—I feel triumphant. I’m Rockies, and how many times he’s seen cars get stuck right 800-plus miles down the tracks from Montreal, and this here. I’m not the first stranger he’s coached out of the muck.

Journalist Peter C. Newman famously quipped that Can- dude-fest of a bar has nothing in common with the Parada is “the only country on earth whose citizens dream of is-inflected metropolis where my journey began. Except being Clark Kent instead of Superman.” Like most sweep- that it was just as intimidating on first glance, and then ing statements about Canada, Newman’s platitude is both a just as softened by the warmth of Canadian strangers.

It’s not until I’m back home in Alberta that I realize how jibe and a compliment, depending on your values. I doubt peppered my notebook pages are with first names (Roland, Craig saw himself as a hero in a story, but as I gun it back Ismaeil, Sam)—more than could fit in a single story. The toward paved roads, I certainly do. What a treat to go eat bounty of names alone (François, Vincent, Eve) tells a stodinner—fresh lobster rolls and gravy-drenched poutine— ry: one of accessibility, of warmth, of Syrian newcomers and rather than watch the Fundy tides creep up the tires of Acadian old-timers (Habib, Denis). The very last name in my my rental car. record is that of Lee, whom I met at the airport, where he sells gummy lobsters and Nova Scotian taffy.

Before I’d even reached the counter, Lee was talking to me like we had met decades ago. We established that I’m AmeriAs I watch The Ocean train chug can, but married to a Canadian; that Lee once lived in Boston, into Moncton’s station the next day, I feel like a dog who has just but belongs here in the Maritimes. “Down there,” he said, “it’s a heard its owner’s car wheels ap- dog-eats-dog world.”

What’s this world, then, I wonder? A librarian-lends-lightproaching on a gravel road. therapy world? A your-pretzel-crisis-is-my-pretzel-crisis world?

She’s back! Back, and taking me to Halifax.

My notes are a compendium of candidates: flash encounters that Eve is seated across the aisle, but we quicknot only animate Canada but also remind me why we need to get on ly close the gap. A British woman who left England trains and wander foreign shores and talk to strangers. Stereotypes decades ago, Eve opted to raise her children here are huge, boxy containers for nuanced living, breathing truths. The in eastern Canada. What does she love about it? word “nice” tells us almost nothing. But Eve or Habib or Lee . . . any Without question, the classlessness. In her son’s one of them can show you, in seconds, where its power resides. schools and on their sports teams, she was ever

05

aware of what didn’t divide the kids: what their parents did and what their parents owned.

Writer Colleen Kinder is profiled on page 28. Photographer Michael A denizen of Halifax now, Eve lavishes me George shot a cycling story set in Puglia for the November/December 2015 with things to see and do, hills to summit, and a issue of AFAR and a photo essay for AFAR’s March/April 2018 issue. waterfront to jog. But by the time we get to Halifax, the introvert in me flicks on. You might say I’m a bit friendlied out, that I’d tug the city’s pinky finger if it had one. My lodging—an old church rectory converted into modern flats— is perfectly appointed for a recluse. Thankfully, there’s one place on Eve’s list of must-sees that’s just as appealing to the hermit. It’s the Halifax Central Library.

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MISCOU ISLAND IS HOME TO SPRUCE AND ASPEN, HAVE BEEN DESIGNATED ECOLOGICAL RESERVES.

FORESTSâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;AND COLORFUL PEAT BOGS, SOME OF WHICH

Israel

Recipes for Understanding Alon Shaya, Chef and Founder, Pomegranate Hospitality

I took my restaurant management team to my birth country of Israel so they could have their own stories to tell about the place that inspires our cuisine at Saba in New Orleans and Safta in Denver. Orit Levi, our guide from tour company Via Sabra, led us on a jam-packed itinerary. In Tel Aviv’s Carmel Market, we ate incredible hummus with eggplant and amba [pickled mango sauce] from a fourth-generation hummus shop owner. Just outside Jersualem in the village of Ein Rafa, we ate shrimp fritters and duck leg with saffron aioli on the outdoor patio at a restaurant called Majda.

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Connecting with home cooks was also a highlight. One day we went to the home of a Druze woman named Zaferat.

The Druze are an Arabic-speaking ethno-religious minority.

Before we began cooking, we sat in the living room with her family. They told us about their culture’s beliefs, including a moving story about the reincarnation of a little boy in their village. Listening deepened our experience. We felt welcomed, like we were part of the family. Afterward, we stuffed grape leaves, made dumplings, and talked together. Those are the special moments of travel. —As told to Sara Button

FROM TOP LEFT, LEFT TO RIGHT BY ROW: KEVIN FAINGNAERT, SIVAN ASKAYO, SHARON ZOBALI, KEVIN FAINGNAERT, ROBERT LEON, SIVAN ASKAYO, DAVID VAAKNIN, SIVAN ASKAYO, DAVID VAAKNIN

JUST BACK FROM

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