All posts filed under: Travel

Contramar

The Best Tacos in Mexico City (and What to Do after Eating Them)

Published by erin

It would be ridiculous to go to Mexico City only for the tacos. So here’s a workaround: I’ve rounded up my four favorite tacos in Mexico City across all price ranges, and included the best things to see (or buy) nearby. Contramar This Roma temple to seafood is like the Gjelina (or Rasika or Nomad) of Mexico City — a hotspot place where the food actually rivals the stellar people-watching. Lunch is primetime here, when the bright space is packed with immaculately dressed locals diving into tuna tostadas and bright ceviche paired with icy rosé. The kitchen works magic with fish, particularly when it comes to the Carnitas de Pescado (above). An order presents four golden corn tortillas mounded with tender, meaty chunks of fish (cooked in lard to amp up the flavor). The culinary team tops each with cilantro, onion and chunks of pineapple for a dish that is a more ethereal take on the classic pork. Stick around for an order of coconut flan and an extra glass of wine. Then … Head for the National Museum of Anthropology, …

Have Skin, Will Travel: The Travel-Size Products Worth Flying For

Published by erin

Trial-size beauty products are the tapas of the product world. For we skincare swingers, they make it so that each day is a surprise. Neon lipstick? Luxury cleavage oil? Eye-squint-eliminating adhesive mask? Check, check and check. They’re a way to keep things new, fresh and full of excitement. Even better, they’re a way to overcome the conundrum of the three-ounce TSA restriction. For years, I would buy miniature bottles at the drug store, then gingerly squeeze favorite shampoos into them, hoping more made it into the bottle than dribbled down the outside. Heaven help me if I didn’t label the bottles — there was no telling what lurked inside the opaque fuchsia squeeze tubes.

Luang Prabang's morning ritual

What to Do and Where to Eat in Luang Prabang, Laos

Published by erin

Here’s the secret to Luang Prabang, Laos: Early risers and night owls have it best. Tucked into a crook in the Mekong River, the small, time-capsuled UNESCO World Heritage town comes alive in special ways at the unlikeliest of hours. Dawn: Breakfast Brigade Just before sunrise each day, the town fills with a color guard of orange and yellow as the hundreds of Buddhist monks who live in Luang Prabang’s many temples snake their way through the streets seeking the alms that will be their food for the day. It’s a beautiful, real and essential part of their lives. It’s an undeniably beautiful, moving scene, which can make it an irresistible photo opportunity, but we tried to not be the intrusive tourists setting up spotlights and tripods to document the scene. Instead, we tried to participate in an observant way, handing out food alongside the townspeople. No early risers, my boyfriend and I raced behind schedule to procure rice from our hotel kitchen for the monks. As quietly and unobnoxiously as possible, we knelt alongside …