All posts tagged: Travel

Matera, Italy

(Slightly Belated) Thursday Things

Sorry to disappear! Blame LA, Italy and the madness of catching up. Pictured: the reason for the distraction. As a peace offering, here are a few clips that justify staying inside over this glorious weekend. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame indeed. RIP, Prince. Hamilton miscast. That Angelica! (Side note: Who else is excited to get their hands on Hamiltome?) Why I’m on Team Alisan Porter on The Voice. And for your playlist: Some sensational Beatles covers. Hey there, Johnny Cash.    

Tree House

Thursday Things

The ultimate tree house. (Bored Panda) Never enough cherry blossoms. Ever. (National Geographic) Sip your way across the country with 50 States of Cocktails. I’ll start with Montana. (Food Network) I love this bright, airy apartment makeover, especially having just finished When Breath Becomes Air. (Little Green Notebook) Who’s planning to put on an Easter bonnet? I could go for this verdant fascinator. (Proper Topper) And chick-themed deviled eggs for Easter brunch, please. (Alana Jones-Mann) Chicken Shoop for the Soul: Loving Barnes & Noble’s #90sABook (Twitter)

Eclipse

Thursday Things

Total eclipse of the heart: Alaska Airlines delayed a flight this week to give astronomy buffs on board a perfect view of Tuesday’s total solar eclipse. (Slate) Trump tweets the classics. Wuthering Heights made me chortle. Genius! (Buzzfeed) Better than kidnapping the master bakers of Pastéis de Belém: homemade hybrid Portuguese tarts. (Lady and Pups) Poutine and maple-pecan cake, eh? Tom Sietsema reviews tonight’s state dinner menu to honor the Canadian prime minister. (The Washington Post) Speaking of Canada, man are those Toronto Zoo panda twins adorable. (Time) Ever wonder what it’s like to be huge in Taiwan for two months? (Narratively)

Porto, Portugal

Thursday Things

A photographer gets his Rear Window on, snapping windows from cities around the world. (Creative Boom) Quidditch is real (at least for these kids in India). (Buzzfeed) 7,000 square feet of pink, frosted walls = Marie Antoinette’s dream room? (Curbed) Barking up the wrong tree? Try to match these dogs to their barks. (NYT) The James Beard Foundation Awards (PDF) announced its semifinalists yesterday. Some of my favorite people and places made the list, including: Rasika (pictured), Bien Cuit, Mockingbird Hill, Ashley Christensen, Komi, RDV, Cedric Maupillier, Tarver King, Victor Albisu, Travis Lett and Kris Yenbamroong. (JBF)  

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

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

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 …