I was spending the most wonderful time of the year in Germany, traveling by train to half a dozen cities in search of the best Christmas markets. Having chosen Frankfurt as my base for a week of day trips elsewhere, I needed a hotel close to the central train station to ensure that I’d arrive without a hassle early every morning to catch the impressively punctual trains to my destinations. Without much of a challenge, I found the Steigenberger Metropolitan Hotel. Although I booked my room here based solely on its location directly across the street from the station, the hotel’s other merits soon won me over, surpassing my expectations, right down to the little nightly treats on my pillow. Read more >
Author Archives: stephentravels
Beyond Haggis: Terrific Thai Cuisine in Glasgow, Scotland
If you’re in Glasgow, Scotland, and want to see irreplaceable architecture, you head to Style Mile along Buchanan Street. If you want to shop for any article of clothing imaginable, you head to Style Mile. Talented and not-so-talented street performers? You head to Style Mile. And if you want to have a terrific non-Scottish dinner in between all the haggis and sticky toffee pudding, you, of course, head to Style Mile — to Chaophraya, the best Thai restaurant in the city and the largest one in Europe. Read more >
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Five Doors to Admire Before You Open Them
We pass through doors countless times every day — in our home, our workplace, the subway, elevators, barns, garages. Most are fairly unremarkable, utilitarian means of egress. But every now and then, a masterfully crafted door stands out in the crowd, arresting our attention, hinting at something remarkable behind it and enticing us to go inside and discover the treasures or surprises awaiting us on the other side. These are my top five doors in the world. Read more >
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A Night in a Barn in Scottsbluff, Nebraska
Occasionally in my youth, if I ever happened to leave a door open, my parents would ask me if I lived in a barn. I never understood that commonly employed expression: Do people in barns leave the doors open? Wouldn’t the horses and cows and pigs get out? Was it just something that city dwellers said to disparage rural folk? I never found out. But now that I have stayed overnight at Barn Anew, a terrifically unique bed and breakfast in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, I can say for the first time that, yes, I have lived in a barn. Read more >
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The Ghost at Symonds Street Cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand
Halloween does not necessarily hold a monopoly on eerie ghost stories; something creepy can happen any day of the year. For me, it was early evening on an ordinary day in November, when I was wandering around the oldest cemetery in Auckland, New Zealand — a fairly neglected and lonesome graveyard that hasn’t seen a new burial in about a century and is littered with decaying tombstones. Throw in a man who appears out of nowhere and disappears just as suddenly, and I was ready to outdo Stephen King. Read more >
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Authentic Estonian Food Among the Tourist Traps
I had spent a full day in Estonia outside of Tallinn’s Old Town — something few tourists to this fairy tale city do — with a knowledgeable private guide who took me to Lahemaa National Park, a few of its outstanding manor houses, and a rustic beach town where we had lunch at a bare-bones cafeteria-style eatery filled with Estonians enjoying a lovely summer day along the coast of one of the bays at the edges of the Gulf of Finland. When I returned to the terrific Savoy Boutique Hotel in the Old Town, I was still in a local frame of mind and began my search for some authentic Estonian food, perhaps not served by a wait staff dressed in medieval garb and setting my place with silver “weapons” to attack my meal. That meant avoiding Tallinn’s beautiful Town Hall Square, but it didn’t take very long at all before I found what I was looking for at Kuldse Notsu Kõrts, or the “Golden Piglet Inn.” Read more >
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Top 5 Aquariums
The deep blue sea is probably the last great unexplored place on the planet — a dark, forbidding netherworld filled with beauty and mystery that has long held the fascination of mariners and landlubbers alike. Examine any map from the 1500s and you’ll see the oceans illustrated with ferocious sea monsters that terrorized sailors. Although many of the legends and myths surrounding those creatures have been dispelled or explained (mermaids don’t really exist, and the Kraken was most likely a giant squid), the sea and its myriad denizens still fascinate us.
Whether it’s the ferocious dragonfish or horrifying viperfish that could petrify even the bravest explorer, the perennially happy clownfish (thank you, Nemo), the vividly colorful mandarinfish, or the remarkably intelligent dolphin, life under the sea is an ongoing voyage of discovery. Thanks to aquariums around the world, we don’t have to plunge to the ocean floor to see and understand what lies beneath (although that’s fun, too). These are my top five aquariums in the world. Read more >
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“A Rare Steakhouse, Very Well Done” in Grand Cayman
That clever slogan of Copper Falls Steakhouse in the Seven Mile Beach section of Grand Cayman proved to be very apt. After several nights of fantastic seafood dinners, I was ready for a bit of beef, and this establishment had caught my eye a few days earlier when I purchased some staples for the week at the huge (and blissfully cold) supermarket across the street. Framed by white lights, the inviting restaurant lured me back for a meal that was, indeed, very well done. Read more >
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Smith Tower: The Most Attractive Building in Seattle, Washington
Once the tallest building west of Chicago, the Smith Tower in Seattle has long since fallen in the rankings of such things since it opened in 1914. But that doesn’t mean it has lost its significance, or its beauty. In fact, this graceful skyscraper is arguably the most attractive in the city, complete with a finely detailed Chinese Room, terrific observation deck on the 35th floor, human elevator operators, and exactly one penthouse suite for the building’s only residents. Read more >
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Staying in the Cradle of New Zealand Tourism at Robertson House
Every day in Rotorua, the birthplace of New Zealand tourism, I explored and was continually awed by the region’s gorgeous natural features — the Waimangu Volcanic Valley, the Wai-o-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, the giant redwoods in Whakarewarewa Forest. I took in the Maori village of Whakarewarewa, fell in love with the wonderful buildings of the Rotorua Museum, and relaxed in the meticulously maintained Government Gardens. And every night I returned to the Robertson House, a comfortable bed and breakfast in a quiet neighborhood about a 10-minute walk from the city center. This lovely establishment had all the requisites of a desirable B&B: a charming property, a convenient location, an excellent host, and a very satisfying first meal of the day. As an added bonus, it had the laziest, most adorable dog imaginable. Read more >
Stephen Travels 