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New Orleans, Louisiana

NOLA: The Big Easy beckons

Bourbon Street

“Up here! Up here!” Everyone on the balcony was shouting to parade revellers below, arms outstretched to catch beaded necklaces flung up into the air. I wasn’t even there during Mardi Gras, but in New Orleans (also known as NOLA), there’s always a reason to celebrate and on Bourbon Street, there’s always spontaneous bursts of revelry and music.

But unless you’re a university student on break, don’t linger on Bourbon Street. Instead, walk a few blocks over to Frenchmen Street, a decidedly more charming and quintessentially New Orleans experience. This is where I found a poet-for-hire, moodily lit by neon, telling his tale of how he ended up in NOLA with his typewriter. But the live music was calling—a jumble of jazz and hip hop and rockabilly, spilling out onto the street and tempting me in. The Spotted Cat (spottedcatmusicclub.com) and Snug Harbor (snugjazz.com) are favourites among locals.

Char-grilled oysters; The land of crawfish

But my main goal was to eat my way through New Orleans—the best way to explore such a culturally diverse city with regionally specific cuisine. Char-grilled oysters are a staple in this town, introduced over 20 years ago by Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago’s Seafood Restaurant (dragosrestaurant.com). I’m used to the fresh, briny scent of delicate raw oysters, so the smell of garlic, butter and cheese was inconsonant—until the first bite. The rich sauce that bubbles over during grilling to create caramelized, chewy edges works beautifully with the Gulf’s larger, meatier oysters. Equally delicious but far trickier to eat are crawfish. Seafood boils are a tradition in which crawfish comes steamed in a bucket and dumped over paper in a heap on the table in front of you. Forget the cutlery, dig in with your hands. When you face your first boiled crawfish (it’s inevitable), remember this: pinch the tail, twist the head and pop the meat out.

Liuzza’s shrimp po’boy

Try Bevi Seafood Company (beviseafoodco.com) or Schaefer’s Seafood, which has been around for over 40 years. And don’t leave without trying a po’boy (traditionally fried oysters on baguette-like bread). On a hot tip, I ventured outside the French Quarter to Liuzza’s for her famous BBQ shrimp po’boy (liuzzas.com).

Willa Jean’s cookies

After all that seafood, wash it down with a frosé: frozen rosé. While these adult slurpees can be found in most restaurants throughout New Orleans, this sophisticated version is rumoured to have originated at Willa Jean (willajean.com), a contemporary southern-comfort-food eatery specializing in exquisite baked goods. The cornbread and tartines are just about as famous as the frosés. And if that’s not enough, try a beignet, a French take on a fritter, another sweet treat that NOLA’s known for.

Crypts in one of NOLA’s cemeteries; Go-to spot for voodoo souvenirs

The best place to walk off all this food and drink is through one of New Orleans’ hauntingly poignant cemeteries, nicknamed “cities of the dead”. The most famous is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 and its most famous vault belonging to the voodoo priestess, Marie Laveau, an occult and voodoo practitioner during the mid-1800s. Whether or not she had special gifts, she did hold great power over residents who both feared and respected her. Her influence continues today, evidenced by all the “X”s covering her vault. It’s rumoured that you can invoke her spirit by marking an “X” on the tomb, turning around three times, knocking on the tomb, telling her your wish, then returning later to circle your “X” and leaving Laveau an offering. If that’s too complicated, you can always buy a voodoo doll at Marie Laveau’s House of Voodoo (voodooneworleans.com) in the French Quarter. Which is what I did. — Catherine Tse

Miami, Florida

MIAMI MODERN: Where art is hot!

Wynwood Walls. Photo by Barb Sligl

Ah, Miami. It conjures hotness…as in beach, beach bodies and spicy Cuban fare, moves and music. And, yes, there’s all that. But there’s a hot factor in its art scene too.

The city has become a modern-art mecca, which Art Basel Miami shines a bold spotlight on. The see-and-be-seen party gets the glitterati out (think Leo and George and such), mingling, critiquing and buying contemporary artwork (this year it’s on December 7 – 10).

But to partake in Miami’s art scene all you need to do is walk through Wynwood Arts District (wynwoodmiami.com). Edgy and all things hip, this once industrial ’hood is now home to more than 70 art galleries, performance spaces, shops, bars and restaurants. And its crown jewel is the Wynwood Walls street-art installation (thewynwoodwalls.com).

Inside the de la Cruz Collection; “Sprache der Vögel,” Margulies Collection. Photo by Barb Sligl

Beyond those vivid walls are galleries within old warehouses, now showcasing museum-worthy private collections. Your mind may be blown at the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse (margulieswarehouse.com), housed in a 45,000-square-foot retrofitted warehouse that presents seasonal exhibitions from the vast collection of renowned art collector Martin Z. Margulies. Sample artwork: the spread wings of a three-ton sculpture by German artist Anselm Kiefer. Sprache der Vögel, or “Language of the Birds,” refers to 20th-century French alchemist Fulcanelli’s ideas on hidden truths and the transformative nature of alchemy. Stand beneath its massive wingspan and let its meaning soak in.

There’s more to ponder at the de la Cruz collection (delacruzcollection.org), in the nearby Design District (miamidesigndistrict.net). An extension of billionaire art lovers Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz’s home, it’s another massive (30,000 square feet) contemporary art space showcasing mind-boggling sculptures, paintings and installations. And it’s free to the public.

“Fly’s Eye Dome” public art ; “Le Corbusier” public art. Photo by Barb Sligl

Also free in the Design District is the Institute of Contemporary Art (icamiami.org), which is all about experimentation in contemporary art. A new 20,000-square-foot exhibition space and 15,000-square-foot sculpture garden (yes, Miami likes to go big) open on December 1, 2017.

Still in the Design District, meander the pedestrian-friendly maze of shops and office spaces to find various public art pieces like Neo-Futuristic architect Buckminster Fuller’s “Fly’s Eye Dome,” which is…just that. A 24-foot fly-eye-like sphere that’s considered a green-architecture pioneer—an interactive sculpture that the artist called the “autonomous dwelling machine.” It connects underground parking to the sky and courtyard above (part of the Palm Court shopping centre and another must-see design project composed of glazed-glass fins by architect Sou Fujimoto), where you’ll find a giant bust of Le Corbusier by French artist Xavier Veilhan. Surreal.

South Beach; Miami vibes on South Beach. Photo by Barb Sligl

Just south is the Pérez Art Museum Miami (pamm.org), Miami’s main art museum, which, besides the art inside, is set in a 200,000-square-foot showpiece by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron. Its simple-and-sleek three-storey slatted canopy, hanging vertical garden and expansive deck overlook Biscayne Bay—a celebration of the city’s tropical vibe.

And on the other side of Biscayne Bay is the Art Deco wonderland of South Beach, where there’s both eye and ear candy… Gape at the curvaceous shapes and pastel palettes of iconic architecture from the Rat Pack era and then have picnic in the park while listening to the New World Symphony (nws.edu) projected on the façade of yet another architectural masterpiece, this time by Frank Gehry. It’s Miami modern. — Barb Sligl

MORE: Check out miamiandbeaches.com

Shanghai, China

TokyoAMSTERDAM, in the Netherlands, has a certain reputation (which is part of its charm) but it’s the bikes, art, beer…and ducks…that demand attention.

Left to Right: Poffertjes; Bikes and canals in abundance. Photos by Kirsten Rodenhizer.

The first lesson you learn when you set foot in Amsterdam: watch where you walk. There are 880,000 bicycles in this city (more bikes than people!), and it’s clear from the moment we step out of Centraal train station and see the crammed four-level bike park that cyclists rule here. Yet later on, gazing at an adorably tilted canal house, I miss the ‘ding’ of an oncoming bell and narrowly avoid being mowed down—by an entire family on a single bike; kids tucked behind handlebars and the day’s groceries on a wooden barrow up front. It’s all part of the Dutch capital’s charm.

Visitors can rent their own two-wheeled transport for touring (bikeisready.com). But it’s best to start on the water. Amsterdam is home to a 17th-century network of canals that ring the city centre, fanning to the outer boroughs. We orient with an hour-long cruise, putt-putting under arched bridges and among bobbing houseboats as a sonorous-but-informative guide points out the major ’hoods, plus landmarks like Golden Age gabled houses; Westerkerk, the city’s tallest church, and the 1655 Royal Palace. Then there’s Anne Frank House, where the young diarist lived in hiding 1942–1944; now a must-see museum (annefrank.org).

Hopping off the boat, we turn to gallery hopping. The gothic-castle-like Rijksmuseum (rijksmuseum.nl) houses thousands of works by Dutch masters, the most gawped-at being Van Gogh’s 1887 self-portrait, Vermeer’s 1657 “The Milkmaid” and Rembrandt’s massive masterpiece “The Night Watch.” Our group snags a Night Watch study sheet and joins the clutch of tourists examining the 1642 painting for details that reveal the artist’s mastery of light, shadow and three-dimensional rendering.

Farther along the grassy Museumplein, or Museum Square, lie The Van Gogh Museum and Stedelijk modern art museum. But Moco Museum,
a private gallery opened last year in a 1904 townhouse, offers a quirky counterpoint to the big institutions, showcasing what it calls “the rock stars of art.” The big draw these days is Banksy—90-plus pieces by the enigmatic UK street artist, including his famed “Girl with a Balloon” (until May 31; mocomuseum.com).

Clockwise: Rijksmuseum; Muscovy duck in Amstelpark; Lowlander beer sampling. Photos by Kirsten Rodenhizer.

By now, stomachs are growling. Dutch delicacies like pickled raw herring and poffertjes, chubby mini-pancakes dusted with icing sugar, only get you so far. Fortunately, the city is a hot-pot of cuisine from around the world. Its Indonesian food scene—a byproduct of Dutch colonial history in Southeast Asia—is feast-worthy. Tomorrow we’ll try a rijsttafel, or “rice table,” a Dutch-Indonesian spread of small plates and rice, at Sampurna (sampurna.com), near the flower market, or Restaurant Blauw

(restaurantblauw.nl), west of Vondelpark.

But we’re headed to Amstelpark, a south-side oasis with meandering walking paths, willow-lined ponds, gardens and wandering Muscovy ducks. It’s also the site of Taste of Amsterdam, an annual food fest that brings a sea of food trucks and tasting tents, along with celebrity chefs, cooking classes and demos (June 2–5; en.tasteofamsterdam.com). We start by devouring organic salad wraps, then get straight to sipping: cold Batavia Dutch coffee and genever, a Dutch precursor to gin, from local distiller Hoog Houdt. Then it’s on to Lowlander Beer; brewed with botanicals like chamomile and coriander. We raise our cups, toast the day and promise to step carefully on the way home. — Kirsten Rodenhizer

For more, check out iamsterdam.com.

 

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