Travel and Dining

World's Top 50 Restaurants 2008

Restaurant Magazine unveils the S. Pellegrino World's 50 Best Restaurants list. Worldpress.org highlights a number of the prominent eateries selected in the annual worldwide poll of restaurant industry experts.

Milan's Apteritivo Hour

The all-you-can-eat buffet is the last kind of dining experience you’d expect to find in Italy. Yet the two coexist in blissful harmony, for Milan is the home of the aperitivo—a tradition that raises the buffet to a new level. By Jenna Weiner

Vacation? How to Plan the Trip of a Lifetime - Part 2

Ada Letelier provides her insights into some of the pros and cons of traveling in an organized group, especially for those who have never had the pleasure of traveling in this manner.

Vacation? How to Plan the Trip of a Lifetime

By vacation, I do not mean staying at home and getting up late until it's time to return to work. If you don't leave your home—indeed, if you don't leave the state—then you are not on vacation. By Ada Letelier.

Chinese Fusion, New York Style

If you're a New Yorker with a hankering for Chinese food, I'll tell you where to find pastrami egg rolls, sushi with cream cheese, and the Korean lonely-hearts all-night noodle special. By Debbie Lee.

My Journey to Mount Everest

The Chinese government package, which supposedly included a travel permit and a ride on a government-approved bus sounded like a little too much supervision for my liking. I decided to find my own way. By Robert Vance.

An Encounter With Chile's Powerful Pascua

Home to the Southern Patagonian Ice Field, the largest in the world outside of Antarctica and Greenland, the remote region of Aysén also boasts one of Chile's most powerful rivers, the Pascua. By Benjamin Witte.

A Few Things Are Illuminated: A Wild and Crazy Roots Trip to the Old Country

In researching my family history, I embarked on a captivating and often profoundly spiritual journey that led from the New York Municipal Archives … to the former Soviet Union.
By Walter Ruby.

Sierra Leone: Beauty Amongst Poverty

In the village of Kent, just outside of the capital, Freetown, life is tough but the residents' collective spirit and pride are equal to the task.
By Michael Davies-Venn.

The International Wine Challenge: The Best Wines in the World

Through an exhaustive blind tasting process, over 9,000 wines from around the globe were pitted against each other to determine the best overall, in pre-determined categories such as the new "Planet Earth Award."

Mexico: Environmentalists vs. Luxury Developers

There are growing concerns among Mexican conservationists that rapid real-estate development will permanently damage one of the most biologically diverse regions in the world.
By Mitra Taj.

Mexico: On the Trail of Nopales and Nata

New York freelance writer Sara Wolff searches for the best local dishes during a visit to Mexico City, in which she avidly samples barbacoa, nopales, concha pastries and nata, among other flavorful offerings.

China: Sacrificed to the River God

The village of Gongtan, located in a remote area in China’s Youyang Tujia-Miao Autonomous County in southeast Chongqing, presents the last portrait of ancient Tujia mountain life.
By Tom Carter.

India: New Delhi's Historical Monuments

India's capital contains many buildings that were constructed in a bygone age; some of them are hundreds of years old and of immense historical significance. By Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury.

Tourism and the Paradise Beaches in Sierra Leone

It would surprise many to know that tourism is a growing industry in this formerly war-torn nation, which offers beautiful beaches as its chief attraction. By Roland Bankole Marke.

China: The Pilgrims of Langmusi

Travel writer Tom Carter paints a vivid portrait of a Sichuanese-Tibetan family and their travels to the holy land in the mountains of western China, straddling the Gansu-Sichuan border, where two glittering Buddhist temples are located.

World's Top 50 Restaurants 2007

Restaurant Magazine recently announced the "50 Best Restaurants in the World" for the current year. Worldpress.org reviews the winners and lists the finest eateries in the best-represented countries.

China: 'No Foreigners are Allowed'

What would compel a vacant guesthouse to turn away a paying guest into the night? The answer is a longstanding Chinese police statute that prohibits the majority of these establishments from accepting non-Chinese guests. By Tom Carter.