Innholdsfortegnelse for January/February 2018 i AFAR

1 LAS VEGAS Book early to watch the choreographed fireworks extravaganza on the Strip, or dine at one of nearly a dozen Michelinstarred restaurants in town. 2 ST. GEORGE’S, BERMUDA Gather in King’s Square for a giant street party with food, dancing, and live music. At midnight, a papier-mâché onion drops in homage to the island’s longtime association with the vegetable, which peaked in the 19th century when Bermuda exported more than 30,000 boxes of onions a week. 3 THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS Two districts go head to head to see which can build the biggest bonfire leading up to December 31, when both are finally lit. Scheveningen currently holds the Guinness World Record; will Duindorp beat it? 4 SINGAPORE Watch explosions of color over Marina Bay from the Singapore Flyer, one of the world’s…

1. Spoon and Stable The drinks menu at this French-inspired restaurant reads like any cocktail list anywhere, belying the alchemy behind every ingredient. Beverage director Robb Jones’s Pimm’s Cup is made with strawberries that are cryovaced (hermetically sealed) with Pimm’s liqueur, and he intensifies a caipirinha with clarified cantaloupe juice. spoonandstable.com 2. Hola Arepa With its outdoor bar and deck filled with colorful chairs, Hola Arepa could easily fit into Miami’s Design District or Venice Beach—really, any place with palm trees. Matching the aesthetic: The Aviso, a fizzy, slightly herbaceous cocktail made with gin, sparkling wine, Alpine génépy, and house-made mango-tonka-bean bitters. In 2018, watch for Hai Hai, a Southeast Asian spot from owners Birk Stefan Grudem and Christina Nguyen that will also highlight Grudem’s drinks. holaarepa.com 3. Norseman Distillery…

The Victoria & Albert Museum was the world’s first museum with an eatery and evening hours. Now the groundbreaking institution is racking up a few more firsts as it spreads within and beyond its borders. Photography Centre The V&A’s expansive photography collection grew by almost half with the recent acquisition of the Royal Photographic Society’s holdings. Come fall, a stateof- the-art Photography Centre at the flagship V&A will store and display the thousands of RPS images, library items, and pieces of equipment. Watch for announcements of a museum-wide photography festival, too. V&A Dundee In 2018, the U.K.’s only UNESCO City of Design will be home to Scotland’s first dedicated design museum—and the world’s first V&A outside London. Items from the V&A and across Scotland will tell the story of Scottish…

Accra, Ghana The scene “There has been a real resurgence of creative expression in Accra,” says Nana Dabanka, who, along with her sister, launched MONAA, a line of leather sandals inspired by the sisters’ Ashanti heritage. The city’s creative hub is the Osu neighborhood, where the busy main streets are lined with craft booths and high- end boutiques. “Osu and its surrounding areas are bursting with so much style and culture,” says Makeba Boateng, founder of Fashion Forum Africa, a lecture series that promotes African designers. Where to shop In Osu, look for shops such as Studio 189, a label launched by former Bottega Veneta executive Abrima Erwiah and film star Rosario Dawson, and Elle Lokko, devoted to African brands (including MONAA and AAKS). For contemporary updates on Ghanaian jewelry—think…

1 In Praise of Wintertime Stargazing An expert shares the best places to look up (while bundled up) this winter. You know that feeling you get when you’re far from a city, looking up at the night sky, and you think, wow, I almost forgot how many stars there are? Getting more travelers to have that experience is part of the mission of the Tucsonbased International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), a nearly 30-year-old nonprofit committed to preserving one of the world’s most overlooked and endangered resources: dark skies. “People want to get out of the city environments they’re in all the time and into more natural spaces,” says John Barentine, program director for the IDA. “And it’s only when people get out of those brightly lit cities that they have a sense…

Farah Azizan and Adela Askandar Cofounders of Studio Bikin, a multidisciplinary design studio Askandar: “We draw a lot of inspiration from the pockets of greenery within our city. Lake Gardens was a park built by the British—it’s kind of like Kuala Lumpur’s Central Park.” Azizan: “The park is surrounded by historical buildings. The hills that overlook it are quite green, almost jungle-like, which is rare for an area so close to the central business district.” Askandar: “My favorite way to enter is to take the route that passes by our National Mosque, which is a modernist icon for the city, and past the new Islamic Arts Museum, which was built in the Ottoman style. When you get down to the park itself, there are lake trails, and much of the…

1 PEAK BEAUTY Picos de Europa, Spain With its alpine karsts, glacial lakes, and hilltop woods, it’s no wonder Picos de Europa was the first designated national park in Spain. Occupying a remote area on Spain’s northern coast, the park celebrates its centenary in 2018. Join avid mountaineers and head for the highest of its famous limestone picos (peaks), 8,688- foot Torre de Cerredo, or chase butterflies and snap photos of fearless wild horses in the high valleys. The park’s main access towns are a few hours’ bus ride from regions such as Asturias, Cantabria, and Castilla y León. —MAGGIE FULLER 2 WILD TRAILS Hossa National Park, Finland More than 50 miles of trails wind among pine forests, wild berry patches, and 130 or so lakes and ponds in Finland’s…

BLANK LOOKS. I got a lot of them when I said I was going to the Faroe Islands. “Where’s that?” my furrow-browed friends asked. The Faroe Islands are a tiny volcanic archipelago in the choppy North Atlantic, nearly equidistant from Iceland and Scotland, and a bit farther from Norway. Technically a self-governing region of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Faroes have their own prime minister, language, and soccer team. The islands depend largely on fishing exports for income and contain more sheep (70,000) than people (50,700). And even though they have gotten easier to reach (the national airline, Atlantic Airways, runs flights out of 12 European cities), the Faroes are still—for now, at least—off the radar of most travelers, who are perhaps put off by the gale-force winds and rain…

it was our first walk around Pangrati, the genteel-shabby Athens neighborhood where my boyfriend, Barry, and I rented a flat last spring. I was there researching a book. Orange blossoms and car fumes scented the air. In one of those cozy squares called plateias that give a village-like feel to this sprawling metropolis, we came upon a small group of women and men cheerfully tending a vast simmering pot of fasolada (a traditional bean soup). We were greeted, offered a pour from a plastic bottle of tsipouro, the throatsearing Greek pomace brandy. Street party? we asked. Someone’s birthday? “No,” a woman replied, “we’re here each weekend cooking for the hungry. Refugees, pensioners. Whoever’s in need.” Oh, a government program? “No government,” a guy smiled. “Just us. Just write... philoxenia.” Philoxenia.…

If you have tickets to the June 26 match in St. Petersburg, arrive in style on a 12-Night Baltic & World Cup Voyage with Azamara. While the ship is docked, you can spend a day at the Hermitage and then cheer from the stands. Can’t make it to Russia? Watch from one of these alternative locales. 1 BERLIN Catch the big matches in the capital city of the defending World Cup champions. A massive screen mounted at the Brandenburg Gate and more along “Fan Mile” will show Germany’s games, as well as the quarters, semis, and finals. Plus, hospitable residents may relocate their TVs to the streets. 2 MEXICO CITY Though the country has seen massive tragedy this year, that hasn’t dampened the Mexican passion for fútbol. Join thousands of onlookers in…

I STOOD ON THE SHORELINE OF HLK’YAH GawGa, just as the late morning sun was freeing mist from the damp driftwood, and stared up at the “Legacy Pole.” Carved from the trunk of a cedar tree, the pole stands 42 feet high. I craned my neck to see the three figures just below the eagle at the top. The front figure faces the ocean; the others face right and left. These are the Watchmen. According to the oral histories of the Haida, the indigenous people who have long populated the archipelago off the British Columbia coast called Haida Gwaii, the Watchmen once served their villages by looking out over the water to spy advancing canoes. In times of conflict, boats approaching stern first were deemed friendly. Bow first meant war.…

THROUGHOUT MOST of our history, humans hunkered down during the cold, dark months of winter. Skis first appeared about 8,000 years ago, as indigenous peoples in China and Siberia sought better ways to travel over snow. But it would take another several thousand years before people perceived winter as a vacation opportunity. It wasn’t until 1864, when Johannes Badrutt, a hotelier in St. Moritz, Switzerland, placed a bet with some of his British guests that they would enjoy winter in the Alps just as much as they did summer. He told them that if they couldn’t spend time outdoors in short-sleeve shirts during their stay in the Engadin Valley, he would pay their expenses. Badrutt won the bet, and winter travel was born, with St. Moritz becoming the world’s first…

On our first dive outing, my husband and I repeated, “We live here,” dumbfounded, as the boat’s captain steered us through the Rock Islands, which from a distance had looked like prehistoric elephants fossilized in a turquoise lagoon. We had just moved to Palau, an island nation in western Micronesia. Up close, we could see how eons of erosion and algaegrazing mollusks had chiseled the islands’ limestone bases so that they erupted from the surface like massive toadstools, dense with palm trees and starry elilai flowers. The psychedelic experience was heightened underwater. We dropped anchor and slid down into the Big Drop-Off. Here was a 900-foot vertical reef wall that buckled and curved with colonies of soft and hard coral—which are animals! my inner fifth grader shouted. As we drifted…

eat Seychelles This neo-taverna in the Metaxourgeio district is a favorite for its reinvented Greek classics, such as slowcooked octopus with pickled okra and sardines grilled in grape leaves, paired with affordable wines and party beats. 49 Kerameikou St., 104 36. seycheles.gr/en Fabrika tou Efrosinou Located in the Koukaki neighborhood, rustic Fabrika tou Efrosinou is all about tradition and simplicity. Fine wines—many made by the chef’s wife—accompany savory pies, plump cracked wheat meatballs, and other seasonal dishes that nod to various regions in Greece. An. Zinni 34 Ama LaChei A school-turnedmezedopoleío serves delicious meze including bakalyaro (walnutcrusted fish fillets) and pita topped with yogurt and smoked eggplant. Bonus: a patio surrounded by bougainvillea. Kallidromiou 69 Vezené Local ingredients take center stage at Vezené, a bistro in central Athens, where chef-owner…

BIG SUR IS ONCE AGAIN OPEN for business following last spring’s debilitating mud slides, and autumn is an especially luminous time to explore this legendary stretch of central California coast, some 20 miles south of Carmel. Big Sur’s magic lies in its untamed wilderness: redwood groves, chaparral-covered hills, and iconic rocky cliffs that sprout improbably from the ocean. Condors circle overhead and sea otters float just offshore. For many, the isolation—and peace and quiet—that Big Sur offers is the reason to return again and again. For travelers seeking a soft landing, the Ventana Big Sur resort recently reopened under new ownership and after a massive renovation. New glamping cabins have been added to the 59 rooms, suites, and villas spread throughout the resort’s 160 acres. Shaded by redwoods, the 15…

Separated from mainland Canada by the stormy Hecate Strait, the 150-island archipelago of Haida Gwaii is tough to reach but rich in rewards. Most of the activities are concentrated on the two largest islands: Graham in the north—home to Queen Charlotte, the main village—and Moresby, the gateway to Gwaii Haanas, in the south. Here’s what you need to know before you go. HOW TO GET THERE Haida Gwaii is accessible only by plane or ferry. The islands are most easily approached via a two-hour flight from Vancouver. (Air Canada is the only airline with connecting international flights.) You can also ride an eight-hour ferry (cars allowed) from Prince Rupert, B.C., to Skidegate, a Haida village located five miles east of Queen Charlotte. WHERE TO STAY Haida House, a 10-room cedar…