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Denmark Treetop Experience

This treetop walkway in Denmark might be the most gradual and peaceful way to get over your fear of heights. The walkway, called the Treetop Experience, was built by Effekt Architecture in a preserved forest an hour south of Copehnagen. Called Gisselfeld Klosters Skove, it gives visitors a true bird’s-eye view of the treetops. The spiraling walkway is connected to a 148-foot-high observation tower, and it’s split into two routes: the high route passes through the oldest part of the forest, while the low route and tower are in the younger areas.

Photo: Effekt Architecture

Photo: Effekt Architecture

Nestled in the midst of trees, lakes, creeks, and wetlands, the observation tower is an impressive architectural feat. The curved frame is hollow in the middle, and like a funnel it gets more slender as it goes down. An enlarged base creates stability, allows for a wider viewing platform at the tower’s peak, and makes it easier for visitors to interact with the surrounding canopies.

Photo: Effekt Architecture

Photo: Effekt Architecture

The tower opened last Saturday and was conceived by Camp Adventure, a treetop adventure park in the forest, offering hiking, treetop climbing, and other forest activities. According to its website, the treetop walk “creates a unique opportunity to take a walk above the treetops and experience the stunning nature of the preserved forest from another perspective. The tower and treetop walk is as a seamless continuous ramp that makes the forest accessible to all — regardless of their physical condition.”

Camp Adventure also claims that when the weather is clear you can also see the Øresund Bridge, Turning Torso in Malmö, and parts of the Copenhagen skyline. Tickets to the tower can be purchased online, and cost 125 Danish krone ($19).

H/T: Travel & Leisure

More like this: The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ can actually lower your blood pressure

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Debates all Wisconsinites have

Wisconsinites may be united about what football team to cheer for and whether our lakes are better than Minnesota’s, but we have our disagreements, too. Whether it’s at the bar or snacking on cheese, these nine classic Dairy State debates sneak their way into our conversations.

1. Is Brett Favre a traitor?

Some Wisconsinites still love him, while others love to hate him. It might be old news by now, but we’re still split on whether he’s a traitor to our beloved Packers.

2. Should we vacation in the Dells or Door County?

Summer is coming, and so the question at every family’s dinner table is whether to vacation in Door County or the Dells. Door County has wine and lakefront beaches, but the Dells has every water slide configuration you can fathom. It’s impossible to decide.

3. Which is better — Miller Lite or Miller High Life?

Wisconsinites are all beer people, but when it comes to light beer, we are a state divided. Is Miller Lite the best light beer, or is Miller High Life really the Champagne of beers after all? The only way to find out is to drink up.

4. Which city is best — Madison or Milwaukee?

Wisconsin’s two big cities are only two hours apart, but very different. To make up your mind you just need to figure out if you prefer hipsters, academia, and trying a new craft brewery every week, or big breweries, skyscrapers, and summers on Lake Michigan.

5. Red Wings or Blackhawks?

With no professional hockey team of our own to accompany our undeniable love of the game, we’re forced to choose among outside teams. But, really, we have no idea if we should cheer for the Red Wings or the Blackhawks.

6. Is Up North better in summer or winter?

Boating or ice fishing? Swimming or snowshoeing? We all love going Up North, but we have different ideas on the best time of year to go. Some people are diehard winter fans who relish in cross country skiing through snowy forests, while others prefer summer bonfires and warm lakeside days.

7. State politics

We don’t need election season to remind us that we’re a swing state (or a polka state as our uncle would say at Thanksgiving). No matter where you are in Wisconsin, chances are high that there are as many political opinions as there are people.

8. Should your cheese curds be white cheddar or orange cheddar?

Nevermind that they taste almost identical or that we’ll happily eat either. The fact that they are so similar makes the decision even more difficult.

9. And should they be fried or fresh?

If you want fresh curds, they must be eaten the day they are made. Alternatively, fried cheese curds can be enjoyed long after creation. On the flip side, deep-frying cheese is obviously less healthy than not. But let’s be honest, nobody in Wisconsin is eating cheese curds for their health benefits. We might argue over which is best, but at the end of the day, we’ll eat whatever cheese is put in front of us.


More like this: 10 things only people from Wisconsin worry about

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What was lost in the Notre Dame fire

The terrible fire at Notre Dame in Paris yesterday might not have completely destroyed the iconic cathedral, but it did severely damage a large portion of it, including the spire which collapsed into the nave and transept through the burning roof of which only one third remains. The area has been cordoned off, and hundreds of firefighters worked through the night to prevent the structure from being completely devastated — seemingly with success, as the building is still standing 24 hours later. Throughout the ordeal, Parisians never gave up on their beloved landmark; many gathered near the cathedral to hold a vigil, singing hymns as the fire was ravaging the edifice.

Photo: Andrea Izzotti/Shutterstock

Judging by the size of the flames — and especially after the collapse of the roof and spire — it didn’t appear that anything would survive the blaze, yet it seems the cathedral’s most precious pieces have survived. Notre Dame’s relics, including the Crown of Thorns and the Tunic of Saint Louis, are safe and currently kept at Paris City Hall. The main organ is said to have been spared but appears damaged, while the paintings have been sent to the Louvre for assessment and restoration. The three rose windows have also reportedly held, and the fire was prevented from spreading to the bell towers — most famously featured in Victor Hugo’s Hunchback of Notre-Dame. Until all the smoke has cleared and a thorough investigation is done, however, we won’t know for sure exactly what has escaped the blaze and how sound exactly the structure is.

Photo: Doin/Shutterstock

As of Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours before the fire started, more than $677 million was pledged by private donors, from French billionaire Bernard Arnault to ordinary people wanting to help. On Monday night, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to rebuild the spire and roof devastated by the fire, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo pledged $56 million of city funds to the building’s restoration, which will likely take decades.

While the exact cause of the blaze is still unknown, it is still widely believed to be an accident related to the current renovations. “Nothing at this stage suggests a voluntary act,” Paris prosecutor Rémy Heitz told journalists. An investigation is underway, however, with workmen engaged in the restoration being interviewed by authorities.

H/T: Thrillist

More like this: 7 of the world’s coolest-looking churches you didn’t know existed

The post What survived the Notre Dame fire, and what was lost appeared first on Matador Network.

Novo Airão and the Amazon travel

The mighty, black-hued Rio Negro presents travelers with wide-open, reflection-doubled vistas. Traveling by boat up this Amazonian tributary is a stunning way to venture deeper into the Brazilian rainforest. The small town of Novo Airão sits on the southwest bank of the Rio Negro, near the world’s second largest freshwater archipelago, with hundreds of islands. Beyond that lie a national park, isolated communities, and a remote rainforest reserve. While Novo Airão doesn’t abound in natural splendor, it’s an authentic corner of the Amazon worth a journey in itself. More dramatically, it is a doorstep to the wonders of the world’s largest rainforest.

Getting there is both hard and easy.

Photo: guentermanaus/Shutterstock

Hundreds of years ago, the Amazon rainforest was relatively easier to access than many other remote, tropical locales. Compared to bushwhacking or trekking on small trails, boating on large, slow-moving rivers could get you a long way. By modern standards, however, reaching the heart of the Amazon can be time-consuming.

The only major airport in the interior of the Brazilian Amazon lies in Manaus, a city located next to the Meeting of the Waters, where the black-tinted water of the Rio Negro meets the light brown waters of Rio Solimões. The two waters flow side by side in the newly formed Amazon river, for miles, before the waters combine.

In 2011, the Rio Negro Bridge opened, allowing direct travel from Manaus to Novo Airão. After crossing the Rio Negro, the road continues to the northwest, vaguely following, at a distance, the path of the river, moving upstream. Continuing on the road, mature forest and thick understory vegetation occasionally give way to small swimming holes. Serving chopp, or draft beer, and basic food options, these small roadside attractions cater mostly to weekend trippers from Manaus.

A full-sized bus will take you from Manaus to Novo Airão in four hours, while a collective-taxi or hired car will take around two and a half hours. After a short journey on this winding, somewhat narrow, road you arrive in Novo Airão, where the road ends.

Novo Airão is real life in the Amazon.

Photo: Marcos Mello/Shutterstock

The town of Novo Airão itself doesn’t feel like a tourist destination. On the main drag, there’s a bar and burger joint with a big-screen projector set up in front of a patio full of mostly local drinkers. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fights commonly play there. Due to a couple of famous fighters from Manaus, UFC is popular in this part of Amazonas.

Young people on motorcycles sit on the streets, just outside the bar’s patio, straddling their bikes, watching matches without having to pay for drinks. In the breaks between fights, young riders race their motorcycles down the street.

For some travelers, this scene in Novo Airão might be the opposite of what they want in a trip to the Amazon rainforest, but this is real life in the Amazon. Unlike idealized images of indigenous peoples in magazines, or the curated, well-visited river communities catering to tourists, Novo Airão is a small town, not unlike small towns elsewhere in the world.

One place not to be missed is Buy Chaves and Helen Rossy’s gallery, just next door to Pousada Bela Vista. Chaves’s paintings blend aquatic and erotic imagery in Escher-like constructions. Rossy’s work, created in collaboration with woodworker Frank Magnus, uses Amazonian wood and other materials to create various pieces, including functional furniture and lamps, in designs that blend the natural beauty of local materials with a modern eye.

There are other attractions in Novo Airão, such as Ama Boto, a spot where the proprietors feed pink dolphins to give tourists an up-close look, and sometimes even a swim with these unique creatures. Talented boat builders live in town and show off their handiwork to visitors.

There are accommodations for diverse budgets.

Photo: Anavilhanas Jungle Lodge/Facebook

For travelers who can afford it, Anavilhanas Lodge is the most comfortable, well-appointed place to stay. If you’re on a budget, Pousada Bela Vista provides adequate lodgings very popular with Brazilian tourists from Manaus or more distant cities. Each place offers a restaurant, with daily-caught fish cooked in traditional styles.

Anavilhanas Lodge offers tours, and so does Pousada Bela Vista, through its partner Em Cantos da Amazonia. Visit Amazonia specializes in travel to Xixuaú-Xiparinã and offers shorter tours as well. It’s best to directly contact the tour companies via email or phone. While details are available online, it’s much easier to get a sense of whether a given tour company might be a good fit through a give and take of detailed information. If the tour companies in Novo Airão don’t seem right for you, there are many tours departing from Manaus — ranging from a half day to several weeks. With enough time, travelers can cruise on a traditional boat upriver for a couple of days, or it’s possible to take a speedboat for faster travel.

Anavilhanas is a freshwater maze dotted with islands.

Photo: Costa Rodrigues/Shutterstock

Easily accessible from Novo Airão, Anavilhanas National Park comprises an archipelago of over 400 islands, some large, some small. By boat, you can enter channels, nooks, and small passageways between the trees of the islands, emerging again and again into new corners of this maze-like patchwork of forested land and placid waters. On a calm day, the highly reflective, ebony-toned water of the Rio Negro will produce mirror images of the trees, so that even the water will look like forest.

Photo: George Zamzow

When the water is low, sand beaches extend from some islands, where locals from Novo Airão come to relax. When flooded, the Rio Negro overtakes the islands, totally flooding many, so that only the trees are above water. In this high water, small boats can navigate through trees straight over the top of the islands, making even more small nooks of the archipelago accessible.

Jaú National Park is truly isolated.

Photo: George Zamzow

By motorboat, you can go from Novo Airão to Jaú National Park in just under three hours. It’s well worth the ride, which can be rainy and choppy, bouncing travelers in their seats. During off-peak seasons in Jaú, travelers may not encounter any other tourists for days on end. There is a rich variety of wildlife, with sightings more likely than in more populated areas.

The river communities here are less geared toward catering to tourists. Communities of 10 or 15 families just outside the park boundary serve as magnets for people living even more remotely. Many families and even individuals live on their own, with no neighbors for five miles in either direction.

Xixuaú-Xiparinã teems with wildlife.

Photo: SJ Travel Photo and Video/Shutterstock

Even further up the Rio Negro lies Xixuaú-Xiparinã, a remote, unspoiled corner of the Amazon rainforest. Large swaths of primary forest still remain in this preserve. For good reason, Xixuaú has been featured in documentaries highlighting its splendid flora and fauna.

It’s common to spot tree frogs, river otters, marmosets, armadillos, sloths, tapirs, turtles, several species of monkeys, and countless types of stunning butterflies. Iconic parrots and toucans are also common, along with hundreds of species of all types of birds. While sightings are extremely rare, if one wants to see wild anaconda or jaguar, this is a good place to try.


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Win a trip to Croatia by GOT ending

Fans have spent almost a decade trying to guess the ending of Game of Thrones, but now guessing correctly could have benefits far beyond bragging rights. Tour company Unforgettable Croatia is offering a free luxury trip to Croatia to one person who correctly guesses the series’ ending.

The company is offering one fan an exclusive seven-night Game of Thrones tour, including all of the iconic filming locations across Split and Dubrovnik. The country has featured prominently in the series’ filming, with various locations serving as the backdrop for King’s Landing, Qarth, Meereen, and Braavos. The winner will enjoy three all-expenses-paid nights in Split and four in Dubrovnik, guided tours of filming locations in both cities, and speed boat trip to the islands of Hvar and Vis. The tour will take place in October 2019.

To enter, simply send the company your prediction on how the series will end. Visit the official website and fill out the form, which asks you to “enter your prediction below in 1,000 characters or less.” If you are correct, you will be entered into a prize drawing for the tour. Entries will be accepted from now through May 5.

While it might sound like guessing the ending is the hard part, the true test for most fans will likely be condensing their theories to under 1,000 characters.

H/T: Travel & Leisure

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The post Guess the ending of ‘Game of Thrones’ and win a free trip to Croatia appeared first on Matador Network.

Best glamping resorts for summer

The term “glamping” almost sounds like a snide put down from hard-core backpackers towards bougie people in nature.

“Oh, they got BATHROOMS at that place?” a salty, grizzled hiker might say. “That’s not camping. That’s glamping!”

But you know what? Sometimes it’s nice to take a hot shower, sip a couple glasses of wine, and retire into 1,000-thread-count sheets at the end of a long day of outdoor activity. And if that means people who don’t mind going a week without changing t-shirts look down on me, then so be it.

And for families, it’s exponentially easier to expose your kids to the great outdoors when you don’t have to convince them sleeping on an anthill is “fun.” So as you plan your summer vacation, we put our heads together with Pitchup.com, a site that specializes in finding glamping hotspots, to find nine glamping resorts you should seriously consider booking.

1. Rhino Sands Safari Camp — Mkuze, South Africa

Photo: Rhino Sands Safari Camp/Facebook

See enough pictures of the Four Seasons glamping safaris and you’d get the impression luxury African wildlife treks are only for those who can afford thousands of dollars a night. But spend a few days in the intimate confines of Rhino Sands, and you’ll see that dream vacation is a lot closer than you think. For just under $375 per person, per night, you’ll get a private, netted tent complete with stand-alone tub and outdoor shower, plus a private plunge pool to cool off during the hot days.

You’ll also get private rides through the Manyoni Private Game Reserve, where, unlike in bigger parks, you’ll see only one or two other jeeps per day. After getting closer than you ever thought possible to giraffes, zebras, elephants, and cheetahs, you’ll retire to a gourmet meal and fireside cocktails, all included in your rate. It’s still not cheap, mind you, but allows you to live like a millionaire for a few days without selling everything you own.

2. Sandy Pines — Kennebunkport, Maine

Photo: Sandy Pines Campground/Facebook

America’s coolest collection of glamping lodgings is found along the waters of Kennebunkport at Sandy Pines, which might sound a little like an ill-fated South Florida TV retirement home but is nothing of the sort. The options at this resort run from the Zephyr, an Airstream trailer outfitted to look like 1960s Hollywood on the inside, to the Wild Blue Yonder covered wagons, which let you live like pioneers — if pioneers had air conditioning and power outlets. You can also literally live in a glass house, provided you don’t say anything bad about anyone, or in a 13-foot glass dome. In addition to its unique sleeping quarters, this summer Sandy Pines will also offer a carnival in mid-July and National ‘Smores Weekend August 9-11.

3. Les Cabanes des Benauges — Arbis, France

Photo: Les Cabanes des Benauges

Combining one of the great joys of childhood with one of the great things about being an adult, these treehouses in the French countryside are set smack in the middle of wine country. Not just in an area near some vineyards but literally right over the grape vines. As you’re tempted by the vines at your feet, you can tour the nearby wineries in Saint-Émilion and Sauternes, then bring back a bottle to enjoy on your porch. If wine tasting gets old, you’re also only a short drive to swimming, golf, horseback riding, and the castles of Entre-Deux-Mers.

4. Glamping Il Sole — Tuscany, Italy

Photo: Glamping Il Sole

Food tours of Tuscany don’t need to be gluttonous affairs. You can also enjoy farm-fresh Tuscan food from inside a geodesic dome, set right on a working farm. At Il Sole, each day you’ll wake up and look out your glass walls to a lush Italian hillside, filled with olive groves, orchards, and pastures. After enjoying a meal of food from your surroundings, you can tour the nearby Chianti wine region or head down to the Maremma Coastline to get your fix of the Med. For those who don’t want to be woken early by the Tuscan sun, Il Sole also offers yurts with full walls and a little more shade.

5. Highfield Holidays — Oban, Scotland

Photo: Highfield Holidays

You may recognize the name of this hilly Scottish beach town from the whiskey of the same name. But locally it’s equally known as a spot for a quick weekend holiday, where the dark sands of Tralee Bay Beach are only about 400 yards from this modern glamping resort. The property sits on seven acres, where little mini-lodges sit tucked behind grand trees, almost hidden from the view of anyone on the water. Some have porches that lead right down into the bay, and all have private, wood-fired hot tubs and fire pits, so you can enjoy the stars while staying warm at night. The mini-lodges are decked out in plush, colorful furniture and light woods, with a beach house ambiance despite the cooler temperatures. Plus, the resort sits across from a farm park with animals and pony rides for your kids.

6. Vakantiepark Eigen Wijze — Bant, Netherlands

Photo: Vakantiepark Eigen Wijze

Holing up in a traditional Dutch A-Frame house is the stuff of European vacation fantasies, and it’s easily accessible at this park set around a series of lakes in Bant. Set in a sprawling agricultural area full of colorful tulip fields, the Vakantiepark Eigen Wijze has both two-bedroom lodges and three-bedroom safari tents set around small lakes like a Dutch village. Since your little ones might not be as entertained by flower-gazing as you are, the resort also offers go-karting, trampolines, tennis, and a pirate ship.

7. Herbal Glamping Resort — Ljubno ob Savinji, Slovenia

Photo: Herbal Glamping

Slovenia seems to be the Eastern European hotspot du jour, and though it does lack any actual wild game preserves you can have the pampered safari experience at this green mountain resort. Each six-person tent is supported by thick beams and rich, dark-wood furniture set under white canvas tops. They also each have private saunas and herbal-scented pillows, using the same local herbs you’ll find in everything from the food to the tent’s scent. There’s also communal sauna to relax in after a long day of hiking the hills near the Savinja River, which butt right up to the pool deck. You’ll also get a hearty breakfast included every day, as well as access to fishing, biking, and an herbal pharmacy.

8. Paws Up — Blackfoot Valley, Montana

Photo: The Resort at Paws Up/Facebook

Since “glamping” is a relatively new term, few know that one of the original spots to offer upscale roughing it was Paws Up in Montana. Since 2005, this resort on 37,000 acres in Montana’s striking Blackfoot Valley has offered safari-style tents under the big sky, with private butlers, heated floors, air conditioning, and bathtubs big enough for two. The resort employs its own executive chef too, who this year will be offering Paws Up’s first Montana Long Table event, a throwback to chow halls of the old west with a farm-to-table twist. June 13-16, you’ll be able to dine on gourmet meals crafted from local ranchers, farmers, and beverage-makers at night, and peruse a local farmers market onsite during the day.

9. Bar’coquebrado Camping — Samara, Costa Rica

Photo: Bar’coquebrado Camping

Taking a trip through the jungles of Costa Rica doesn’t mean sleeping on wet muddy floors, or in remote, not-so-modern hotels. Nor does visiting the country’s famous coastline. Rather, you can get both your rainforest and beach fix in sheer glamping comfort by staying at Bar’coquebrado. The resort is a beautiful 20-minute walk from Barco Quebrado Beach and its majestic cliffs and destination surf breaks. Plus, your plush tent is covered in Persian rugs and fine linens, allowing you a good night’s sleep after a rough day traversing the jungle/ocean.


More like this: Glamping experiences around the US for campers who hate roughing it

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Free gin giveaway in the North Pole

Arctic Blue Gin is giving away free gin for life to anyone who can reach their new pop-up bar location. Sounds easy enough, until you realize that the pop-up is in the North Pole. For one day only, on April 17, the Finnish gin company is setting up an “Arctic Bar” in the literal North Pole, so you have to be a pretty intrepid traveler — or a very motivated gin-hound — to win the prize. The “Arctic Bar” will be the northernmost bar in the world, temporarily beating out the bar at Hotel Tulpan in Svalbard.

Arctic Blue Gin co-founder Mikko Spoof, photographers Poppis Suomela and Valtteri Hirvonen, and director Orso Tiainen will be making the initial trek to the location with a cargo of gin. In a statement, Spoof said, “To survive here, you need to be a little mad, and quite a lot tougher. Just like the wild bilberries we season our gin with that fight their way through the frozen earth just to survive. It’s not easy, but you can truly taste their zest for life.” He goes on to explain that anyone who does reach the North Pole bar will “enjoy free gin during the pop-up day and even better than that: they will get a lifetime supply of Arctic Blue Gin delivered on their front door.”

You probably won’t find the Arctic Bar on your iPhone GPS. Your best bet is to set your coordinates to N90°E0°, layer up, try not to freeze to death, and imagine the treasure trove of free gin at the finish line.

H/T: Travel & Leisure

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The post Travel to this pop-up bar in the North Pole and win free gin for life appeared first on Matador Network.

Lesser-known UNESCO sites in the US

Of the 1,092 in the world, there are 23 in the United States. The big ones — the Statue of Liberty, Grand Canyon National Park, and Independence Hall — draw millions of visitors every year. While these places certainly deserve all the hype they get, they’re not the only UNESCO sites worthy of your travel plans. In honor of World Heritage Day on April 15, we’re highlighting some of the lesser-known UNESCO sites in the United States. From the deserts of New Mexico to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, these World Heritage sites showcase the human creative genius and natural beauty of the United States. And chances are, you’ll be able to enjoy them without crowds.

1. Taos Pueblo — New Mexico

Photo: Gimas/Shutterstock

Just a mile north of Taos, New Mexico, you can visit the ancient Taos Pueblo. Between 1000 and 1450 AD, the Taos Indians built homes using reddish-brown adobe, and despite the whipping winds of the southwest, many of the multi-storied residential complexes still stand today. In fact, some Puebloans still live in the historic complex full time, which adds to Taos Pueblo’s status as one of the oldest continuously inhabited communities in the United States. The Native American tribe inhabiting the area is known for being one of the most secretive communities in the region.

Their entirely oral language — called Tiwa — and highly private religious practices help to cultivate the mystique of Taos Pueblo. The Taos-speaking Puebloans rarely talk about their customs to anyone outside the tribe, though they remain an active voice for their traditional way of life. After more than 60 years, the US government returned 48,000 acres of land including Blue Lake and the surrounding mountains to the tribe in 1970 after its leaders fought for it on spiritual and cultural grounds. Today, approximately 4,500 people live in the area around this lesser-known UNESCO site.

2. San Antonio Missions — Texas

Photo: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

Plan a trip to southern Texas to check out the impressive San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. Receiving UNESCO status in 2015, this collection of five Spanish colonial missions represents a formative time in both the state and country’s history. During the 18th century, Franciscan missionaries erected five frontier missions to illustrate and pay tribute to Spain’s power in the region. At the time, the missionaries were at the forefront of an effort to evangelize the indigenous people as part of Spain’s larger plan to colonize New Spain.

Situated along the San Antonio River basin, the Spanish intended the missions to be powerful Catholic symbols. However, as two cultures intermixed, the resulting features reflected both the Spanish and Coahuiltecan cultures. When you visit the San Antonio Missions, you’ll see firsthand the interesting combination of Catholicism’s impact on the area — the missions were the site where thousands of indigenous people, with nowhere left to turn after suffering disease brought from the south and violent attacks from the Apache Indians to the north, swore loyalty to the king and religion of the Spaniards, in return for protection. The park highlights the nature-inspired indigenous designs, as well as the iconic missions themselves.

3. Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park — Montana/Alberta

Photo: Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock

If sharing is caring, then there’s some serious brotherly love happening between the United States and its neighbor to the north. Stretching across the border between Montana and Alberta, Canada, UNESCO named Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park a World Heritage site for its unique climate and distinctive landforms. The site forms the meeting point between Waterton Lakes National Park on the north side of the border and Glacier National Park to the south. Can’t decide between prairies and mountains? At this UNESCO site, you don’t have to choose. In part due to their joint UNESCO status, crossing the border to visit both sides of the park is actually fairly straightforward. The Chief Mountain Border Crossing connects the town of Babb, Montana, with Pincher Creek, Alberta. It’s the only road border crossing within Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

4. Papahānaumokuākea — Hawaii

Photo: Office of Hawaiian Affairs

The only thing more difficult than pronouncing Papahānaumokuākea is visiting it. It’s not easy to get to this UNESCO site (which probably has something to do with its under-the-radar status), but this marine national monument in Hawaii is well worth the extra effort. When most people hear Hawaii, they understandably think of the eight main islands. However, there are also a number of uninhabited coral atolls, and these distinct oceanic landforms make up Papahānaumokuākea. In Hawaiian culture, this vast site represents the kinship between humans and their natural surroundings.

Encompassing more than 583,000 square miles, it’s the largest marine conservation area in the world, made up of lagoons, deep-water marine habitats, and some of the last thriving coral reefs on the planet, this park is intentionally not well-traveled. Since no regular ships travel to these islands (and government regulations are super strict), visiting Papahānaumokuākea isn’t for your average tourist. If you want to visit this sequestered UNESCO site, you’ll need to sweet talk your way onto a chartered flight to Midway Island, the westernmost island in the group.

5. Carlsbad Caverns National Park — New Mexico

Photo: Doug Meek/Shutterstock

The sky above New Mexico’s wide-open spaces delivers some of the most impressive sunsets you’ll ever see in your life. Carlsbad Caverns National Park is the perfect place to contrast the setting sun with the awe-inspiring natural beauty of stalactite-lined caves deep underground. With its 117 caves, Carlsbad Caverns is one of the southwest’s most fascinating and underappreciated attractions. The largest chamber in the park embodies this UNESCO site’s magic, right down to the names of the stalactites. Who wouldn’t want to plan a trip to New Mexico to see “Witch’s Finger?”

Making it happen requires a few precautionary steps, however. Before entering the caves, you’ll need to be decontaminated by using a disinfectant on your clothes, shoes, and any gear you bring with you to prevent the spread of White Nose Syndrome, which can infect that bats that live in the caves. We promise this isn’t as scary as it sounds. Humans can inadvertently spread a deadly fungal disease, and because bats are such a vital part of a healthy ecosystem, Carlsbad instilled decontamination procedures that went into effect last year. The process is a small price to pay to explore what’s been called the “Grand Canyon with a roof over it.”

6. Monticello – Charlottesville, Virginia

Photo: N8Allen/Shutterstock

Make up for that time you fell asleep in history class with a trip to Monticello in Charlottesville, Virginia. The site is a popular day trip from Washington DC but much lesser-known throughout the rest of the country. Thomas Jefferson designed his plantation home — which eventually became the UNESCO-protected site that you can visit today — and oversaw its construction between 1769 and 1809. A visit to Monticello also offers a sobering look at Jefferson’s history as a slave owner and his relationship with slave Sally Hemmings, through several exhibits. After touring Jefferson’s home and wandering the surrounding gardens, make your way into Charlottesville to check out the University of Virginia, where Jefferson also designed several buildings. The Rotunda, which is a half-scale model of the Pantheon in Rome, is perhaps the most impressive.

7. Cahokia Mounds — Cahokia, Illinois

Photo: Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock

One of the world’s most popular UNESCO sites is Chichen Itza in Mexico. But you don’t need to travel abroad to explore impressive archaeological sites. In fact, you don’t even have to leave the Midwest. Across the river from St. Louis in Illinois’ St. Clair Country, you can tour the largest and most complex archaeological site north of Mexico’s Pre-Columbian cities: Cahokia Mounds. Between the seventh and 15th centuries, Cahokia Mounds’ 4,000 acres was home to one of the continent’s largest and most influential urban settlements, and experts have traced these advanced societies back to more than 1,000 years before European contact. The mounds you see at the site today are the remnants of the settlement. Over the course of multiple decades, thousands of workers moved an estimated 55 million cubic feet earth, somehow managing this incredible feat using only woven baskets. The largest structure is Monks Mound, reaching 10 stories tall. Of the 120 original mounds, you can see the 80 that remain at this UNESCO site.


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Modern Passover dinners in the US

American Jewish cuisine has long been created through fusion. As long as they’ve been wandering the diaspora, Jewish immigrants from all over the world have reimagined traditional dishes wherever they are, incorporating tastes and religious dietary laws with the ingredients at hand. They’ve made fans of gentiles along the way with dishes like pastrami sandwiches, challah french toast, and all manner of stuffed, infused, and rainbow-colored bagels.

Despite a history of adaptation, Passover presents particular challenges to chefs who want to welcome practicing Jews during the weeklong holiday. Kosher law, always a bit of a buzzkill, becomes even more strict to commemorate liberation from bondage in Egypt. In honor of this magnificent escape act, Jews cannot eat any food containing leavened wheat — meaning no bread, pasta, cookies, or baked goods of any shape or size. Depending on how observant one is, legumes, beans, peas, rice, millet, corn, and seeds could be out too.

Somehow, modern chefs have found ways to not only meet these dietary restrictions but to have fun doing it, too. A host of restaurants across the US now offer holiday specials, either in sit-down Seder dinners or throughout Passover, putting modern twists on classic holiday dishes like matzo ball soup, brisket, charoset, matzo brei, tzimmes, and even the dreaded gefilte fish.

If you’re tired of the same old Passover routine, or if you’re curious about the holiday but would rather not indulge in gefilte fish goo the old fashioned way, check out these restaurants serving updated Passover dishes. This is definitely not your bubbe’s Seder.

1. Shalom Japan in Brooklyn

Photo: Shalom Japan

When chefs Aaron Israel and Sawako Okochi got hitched, they married their respective cuisines at the Japanese-Jewish restaurant Shalom Japan in Williamsburg. The husband-and-wife duo regularly fills tables with dishes like Sake Kasu Challah. While they offer their popular Matzo Ball Ramen 365 days a year (or 353-355 days a year on the Hebrew calendar), the chefs have also created a special menu with items inspired by the Seder plate for the weeks surrounding Passover. In gefilte fish takoyaki, for example, they fry fish sausage, egg, matzo meal, and mentaiko, and serve kewpie mayo, nori, and horseradish-tinged beets alongside. Come for dinner then come back for brunch to try the “dirty” matzoh brei made with ham and cheese.

2. Balaboosta and Kish-Kash in New York City

Israeli chef Einat Admony incorporates her Yemenite and Persian heritage into her food at flagship restaurant Balaboosta, and for Passover, she’s using those influences on classic Seder dishes too. A trio sampler features fish ceviche with hazeret (horseradish-topped beets), savory haroset, and chicken liver with pickled ramps. The restaurant will also serve a Yemenite chicken soup with fenugreek leaves alongside matzo balls. Over at sister restaurant Kish-Kash, which focuses on Moroccan couscous, chef Admony has prepared a special gluten-free couscous to accompany her dishes.

3. Toloache in New York City

Photo: Toloache

Julian Medina’s upscale Mexican mini-chain, Toloache, is a solid bet for elegant preparations of guacamole, tacos, and quesadillas, but since converting to Judaism, the chef has offered specials for several Jewish holidays. This year’s Passover menu includes several Mexican twists on classics. The matzo ball soup comes with zucchini, carrots, epazote, and jalapeño-scented chicken consommé. White fish salad gets reimagined as Guacamole con Pescado Ahumado featuring achiote-smoked “Yucatan style” white fish, horseradish, habanero, red onion, and matzoh. And brisket tacos feature chipotle glazed meat, matzo tortillas, avocado, red onion, and chipotle salsa.

4. General Muir in Atlanta

Chef Todd Ginsberg has served Seder dinners at several restaurants. At his deli General Muir, he’s inviting guests to BYO haggadahs and conduct ceremonies at their tables. Along with classic chopped liver and brisket, the chef puts his own spin on tzimmes, updating the dish with parsnips, fingerling sweet potatoes, fennel, and poached prunes. Ginsberg may even come around to your table with a sample of his off-menu Sephardic-style charoset, which could feature dates, almonds, coconut, and sherry, or it could contain local strawberries, dried fruit, and port. Meanwhile, the brunch-time matzo brei takes inspiration from the Southern classic combo of country ham and eggs, with smoked pastrami and maple syrup folded into eggs and matzoh.

5. The Rooster and Abe Fisher in Philadelphia

Photo: Alexandra Hawkins

Two venues of CookNSolo, Mike Solomonov and Steve Cook’s Philadelphia empire, are serving Passover specials this year. The Rooster — which began life as the philanthropic, soup-focused Rooster Soup Co. — will, naturally, concentrate on matzo ball soup. Through April 16, guests can take home quarts of the restaurant’s Yemenite Matzo Ball Soup, which gets a spicy twist thanks to the incorporation of hawaij spice mix (cumin, turmeric, black pepper).

Meanwhile, Abe Fisher is hosting a two-night Mexican-Jewish Passover dinner, where chef Yehuda Sichel and sous chef Mario Suarez are combining culinary traditions in a nod to Suarez’s home of East Los Angeles, a historic area for both Jewish and Mexican communities. The meals will feature Suarez’s lamb shank mole, which comes with fresh corn schmaltz tortillas, salsa verde, radish charoset, salad, and fried jalapenos. Alongside the mole, matzo and spreads include gefilte fish ceviche, cancha chopped liver, carrot-fresno tzimmes, borscht tartare, and avocado cream cheese. A romaine salad comes topped with everything-spiced matzo and corn tortilla chips. Duck pozole features tomatillo, hominy, matzoh balls and duck chicharrones. And finally, there’s coconut rice pudding for dessert with canela and apples.

6. Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco

Wise Sons delis now dot San Francisco, and the mini-empire even has an overseas location in Tokyo, but for Passover, the team is highlighting the neighborhood around their flagship location in the Mission District. As homage to a historically Latino area, the 24th Street deli will offer Matzoquiles, a hybrid of matzoh brei and chilaquiles. For the dish, the chefs scramble matzo with eggs and salsa verde, then top the savory mash-up with cilantro, avocado, and sour cream.


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Delta reducing seat recline

Delta’s new decision regarding reclining seats is sure to cause controversy among long-haul travelers. Starting on Saturday, the airline is limiting how far passengers will be able to recline in their seats on some domestic flights, reducing coach seat recline from four inches to two inches, and first-class from five and a half inches to three and a half inches. While it might sound counterintuitive, the goal of the reductions is ultimately to improve passenger comfort. We’ve all sat behind someone that decides to abruptly recline their seat as far back as possible until it feels like their head is basically in your lap. Delta is trying to prevent that.

Delta believes that a two-inch recline is less likely to disturb passengers, inhibit the view of in-flight entertainment, or bump against laptop screens on tray tables. Airline industry consultant Robert Mann told The Points Guy, “I’m sure it will reduce some friction between passengers. Every one of those incidents creates at least one irate customer and one who wonders what all the fuss is about.”

Although many believe this move is designed to test the potential of installing extra seats in the cabin, Delta insists that isn’t the case. It’s actually the only domestic airline to only seat nine per row, instead of 10 like American and United. Based on how customers react to the change on the Airbus A320 fleet, Delta will determine if the reduction will be applied to the rest of its planes as well.

H/T: The Points Guy

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