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Boston for those who like to read

Boston’s literary history is as long as its winters are cold. Many of America’s most enduring authors, including New England’s famous Fireside Poets, churned out their seminal works in and around the city. The birthplace of literary movements like American romanticism and transcendentalism, Boston earned the nickname the “Athens of America” in the mid-19th century for its role as a cultural epicenter. Book fiends can easily spend entire days touring the Boston Literary District, but to help you streamline your itinerary, we’ve put together the ultimate book lover’s guide to Beantown, from the must-see historic sites to the can’t-miss bookstores.

1. Literary landmarks
Omni Parker House

Photo: Omni Hotels & Resorts

This historic hotel was a gathering place for some of 19th-century America’s greatest thinkers, many of them writers, who belonged to an informal society called the Saturday Club. Members included Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf, The Atlantic Monthly editor James Russell Lowell, and other Boston bigwigs like the then-president of Harvard. Today, the Omni Parker House is the accommodation of choice for many readers and history buffs who visit Boston.

Where: 60 School Street, Boston, MA 02108

Edgar Allan Poe Square

Photo: Heidi Besen/Shutterstock

The famously broody Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809. Though he was better known as a literary critic in his lifetime, and never saw financial success as a writer, his poetry and short stories are essentials of America’s romantic-era literary canon. Poe’s childhood home has long since been demolished, but in 2009, Boston dedicated a small nearby plaza to the writer, aptly naming it “Edgar Allan Poe Square.” In 2014, a statue of Poe was added to the site.

Where: 176 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

Quentin Compson Memorial

Photo: JOAQUIN GUASCH DRUDIS/Shutterstock

Faulkner fans may recognize the Charles River as the site of Quentin Compson’s suicide in The Sound and the Fury. In the novel, Compson leaves his fictional Mississippi hometown to study at Harvard College, shortly before drowning himself. In his honor, a memorial plaque was added to the Anderson Memorial Bridge, which connects Boston and Cambridge.

Where: Anderson Memorial Bridge

Old Corner Bookstore

This stop on Boston’s Freedom Trail is the city’s oldest commercial building. In the later half of the 19th century, the Old Corner Bookstore housed the Ticknor and Fields publishing house, which printed works like Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. The Old Corner Bookstore was a popular meeting place for the house’s authors, who also included Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, and Charles Dickens. Ticknor and Fields is now an imprint of publishing giant Houghton Mifflin, and the Old Corner Bookstore is a must-visit historic site.

Where: 283 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108

Longfellow House

Photo: Zack Frank/Shutterstock

A preeminent 19th-century poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine, when it still belonged to Massachusetts. He later moved to Cambridge where he wrote Paul Revere’s Ride, an American classic inspired by Boston’s Old North Church. Now a National Historic Site, Longfellow’s home, which previously served as a headquarters for George Washington, was a haunt for many of the day’s most notable authors, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Charles Dickens when he visited Boston.

Where: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Make Way for Ducklings Statue

Photo: Ty Wolf/Shutterstock

A beloved American children’s book, Robert McCloskey’s Make Way for Ducklings follows a family of ducks that chooses the Boston Public Garden as its home. The classic bedtime story was published in 1941, and its protagonists were further immortalized in 1987 when the book’s Mrs. Mallard and her eight ducklings were cast in bronze and posed in a row in the park.

Where: 4 Charles Street South, Boston, MA 02116

2. Bookstores
Brattle Book Shop

Photo: biminator/Shutterstock

Brattle Book Shop prides itself on being one of the oldest bookstores not just in Boston, or even New England, but in the entire US. Opened in 1825, it specializes in antique books and houses more than 250,000 combined titles and literary artifacts. Whether for great deals on used classics or first editions for your collection, this three-floor emporium is the place to browse.

Where: 9 West Street, Boston, MA 02111

Harvard Book Store

Photo: singh_lens/Shutterstock

No association to Harvard University, this independent bookseller in Harvard Square, Cambridge, has been supplying readers with new and used books since 1932. It also has a selection of remaindered books, unsold copies that are returned to their publisher and then resold to booksellers like this one at a discount for a second shot on the shelves.

Where: 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Brookline Booksmith

Photo: Brookline Booksmith/Facebook

Located in lively Coolidge Corner in the Brookline neighborhood of greater Boston, this bookstore was among the first East Coast outfits to legitimize the paperback in the literary world, opening its doors as Paperback Booksmith in 1961. Alongside its wide range of literature, it hosts regular events like book signings, poetry readings, and the Readers & Writers Series, which invites authors to speak.

Where: 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA 02446

Raven Used Books

Photo: Raven Used Books Harvard Square/Facebook

Raven Used Books is the ultimate hunting ground for used books, specifically scholarly texts. You won’t find any secondhand castoffs falling apart at the seams here, however. Raven sells the best in philosophic, scientific, historical, musical, artistic, architectural, and religious texts, all in great condition. With roughly 15,000 books stocked at any given time, and regular turnover, it joins the ranks of Boston’s top universities as an academic institution.

Where: 23 Church Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

Commonwealth Books

A wealth of antiques and specialized texts, notably a large selection of art monographs, Commonwealth Books places particular emphasis on art and architecture, religion and philosophy, history, and, of course, literature. It also stocks an impressive collection of prints, engravings, and maps that would delight even the most serious cartographer. It’s located in the heart of Boston, right in the middle of the Freedom Trail, so there’s no reason not to stop in.

Where: 9 Spring Lane, Boston, MA 02109

Papercuts J.P.

Photo: Papercuts J.P./Facebook

A woman-owned bookstores in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Papercuts regularly hosts leading female authors, such as Celeste Ng and Eve Ewing. It’s received accolades from The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine, The Improper Bostonian, and others. Stop by the small but formidable bookstore to peruse titles from the house publication Cutlass Press or otherwise, or check out the events calendar to see what’s on when you’re in town.

Where: 5 Green Street, Boston, MA 02130

Grolier Poetry Book Shop

The Grolier was founded in 1927 as a bookshop specializing in first editions and private press books, with a smattering of poetry and avante-garde literature thrown in. It quickly became a stomping grounds for poets like Anais Nin, Robert Pinksy, and T.S. Eliot. Today, the book shop focuses solely on poetry, with one of the best selections in the Boston area.

Where: 6 Plympton Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

3. Libraries
Boston Public Library

Photo: eskystudio/Shutterstock

The Boston Public Library was the “first large free municipal library in the United States,” according to its website. The current building, the Central Library, sits in the heart of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood in Copley Square. It’s one of the city’s top architectural monuments, as well as a boon for its residents, many of whom are students in need of a quiet, inspiring place to study. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Where: 700 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116

Boston Athenaeum

Photo: Boston Athenæum/Facebook

The Boston Athenaeum is a testament to what independent libraries can, and should, be. It’s among the oldest in the United States, earning its place on both the National Register of Historic Places and the National Historic Landmark registry. Inside, visitors will find rare books, including some from George Washington’s personal library and a collection of historical religious texts; artifacts ranging from maps to manuscripts from America’s earliest years; and other notable works in various mediums, including paintings, sculptures, and photographs.

Where: 10.5 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum

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Just outside of Boston is the JFK Presidential Library, built in honor of the 35th president of the United States and a member of one of New England’s, and America’s, most esteemed political families. Visit to learn more about JFK, American history, and the country’s literary past. Particularly impressive is the Ernest Hemingway Collection, which houses over 1,000 manuscript materials, including the hand-written first draft of The Sun Also Rises.

Where: Columbia Point, Boston, MA 02125

4. Bars and Cafes
Trident Booksellers and Cafe

Photo: Trident Booksellers & Cafe/Facebook

Many visitors to Newbury Street in Back Bay are there to shop, but book lovers should beeline for Trident, a hybrid bookstore and cafe where you could easily spend an entire afternoon pursuing both the shelves and the menu. Expect to see contemporary bestsellers across genres, as well as tasty treats like the Mega Benedict with short-rib gravy for breakfast or the Cape Codder sandwich with provolone, turkey, bacon, and cranberry mayo on grilled challah for lunch. Many menu items are vegan-friendly and gluten-free.

Where: 338 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02115

Bukowski Tavern

Photo: Bukowski Tavern Boston/Facebook

Charles Bukowski may not have patronized this dual-location watering hole, but he sure would have liked it. The decor is inspired by the famous author, poet, and misanthrope, and the staff serves up a little bit of attitude alongside great beer and solid snacks, just the way Bukowski fans like it. If you’re in town awhile, consider joining the Mug Club to work your way through the brew list. Note that the Boston location is cash only.

Where: 50 Dalton Street, Boston, MA 02115 & 1281 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

The Cantab Lounge

The Cantab Lounge is an artist’s haunt and favorite local dive in Cambridge. It regularly hosts live music, as well as poetry slams, open-mic nights, and other literary-inspired events.

Where: 738 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139

5. Day Trips
Walden Pond

Photo: Alizada Studios/Shutterstock

Ralph Waldo Emerson may be the father of transcendentalism, a literary and philosophical movement that emerged in the early 19th century, but Henry David Thoreau contributed some of its most influential works. Chief among them is Walden, which chronicles Thoreau’s two-year stint of simplicity and solitude in a cabin he built by Walden pond. Nature features heavily in transcendentalism as a source of divinity. See what inspired the masterwork yourself in Concord, Massachusetts, about 30 minutes northwest of Boston by car.

Where: 915 Walden Street, Concord, MA 01742

The Wayside and the Orchard House

Photo: Zack Frank/Shutterstock

Also in Concord is The Wayside, home to both Louisa May Alcott and Nathaniel Hawthorne at different times. The Alcott family lived at The Wayside, then called The Hillside, for several years in the mid-19th century. Hawthorne purchased the home from the Alcotts in 1852, renaming it The Wayside. A few years later, the Alcotts bought the neighboring plot, calling it the Orchard House for the on-site apple orchard. It was there that Louisa May Alcott wrote, and set, Little Women, which was largely inspired by the family’s time in their Concord homes.

Where: 455 Lexington Road, Concord, MA 01742 & 399 Lexington Road, Concord, MA 01742

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery

Photo: Lucas Correa Pacheco/Shutterstock

Before leaving the area, visit the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where many of Boston’s prominent thinkers and writers are buried. Among the literary icons laid to rest at the site’s “Author’s Ridge” are Louisa May Alcott, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.

Where: 34A Bedford Street, Concord, MA 01742

The Mount

Photo: Shanshan0312/Shutterstock

Edith Wharton was the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence, snagging the coveted award in 1921 just four years after the prize was established. At the turn of the 20th century, she helped design a country estate called The Mount, where she would live for roughly a decade. The beautiful Berkshires location is reason enough to visit, but the National Historic Landmark is particularly special for anyone with an interest in literary history.

Where: 2 Plunkett Street, Lenox, MA 01240


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Best party cities in the US

“Wild” is kind of a relative term.

To some people, “wild” means staying up until the sun rises on consecutive nights, possibly ending up on a private jet somewhere over Bimini. To others, it means staying up past 9:00 PM on a weeknight so you can catch that extra episode of SVU. Point is, determining the “wildest” cities in the United States can be subjective.

To help settle that debate, online sports book and betting tip site OLBG took a look at a series of factors — bars, strip clubs, and casinos per capita; rates of binge drinking; and marijuana and cocaine use — to find out which cities partied the hardest. Though the overall winner should surprise no one, the rest of the top 20 are not what you’d expect, as are the cities that are left out. Read on to find out which is wilder: Miami or Milwaukee.

20. Chicago, Illinois

Photo: Trong Nguyen/Shutterstock

A surprisingly low showing for the Windy City, whose reputation for nightlife and drinking (especially during the winter) didn’t hold up to its massive population, ranking only 12th overall for nightlife with about 17 bars per 100,000 people. Though it did tie for seventh overall with 22 percent of residents admitting to binge drinking, Chicagoans’ relatively low cocaine (18 percent) and marijuana (60.2 percent) use kept the city on the tame side.

19. Washington, DC

It likely didn’t surprise anyone conducting this study that Washington was a runaway winner for the highest rate of binge drinking, with 28 percent self-medicating to deal with living in the home of our federal government. DC also scored highly in nightlife, ranking fifth with 21 bars pers 100,000 people. Surprisingly, though marijuana has been decriminalized in the district, fewer than 60 percent of Washingtonians have tried the stuff. That, and a complete lack of casinos, kept the nation’s capital low on the list.

18. Jacksonville, Florida

Photo: ESB Professional/Shutterstock

This city full of great beaches, first-rate food, and friendly people can surprise you in a lot of ways, but perhaps the biggest surprise is that it ranked highest in Florida on this list. Though it boasts just under five bars per 100,000 people (and likely even fewer per square mile) Jax ranked highly in percentage of adults who’ve taken marijuana (62 percent) and number of casinos. No word on how it out-paced strip club meccas like Miami and Tampa, but no shock it was wilder than Orlando.

17. San Diego, California

San Diego cracks the top 20 thanks in large part to its abundance of nightlife, with 14.1 bars per 100,000 people. That was nearly four bars more than the next-closest California city in Sacramento and double LA. San Diego also ranked sixth overall for binge drinking, with 22 percent of residents admitting to heavy consumption. Though we’d like to just chalk that up to the abundance of great breweries. Interestingly, fewer than 60 percent of residents admitted to taking marijuana, despite its legality and the city’s surfer-dude reputation.

16. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Photo: Austin Urton/Shutterstock

OKC doesn’t rank too highly for nightlife (28th), casinos (18th), or binge drinking (34th), which might beg the question of how it ended up so high on this list. It seems folks on the plains like to keep the party at home, with over 64 percent of residents smoking marijuana and 22 percent having tried cocaine. Not sure how that would translate to a wild weekend there, but Bricktown is never a bad time.

15. Dallas, Texas

Casino-less Dallas was only the third-wildest city in Texas, with its 9.37 bars per 100,000 people ranking 19th overall, about half the ratio of Austin. Residents here also keep their drinking under control, with only 16 percent reporting binge drinking, just behind LA. The city scores points, if you can all it that, for marijuana and cocaine use, at 63 percent and 20 percent respectively.

14. Charlotte, North Carolina

Photo: ESB Professional/Shutterstock

Who would have guessed that nondescript Charlotte would rank ahead of San Francisco, Seattle, and New York for strip clubs per capita, with 1.26 per 100,000 people? Though in a banking town, that’s no shock. Lap dance opportunities aside, the Queen City also has a relatively high number of binge-drinkers at 20 percent, though it does miss the finance trifecta with only 19 percent of people trying cocaine.

13. Ft. Worth, Texas

There’s a reason you see so many bachelor and bachelorette parties roaming around The Stockyards on weekends, and it’s not because they enjoy in-depth lessons on agricultural history. The FW in DFW may only have about eight bars per 100,000 people, but they all seem to be in the same neighborhood. Beyond that, 63 percent of Ft. Worth respondents admit to taking marijuana, and 21 percent admit trying cocaine, which combined with its eighth overall ranking for strip clubs made Ft. Worth the second-wildest city in Texas.

12. Nashville, Tennessee

Photo: f11photo/Shutterstock

Speaking of bachelorette parties, it comes as expected that Nashville was the highest-ranking city in the south for nightlife, with 18.98 bars per 100,000. That ratio may drop as people move here in droves, but Music City probably won’t be dropping off anyone’s uninhibited-fun radar for awhile. In addition to its abundance of nightlife, Nashville nearly cracked the top 10 due to its large number of marijuana-using residents (64 percent) and cocaine users (20 percent).

11. Mesa, Arizona

One might think Scottsdale would be the Phoenix suburb with all the wild times, but that would be if you never looked behind closed doors. Sure, Mesa ranks dead last in both strip clubs and casinos per capita, and has only Fresno to thank for keeping it from dead-last in nightlife. But when you only have 2.55 bars per 100,000 people you have to bring the party home. That’s why Mesa ranks #1 in marijuana use, with 65 percent of residents having tried the stuff. And it fell just behind Phoenix proper in cocaine use, ranking second with 22.5 percent .

10. Tucson, Arizona

Photo: aceshot1/Shutterstock

That Arizona is a crazy, crazy state, with three cities in the top 11. The home of the University of Arizona cracks the top 10 thanks mostly to its nightlife, with nearly 13 bars per 100,000 people. Like the rest of Arizona, it also seems to like the white stuff as 21.8 percent of respondents here have tried cocaine, putting three of the top five cocaine-using cities in the Grand Canyon State. Tucson also had the most strip clubs per capita in Arizona, ranking 12th overall just between Philadelphia and Denver.

9. Boston, Massachusetts

Boston’s reputation as a drinking town is not even a little overstated, as it fell just behind government-stressed DC for number of binge-drinkers with just under 26 percent over-consuming. It also ranked eighth for nightlife with about 19 bars per 100,000 people, a clear sign Bostonians are happy to intoxicate themselves the old-fashioned way. That point is driven home with a relatively-middle-of-the-pack ranking for marijuana use at just over 61 percent and a 24th-place finish for cocaine at 18.6 percent.

8. Columbus, Ohio

Photo: Larry Knupp/Shutterstock

Few people outside Ohio know Columbus is the largest city in the Buckeye State, and even fewer probably think of it as the wildest. Though as the home to THE Ohio State University, it really shouldn’t be that surprising; C-bus scored highly thanks mostly to the college kid formula of binge drinking (20 percent), marijuana use (64 percent), and cocaine use (20 percent). But it gets a huge boost from the unexpected abundance of strip clubs, ranking sixth — just behind Houston — with 1.78 per 100,000 residents.

7. Indianapolis, Indiana

No casinos, no problem! Indy finds plenty of ways to get wild despite a complete dearth of gambling houses, ranking behind only Mesa for marijuana use with 64.6 percent. Indiana’s largest city also cracked the top 10 for cocaine use, with just over 21 percent having indulged — that’s higher than LA, Dallas, and New York. Most of the action here still seems to be at home, as the city ranked 22nd for nightlife with just over eight bars per 100,000 residents. Though it does have the 10th-most strip clubs per capita at 1.6 per 100,000.

6. Phoenix, Arizona

Photo: Sean Pavone/Shutterstock

America’s cocaine-iest city isn’t Miami, LA, New York, or anywhere else you see people sneaking off to the bathroom in movies. No, it’s Phoenix, Arizona, where a full 23.3 percent of residents — or nearly one in four — have tried cocaine. So maybe it isn’t the dry air that’s making everyone sniffle. The Valley of the Sun also fell just behind neighboring Mesa and Indianapolis for marijuana use with 64.4 percent . But you’ll have to seek out the party if you come to Phoenix, as it rated fourth-worst for nightlife with just over four bars per 100,000 people.

5. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

A city that literally brands itself on beer production really should rank highly for binge drinking, and Milwaukee doesn’t disappoint, ranking fourth overall with 25 percent enjoying more than a few beers. And Milwaukeeans would rather do said binge drinking around others, as the city also gets high marks for nightlife with nearly 19 bars per 100,000 residents, good for 11th overall, just behind Nashville. That said, Bridesmaids aside, it still has yet to become a hotspot for wild bachelorette weekends.

4. Austin, Texas

Photo: f11photo/Shutterstock

The city that’s “not really Texas” is also the state’s wildest, ranking sixth overall for nightlife with 20.55 bars per 100,000 residents. An impressive feat as the rate of bar openings seems to have kept pace with the rate of California tech people moving in. That California culture is also evident in the rate of marijuana use, with 63.8 percent of people having tried it, tied with Columbus, Ohio, for eighth overall. It also had a similar rate of cocaine use as Columbus at a flat 20 percent. Austin’s relative lack of strip clubs kept it from ranking higher.

3. Denver, Colorado

Colorado has molded itself into a not-so-low-key destination for marijuana tourism, and the people of its largest city are happy to indulge with 64 percent of residents having tried the stuff. Surprisingly, that’s only good for seventh overall, but Denver’s 20 bars per 100,000 people put the Mile High City near the top of the list. Despite the altitude, 26 percent of Denver residents report binge drinking, which ties it with Boston for second overall. The city also rated highly for cocaine use, with 21.2 percent of residents trying it.

2. Portland, Oregon

There are a lot of rather odd things about Portland, and up there with the oddest is its strip club culture, where going to a pole emporium is just as normal a thing to do on a Saturday night as drinking beers or watching SNL.The Rose City and its abundance of strip clubs ranks second overall, thanks in large part to its league-leading seven strip clubs per 100,000 people. That’s nearly three more than second-place Baltimore and double the ratio in Las Vegas. But PDX has plenty of places to party that don’t include single dollar bills, placing third in nightlife with almost 30 bars per 100,000.

1. Las Vegas, Nevada

Photo: randy andy/Shutterstock

Yes, there were a number of surprises here. But Sin City topping a list of wildest cities is definitely not one of them. Its ranking is largely bolstered by its 26.22 casinos per 100,000 residents, which is over 26 times second-place Seattle. Vegas was also a runaway winner in terms of nightlife, with 54.45 bars per 100,000, or about 20 more than second-place San Francisco. And while you don’t need numbers to tell you Las Vegas is the wildest city in America, it’s interesting to see just how big the gap is between this city and everyone else.


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Most beautiful winter lakes

Summer is the season for envying your friends with lake houses and angling to get yourself an invitation to visit them. Lakes are as synonymous with summer weekends as beaches and barbecue, but many forget that lakes aren’t just a warm-weather destination. In fact, some — like people without lake houses — would argue that winter is the best time to visit the country’s most beautiful lakes. Whether it’s hiking, skating, or just a quick pit stop to bask in the frozen magic, a cold-weather lake trip is the best antidote for the winter blues. These are the US lakes you need to add to your winter itinerary.

1. Lake Superior, Michigan

Photo: mattckaiser/Shutterstock

The largest of the Great Lakes isn’t exactly a hidden destination, but it’s easy to forget that the 32,000-square-mile lake is actually one of the country’s most beautiful vacation spots. Whereas summer brings boating, water skiing, and swimming to Lake Superior, winter brings a host of new reasons to visit, apart from the natural beauty found all along the tree-lined shore. The lake covers a pretty wide range, touching three states, but the most magical places to visit are probably the sandstone caves at Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands. When the lake is frozen, you can walk across the surface to see the petrified waterfalls and streams in the caves, which are themselves encased in icicles. If you happen to be visiting Lake Superior from the Michigan side, you may want to base yourself in Marquette, which hosts the Suicide Hill Ski Tournament and Noque Ski Marathon (which includes a dog sled race) in late January.

2. Lake Morey, Vermont

Photo: Lake Morey Resort

Not nearly as famous as Lake Superior, Lake Morey is a small lake tucked away on the border of Vermont and New Hampshire. It’s relatively low profile, and that’s exactly what makes it such a good winter destination. The mountainous, wooded scenery creates an ideal backdrop for a winter skate session. If you’re really adventurous, you could skate the whole length of the 4.5-mile lake, or even take the longest Nordic skating trail in the US that winds along the edge of the surrounding birch, pine, and maple forest. The lake’s surface is regularly maintained by the Lake Morey Resort, which also rents skates and runs beginner skating lessons.

3. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Photo: Tony Savino/Shutterstock

No, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, isn’t constantly filled with confused European tourists thinking, “This doesn’t look like Switzerland…” Wisconsin’s Lake Geneva, about an hour southwest from Milwaukee, is most widely known for the 23-mile public path encircling the shoreline, making it perfect for a brisk winter hike. A popular lake for watersports in the summer, Lake Geneva takes on an entirely different character in the winter, especially during the annual Winterfest celebration. Taking place at the end of January each year, Winterfest brings ice skating, holiday treats, and snow sculptures to the lake. To really get you in that winter spirit, Lake Geneva even hosts the National Snow Sculpting Championship at the end of January.

4. Mount Douglas, Alaska

Photo: Wildnerdpix/Shutterstock

This is probably one of the most difficult lakes in the US to access, but it’s worth the serious effort. Mount Douglas is a stratovolcano in Kamishak Bay, Alaska, with a crater lake located directly on the summit. It’s a 7,000-foot hike up the volcano, but once you get there you’ll be rewarded with an epic view and a lake that’s always between 60 and 70 degrees. That’s right, it’s one of the only winter lakes you can actually swim in and not catch pneumonia. The water’s high acid content, however, means you probably won’t want to soak in this lake for too long.

5. Portage Lake, Alaska

Photo: davidmarxphoto/Shutterstock

There are also beautiful lakes in Alaska that don’t require hiking a volcano to reach. One of them is Portage Lake in Chugach National Forest. Three miles long and one mile wide, the lake is situated at the foot of Portage Glacier, meaning it’s pretty tough to improve upon these views. If you don’t feel like skating across the ice, or going for a bike ride, you could simply relax and bask in the blue Arctic ice of the colossal glacier. Despite its wild and rugged location, the lake is very accessible to visitors from Seward Highway along the Portage Glacier Access Road.

6. Canyon Ferry Lake, Montana

Photo: Jeffrey Hewitt/Shutterstock

When it comes to long, unspoiled vistas of rolling winter plains, it doesn’t get better than Big Sky Country. Canyon Ferry Lake in Montana, about an hour east of Helena, is one of the most picturesque frozen lakes in the US. In addition to being able to skate the 35,200 acres of surface water with a view of Helena National Forest and the surrounding hills, it’s also a great place for wildlife watching. It’s not uncommon to find bald eagles and snowy owls, so make sure you’ve got your camera ready.

7. Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

Photo: Ashley Hadzopoulos/Shutterstock

Technically, the Bonneville Salt Flats isn’t a lake, but that’s only because we’re about 15,000 years too late. Once covering much of the Great Basin region, Lake Bonneville has since dried up and left us with the salt flats instead. Luckily, those salt flats are pretty incredible, especially in the winter. The US version of the famous Uyuni Salt Flat in Bolivia, Bonneville is a 12-mile-long desert of white salt crust. In the summer, racetracks are built on the flats for various vehicle races vying to set land speed records. In the winter, the flats become a shimmering wilderness that more resembles the North Pole than northwest Utah. Winter precipitation gives the flats a glass-like appearance, which might not be your typical lake experience, but it’ll certainly be more memorable.


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China’s driverless bullet train

If auto-pilot cars freak you out, you should probably stay away from this driverless bullet train that goes 217 miles per hour. In preparation for the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, a 108-mile railway line opened on December 30 between Beijing and the host city of Zhangjiakou, cutting the travel time between the two cities from three hours to just 47 minutes. What really makes these Fuxing series trains unique — and potentially terrifying — is that they will be the world’s first to operate without a driver.

The Jing-Zhang high-speed railway will stop at 10 stations, including stations in Beijing, Yanqing, Zhangjiakou, and Badaling Chang Cheng, which is the most popular section of the Great Wall. Currently, around 30 bullet trains are running daily between Beijing and Zhangiakou, though only six are driverless.

Apart from the driverless feature, these new “smart trains” will have 5G signals, intelligent lighting, and nearly 3,000 sensors that collect real-time data to detect operational abnormalities. Each seat will also be equipped with its own touch-screen control panel and wireless charging dock. Keeping the Olympic athletes in mind, the trains were designed with extra-large storage cabins for winter sports equipment, and there are reported plans to turn the dining car into a media center.

And in case you were worried you’d actually have to interact with a human in the station, robots and facial recognition technologies will be on hand in stations to assist passengers with ticket information, directions, luggage, and more.

Tickets range from $12 to $38 and need to be booked at least two days in advance.


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Gnista Spirits will pay you to party

If going to a nightclub without having a couple of drinks in you sounds like your ultimate nightmare, this nightlife gig probably isn’t for you. Gnista Spirits, a Swedish brand of non-alcoholic spirits, wants to pay two people to party in Stockholm — sober. According to the job posting, Gnista is “currently seeking two enthusiastic party animals for a live test investigating Gnista’s credibility as a substitute for alcohol.”

The gig includes round-trip flights and a hotel stay at Downtown Camper in Stockholm for yourself and a friend, dinner for two, free non-alcoholic drinks all night, a full breakfast in the morning and complimentary bottle of Gnista as a souvenir. Your duties for the night include making yourself at least one Gnista-Tonic for you and your friend at the hotel before heading to the designated bar, and then continuing to drink non-alcoholic Gnista cocktails until 3:00 AM.

The job description specifies that “the successful candidate has never tried being sober when out clubbing (due to prejudice that it’s only lame people who opt for the non-alcoholic). Being single and ready to mingle, being outgoing and fluent in English and/or Swedish is considered a plus.”

Not only will all your expenses be covered, you’ll also be paid $525 for your trouble, with the “possibility of extension offered for the right candidate.”

The application is pretty simple. Just fill out your name, email, phone number, and tell Gnista why you’re a good fit for the job.


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International Spy Museum to update

The International Spy Museum in Washington DC is coming under fire for its controversial torture exhibit. Three Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee — Dianne Feinstein, Martin Heinrich, and Ron Wyden — accused the musem last month of “misrepresenting” and “sanitizing” the CIA’s torture program, and requested that further context be added to the exhibit that takes into account the program’s actual effectiveness.

The museum’s president, Tamara Christian, responded with her own letter addressing the senators’ concerns. “The new exhibit,” she said, in reference to upcoming renovations, “will focus more broadly on the history of interrogation, to include both coercive methods (physical and psychological) and non-coercive methods (such as rapport building) […] We also intend to add content on scientific and technical innovations to detect deceit (to include a polygraph artifact), as well as legal definitions of torture.”

Right now, the exhibit focuses on centuries-old physical torture methods, as well as waterboarding techniques used by the CIA post-9/11. Experts, however, have criticized the museum for its depiction of waterboarding and other techniques, and its failure to present visitors with research-based information that discredits the effectiveness of these brutal methods, and with the crucial information that torture is banned under the Geneva Conventions. According to Buzzfeed News, the current exhibit also includes “a poll asking visitors if they would support torturing suspected terrorists.”

Christian’s letter also promises that the new exhibit will feature an expanded timeline of the CIA program to place torture in a more accurate historical context.

The changes are due to be implemented by March 2020.


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The post International Spy Museum to fix its highly controversial torture exhibit appeared first on Matador Network.

Books that make you want to travel

At Matador Network, we want you to hop onto trains, ride ferries, and catch flights to a new and exciting destination as often as you can. But the reality is that there’s only so much traveling one can do. So, if money, responsibility, or time get in the way of your globetrotting fantasies, know that your best (and cheapest) option to escape the day-to-day humdrum is to pick up a book. The editorial team has crafted a list of literary creations, from travel narratives to fantasy novels to historical fiction that will have you travel the world from the comfort of your own home this year.

Editor’s note: These entries were written by Morgane Croissant, Elisabeth Sherman, Rob Chursinoff, Tim Wenger, Noelle Salmi, and Natasha Salmi.

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Photo: Penguin Random House

Set on the North Carolina coast, Where the Crawdads Sing is the story of a young woman surviving on her own, depending on the swamp and nearby ocean to sustain her. It’s a celebration of wildlife and the sea, and the power of both to support life. Owens crafts characters who are devoted to the natural world, and connected to it on a spiritual level. Without mentioning climate change, Owens demonstrates that an environment left alone to thrive can provide both comfort and sustenance. Her protagonist Kya, who raised herself alone in a shack in the wilderness after being abandoned by her family, is what the planet needs in 2020: a person who respects the land, and devotes her life to caring for it. Kya’s story is a stirring reminder that though humans have become stewards of the earth, it has the power to protect us, too, if only we let it.

2. Life Along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield

Photo: University of California Press

In Life Along the Silk Road, historian Susan Whitfield artfully introduces the reader to an unfamiliar world rich with diverse cultures. The book illustrates the lives of 12 individuals from around Asia over a thousand years ago who both directly and indirectly interact with the cultural exchange brought on by the Silk Road. From the Chinese princess sold into marriage with a Uighur to a trader from Samarkand taking the year-long journey to trade in China, or from the Central Asian prostitute returning home after years away in China to a curious writer in Baghdad, each individual story gives the reader a new insight into a foreign culture, time, and land. While being whisked away to a new place as you turn each page, you may find that these people’s experiences in today’s changing, globalized world feel particularly relevant.

3. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Photo: Taylor Jenkins Reid

Set during the heady, drug-addled, sexually unbridled era of 1970s Los Angeles, Daisy Jones & The Six is an oral history of a fictitious rock band on the cusp of global fame. The novel takes you behind the scenes of the music industry, explores what it took for a band in the pre-internet days to rise to the top, exposes the larger-than-life personalities that made it happen, and reveals what it was like for talented, independent women to try and make their mark in an often sleazy, male-dominated business. Step on the tour bus for a turbulent, meteoric ride with Daisy Jones & The Six, then prepare yourself for the emotional come down of real life inevitably trumping the glamor and excess of rock and roll fame. This is for fans of VH1’s Behind the Music, Stevie Nicks, Fleetwood Mac, The Eagles, and groovy, laid-back road trips to California.

4. Hungry by Jeff Gordinier

Photo: Penguin Random House

For some of us, we haven’t really seen a place unless we’ve savored its food. More committed foodies travel to distant places just for the food. This is what food writer Jeff Gordinier did over four years, accompanying one of the most celebrated chefs in the world, René Redzepi of the Copenhagen restaurant Noma, which was awarded the title of “Best Restaurant in the World” in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014. When Redzepi decided to close Noma to seek inspiration, Gordinier went with him, traveling everywhere from the Yucatán Peninsula to the Arctic Circle. If you love food, travel, and especially food writing, you will not want to put down this book… expect many to get a bite to eat.

5. Outpost by Dan Richards

Photo: Canon Gate

If you’re a traveler who likes to wander deeper than common points of interest in the hope of coming across unusual places, like a remote fire station in the high alpine or a long-neglected lighthouse, Dan Richards’ Outpost is here to answer the question of what those isolated shacks are — or were — used for. Richards outposts himself around the world in backcountry huts, lookout towers, and writer’s dens, telling their stories while celebrating their magnificence. This is a narrative of forgotten places, and of one’s undying quest to use adventure rather than Google as a means to answer burning questions. Richards’ prose is that of a modern Twain, escaping but never diverting from the topic at hand to engage readers in his past and love for peculiar spots — like a remote Utah Arby’s en route to a Mars research station, for example.

6. Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips

Photo: Julia Phillips

Phillips’ first novel will transport you to a place you may not even know existed: the Kamchatka Peninsula. The 12 chapters of this deeply evocative novel take readers through a year (one chapter per month) in this extremely remote and sparsely populated part of Russia that is closer to Tokyo and Anchorage than it is to Moscow. The novel starts in August, with the voice of a young girl who, at the end of the chapter gets abducted with her younger sister. Each following chapter is the personal story of a woman connected in some way to the tragedy. The beauty of the novel is not only the discovery of an unknown, mysterious place, it is the realization that, despite the geographical seclusion and uniqueness of the peninsula, the people of Kamchatka face the same issues as everyone else — xenophobia, abuse, sexism — and the same emotions — fear, loss, loneliness, and love.

7. Empress Dowager Cixi by Jung Chan

Photo: Penguin Random House

Sourcing from a vast collection of Chinese documents never before seen by the West, Jung Chan paints an engrossing picture of the powerful and open-minded stateswoman who guided China on its path to modernization. Cixi effectively ruled China from the end of the Opium Wars in 1861 until her death in 1908. She was the real power behind the mostly powerless male figureheads who occupied the throne. Cixi’s rule itself is a riveting tale of a woman trying to change a deeply traditional world, bringing the railroad and electricity and even the free press to China. The setting of the book is just as engaging as the politics of the Qing dynasty court. Jung Chang vividly describes life for the Manchurian elite in the Forbidden City, a world made of eunuchs, scholars, and concubines locked in tradition while China outside the walls was on a path of irreversible change.

8. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Photo: Penguin Random House

You could argue that Crazy Rich Asians, which takes place in present-day Singapore, has little in common with how the majority of people there live. It’s true that most Singaporeans don’t reside in luxurious mansions within massive, leafy properties that are somehow hidden smack dab in the middle of the city-state, as does the grandmother of Nick Young, the book’s English prep-school-educated heartthrob. But Crazy Rich Asians is still a fun and irresistible look at this island nation, even if it focuses on a fictional set of its very real .001 percenters. You’ll savor (vicariously) the flavors of its food markets, the energy of neighboring islands like Macau and Hong Kong, and the elegant locations throughout the island that are oh-so romantic. It is a love story, after all.

9. Pasta Pane Vino: Deep Travels Through Italy’s Food Culture by Matt Goulding

Photo: Harper Collins

Stories of travel and stories of food often co-mingle but rarely intertwine as they do in Pasta Pane Vino, the third deep-dive analysis of a country’s food culture from Matt Goulding. An outstanding food writer, Goulding seamlessly blends the two, attaching himself to the chefs, cheesemakers, and cultivators behind some of Italy’s most celebrated foodstuffs. Where you’d expect a simple recipe, Goulding instead provides the background of how the ingredients came to be brought together in the first place. In place of a restaurant review, readers find a trek through the hills of northern Italy in search of truffles. Anthony Bourdain’s name is firmly imprinted in the series and within a few pages, it becomes easy to see why.

10. Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James

Photo: Penguin Random House

In this epic adventure set in a mythical version of Africa, Marlon James weaves a fantastical world of terrifying beasts roaming a wild, lush landscape. The tale follows a group of bounty hunters, led by a man named Tracker, and his shape-shifting companion, Leopard. The pair is joined by a cast of strange characters including a giant and a witch — both carrying deadly secrets — on their journey through a world where dark magic follows their every step. Along the way, they encounter ancient libraries, kingdoms in the treetops, treacherous jungles, and busy metropolitan cities where ancient evil is lurking behind even the most innocent-looking doorways. However dangerous Tracker’s road may be, this is also a story of love — how to find it even when your life seems covered in shadow, and what it takes, and costs, to protect it. A word of warning: Though this book will transport readers to a vivid, masterfully rendered world that you won’t be eager to leave, it contains many graphic depictions of sexuality and violence.

11. Milkman by Anna Burns

Photo: Gray Wolf Press

In an unnamed city that readers understand to be Belfast during The Troubles, Middle Sister is an ordinary young woman who suddenly becomes the talk of her neighborhood. In the atmosphere of paranoia and distrust created by the civil war, she stands out when she should be blending in. Not only does she read while walking, a subversive activity for a young woman at the time, but Milkman, a man well-known to be a high-ranking member of the local IRA, takes a fancy to her. He stalks her and subtly threatens to hurt those she loves in an attempt to scare her into a relationship. Middle Sister is trapped: Milkman showing up wherever she goes has the neighborhood’s vitriolic gossip mill going so strong that even her own family believes she’s involved with the paramilitary, and rebuking a man like him can get you and your loved ones in immense danger. Burns’ novel skillfully takes readers back to claustrophobic and suspicious Northern Ireland in the 1970s, where everything is either black or white, good or bad, and where everyone has to take a side, whether they want to or not.

12. Less by Andrew Sean Greer

Photo: Hachette Book Group

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize in fiction, Less is a hilarious, poignant, and wise tale of a man in mid-life taking stock on all that he’s done (and wished he’d done), all that he’s left behind, and what, if anything of substance, lies ahead. Arthur Less is an average, if not failed, novelist who faces a bit of an awkward choice. Should he attend the wedding of his boyfriend of the past nine years? Or embark on a whirlwind tour of ill-conceived literary events around the world? Arthur Less picks the latter, and so begins an 80-day outing that takes him to Mexico, Italy, Germany, Morocco, India, and Japan. In his attempt to run away from his problems, Arthur meets all manner of eccentric characters, loses his dignity (and his suitcase), gets wasted, becomes the very cliché of an American abroad, and most importantly, examines what it truly means to love somebody, including yourself.


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Cookware from around the world

It’s easy to go down the new-food rabbit hole when we travel. Unfamiliar ingredients, fresh techniques, and the dishes that result from their marriage add flavor to our trips, literally and figuratively. Amateur chefs with a penchant for exploring, and eating, all across the globe tend to collect recipes like they do visas, stocking up on souvenirs like cookbooks and hard-to-find spices to recreate their favorite new dishes back home. But the tools we use in the kitchen have just as much of an impact on how meals come together, particularly where time-honored recipes from foreign countries are concerned. For traveling home cooks looking to grow their kitchenware collections, or those in need of souvenirs for food-obsessed friends, here are some essential utensils to look out for on your future travels.

1. Mexican molcajete

Photo: Gabriel Salcedo/Shutterstock

A molcajete is a large, traditionally stone mortar and pestle used to make salsas, guacamole, and other ground or mixed foods. In Mexico, molcajete specifically refers to the bowl while the pestle is a tejolote, sometimes called a mano, meaning hand. The pre-Hispanic food processor is essential if you’re interested in cooking Mexican food. Sure, you could use a blender to pulverize your ingredients, but by grinding rather than chopping, molcajetes release natural oils and flavors, and achieve finer textures than their modern counterparts.

2. Japanese otoshibuta

Japanese cooking utilizes all sorts of tools worth stocking in your kitchen, from the oroshigane grater that guarantees a finer yield than a regular grater, to the square tamagoyaki pan that’s integral to making Japanese omelettes. If you have to choose one, however, we recommend gifting yourself an otoshibuta as a souvenir. Otoshibuta are round wooden drop lids designed to sit on simmering liquids so the heat distributes evenly, letting you off the hook from constant stirring, and preventing an all-out boil.

3. Danish aebleskiver pan

Photo: Brent Hofacker/Shutterstock

Aebleskiver are light, puffy pancake balls from Denmark that’re particularly popular come Christmas. They’re made in cast-iron pans with seven separate craters for dough. This may seem like a specialized tool that’s only good for making aebleskiver when the mood strikes, but the classic Danish tool is surprisingly versatile. It can be used to make any number of baked goods, including muffins and mini cakes, as well as savory treats like no-fry hush puppies, breakfasts bites of all varieties, and takoyaki, or Japanese octopus balls.

4. Moroccan tagine

Photo: saveriolafronza/Shutterstock

A tagine is both a North African dish and the earthenware pot in which it’s made. Tagines have two parts: a circular base, which is placed directly on hot coals, and a conical cover with a small crater for cold water to help trap steam and collect condensation at the bottom of the pan. The ceramic material, typically brightly painted, helps regulate heat, though a thin metal round called a diffuser can be placed under the tagine when cooking on the stovetop to avoid cracks.

In Morocco, tagines are primarily used for stew-like dishes made with meat, often lamb; fruits, often dried, and veggies; spices like paprika, saffron, cumin, turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon; and garnishes ranging from cilantro and parsley to pomegranate seeds and slivered almonds. In Tunisia, the cookware’s namesake dish more closely resembles a frittata. Traditional recipes aside, tagines are excellent utensils for many one-pot, low-and-slow dishes.

5. Filippino batirol

A batirol is a wooden whisk unlike any you’ve seen in a kitchen supply store. It’s similar to the molinillo used throughout Latin America. The batirol is used to create a foamy layer on top of warm beverages like tsokolate de batirol, which is Filipino hot chocolate, and atole, a masa-based beverage from Mexico. Nothing’s stopping you from whisking some froth onto your daily cappuccino, however. The baritol is a solid, carved piece of wood that’s meant to be twirled rather than the metal, Western-style whisk you might be used to. If nothing else, it’s a lot more fun to wield.

6. German eierlöffel

Photo: Christin Klose/Shutterstock

There’s an old rule that says you shouldn’t eat eggs with a silver spoon. In Germany, soft-boiled eggs are a staple breakfast food, particularly on Sundays, and they’re eaten with small plastic spoons called eierlöffel. These egg spoons are cheap, easy to store, and often pastel-colored, making them a fun and, depending who you ask, necessary addition to your utensil drawer.

7. Dutch flessenschraper

If there’s one item on this list that gets points for practicality, it’s the flessenschraper, or bottle scraper. Similar to a spatula, it’s specifically designed to get those hard-to-reach spots at the bottom of jars and other rounded or narrow-mouthed containers. In the Netherlands, it may be used to scrape out the last delicious bites of speculoos spread, or cookie butter.

8. Ethiopian injera paddle

Photo: Iulian Ursachi/Shutterstock

Injera is a spongy, slightly sour fermented flatbread that doubles as a serving platter and grab-as-you-go wrap for various traditional stews. It’s the national dish in both Ethiopia and Eritrea, and it comes with its very own utensil. An injera paddle is like a cross between a spatula and a pizza paddle, making it a handy utensil to keep around whether you need to stir big batches of batter or remove large, delicate rounds of cooked batter from heat.

9. Spanish paella pan

Photo: Subbotina Anna/Shutterstock

Paella is one of most recognizable Spanish dishes not found on tapas menus. Made with rice that’s dyed yellow by saffron, various paella recipes are loaded with meat like chicken or chorizo, seafood like prawns and shellfish, and add-ins like lima and green beans. Paella pans are wide and shallow, allowing everything to cook evenly and crisp up nicely, especially the bottom crust, or socarrat. It’s not the easiest utensil to store in a small kitchen, but its uses are limitless: Griddle up pancakes in the morning, roast a chicken and veggies for lunch, or sear up the perfect steak for dinner. Plus, there’s no lid, so it’s easy to nest with your other skillets.

10. Indian martbaan

Photo: fotosunny/Shutterstock

If your idea of cooking involves mixing milk and cereal, it’s probably not worth lugging a heavy ceramic pickling jug back in your suitcase after a trip to India. If, on the other hand, you treat your kitchen more like a laboratory, you’ll love having a martbaan on hand. Not only the perfect storage vessel for homemade pickles and other pickled foods, or achaar, martbaans also make excellent serving dishes for everything from chutney to yogurt.

11. Chinese wok brush

Photo: Melvin Jong/Shutterstock

Like tagines in North Africa and paella pans in Spain, woks are cornerstone cooking utensils in China. They’re a must-have if you’re a sucker for stir-fry, or really any type of stovetop cooking, but even more than the wok itself, we recommend picking up a wok brush. Made from bundled bamboo stalks, wok brushes are tough enough to deep clean but gentle enough to avoid damaging woks and other pans. All they require is some hot water and elbow grease, and they’ll work on anything from steel skillets to cast iron. While you’re at it, pick up a Chinese bamboo skimmer for all your straining needs, and thank us later.

12. Turkish cezve

Photo: delobol/Shutterstock

Coffee culture spans continents and centuries. Many countries have their own go-to tools for brewing the perfect cup, from the Italian moka pot to the northeast African jebena. In Turkey, a traditional coffee pot is called a cezve, also known as an ibrik in other parts of the world. They’re typically made from copper or brass and have long handles and a spouted lip for ease of pouring. Relatively small, they yield the perfect amount for your morning coffee or a couple of smaller, espresso-sized cups to share with family or friends.

13. Korean sinseollo

Photo: Hyerim Park/Shutterstock

Korean cuisine comes with its own set of kitchenware, including various pots like the gamasot and dolsot. Nothing is as essential as the sinseollo, or royal hot pot, though. The name refers to both the dish and the vessel, which has a well in the center for broth and an attached dish that holds ingredients to dip in and let cook, from raw vegetables to raw meat. It’s a similar principle to a fondue pot, or caquelon, but Korea’s sinseollo is an even-more-convenient, all-in-one utensil. It may not be the most versatile piece of kitchenware out there, but as soon as you host your first hot-pot party, you and your loved ones will quickly become converts.

14. Swiss raclonette

Photo: Foxytail/Shutterstock

The Swiss certainly got it right when it comes to serving up gooey cheese. Fondue is one of the country’s most iconic meals, but dare we say it, raclette might be the superior cheese dish. Rather dipping bread, potatoes, and other skewered foods into a big bowl of deliciously viscous cheese, raclette diners scrape away layer after layer of perfectly melty cheese from a half-wheel while munching on sides like cornichon pickles, boiled potatoes, and thinly sliced meats like ham and viande des grisons, or air-dried beef.

To make it easy to serve raclette at home, get yourself a raclonette, an electrical appliance that includes grill pans meant for melting individual slices of cheese atop a griddle. It’s not the ideal tool for getting that butter-soft yet slightly crusty texture you want from raclette, but stick a raclonette in the center of your dinner table, and no one will be complaining.

15. Sri Lankan nambiliya

Go to Sri Lanka with the intention of stocking up on cookware, and you’ll come home with your hands full. There’s the mirisgala, a grinding slab that’s a mix between a mortar and pestle and a rolling-pin-cutting-board combo, and the kulla, a woven basket traditionally used to separate rice from their husks. We’ve already recommended the molcajete, and you’re probably buying your rice dehusked these days, but the Sri Lankan nambiliya deserves its own mention. A terracotta bowl with indents running along the inside, it’s a perfect tool for washing rice when it comes time to slough off the starch and other unwanted bits before putting it in a pot.


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London cheese-themed suite

A real cheesehead understands that dinner is just the start of the evening’s cheese experience. London’s Café Rouge restaurant understands it, too, and that’s why it’s opening The Cheese Suite pop-up hotel room experience. Located in Camden, the room is completely cheese-themed, with cheese art, bedding, board games, and, of course, a fridge stocked with cheese.

Café Rouge prides itself on its cheese-filled menu, so the Cheese Suite is a way for guests to continue the cheese experience into the night. According to the website, the suite will be draped from head-to-toe in cheese-themed decor and “includes a cheese hotline delivery service, cheese board games, cheese soap and giant cheese installations — not forgetting cheese boards and crackers galore for our guests to enjoy.”

Yes, a cheese hotline. That means you can just pick up the phone and get cheese delivered straight to your room. The stay also comes with a $65 gift card to Café Rouge.

The room is only available for one night, on February 7, and applications close on January 21. To apply, simply enter your name and email on the Cheese Suite website and answer a single question: “Our famous Croques are topped with béchamel and how many different cheeses?” (You can find the answer on their menu.)

You must be over 18 years old to enter and a resident of the UK or the Channel Islands.


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Tokyo Athlete Village cardboard beds

An Olympic Athletes Village is probably the best Tinder location in the entire world. Putting hundreds of the world’s fittest, most athletic people in a village together for three weeks sounds more like the premise of a reality dating show and not exactly the best environment for focusing on winning a gold medal. But at this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo, athletes may want to think twice before getting into shenanigans and hopping into bed with one another. Because those beds will be made of cardboard.

Photo: Tokyo 2020

Built alongside Tokyo Bay, this year’s village will be composed of 21 apartment towers and 18,000 beds. Takashi Kitajima, the general manager of the Athletes Village, said, “Those beds can stand up to 200 kilograms. They are stronger than wooden beds. Of course, wood and cardboard would each break if you jumped on them.”

Sure. Jumped.

The cardboard concept was employed in an effort to be more sustainable. When the games are over, the bed frames will be recycled into paper products and the mattresses recycled into plastic products. It’s the first time that beds and bedding in the Athletes Village have been made of renewable materials.


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