Hippie-Inspired Pop-Up Hits Vancouver, Canada

by Jessica Festa on

Swallow Tail Secret Supper Club is well known for hosting lavish and unusual pop-ups. And to help welcome the warm weather, they are hosting a “Summer of Love” pop-up restaurant on June 3.

The hippie-inspired event will feature a multi-course feast of Persian delicacies, and guests are asked to wear pieces like flowing skirts, flowers in their hair, wooden beads, linen and sandals. When you arrive to the designated park, you can relax on your blanket in the sun until you hear the music beckoning you to the hidden lounge. Follow it, and you’ll be greeted with soft silk pillows for a Roman dining experience, and spiked tea made with elderflower, fir tip and arbutus bark. There will also be a wine pairing upon request.

“The energy of spring is a perfect match for the lively flavours of the Middle East,” says Robin Kort, owner of Swallow Tail Secret Supper Club. “There are so many exciting flavours: tart, spicy, refreshing, floral and sweet.”

As usual, the location of the pop-up will not be disclosed until after the booking is made.

Tickets are $79 per person. Email robin@swallowtailtours.com for more information or to book.

20 Of The World’s Weirdest Beaches

by Jessica Festa on

Recently we told you about Expedia’s Flip Flop Report and let you know the lowdown on beach behavior from around the world. We learned that the average beach vacation lasts 7.7 days, Germans are the most likely to sunbathe nude and Indians think it’s important to find new locations for beach destinations.

So how about those travelers looking to enjoy the beach in a truly unique beach destination? While you’ve probably seen pristine white beaches with azure waters and picture-perfect surroundings, what about a beach made of glass? Or the world’s largest indoor beach? How about a beach littered with mysterious indigenous rock carvings? These are just a few of the many unusual beaches you’ll find in the gallery below.

[image via Ekem]

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New Bike Club In China Allows You To Cycle On The Roof

by Jessica Festa on

While rooftop lounges, bars and pools are common, have you ever heard of a rooftop bike club? Holland-based NL Architects is bringing Dutch bike culture to southern China with a new concept in cycling.

The rooftop velodrome is actually part of a resort in Sanya in the Hainan province, and will feature a pagoda roof with curves and inclines to increase cyclists’ speed and velocity. Moreover, underneath the track are restrooms, a glass-enclosed cafe and a bike rental area. To get downstairs, a large staircase sits in the center of the track, which appears to float in the air.

Completion of the rooftop bike club is set for the end of 2012.

[photo via nl architects]

Grilling Around The Globe: A Memorial Day Photo Tribute

by Laurel Miller on

Where there’s smoke, there’s barbecue – and there’s no better time than Memorial Day to light that grill. This year, instead of the same old, same old post on burgers, food safety and how not to burn the patio down, I thought I’d offer a photo tribute to grilling in all of its glorious permutations around the globe.

I confess to taking some liberties, and adding a few methods that don’t call for an open flame. The Hawaiian imu is a familiar site to luau lovers; it’s a pit filled with hot rocks that effectively roasts the food (in this instance, pork). The curanto from the Chilean archipelago of Chiloe is also Polynesian in origin (hailing from Easter Island, or Rapa Nui) and operates on the same principle, but also includes shellfish and potato cakes called milcao and chapaleles. Spit-roasted suckling pig, whether it’s Filipino lechon or Cajun cochon de lait, by any other name would taste as succulent.

Argentina remains the indisputable holy grail of grilling but plenty of other countries utilize fire –indirectly or not – to cook food, including Japan, Morocco, Turkey, Vietnam and Australia. Enjoy the slideshow and don’t forget to wipe your mouth.

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Maxfield Parrish Retrospective At The National Museum Of American Illustration

by Sean McLachlan on


He was one of the most popular illustrators of his day and his work remains immediately recognizable more than forty years after his death. Their rich, deep hues and fantastic imagery appeal to both children and adults.

Now Maxfield Parrish is being honored with a major retrospective at the National Museum of American Illustration in Newport, Rhode Island. “Maxfield Parrish: The Retrospective” brings together works from his seventy-year career as an illustrator, from early illustrations of Mother Goose and Grimm’s fairy tales to his later advertising images.

One good example is this painting titled “The Dinky Bird” from 1904, seen here in this image courtesy Wikimedia Commons. It illustrated the Eugene Field poem of the same title in Field’s book “Poems of Childhood” and captures the joy, innocence and make-believe setting of that poem: “the land of Wonder-Wander, whither children love to go.” This major exhibition promises to be a land of Wonder-Wander itself.

“Maxfield Parrish: The Retrospective” runs until September 2.