10 best foodie trips

by Iva Skoch on

Reading this article before breakfast today made my mouth water.

The Guardian has selected Top 10 foodie destinations in the world for the following culinary delights:

  1. The best sushi in Tokyo
  2. The best pizza in Naples
  3. The best burger in New York
  4. Best steak frîtes in Paris
  5. The best seafood in Sydney
  6. The best pho in Vietnam
  7. The best oysters in Ireland
  8. The best juice in Rio
  9. The best dumplings in Eastern Europe
  10. The best tandoori in Delhi

Read their recommendations here.

I know what you are thinking. The Brits are telling us about good food? Don’t be skeptical. They will be the first to say that in order to eat well, a Brit must leave the UK.

Climate change may alter wine-growing regions

by Catherine Bodry on

As the world climate warms up, vineyards are feeling the heat: harvests are earlier, wines are coarser and have a higher alcohol content and lower acidity. Why would that be any big deal, you ask? Well, for one, wine as we know it would change — especially the finer ones.

Former Vice President Al Gore addressed wine experts at the Second International Congress on Wine and Climate Change, arguing that “if the temperature rises two or three degrees (Centigrade), we could manage to see Bordeaux remain as Bordeaux, Rioja as Rioja, Burgundy as Burgundy. But if it goes up five or six degrees, we must face up to huge problems, and the changes will be hard.”

Some of the changes we’re likely to see if that temperature rise occurs are the types of wines grown in specific regions — think Champagne in the Champagne region in France. French Champagne producers have reportedly bought land in Sussex and Kent, England in preparation for warmer temperatures (does that mean we’ll have to start calling French Champagne “Sussex”?).

The conference-goers’ expert verdicts on wines affected by climate change should be out soon. Until then, enjoy that Bordeaux while it lasts.

Do chocolate spa treatments leave you sticky?

by Jamie Rhein on

After writing about the chocolate hotel room fantasy weekend and the chocolate spa treatments at the Hotel Hershey, I wondered about others. The idea of a chocolate treatment makes me feel sticky. I have had massages with oil. Those left me feeling slick. Jeannette of Intelligent Traveler who wrote the original post about the Godiva/Hotel Bryant fantasy weekend left a comment on my post that she has had a chocolate wrap and there is a temptation to lick oneself. I can see that.

I have never felt tempted to lick myself after a massage that involves regular massage oil. This chocolate beauty treatment has me curious about its merits. These treatments have been around awhile. In this 2005 article posted at FoxNews.com, Samantha Jonas-Hain writes about her chocolate body tour that took in Hershey, Pennsylvania as well as Ajune Spa (see Godiva Chocolate Body Wrap) and Charm Beauty Salon in Manhattan.

Jonas-Hain interviewed people who attested to the benefits of doing more than eating chocolate. For example, one person said that caffeine stimulates the circulatory system and tightens the skin. One benefit, another said, is that if you use chocolate as a beauty treatment, the smell alone can satisfy your cravings for the good stuff. You might not eat it which can help keep the weight off. So you see, don’t eat the Godiva chocolate you received for Valentine’s Day. Melt it and use it as a facial.

Here are some other places for chocolate spa treatments I came across.

The Spa at Norwich Inn – Norwich, Connecticut. Three chocolate inspired treatments from which to choose.

Four Seasons Hotel George V – Paris. Check out the chocolate body scrub or the chocolate body wrap.

Relâche, the Spa at Gaylord Opryland® Resort & Convention Center, Nashville, Tennessee has a chocolate spa treatment in February only. Hurry.

Poets Cove Resort and Spa— Pender Island, British Columbia – For treatments with yummy sounding names.

Water for $42 per bottle. What is wrong with people!?

by Abha Malpani on

I’ve never understood people’s fuss over the water they drink when they go to hotels, let alone their willingness to pay for what is otherwise free in most western countries. When I’m out in cities where you can drink tap water, that’s what I ask for; when I have to buy mineral water, I ask for the cheapest.

Water is water is water. Having said that, I agree that sometimes the taste is distinct. For example, here in Madrid, mineral water Bezoya and Aquafina taste strange to me; I will drink them if I have to, but I avoid buying those brands — I don’t like water that tastes like something (it’s not supposed to taste like anything!), but otherwise I’m not fussed. The whole “tap water isn’t good for you” conundrum doesn’t phase me in any way.

It totally ruffles my feathers when I go to a posh hotel and people I go with actually have a preference of mineral water, so I would go absolutely bonkers if I went to Claridge’s Luxury Hotel in London and was given a water menu with 30 international brands to choose from. 30!

According to a recent article in the BBC: For the most refined palette there is fine artesian water from Japan at $30 a bottle and $40 a bottle, or Mahaolo from Hawaii, described on the menu as “rare deep sea water” that is “very old.” And Just Born Spring Drops from India is apparently “light and not aggressive,” at $42 per bottle.

WHAT!? THAT’S MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A GOOD BOTTLE OF WINE! And this stuff sells?

“We wouldn’t do this if there wasn’t a demand for it,” says the hotel’s public relations manager. Apparently guests not only ask for berg or glacial water, but water with no sodium content or water fortified with calcium and magnesium; they even specify the region from where they want the water! “People are so very, very careful about what they eat these days that it’s moved into water.”

Have I completely lost perspective here or do you find this as absurd as I do?

Valentine’s Day and two chocolate fixes

by Jamie Rhein on

Over at Intelligent Traveler Jeannette Kimmel describes in detail the chocolate covered hotel room experience one couple will win in Godiva Valentine’s Day Promotion. The Bryant Park Hotel in New York City is the site of this Ultimate Chocolate Fantasy weekend that includes a chocolate spa treatment. That reminds me of the scene in The Who’s movie “Tommy” when Ann Margaret, wearing a white outfit, swims in the stuff. Odd. As a person who is satisfied with one square of dark chocolate, the thought of chocolate covered walls paired with chocolate furniture makes me feel a bit ill, but I admit, the idea is fascinating.

For a chance to win this first prize, or one of the 100 second prizes, look inside a specially marked $23 or more Godiva gift box to see if there’s a message in an enveleope that says “Congratulations!” That’s the short version–here are the details.

If the idea of a chocolate bath or any kind of chocolate beauty treatment sounds enticing, there’s more than the contest version. In Hershey, Pennsylvania at The Hotel Hershey, you can get a Whipped Cocoa Bath, Chocolate Hydrotherapy, a Chocolate Bean Polish, a Chocolate Sugar Scrub, a Chocolate Fondue Wrap and/or a Cocoa Massage. Don’t stop with one treatment. There’s a whole menu on the Day Spa package list.