Combine someone’s living room, six unsigned bands, and a bunch of cool, creative music lovers; it’s an idea so simple you wonder why you didn’t think of it yourself, and yet so powerful it will change the way you view live music… guaranteed. Co-founded by Rafe Offer, a music aficionado based in London, Sofar Sounds is an […]

Special is hard to do in Hong Kong, where understatement can be confused with dullness. However, there are sometimes things you come upon which are undoubtedly special. You recognize them when you see them, and you savour them. Lok Man Rare Books is such a place. This small antiquarian bookstore is nestled on a discrete […]

In a world filled with economic meltdowns, terrorist extremists, and natural disasters, how does one rationalize a World Championship Wife Carrying Contest? Oddly, it somehow seems perfectly rational in Finland. To be clear, this is not your grandpa’s piggy back ride; it’s a race around a 250 meter track with your missus on your back, in […]

What happens when music icons venture to an ashram in India to study meditation, write some of their most famous songs, and unwittingly inspire a radical shift in western spirituality? The holy site becomes wholly forgotten. In 1968 The Beatles put Rishikesh on the map, and om on the lips of the world. Their stay at Chaurasi […]

The French have a knack for signs. Funny, confusing, iconic or just plain odd, there’s a character to their signage that gives quite a lot away. Here’s a collection of photos to take you on a trip around France. Following the signs. Some of them show advertising of one form or another—and most of those […]

Once the aging Mr. Atlas hit his opponent with a record player, I perked up. Dressed in outdated lycra masks and tights that recalled Wrestlemania II, they battled it out in the La Paz district of El Alto. But the men are just the warm up. The women are the heroes here. Las Cholitas Luchadoras, […]

It hit 38 C (100 F) in Toronto this July. And that’s before the humidex (it’s a Canadian thing—if you’re American, you have the heat index) pushed it up to something otherworldly like 49 C. I know it’s taboo to think of winter in the midst of our too-short ever-sweet summers, but my mind couldn’t […]

Many visit Sirince for just an afternoon when they go to the magnificent Roman ruins at Ephesus; a side trip to pick up a few souvenirs. But this village hugging the hills of the South Aegean is better experienced with a longer stay for its own sake. Sirince was settled in the 15th Century by […]

London can sometimes feel overwhelmingly urban and grey, especially towards the east where the City and its skyscrapers dominate. It is a rather pleasing antidote to wander Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday morning and take in the vibrant hues and heady scents. Columbia Road becomes a hive of activity and good-natured bustle as […]

A liberal city breaking free from its Catholic identity, Buenos Aires’ scene is so underground it makes Keith Richards seem conventional, and Banksy so last year. Swingers’ clubs, transvestite shows and hardcore electronica are considered mainstream… so is graffiti. No need for hidden identities here; graffiti is decriminalised, so satirical stencils, 3D murals and quirky […]

The humble culinary underclass of the café lunch and the jug of wine is what makes the true francophile’s heart beat the fastest. Say non to the Michelin star and the TV chef, and oui to the institution of the menu à onze. The menu à onze is just that: an €11 lunch. Last I checked, eleven […]

Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we dine: Slow Travel is alive and kicking in Piemonte. Not everyone knows that the Slow Food movement was born in the small Piemontese town of Bra, back in 1986. It was founded by Italian food journalist Carlo Petrini in protest against the opening of the first McDonald’s in Italy […]

Fez. You might love it or hate it, but indifference is unlikely. You’ve never seen a place like Fez. Think of the medina as one huge treasure-hunt, a life-size labyrinth to lose yourself in, and don’t venture in without a ball of string. Few places are so difficult to understand and yet able to get […]

I have cycled through the “City of London” many a time. The “City” refers to the financial centre hugging the north bank of the Thames between Tower Hill and Fleet Street. It is a weird region, teeming self-importantly during the week and eerily still at the weekend. During my time traversing its thoroughfares and alleys […]

From the White House to UNESCO, the world of Flamenco has had quite a year. Here our Andalucian maestro, Sebastian Lapostol, explains how, where and when to get your fill. 2010 was Flamenco’s big brave year. First the Andalucian art form was nominated by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. […]

Arles is a perfect French town: architecturally beautiful, rich in history, full of great restaurants, lively beyond the tourist trade, and offering a brilliant privately owned and run hotel from which to base yourself: L’Hôtel Nord Pinus. Even the name tells you to expect something different. The poster in the Napoleon room tells me not […]