TRV_W23_2011_ISRAEL

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www.metrotravel.comMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

00 travel

What’s inside

The hipster’sguide to

WashingtonDC

{page 02}

Top 3straw

sunhats{page 06}

Inspiringmovie

deserts{page 05}

VANDA BIFFANI

we live where you’re going

{page 04}

Eatfresh in

Israel

TRAVELMETRO WORLD NEWSMonday, 06 June 2011www.metrotravel.com

The fashionista’s guide to Washington, D.C. {page 02}

+ Movie deserts to inspire dream holidays {page 05}

Super travelsunhats

for shade {page xx}

CORNWALL:RIDING WAVES INTHE UK’S TOPSURF SPOT {page 03}

we live where you’re going

VANDA BIFFANI

{page 04}

Eat fresh in

Israel

www.metrotravel.comMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

02 travelGET INTO MY CITY: WASHINGTON, D.C.

Been therebefore?One of my favourite gath-erings happens every Sun-day at MeridianHill/Malcom X park justone mile north of theWhite House. The parkhas stellar views of thecity. There is a drum cir-cle that draws a group ofall ages, ethnicbackgrounds, andmusical instruments.We'll bring our kids, a pic-nic, and listen for a while.There are impromptu soc-

cer games, frisbee games,African dance lessons andhula-hoop marathons.

The NationalArboretum does notmake a lot of lists but ispacked with sights: coyponds, the National Bon-sai trees (some date from1629), and the originalcolumns of the Capitol(usna.usda.gov).

Every evening theKennedy Centre holds aconcert on their Millenni-um Stage. It's open to alland a great way to seesuch a lovely building.(kennedy-center.org)

Ienjoy living in DC be-cause it is a big city witha small-town feel. It'slarge enough that there

is always a new discoveryaround the next bend butit's small enough to feelmanageable and sometimeseven cosy.

We are surrounded bymuseums, cultural centres,embassies and sites dedicat-ed to our nation's historywith such a beautiful mix ofpeople that I am never

bored. It's quite accessible -so many events and muse-ums require no entrance fee.

There seems to be an ex-citing feeling in DC rightnow - as if people outside ofthis city are finally realizingthat it's a diverse, modern,metropolitan city. Thereseems to be a new spotlighton it.

Best of the U.S. in D.C.

Picnic outside the Capitol

WASHINGTON DC

First time?I will never forget the firsttime I came to DC as an11-year-old. My Dad droveus around the Lincoln Me-morial, the Jefferson, theWhite House and theCapitol at night. Theylooked as though theywere crafted with beauti-ful paper. I was in awe atthe beauty of the city atnight. It is still myfavourite time to seethese lovely buildings.Take a nice evening walkby the Lincoln and Jeffer-son or have a picnic in the

middle of the Mall and en-joy the views.One of my favourite cityevents takes place in sum-mer, Screen on the Green.Old movies are shown ona huge screen outside theCapitol, and everyonebrings a picnic. Of all of the Smithsonianmuseums, I'd hit the Mu-seum of American Historyfirst. It is a nice glimpse ofAmerican highlights. Itmight be because of myshop, but I find the FirstLadies’ dresses a stunningcollection (americanhisto-ry.si.edu).

Jefferson Memorial

WASHINGTON DC

nana d.c.

NANADC.COM

EatA fun people-watchingspot with good Mexicanfood is Lauriol Plaza. Kickoff with chips, salsa and amargarita (www.lauriol-plaza.com).

For a small, out-of-theway spot, I love Room 11.The atmosphere is cosyand great desserts areworth the wait for a seat(www.room11dc.com).

Stay for dessert

FLICKR CC DAQUELLA MANERA

Kennedy Center

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Stay inHotel George is afavourite for its locationand service (www.hotel-george.com).

Go outYou can't go wrong witha show at the Rock-n-Roll hotel in DC's edgyH Street, NE neighbour-hood (www.rockandroll-hoteldc.com). Theold-school vibe of theLooking Glass in the Pet-worth neighbourhood isworth a cab ride(thelookingglasslounge.com). The Gibson is fun,just North of U Street on14th, and set up like aspeak-easy during theProhibition years, withan unmarked door.

Rock-n-Roll Hotel

Jackie Flanagan lives in D.C.’s hip Mount Pleasant area and runs Nana, a women’s clothingshop inspired by all things vintage, modern, handmade, and ethically made The store is named

after her stylish grandmother She launches her first collection for the shop this summer, alocally-produced range inspired by simple vintage designs but crafted with modern, sustainable

materials. JACKIE FLANAGAN METRO WORLD NEWS

For more informationcheck outwashington.org

Shopping!I find Good Wood(www.goodwooddc.com)and Millennium(www.millenniumdecora-tivearts.com) on U Streetinspirational. TheDupont Farmers’ Market(www.freshfarmmarket.org) and Mount PleasantFarmer's Market(www.mtpfm.org) areperfect spots for freshflowers and organic pro-duce. I don't travel toofar, though: it's alwaysNana (www.nanadc.com)in Mount Pleasant.

from the swell from the At-lantic Ocean. The wavescaused by a reef at one endof the beach are a challengeto even the most experi-enced of surfers. As one ofthe hottest surf spots in Eu-rope, it hosts major interna-tional surf competitions andeven has a surf museum.

The town is home to sev-eral surf schools where ama-teurs can hire boards andget lessons from pros on thebeach before they head intothe waves. There are plentyof other schools in Cornwalloffering different surf expe-riences along both north

and southern coasts. Adren-alin junkies can also gettheir kicks with other waterand beach sports inNewquay, coasteering, rock-climbing, kite boarding, scu-ba diving, kayaking and also‘wild swimming’ – a newtrend for swimming alongthe coast.

Before hitting the beachpub for a pint of local DoomBar beer, novices should getthe knots massaged out oftheir backs at the Fistral spaat the Bay Hotel. Book anaromatherapy massage ses-sion and you’ll come outdeliriously relaxed or alter-

natively hop into the saunawith your surf buddies.

When you’re done withthe swell, take a trip alongthe coast to the picturesquefishing villages. Even themost radical surf tourist willenjoy the vibe of tiny smug-glers villages like Polperro,with its tiny cottages, cosypubs and alleyways wedgedinto a pretty cove.

This county is blessedwith sub-tropical weatherand its equally exoticplantlife. Cornwall is knownfor its beautiful gardens in-cluding Lanhydrock, whichis the grounds of a stunning

historic house (www.nation-altrust.org.uk), the geodesicdomes of the Eden Project(see box) and The Lost Gar-dens of Heligan, a 19th cen-tury garden restored in the1990s, which is packed withlush greenery and an exoticjungle area with huge fernsand plants which is in a mi-croclimate 5 degreeswarmer than the formal gar-dens at the top of the estate(www.heligan.com).

www.metrotravel.comMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

03travelTRAVEL WITH A TWIST: SURFING IN CORNWALL

“Cornwall offersgreat surfing,beautiful beaches,wild coastline,exotic gardens andatmospheric fishingvillages”

Right at the south-westerntip of England is one of themost dramatic andwindswept counties wehave, and also one of thebest for surfing. Localssurfers are dedicated tokeeping track of the surfingconditions 365 days of theyear, strapping their boardto their trademark vintageVW camper vans and dash-ing out to catch a wavethey’ve just heard about.

Newquay, on the north-ern coast, is a popular surf-ing spot that boasts fourteenbeaches including Fistral,Britain’s most famous surf-ing beach, that benefits

EMMA E. FORRESTMETRO WORLD [email protected]

For more informationcheck out www.visit-cornwall.com

The VW Camper, a Cornwall surfer’s trademark ride

VISIT CORNWALL

Surfing in the United Kingdom

Blessed with sub-tropical climate and enormous Atlantic waves, Cornwall is the UK’s No. 1 surfdestination The wave are great and at the atmosphere is fun There’s also a rugged coastline,

sandy beaches, smugglers pubs and lush exotic gardens to explore too.

MINACK THEATREwww.minack.com

This famous open-airtheatre has been carved in-to the rocks at the tip ofCornwall in the 1930s andhas served as the stage forplays ever since. Catch aplay or musical betweenMay and September.

3GREATPLACES TOVISIT INCORNWALL

ST MICHAEL’SMOUNTwww.stmichaelsmount.co.uk

Accessible by causeway onlyat low tide, this historicasub-tropical island is toppedwith a medieval castle witha spectacular view of theCornish coast.

EDEN PROJECTwww.edenproject.com

This remarkable estate ishome to the world’s largestgreenhouse, with plantsfrom all over the world liv-ing beneath geodesic tropi-cal biomes in a crater thesize of 30 football pitches.Educational and beautiful.

MARTIN BRENT DANIEL BOSWORTH

Quick tipsSTAYAfter a day battling to stayupright on your board,you’ll be delighted to stripoff your wetsuit and stag-ger a few short steps toboutique hotel The Bay Ho-tel. It has cool bars, arestaurant and an excellentspa with saunas, steamrooms and a swimmingpool. www.newquay-ho-

tels.co.uk

EATJamie Oliver’s Fifteenrestaurant is set in aninspiring location, clingingto the cliff of a bay near toNewquay, with amazingviews of the sea, whichlicks around the lowerfloor at high tide. It’s alsopart of the Fifteen socialenterprise, giving waywardkids a second chance bytraining them as chefs. Andthe food is incredible.www.fifteencornwall.co.uk

DOLearn how to make fish andchips in style in Padstow.The lovely seaside town isnicknamed ‘Padstein’ as itis home to celebrityseafood chef Rick Stein,who has put his name tofour restaurants, severalhotels, a deli, gift shop,patisserie and seafoodcookery school in the town.www.rickstein.com

Israel is home to people from a huge mix of cultures, who each bring their own cuisine to the table Israel’s hottest chefs are giving a twist to traditional Israeli dishes Food markets are a great place to try out classic Israelisnacks and street food as well as discover the huge range of delicious fruit and vegetables and freshly-baked breads

www.metrotravel.comMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

04 travelGOURMET TRAVELLER: ISRAEL

“Young chefs arebringing newflavours totraditional cuisine.”

The Israeli cuisine is a melt-ing pot, even if the peoplewho live here have a hardtime getting along. It’s animmigration state, collect-ing its people from four cor-ners of the world: Easternand Western Europe, Arabiaand the countries aroundthe Mediterranean. Its cui-sine is based on the culinarytraditions of all of these cul-tures, in addition to localPalestinian cooking.

The immigration culturehas produced a great wealthof flavours, colour and aro-mas: from the shakshouka,an egg dish originating inTripoli, to the Europeanchulent stew, the Turkishshawarma meat wrap andthe Moroccan tagine stew.

Until recently, mosttourists’ culinary greeting inIsrael took the shape offalafel – fried balls of chick-peas inside a pita bread, anoverrated dish that had be-come the national dish. Butin the last decade or two Is-rael – and particularly TelAviv, its cultural capital - hasformulated an impressive

culinary offering.The current generation of

Israeli chefs were broughtup in traditional kitchens,and are giving classic dishestheir own twist. Meir Adoni,for instance, the chef ofCatit, one of Israel's finesthigh-end restaurants, He-ichal HaTalmud 4 Tel-Aviv),was brought up on hismother and grandmother'sMoroccan cooking. Adonistudied classical French cui-sine and specialized in mo-lecular cooking. Today hecreates innovative disheswith echoes of his mother's

kitchen, like Bruschetta ofveal brain with harrisa (aMoroccan spicy peppersauce), lemon, lettuce andparsley butter. Meanwhile,Rafi Cohen, in his presti-gious Rafael (HaYarkon 99Tel-Aviv), serves couscouswith spicy fish kebabs, andin Aviv Moshe's Messa(HaArbaah 19, Tel-Aviv)you'll find shawarma.

The Israeli fusion phe-nomenon is also found out-side of the fancyrestaurants. One of the hottrends in Israel is the “re-turn of the pita” - the flat

Middle-Eastern bread thatembraces foods from com-pletely different worlds, likesteak and egg, fish andgrilled vegetables or stir-fried shrimp. On of those re-sponsible for this revolutionis celebrity-chef Eyal Shani.

For a glimpse of what TelAviv can offer, check outCarmel market – as well asfresh produce you'll findfood stands, from kebab tosushi, and great restaurantsin the neighbourhood.

An hour's drive from TelAviv you can experience awhole other world of

flavours in Israel's capital,Jerusalem. Pay a visit to themarket – Machane Yehuda –where in recent years, chiccafés, small taverns and up-market restaurants havepopped up next to the meatand spice booths. Restau-rant Mahneyuda (BeitYaakov 10 Jerusalem), offersexcellent food, dazzlingcolourful design, great mu-sic and wonderful atmos-phere.

SHAKSHOUKA

Shakshouka is a dish originat-ing from the Tripolitan(Libyan) kitchen, a rich break-fast-dish of eggs cooked inthick, spicy tomato and pep-per sauce. The dish is eatenwith simple bread and can befound nearly everywhere. It isserved with cheese, sausagesor vegetables.

5DISHES TO TRY...WHENYOU’REEATING INISRAEL

ISRAELIBREAKFASTIsraelis love their breakfast.The classic Israeli breakfastincludes fresh vegetable sal-ad, very finely chopped (witholive oil and lemon juice), anegg in various cooking styles,freshly-baked bread andcheeses and a glass of freshorange juice.

SABICH

This Iraqi sandwich hasevolved into a popular streetfood in Israel. Sabich is madeup of a soft pita filled withslices of fried eggplant, hard-boiled egg, potato, fresh veg-etable salad, parsley, onion,tahini and amba – a spicy yel-low sauce with a very distinctsmell.

GRILLEDEGGPLANTYou’ll find grilled eggplant inmany variations all over thecountry. The eggplant is thor-oughly grilled on all sides,stripped from its skin then isdoused in tahini or yogurt.It’s usually accompanied bychopped vegetables, meat,seafood or spices.

HUMMUS

Israelis take their hummusvery seriously. This paste ofpureed chickpeas mixed withtahini (sesame puree), herbsand spices, is usually eatenwith a pita bread. The besthummus is found in Arabrestaurants, in Jerusalem andin Galilee.

Quick tipsEATTel Aviv’s Itzik HaGadol(Itzik the Great) is a top ex-ample of the popular Mid-dle-Eastern formularestaurant. Sit down andthe table is immediatelyfilled with dozens of littleplates of eggplant salads,eggs salad, zucchinis, pick-les, roasted and fried veg-etables, hummus andtahini and pita breadsstraight from the oven. 3 Raziel st. Tel Aviv

www.itzikhagadol.com

STAYThe Scottish Hotel is situat-ed in Tiberius, on the Seaof Galilee. A former mater-nity hospital, it’s a goodplace to get to knowGalilean cuisine, and thewine cellar and brunch buf-fet are excellent.www.scotshotels.co.il

VISITTo get a feel for the rangeof fresh local produce, visitTel Aviv’s farmers’ marketin the renovated port mar-ketplace.

Fresh flavors, no falafel

Carmel Market, Tel Aviv

DANIEL LILA

For more informationcheck out www.gois-rael.com

INBAL KLEINMETRO WORLD [email protected]

The Scottish Hotel

www.metrotravel.comMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

05travelTOP 5: DESERT VACATIONS FROM THE MOVIES

1‘SEX AND THE

CITY 2’Morocco

Originally to be filmed inAbu Dhabi, trouble withclearances from the Arabnation forced the produc-ers to shift to the moretourist-friendly Morocco,which makes it much easi-er for you to retrace thehigh-heeled steps of Car-rie, Miranda, Charlotte andSamantha. When you’redone shopping in the mar-kets of Marrakesh, gosouth east towards the vil-lage of Merzouga, near tothe spectacular dunes ofEg Chebbi. Book a cameltrek into the WesternSahara for the definition ofa desert adventure. www.visitmorocco.com

Deserts create a dramatic backdropfor movies and equally exciting holi-days Take inspiration from your fa-vourite movies for your next holiday

Skip Dior on your camel trek

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4“NATIONALLAMPOON’SVACATION”

Monument Valley, UtahWhile Monument Valley iseasily one of the most recog-nizable locations in film his-tory — hosting everythingfrom John Wayne’s 1939“Stagecoach” to a Metallicavideo to the most recent sea-son of “Doctor Who” — it isalso iconic as the spot wherethe Griswold’s long-sufferingstation wagon finally givesup and breaks down in thefirst “Vacation” film. Hopeful-ly you’ll have better luckwhile checking out one ofthe best vistas in the U.S.utah.travel

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5“STAR WARS”

TunisiaTraveling to a galaxy far, faraway is actually just as easy asheading across the northernAfrican nation of Tunisia,which is now seeing touristsand cruise ships return after alull brought on by thecountry’s revolution in January.

Filming scenes for five out ofthe six “Star Wars” films in thecountry had such an impact onGeorge Lucas that the name ofLuke Skywalker’s desert-filledhome planet, Tatooine, was in-spired by the country’s south-ern-most territory, Tataouine.Tours of locations used in thefilms are available, but you’llhave to bring your own lightsaber. Good luck getting thatthrough airport security.www.bonjour-tunisie.com

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3“THE MOTORCYCLE

DIARIES”Atacama Desert, Chile

Walter Salles’ 2004 filmchronicling a young CheGuevera (Gael Garcia Burnel)as he traverses South Ameri-ca in 1952 features somestunning locations, but one

clear standout is the Atacamadesert on the Pacific coast ofChile, a barren, lunarlandscape — and supposedlythe driest desert on earth.Follow the Atacama north in-to Peru and you can catch aglimpse of giant, mysteriousanimal drawings etched intothe plains by the indigenousNazca people thousands ofyears ago. www.chile.travel

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2“TROY”

Cabo San Lucas, MexicoWhile Malta stood in formuch of the ancient landfor this 2004 epic, thefamed walls of Troy wereactually constructed in themuch more easily-accessi-ble Baja peninsula in Mexi-co. With beautifulwhite-sand beaches onboth side of the rockydesert landscape, this stripof land dividing the Sea ofCortez from the PacificOcean may be the mostideal desert destinationout there. www.visitmexico.com

“Deserts givemovies - andholidays - drama”

If the sweeping vistas ofepics like “Lawrence of Ara-bia” leave you more breath-less than thirsty, then adesert vacation might be justthe thing for you. Luckily,Hollywood’s locationsspecialists have alreadystaked out the best and mostvisitor-friendly spots aroundthe globe for arid relaxation.

Dunes of your dreamsNEDEHRBARMETRO WORLD [email protected]

3 HATS TO CREATESTYLISH SHADE

This classic Panama hat withan 8cm brim is produced byold-school hatmaker Lock &Co and hand-woven inEcuador. Rolls up for travel. €180/$250, lockhatters.co.uk

1 LOCK & CO

FOLDING PANAMA

This beautifully-made CapriCalada (Openwork) Fedoralooks cool, rolls up neatly inyour suitcase, and even bet-ter, it’s truly Fair Trade, soyour purchase willcontribute to the livelihoodsof rural Andes producers.€56/$79, panamas.co.uk

2 PACHACUTI CAPRI

CALADA FEDORA

For a cool, hippy option, gofor a straw cowboy hat. Asos’ Ethnic Beaded TrimStraw Cowboy Hat has awide curved brim and con-trast beaded trim.€26.24/$35.86, asos.com

METRO WORLD NEWS

3 ASOS COWBOY HAT

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www.metro.xxxxxMONDAY, 06 JUNE 2011

06 travelGADGETS: STRAW SUN HATS

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