B&B Sint Niklaas, Bruges/Brugge, Belgium

September 6, 2010
Hotels
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B&B Sint Niklaas is cozy and central, within walking distance of plenty of chocolate shops and most of where In Bruges was shot. Bruges can go overboard on the lacy and twee, so the Sint Niklaas is a model of comfortable restraint, and a haven when the tourists get to be too much. The rooms are up a couple of flights of stairs, so keep that in mind if you’re lugging a big heavy suitcase, but it also means a nice view out over the neighboring buildings.

El Rincon. Madrid, Spain

July 20, 2010
Restaurants
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Somehow we only ended up with the one photo from El Rincon, which is quite sad, as it was one of those places you look at and immediately know it will be right. Full of weird old stuff and lots of happy looking customers. We stumbled across it while looking for lunch and respite from a blistering summer day in Madrid.  Details of what we ate have been lost in the shuffle, but the fond memories have not been. No website we can find, but the real address is 26, Calle Espiritu Santo.  Stop on by...

De Las Letras Hotel, Madrid, Spain

July 20, 2010
Hotels
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I hadn’t been back to Madrid for almost 10 years, and so finding Hotel De Las Letras on the Gran Via was a lovely surprise, among many, in how central Madrid seems to have changed.  De Las Letras has redesigned a classic central Madrid building. The literary concept of the place could have gone terribly wrong, but they’ve kept it clever rather than pretentious.  The rooftop bar is worth a pricey Tinto de Verano for the view of the surrounding city and the somewhat surreal mix of people who gather there.

Sadly, our photos of the room didn’t come out, but this was the view from our window and little balcony.

Oman Dive Center, Muscat, Oman

March 23, 2010
Hotels
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This gallery contains 4 photos.

Located just south of Muscat, between two of the poshest hotels in Oman, the Oman Dive Center may feature straw huts rather than marble floors, but having visited the neighbors, we’ve very happy we stayed here. We’re snorkelers, not divers, so we’ll fess up right away we can’t tell you anything about the dive situation.  …

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Il Santo Bevitore, Florence, Italy

January 19, 2009
Restaurants
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I lived in Florence for a year in the early 2000s, and to be totally honest, found the eating-out options kind of a disappointment. Caught between a conservative food culture, and dumbing-down effects of 30 million tourists a year, the city’s restaurants seemed either stuck in a time warp, or to have simply caved to the demands of all those tour buses.

On a return visit, however, we discovered Il Santo Bevitore, where a young team is doing smart, fresh things with the extraordinary products that are available in Tuscany. Regular meals are a delight, and should you find yourself in Florence for New Year’s it’s the table to have.