classe touriste

Does the real Italian deal still exist? Si, si! You just need to pack your bags and head to the direction of unknown and Mafia reputated West-Sicily to board an aliscafo that will whisk you away from one charming island to another. Welcome to the Isole Egadi, three minuscule freckles in the sun-tanned face of the South of Italy. So far, only local Italians who fill up the island in July and August have discovered these three Mediterranean pearls. Read more »

Close your eyes and imagine Empress Dowager Cixi roaming the century old dwellings of the Summer Palace in Beijing, Wurthering Hights style. If you don’t fancy Chinese concubines, then stay anyway at the magical Aman at Summer Palace, one of the most charismatic hotels in Beijing. This 51 rooms hotel occupies the former dwellings of the Summer Palace and offers a secrets door to access this famous World Heritage Site when “normal” (read: ten thousands of gymnastic, eating, singing and partying Chinese) visitors are not allowed to enter the park. Read more »

Mexico City has never been off the most stylish and interesting cities hotlist. With again more pollution hanging in the air, then H1N1, it’s time to put the spotlight on one of the newest additions to the hotel scène in vibrant MDF. Distrito Capital is owned by hotel entrepreneur Rafael Micha, a man who knows how to turn a hotel into a neighbourhood’s hotspot. White, white, white rooms with smart touches like the yellow Nat Geo binoculars and of course unlimited views over Mexico City. Distrito Capital might be located a bit away from the city centre, in the more businessy Santa Fe area, it still a good bet for those wanting to escape the smoggy city and lounge by the pool together with the beautiful in-crowed of MDF.

During one of our recent visits to Copenhagen, we had the pleasure to dine at Paustian, one of the toprestaurants in the city. Chef Bo Bech has his ways and, more importantly, has also a clear vision of how food should taste. We were happy to read that he got nominated by Food & Wine as one of the twenty rising stars for 2009. Restaurant Paustian is really a must-try if yo visit Copenhagen and as F&W puts is cleverly “an excellent example of the New Nordic Cuisine.” If you want to know how it is like to eat at Paustian, check out this wonderful movie.

We must admit that going around the world in business class, was one of the most exciting things we ever did. With oneworld we flew with Finnair, British Airways, American Airlines, Air Mexicana, JAL and Cathay Pacific around the world for a price of proably one business class ticket to Hong Kong. Real travelista’s don’t have to ask what our top three is. We were extremely charmed by British Airways new World Traveler Class and the T5 facilities at Heatrow. The cabin of the World Traveler Class offers an excellent lay-out in the airplane with a decent amount of privacy for those wanting to sleep or relax. Superb service, tasty food and a good selection of inflight entertainment. Read more »

What is the strangest food you ever ate while traveling? Strange maybe for you but not for the locals who lick their fingers for a glass of brennevin and Icelandic rotten shark or plate of raw octopus just caught right out of the Med and slammed to death on the spiky rocks. For us, it all began with some percebes, or goose barnacles, in an empty restaurant on a beach near Sintra in Portugal. Read more »

Board now the most stylish, ultraslik boat in the world. Maybe you don’t have the cash you buy one of these handcrafted and tailor-made beauties, but for a modest 5000 euro a week, you can rent a Wally in the Med. It’s a hard choice between the Wally B, the Wally Dark Shadow or the Wally Tango. Recently the fashion house Hermès has recently acquired 10% of the Wally Group. This will only contribute to the pure and stylish look of those floating, minimalistic silhouettes.

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“I am a sheep in wolf’s clothes”, says Vesa Junttila, artist, car lover and quaint habitue who hangs around in Panimo Bar in Saariselkä, a small, snow-covered village in Finish Lapland. Besides skiing or sledging trough empty ice-landscapes, people travel here to dig gold and trade them in Panimo bar for beer, food and even lodging. Even the guys at Morgan Stanley think it’s great. Now, do I still hear someone complaining about not travelling because of recession? Just find some gold in the rivers of Finish Lapland and enjoy the Sami hospitality until you run out of gold. When you do, just dig some more. Dig it?

Classe Touriste goes globelicious. Ever dreamed of travelling around the world? Almost no limits, no frontiers. Just one ticket. It’s easy as 1,2,3. Book a round the world ticket with oneworld and fly, just like me, to anywhere you want. Our RTW trip will take us to Finish Lapland, Helsinki, Miami, Cayman Islands, Mexico City, Riviera Maya, Vancouver, Whistler, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Taipei, Manila en some lost island in the Philippines. Read more »

There hasn’t been a lot written in press about Papua New Guinea. Maybe for the best. It’s out of this world, a place where you have to travel to without knowing too much. The colors speak for themselves, the expressions on the people’s faces too…