World’s best restaurants honored in culinary awards
By Maureen O’Hare, CNN
In travel news this week: epic continental trips by bike and bus, new airline routes making transatlantic trips easier and the world’s top restaurants, from Asia to the United States to the Middle East.
Award-winning restaurants
Humble pie was not on the menu as the winners of Asia’s 50 best restaurants for 2023 were revealed at a ceremony in Singapore on March 28. At No. 12 on the list is an exquisite three-Michelin-star eatery serving some of the world’s finest Chinese cuisine. Fun fact, though: It’s not even in China.
Restaurateurs and chefs across the US are getting the tomato stains out of their tuxes in preparation for attending the prestigious James Beard Awards on June 5. House-cured meat and handmade pasta are among the offerings from the 2023 finalists who’ve just been named.
The Middle East is emerging as a fine dining destination, and Abu Dhabi led the way earlier this year by hosting the second annual Middle East & North Africa’s 50 Best Restaurants awards. Here are eight spots you’d do well to check out on a trip to the United Arab Emirates capital.
Epic trips by land
Californian teenager Liam Garner admits to CNN that the 20,000-mile cycle ride he just completed between Alaska and Argentina “wasn’t planned out very hard.” In fact, he didn’t actually tell his father until after he’d set off.
The Schakat family from Germany avoided that problem by traveling together. The foursome jaunted around Asia on a bus on a grand post-pandemic adventure.
Some hardy travelers will be doing the same across Europe when the “world’s longest” bus journey sets off this August on a 56-day odyssey from London to Istanbul. Take a look inside the luxury bus they’ll be traveling on.
If these tales of wheel-based explorers have inspired you, our partners at CNN Underscored, a product reviews and recommendations guide owned by CNN, have put together a roundup of the best electric scooters of 2023. Gotta start somewhere, right?
Destination Europe
Low-cost airline Norse Atlantic Airways has just launched a daily service between Paris Charles de Gaulle and New York JFK, which will be followed up by a new daily route between London Gatwick and Los Angeles International starting June 30.
Delta Air Lines has resumed flights from London Heathrow to LAX for the first time in nearly eight years. And as an extra little hop from the UK capital, Aer Lingus has launched a new service between London Heathrow and Knock. The little airport in the west of Ireland is a gateway to the dramatic scenery displayed in the Oscar-nominated hit “The Banshees of Inisherin.”
Visitors to London can now marvel at a huge new dinosaur exhibit, transported to the UK by two 787 Dreamliners, which debuts this weekend at the Natural History Museum. And two other venerable stalwarts of the London scene that are worth a visit are Mayfair’s Dorchester Hotel, which has just unveiled a glamorous makeover, and Soho’s 136-year-old Algerian Coffee Stores: proof that sometimes it’s the times that need to move with you.
Law and order
It was a jam-packed March in the world of mischief and misdemeanors. In San Francisco, a woman left her AirPods on a plane and then her phone tracker showed them going somewhere unexpected. In Los Angeles, a passenger was arrested for opening the airplane door and taking off on the emergency slide. And in Utah, movie star and entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow was cleared of fault over a 2016 ski collision.
Things were also lively around the world. Amsterdam launched a video ad campaign to deter “wild” young male British tourists by targeting search terms such as “stag party Amsterdam” and “cheap hotel Amsterdam.” Venice’s mayor condemned an “idiot” who jumped off a three-story building into a canal, reportedly “for the likes.” And a Russian tourist might be deported from Bali after posting an explicit photo taken at a sacred site.
The first round-the-world cruise
The first ever round-the-world passenger cruise took place 100 years ago, with a six-month voyage taking in destinations including Egypt and India and traversing the Suez and Panama canals. These incredible photos and diary entries reveal what life was like on board.
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She fell in love with the host of her favorite podcast.
Here’s what happened next.
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