Spendthrift Shoestring

List: Local NYC Faves, Air Berlin Deals

I'm not in countdown mode for my Nordic adventure quite yet, but I have been very busy of late—with the cryptically aforementioned Project K as well as a huge backlog of other obligations.

Two notes.

1. Two local faves made it into Monocle's July/August issue: Café Select, which I raved about here back in January, and the nearby McNally Jackson Bookstore.

2. European readers—or anyone intending to spend any time in Europe soon—ought to get online immediately to try to nab some very cheap Air Berlin flights. How cheap? Fares begin at €29 for one-way flights throughout much of Europe; at €149 for one-way flights to destinations in North America; and at €199 for one-way fares to destinations as far-flung as Bangkok and Windhoek. These fares have been released in celebration of the airline's thirtieth birthday. Best of all, they include all taxes and charges. This promotion is on through tomorrow.

June Monocle

I've often sung the praises of Monocle here, so I'm especially excited to see my first piece in the magazine. I did a Q&A with St. Maarten's Leader of Government and Constitutional Affairs Commissioner Sarah Wescot-Williams for the June issue of Monocle, which is already on newsstands. Pick it up.

Monocle: Outposts and Surveys

Years ago, when Wallpaper was at its high water mark, it would seemingly casually develop fascinating new rubrics—like an "outpost" feature on Norfolk Island or its irresistible country surveys, which began—someone can correct me if I'm wrong—with a survey of Switzerland in the May 2001 issue, continuing with one of Denmark in the November 2001 issue.

The latter remains to this day a signature item in my library. It managed to ensnare a whole host of things that are durably interesting about Denmark, and the profiles of people like Greenlandic actress Nukâka Coster-Waldau, writer Suzanne Brøgger, and illustrator Jakob Martin Strid were a fascinating addition to the dossier.

Years have passed and Wallpaper is following the beat of a different drummer altogether. Monocle, meanwhile, has reworked some of the most appealing categories from the old Wallpaper. The March issue contains a national survey of Mexico packed with exciting material. Every American with a one-dimensional view of our southern neighbor should take a look.

And, on the subject of outposts, there's an interesting feature on the Falkland Islands that purports to be the first in a new series. What's next? Tristan da Cunha? Rodrigues Island? Rapa Iti? Jan Mayen? I can't wait.

Monocle Travel Top Fifty 2008/9

There's precious little budget-friendliness in Monocle's travel special edition publication, which is rubberbanded to the current (December/January) issue, but there is lots of general gorgeousness and some nice little details of travel. On the latter front, there's enthusiasm for the straight-forward Lufthansa timetable, Finnair glassware, wi-fi on Swiss Railways, and the Design Forum shop at Vantaa.

The best news for value-hunters? It turns out that Baboo, one of the two short-haul airlines favorably profiled in the special edition—take a wild guess as to the identity of the other—has extremely competitive fares on advance purchases. How competitive? Their Geneva-Bucharest roundtrips begin at CHF199.50 ($179). 

Good Travel Media Roundup: hidden europe, NYT, Monocle

My very favorite publication under the enormous umbrella of European travel is hidden europe, a mesmerizing chronicle of the continent's forgotten corners and terrains. The magazine's September issue includes a fascinating piece by Karlos Zurutuza on the pseudostate of Transdniestr. Read an excerpt here. And then order a copy or two of the magazine.

My sister's very good friend Sophia Kishkovsky had a bang-up piece in the New York Times yesterday on Kazan, the capital of Tatarstan. Kishkovsky looks at the presence of Muslim and Russian Orthodox monuments in the city and provides a context for the city's emergent status as a tourist destination.

In the October issue of Monocle, I liked the Lisbon recommendations, which include a mention of A Vida Portuguesa, a shop selling a range of traditional Portuguese products. The "Inventory" section is also good. (Choice item: the beautifully packaged Laitilan sodas.) Also exciting is the overview of Montserrat, a lovely neighborhood in Buenos Aires.

Monocle's Exciting May Issue

The May issue of Monocle is a thrill a minute. As far as I can tell, the magazine's broad focus on business, politics, fashion, and brands is without parallel in the English-language media sphere. No other magazine makes me itchy to get out of my chair and onto a plane the way that Monocle does, and I think this is due to the fact that it's not a magazine about travel. It's a magazine about objects and places and phenomena and money.

There's a feature on the effort to rebrand the Faroe Islands as a more modern, more forward-thinking spot. There's an interesting pairing of Nicosia and Beirut, which notes efforts toward Greek-Turkish reconciliation in the former and laments continued volatility in the latter. There's a piece on Finnish healthy fast-food chain Sis. Deli+Café, which made me recognize for the millionth time that I'm a complete sucker for tight, crisp café interiors. There's a business report on the southern Brazilian city of Florianópolis. And then, in the final of my favorite pieces, there is a profile of property, shops, restaurants, and hotels in Phnom Penh.

So exciting, all the way through.