Here & There #14

The 10th-gen Austrian hotel, Maine oyster shack/sauna, and coziest shearling boots on my moodboard—plus a new farmstay in Scotland, Tracy Emin show, global bathhouse map and other travel news

Hello from Rome! I’m packing up for Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Hokkaido, and then will finally be back in NYC after being away for two months. While I’m really happy on the road, I can’t wait to get home—I especially miss Prune!

Below, I’m sharing some of my favorite places and things I’m pining for/obsessed with, along with some travel/culture news bits and bobs we think are worth knowing about. Lastly, ICYMI, on our site, we’ve published some great stories recently, including a batch from Japan (a Dispatch from Kobe, Walking the Kumano Kodo, and beauty writer Jamie Rosen’s highly strategic packing list for a two-week trip around the country); plus we published our first Rome Hotels List, and a fascinating interview with Zach Resnick of Ascend, who shares how his obsession with gaming the airline points system evolved into the travel concierge site he runs today.

P.S. I know the concept of sending luggage is nothing new, but I think it may have gotten cheaper recently, which makes it much more appealing. Since we had so many stops during Jan/Feb, I accumulated a lot of things to bring home, and the last thing we wanted to do was schlep them along to Asia. So I sent two bags back with a service called Send My Bag—I found them on Google last summer when I needed to send a bag within Europe, and Luggage Forward, which I’d always used, wasn’t available for a week and was so expensive. Send My Bag was super easy, very cheap (2 large bags for $300 to NY), has a good help desk with real humans, and I’ve been getting regular text message updates on their whereabouts.

FEBRUARY MOODBOARD

I love the Voralberg area of Austria (northwest corner—about an hour and a half from Zurich), and ages ago I stayed at, and fell in love with, the Hotel Hirschen. Now it’s run by 10th-gen siblings who have put in a bathhouse and pool, and I can’t wait to return.

Marina, the founder of Italy Segreta, used to work in our photo department at Traveler, and is a dear friend of everyone at Yolo. I’m so proud of and excited for her new book! It comes out March 20, so just in time to plan a trip to somewhere unexpected in Italy.

Always wanted to go to the Texas Hill Country—for its unique German/Western combo, plus to check out its wine country, which is the fastest growing after Napa Valley. This hotel and its restaurant with a deep focus on local purveyors has me planning a trip there next fall.

Sign me up for this Estonian wellness retreat on an island in the Baltic Sea, which could be a Bond location.

A Maine oyster shack/sauna complete with cold plunge in the river? Yes please.

Also in oyster heaven, the Villa Colette hotel in Cap Ferret opens in April! There are so few places to stay in the area (which is part of what keeps it special and not overrun), so this is exciting news for me, because every time I think of going to Cap Ferret for a night or two from the Médoc, there is rarely any place with space.

We’re big fans in our house of Lotte Teale—Matt commissioned her to do a still-life of a Negroni and one of a martini. Personally I’d like to have a painting of her breakfasts or her travels from Moldova to Venice.

I saw these boots in a hotel magazine in Salzburg, and immediately went to the store and bought them. They’re like an Ugg on the inside (sheepskin-lined) and super sturdy, but still feminine. Plus they have a felt upper! The price per wear is how I justified the cost, plus getting the tax back. Made by a Viennese company that has been in business 140 years.

I can’t wait to check out Jeremy King’s reopening of Simpson’s-in-The-Strand! This is definitely one of the best IG posts I’ve seen in a while, and is so worth watching if you’re curious about it.

A sheepskin hot water bottle in bed—instantly transporting to Middle Europe

Of course we love hotels that are pet-friendly (see our huge list here), but also hotels that have dogs as greeters, like the Timberline Lodge in Oregon and this one in New Brunswick.

If (like us) you’re always looking for a new series—highly recommend Kleo, which we binge-watched last year, and recently it’s been this German spy series. If you get super tensed up while watching spy thrillers like I do, you may also need this relaxing roll-on oil.

This lip balm that I discovered in Salzburg!

ARRIVALS/DEPARTURES

Sibbjäns; Eugenes

Due to the government shutdown in the US, Global Entry is currently suspended, though they quickly reinstated TSA Precheck after a few hours. Just a reminder to allow extra time to clear customs if you’re entering the US in the coming days/weeks!

This new Greek-owned villa company has a small portfolio (28 properties) that focuses on places where they can create a high level of hospitality rather than islands where cookie cutter luxury is the norm. We would love to stay at this one in Syros or this one in Chios.

For the Noguchi museum’s 40th anniversary, they are doing an exhibit on Noguchi himself, and how he shaped New York City through public sculpture, playgrounds, plazas, and more. The show is bringing together sculptures, models, archival materials and unrealized designs that show Noguchi’s vision over the course of six decades, and is on now through September 13th.

One of our favorite chill beach getaways, Jakes on Jamaica’s Treasure Beach, was pummeled by Hurricane Melissa last October, cut off with no electricity or water. This month, after an almost $1 million rebuild, it completely reopened. Our friend, design journalist Emma O’Kelly—author of the excellent Sauna: The Power of Deep Heat—just visited and shared this Guest Book.

Thankfully, Heathrow is scrapping the 100ml liquid limit, allowing travelers to bring containers up to 2 liters in size, and also leaving behind those flimsy plastic bags they were so strict about before.

It seems like every week NYC gets a scene-y new bathhouse or “contrast therapy lounge”—whatever you want to call them, there’s no better time than right after a fresh coat of snow to book a session. This Substack from Culture of Bathing is a great rundown on many of the newcomers. And Emma O’Kelly (our sauna-expert friend) drew our attention to a global initiative called “sauna circuits” on Sauna Times, where locals recommend places to get hot and cold around the world—she just added a sauna hiking and tidal pool holiday in Fife, Scotland.

Who knew Victor Hugo was such a decorator? The “Hugo décorateur” exhibition, on show until April 26th at the Maison de Victor Hugo in Paris, uncovers his little-known passion for decorating, with drawings, painted panels, ceramics, decorative objects and even some furniture decorated by Hugo himself.

We’re so intrigued by Sibbjäns, a new regenerative farmstay in Gotland, Sweden, that’s opening for its first full season April 2nd.

Our friend Charlie Scott is leading a retreat called Aesthetic Japan, a 10-day trip through the country this May, which aims to explore and unravel the distinct aesthetic of Japan. His company does a couple of trips like this each year to places that have a compelling visual and artistic energy—and the trip has two spots left!

We love having stacks of cookbooks in the kitchen but admittedly don’t flip through them enough, so we were thrilled when we heard about CookShelf, a genius app that allows you to digitally search across all your cookbooks at once, and type in what’s in your fridge to find every recipe that you can make with what ingredients you already have, and what page to flip to in order to get started.

Tate Modern is exhibiting 40 years of Tracey Emin’s work across painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture, and on four dates in the coming months, they’re hosting lectures about her life and work.

New flight routes to know about just in time for summer trip planning: NYC to Sardinia on Delta starts May 20th, Miami to Milan on American begins March 29th, Boston to Nice on Delta takes off May 17th, DFW to Athens on American starts service May 21st, and Seattle to Barcelona on Delta will be scheduled from May 21st.

Danish design brand Vipp is opening Vipp Pavilion, their latest bookable guesthouse (and first in the US) in Sullivan County this March. They have an amazing portfolio of thirteen guesthouses all over the world—we want to go to Latvia just to stay here! The newest one, designed by Johnston Marklee, is a sculptural cabin set on 16-acres of forest, outfitted with work from New York-based and Danish artists.

Fortunately, Amtrak is finally upgrading their fleet, investing over $8 billion on 83 new trains. Unfortunately, they will top out at an embarrassingly slow 125 mph. What will it take to get a Shinkansen on this continent?!

In other train news, Belmond’s British Pullman train is launching a new private dining carriage designed by Baz Luhrmann, inspired by London’s West End in the 1930s—which will make what is already a cinematic experience just that much more magical.

Tumbling River Ranch in Colorado reopened this month after undergoing an $8M renovation, which restored each of the cabins, the original ranch house, and added a new lodge that’s home to the reception lounge, dining room, and a cozy bar and lounge that overlook the river.

Final call! If you’re in NYC this week, don’t miss this great William Eggleston exhibit at David Zwirner that’s on through March 7th, or Calder’s Circus at the Whitney through March 9th.

Our friends Ivo and Kyre are closing Pretziada, their design project on Sardinia (though you can still see many pieces at their house rental, Luxi Bia) and now all their gorgeous Sardinian craft/furniture is available for a limited time on their site and via Instagram.