Vietnam’s Lush Links
International golfers are going where the grass is very green.
 Golfers with a taste for the exotic are discovering Vietnam. The country has one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and is one of the world’s safest destinations, according to international insurance broker Aon. The number of visitors in 2006 was up 17 percent over 2005 and is expected to rise as more travelers discover the country’s charms. That appeal includes a rich culture, innovative cuisine, and—owing to the Asian passion for the game— golf. Vietnam has more than a dozen courses, and many more are being built. Roughly the size of Italy, Vietnam borders Laos,
Cambodia, China, and the South China Sea; its diverse topography is seen in courses that encompass breezy beaches, lush deltas, and mile-high mountains. The countryside is so fertile you can almost see the foliage grow. The result: courses that are veritable gardens of flowers, shrubs, and trees. Visitors may be surprised at the preponderance of female caddies, an Asian custom. Clad from head to toe to protect their skin from the sun, these women will even shade you with an umbrella. Whether or not you’re on your game, it all adds up to a special experience. —Dale Leatherman
Photography / Chi Linh Star Golf Course, Hanoi / Talbotimages.com
Discover golf’s new frontier by clicking here.
Heading Up the Hudson
Spring is perfect for kayaking to the castles upriver from New York City.
 It’s an easy paddle to Scotland on the Hudson River. Just 50 miles north of Manhattan, near West Point, smack in the middle of the river, sits a football field–size island with the remains of two Scottish-style castles. From shore, 5-foot-tall letters are clearly visible: Bannerman’s Island Arsenal. Francis Bannerman, at one time the world’s largest arms dealer, originally had a storeroom in Lower Manhattan. By 1904, he’d bought all the captured Spanish-American War equipment and ammunition. City hall wouldn’t permit him to store the ordnance within city limits, so he bought the island and built both an arsenal and family home, styling them like castles. It was a medieval fantasy including watchtowers, cannons, a moat with a drawbridge, an arch, a portcullis, and a coat of arms. In the 1960s, fire gutted the castles, and only charred shells remained. But four years ago, the Bannerman Castle Trust opened the island to the public for hardhat tours. The most adventurous way to get there is by kayak (hudsonvalleyoutfitters.com). The guided half-day trip takes place on spring and summer weekends, tide permitting. Experienced kayakers and novices in good physical shape paddle the scenic three miles on the Hudson to the island. Kayakers pull to shore and enjoy a tour with a Bannerman Castle Trust historian and a picnic lunch. On the way back, there’s a midway stop to stretch or swim. If you prefer to see the island on an air-conditioned cruiser, visit prideofthehudson.com. —Margie Goldsmith
Illustration / Dan Williams
Homage to Fromage
Restaurants across the U.S. are saying “cheese” with climate-controlled care.
 Behind the glass walls of this temperature- and humidity-controlled cheese room, it is silent and—let’s be candid—stinky. Resting upon wooden boards, 30-odd cheeses ripen to perfection, emitting a bouquet that resonates powerfully in the olfactory glands. Buttery, annatto-colored washed-rinds, rock-hard pecorinos, creamy, soft chevres, and herb-crusted Corsicans: To a cheese lover, each wheel is a fragrant treasure. Judging by menus at top restaurants, cheese is still hot, hot, hot, and more restaurants with cheese rooms are opening all the time. At Cetrella, in California’s Half Moon Bay, chef Lewis Rossman maintains a cheese room with standing room for five (Tel: 650-726-4090 or cetrella.com). The surfer-turned-chef sometimes visits the cheese room “just to chill.” New York restaurants such as chef Terrance Brennan’s Picholine have jumped on the cheese cart with equal fervor (Tel: 212-724-8585 or picholinenyc.com). In 1995, Picholine may have been the first restaurant in the country to install a cheese room, or “cave.” Brennan noted such an interest in cheese (he calls it “the new wine”) that he opened Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro with no less than five individually controlled cheese caves (Tel: 212-725-8585 or artisanalbistro.com). Or try cheese bars like Chicago’s Bin 36, where cheeses are available in individual servings—by the glass, so to speak (Tel: 312-755-9463 or bin36.com). —Sara Hare
Photography / Courtesy of Artisanal Fromagerie & Bistro
Growing Green Schools
Education is a natural in the fertile ground of sustainable schools.
 What parent wouldn’t want to improve their child’s school test scores and reduce the number of sick days? Turns out, enrolling your child in a green school is a great way to do that. Studies by the Heschong Mahone Group found that students who had classrooms with natural light, superior indoor air quality, and outdoor views had 10 percent to 21 percent higher learning rates and test scores, compared with students in classrooms with minimal natural daylight and outdoor views. Traditional building materials can release gasses linked to headaches, colds, asthma, and weakened immune systems. Green, sustainable schools—and there are a growing number of them—are constructed with “alternative” materials, such as low- and zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paints, strawboard panels, cabinetry made from wheat (rather than formaldehyde-laced particle board), and natural linoleum flooring made from jute and linseed oil (rather than dioxin-packed vinyl). Absenteeism dropped 15 percent when students moved into the green Ash Creek Intermediate School in Oregon. “A green school is also a ‘living laboratory’ that educates children, their parents, and the community about the environment,” says architect Wendy Rogers of LPA Architects in Irvine, California. Children experience the natural environment on a daily, practical basis by studying in natural light rather than under artificial lighting and breathing fresh air rather than recycled air. Better yet, green schools have lower overhead costs. A 2006 study by Capital E found that, on average, green schools use 33 percent less energy and 32 percent less water than standard schools. Best of all, green doesn’t require a huge initial investment; sustainable schools have been built on standard school budgets. —Charles Lockwood is an environmental and real-estate
consultant who is often quoted as an authority on green architecture. A longtime Hemispheres contributor, he is based in Southern California and New York City. His articles and research have appeared in the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
Illustration / John Hersey
Take a tour
of a green school and more. Click here.
Mersey Me!
Liverpool celebrates an 800th anniversary and Cultural Capital status.
 Nothing stays the same in Liverpool. Eight hundred years ago, the former fishing village was granted city status by King John, and it has been a work in progress ever since. Sitting on the banks of the River Mersey, Liverpool thrived as a port. The first cargo from the Americas arrived in 1648, including sugar, cotton, tobacco, and rum. Plenty of British set off from Liverpool’s docks to find a new life, and after 1840, transatlantic liners arrived and left from there. In the early 20th century, the city declined, but it has fought back and is celebrating its birthday with gusto. Exhibitions, festivals, and premieres are planned, including a large exhibition on designer and architect Le Corbusier, the opening of the International Slavery Museum, which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the British slave trade, and the return of one of Liverpool’s most famous exports: conductor Sir Simon Rattle. If that weren’t enough, next year Liverpool will be the European Cultural Capital. Its waterfront and cultural quarter earned a UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2004, and sleek new arts and shopping centres are rising daily. But Liverpool already has some of the best galleries and museums in the country, including the Walker Art Collection and Tate Liverpool. The partying will continue in 2008 with two Viennese-style balls, art exhibitions, a literary festival, concerts, and a maritime festival. So now’s the time to put Liverpool on your agenda. visitliverpool.com or liverpool08.com. —Diana Bentley
Photography / courtesy of Liverpool Record Office, Liverpool City Council
Timeless Tunis
The capital of Tunisia isn’t on most Americans’ travel radar—but it should be.
 The next time you plan a trip, do what 4 million Europeans do every year: Travel to Tunisia in north Africa. Tunis, the capital city, has been occupied by the Phoenicians, Romans, Byzantines, Turks, Muslims, and French, and visitors are charmed by the swirling mix of antiquity and modernity. The ruins of Carthage evoke the memory of Hannibal, the general who once terrified Rome. The Bardo Museum houses one of the world’s finest collections of Roman and Byzantine mosaics. In the village of Sidi Bou Said, travelers walk the cobbled streets, gaze at the whitewashed houses dripping with bougainvillea, shop, sip coffee, and smoke apple-scented water pipes in cafés overlooking the Mediterranean. The medina, or old city, founded in the seventh century A.D., is the soul of Tunis. It’s a maze of streets that pulse with excitement. Locals sport djellabas and chechias (traditional robes and felt hats) and the latest Western styles. Calls to prayer from the Great Mosque compete with cell phones, and the air is permeated with the aroma of fresh bread, spices, and honey-soaked pastries. Until recently, only the modern part of Tunis offered upscale lodging, but the Belahouane family has changed that by transforming its 18th-century ancestral home into the Dar El Médina hotel (Tel: 216-71-563-022 or darelmedina.com). The winding staircases, intricate plaster friezes, and antique carpets hark back to the Ottoman era. Nearby are the souks, native markets where gold, silver, carpets, ceramics, leather, and spices vie for attention. —Judith Fein
Illustration / Dan Williams
For a clip
from the acclaimed documentary Tunisia: A Mosaic, click here.
For more info or to buy a copy of the documentary, see globaladventure.us.
Virtual Vacation
Cool home devices keep things fun even after your roaming holiday.
 Time between travels doesn’t have to be a break from the fun; these gadgets let the good times roll—at home. Bigger is not always better, except maybe in televisions. Built to impress and priced to sell, Samsung’s HP-S6373 63-inch plasma television ($7,999; samsung.com) gives you a truly high-definition home theater experience. FilterBright glare-eliminating technology and a 10,000–1 contrast ratio make the big screen equally enjoyable in light and dark rooms. Here’s a home theater equation: Big screen + bad sound = waste of time. Infinity’s Cascade Loudspeakers (5.1-channel systems start at $5,894; infinitysystems.com) have an elegant cherry-wood finish (also available in black and silver) and “Maximum Radiating Surface” technology that adds boom to your tube. Nothing says vacation like Hawaiian-style shaved ice. The easy-to-use Hatsuyuki Ice Shaver HC-8E ($1,225; realhawaiianice.com) turns ice cubes into snow cones in a New York second, and the results are almost as relaxing as a Maui sunset. Drop into Panasonic’s Swede-Atsu Companion Massage Lounger ($2,499.95; panasonic.com) and leave reality behind. The chair’s eight forms of massage knead, tap, and roll your muscles to make tension a thing of the past. Are you suffering from classic-arcade withdrawals? There’s a cure: Ultracade Technologies Arcade Legends home arcade machine ($2,995; chicago-gaming.com) comes with Tempest, Strider, Mr. Do!, and 122 other hits in their original coin-op form. Zap! —Steven L. Kent
An Illustrious Era
A Rhode Island art museum celebrates American originals.
 Before the summer crowds arrive, indulge in one of New England’s little-known gems: Vernon Court in Newport, Rhode Island, the home of The National Museum of American Illustration. Surrounded by Gilded Age mansions, the museum is devoted to the golden age of illustration (1860–1960). Art snobs take note: The influence of this work rivals that of American impressionism, realism, and pop art. Some 2,000 pieces include an extensive collection of Maxfield Parrish paintings, some the size of billboards. N.C. Wyeth and Norman Rockwell also were media stars of their day; their newspaper, book, and magazine work caught the Zeitgeist of a not-so-bygone era. For the full whammy, land the museum’s cofounder, Laurence Cutler, for the 90-minute guided tour. Cutler and his wife, Judy, acquired Vernon Court, he says, as a frame for their paintings. Some frame. The 17th century–style chateau was built in 1898 with a Parisian interior designer who copied Marie Antoinette’s chambers at Versailles. Call ahead (a few days, at least) to book a visit. It’s well worth the effort. americanillustration.org; Tel: 401-851-8949; admission: $25 —Jennifer Quale
Photography / Courtesy of The National Museum of American Illustration
Chicago’s Bronzeville Galleries
This historical African-American neighborhood has art aplenty.
 A storied past bursting with musical and literary greats, landscaped boulevards, and gloriously restored mansions are no longer Bronzeville’s only claims to fame. The Southside Chicago neighborhood, home to such landmarks as U.S. Cellular Field (formerly Comiskey Park) and the Illinois Institute of Technology, also boasts the city’s hottest art gallery scene. The newly relocated Neleh Galleries Internationale (Tel: 312-225-5692 or nelehgalleries.com) heads the list of must-see art spaces. Its four galleries are housed in a four-story 1894 Frank Lloyd Wright row house, one of only four ever built. The gallery focuses on international artists and original oils, acrylics, sculpture, and lithographs. Owner Helen West also hosts the annual Lake Meadows Art Fair June 15–17 outside the Lake Meadows Shopping Center. For cutting-edge contemporary photography and mixed-media works, photographer Bryant Johnson’s Steelelife Gallery (above, Tel: 773-538-4773) presents provocative art in a glossy, loftlike setting. At the sunny Nicole Gallery 2 (Tel: 773-373-4700 or nicolegallery.com), charming Haitian expatriate Nicole Smith concentrates on Caribbean art, Shona stone sculpture, and contemporary African pieces. A diverse collection of ceramics, blown glass, sculpture, and paintings representing the African diaspora fills the impressive three-level Gallery Guichard (Tel: 773-373-8000 or galleryguichard.com), run by painter Andre Guichard. To easily visit all the galleries in one artsy evening, hop on the monthly art district trolley tour, starting at Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and stopping at each gallery every 30 minutes. Sponsored by the Bronzeville Visitor Information Center, the tour begins at 6 p.m. every third Friday of the month
(Tel: 888-782-2842). —Rosalind Cummings-Yeates
Photography / Bryant Johnson
Building the “Not So Big Life”
In your surroundings and your life, there’s satisfaction in keeping it real.
 When I look down 30,000 feet from a plane, I am struck by the amazing capacity for creativity we humans have. Individuals occasionally tap into their own creative potential in daily life. But, sadly, many people spend a lot of time trying to find meaning in ways that fall short. Everyone has a favorite way of filling that void, substituting temporary satisfactions in place of real vitality. We overbook ourselves or continually acquire more stuff. But are we satisfied by all this rushing and purchasing? I think it masks an emptiness that many people don’t know how to fill. What makes a life more meaningful? Like a home designed to inspire, the content of daily existence can reflect who a person is. Slow down a little and tap into what you really love to do. Everyone has a passion, but few have the courage to pursue it. I’m not advocating that people quit their day jobs. But I am suggesting a few small changes. Move what you enjoy to the top of your to-do list, even if it seems like an indulgence. Other tasks will shift to accommodate the change. If you frequently sleep late, plan an activity you love in the morning hours and see how that affects your ability to get up and greet the day. What’s your passion? By engaging fully and staying alert to opportunities that present themselves in the course of everyday life, you’ll discover ways to begin living that passion. The life that results—what I call the “not so big life”—focuses on quality days filled with meaning rather than those surrogates of activity and material gain. Try it and you’ll experience firsthand the creativity that makes it an adventure to be alive. —Sarah Susanka
Illustration / Laura Tarrish
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