Nice places to visit

The New York Times has an article about forty-six places to visit. Rico says he'll happily visit some of them, including:

Amsterdam

Imagine that the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City were partly closed for renovations for almost a decade, at the same time. That’s basically what happened in Amsterdam, with the closings of the Stedelijk, the city’s design and contemporary art museum, in 2004 and the Rijksmuseum in 2003. The Stedelijk (photo) finally reopened at the end of September with a new, sleek bathtub-like extension, and the Rijksmuseum will reopen in April with much fanfare after a complete redo by the Spanish architects Antonio Cruz and Antonio Ortiz. The Van Gogh Museum, too, will reopen in May, after a much shorter renovation. The city will also be celebrating four hundred years since the building of its iconic canal ring and the 125th birthday of the Concertgebouw, the city’s concert hall, which will feature performances by Eva-Maria Westbroek and Bernard Haitink, among others. To prepare for the wave of visitors, there are several new hotels, from the five-star Conservatorium, to an Andaz designed by the Amsterdam-based design star Marcel Wanders. If you’re lucky, you might score the single suite at a hotel/restaurant/shopping/exhibition space named Droog, for the collective that designed it. Review by Gisela Williams.
(Rico says that he and the ladyfriend will be in Amsterdam this fall, visiting Rico's old friend from their Apple days, Rob.)

Bhutan

This tiny country in the Himalayas has become a model for sustainable travel with the number of visitors (and daily traveler fees they pay) calibrated to preserve the delicate balance between preservation and revenue. Tourism is far from discouraged, however; new projects are making the country more accessible. Drukair, the only airline that goes to the country, is now flying daily from Bangkok, New Delhi, and Singapore; there are also plans to start domestic routes inside the country. Hotels, too, are helping to open up new territory. The Como group, which already has a luxury outpost in Paro, has just unveiled the Uma Punakha (photo) in Punakha. And the Gangtey Gompa Lodge, which opens in May, will be a new base from which to explore the lush national park of Phobjikha Valley, an eco-tourism hub and home to endangered black-necked cranes. Of course, the main draws remain a network of exquisite monasteries and temples and untouched countryside, all in a country that puts happiness ahead of GDP. Just remember that you have to travel with a United States- or Bhutan-based outfitter; Bridge to Bhutan for example, is run by two brothers who studied in the United States and are now organizing trips back to their home country.  Review by Ondine Cohane.

Montenegro

It’s been almost seven years since Montenegro peacefully parted ways with Serbia, long enough that Russian oligarchs and former Yugoslavs aren’t the only ones in on this booming Balkan jewel. For better or worse, an iconic Communist-era hotel with bold red carpets is becoming a contemporary Hilton in Podgorica, the country’s pint-size capital. On the Adriatic near Budva, a six-year renovation of the Sveti Stefan resort, which includes a three-acre island (photo) with rooms set in repurposed fifteenth-century cottages, draws to a close in May with Aman Resorts opening ten suites, a spa, and a restaurant on the island. About sixteen miles and countless twinkling coves north in Tivat, the blingy Porto Montenegro will become more glamorous when Regent adds hotel rooms, suites, and penthouses to its fashionable marina in 2014. Some 1.2 million international tourists came to Montenegro in 2011. That’s double the population, and an eleven percent leap over 2010, a rate that beat nearly every country in Europe. Still, the country remains affordable. Comfortable hotels go for $75 a night or less. Heaping plates of cevapi sausages, tangy cheese, and oily red peppers might set you back $12 with wine and dessert. Imagine Dubrovnik before the cruise ships or Switzerland before the cable cars. Go before it becomes either. Review by Tim Neville.

Mongolia

Mongolia’s vast grasslands have long attracted adventure travelers, particularly those willing to go on horseback, but a limited tourism infrastructure has kept numbers low. Now the government, hopeful that the country’s mining boom will survive a recent slowdown, is working to change that, setting a goal of one million annual overseas tourists by 2015— roughly double the number who visited in 2011. In anticipation of the increase, foreign hotel chains are opening in Ulan Bator, the capital, including a Ramada that opened last year, a 273-room Shangri-La scheduled to make its debut in December, and a new Radisson Blu and Hyatt Regency, both under development. A new domestic airline, Mongolian Airlines, started flights last January, and has since added an international route to Hong Kong, with plans for additional Asian destinations. Tour operators like Nomadic Journeys are offering new bespoke camping trips to more remote parts of the country, like the grasslands in the Eastern Steppes, so visitors can get away from the tourist crowds— easy to do in a country this size. Though, for many people, the untouched countryside remains the main reason to go to Mongolia, there are new attractions in the capital, too: last year, the Government Palace was opened to visitors for the first time, giving tourists a glimpse of young Mongolian democracy in action. Review by Justin Bergman.

Hawai'i, the Big Island

Oahu has its North Shore. Kaua'i has its waterfalls. But until recently, the Big Island’s biggest claim was its land mass. This is the year that’s changing. A slew of high-end golf courses and new beach clubs, like the Lava Lava Beach Club, are drawing tourists to this corner of the archipelago like never before. And now that the farm-to-table movement has made its way to Hawai'i, the Big Island is finally living up to its name. The grandfather of farm-to-table fare is Merriman’s (photo), which has been at it for twenty years. The ’Ulu Ocean Grill at the Four Seasons is a fancier version with its ocean-to-table dishes. And the Fish & the Hog, which has its own farm and commercial fishing boat, uses only ingredients sourced within five miles. Review by Danielle Pergament.
(Rico says he spent a glorious Apple sabbatical on the Big Island, and would go back tomorrow...)

Puerto Rico

The ease of traveling to Puerto Rico from the mainland United States (no passport or foreign currency) has made the island more a mainstream getaway than an exclusive haven. But a string of new resorts, some with a nod to the island’s storied past in tourism, have opened in and around San Juan. The Condado Vanderbilt, a stately 1919-vintage hotel on the oceanfront in San Juan that had been closed since 1993, opened an upscale restaurant called 1919 in October. Its 323 rooms, spread between the historic building and two new towers, are expected to open by this summer. About twenty miles west of town, the Ritz-Carlton’s new Dorado Beach opened last month with 115 rooms all facing the ocean, eleven miles of walking and biking trails, a spa with treehouse massage pavilions, and a restaurant from the chef José Andrés. The hotel occupies the footprint of a hotel of the same name that was owned by a Rockefeller. Another resort that evokes the spirit of an earlier era is the 426-acre golf club Royal Isabela, which just opened twenty one-bedroom casitas, each with a private pool, offering nonmembers access to its restaurant and cliff-top golf.  Review by Elaine Glusac.
(Rico says he hoped to have his sixtieth in Puerto Rico, but, without a lottery win, it didn't work out...)

Dublin

The former Celtic Tiger is pulling out all the stops this year to attract much-needed tourism dollars, is holding a family reunion on the grandest scale. A yearlong program called The Gathering hopes to draw many of the 70 million people worldwide who claim Irish ancestry. The program, which kicked off with a three-day New Year’s party in Dublin replete with a procession, fireworks, and a concert featuring the native headliners Imelda May and Bell X1, will go on to include clan gatherings, cultural festivals, sporting events, and performances throughout the year and across the country. Meanwhile, Aer Lingus, United, and American are all ramping up service between Ireland and the United States, home to over half of those global Irish descendants. Review by Charly Wilder.
(Rico says he used to visit frequently, back in his Apple and Claris days, and would go again in a heartbeat...)

Paris

Paris is hardly an emerging destination, but it has a new allure: a green and walkable Right Bank. Where once there was just a busy road, there are now alder trees, native Seine grasses, and wide walking and cycle paths, all due to a 35-million-euro beautification project led by Mayor Bertrand Delanoë. Wooden furniture to stretch out in has been installed along the banks, where visitors can relax while taking in the view of Notre Dame Cathedral, and five adjoining islands in the river are being turned into “floating gardens”. Across the river, ambitious steps are being taken to transform a nearly two kilometer stretch of the Left Bank free of cars by this spring, with eleven acres of new green space between the Musée d’Orsay and the Pont de l’Alma. Review by Rachel B. Doyle.
(Rico says it's been far too long since he's been to Paris, and he hopes to take the ladyfriend soon...)

Rio

Fifty-three years after Brazil’s federal government decamped to Brasília, and decades after São Paulo took over as the country’s business capital, Rio is staging a comeback. With the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics (plus an oil boom) providing the impetus, the tropical city perhaps most famous for its Carnival hedonism is on its way to becoming a more sophisticated cultural hub. In January, the Cidade das Artes, or City of the Arts, was inaugurated as the new home of the Brazilian Symphony Orchestra. On 23 March, Casa Daros— an outpost of the Zurich-based Daros Latinamerica Collection— will open in a renovated nineteenth-century building with an exhibition of Colombian artists. March will also mark the opening of the Rio Museum of Art in Praça Mauá, a once decrepit port area now being revived. (The Santiago Calatrava-designed Museum of Tomorrow, also in the port area, is scheduled to follow in 2014.) Shopping, a Rio obsession, got a boost in December when the luxe VillageMall opened; it will soon house the city’s first Gucci outlet and South America’s first Apple store. Special events also dot the coming year’s calendar, including the Catholic Church’s World Youth Day in July, the biennial Rio Book Fair starting in late August, and September’s Rock in Rio. And, of course, there’s soccer: the finals of the Confederations Cup, considered a dress rehearsal for the World Cup, will be held in a completely overhauled Maracanã Stadium on 30 June. Review by Seth Kugel.
(Rico says it'd be worth going, even if there wasn't an Apple store...)