Its High-society Heyday May Be Over, but the Caribbean Island Once Dubbed “Little England” Has Become. A Much More Interesting Place to Visit.
IT’S BARELY 6 P.M. on a Friday night, and already there’s a line forming at Oistins. To the uninitiated, the cheerful outdoor fish fry in this sleepy south coast village might resemble an overflowing beer garden. But since the mid-90's, the knockabout local institution first popularized by fishermen and wind surfers has functioned as a tropical Studio 54 of sorts, a riotously diverse melting pot of deep-pocketed voluptuaries and flip-flop-wearing locals and action-seekers. The ruddy man in cargo shorts next to you, waiting for his mahimahi and macaroni pie, is just as likely to be a German tourist from the all-inclusive down the beach as he is the British billionaire Lord Bamford (he of the 204-foot yacht, Sikorsky helicopter, and $25 million Heron Bay estate), who is evidently not above queuing like everybody else to eat dinner out of a plastic container.
“My grandmother’s house is literally up the street, so I’ve been coming here all my life,” says André Parris, a chatty 25-year-old radio personality, his voice barely audible above the din of steel drums. Parris, it transpires over a Mount Gay or two, is one of the most in-demand DJs in the Caribbean, used to island-hopping with the likes of British Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and Barbados’s most notorious international export after rum, Rihanna. But not on Friday nights. “If you are out early and wondering why everywhere [else] is empty, it’s because they’re all here,” Parris tells me. “It’s a little scrappy, but you always have fun.”
Denne historien er fra January 2017-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler.
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Denne historien er fra January 2017-utgaven av Condé Nast Traveler.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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The Brando
THE STORY GOES that actor Marlon Brando first arrived on the 18-isle atoll of Tetiaroa by water-as in, he swam ashore.
Jumeirah Burj AI Arab
IF EVER THERE WAS a hotel that could achieve landmark status, it is Dubai's Jumeirah Burj AI Arab, which stands alone on its own purpose-built island just off Jumeirah Beach.
Blackberry Farm
BLACKBERRY FARM LOOMS in the consciousness of many travelers as an almost mythical Southern sanctuary in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, a place whose storybook perfection has to be experienced to be believed.
Fogo Island Inn
THIS 29-ROOM MODERN CLASSIC in Newfoundland is a model for place-specific hospitality, dreamed up by founder Zita Cobb and built by Shorefast, a nonprofit that supports economic and cultural resilience on the hotel's namesake island and runs artist residencies in four isolated, incredibly photogenic studios.
ALAN CUMMING on CROSSING THE ATLANTIC
I went on Cunard's Queen Mary 2 for the first time in 2011.
high life
Italy's unfussy Dolomites are a place of cheerful communities, where simple chalets and good food can almost outshine the skiing
the possibility of an island
Cuba may be facing tough times, but the country's hoteliers, creators, and artists are forging a hopeful and beautiful way forward
in full bloom
Over the past three years, hotelier Fabrizio Ruspoli has turned an old olive farm south of Marrakech into the High Atlas's most intoxicating garden retreat
ALLIN
Fun has never been hard to come by in Las Vegas, but the arrival of pro sports, the Sphere, and lavish new hotels has upped the ante.
Forward March
Across Kenya, community initiatives are protecting the country's wildlife and environment. By Mary Holland