Travel in parish St. James

Grand Cayman is the largest and westernmost of the Cayman Islands. Its proximity to Central America, Cuba, and Jamaica attracts a multitude of cultures. In fact, 143 nations are represented in a population that recently topped the 69,000 mark. That diversity is evident in Caymanian culture and in the incredible food, highlighted annually at the Taste of Cayman food festival.

Inflation effects us all, but travel remains a high priority for many searching for some respite from home stresses. Ahead of the summer holidays, the United Kingdom Post Office has released their annual City Costs Barometer, showcasing the best destinations to visit that won’t break the bank.

If you’re planning to attend the Paris Olympics and see a bit of Europe this summer, you have a variety of plush new hotels from which to choose (though they’re likely to fill up quickly). Whether you’re going to the Games or simply going on vacation, you’ll find fresh boutique properties in Paris and many more that are an easy flight away, be it to the French Riviera, Rome, or fittingly, an island in Greece, the birthplace of the ancient games.

In case you missed it, luxury transporter Blade — which is best known for operating helicopters and private jets across New York, Europe and Canada — has expanded into the bus market.

Hannah Cruz is making her Broadway debut in the new musical SUFFS, playing the role of the famed American suffragist Inez Milholland. The show is set in 1913, a year when the women’s movement in the United States was in full swing.

Stefano Squecco also uses his wealth of experience to promote young talent and has been a guest lecturer at the Glion Institute of Higher Education since 2022.

When the explorer Bartholomew Gosnold arrived at the Cape of St. James in 1602, he was so taken by the abundance of the fish there that he renamed it Cape Cod. Within years, New England soon cemented itself as a global leader within the fish trade, and some four centuries later Boston still owns its reputation as a seafood town. There’s something about the chilly, high-salinity North Atlantic waters that just produces excellent fish—and any local would admit that no visit here is complete without getting a lobster roll, chowder, or at the very least some fried clams.

In the vibrant heart of the St. James Quarter, W Edinburgh encapsulates Scotland’s Capital City.

New Hotels in the Cayman Islands for 2024 Scheduled to open in Q2 2024 is Hotel Indigo Grand Cayman. The 282-room 10-storey beachfront property will provide an upper midscale experience featuring multiple restaurants, a 6,700 square foot ballroom, a pool deck and a rooftop bar. Indigo’s restaurants and bars around the world are known as a favourite destination for visitors and locals alike. With sustainability in mind, the hotel is being built to LEED standards, which ensures high-performance buildings that have less of an impact on the environment. Hotel Indigo will use a geothermal/ice storage combination and will feature insulated glazing throughout to reduce energy consumption. The latest in Cayman real estate developer, Dart’s, hospitality portfolio, Hotel Indigo is expected to generate several hundred jobs when it opens. In 2022, Dart launched its Hospitality Training Programme, which provides Caymanians with the opportunity to obtain first-hand industry experience via a three-month work experience within the Dart hospitality portfolio.

Most passersby don’t even notice the Bentley or Rolls Royce often parked in front of the entrance to the Le Negresco Hotel in Nice. The legendary five-star property on the French Riviera has been entertaining business leaders, royalty, and celebrities since it opened in 1913.

Last weekend following a sweeping two-year renovation, Washington, D.C.’s National Museum of Women in the Arts reopened its doors. There’s lots of new updates awaiting, such as a meticulously restored roof and facade of the historic 1908 building that once was a masonic temple; easier accessiblity; and thought-provoking exhibits in expanded spaces like The Sky’s the Limit, which displays 33 large-scale sculptures and installations from 13 women artists around the world including Shinique Smith, Joana Vasconcelos, and Sonya Clark. What’s remained unchanged is the institution’s steadfast mission in championing women in the arts—which it’s done since being founded in 1987 by philanthropist and art collector Wilhelmina Cole Holladay.

In the northern reaches of Lake Michigan, the Emerald Isle ferry—departing from Charlevoix at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula—takes about two hours to reach the lake’s largest island. As it approaches, homes, a lighthouse, and a red-roofed research center pop into focus amid dense forest. Docked boats herald the ferry with honks, and dogs bark from ship to shore. Upon arrival on Beaver Island, a lively community center and welcoming crowd beckon family and visitors ashore. On the island it’s customary to wave, or at least lift a finger, for each passing vehicle—every single one.

The narrow path weaved along the side of a vertiginous promontory carpeted with ferns and the occasional cluster of buttercups and purple hollyhocks. Wispy tendrils of fog dissolved, and the June sunshine warmed my back as I stood on a wind-sculpted granite boulder and peered into the Atlantic Ocean's cobalt depths. The cries of gulls mixed with the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, releasing cascades of salt-charged spray. I could still see the fingernail outline of the creamy beach we'd traversed earlier, where plovers scuttled from the incoming tide.

Despite having over 584 locations, 19 distinct brands, and an expansive global footprint, I’d never really checked into Hilton—mostly because I’d gotten accustomed to a handful of other tried-and-true corporate brands.

To begin at the end: the remains of the apostle Saint James (or Sant Iago, in Spanish) are believed to repose in an urn, in a tomb, in a crypt, in the looming medieval cathedral of the city named after him. Santiago de Compostela was built around the saint’s burial site, as revealed to a shepherd by a guiding star almost a millennium after the body was carried here by stone boat from Jerusalem, with angels guiding the way. Or so the story goes. It has since led more than 1,000 years’ worth of pilgrims to this convergence point of myth and history, via the network of cross-country trails known as the Camino de Santiago. In 2022, a record 438,000 people completed one of those routes, some of them covering only the final 62 miles (or 124 miles for cyclists) required to qualify for the official pilgrim certificate, the Compostela. It’s a measure of how popular the pilgrimage has become, drawing not just the Catholic faithful but recreational trekkers, mountain bikers, group tours and solo travellers, coming to work off their worries — or a few extra pounds — in the wilds of the Iberian peninsula.

After a foodie pilgrimage along the northern Spanish coast, Ros Walford shares some of her edible highlights of the Camino del Norte.