Guest contributor Cate Dowman discovers a café design museum in Seoul’s up-and-coming neighborhood Mapo-gu.

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Guest blogger Cate Dowman from Caffeinated Traveller explores the café culture in New Zealand.

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You might have seen Vienna in Richard Linklater’s “Before Sunrise” with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. The city is most famous for its café culture, the cafés are for the people what the pubs are for the British.

People gather at cafés to do business, read the newspaper and catch up with friends. Experience the café culture from one of the city’s many meeting places. Café Sacher at Philharmonikerstrasse 4 near the Karlsplatz Metro is the best choice for a delicious Sacher cake, one favourite delicacy among the inhabitants. The service-minded staff at Café Sacher is keen to assist with most things, except for the recipe to their famous sacher cake - that’s a secret.

For overnights stays in the city, Clima Cityhotel at Theresianumgasse 21a will not make you disappointed. This must be one of the best hotels in the Vienna in terms of look and location. The hotel is situated between the main railway station and the old city in a safe and quiet part of Vienna. The nearest underground station (U-bahn) is only five minutes away. Clima Cityhotel is a newly renovated modern three-star hotel. They don’t label the hotel as a design hotel, but that was the feeling I got when I walked into the air-conditioned stylish lounge bar.

If you choose to stay at Clima, don’t miss Belvedere Palace which is a few minutes walk from the hotel. And try to get a room at one of the higher floors because the view over Vienna at night is terrific.

St Christopher’s Place is a charming shopping area near Bond Street tube station in central London. Here you will find stylish fashion shops like Noa Noa, Jigsaw and Marimekko, bars, restaurants and cafés. The best way to get here is from Bond Street: cross Oxford Street and turn into Gees Court, on the right side of James Street.

St Christopher’s Place consists of Gees Court, James Street, St Christopher’s Place, Barrett Street and parts of Oxford Street and Wigmore Street. The best parts are, in my opinion, the pedestrian streets Gees Court, Barrett Street and St Christopher’s Place.

The narrow alley Gees Court is a good start. On the left side on 9 Gees Court is the chocolate boutique Godiva, a heaven for chocolate lovers like myself. L´Occitane at 7 Gees Court is also worth a visit because of their terrific fragrances and skincare products from Provence. Next to L´Occitane, at 23 Barett Street, is the modern French patisserie Apostrophe with tempting cakes, tarts, pastries and croissants. Some of the best coffee in the city is made at the Italian deli and café Carluccio’s Café, opposite Apostrophe.

You will not find any other place in London with this many pavement eateries in the same area. One hotspot is Sofra, a Turkish restaurant at 1 St Christopher’s Place. And don’t miss Bean Juice at 10 St Christophers Place. This funky café with cool colourful interior makes delicious smoothies.  

Gamla Väster

Gamla Väster near the Lilla Torget square is a charming and rather quiet neighbourhood with pedestrian streets lined with boutiques, galleries and cafés. The best cafés here are CoffeeManiac and Café Siesta. CoffeeManiac is a trendy café located in an old cellar at Långgårdsgatan 8. Their open-air café is definitely one of the best in the city, the location is terrrific. Don’t miss CoffeeManiac’s special sandwiches - served warm with generous fillings and cut in two pieces to make it easier to eat. CoffeeManiac is open Monday to Friday 11am-18pm and Saturday to Sunday 11am-4pm.

Café Siesta is a modern and sophisticated café, bar and restaurant at Hjorttakegatan 1. Their open-air café tends to be crowded during warm summer days. The prices are rather high and the guests are generally older than the twenty to thirty something crowd hanging out at CoffeeManiac. Starters cost 40-100 SEK and count on 95-140 SEK for the mains. Café Siesta is open Tuesday to Thursday 10am-12noon. Friday 10am-1am, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 11am-6pm. Don’t miss their tasty brunch on weekends!

Joshua Perdy in Manatura

When living in Malmo, the third largest city in Sweden, I found that the square Drottningtorget is unbeatable in terms of organic living.

At the upper right hand corner near the street Norra Vallgatan is a great organic food shop. Further up the street is Manatura, one of few organic hair salons in Sweden. The owner Joshua Perdy has lived and worked in cities such as New York, London, San Francisco and Tokyo before establishing himself as the best organic hairdresser in Malmo. When I asked which his favourite city was he said it’s the city where he go to bed at night.  Sounds logical, but it was actually the first time I ever heard someone say it. Joshua spoke about the increasing demand for non-chemical and eco-friendly products, hopefully others will follow in his footsteps.

Manatura has a warm and welcoming atmosphere with a cozy mix of second-hand and newer stuff. And it is probably the only hairdresser in the country without mirrors. Manatura is Sweden’s only retailer of John Master’s Organics and they sell organic hair- and skincare products from Miessence.

Don’t miss Babuschka Sustainable Design, a small shop selling organic clothes. Babuschka has shared premises with Manatura since the opening in October 2004 and attracts many regular costumers. The owner Malin Busch is positive to the future of organic living and shows that organic fashion definitely isn’t boring.

Malin Busch in Babuschka

Further up the street, at Drottningtorget 6, is the place to go for the most delicious home-made Italian ice cream in the city. Dolce Sicilia is a modern family owned gelateria offering terrific organic ice cream, crepes, foccacia, salads, milkshakes, fresh pressed juices and Italian coffee. Dolce Sicilia is open daily 11am-9pm.

Dolce Sicilia

Espresso House in the Western Harbour is a popular café to grab a cup of coffee, lunch, chat or look at passer-by from the open-air café. Espresso House is located in eight cities in Sweden and at eleven places in Malmo.

Malmo is Sweden’s third greatest city, situated on the southern tip of the country close to the Oresund Bridge that leads to the Danish capital Copenhagen.

The Western Harbour in Malmo was once a desolated industrial area. Today it has developed into a hip and charming quartier with eateries, cafés and shops. The trendy architecture lines the boardwalk and several bathing bridges face the sea. Teenagers, students and the 20 to 30 age bracket tend to hang out in the Western Harbour while families and children spend the summer days on Malmo’s famous beach “Ribban”.

The Western Harbour attracts a lot of tourists, partly because of Turning Torso, a 190 meter high residential building with 54 floors. Turning Torso was designed for the Bo01 area by the Spanish architecture Santiago Calatrava, inspired by the human form in motion. It is the second highest residential block in Europe, after Triumph-Palace (264 m) in Moscow.