Calzada de Infanta #104, esquina a 25 (707939)
Open 10pm-5am daily. Admission $5.
This bar with a separate dance area is popular with Afro-Cuban youth. There’s a show at 11.30pm and light snacks are served.
Nuova Sperenza
Disguised as a tabacchi selling public transport passes and chewing gum, this trattoria which serves traditional Venetian dishes of mixed fish and pastas can be found in a quiet square near the church of San Pietro di Castello. Chances are the weather is bright if you have taken the time to explore this out-of-the-way eastern extremity of Venice; so an outside seat rather than one in the otherwise quite dark interior is a calm experience compared with the canal-side concentrations of tables around the Rialto.
The Motorcycle Show
Given that Barcelona is the two-wheeled capital of Europe, the main surprise in the city’s first-ever trade fair specialising in motorbikes is that it hasn’t happened sooner. New models in 38 bike brands, from mean highway cruisers to the humblest mopeds, passing through sidecars and quads, will be on show, and riders will also be able to try bikes out for themselves on three test tracks. Exhibitors are also offering accessories, bikewear, technical workshops for riders and just about everything you always wanted to know about bikes, but couldn’t shout loud enough to ask.
Leonardo’s Machines
This small exhibition in the Church of San Barnaba gathers together some 30 models of various shapes and sizes to present a fascinating overview of Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions. From military armaments to flying machines, the reproductions have been painstakingly built according to Da Vinci’s original drawings by a team of skilled Florentine craftsmen and engineers.
Davenport’s Piano Bar & Cabaret
Singing waiters step up to the mic or break into spirited tap-dance routines on the bartop in this a lively and fun piano bar. With high ceilings and bright abstract art, this former funky dry-goods store in the thriving Wicker Park neighbourhood attracts a colourful mix of gays and straights. Meanwhile, the 70-seat back room (with cover charge and two-drink minimum) books quality cabaret performers such as diva Spider Saloff and jazz harpist, pianist and vocalist Corky Hale. Available street parking is a plus.
Shaping the Great City
This exhibition focuses for the first time on the explosion of architectural ideas in the years around the First World War. This was a period when architects looked for ways to express a newfound sense of urbanity and modernity. Centring on the Habsburg Empire of Central Europe from 1890 to 1937, this exhibition takes visitors through galleries organised on the model of bustling streets and busy public places, in which projections of slides and early films mingle with architectural drawings and models, photographs, posters and books.
Naked Boys Singing
This cheeky little offering has popped up for the Mardi Gras season and it seems that the title tells it all. A musical revue with songs that have titles like ‘Gratutious Nudity’, ‘Members Only’ and ‘Nothing But the Radio On’ gives a general and accurate impression that the whole show is about a bunch of naked, well-built guys singing, dancing and, well, letting it all hang out. Directed by Jeremy Cumpton.
French Quarter Festival
The world knows about Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest, but the real New Orleans insiders count the annual French Quarter Festival as the city’s best party. The weekend-long celebration combines the block party atmosphere of Mardi Gras with the easy accessibility of Jazz Fest. From about 11a.m. to 10 p.m. local musicians play (for free) at stages scattered around the French Quarter and dancing in the street is the order of the day. On Sunday more than 60 food booths serve up the city’s best food in what is called ‘the world’s biggest jazz brunch’.
Tutu Tango
Just weeks after losing their old lease, the popular Tutu Tango has reopened at a new, bigger space, the site of the former pickup joint Fel 10 club. The same old, or rather very young, crowd has followed the club to its new digs, on the edge of Budapest’s burgeoning nightlife neighbourhood. The atmosphere is hip but comfortable. The three-storey space also has room for concerts, which are scheduled at least three nights a week.
The Busy Workshop
This shop doesn’t exactly welcome you, but people are queueing up to get in – provided they have an appointment. Hidden inside away inside a factory building in North Point’s industrial zone, no one and I mean no one is allowed in without having made a telephone date first. Tourists cannot buy- only Hong Kong identity card holders – and you can only buy items in your size, and one of any style. The Busy Workshop sells snowboarder-style clothing and accessories by A Bathing Ape, the clothing line run by Japanese designer Nigo. But be warned, it ain’t cheap.
