Washington, DC, USA

Although gay marriage was only first legalized in D.C. on December 18, 2009, America’s capital has long possessed a large LGBT population. As such, America’s capital has no dearth of gay-friendly neighborhoods and hotels for your wedding festivities. Imagine a rooftop reception with panoramic views of the city – you and your beloved a part of the history of America beginning to make good on its promise of “equality and justice for all.” Search and compare cheap flights to Washington, DC.

Washington, DC

Montréal, Quebec, Canada

Since Paris has yet to legalize gay marriage, Montreal is the next best thing. With beautiful parks, fantastic cuisine, a raucous nightlife and an unrivaled atmosphere of convivialité, Montreal is a perfect place to say, “I do.” In fact, it’s so charming you might even want to stay on for your honeymoon. Plus, the city’s close proximity to Mont Tremblant is an added bonus if you’d like to get away for skiing in the winter or exploring of the great outdoors in summer months. Search and compare cheap flights to Montreal.

Montreal

Amsterdam, Netherlands

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage – on April 1, 2001. With a plethora of beautiful churches, five-star hotels, international cuisine and charming streets and canals – to say nothing of the museums, galleries and monuments – your guests will be eternally in the palm of your hands if you invite them to your big day in Amsterdam. Search and compare cheap flights to Amsterdam.

Amsterdam

Madrid, Spain

Considering the country’s strong ties to the Catholic Church, Spain’s legalization of gay marriage in 2005 surprised many. Nonetheless, the lively whirlwind of Spanish culture, art and architecture sets an inimitable backdrop for the big day. From jaw-dropping cathedrals to top cuisine and drink to the sexy roll of the Spanish “r” in the streets, few other cities light up romance like Madrid. Search and compare cheap flights to Madrid.

Madrid

Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

Provincetown is the Fire Island of Massachusetts. With quaint bed and breakfasts dotting the coastal town’s narrow lanes, fantastic restaurants and gay nightlife, “P-town” is a must-visit destination year-round. Add in gorgeous beaches and a vibe of utter acceptance, and Provincetown climbs the ranks among the best gay wedding destinations in the world. Search and compare cheap flights to Boston.

Provincetown

Stockholm, Sweden

Sometimes referred to as the “Venice of the North” because of its location at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, Stockholm is renowned for its natural beauty and clean air. Waterways, parks and green spaces make up a large percentage of the city’s space. It is also a highly sophisticated city with many classy restaurants, bars, shops and hotels. Though the winters are cold, the city’s beauty is breathtaking – there’s even an ice hotel if you really want to stay cool on your wedding day. Search and compare cheap flights to Stockholm.

Stockholm

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Home of hip Latin beats and carnival merrymaking, Buenos Aires is a bustling city that combines a modern skyline with the ornate architecture of the past. With a great deal of flair and style to be found on almost every corner, a culture that imbues even the mundane with great passion, and no shortage of great clubs and restaurants, your guests will not soon forget your “I do” in Buenos Aires.  Search and compare cheap flights to Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires

New York City, New York, USA

“Finally!” many thought when the great state of New York legalized gay marriage in July, 2011. What better destination can you imagine for getting married and celebrating afterward? Imagine being high atop the city that never sleeps in any number of marvelous hotels, toasting your husband or wife and family? And when it’s time to boogie down and celebrate, you’ve got the entire Big Apple to roam about in. (And with the New York subway, guests needn’t fret about driving and transportation after a few glasses of bubbly!) Search and compare cheap flights to New York.

New York City

Reykjavik, Iceland

Often referred to as the “nightlife capital of the north,” Reykjavík is like nothing you’ve ever experienced. Aside from the exciting nightlife, Reykjavik has a well-cared-for outdoor environment, with many geothermal-heated outdoor pools, beautiful parks and green spaces. However, if it’s an enchanted wedding you really crave (and as long as you and your guests are clad in parkas), it’s Reykjavik’s Northern Lights that will make your special day truly one of a kind. Search and compare cheap flights to Reykjavík.

Reykjavik

Oslo, Norway

Like in other Nordic gay wedding destinations, in Oslo you are very close to nature. Hiking, skiing, boating and swimming are all within a stone’s throw of the city. And within the city center, you have your pick of beautiful, modern hotels, sidewalk cafes and one-of-a-kind shops and restaurants. Even here, though, nature is all around with an abundance of trees, parks, fountains and green space. Search and compare cheap flights to Oslo.

Oslo

(Images: Featured image, f-oxymoron; DC, eliduke; Montreal, Graham and Sheila; Amsterdam, Moyan_Brenn; Madrid, Moyan_Brenn; Provincetown, HBarrison; Stockholm, Mispahn; Buenos Aires, David Berkowitz; New York City, joiseyshowaa; Reykjavik, pocius; Oslo, beamillion)

The Santa Fe Plaza is a place to keep coming back to. Downtown life around the plaza is boppin’ – especially in the warmer months. Filled with shops of all types and sizes, from high-end furniture to book stores, restaurants and even an old five-and-dime store, the plaza is one of the hippest places to be. Dating back to the 17th century, the plaza’s streets are narrow and quaint, with all of the Spanish colonial architecture preserved or restored (and in fact, new buildings must conform to this architectural style by city law).

For a sweet treat during the day, drop in to the French Pastry Shop at the La Fonda Hotel for a crêpe and cup of coffee. The décor and ambience will transport you back to a rustic Parisian bakery. Or, for something a little more hip, head over to Ecco Gelato and Espresso where yummy artisan coffee and authentic gelato are served up to a very sociable crowd – many of whom are sipping while lounging outside on their Vespas (oh yes – I am not kidding).

For the best margaritas – and  you’re in Santa Fe remember, so margaritas are something you need be thinking about seriously now – head over to Del Charro Saloon, the restaurant and bar at the Inn of the Governors. As evening moves into night, the crowd gets all kinds of interesting and fun.

Del Charro ... a delicious option

For something swanky and cool after hours, slink into Rouge Cat. The first floor has an intimately lit cocktail bar that also serves up light bistro fare. Downstairs is a dance floor that spins classic disco, new wave, classic House, 80s retro and contemporary dance music. It’s also become the token gay bar in Santa Fe, which is good, given Santa Fe’s significant LGBT population.

For something a little less “on the prowl,” try Atomic Grill downtown near the Hotel St. Francis (which also has a wicked cool bar, the Secreto Bar and Loggia). Open until 3 a.m. Monday through Saturday (and with an enormous beer selection to boot), Atomic is a great place to kick back with a friend and drink, eat, drink some more and then start getting friendly with other patrons. My friend and I used to love to come here on Saturday nights when were 19 and just hang out and see who there was to chat up, flirt and chill with until the wee hours of the morning (drinking cappuccinos, mind you, since we weren’t of age).

For an evening of delight and refreshment back in your hotel, first stop by La Casa Sena Wine Shop and visit my friend Jim Cook, who runs the place. He’ll hook you up with an excellent bottle or two of almost anything you want in nearly any price range – and he’ll totally geek out with you on the details of what you’re going to imbibe. Also try the Wine Grotto at La Casa Sena, which is the city’s only open-air wine tasting of awesome wines paired with light foods.

(Images: Santafe.org , Inn of the Governors)

Lyon – like most French cities – is truly a walking city, with wide, spacious sidewalks. Although you can certainly see the city on foot, the metro and the tram are big helps. You can buy the daily ticket liberté (4,80€ per day) which gives you all day access on the metro, tram and bus. When you are on foot, keep your eyes on the ground as you stroll the sidewalks. The Lyonnais love their dogs but unfortunately many do not like picking up after them.

Vieux Lyon (Old Lyon) is excellent and I highly recommend exploring it. However, be wary of its many bouchons (Lyonnaise bistros) that have owners outside smilingly and aggressively calling out “Bonjour!” to you as you walk by. These are tourist bistros. The food is not bad per se but certainly nothing special. The prices are also often far too high for the simple recipes being cooked.

Eating out in Lyon is a fairly regulated affair. Restaurants begin serving lunch at noon but will stop seating people by about 2:30pm. After this, you will be politely but firmly turned away. Your only option between then and dinner will be to stop by a boulangerie and pick up a quiche or sandwich emporter (to go). Indeed, it’s a good idea to find the boulangerie nearest to where you’re staying, be friendly with the owner and frequent it for food to fill the void between lunch and dinner. When it does come time for dinner, restaurants will not receive people earlier than 7:30 or 8pm and traffic does not pick up until closer to 9pm.

Also note that most restaurants are not interested in turning over as many tables as possible. Waiters and waitresses – who are paid good, comfortable salaries and do not expect tips – welcome guests and converse without any sense of rush, unless he or she is taking care of the whole dining room. As such, do not use American standards of speed to judge your restaurant experience. You can wait as long as half an hour or more for your main course to come, especially if it’s being made one-off just for you. Additionally, your waiter or waitress will not constantly be checking on you every five minutes with a “Hey how’s it going?” Meals are treated as social affairs and you are left alone to converse with your dining companions (dining alone can therefore feel quite lackluster in Lyon).

Note that in Lyon, café, bar or even bar – restaurant on the sign outside does not necessarily indicate that food is served. More often than not, these locales only serve coffee, liqueurs, wine, beer and soda. And for your morning coffee, un café will get you an espresso. If you want a typical, drip coffee, you’ll need to ask for un café long.

More questions about culinary customs in Lyon? Leave a comment or tweet us @Cheapflights.

So much wine … so little time in Bordeaux

Last week we explored three of Bordeaux’s wine regions: Médoc , Entre-Deux-Mers, Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac. This week, we finish up with the Côtes. , Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur, as well as consider the finer points of aging your Bordeaux.

The Côtes

If you’re up for an entire day of wine tasting, once you finish with Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, come back through Libourne and then head west to the Côtes.

This is one of the oldest wine growing regions in the western world, with vine planting traditions dating back to the Romans. The wines made here are almost entirely red, made primarily from merlot. Though they are usually best enjoyed young, many producers have been working to make wines that will age gracefully over many years. In the Côtes de Francs appellation, Château Puygeraud produces beautiful red wines and blends in some malbec for added spice, and sell them for around 10€ for the 2010 vintage ($14.99). Drive back to Libourne for lunch and then head northeast to the little town of Saint Paul and visit Château Les Jonqueyres. Taste their line of organic wines, which are coming in at 10€ or less for the 2009 vintage.

Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur

Several of the wineries mentioned above also produce wine simply labeled Bordeaux or Bordeaux Supérieur. These are the most basic appellations in Bordeaux, with minimal requirements for using the appellation name. However, many gifted winemakers craft good wines from these appellations, especially from Bordeaux Supérieur. Notable favorites include Château Recougne’s 2009 Bordeaux Blanc, composed of 100 percent sauvignon blanc for a juicy 9€ a bottle ($14), as well as Château Féret-Lambert’s 2009 cabernet sauvignon-merlot blend for 8.99€ a bottle ($11.99). The latter also offers two beautifully appointed bedroom suites in the Château (situated in the town of Grezillac), for visitors interested in an extended stay.

Aging and drinking your Bordeaux

Although you probably hear a great deal of talk about the importance of a wine’s vintage and age, there is not always a clear cut path to follow. In general, the more tannic structure red wines have, the more able they are to be aged over a period of years. A balance of fruit and alcohol as well as acidity are also important for both red and white wines to age well ( well-made German and Alsatian Rieslings, for example, can be aged 20 years or more). The white Bordeaux we’ve profiled here are not candidates to be put in a collection for drinking years from purchase – they should be drunk within a few years of their vintage. Some of the reds covered, however, are a different story. While all of them would be drinkable soon after release, they could easily handle anywhere from two to five years of aging, some a bit more, like certain wines from Canon-Fronsac. The sturdier, more tannic wines, in fact, really should have some bottle aging before opening, in order for their aggressive tannins to loosen up and reveal their fruit. At the end of the day, however, each wine and each producer is different, and the finer points of aging the wine you buy is something all of the wineries discussed here would be delighted to talk about when you visit.

If you are going to “cellar” wines, always store them in a cool, dark place – 60 degrees Fahrenheit is the optimal temperature. And don’t forget to carefully pack any wines that you’re going to bring back with you on the plane. Finally, although almost every Bordeaux wine château offers tastings and tours, it is important to contact them in advance and make an appointment. Personalized time and attention will be lavished upon the truly interested and curious.

À Votre Santé! To your health!

Search and compare cheap flights to Bordeaux.

Written by Michael Brazile

(Image: Erik Soderstrom)

Into wine? ... head to Bordeaux for the best of the best

The word itself is practically synonymous with fantastic wine—unfortunately Bordeaux is often also equated with ascot-wrapped wealth and an appellation structure of mind-boggling complexity (an appellation is the legally defined, specific geographic location, with-in a wine region, where grapes are grown).

Although these perceptions are often true, a lot of Bordeaux wine is extremely affordable, interesting to drink and comes from easy-to-understand appellations. For less than 20€ a bottle – retail or direct from the winery – you can buy a plethora of great Bordeaux wines in France. They smilingly offer up pleasurable treasures for intriguing everyday drinking. In this two-part series, we’ll take you on a sample wine tour of Bordeaux on a budget, exploring the wealth of these wonderful wines which offer such great value. Current retail prices are listed in Euros and then, if available, U.S. dollars.

Bordeaux is the capital city of the Gironde département of the Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Bordeaux is not itself a region, as many think. You should plan your flights to Bordeaux into Bordeaux- Mérignac Airport. The wine region is divided between two banks formed by the Gironde River. Bordeaux produces both red (cabernet franc, cabernet sauvignon, malbec, merlot and petit verdot) and white (muscadelle, sauvignon blanc, sémillon and ugni blanc) wines and almost all are blends of two or more types of grapes. Many don’t know that in Bordeaux, as in most of France, wines are named by the place they come from, not their grapes.

Médoc

We begin our tour in the largest sub-region of Bordeaux, Médoc. Here, the value appellations to hit up are Listrac and Moulis. Producing mostly red wines that use a majority of cabernet sauvignon with cab franc, merlot and petit verdot blended in, these are fairly tannic wines. But when made well, they’re rich with aromas of ripe, dark fruit. Château Maucaillou’s 2009 Moulis is an excellent representation of the appellation at 16€ a bottle ($21.99). The Château also has a small bed-and-breakfast with five guest rooms as well as a wine and vines museum.  After you visit Moulis, drive six minutes up the road to Listrac’s Château Fourcas-Hosten, whose 2008 Listrac-Médoc is an excellent value at about 12€ per bottle.

Entre-Deux-Mers

Literally meaning “between two seas”, Entre-Deux-Mers actually lies between the Garonne and the Dordogne tributaries. Entre-Deux-Mers is known for its dry white wine, composed of sauvignon blanc and sémillon – and occasionally muscadelle. The wines are lively with aromas of lemon zest and vanilla, backed by excellent acidity, which makes them great for fish and other light foods. Château Turcaud in the town of La Sauve-Majeure makes an excellent example. Their 2010 vintage is terrific and sells at the winery for just 6.30€ per bottle, including tax. After visiting Turcaud, consider going east five miles up the road to the village of Saint Léon and visit Château de Castelneau  for its 2009 Entre-Deux-Mers, which is currently retailing for around 7€ a bottle ($9.99). They also have a small bed-and-breakfast, in case you decide to spend the evening sampling all of their wines.

Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac

The wineries of Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac (the latter lies within Fronsac but at a steeper and higher terrain, resulting in wines with a touch more boldness to them) produce red wine of tremendous, almost rustic strength. The main grape here is merlot, with cab franc and cabernet sauvignon blended in. For both Fronsac and Canon-Fronsac, visit Château Barrabaque, an easy, ten-minute drive from the center of the nearby city of Libourne. Its 2010 Cuvée Prestige currently retails for about 12€ a bottle. On the way back in to town, hit Château Dalem , which makes long-admired wine from Fronsac, coming in at 13€ a bottle ($20). Its winemaker, Brigitte Rullier-Loussert, is one of a growing number of female, French vignerons (winemakers) in France.

Stay tuned for next week, when we’ll visit the Côtes, Bordeaux AOC and Bordeaux Supérieur.

Written by Michael Brazile

(Image: e_calamar)