Entertainment

By Gyeongmin Kim, CNN Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — Seoul’s Hongdae neighborhood is famous for its forest of cafés. On any given day, the aroma of roasted coffee beans fills the air, with many of the shopfronts fronted by tall-as-trees banners bearing the image of a glamorous-looking person. Take three steps, and you’ll see a

By Lisa Kjellsson, CNN (CNN) — Perhaps you’ve seen the viral YouTube clip of the Hollywood actress Alicia Vikander explaining to talk show host Jimmy Kimmel what Swedish Midsummer is all about (she even taught him the classic “frog dance,” jumping around in sky-high stilettos). Or maybe you’ve just heard that the summer solstice is

By Vivian Song, CNN (CNN) — France is currently experiencing a mini cheese revolution. And it’s been causing a small ruckus in the refrigerated cheese aisles of major grocery stores. The cheese in question, cancoillotte, is hardly new. In fact, it’s believed that the soft, gooey cheese that comes packaged in pots, can be traced

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN (CNN) — In our roundup of travel news and features this week, the real-life filming locations for “The Godfather” and “The White Lotus,” audacious underground mega tunnels in Europe, plus a big overhaul on the way for US air traffic control. An offer they couldn’t refuse When the cast and crew

By Jake McGowan, CNN Toulouse, France (CNN) — For nearly a century, commercial airlines have chased one of aviation’s ultimate goals: connecting Sydney to the opposite side of the planet in a single, uninterrupted flight. Now, Qantas is on the verge of making that a reality as it moves its highly anticipated Project Sunrise into

By Francesca Street, CNN Côte d’Azur, France (CNN) — Kat Jamieson slid open the doors to her poolside hotel room in Saint-Tropez and was greeted with an unexpected sight: cameras and a film crew surrounding actor Laura Dern, who was holding court in front of the rippling blue water.“She was wearing this fabulous Missoni caftan,”

By Sheena McKenzie, CNN (CNN) — In the British social calendar, no event quite matches the prestige, pageantry and formal dress protocols of Royal Ascot. Members of the monarchy wave from carriages, aristocrats don faintly cartoonish top hats and extravagant millinery threatens to obscure the view at every turn. There’s also horse racing. Across five

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN Istanbul (CNN) — Not all ice-creams are created equal. American-style is rich in cream and light in texture. Italian gelato is churned slower and served warmer. Indian kulfi is thick and never whipped. And in Turkey, Maraş dondurma is stretchy like taffy and almost melt-proof. Its resilience is thanks to an

By Fiona Sinclair Scott, CNN (CNN) — Michelle Obama has long demonstrated a knack for conveying messages through her clothing, and her outfit on Tuesday poignantly exemplified her mastery of this skill. For an appearance on stage at the new Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, the former first lady wore a pencil skirt adorned with

By Maureen O’Hare, CNN London (CNN) — The results of the world’s largest wine awards have been announced, and there are plenty of surprises among the countries and regions that have triumphed. “There’s never been a better time to be a wine drinker,” said Pierre Mansour, a judge and regional chair of the Decanter World

By Oscar Holland, CNN Whether found in a respected museum or a billionaire’s mansion, it is likely that any given Khmer sculpture in the West was, at some point, ripped from an ancient temple complex and trafficked out of Cambodia. There is also a reasonable chance it passed through the hands of a British man

By Maggie Hiufu Wong, CNN What’s the first thing that comes to mind when your health-conscious partner leaves town for a business trip? For me, it means cancelling dinner plans and “foraging” in the kitchen for a few key ingredients: American cheese, thick slices of Spam and a handful of frozen dumplings — all destined

By Jeanne Bonner, CNN (CNN) — The winners of the James Beard Awards — often called “the Oscars of the food world” — were announced Monday, with the award for Best New Restaurant going to Lei, a winebar in New York’s Chinatown. Michael Tusk of Quince in San Francisco was named Outstanding Chef at the