YOUR JOURNEY BEGINS WITH US JULY | AUGUST 2019

MELBOURNE

VIENNA

STOCKHOLM

JAIPUR

BARCELONA

Casa Vicens, Barcelona City to Go

Rosy on Jaipur Rajasthan’s timeless Pink City is a gem of contemporary arts and culture. BY SARAH KHAN PHOTOGRAPHY BY ATUL PRATAP CHAUHAN

GO FOR Jaipur is hardly off the neighborhood, tiny Cafe Kothi beaten path: The Rajasthani (28, Civil Lines Road) won a fol- capital is a long-established lowing for its vegetarian Kothi favorite for its romantic palaces bowls – the quinoa biryani and forts, and bright and blingy bowl and one-pot pasta are textiles and jewels. But in recent favorites – as well as for salads, years, the Pink City has made breakfast wraps, and polenta a serious play for the title of Parmesan fries. India’s cultural capital, with the reinvention of the Jawahar Kala For a decadent Rajasthani feast, Kendra arts center, the unveiling book a table at the opulent of India’s first modern sculpture Suvarna Mahal (Bhawani Singh park in a timeworn, eighteenth- Road), the former dining room of century palace high atop a hill at the maharajah at the Rambagh Nahargarh Fort, and gatherings Palace. Tuck into a classic thali such as the Jaipur Literature with dal baati churma (lentils Festival, which lures global with fried wheat), gatta curry literary A-listers and more than a with dumplings, and more. half million visitors each January. Smaller, niche museums are also Laxmi Mishthan Bhandar vying for patronage – the Gyan (Shop 98-99, Johari Bazaar and Amrapali museums, both Road) is almost as much of established by some of the city’s a landmark as the nearby most prominent jewelers, pay City Palace (both date to the tribute to Jaipur’s generations- 1720s): Locals have sated old reputation as the center of sweet tooths here for nearly India’s jewelry trade. 300 years. It’s tough to choose between milk cake, mawa Clockwise from top left: Bar Palladio, Hawa Mahal, thali a t A cheery haven in the (puffed pastry with Suvarna Mahal, Madhavendra Palace’s sculpture park at EAT kachori Nahargarh Fort, and Parampara’s colorful wares. leafy, residential Civil Lines sweet cheese filling) and other

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of the two cultures’ aesthetics. Settle into one of the banquettes below the frescoed walls inside TIP or opt to sit on a blue-and-white- tented daybed outside, where “One of my favorite you might find a stray peacock experiences from a recent visit was an open-air jeep for company. tour of the city at night. Jaipur comes alive in the evenings At the City Palace museum – part with beautifully lit building fa- cades and exhilarating sights of which is still home to Jaipur’s and sounds.” royal family – Baradari (City – Carol Bisconti, Virtuoso Palace, Gate 2) makes for a travel advisor, Haddonfield, regal night out. Sip Negronis and New Jersey pomegranate martinis amid the sexy lighting and modern finishes of its charming courtyard. covers at The Jaipur Collective, No trip to Jaipur is complete jewelry at Umrao and Surabhi, without a stop at Lassiwala antiques at O’d’ Gulabee, (Shop 312, M.I. Road), a no-frills housewares at Anantaya, and stall that has plied locals with airy dresses and tunics at French sweetened yogurt lassis served designer Thierry Journo’s color- in clay cups for 75 years. ful boutique Idli.

SHOP Brothers Siddharth and STAY Get your bearings at Ram- Samarth Kasliwal are the ninth bagh Palace by taking a spin generation to run The Gem around the 47-acre property in Palace (Shop 348, M.I. Road), one of its four vintage cars, say, a jewelry emporium with out- the sky-blue 1937 Ford V35. The posts across India and even on historic royal abode welcomes New York’s Upper East Side. travelers with 78 rooms and But their Jaipur flagship is, five restaurants and bars. Local understandably, closest to their tradition has it that losing teams hearts, and they’ve recently at the adjacent Rajasthan Polo remade it in brilliant shades of Club buy winners a round at the pink nearly as beguiling as the hotel’s beloved Polo Bar. Doubles baubles within. from $360, including breakfast daily and lunch or dinner once Parampara concept store during stay. (Panch Batti, M.I. Road) brims with local and global finds: Roughly 20 minutes outside the rugs by From Jaipur with Love, city, the 71-room Oberoi Rajvilas, Colombian mochila bags from Jaipur is a fort-like retreat from Verdi, Shalia resort wear, and the hubbub, complete with shoes and more from the house traditional Rajasthani-style label of Parampara’s co-owner, arches, turrets, and pavilions. Jaipur-based Colombian designer But the star is the spa, set in a Rajasthani favorites; luckily, Virginia Borrero de Castro. converted eighteenth-century they pack well for travel. haveli and home to treatments The Kanota center (Kanota such as sandalwood body wraps DRINK Italy meets India at popular Bagh, Narain Singh Road) is a and jasmine facials. Doubles Bar Palladio (Narain Singh cluster of sleek fashion, acces- from $405, including breakfast Clockwise from top left: Jawahar Road), a striking blue watering sories, and housewares empori- daily and lunch or dinner once Circle’s Patrika Gate, a Gem Palace scene, and Idli boutique. hole that’s an atmospheric fusion ums. Browse totes and cushion during stay.

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