As a frequent visitor to New York City, I’ve become a fan of the cupcake-only shops that have sprung up and risen to fame through movies such as Sex and the City. Perhaps because it’s a throwback to my childhood, there’s a certain nostalgic comfort in these super sweet and colorful treats.

A disclaimer – nothing beats the bakeries and pastry shops in Paris for unique and delicious sweet treats on the go, but if you’ve got a cupcake craving that won’t quit, you’ll be pleased to know that cupcake shops have begun to pop up in Paris!

Berko, a shop on the outskirts of the Marais, is one such example of the new Parisian cupcake craze. A modern, sleek shop, Berko offers a huge variety of cupcakes for sale individually to eat on your walk or by the dozen for parties.

As you can see, the glass display case shows the mouth-watering choices and at less than three euros per cupcake, you can try more than one to find your favorite! The moist, chocolatey oreo cupcake is my go-to cupcake but I can’t wait to try a few more.

If you’re looking for an alternate to the typical pastry shop, stop by Berko for a sweet treat on your walk in the Marais.

By kathryn Frengs from SpottedByLocals.com/paris
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People say these are bad times for the music (in Spanish: “Corren malos tiempos para la música”). So it could be quite hard to find a good pianist… Well, in Toni 2… they have three!!!!!
Toni 2 is not a karaoke; the people that go here to singare actually incredible artists!!

Located in the heart of the city, close to the National Library, between calle Barquillo and Paseo de Recoletos, Toni 2 was originally a different business, but the owner introduced a piano and now it is the reference of the place.

I could say that Toni 2 and just a few other, like Café Gijón and El Espejo, are the only emblematic venues for a different night out in Madrid.

It is a very special place, a symbol of spontaneity because everybody is sitting around the large piano and there are turns for everybody to take the microphone and sing. It is surprising how you can see people from different ages with the same passion.

It’s open from midnight till six in the morning, every day of the year. So here you will listen to traditional Spanish or international songs that you can ask the pianist to play.
A totally different concept for a piano bar. A real discovery!

By Teresa Juan López from SpottedByLocals.com/madrid
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When you are wandering through Antwerp you’ll notice that there is wide variety of architecture and styles. You can find old and authentic houses next to the most modern structure imaginable. But… there is one neighbourhood and especially one street where almost all old houses are in their original form or restored in the original form.

On a beautiful day it is interesting to walk from the train station in Berchem (outer city) towards the Draakplaats, a square with several restuarants and café’s. The development of this neighbourhood coincided with the peak of Art Nouveau popularity and has some other influences as Gothic Revival, Neo-Renaissance, Greek Revival, Neoclassical, and the “cottage style” that coincided with British Tudorbethan architecture…

Anyway… despite all this culturally loaded architectural info… it’s just a nice walk with great bombastic houses from another era Wander around in the nearbystreets as well… and take your time to absorb the details of these magnificent buildings. Even I still find new things every time I pass there . And you can end with a nice breakfast or lunch at café Wattman.

By Niko Caignie from SpottedByLocals.com/antwerp
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Tucked away on a little street in Ottensen, Hamburg you will find a cosy and personal Portuguese restaurant which is different from the somewhat soulless and touristy Portuguese restaurants in the so called portugese quarter of Neustadt.

The restaurant Ribatejo (translated: on the shores of the river Tejo) in Ottensen is far more atmospheric and attracts a mixed crowd of youngsters, couples and elderly people. There are many regular guests – always a good sign that customers like to come back again and again.

Here you can either just enjoy a decent wine (really tasty Rose wine for example!!) or you can enjoy Tapas or other traditional dishes The tiny and somewhat open kitchen is set pretty much in the middle of the place. So sit down on a wooden bench, relax and sip your wine while watching your meal getting prepared!

Compared to many other portuguese restaurants and bars, this place has a really nice atmosphere: Nice lighting, a tasteful interior and bar/counter, old cobble stone (!) on the floor (as it used to be the entrance of a backyard for carriages). In summer there are two little benches outside of the bar – sit down and watch the quiet life of Ottensen floating by like the river Tejo. This place can only make you feel very comfortable!

By Linda Nepicks from SpottedByLocals.com/hamburg
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If you need a break and some good coffee, this place is definitely one of the best choices in this part of the city!

Ok, those of you who know me already could say “But, you’re not even a coffee drinker, so how this place could be your spot?“

Well, it’s true, but Natural Caffé has much more to offer then good coffee. Well, they have tea, but it’s not the reason why I use to go there.

I like to stop by after a working day: you feel a certain dynamism: everyone is a bit in the same situation: so much stress because of their activities and in need of a nice break before starting the evening, going back home.

Here you’ll feel the energy of a Metropolis: a business man happy after a good deal, a shopping women happy after another kind of good deal, students talking about their thesis and how to deal with, couples taking the time to be a couple before going back home and be parents again, …
I like the light from the big windows from which you have a perfect view to one of the largest avenue of the city: avenue Louise, and Natural Caffé is perfectly situated in the “carrefour” of Lesbroussart street and Bailli street: so you can sit and watch the theater going on outside.

As I said, I use to go there around 6 pm, after work, but I’ve heard of people who like the place in the morning for the breakfast (and I tried it on Sundays) or on a Saturday afternoon as a nice meeting place.

I’m sure, you’ll find the hour and the coffee that suits you best!

By Yamina El Atlassi from SpottedByLocals.com/brussels
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I am well aware of the fact that you can find an Irish pub literally everywhere on this planet, but the true beer lovers know that an Irish pub in all those places is always a mixture. A mixture of Irishness and local atmosphere.

For all the beer lovers it is really important to know that they are offering 38 different beers! Not to forget whiskeys are there speciality also. I was told they have more than 30 different kinds.

They serve lunch Thursday to Saturday from 11:00 – 16:00 and have live, Irish style, music every Thursday after 9 p.m. with no entrance fee. This bar is also a good option if you are a sport lover, since they have a big screen TV for watching sports, like rugby, football, ice hockey, cricket and many more.

Their lovely slogan is: There are no strangers here, only friends who haven’t met!

By Tjaša Janovljak from SpottedByLocals.com/ljubljana
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During the summer Zurich offers numerous spots by the water such as cafés, restaurants and boathouses.

Lago Zürich, a boathouse, rents pedal boats, is available for organizing events and functions as a self-service café by the water; More properly put: ON the water. The spot is housed on a platform sitting on the eastern side of lake Zurich by the promenade known as Utoquai.

Lago Zürich is ideal for an outdoor drink during the late evening hours. It combines the beautiful view towards the sunset sky while offering relaxing distance from the crowds of Utoquai.

Most enjoyable is the mild swinging motion of the platform caused by the waves of the lake water. This motion is subtle: during the first visit one wonders weather the effect is real or illusory. But beware: the small waves are often caused by a mild breeze felt more intensely on the platform than along Utoquai. So even if T-shirt feels comfortable on the “mainland” a few meters away, a light jacket may be appreciated on the platform.

I like the setup with the sofas: they create a laid-back mood. There are also plastic chairs which can be moved or rotated “at will”. Guests can choose the desired orientation: facing the sunset sky above the Kongresshaus or the Alps towards the south or the illuminated church towers towards the north.

By Miltiadis Sarakinos from SpottedByLocals.com/zurich
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It is one of those waterfront spots. The Royal Danish Play House in Copenhagen is the newly inaugurated (2008) play scene of the Royal Danish Theatre and is located beautifully on the waterfront – just opposite the also fairly new opera.

Apart from the theatre itself, there is a restaurant and a café – both open for all.
If you want to dine somewhere out of the ordinary, I recommend the restaurant. Named after Ofelia, Hamlet’s lass, the restaurant is set in this huge, yet strangely intimate, industrial room with nothing but space, sky and the water. And white linen tablecloths. Definetely. The kitchen matches the unique setting with excellent offerings for brunch, lunch and dinner in seasonal menus.

The café is a café and serves good quality without being cosmic about it. Just very good with light meals, fine teas, quality beer and of course coffee to your heart’s content.

Outdoor serving season begins today, May 15th! Oh, and the rather competent cocktail bar moved outside as well. So you can sip manhattans and watch the Copenhagen skyline. Not too bad, really.

The place has free wireless internet (indoors – possibly reachable outside – didn’t check). I recommend the website with more details, i.e. wine, actual menues and so on.

By Morten Pors Nielsen from SpottedByLocals.com/copenhagen
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Portobello Market started as a fresh-food market in the 19th Century, but expanded in the 1960s to include the renowned Saturday antiques market at the eastern end of the street, and an assortment of clothing and accessories stalls to the western end. It is of course more recently known for that Richard Curtis film, Notting Hill, and is also mentioned in many popular songs.

Take a walk down the length of the entire street to take in all the stalls; street food steams and bubbles in huge pots serving Ghanaian curry, Spanish paella, and grills of German chicken Schnitzel and sausages.
Have a browse through the antiques, it’s more than the usual furniture and china. I found a guy selling items of old navigational and military navigation pieces, clocks from old Russian MiG and US jets. A unique bedside clock for £200!

I tend to jump in the car with my friend and head down there every Saturday. If you’re visiting London and self-catering, I strongly recommend coming here to buy your fresh fruit and veg, the flavours are so much better.

Tomatoes are deep red and juicy, unlike the fluffy tasteless flesh of their irradiated cousins found in supermarkets. The fresh bread stall is a guilty pleasure, mostly for the mountains of sweet pastries, muffins and iced doughnuts that call at me from my childhood, or is that voice coming from a future cardiac surgeon? Who cares! At about 16:30, the prices are reduced to clear and you can pick-up three doughnuts for a quid or two!

So you have to pay a bit more than in the supermarket, but your money goes to a real small business and you’ll have experienced the theatre of street vendors, rather than the anonymous and sterile experience of a supermarket queue.

It’s a busy place so don’t necessarily expect to get a deep, personal conversation from a stall-holder, and if they look a bit grumpy, it’s mostly because they’ve been up since about 05:00, so give them a bit of conversation, a bit of humour and they soon open up. Love ‘em.

By Ben Pendrey from SpottedByLocals.com/london
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Just finding Magasin 3 in Stockholm is an adventure, hiding in a warehouse at the 1rst floor. Standing in the large elevator you keep asking yourself if this really is the right address. It is!

Yeah it’s a bit outside of town but easy to get here thanks to the direct buses to Frihamnen. It’s so worth going! It’s very cheap and your ticket lasts the whole season. They have free guided tours every Saturday at 14.00, which I really recommend. The Christian Boltanski exhibition was excellent last year.

The Lobby is large and light and the rooms are in different sizes. My favourite room is the one downstairs, the largest room. Doesn’t matter what exhibition it is, I always feel overwhelmed just stepping inside. I guess it’s the scale or the amount of art that sweeps me of my feet.

My favourite exhibition here so far is “Gravity, be my friend” by Pippilotti Rist’s, which was shown here last year. Downstairs you could lie down on massive cushions and watch calm and melancholic video installations in the ceiling. One was of beautifully coloured leaves falling straight on you. It was a very special feeling just laying there next to strangers, watching something simple yet so affecting.

By Natalia Urbanska from SpottedByLocals.com/stockholm
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