The° secret' codes''

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Photography David de Vleeschauwer

Piscinas das Marés
PORTO

Pools open until 7pm in the summer, admission €5.50, www.lecapalmeira.com/roteiro.htm
In 1960, Portuguese architect Álvaro Siza was tasked with designing a swimming pool in the coastal town of Leça da Palmeira, a stone's throw from Porto. The challenge was to build a pool with minimal environmental impact - and a place everybody could enjoy, no matter what social class or status - on a tight budget. Siza's response was to design a swimming pool that appears to be a natural extension of the rugged coastline in sand-coloured concrete and natural rock, with the ocean providing the water. The pools are located along the famous coastal road Avenida da Liberdade, just 14km from the City Centre. The entrance and changing rooms act as transit zone between the real world and the piscinas, and the cool hallways made from wood and concrete end where a fresh briny world of blue sky and Atlantic ocean begins. It's the perfect symbiosis of nature and architecture.

Refuge de l'Espace
GSTAAD, NEAR GENEVA

Refuge de l'Espace, Glacier 3000, Gstaad, Switzerland; www.refuge-espace3000.ch
A high-speed cable car whisks you deep into the clouds on the Glacier 3000, next to the glitzy ski resort of Gstaad in Switzerland.

A breathtaking 45-minute walk (if you don't ski) will then bring you to Refuge de l'Espace. Resembling a tin box glinting in the sunlight, a wisp of smoke rising from the chimney suggests there is indeed life here at 2,000m. The outdoor terrace is furnished with long wooden benches and tables made snug with assorted furs. On the menu are inventive but typical mountain dishes: warm Tomme Fleurette cheese with truffle oil and basil, homemade ravioli with butter and sage, and the house specialty, meringue with whipped cream and coulis. Everyone feels at home here: skiers, snowboarders, hikers, young and old. A perfect place to rest from alpine exertions and just absorb the transcendent view.

Restaurant Can Marti
BARCELONA

4 Font del Mont, between Vallvidrera and Sarrià, +34 934 069195, www.canmarti.info
Can Marti serves the best al fresco lunch in Barcelona - if you can find it. Take a taxi or walk from the Peu Funicular in Vallvidrera to the restaurant. Head for the television mast in the mountains behind Barcelona, and Can Marti is around halfway up. Just follow the smell of grilled meat up a winding road to the summit and look out for countless, chaotically parked cars. On sunny Sunday afternoons this spot is hugely popular with a colourful mix of Barcelona residents. A la brasa is the right term, because almost every dish is prepared on the grill outside. For 24 years, delicious al pollastre (chicken), el conill (rabbit) and la butifarra (juicy sausages) all simply served with freshly baked potatoes, aioli, white beans and carafes of wine, have kept this place bustling.

Qui Nun Se More Mai
ROME

198 Via Appia Antica, +39 06 780 3922, closed Sunday and Monday
Fortunately, not all roads lead to Qui Nun Se More Mai, perhaps the most secret trattoria in Rome. You could walk right past without even noticing this unremarkable building where the pink paint peels from the walls and the only decoration is the word trattoria above the door. Qui Nun Se More Mai means "one does not die here" - reassuring on this old military road lined with cemeteries and catacombs. Qui Nun Se More Mai is a family-run restaurant - Mama in the kitchen, Papa at the grill and the two sons in the restaurant. You can dine in either the cosy interior room or on the shaded terrace at simple, plastic tables. The specials on the chalkboard are local antipasti, pastas and secondi, such as beautiful pieces of grilled meat. According to the locals, the sausage with Provolone cheese is not to be missed. In this small unassuming trattoria along the Via Appia Antica, you certainly will not expire from hunger.

Punta Tresino
CILENTO, NAPLES

From €100 per night, +39 (0)97 496 5136, www.agricolasangiovanni.it
With 360-degree views over whispering vines and the ultimate blue of the Tyrrhenian Sea, this is where to escape real life for the infinitely preferable Italian way of living. Nestled amidst four hectares of green vineyards in the protected Parco Nazionale del Cilento in the secret south of Italy, the Azienda Agricola San Giovanni holiday bolthole is run by Mario and Ida Corrado, a young architect and lawyer respectively, who decided to swap a hectic lifestyle in Naples for the quieter pace of Cilento. Mario has been producing wine here for more than 10 years: try the white made from the local Fiano and Greco grapes, or the robust Aglianico variety, which produces lavish reds. Take the idyllic drive from Naples to Castellabate and escape the rat race - for a while.

Carmens Restaurant
BERLIN

Bahnhofstrasse 9, Eichwalde, +49 (0)30 675 8423, open Wednesday to Sunday
Berlin is awash with restaurants, from chic Michelin-starred eateries to living-room diners, all vying to be the coolest, most desirable and exclusive places. But for the authentic Berlin cuisine experience, head for the suburb of Eichwalde, half an hour's drive or a S-Bahn journey from central Berlin. Carmens appears to be a nondescript townhouse at first glance. Its small interior with non-ironic 1980s décor is hardly inspiring, but this is before Wolfgang, Carmen's husband, presents a menu of dishes such as rump of Saalower Schwein, a locally bred pig, or the Bollenfleisch of the Ruppiner prairie lamb. Carmen and Wolfgang Krüger were fleischmeisters (master butchers) for many years before opening this restaurant in 1989. Carmen is a self-taught cook who has earned the restaurant a Bib Gourmand and a score of 16 points in the GaultMillau. Not bad for two butchers in a forgettable village on the outskirts of Berlin.

FR
Secrets bien cachés

La globe-trotter Debbie Pappyn nous révèle certains des secrets les mieux gardés d'Europe, de la montagne à la piscine à ciel ouvert

Piscinas das Marés Porto En 1960, l'architecte portugais Alvaro Siza fut chargé de concevoir une piscine dans la ville côtière de Leça da Palmeira, à un jet de pierre du centre-ville. Il l'a aussitôt conçue comme une extension naturelle de l'Atlantique, en béton couleur sable serti dans de la roche naturelle.

Refuge de l'Espace Gstaad, près de Genève Un téléphérique ultra-rapide vous emporte au-delà des nuages jusqu'au Glacier 3000. Là, le Refuge de l'Espace vous attend avec sa terrasse en plein air meublée de long bancs garnis de fourrures et de tables en bois. Au menu, des plats inventifs mais typiquement montagnards.

Restaurant Can Marti Barcelone Le restaurant Can Marti sert le meilleur déjeuner champêtre 'al fresco'. À quelques pas de Peu Funicular, à Vallvidrera, remontez une route tortueuse en suivant les délicieux fumets de viande grillée et repérez les innombrables voitures garées dans un joyeux chaos.

Qui Nun Se More Mai Rome Qui Se Mai est un restaurant familial - Maman aux fourneaux, Papa au barbecue et les deux fils au restaurant. Vous pouvez dîner dans l'intérieur chaleureux ou dehors, sur de simples tables en plastique. Les spécialités sont des antipasti locaux, des pâtes et des viandes grillées.

Punta Tresino Cilento, Naples Avec un panorama à 360° surplombant des vignes bruissantes et une mer Tyrrhénienne d'azur, c'est le lieu où troquer la vie réelle contre l'infiniment préférable art de vivre italien. Nichée au coeur de quatre hectares de vignes dans le parc national protégé du Cilento, la maison de vacances de l'Azienda Agricola San Giovanni produit aussi du vin depuis dix ans.

Carmens Restaurant Berlin Un intérieur exigu dans un décor eighties (sans ironie) n'est pas a priori très inspirant, mais Carmen et Wolfgang Krüger étaient fleischmeisters, maîtres bouchers, bien des années avant d'ouvrir cette adresse en 1989. Carmen est une cuisinière autodidacte, ce qui a valu un Bib Gourmand au restaurant et un score de 16 points dans le Gault-Millau.

NL
Geheimen ontsluierd

Debbie Pappyn geeft enkele van de best bewaarde geheimen van Europa prijs ...

Piscinas das Marés Porto In 1960 ontwierp de Portugese architect Alvaro Siza een zwembad voor de kuststad Leça da Palmeira, niet ver van het stadscentrum. Zijn creatie is een natuurlijke overgang in zandkleur tussen de Atlantische Oceaan en de rotsen.

Refuge de l'Espace Gstaad, in de buurt van Geneva Een snelle kabelbaan brengt u tot hoog in de wolken, naar Glacier 3000 en Le Refuge de l'Espace: op de houten banken liggen schapenvachten en op het menu staan vindingrijke, maar toch typische berggerechten.

Restaurant Can Marti Barcelona Restaurant Can Marti serveert de beste lunch in openlucht. Na een korte wandeling langs de Peu Funicular in Vallvidrera hoeft u alleen nog op de geur van geroosterd vlees af te gaan.

Qui Nun Se More Mai Rome In dit familierestaurant - moeder in de keuken, vader aan de grill en beide zonen in het restaurant - kunt u in het gezellige interieur of gewoon buiten eten en een keuze maken uit de suggesties op het bord: antipasti, pasta en geroosterd vlees.

Punta Tresino Cilento, Napels Met een 360 graden breed uitzicht over vier hectare wijngaarden en de azuurblauwe Tireense Zee is dit de plek waar uw dagelijkse sleur even plaats maakt voor de zo gegeerde Italiaanse levenswijze. Azienda Agricola San Giovanni ligt in natuurpark El Cilento en produceert al tien jaar overheerlijke wijn.

Carmens Restaurant Berlijn Carmen en Wolfgang Krüger waren al vele jaren fleischmeister (meesterslager) voor ze in 1989 dit restaurant met 'eighties'-decor openden. Carmen is autodidact en bezorgde het restaurant een Bib Gourmand en een score van 16 punten in de Gault Millau.

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