What's in Shazzaz?

The List. During the past few years, we've come to realize that just about every person we know has had an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime travel experience. (And a lucky few have had several). We'd like to list the best of these restaurants, hotels and itineraries here, primarily to plan our trips, but also because just hearing about them helps those between-trip doldrums.

Keep in mind this is not your average "good place to stay" list. It's a shout-out to that restaurant you'd slam on the brakes and make a u-turn for, just to enjoy its arugula pesto. Or an acknowledgement to that magical villa in Fiesole where, sitting under the wisteria on a balmy summer evening, sipping wine with the lights of Florence below, you imagined yourself the owner. And remember, it's not all about the price. Caneel Bay and Seabourne win out over Sandals and Carnival any day. But so do trekking in Nepal and taking a public ferry to Iona.

We especially want to expand The List with schools for adults (language, cooking, art history, etc.) and worthwhile community service programs, with emphasis on tips for those of us who dislike roughing-it too much.

So look in the left column of this page and fill out the form to share your suggestions with us.

Here comes the standard disclaimer: Shazzaz posters are reliable, but conditions can change, so: 1) trust, then verify before booking that "great" hotel that later turns out to be under renovation and 2) provide us updated information in the Comments section of each post.

Also, check out Shazzblog for commentary on stories in the news with an international bent.

To get us started, here and here are a couple of our suggestions for The List.