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Take a whirlwind trip through the Twin Cities neighborhood of the North Loop, including everything the locals know and love—and are willing to share Named one of America’s Best Hipster Neighborhoods by Forbes, the North Loop has mastered the art of being funky and trendy, but at the same time sophisticated and independent. This area is booming, having a population that has just about tripled in the past decade, with former warehouses being transformed into apartments, boutiques and attention-grabbing restaurants, not to mention the addition of Target Field. Located on the edge of downtown Minneapolis , spend a leisurely day exploring this unique pocket of the city. Morning Grab a cup of coffee and breakfast dish at Moose & Sadie’s (try the quiche of the day, or ever- praised huevos rancheros ), then head over to One on One Bicycle Studio and rent a 3- speed Bianchi Milano to ride around the area on. They’ll also set you up with a helmet, lock and map of the area, as well as offe...

The search began before dawn; the train had just crossed the border of Tajikistan into Uzbekistan. We were only three hours into the four- day train ride between Dushanbe, Tajikistan’s capital, and Moscow. An Uzbek border guard , clad in brown fatigues , boarded the train — a Soviet-replica, green, with a silver roof — and began yelling. He moved through the car, searching passenger after passenger, ripping apart belongings, interrogating everyone about terrorism and narcotics, and scanning flip phones and cheap Nokias for “sex photos” (pornography is banned in Uzbekistan). The passengers endured this, unfazed. Almost all of them were migrants traveling to Russia for work. They’d seen this routine before. It was March. Across Tajikistan, thousands of people — mostly young men — were departing for or preparing to leave for Russia. The long Russian winter was nearing its end; construction projects in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg were slowly coming back to life. Tajikistan, t...