Pakistani city of Lahore listed on NYT’s ‘52 places to love in 2021’ list

ISLAMABAD: The central Pakistani city of Lahore, once an intellectual center of the Indian subcontinent and now considered the cultural heart of Pakistan, has been included in a list of ‘52 places to love in 2021’ by the international newspaper, The New York Times.
The Times asked readers to “tell us about spots that have delighted, inspired and comforted them in a dark year.”
Out of 2,000 suggestions, NYT picked 52, including Lahore, to “remind us that the world still awaits.”
The ancient city of Lahore, Pakistan’s second largest after Karachi, is home to numerous tombs and mosques, palaces and fortresses, museums and gardens.
“Especially in winter, this city nourishes you. It opens its arms to you, then feeds you and wraps you in a hug,” Haneen Iqbal, a 29-year-old freelance writer in Toronto, Canada, wrote. “Pakistan has a bad reputation, and is often overlooked by travelers who come to South Asia. But Lahoris are some of the kindest, most hospitable people. They love to take care of you and feed you. Lahore’s hot summers can feel oppressive, but in winter, in the cool dusk, lights twinkle in the fog.”
“Androon Lahore, the city’s historic core, is studded with monuments from the Mughal era. I love to watch the Punjab locals feasting on terraces of restaurants overlooking the grand Badshahi Mosque — they are just regular people living their regular lives, and they are so alive in the present, while always connected to their past,” Iqbal wrote.
Other places on the list include South Wales, Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, Kaliya Dhrow in India, Isfahan in Iran and Cordoba in Spain.