wish i were there

Heidi's Big Sur Recommendations

Heidi of 101 Cookbooks has a yummy-looking recipe for homemade power bars, accompanied by a bit of how-to video and some footage of her trip to Big Sur where she ate them.  She also recommends a few variations on the recipe, as well as where to stay (Treebones, a coastal "yurt hotel" I've mentioned before - she recommends #8 or #15) and where to hike (Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP, on the Ewoldsen Loop).

The Ewoldsen Loop is indeed a beautiful hike, and is just nearby of the best spots to get a look at McWay falls, a beautiful little waterfall that ends in the bright blue-green cove - the water is so clear, it feels like Hawaii or something.  There's a quick but crowded spot to check it out, starting at the east end of the Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP parking lot.

I also recommend taking Partington Cove trail, which is also in the JPB state park but has a trailhead about 2 miles north, just off of Highway 1.  It really looks like nothing - you park on a turnout just off of Partington Creek Bridge, and head through a cattle gate down a steep fire road.  It gets brushy after a bit, and the terrain keeps changing - next it's redwoods - until you pass through a  little tunnel and suddenly, you're on a rocky little landing.  When we were there, the only other poeple we saw during the entire beautiful hike were a group of local teenagers picnicing - fishing, playing the guitar, and completely ignoring our existence, even when (especially when?) we started freaking out because we saw a whale.  There's also another fork along the trail that leads to a spectacularly private cove - tons of rocks to scuttle and scramble over to get to the rocky beach with huge crashing waves.  Stunning.

check out this useful and well-photographed site, hikinginbigsur.com, for more ideas, and these previous posts from yours truly for more Big Sur planning.

eat love pizza

Corny as it is to love an Oprah book, I wholeheartedly endorse the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.  Ms. Gilbert writes in such a witty, engaging tone, that she transcends "chick-lit" or the slew of self-help memoirs that abound these days.  And not to mention, she has forced me to put Naples on my list just so I can visit the pizza place she waxes rhapsodically about in the first segment of her book.  Apparently I'm not the only one, since she has a link to Pizzeria da Michele on her website under FAQ, with a firm recommendation to order double mozzarella.  Her power of description has had me dreaming about this place for the last three years or so, ever since I read her book...

"So Sofie and I have come to Pizzeria da Michele, and these pies we have just ordered - one for each of us - are making us lose our minds.  I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delerium that my pizza might actually love me, in return.  I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair.  Meanwhile, Sofie is practially in tears over hers, she's having a metaphysical crisis about it, she's begging me, "Why do the even bother trying to make pizza in Stockholm?  Why do we even bother eating food at all in Stockholm?"

Pizzeria da Michele is a small place with only two rooms and one non-stop ovn.  It's about a fifteen-minute walk from the rain station in the rain, don't even worry about it, jsut go.  You need to get there fairly early in the day because sometimes they run out of dough, which will break your heart.  by 1:00 PM, the streets outside the pizzeria have become jammed with Neapolitans trying to get into the place, shoving for access like they're trying to get space on a lifeboat.  There's not a menu.  They only have two varieties of pizza here - regular and extra cheese. None of this new age southern California olives-and-sun-dried-tomato wannabe pizza twaddle.  The dough, it takes me half my meal to figure out, tastes more like Indian nan than like any pizza dough I ever tried.  It's soft and chewy and yielding, but incredibly thin.  I alwasy thought we only had two choices in our lives when it came to pizza crust 0 thin and crispy, or thick and doughy.  How was i to have known there could be a crust in this world that was thin and doughy?  Holy of Holies!  Thin, doughy, strong, gummy, yummy, chewy, salty pizza paradise.  On top, there is a sweet tomato sauce that foams up all bubbly and creamy when it melts the fresh buffalo mozzarella, and the one sprig of basil in the middle of the whole deal somehow infuses the entire pizza with herbal radiance, much the same way one whimmering movie star in the middle of a party brings a contact high of glamour to everyone around her.  It's technically impossible to eat this thing, of course.  You try to take a bite off your slice and the gummy crust folds, and hot cheese runs away like topsoil in a landslide, makes a mess of you and your surroundings, but just deal with it.

The guys who make this miracle happen are shoveling the pizzas in and out of the wood-burning oven, looking for all the world like the boilermen in the belly of a great ship who shovel coal into the raging furnaces.  Their sleeves are rolled up over their sweaty forearms, their faces red with exaggeration, one eye squinted against the heat of the fire and a cigarette dangling from the lips.  Sofie and I each order another pie - another whole pizza each - and Sofie tries to pull herself together, but really, the pizza is so good we can barely cope."

Hungry yet?

Be sure to check out their pictures of the Pizzeria da Michele staff over the years - I love that.  It reminds me of my favorite butcher shop in Brooklyn on Court Street, Staubitz, which has a similar display behind the counter, with sons becoming fathers and time marching on...

        Napoli - Via Cesare Sersale, 1/3
        (angolo Via P. Colletta)
        Tel. 0815539204       

another post about pizza...

dreaming of india...

i love this song, and it's been getting a lot of play around our house.  to me, it sounds like a selection from any of wes anderson's well-curated soundtracks...

the india song - big star

I'd like to go to india
Live in a big white house in the forest
Drink gin and tonic and play a grand piano
Read a few books
Far from what saddens my heart
Try to live away from it

Find a new girl
Who says she feels the same
Get to know her after the trip
Bathe in a forest pool
Her life a part of mine
And let no one know until i'm gone

Lo-fi Portland guide.

Notes by Naive posted another fantastic guide, this time to Portland, OR - really lovely pictures, great recommendations.  Will possibly be up there in the spring/summer 2008 - if not Portland, then at least Seattle, to visit family - so I'm hanging on to this.

She mentions staying at the ACE in Portland, which seems to be a bit of an upgrade from the ACE Seattle.  I've stayed at ACE Seattle twice now - the first time was okay, the second not so hot.  Or rather, very hot, as the city was experiencing a summertime heat wave and the rooms aren't air conditioned.  Whatever, not a huge deal since it's so cheap, right?   Except that they don't have screens on their windows - which I can appreciate aesthetically, I suppose - but we were literally swarmed by huge flies the entire time.   I can handle flies in the tropics, or in rural settings, but big ol' city flies in a supposedly hip and modern atmosphere?  Big ol' city flies at $189 a night?  No.  And the sheets on the bed were a gross 50/50 blend - pilled and scratchy.  Boo... It's not that cheap!  Maybe now that the Portland location is up and running, they will revisit the Seattle for a refresh.  It's high time...

hello again...

well, clearly i have been sucked into some sort of abyss, as my last post was all the way back in early October.  time flies when you are setting up and selling the holidays for the consumer public....

will be back in earnestness soon.

getaway songs

here's a handful of my favorite getaway-themed songs.  listen on random, or listen in order - either way it's a good mix to get you in the mood for adventure...

• Lets Go Trippin'  -  Dick Dale
• I'm So Bored With the U.S.A.  -  The Clash
• Get Me Away From Here, I'm_Dying  -  Belle & Sebastian
• Holiday  -  Weezer
• This Will Be Our Year  -  The Zombies
• Time To Get Away   -  LCD Soundsystem
• Let's Go Away For Awhile (Stereo Mix)  -  The Beach Boys
• America   -  Simon & Garfunkel
• Two Of Us -  The Beatles
• Maps  -  Yeah Yeah Yeahs   
• Scenic World -  Beirut
• Everybody's Talkin'  -  Harry Nilsson
• Why Don't We Do It In The Road?  -  The Beatles
• Have Love Will Travel -  The Sonics
• Universal Traveler  -  Air
• farawayplaces -  The Ruby Lee
• Let's Go  -  The Cars
• There Goes The Sun -  The Pernice Brothers
• Go Places  -  The New Pornographers
• Go Where You Wanna Go  -  The Mamas & The Papas
• The Bronze Beach Boys (Come On Let's Go) -  Pas/cal
• Who Loves The Sun -  The Velvet Underground
• I'll Follow The Sun -  The Beatles
• Leaves That Are Green -  Simon & Garfunkel
• Keep The Car Running -  The Arcade Fire
• Homesick -  Kings Of Convenience
• Homeward Bound -  Simon & Garfunkel
• Head Home  -  Midlake

i've included most of the mp3's, but really i had hoped to stream this as a playlist...  if you know how to explain this to a mac user (as easily as possible, please) do let me know!  and since we're chatting, what are your favorite songs that make you dream of adventure?

missing links...

taking some time to review my sidebar links, so excuse their absence... an edited version will return soon!

a girl after my own heart...

since we're on the subject, here's a perfect london guide, written by blogger naive.
this is exactly the kind of list i love: written by a local, not just for tourists, full of favorite idiosycratic places, shops and places to grab a bite, and illustrated with creative photography (see above, one of her images).  the list is too long to recap, but check it out - it's perfect.  and while you're at it, the rest of her blog is great, too.

no mo' jet lag...

here's a semi-helpful nytimes article about outwitting jetlag - with mostly common-sense advice, but oh well.  i knew someone who traveled internationally with a rock 'n' roll band for a while, and his strategy was to gradually ease himself into the other zone a week or two prior to departure by gradually staying up later (or going to bed earlier - are you big in japan, or huge in the ukraine?) in an effort to be ready upon arrival... that's not gonna save you from that 12-hour cramped ride in coach, though.

do you have any personal techniques for fighting jetlag?  i'd love to know!

roughing it in the hamptons?

i know, it sounds like a contradiction.  but according to this recent nyt article, there are two campsites worth a look.  the first, hither hills, situated between montauk and east hampton, seems preferred, with a "more genteel" crowd (at least when the author was visiting) and a lovely location by the beach.  cedar point, located at the northern point of east hampton, is more wooded in atmosphere, and less crowded.  either one is close enough to enable visits to the shops and restaurants that make the hamptons glamorous, so you can get a taste of what the high life is like, and then head back to the campsite for some miller highlife, if you are so budgeted.  check out the article for more details.

gateau basque museum

dorie greenspan, the famed pastry lover/cookbook co-author, has a blog where she recently detailed a trip she took to the gateau basque museum in the french basque countryside.  if you don't know what a gateau basque is, i'll let her explain:

Time out to describe a Gateau Basque: It's a double layer of dough, more like a thick tart crust than the word "gateau" would lead you to believe, encasing a layer of either vanilla pastry cream or dark cherry jam, a local specialty.

um, consider me interested in eating many of those, in every variety.  the woman practically planned her trip around visiting this small museum, and it definitely sounds like it was worth it.  so sign me up!

update - came across this tiny inn - you can rent a room in a farmhouse in the town of sare, nearby the museum, if you so desire.  beautiful views, and a great price! (starting at 280 euros/week!)  and the guggenheim bilabo is only an hour and a half away....

heading to stockholm?

if you're heading to stockholm, be sure to check out design blogger emma's well assembled guide.  it's a good way to see the city like a local!  a quickie compilation of her recommendations includes:

• skansen museum
• kid's clothing stores under, uni, and birka baby
• shopping for grownups - head to the SoFo area of Sodermalm, to check out grandpa, tjallamalla, nudie jeans, kunigunda, lisa larsson secondhand, under, coctail, acne jeans, uni, and nakkna.
• lasse i parken, vurma, cafe string, and cafe tubby for small bites
• the restaurants berlin, pet sounds bar, matkultur,
• street, stockholm's only street market
• cajsa warg, an organic grocery store (i always like checking out grocery stores in another country, even if it's just to look at the packaging)
• modern design shops asplund, granit, designtorget, ahlens, and stockhome.
• to stay?  hotel rival, hotel birger jarl, and clarion hotel

NYC greenmarket

even if you come to new york from a haven of farmer's markets - like me, in southern california - where i think it is possible to go to several farmer's markets daily in lieu of ralph's if you were so inclined - you really should still go check out the legendary greenmarket in nyc's union square.  it is a special experience in such an urban setting - this is not only a destination, but a place that many people simply must pass through in their efforts to get elsewhere, so it provides for wonderful people watching and a truly new york experience.  clearly, things must keep moving in nyc at all times, as you can see from this video of alice waters explaining how she shops the greenmarket.  that other customer just cannot wait for her fruit, she must get in there! she must get her berries as quickly as possible, cameras be damned!  hustle bustle, hustle bustle.  don't be confused by the lush array of vegetable and plants -it sure is new york city, after all.

here's the print article (with recipes) in case you can't get the video to load.

not exactly travel related, but somehow sprinkled with wanderlust...

 

i love love love maira kalman.  she is indescribably amazing, and i just discovered that she's created a blog for ye olde new york times which is unfortunately on hiatus, but fortunately archived.  (check out november - it's all about paris.)  if you don't know about her or her late husband tibor, then you need to start clicking and reading. 

please watch this!  it's just so nice.

happy english shop

shelf looks like a fabulous place to pop into while in london... i heard about it on the blog of the fabulous laura normandin, who makes lovely illustrations and delicious hand-crafted goods.  there are more pictures on her site... 
(secret confession - when i was working in a tiny shop in soho a few years ago, i think i accosted her when she came in and made a purchase.  i was just so excited to meet the person who had drawn the cover art for sufjan steven's michigan album, of which i was obsessed at the time, that i just couldn't help myself.  awkward!  anyway, nice to see she's continuing to make more good things.  oh yeah, and speaking of good things, she's also one of the amazing crafters that makes martha fabulous.)

hotel azúcar

okay,  i think i just might move into one of the 20 bungalows at hotel azúcar in veracruz, mexico after seeing a few pictures in elle decor and travel & leisure.  their website is fantastic, too - reflecting the design of the hotel, which is vibrant and playful, with a modern, clean edge.  the design of the hotel is inspired by celia cruz, latin music legend, and is full of unique touches, like a thatched-roof outdoor library, filled with white adobe benches and hot hot pink pillows.  each room has a private terrace and hammock... perfect!  rates right now are 1600 pesos for a double bedroom, which currently works out to about $150 a night.  to get to the small town, you can drive a bumpy road or fly (in a tiny 4 seater) from mexico city.  sign me up!

ps - azúcar is owned by the same crew that created the fabulous condesa DF in mexico city, the vibrant hotel básico on the mayan riviera, and the minimalist hotel habita, also in mexico city.  they are all well-designed, but i am most drawn to the lively, casual-luxe style of the azúcar and the básico.

allegra hicks store

... just reading the april issue of w magazine, i came across an article on the fashion designer allegra (wife of ashley, son of the incredible david) hicks... she is opening a store in manhattan, and it is sure to be beautifully designed.  next time you're in new york, head to 1007 madison avenue, in 10021 (tel:+212.249.4241) to have a look.  supposedly, an l.a. location is in the works as well.

for the design fiend: denmark shops

brooklyn-based alexa runs the online home goods store and blog called lille hus, which focus on her love of all things danish.  occasionaly she posts about some shops she loves in copenhagen - go to her blog under copenhagen for pictures!  i'll have to make sure i check these out someday:

• mayol - blågårdsgade 5, st. tv., 200 københavn n, tel:+35360139  (housewares)
   
• det mondaene skur - gammel kongevej 82, 1850 frederiksberg C, tel:+33261012  (housewares)       

• grønlykke - læderstræde 3 og 5, 1201 københavn k, tel:+4533130081 (housewares)

• créme de la créme a la edgar - kompagnistræde 8, kld., 1208 københavn k, tel:+33361817;  at the corner of kompagnistræde and læderstræde (mostly kids clothing, with some adult thrown in for good measure)
• stilleben - læderstræde 14, dk-1203 københavn k, tel:+33911131 (ceramics and housewares)
• R.O.O.M. - nørregade 12, tel.+4533414400  (housewares)
• cykelmageren -store kongensgade 57B,  1264 københavn k, tel: 33111211 (very cool bikes, evidently they ship to the US, too!)

check out www.krak.dk for directions and maps - it's in danish, but if you just put the name of the place you want to find in the first search box, "hvad", on the home page, krak will give you the address.  then you can click "se resultater på kort", on the right side, and it will give you a map.  a map is a map in any language!

in the meantime, i'll have to settle for the online inspiration - lille hus is great (check out alexa's story here), but i also love alex beauchamp's hygge house - she offers a great explanation of the intangible appeal of hygge (more info here), and a lovely blog that explores a personal view of applying that danish concept to an american life.  so stop and smell the flowers already, okay?

(above photo - http://d-nice.com)

feeling french?

when i lived in manhattan, i managed to make a few weekend trips up to the hudson river valley.  during one detour, i discovered a gem of a shop called basic french in a tiny town called red hook.  it's full of great french imports, mostly everyday items like elegant housewares, comfy pj's, lovely children's toys, frenchy books and paper goods, and great smelling soaps and toiletries.  now that i'm in california, though, i really love their well-edited website - i go there whenever i'm pining for a little paris or provence.  the owner also created a blog (which hasn't been updated in a couple of years - oh well) about some of her adventures while summering in a house in the french countryside... it's good for a little vicarious vacationing!

high desert test sites

the annual andrea zittel-sponsored high desert test sites is coming up out in joshua tree on may 12-13...  i highly recommend it.  it's a great opportunity to be able to be a part of something sponsored by one of contemporary art's most notable artists - not just by or about the artist, but her collective vision and community.  um, can you tell that she's one of my favorites?  she makes me want to only eat out of bowls and live in one tiny room to maximize my efficency.  (ps - be sure to check out her show at moca right now, too.)  anyway, we went last spring and weren't able to see everything because we just drove out, spur of the moment, from los angeles.  some of the work we saw was quirky, some was unimpressive, some was definitely stimulating.... overall, it was a great experience.  it's supposed to be a smaller presentation this year, but we recently invested in a bunch of camping equipment for our trip to big sur so we are going to try out some desert camping and spend the night at the indian cove campsite just inside the park from 29 palms.  i have heard really good things about other campgrounds in the park, specifically ryan campground, white tank campground, and belle campground, but  indian cove is a bit closer to HDTS, and accepts reservations, so there it is.  i bought this guide to the park by james kaiser and it has been really helpful - he's very frank about his opinions.  the author also maintains a helpful website with some links to lodging; you can find it at jameskaiser.com. 

as far as hotels go, i remember hearing about a cool little place to stay in town where many of the rock climbers and joshua tree adventurers stay after a long day of adventure.  i can't remember the name, but here are some decent-seeming options i found from a google search and from the afore-mentioned site:

• 29 palms inn - unambitious (but doable) cabins and bungalows.  rates anywhere from $85 to $280.
  
• joshua tree inn - where gram parsons spent his last days, and other music legends (rolling stones, donovan, emmylou harris, the eagles) have stayed "over the years"... i'm sure it wasn't recently, but it looks like an interesting place with a good amount of history, nonetheless.  rates are $75 - $95 per night, with deals for a weekly rate
• spin and margie's desert hideaway - 4 suite hacienda-style bungalows, each with a kitchenette.  colorful, semi-crazy decor with mexican blankets and brightly painted walls.  could be better in person than it looks online...  rates are $115 - 150 per night.  i'm generally not into the b&b scene, though.
• rosebud ruby star - a small inn with 4 private bungalows.  2 night minimum.  of the four, i think i like the biltmore bunkhouse the best - $370 for 2 nights.  but again, not usually in love with b&b's...
• harmony motel - where U2 (one of my least favorite bands of all time) stayed as they worked on their joshua tree album.  recently renovated, but with not much charm - very boring cheap-looking decor, and by boring i don't mean minimalist. anyway, not at the top of the list, but very inexpensive - $70 a night.  also has one private cabin, the "jack kerouac cabin" for $80 per night.

considering the burgeoning art connection in joshua tree,  i wish there were a motel that rocks it like the thunderbird motel does in marfa, texas... there's enough style in palm springs, i guess, but it would be nice if someone did it in a more remote area.  if you don't mind not staying in the thick of joshua tree, i highly recommend hope springs out in desert hot springs, just next to palm springs.  what an gem - we stayed here last november, and i cannot recommend it highly enough.  serene, lovely, well maintained, out-of-the-way but not too disconnected, with friendly but non-intrusive hosts.

oh, and here's the wikipedia travel guide to j-tree. 

liveblogging big sur....

naw, just kidding.  but we are heading out today, and i'll be sure to post a trip report when we get back.  have a great weekend, everyone.... to any who are doing coachella this weekend, give bjork my love!  and the arcade fire!  and peter bjorn and john! and air!  and of montreal! and... aw, shucks.  you get the picture -  i'm just a little bit jealous.

my architect...

continuing with architecture.... some serious destination inspiration came to me from the 2003 documentary my architect.  since seeing that film, i have been slightly obsessed with the idea of visiting louis i. kahn's national assembly building in dhaka, bangladesh. The building began construction in 1962 and was not completed until 1983, and was truly the pinnacle of kahn's career.  whether you enjoy the movie or not, hopefully you can see past his flaws as a human and just respect his life's work (see the imdb message boards for a little bit of comical shortsightedness).  there is an utter serentity to kahn's works - they seem strong and confident, but very much at peace, which definitely seems at odds with his personal affairs.  check out this site for some intriguing photographs of various kahn works, including the national assembly, by an architect/photo-hobbyist, as well as this book  - an incredible, in-depth exploration of the national assembly. 

the only kahn i've seen was when the husband and i were in la jolla a few months ago, and on our way to visit a friend... we passed the salk institute and couldn't help ourselves - we pulled in and walked around the exterior, peeking up into the building from the front of the fountain (it was a saturday, and the building is not open to the public except for special tours at noon every monday, wednesday, thursday, and friday, with reservations required).  we'll have to go for one of those tours next time, it definitely seems worth it.

speaking of modernists...

johnson in 1949 at glass house

budget travel online has a nice article about the recent opening to the public of philip johnson's glass house, and a great accompanying slideshow that mentions other modernist residential masterpieces that one can visit.  here's the rundown, in case the slideshow disappears:

• the glass house by philip johnson - new canaan, connecticut; tours from $25. 
• fallingwater by frank lloyd wright - mill run, western pennsylvania; tours from $16.
• villa savoye by le corbusier - poissy, france (40 min from paris); tickets €5
• maison la roche by le corbusier - paris, france; tickets around $4
  • also operated in paris by the fondation le corbusier: immeuble molitor - appartement de le corbusier.  refer to same site for information.
• schindler house by rudolph m. schindler - west hollywood, california (around the corner from me!);  admission $7.
• gropius house by walter gropius - lincoln, massachusets (about 30-45 minutes from boston); tickets $10.
• paul rudolph house by paul rudolph - new york city; only open the first friday of every month for a $20 tour - reservations required.
• rietveld schröder house by gerrit rietveld - utrecht, netherlands; tickets €16 and reservation practically required.
• farnsworth house by mies van der rohe - plano, illinois (about an hour from chicago); tickets $20.

and might i add a few recommendations of my own? 

• check out this old post about the sonneveld house in rotterdam, the netherlands; russel wright's dragon rock in upstate new york; and mies van der rohe's krefeld villas in krefeld, germany.
• for some reason (maybe it's the oppressive government, maybe it's the pollution, who can really say...) china is one of the least appealing places in the world to me.  really, i am dying to go everywhere, except there.  well, okay, i'd go, but it's maybe the very last location on my list.  my husband is all up in china's grill, though, and is dying to visit.  we'd both be happy, though, if it meant going to the great (bamboo) wall house, by kengo kuma, which is located outside beijing near the great wall.  bamboo house is part of a development which may deserve more of a post later, but for now go here to whet your appetite or check out this beautiful book about all of his work.  okay, so he's not a modernist, but whatever.

one more reason for india....

hey, did you know that le corbusier designed a city called chandigarh in india? according to this lonely planet article, "when pakistan was created in 1947, chandigarh was established to replace lahore as the punjabi capital."  Since the borders of those regions have changed so much, this area is now in india - it's located halfway from new delhi to the pakistan border.  anyway, more info to come, but i'm there.  architectural gems abound in that region, but i wasn't aware of this.  pictured above: the chandigarh assembly building.

big sur bakery

a couple of popular places that we want to check out when we get to big sur....

• big sur bakery - when we get sick of camp cooking! looks like they have some great treats...
• henry miller library - to check in with the parton saint of big sur
• a hike into the julia pfeiffer burns SP - to see the only waterfall that runs into the pacific over 80 ft. granite cliffs!
• deetjen's - possibly for a meal, or at least to check out this historical little haunt.  would love to stay here on a non-camping trip sometime!
• nepenthe - for a drink on the terrace to take in the can't miss view (i hear the food, however, is definitely missable - mediocre and overpriced)
• monterey bay aquarium - maybe a side trip before we head home?  only if we've had enough of the wilderness...

big sur is on the books!

so, it took me quite a while to post, and yes, i have managed to travel a bit in the meantime....  but the next adventure on the books is my very first camping trip as an adult!  I haven't camped since girls scouts in the 5th grade, and my husband is in about the same place, so we are pretty much starting from scratch with this whole "roughing -it" thing, as you may have gleaned from previous posts.  we will be heading up to big sur at the end of april, and  will be staying in the pfeiffer big sur state park (in the redwood canyon) - not to be confused with the julia pfeiffer-burns sp (closer to the ocean).  i had some input from friends when trying to sort out where to stay in big sur, but in the end i chose the pfeiffer big sur state park since it seems like the classic.  it's also quite large and seems to have great facilities.  i managed to reserve us a site amongst a pocket of tent-only sites over in the weyland area, just off the river that runs through the park.  i hope it's lovely!  more to come as i prepare for the trip throughout the month, and any suggestions are welcome!

el dorado hotel, sonoma

i'm in love with this place - the el dorado hotel in sonoma, california.  so many wine country inns and hotels have that "quaint" grandma's house feeling - maybe i am particularly averse since my grandma's house never  felt like that, and thank goodness.  anyway, i don't like victoriana in my everyday life - why would i want to vacation in it? 

the el dorado hotel thankfully gets it right, from the looks of their website.  clean vintage-inspired lines with a touch of nor cal character, and a fabulous looking restaurant to boot.  It's located on the sonoma plaza, which is a charming little downtown-ish square.  prices are decent - ranging from $155 to $225, depending on the room and season.  i have some family (not grandma!) in sonoma, so when i make it up there - maybe this winter - i'll be sure to post a review.  have you been there?  post a comment and let me know how it was!

rural cottages for rent...

found on fodor's message boards, from some spain experts...... a recommendation for toprural, a website that offers a search for country and rural lodging in spain, portugal, and france.  another site, nekatur, also gets a shout out for offering rural guesthouses and accomodations for the basque country.  casas rurales are akin to the gite in france.

and here's some more chatting about northern spain...  i love the posters on the fodors message boards!

NYC museum hours

I am going to NYC on rather short notice this week, and i am so very excited to go try to fulfill my list.  the husband and i will be staying at the chelsea lodge, one of my budget options.  i'll let you know how it goes!  in the mean time, i'm trying to plan out my days, and i know i'd like to hit a few museums while i'm there.  here's the big list, what's showing right this minute that interests me, and their hours for easy reference:

• MOMA
  • "Dada" and "Printmaking Now"
  • Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, & Thursday 10:30 a.m.–5:30p.m.; Tuesday closed; Friday 10:30 a.m.–8:00p.m.)
  • a whopping $20 for adults, $12 for students, and free on Fridays from 4pm to 8pm.

• Whitney Museum of American Art

• "Full House: Views of the Whitney's Collection at 75" and "Edward Hopper"
• Monday–Tuesday: Closed; Wednesday–Thursday 11 am–6 pm; Friday 1–9 pm  Saturday–Sunday 11 am–6 pm
• $15 adults, $10 students, fridays from 6pm to 9 pm are pay-what-you-wish.

• The Met - 5th Avenue at 82nd Street
  
  • "Anglomania"; "Kara Walker at the Met: After the Deluge"; "On Photography: A Tribute to Susan Sontag"; "Ikat Textiles of Indonesia"; "Cai Guo-Qiang On the Roof: Transparent Monument"; "The Four Seasons" (chinese painting)
  • Monday: Closed; Tuesday-Thursday: 9:30 am-5:30 pm; Friday-Saturday: 9:30 am-9 pm; Sunday: 9:30 am-5:30pm
  • $15 recommended for adults, $10 recommended for senior citizens, $10 recommended for students
• Guggenheim 5th Avenue at 89th Street
  
  • "Zaha Hadid" and "Jackson Pollock: Paintings on Paper"
  • Saturday-Wednesday: 10 am-5:45 pm; Thursday: closed; Friday: 10 am-7:45pm
  • adults  $18, students and seniors (65 years +) with valid ID  $15, children under 12 free
• New Museum
  
  • oops, not opening at the new location until Fall 2007, but you can check out the building in progress at the corner of Bowery and Prince Street.
• Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum - 91st Street and 5th Avenue
  
  • "Yinka Shonibare Selects: Works from the Permanent Collection";"Feeding Desire: Design and Tools of the Table, 1500-2005"
  • Monday–Thursday: 10 am–5 pm; Friday: 10 am–9 pm; Saturday: 10 am–6pm ; Sunday: Noon–6pm
  • adults $12, students and seniors (with ID) $7, children under 12 free
• Neue Galerie - 86th street and 5th Avenue
  
  • "Gustav Klimt: Five Paintings From the Collection of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch Bauer"; the fabulous viennese pastries at Café Sabarsky (yum! streudel!)
  • Saturday-Monday, Thursday: 11 am-6 pm; Tuesday-Wednesday: closed; Friday: 11 am-9pm
  • adult admission $15, students and seniors $10, children under 12 not admitted and those under 16 must be accompanied by an adult (!)
• Natural History Museum -
• Museum at FIT  - 7th avenue at 27th street
  
  • "The Tailor's Art"
  • Tues - Fri Noon - 8pm , Saturday 10am - 5pm. Closed Sundays, Mondays, and legal holidays.
  • free admission!

let's go celebrate summer in iceland...

do you love iceland, but always feel like an idiot when trying to pronounce reykjavík? (or any other icelandic word for that matter?)

well, me too.  i would love to visit someday, but i was never sure when it would be best to go - deep in the dead of winter to get the furthest experience from my own reality, or at a more comfortable time when i could more easily enjoy iceland's offerings?

my question may have been answered by an old post on shortcut, where i discovered that the first day of summer is actually a national holiday in iceland.  it always falls on a thursday somewhere between april 19-24, and descriptions of it sort of bring to mind our fourth of july celebrations, but perhaps with a bit less organization.  everyone just gets outside to celebrate the coming of summer and the end of winter, and there's even some exchanging of presents, i hear.  it sounds like it is a holiday that is especially meaningful to kids, and the shortcut post even mentions some impromptu parades starting up... i love the idea of a casual parade - a group of people who are excited enough to start their own show and just march through the streets, collecting friends as they go.  also, sort of akin to the usa's groundhog day, there is an old legend predicting that if the night before the first day of summer is freezing cold then the summer to come will be great.

if you are planning a trip to iceland, here's a blog by a jared, a former bostonian now living the icy expatriate dream in reykjavík (who also happens to be the author of the shortcut post).  jared mentioned recently that the ethereal indie all-stars sigur rós will be playing a free outdoor concert at klambratún park (aka miklatún) in downtown reykjavík on july 30, 2006.  awesome!  if you're going, please do report back and share how it was!  i have to say that when i saw them about 5 years ago in los angeles at the john anson ford theatre (a great venue - outdoors and lined with tall twirling cypress trees), it was a transformative, indescribable experience - one of the best shows i've ever seen.

more iceland links:

• reykjavik's official tourist website
• icelandair (they always seem to be running some sort of promotion)

• iceland airwaves a music festival to be held in various clubs and venues in downtown reykjavik october 18th - 22nd, featuring the kaiser chiefs, wolf parade, islands, and love is all, alongside lots of icelandic bands and solo performers and djs.

stepwells

i love this blog, pruned, which covers mostly landscape architecture and some other cultural odds and ends.  this not-so-recent post (which i have been saving for a while now) gives a lesson on stepwells, which makes me want to go to india to see one in person - even in the face of what's going on in mumbai right now.  here's the original inspiration for pruned's post (see photo above), and here are some places to go to while you're there:

• chand baori, near the temple of harshshat mata
• panna mia stepped pond
• vasantgadh stepped pond, rajasthan
• hadi rani well, toda raisingh, rajasthan
• queen's stepwell at patan - gujarat state of western india
• nimrana stepwell, rajasthan
• cistern beside nahagarh fort, above jaipur
• manjushri stepwell, dhank, saurashtra
• the vav (aka well) in the small village of adalaj outside ahmedebad

link here to a great slideshow of stepwell photos, and check out the beautiful book steps to water: ancient stepwells of india - all about stepwells for further inspiration.

seattle hotels

i'm going to seattle on thursday, and while we ended up reserving at the ace hotel again (it's hard to beat the price + style combo, especially right now during "cruise season" - room with private bath for $171, or with very nice shared bath $99), i compiled a list of other hotels in the area worth checking out.  here goes:

• inn at the market (about $210/ night; ) this place surprised me - when i heard "boutique hotel" but realized it was in the heart of  pike place market, one of seattle's main tourist attractions, i though for sure it would be, um, icky.  but lo and behold, i think the hotel looks quite tasteful and is also comprably priced. 
• alexis (about $280/night; ) a kimpton hotel, themed around the idea that each room has original works of art in them - but they're awful works of art.  i wouldn't mind a hotel room with bad art - that's a given.  just don't be so proud about it!  this is no 21c.
  
• hotel andra (about $270/night; ) also in belltown, the ever-hipper neighborhood.  focusing on scandanavian design, with face stockholm toiletries!  looks really nice, but pricey.
• sorrento (roughly $210/night; ) in the heart of downtown in a historic building (there since 1909), with a modernized old-fashioned decor. 
• gaucho (roughly $175/night; ) right in belltown near the ace and some of the better nightlife seattle has to offer,  we really considered this place.  pretty good price.  an old school steakhouse downstairs.  maybe they went a little too far with all the orange-red?  not terribly soothing.
• hotel vintage park (roughly $270/night; ) from the same people that brought you the hotel monaco, if you can believe it!  tastefully decorated with a loose theme based on the oregon wine regions.
• hotel max (roughly $200/night; ) trying really hard to be "artsy" - my least favorite word of all time.  it definitely wishies it were filled with rock stars ever night, but i have a feeling they actually stay elsewhere.
• watertown (roughly $150/night; ) very streamlined, modern hotel; boutique meets business traveler vibe, affordable, just outside of downtown in the university business district.
• silver cloud inns (roughly $ /night; ) part of a pacific NW chain, and it looks like your basic moderately priced chain hotel but maybe a bit friendlier... it's definitely for budget, not style.  over on the water by the houseboat jungle, so not as convenient for downtown access as some of the others, but still pretty close all the same.
• hotel monaco (roughly $350/night; ) this hotel got plenty of positive shout outs on fodors message boards, but from the looks of the website, i wouldn't be able to stand the carnival decor.  yeesh.  and you get to pay a pretty penny for that garishness, too!
• W hotel (roughly $ /night; ) same as any other W; at least you can count on it?

mymymy boogie shoes...

speaking of souvenir shopping... what do i want to buy when i (hopefully) go to barcelona this november?   espadrilles and ballroom dancing shoes, yessiree.

espadrilles
i went to the castañer shop in paris, and loved their styles.  they make espadrilles for companies like christian dior, hermes, and kate spade every summer, but they have their own line as well, which i have seen at barneys, among other fabulous stores.  they also make cute non-espadrille styles.  i bet they're even better (and cheaper? please?) in spain, since that's where they are based.  locations...

• castañer barcelona: meste nicolau, 23  (tel. +34 934 142 428)
• castañer madrid: claudio coello, 51 (tel. +34 915 781 890)
• castañer madrid: c. cial moda shopping local 19 pl.o av. gereral perón (tel. +34 915 566 902)

one of the most famous places to buy espadrilles is la manual alpagatera, shown above (calle avinyó, 7; tel. +93 3010 172).  they have an endless selection, and even do custom styles if you bring in your own fabric.  also, check out the beautiful slideshow on their site showing the espadrille making process (click at top of page on "galería 1"; one example at top of this post).
         

ballroom dancing shoes
i love how 40's these shoes look... and they have to be well made and relatively comfortable, since they are designed for dancing!  of the two, madrid really seems to have the bigger concentration of flamenco dance over barcelona.  also, here's what i found in barcelona and southern spain, the true capital of flamenco:

barcelona

• flora albaicin, barcelona: calle canuda 3, in barri gotic, metro catalunya (tel. +93 302 10 35)
• calzados don pepito, barcelona: paseo espronceda 84, sabadell/bcn (tel. +93 710 56 93)

madrid

• don flamenco zapatos, madrid: calle leon 26 (tel. +91 429 98 39)
• yebra, madrid: calle luis vélez de guevara 16 (tel. +91 369 32 12)
• zapatillas coral, madrid:  cava baja 25 (tel. +91 365 58 69)
• calzado senovilla, madrid:  c/ mercurio, 11 pol. ind. sur  (tel. +34 91 846 40 00)

other cities in spain

• begonia cervera, elda (alicante): avd. chapí, 8 entlo. B (tel.+ 965388717)
• zapatillas coral, sevilla: plaza de gavida 9 (tel.+ 95 437 62 03)
• zapatos mayo, sevilla: pza. alfalfa, 2 (                                    tel. + 954225555)

other souvenirs from spain

i wish i were going to madrid:  here's a great article about special stores in madrid that carry spain-specific souvenirs.  some places mentioned, aside from castañer, in summary:

• capas seseña: a 103-year-old cape store!  for your dramatic side... 23 Calle de la Cruz; (tel. + 34-91 /531-6840)
• casa de diego: madrid's oldest fanmaker, also carries umbrellas and spanish haircombs, for all your flirting needs... 12 puerta del sol (tel. +34-91/522-6643)
• guitarras ramírez: machine and hand made guitars, from the family who invented one of the prototypes for the world's first modern guitars.  george harrison used a ramírez when recording help!... legacy enough for me.  8 calle de la paz (tel. +34-91/531-4229)
• maty: ruffles galore at the flamenco dancing shop to the pros.  maybe some dancing shoes, too?  2 calle maestro victoria (tel. +34-91/531-3291)
• casa mira: a sweet shop specializing in turrón, a traditional spanish nougat, among other tasty treats.  wrapped in waxed paper and string, since 1845.  yum. 30 carrera de san jerónimo (tel. +34-91/429-8895)
• guantes luque: gloves, gloves, and more gloves.  how ladylike.  3 calle espoz y mina (tel. +34-91/522-3287)

since i'm not sure when i'll be making it to spain, i'll have to settle for  espadrilles etc., and jacqueline schnabel's fabulous dancing shoes at calypso christiane celle....  and maybe a pedro almodovar movie to get me in the mood.

new york city budget hotels

in preparation for a quickie visit to NYC in august, i am looking into cheap manhattan hotels.  what?  that exists?  my preference would be to be downtown-ish, and not in any major tourist areas - i.e. times square or herald square.  here's the running list i've come up with so far, not quite in order of preference but with the better ones at the top.

• hotel qt $170/night and up. andre balazs' new stylish budget hotel in western midtown
• chelsea lodge $115/night, double occupancy (sink and shower in room, shared toilets down the hall for some rooms). family run, excellent reviews on tripadvisor
• amsterdam hospitality  all hotels start at about $120/night.  hotel group with small boutique locations all over manhattan, but mostly in midtown.  the marcel is decent looking, and closer to downtown (23rd and 3rd).  other hotels from amsterdam hospitality are the ameritania, amsterdam court, bentley, moderne, and the astor hotel.
• hudson hotel hipster hotel by ian schrager filled with design by phillippe starck, but rarely have the cheap advertised rooms available.  cool nightlife options, but tiiiiny rooms! (i visited one when a friend was staying here about 2 years ago.)
• howard johnson express LES from $179.  supposedly very clean, but very basic.  the perfect location (albeit incongruous for a generic chain hotel) for exploring the lower east side, soho, and east village.  right next door to sunshine cinemas!
• the gershwin hotel $130/night for standard rooms, less for bare bones. very, um, quirky decor, super youth-oriented, wishes it were the chelsea hotel?  individual bunk beds (hostel style) also available
• abingdon guest house $200/night.
• washington square hotel $200/night. tiny rooms, good location, mediocre aesthetic.
• union square inn $120/night.  some really bad reviews on tripadvisor!  buta  great location.  you get what you pay for?
• larchmont hotel approx $120/night.
• rooms to let only 4 rooms and one apartment, starting at $200/night, seems like you're just rooming in someone's home
• craigslist always has apartments to rent or exchange!

bibliophiles, please!

 
my book-obsessed husband sent me a link to this hotel in new york - the library hotel in new york city.  it's just around the corner from the grand old new york public library in midtown, so you can conveniently pop by and say hi to patience and fortitude during your trip.  here's the drill:  each of the 10 floors is organized by the dewey decimal system, and each room is filled with a collection of books on a selected topic - e.g. the classics, astronomy, erotic literature, new media, and so on.  so you can request a room that pertains to your interests and read away.  they also have a media library from which you can borrow any of the AFI's top 100 films, albeit on video.  i love that!   the decor is - books aside - that of a typical conservatively-dressed boutique hotel - tasteful and modern.  the writer's den serves drinks, the reading room serves coffee and pastries 24 hours, and the poetry garden is a lovely rooftop conservatory.  rates in the $400/night range... to be expected in NYC, i suppose.  anyhoo, much better execution than this place... sheesh.

i love the card catalog detail behind the reception desk in the lobby.  i wonder what their printed matter looks like... i hope there is some stamping of dates involved in the check-in process!

pim's paris

one of my favorite food bloggers, pim of chez pim, always seems to be raving about some amazing little food mecca in some fabulous corner of the world that i am dying to try.  here are some of her more recent recommendations that i don't want to forget...

in paris:

• café de la Nouvelle Mairie, 19 rue des Fossés-St-Jacques, in the 5th.  "...a little aperitif before dinner at one of the cutest bistro rooms in paris, hidden somewhere behind the pantheon."
• l'ourcine.  "...an old favorite."
• l'astrance "is it even possible for a restaurant to get better every time you go there?  l'astrance may have just proven that it certainly is. "

in and around san sebastian, en españa:

• mugaritz  aldura aldea 20 zk. - errenteria 20100. gipuzkoa (tel. +943 522 455).
• for breakfast - "a cafe cortado and a rosquilla."

redwood hugging....

what is with my fascination with camping these days?  your guess is as good as mine.  it must be life in california that's turning me all outdoorsy.   a friend of mine just returned from a long weekend in big sur, and she proclaimed its glories.  i knew all that, even though i've never been. ( i have a runnning shortlist of places to stay and dine and explore... would you expect less from me?)  she gave me the lowdown on the cabin- and tent- camping end...  and she was able to recommend a few places over others, thanks to her many trips there over the years. be