Globe Corner Blogs

My first years in Washington, DC, I was skeptical about all the cherry blossom hoopla that swirls around our nation’s capital every spring. We had a cherry tree back home in Ohio, and for the two days its sparse blossoms clung to the knotted limbs, it looked as if a rather pathetic spring had sprung. So why was it such a big deal here?

Though I had avoided the Cherry Blossom Festival initially, frightened off by the rumors of roving hordes of tourists, one year I broke down and traveled to the Tidal Basin in Potomac Park. It was early spring (peak bloom is usually around April 4th), and I was in short sleeves. …And so were the roving hordes of tourists. As I struggled out of the Metro station, carefully tip-toeing around squealing little kids, I began to doubt my choice of Sunday afternoon activities. But as soon as I neared the water my doubt dissolved.

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Whenever I search for budget accommodations in New York City, I am constantly shocked at the prices. Recently The Pod Hotel in Midtown Manhattan started popping up as a possibility, but I always rejected it. The name kind of scared me and I was just a bit hesitant. For my latest short jaunt to The Big Apple, however, the relative bargain price was just too good to pass up and I booked a single room with a shared bathroom for two nights.

It was great! Highly recommended! What a deal! The Pod Hotel is conveniently located at 230 East 51st Street right next to a wine bar Le Bateau Ivre and is a close walk to the subway. It was easy to find, check-in was a breeze, and most of the elevators worked. When I opened the door to my “pod” I did have a bit of deja-vu as it looked quite a bit like one of the claustrophobic cabins I have shared while traveling by ferries. However this room was bright, spotlessly clean, equipped with a lot of storage space for such a small place, and quiet. Everything that I needed except for a bathroom. Continue Reading »

For the past few weeks, whenever I told a friend that I was heading to Paris for a vacation, inevitably they would ask: “so… what are you going to eat there?” Some vegetarian friends warned with horror stories of growling stomachs, scouring the streets for someplace, anyplace, with even just a salad without a sprinkling of ham. I decided to prep as much as I could for our lacto-ovo diets by making notes of veggie-friendly restaurants on my maps of the city.

As a result, my Michelin Paris par Arrondissements atlas looked like the plan of attack of some crazed general. Scrawls of fine-point red sharpie noting cheese shops overwrote  important tourist locations like Notre-Dame. There was a sub-legend with symbols designating the 1970s sprouts-and-tempeh spots from the foodie restaurants who have a “menu au vert.”  Organic and macrobiotic joints were marked with an OM. Wine bars were heavily asterisked, the decided plan of retreat if it came to that.

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Stradun - photo by Lisa

Most people don’t realize that while the old town of Dubrovnik is quite small, navigating the pedestrian-only main street, Stradun, can take anywhere from three minutes to seven hours. The street is only about 300 meters long.  If you are on Stradun the diversions are apparent,  yet still, doing the three minute tour is difficult to accomplish.

You have to treat Stradun like ski slope.

The first step is to take a minute at the top of Stradun to survey the situation. The main impediment is the crowds.  (It has become a local pastime to complain about the crowds. Either too many crowds are ruining the ambiance or a lack of crowds is ruining business.)

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Annunciation (detail), Simone Martini

A trip through the Uffizi in Florence is almost like a crash course in Renaissance Art. I didn’t quite know what I was in for heading into this gallery; it turned out to be one of the highlights of my recent trip to Italy. My boyfriend and I purchased a Friends of the Uffizi pass, as we knew that this is a  blockbuster of a museum. The pass allowed us unlimited entries into the museum, which we used over the course of a few days (pass details here).

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The museum consists almost entirely of Florentine Renaissance paintings and sculptures. Arranged chronologically, viewers are able to link the progression of Renaissance art from the 13th to the 18th Century in their trip through the museum. The early Renaissance paintings, many of which are altar-like shaped canvases, are astounding in their straightforward approach to storytelling. The life of Christ is depicted in an almost storyboard manner on many of the various panels of the paintings. We loved the brutal simplicity of these works: angels floating on beams painted with gold leaf; halos so bright that they completely block out the background image; the hands of God peeking into picture planes.

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Classic Switzerland--photo by Kate

Notes from Zürich:

I have one serious recommendation for visitors to Zürich: eat as much chocolate as you can. Since waking up to a Toblerone on the empty seat next to me on the airplane, to the Swiss chocolate ice cream I just had at the Mövenpick, to the shared café mocha from this afternoon, every taste has been simply amazing. Take every opportunity you have to eat this stuff. They really know what they are doing here in Switzerland.

Also recommended: checking out the Freitag flagship store, located just past the hipster Züri-West neighborhood. Made of stacked shipping containers to create a 7-story building, after browsing their awesome bags, you can climb up to the rooftop. Enjoy a great view of Zürich and an even better glimpse of the Alps through the binoculars provided.

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Fun at the Beach

Weather-wise, it was perfect in Boston this weekend. Everyone seemed to be in a fantastic mood, people broke out their summer clothes, neighbors were sitting on their stoops, invitations to barbecues were popping up, and people were seriously starting to plan trips to the beach. Thanks to the weather forecast, I now know that the sun will disappear soon – most likely on my next day off from work – but that shouldn’t stop me or anyone from planning their next beach adventure. One must be prepared to take advantage of every weather-permitting opportunity. My godson Andy, who is featured in the photo, is always ready and willing to head to the closest beach. All he needs is his hat, shorts, sunscreen, adult supervision and he is ready to go. All the adult supervisors need to know is where to go. Continue Reading »

The Author Eats Skyr Unaware of the Lurking Camera on a Bus Somewhere in Iceland

Iceland is often described as a magical place. And for the average tourist there – as opposed to the average banker these days – I would have to agree with that assessment. The ethereal landscape particularly lends itself to Lord of the Rings-type fantasies. Waterfalls spill down the green hills into valleys of pastel wildflowers and hot springs. Snow-capped volcanoes, seething sulfur pits, and the occasional fjord pop up every now and then. Don’t be ashamed if you envision yourself sporting chain mail and downing flagons of mead after a hard day of discovering North America and slaying dragons. It seems like one could make quite a living offering Viking reenactments or selling Merlin costumes. And apparently they do. Continue Reading »

Sari, Mehndi, & Bangles! -- photo by Nicole

In India, everything is beautiful. Well, okay. Not everything.  But the women are gorgeous. Stunning. In fact, I noticed this even before I got to the subcontinent. While sitting on the plane and waiting to take off, anxiously anticipating the twenty-something hour flight from San Francisco to Bangalore, it was hard not to notice that the airline attendants — all women — could pass for models. It was also hard not to notice my dirty, holey cargo pants and extra baggy, don’t-harass-me shirt in comparison to their sleek pencil skirts and perfectly coiffed hair.

It was a theme that would be repeated during my stay in India. I even heard local women in Bangalore complain about the appearance of backpackers one day. “They come from all these rich countries and they are always dressing the same. They look so dirty and smelly…” Well, I could only assume they weren’t talking about me. But I decided then that I was going to ditch my unisex travel uniform of khaki pants and boring black top. I was going to dress like the beautiful Indian women I saw everyday: like the South Indian housewives who pinned jasmine flowers in their hair and dripped with gold and jewels for only a trip to the neighborhood market; like the professionals who floated through offices in silk salwar kameez; like the college students who sauntered through the high-end shops on MG Road in designer jeans.  In short, I decided to look like a lady instead of another “dirty” backpacker.  I decided to buy a sari.

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Mini Rough Guide New York City

I took a day trip to New York City this weekend for Monster Track–the alley cat bike race in which you ride to different checkpoints throughout the city and the first one to finish wins.  The race is easiest for those who live in New York and know the streets well, but my friend and I just went to experience the brutality of it all.  What is unique about this race is that it is on the streets in full traffic – there is no closed course – and the only rule is no brakes allowed.

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