http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/travel/02weekend.html?pagewanted=all
Some Tourists Don’t Need Advice
Robert Caplin for The New York Times
Pipa, a tapas bar in ABC Home & Carpet in which diners can also shop for the chandeliers and the mirrors displayed on the walls.
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By SETH KUGEL
Published: November 2, 2008
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New York City Travel Guide
Where to Stay
Where to Eat
What to Do
Go to the New York City Travel Guide »HERE’S how Michael Fox, the operations manager of the Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake City, plans for his trip to New York: he waits for The New Yorker’s food issue to come out, rips out pages and makes a list of where to go and what to order the next time he’s in town.
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Share your favorite New York City spots.
Post a Comment »Read All Comments (20) »Mr. Fox’s latest recommendation: the flat pasta with braised rabbit at Kefi, a small Greek restaurant on the Upper West Side that will soon move to a bigger space. “It feels like one of the local places,” he said, standing outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art about two weeks ago. “It’s not in a place a tourist would just be walking by. I like feeling like an insider.”
It’s an excellent tip. Kefi is a gem known to Upper West Siders and food-obsessed New Yorkers, but way off the tourist track. It turns out you can make quite a weekend plan by simply asking a dozen visitors from everywhere from Bulgaria to Vancouver to share the highlight of their own trips, then cobbling those together. It might even yield better results than (alas) reading a travel columnist who’d like to think he knows what visitors will like but has perhaps become a bit blase by living in the city.
The recommendation by Mr. Fox’s wife, Barbara, was a bit dicier than the restaurant pick. Her favorite activity was buying knock-off purses in backrooms of Canal Street stores. (Weekend in New York does not endorse such activity but did not want to restrict her freedom of speech, so will note that she got a $3,400 Louis Vuitton purse (or something like one) for $80.
A young couple from Zaragoza, Spain, said that what made their trip was the decision to stay in the St. Marks Hotel in the East Village, as opposed to a more traditional Midtown location. “The St. Marks is not a grand hotel,” said Jesús Longares, a 32-year-old engineer. “But it is in a fascinating area. There are many contrasts. You can see a store specializing in comics, and then a boutique for Goths.”
Sometimes, popular destinations yield unexpected highlights. Mircea Bucecu and Gwen Groom, who were visiting from Vancouver, recommended ground zero, but not for the typical reasons. They were chilled and touched not so much by the site itself, but by the near-silence of their fellow visitors. “I couldn’t believe that,” said Mr. Bucecu, 62. “Usually it’s a noisy town. If someone was talking, they were whispering.”
Ms. Groom, 54, cited another characteristic New York is not known for. “There was a sense of humbleness there,” she said.
Most travelers had to ponder their decision a bit, but not Vasco Krapchev. Mr. Krapchev, a seasoned traveler and molecular virologist who was born in Bulgaria and lives in Poland, recently spent four days visiting a childhood friend in New York. His call: drinking at Ideya, a cozy bar and restaurant serving modern Latin cuisine in SoHo. He recommended the bar scene between 10 p.m. and midnight on Friday or Saturday nights. “Great mojitos and caipirinhas,” he said. “Top 10 of where I’ve been for sure. Maybe top five.” (Note: a vigorous test of his recommendation proved he was on the mark.)
He was not impressed with the food, although he may have drunk too much to taste it, as evidenced by his difficulty in recalling how long he stayed. In the end, he resorted to an alternative form of measurement:
“We spent four caipirinhas there,” he said. “So probably three hours.”
Thais Mucher, a Brazilian woman traveling with her sister Juliana — both in their 20s — was amazed that in New York, she could eat tapas under such elegant lighting at Pipa. “During the day, it’s a store that sells crystal chandeliers,” she said — that’s ABC Carpet & Home. “At night, they put in tables. It’s really awesome.” The dozens of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling — along with the mirrors on the wall — are for sale. The Sisters Mucher weren’t tempted; they stuck with the sangria.
Her sister fell into another category of traveler: those who recommended things New Yorkers and frequent visitors take for granted. In her case, it was the concept of brunch. “In São Paulo, it’s just lunch,” she said. “Here, brunch is really delicious.” She recommended the beef sandwich with caramelized onions and Gruyère at Bistro Citron on the Upper West Side.
In the same category was Peggy Minnich from Ventura County, California, who was with her husband, Richard. Her simple recommendation: the subway as tourist attraction. “Coming from L.A.,” she said, “we don’t have public transportation. It’s an experience in and of itself. It connects you to the city in a way that nothing else does.”
Mr. Minnich was slightly less complimentary, calling the subway filthy.
“Use the word ‘earthy,’ perhaps,” Ms. Minnich said.
The recommendation of Trish and Chris Skillman, who were in town for the weekend from Clinton, N.J., with their 14-year-old, Heather, and her friend Lauren Folsom, was not to plan at all. “I would come in with absolutely nothing particular in mind and just pick and choose as the mood strikes,” said Mr. Skillman. Almost nothing in mind, that is: every time they visit, Heather insists that they go to John’s Pizzeria near Times Square. Her recommendation: the sausage and fennel Petes-a-Rolls and a glance at the stained glass skylight that looks like a pizza.
FINDING BRAISED RABBIT
Kefi, 222 West 79th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue; (212) 873-0200. (Around Nov. 10, the restaurant will move to 505 Columbus Avenue, between 84th and 85th Streets; the phone number will be the same.)
St. Marks Hotel, 2 St. Marks Place, at Third Avenue; (212) 674-0100; www.stmarkshotel.net. Rates from $140 a night.
Ground zero, bordered by Liberty Street, Church Street, Vesey Street and West Street in downtown Manhattan; www.tributewtc.org.
Ideya, 349 West Broadway, between Broome and Grand Streets; (212) 625-1441; www.ideya.net.
Pipa Tapas y Mas at ABC Carpet & Home, 38 East 19th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South; (212) 677-2233; www.abchome.com/Restaurant1.aspx .
Bistro Citron, 473 Columbus Avenue, between West 82nd and 83rd Streets; (212) 400-9401; www.bistrocitronnyc.com.
John’s Pizzeria, 260 West 44th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues; (212) 391-7560 (and other locations); www.johnspizzerianyc.com.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Cell Services Keep It Easy, and Free
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/technology/personaltech/05pogue.html?pagewanted=all
State of the Art
Cell Services Keep It Easy, and Free
Stuart Goldenberg
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By DAVID POGUE
Published: June 5, 2008
Correction Appended
You hear it all the time: “These cellphones are too complicated, by cracky! I don’t want to play music or surf the Internet. I just want to make phone calls!”
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ChaCha.com
Ask ChaCha any kind of question and it will send an answer to your cellphone by text message.
It may turn out, though, that these complaints are misdirected. Maybe the real problem isn’t new features — it’s the complexity added to the phones’ designs.
But what if there were a way to add features without changing the phone itself?
There is. Several super-simple cellular services are so sweet and satisfying, you can’t believe they’re free. They work by recognizing your voice, so you don’t have to master anything new on the phone itself — all of the complexity is hidden from you.
Certain voice-driven freebies, in particular, have earned a permanent place on my phone’s speed-dial keys. All work alike: you dial an 800 number, speak your request and get the results in seconds, usually in the form of a text message on your phone.
(Yes, the sort of person who uses the phrase “by cracky” may be unfamiliar with the glories of text messaging, and may bristle at having to pay 10 cents a text message, or $5 a month for hundreds. But remember: the services described here don’t require you to master sending such messages — only receiving them, which requires no skill at all.)
800-GOOG-411. Cellphone carriers have plenty to be ashamed of. Case in point: when you dial 411 to look up a phone number, you’ll be billed $1.50 or $2.
If it’s a business or store you’re looking up, for heaven’s sake, dial 800-GOOG-411 instead. It’s a voice-activated, national phone directory run by Google. It’s fast and efficient, and there are no ads or charges.
A typical transcript goes like this. “GOOG411. What city and state?”
You: “New York, New York.”
Google: “New York, New York. What business name or category?”
You: “Empire State Building.”
Google: “Empire State Building! Searching. Top listing: Empire State Building on Fifth Avenue. I’ll connect you.”
And your call is connected, just as though you’d dialed yourself. Or you can interrupt by saying “details” (meaning, “read me the phone number and address”) or “text message” (meaning, “send that info to my cellphone, so I’ll have it in writing”).
For residential listings, you can dial 800-FREE411 (not a Google service), although you have to listen to a 20-second ad. And don’t miss Google’s free SMS service, which offers business phone numbers, weather, sports, flight info, and more (details at tinyurl.com/ymeupk). But neither of those services compares with the spectacular speed, convenience and reliability of GOOG411.
ChaCha. Here’s another voice-activated service (800-2CHACHA) — but this time, you can ask any question at all. “What’s that German word that means, ‘pleasure from other people’s pain’?” Or “Who ran against Abraham Lincoln for president?” Or “What’s on the front page of today’s New York Times?” Or “How do you jump the battery in a Prius?” Or “Where’s the cheapest gas in southeast Connecticut right now?” Or “What’s the last flight to New York out of O’Hare Airport?” Just about anything, in fact, you could find on the Web.
After 30 seconds, you get a text message confirming that ChaCha is working on your question. A minute or two later, you get the answer, typed out in friendly English (“Thanks for asking!”), as though there were a real person on the other end.
That’s because there is a real person. ChaCha employs thousands of amateur researchers across the United States to field your questions, find the answers online and shoot them back, with a link to the Web page where they found the information.
They’re paid $5 to $10 an hour, which may explain the occasional unhelpful replies. (Q: “Why do British and American cars drive on opposite sides of the road?” A: “Because the British have their steering wheels on the other side.” Gee, thanks.)
Even so, ChaCha does a tantalizingly good impersonation of a personal concierge who caters to your whims, and saves the day with amazing frequency. Best of all, there’s no fee, no software, no signup or registration; you can dial it right this instant.
Jott. What do you do when you get an idea you want to remember? A brainstorm, a to-do item, a reminder you want to set for yourself? Writing it down is the only solution — so most of the time, you don’t, because you’re driving, or you have no pen, or you’re away from your computer.
Meet Jott, your personal transcription service. You sign up at Jott.com by providing your cell number and e-mail address.
If you’re a Verizon customer, you must also request that your carrier’s “premium text-message block” be removed from your account. That safeguard is meant to protect people from racking up bills using premium texting services (which Jott is not). Votes to “American Idol” by text, for example, cost $1 a vote. (I found that out by asking ChaCha.)
From now on, Jott is your personal transcription service. Speed-dial 866-JOTT123, and the conversation goes like this:
Jott: “Who do you want to Jott?”
You: “Myself.”
Jott: “Jott yourself.”
You: “Great idea for Act 2! Doing the laundry, Minna finds lipstick on her husband’s collar and sues the detergent company.”
Five minutes later, the transcribed, typed message appears in your e-mail in-box, complete with an audio attachment of the recording — and, if you like, also on your phone as a text message.
You can also fill your Jott.com address book with other people’s names, or even add them to groups. That way, you can text your spouse by saying, “Hi, honeybones — can you turn off the oven at 6:30?,” or alert everyone on your team that you will be late for a meeting by placing a single phone call.
More advanced features: after you speak, the Jott lady says, “Do you want a reminder?” If you say yes, then you can speak the date and time when you want the transcript sent to your phone — a brilliant, free way to set a wake-up call, remind yourself to file quarterly taxes, buy a gift for your anniversary, whatever.
Reqall. Reqall is the same idea as Jott, but it’s primarily a reminder system — it even recognizes words like “buy” and “meeting” and stores transcripts as separate lists on the Web.
You can dictate reminders by calling 888-9REQALL, or send them by instant message, e-mail, text message or Web browser plug-in. Later, Reqall tries to remind you of things at the right time, using e-mail, text message or instant message (your choice).
Alas, the accuracy of the speech recognition (which, as with Jott, is done by a combination of humans and software) leaves something to be desired.
All of these services are so good, so efficient and so free, you have a right to be suspicious. How will they make money?
GOOG411 is technically still in testing, but even once it’s fully baked, Google has no intention of charging for it.
ChaCha is trying to sell its services to cell carriers and syndicate its system to other information providers, and one day intends to attach relevant ads to its text-message answers. (The company insists it will not spam or repurpose your phone number.)
As for Jott and Reqall: technically, they, too, are in beta testing. When they go live, the companies plan to charge for the advanced features, but they will always offer a free basic service.
The bottom line: There’s a new Internet bubble blowing, folks, and at least in the short term, it means freebies for all. All of these companies, and more, are beginning to party like it’s 1999.
So yes, it’s conceivable that the free ride may end someday. But in the meantime, enjoy it while it lasts. There’s no reason not to start using these life-changing freebies this very day.
E-mail: pogue@nytimes.com
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 6, 2008
The State of the Art column on Thursday, about free cellphone information services, gave an incorrect phone number for the reQall service, which allows users to dictate reminders to themselves. It is 888-9REQALL.
State of the Art
Cell Services Keep It Easy, and Free
Stuart Goldenberg
E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxYahoo! BuzzPermalink
By DAVID POGUE
Published: June 5, 2008
Correction Appended
You hear it all the time: “These cellphones are too complicated, by cracky! I don’t want to play music or surf the Internet. I just want to make phone calls!”
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
ChaCha.com
Ask ChaCha any kind of question and it will send an answer to your cellphone by text message.
It may turn out, though, that these complaints are misdirected. Maybe the real problem isn’t new features — it’s the complexity added to the phones’ designs.
But what if there were a way to add features without changing the phone itself?
There is. Several super-simple cellular services are so sweet and satisfying, you can’t believe they’re free. They work by recognizing your voice, so you don’t have to master anything new on the phone itself — all of the complexity is hidden from you.
Certain voice-driven freebies, in particular, have earned a permanent place on my phone’s speed-dial keys. All work alike: you dial an 800 number, speak your request and get the results in seconds, usually in the form of a text message on your phone.
(Yes, the sort of person who uses the phrase “by cracky” may be unfamiliar with the glories of text messaging, and may bristle at having to pay 10 cents a text message, or $5 a month for hundreds. But remember: the services described here don’t require you to master sending such messages — only receiving them, which requires no skill at all.)
800-GOOG-411. Cellphone carriers have plenty to be ashamed of. Case in point: when you dial 411 to look up a phone number, you’ll be billed $1.50 or $2.
If it’s a business or store you’re looking up, for heaven’s sake, dial 800-GOOG-411 instead. It’s a voice-activated, national phone directory run by Google. It’s fast and efficient, and there are no ads or charges.
A typical transcript goes like this. “GOOG411. What city and state?”
You: “New York, New York.”
Google: “New York, New York. What business name or category?”
You: “Empire State Building.”
Google: “Empire State Building! Searching. Top listing: Empire State Building on Fifth Avenue. I’ll connect you.”
And your call is connected, just as though you’d dialed yourself. Or you can interrupt by saying “details” (meaning, “read me the phone number and address”) or “text message” (meaning, “send that info to my cellphone, so I’ll have it in writing”).
For residential listings, you can dial 800-FREE411 (not a Google service), although you have to listen to a 20-second ad. And don’t miss Google’s free SMS service, which offers business phone numbers, weather, sports, flight info, and more (details at tinyurl.com/ymeupk). But neither of those services compares with the spectacular speed, convenience and reliability of GOOG411.
ChaCha. Here’s another voice-activated service (800-2CHACHA) — but this time, you can ask any question at all. “What’s that German word that means, ‘pleasure from other people’s pain’?” Or “Who ran against Abraham Lincoln for president?” Or “What’s on the front page of today’s New York Times?” Or “How do you jump the battery in a Prius?” Or “Where’s the cheapest gas in southeast Connecticut right now?” Or “What’s the last flight to New York out of O’Hare Airport?” Just about anything, in fact, you could find on the Web.
After 30 seconds, you get a text message confirming that ChaCha is working on your question. A minute or two later, you get the answer, typed out in friendly English (“Thanks for asking!”), as though there were a real person on the other end.
That’s because there is a real person. ChaCha employs thousands of amateur researchers across the United States to field your questions, find the answers online and shoot them back, with a link to the Web page where they found the information.
They’re paid $5 to $10 an hour, which may explain the occasional unhelpful replies. (Q: “Why do British and American cars drive on opposite sides of the road?” A: “Because the British have their steering wheels on the other side.” Gee, thanks.)
Even so, ChaCha does a tantalizingly good impersonation of a personal concierge who caters to your whims, and saves the day with amazing frequency. Best of all, there’s no fee, no software, no signup or registration; you can dial it right this instant.
Jott. What do you do when you get an idea you want to remember? A brainstorm, a to-do item, a reminder you want to set for yourself? Writing it down is the only solution — so most of the time, you don’t, because you’re driving, or you have no pen, or you’re away from your computer.
Meet Jott, your personal transcription service. You sign up at Jott.com by providing your cell number and e-mail address.
If you’re a Verizon customer, you must also request that your carrier’s “premium text-message block” be removed from your account. That safeguard is meant to protect people from racking up bills using premium texting services (which Jott is not). Votes to “American Idol” by text, for example, cost $1 a vote. (I found that out by asking ChaCha.)
From now on, Jott is your personal transcription service. Speed-dial 866-JOTT123, and the conversation goes like this:
Jott: “Who do you want to Jott?”
You: “Myself.”
Jott: “Jott yourself.”
You: “Great idea for Act 2! Doing the laundry, Minna finds lipstick on her husband’s collar and sues the detergent company.”
Five minutes later, the transcribed, typed message appears in your e-mail in-box, complete with an audio attachment of the recording — and, if you like, also on your phone as a text message.
You can also fill your Jott.com address book with other people’s names, or even add them to groups. That way, you can text your spouse by saying, “Hi, honeybones — can you turn off the oven at 6:30?,” or alert everyone on your team that you will be late for a meeting by placing a single phone call.
More advanced features: after you speak, the Jott lady says, “Do you want a reminder?” If you say yes, then you can speak the date and time when you want the transcript sent to your phone — a brilliant, free way to set a wake-up call, remind yourself to file quarterly taxes, buy a gift for your anniversary, whatever.
Reqall. Reqall is the same idea as Jott, but it’s primarily a reminder system — it even recognizes words like “buy” and “meeting” and stores transcripts as separate lists on the Web.
You can dictate reminders by calling 888-9REQALL, or send them by instant message, e-mail, text message or Web browser plug-in. Later, Reqall tries to remind you of things at the right time, using e-mail, text message or instant message (your choice).
Alas, the accuracy of the speech recognition (which, as with Jott, is done by a combination of humans and software) leaves something to be desired.
All of these services are so good, so efficient and so free, you have a right to be suspicious. How will they make money?
GOOG411 is technically still in testing, but even once it’s fully baked, Google has no intention of charging for it.
ChaCha is trying to sell its services to cell carriers and syndicate its system to other information providers, and one day intends to attach relevant ads to its text-message answers. (The company insists it will not spam or repurpose your phone number.)
As for Jott and Reqall: technically, they, too, are in beta testing. When they go live, the companies plan to charge for the advanced features, but they will always offer a free basic service.
The bottom line: There’s a new Internet bubble blowing, folks, and at least in the short term, it means freebies for all. All of these companies, and more, are beginning to party like it’s 1999.
So yes, it’s conceivable that the free ride may end someday. But in the meantime, enjoy it while it lasts. There’s no reason not to start using these life-changing freebies this very day.
E-mail: pogue@nytimes.com
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: June 6, 2008
The State of the Art column on Thursday, about free cellphone information services, gave an incorrect phone number for the reQall service, which allows users to dictate reminders to themselves. It is 888-9REQALL.
One Is No Longer the Loneliest Number
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/travel/02prac.html?pagewanted=all
Practical Traveler | Going Solo
One Is No Longer the Loneliest Number
Juliane Pieper
comments (84) E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
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By MICHELLE HIGGINS
Published: December 2, 2007
SURE, traveling alone can be an extremely freeing experience, with no one else to slow you down or bicker with over which sights to see along the way. But it can also be a drag. When you’re hauling your bags around on your own, or when the only other single on your hiking tour is the guide or after your third sunset dinner on the hotel’s veranda — alone — traveling by yourself can lose its allure.
Readers' Comments
Are you a solo traveler? Share your experiences vacationing alone.
Post a Comment »Read All Comments (84) »Until recently, travel options for singles were largely limited to trips of the packaged-tour variety, with everyone thrown into one enormous group or just one step removed from a dating service. Now that’s beginning to change.
As travel companies look for new ways to expand business, they’re increasingly courting solo travelers. Roughly one in 10 leisure travelers hit the road alone, according to the most recent data from the Travel Industry Association, and more travel companies, from specialty tour operators to individual resorts, are creating packages that cater to those customers.
Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com), which specializes in small, off-the-beaten-path tours, just introduced four singles-only trips to places like Peru and Nepal. Travelers willing to share a room don’t have to pay the usual single-supplement fee that helps to make up for the difference in price charged to two travelers sharing a room.
In January, Absolute Travel (www.absolutetravel.com), a Manhattan travel agency specializing in customized luxury trips, will begin a service pairing compatible travelers who would rather not go it alone.
Even individual spas and resorts are creating packages for solo travelers. The Westin St. John Resort and Villas is offering a three-night, $2,550 “solo-cation,” which includes a villa with a private pool, a private Jeep tour and a poolside cabana with butler (call 888-627-7206 and ask for the Solovac rate).
This summer, the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica (www.fairmont.com/santamonica) rolled out a Single and the City package, which encourages guests to explore the city on their own. And for the first time, Canyon Ranch in Tucson (www.canyonranch.com) is letting singles pay the lesser per-person double-occupancy rate with a minimum four-night stay from Dec. 9 to 22.
The new options can help solo travelers assert their independence while feeling less like loners. When Sue Blough retired in 2000, she started traveling with Adventure Women (www.adventurewomen.com), which caters to single female travelers.
“When I retired, I hadn’t traveled much,” said Ms. Blough, who lives in South Florida and is an avid hiker. The group was comfortable, she said, not just because she wasn’t scaling mountains all alone, but also because she wasn’t surrounded by “mostly couples.”
While she still travels with Adventure Women, she said she also likes Country Walkers (www.countrywalkers.com), which introduced its own program for female travelers in 2005. And she’s noticed more singles showing up, even on regular tours.
“Since I’ve been doing this, I’m seeing more and more, especially women,” she said. “A lot of them are married, with husbands that have traveled all their lives for business and absolutely hate traveling.”
For singles who would like some company while visiting somewhere new, but would rather not go on a group tour, Absolute Travel will search for a like-minded companion, facilitate an introduction by e-mail and develop a travel itinerary both might enjoy. While the company stresses that it is not a romantic matchmaking service, it asks interested individuals to fill out a questionnaire to help find a suitable travel partner, detailing where they want to go, how long they want to stay and even whether or not they smoke.
Such services are a far cry from what used to be available to singles just a few years ago.
“It used to be basically your sun-and-sand holiday,” said Diane Redfern, founder of Connecting: Solo Travel Network (www.cstn.org), who has been tracking solo vacation alternatives since 1990 through a bimonthly newsletter ($35 a year or $50 for life). “If someone did put together a trip for singles, it was just at some beach resort. Now they’re going to Antarctica and doing everything.”
Despite the greater range of choices, solo travelers are still largely plagued by single-supplement charges, unless they’re willing to share a room with a total stranger. Travelers who want the company of a group by day but privacy at night may be able to get around this by booking early.
The luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent (www.abercrombiekent.com) is offering solo travelers $500 off most of its trips between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 next year if booked by the end of January. And the Norwalk, Conn.,-based Tauck World Discovery (www.tauck.com) is offering significantly reduced prices — as much as 33 percent off — for singles on 54 different cruise and tour departures in the United States, Europe and Canada.
British tour operators like Solos Holidays (www.solosholidays.co.uk) and HF Holidays (www.hfholidays.co.uk) tend to be better than their North American counterparts about not penalizing solo travelers with extra fees, said Ms. Redfern of Connecting: Solo Travel Network.
In some cases, there is an advantage to being the only single person on a trip.
Backroads (www.backroads.com), the active-travel company in Berkeley, Calif., for instance, offers Singles + Solos trips for adults traveling on their own or with single friends. Singles who sign up for the trip more than 30 days before departure may request a roommate to avoid a single-room charge. If no other loners show up, you get your own room at no extra charge.
Practical Traveler | Going Solo
One Is No Longer the Loneliest Number
Juliane Pieper
comments (84) E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxYahoo! BuzzPermalink
By MICHELLE HIGGINS
Published: December 2, 2007
SURE, traveling alone can be an extremely freeing experience, with no one else to slow you down or bicker with over which sights to see along the way. But it can also be a drag. When you’re hauling your bags around on your own, or when the only other single on your hiking tour is the guide or after your third sunset dinner on the hotel’s veranda — alone — traveling by yourself can lose its allure.
Readers' Comments
Are you a solo traveler? Share your experiences vacationing alone.
Post a Comment »Read All Comments (84) »Until recently, travel options for singles were largely limited to trips of the packaged-tour variety, with everyone thrown into one enormous group or just one step removed from a dating service. Now that’s beginning to change.
As travel companies look for new ways to expand business, they’re increasingly courting solo travelers. Roughly one in 10 leisure travelers hit the road alone, according to the most recent data from the Travel Industry Association, and more travel companies, from specialty tour operators to individual resorts, are creating packages that cater to those customers.
Intrepid Travel (www.intrepidtravel.com), which specializes in small, off-the-beaten-path tours, just introduced four singles-only trips to places like Peru and Nepal. Travelers willing to share a room don’t have to pay the usual single-supplement fee that helps to make up for the difference in price charged to two travelers sharing a room.
In January, Absolute Travel (www.absolutetravel.com), a Manhattan travel agency specializing in customized luxury trips, will begin a service pairing compatible travelers who would rather not go it alone.
Even individual spas and resorts are creating packages for solo travelers. The Westin St. John Resort and Villas is offering a three-night, $2,550 “solo-cation,” which includes a villa with a private pool, a private Jeep tour and a poolside cabana with butler (call 888-627-7206 and ask for the Solovac rate).
This summer, the Fairmont Miramar Hotel in Santa Monica (www.fairmont.com/santamonica) rolled out a Single and the City package, which encourages guests to explore the city on their own. And for the first time, Canyon Ranch in Tucson (www.canyonranch.com) is letting singles pay the lesser per-person double-occupancy rate with a minimum four-night stay from Dec. 9 to 22.
The new options can help solo travelers assert their independence while feeling less like loners. When Sue Blough retired in 2000, she started traveling with Adventure Women (www.adventurewomen.com), which caters to single female travelers.
“When I retired, I hadn’t traveled much,” said Ms. Blough, who lives in South Florida and is an avid hiker. The group was comfortable, she said, not just because she wasn’t scaling mountains all alone, but also because she wasn’t surrounded by “mostly couples.”
While she still travels with Adventure Women, she said she also likes Country Walkers (www.countrywalkers.com), which introduced its own program for female travelers in 2005. And she’s noticed more singles showing up, even on regular tours.
“Since I’ve been doing this, I’m seeing more and more, especially women,” she said. “A lot of them are married, with husbands that have traveled all their lives for business and absolutely hate traveling.”
For singles who would like some company while visiting somewhere new, but would rather not go on a group tour, Absolute Travel will search for a like-minded companion, facilitate an introduction by e-mail and develop a travel itinerary both might enjoy. While the company stresses that it is not a romantic matchmaking service, it asks interested individuals to fill out a questionnaire to help find a suitable travel partner, detailing where they want to go, how long they want to stay and even whether or not they smoke.
Such services are a far cry from what used to be available to singles just a few years ago.
“It used to be basically your sun-and-sand holiday,” said Diane Redfern, founder of Connecting: Solo Travel Network (www.cstn.org), who has been tracking solo vacation alternatives since 1990 through a bimonthly newsletter ($35 a year or $50 for life). “If someone did put together a trip for singles, it was just at some beach resort. Now they’re going to Antarctica and doing everything.”
Despite the greater range of choices, solo travelers are still largely plagued by single-supplement charges, unless they’re willing to share a room with a total stranger. Travelers who want the company of a group by day but privacy at night may be able to get around this by booking early.
The luxury tour operator Abercrombie & Kent (www.abercrombiekent.com) is offering solo travelers $500 off most of its trips between Nov. 1 and Dec. 15 next year if booked by the end of January. And the Norwalk, Conn.,-based Tauck World Discovery (www.tauck.com) is offering significantly reduced prices — as much as 33 percent off — for singles on 54 different cruise and tour departures in the United States, Europe and Canada.
British tour operators like Solos Holidays (www.solosholidays.co.uk) and HF Holidays (www.hfholidays.co.uk) tend to be better than their North American counterparts about not penalizing solo travelers with extra fees, said Ms. Redfern of Connecting: Solo Travel Network.
In some cases, there is an advantage to being the only single person on a trip.
Backroads (www.backroads.com), the active-travel company in Berkeley, Calif., for instance, offers Singles + Solos trips for adults traveling on their own or with single friends. Singles who sign up for the trip more than 30 days before departure may request a roommate to avoid a single-room charge. If no other loners show up, you get your own room at no extra charge.
36 Hours in the Cinque Terre, Italy
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/travel/05hours.html?pagewanted=all
36 Hours in the Cinque Terre, Italy
Dave Yoder for The New York Times
The Cinque Terre town of Vernazza rises above the sea.
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By ARIEL FOXMAN
Published: August 5, 2007
Correction Appended
WITH its miles and miles of breathtaking trails, the Cinque Terre along northern Italy's Riviera has long been a magnet for hikers. And while trekking through the five villages is certainly a backpacker's dream — each town is a unique destination carved rather amazingly into the steep terraced-vineyard coastline — that shouldn't preclude lesser jocks from heading to this wildly charming region. In fact, the only way to truly experience the sensory overload that this small area has to offer is by getting off those well-trodden paths. It's almost unfair how much intense beauty, great cuisine and amazing aromas are jampacked into such a compact space.
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What to Do
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Weekend in the Cinque Terre
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The Cinque Terre, Italy
Readers’ Opinions
Where are your favorite spots in the Cinque Terre?
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Where to Stay | Where to Eat | What to Do Friday
4 p.m.
1) GAIN SOME PERSPECTIVE
Before you start connecting your Cinque Terre dots, bouncing from one village to the next, take a 15-minute uphill trek through gorgeous vineyards, to the Santuario della Madonna di Montenero (entrance is a five-minute drive west of Due Gemelli, a hotel at Via Litoranea, 1; 39-0187-920-111). The storybook journey, replete with fragrant wildflowers and colorful butterflies, is topped with uninterrupted views that allow visitors to size up the region's entire 11-mile coastline from 1,100 feet above sea level. The sanctuary, an active church with a pink and yellow bell tower, is a spectacular example of the 14th-century buildings that put these small towns on the map.
5:30 p.m.
2) LOVERS' WALK
Drive down to Riomaggiore proper, park your car and head downhill to explore its marina. Then double back to the main drag and look for signs pointing to the village's biggest attraction: the Via dell'Amore, the first segment of the Sentiero Azzurro or the Blue Trail — a five-hour and somewhat challenging hiking trail that connects all five hamlets (5 euros for a daily pass). Connecting Riomaggiore and Manarola, this patch is just a leisurely stroll, offering a relatively flat coastal path that was carved into the mountain almost a century ago. The inspiring views and romantic nooks have earned it the nickname, the Path of Love. What will you really love? It's super easy.
7 p.m.
3) TASTE TEST
The tiny town of Manarola is a sight to behold: a confection of pastel houses that climb up the side of black cliff, next to the region's most productive vineyards. This small area is known for not one, but two specialty wines: Cinque Terre white, a dry, tangy blend of three different grapes, and sciacchetrà, a super-sweet late-harvest dessert wine generally reserved for special occasions. To create your own special occasion, grab a table at the lovely Marina Piccola (Via Lo Scalo, 16; 39-0187-920-923), next to the waterside hotel of the same name. Ask to sample a Manarola Cinque Terre and then compare it to one that's made from grapes blended from all five villages (8 to 12 euros for a half-bottle). While you're at it, order the Cinque Terre sciacchetrà, too.
8:30 p.m.
4) FAMILY-STYLE DINING
For a taste of a home cooking, head to Trattoria dal Billy (Via Rollandi, 122; 39-0187-920-628), a quaint three-story restaurant tucked into Manarola's lush mountainside. An enchanting climb through the village's mazelike alleyways leads to a set of garden terraces where you can sample local specialties like anchovies with salt or lemon, and taglierini with tomato, pecorino, pine nuts, baby shrimp, pepper and olive oil (both 8 euros). Sweeping vineyard and sea views abound.
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) SECRET BEACH
With three towns to hit in one day, take the quick regional train via the Spezia line (www.ferroviedellostato.it, 1 euro) to Corniglia, the smallest and most remote of the five villages. Forgo the 365-step climb to its tourist-filled center. Instead take the road much less traveled, to the clothing-optional private beach, Guvano, that only locals seem to know about. It's not easy to find: above and to the right of the train platform head down a narrow flight of stairs, follow a brick coastal wall and turn right, until you come to an industrial tunnel with a metal gate. Ring the bell to the left. Someone on the other end will buzz you in. Walk through the 10-minute-long path to a private vineyard overlooking two phenomenal beaches. Pay the gatekeeper 5 euros for your little slice of sunbathing heaven. Be sure to stock up on water and snacks at the train station; there are no concession shacks at the beach.
1:30 p.m.
6) SQUARE MEAL
Vernazza, the next village over, could certainly nab Miss Congeniality in a Cinque Terre pageant. Everything from its historical attractions and manageable size to its somewhat chic vibe make this port arguably the most agreeable of the five towns. From the train station, walk along Via Visconti, the town's bustling main street, until you reach its adorable main square. Have a leisurely lunch at Trattoria Gianni Franzi (Piazza G. Marconi, 1; 39-0187-821-003), a 45-year-old institution that still serves scrumptious dishes like ravioli with fish sauce (13 euros) or baked fish with potatoes (20 euros). Finish things off with a glass of limoncino (3.50 euros), Northern Italy's answer to limoncello, the lemon liqueur popular in the south.
3 p.m.
7) HIGHS AND BUYS
With a full belly and a slight buzz, you'll want to check out these sights in the following order: Santa Margherita d'Antiocha, a 1318 church built on sea rock with an odd facade that seems to turn its back on the piazza; the lookout towers of the 11th-century Castello Doria (1.50 euros) where you'll be rewarded with magnificent aerial views of the entire region; and La Cantina del Molo (Via Visconti, 27; 39-0187-812-302), a high-end enoteca that sells the most divine delicacies, along with wines from the owner's vineyards.
5:50 p.m.
8) SAIL AWAY
You've been stealing glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea since you've arrived; now it's time to seize it. Board the last ferry (www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it; 3.50 euros) to the westernmost and largest village, Monterosso al Mare (or Monterosso by the Sea), which, as its name suggests, is the sandiest and most resortlike of them all. Upon disembarking, hang a left toward Fegina beach and join the locals enjoying sunset aperitivos after a day in the sun. Top-notch wines and terrific bruschettas (6 euros), as well as fantastic promenade people watching, can be had at the outdoor wine bar and shop Enoteca 5 Terre di Sassarini Giancarlo (Via Fegina, 94; 39-0187-818-063).
8:30 p.m.
9) A MODERN FISH TALE
Traditional Ligurian cuisine, while entirely delectable, can also get repetitive. For something regional yet refreshing, head to L'Ancora della Tortuga (Salita Cappuccini, 6; 39-0187-800-065), a new spot housed in a converted bunker that was used during World War II. The contemporary kitchen specializes in fish dishes, including a seafood carpaccio with country vegetables (11 euros) and the daily catch served on grapevine leaves (12 euros). Be sure to reserve one of three tables that overlook the sea, or a spot on the upstairs terrace.
10:30 p.m.
10) BEACH PARTIES
You didn't come to the Cinque Terre to party, but if you're looking to keep the torch burning in Monterosso al Mare, you might be in luck. During the warmer months, day trippers and locals alike will stage beach parties along the Via Fegina. All are welcome. Or mix with the congenial crowds at one of the mellow, pub-style bars on Via Roma in the historical district.
Sunday
8:30 a.m.
11) DOUBLE DELIGHT
The sweet and savory goodness at Il Frantoio (Via Goberti, 1; 39-0187-818-333) should be enough of a reason to get you up before your alarm clock rings. Bring your euro coins to this unassuming alleyway shop and make a breakfast of its unique dolci castagnina — warm circular pastries baked with chestnuts, salt, milk, pine nuts and raisins (1.60 euros each). Be sure, too, to grab a selection of the superior focacce to go (1.50 euros a square). The varieties are endless, and they'll make for the perfect lunch at the beach later on.
11 a.m.
12) GET YOUR GLAM ON
Soak up the town's biggest selling point: it's Riviera-ness! Not far from the entrance up to Convento dei Cappuccini monastery, you'll find the Bagni Eden beach club (Via Fegina, 7-11; 39-0187-818-256), a postcardlike world of colorful chaise longues (with matching umbrellas), turquoise water and bronzed beauties playing Kadima paddle ball. For 16 euros you get the chaise longue, umbrella and use of the changing cabin. Pellegrino, focaccia and salty air never tasted so jet set, especially after all that hiking.
VISITOR INFORMATION
While there are no regularly scheduled direct flights between Genoa and the United States, Delta Air Lines offers direct service between Kennedy Airport in New York and Pisa. It may be easier to fly to Milan's Malpensa airport and then drive three hours to reach the Cinque Terre.
Leave your car at the Autosilos garage, at the tip of Riomaggiore, and retrieve it at the end of your trip (40 euros for two days). Driving is not permitted within the villages. Shuttle around by foot, by train (one-day pass for 5 euros) or by ferry (except to and from the port-less Corniglia).
Lodging is scarce in Manarola, so book early to snag one of the 10 rooms at Ca' d'Andrean (Via Discovolo, 101; 39-0187-920-040; www.cadandrean.it), a charming hotel converted from an old oil press and wine cellar. The lemon-tree garden and cozy fireplace lounge are nice bonuses. Doubles start at 92 euros.
Expect a wider range of hotels in Monterosso al Mare. Avoid the well-worn warhorses and opt for the sharp new Hotel Margherita (Via Roma, 72; 39-0187-808-002, www.hotelmonterosso.it), the closest thing to a boutique hotel in the area. The 25 rooms have plasma-screen TVs, cosmopolitan mini-bars and luxurious bathrooms. Rates begin at 90 euros.
There are few ATMs and many places don't accept credit cards, so take cash.
Correction: August 19, 2007
The 36 Hours column on Aug. 5 about Cinque Terre, a coastal region in Italy, misstated the type of air service between Genoa and Pisa and the United States. While there are no regularly scheduled direct flights between Genoa and the United States, Delta Air Lines offers direct service between Kennedy Airport in New York and Pisa.
36 Hours in the Cinque Terre, Italy
Dave Yoder for The New York Times
The Cinque Terre town of Vernazza rises above the sea.
E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxYahoo! BuzzPermalink
By ARIEL FOXMAN
Published: August 5, 2007
Correction Appended
WITH its miles and miles of breathtaking trails, the Cinque Terre along northern Italy's Riviera has long been a magnet for hikers. And while trekking through the five villages is certainly a backpacker's dream — each town is a unique destination carved rather amazingly into the steep terraced-vineyard coastline — that shouldn't preclude lesser jocks from heading to this wildly charming region. In fact, the only way to truly experience the sensory overload that this small area has to offer is by getting off those well-trodden paths. It's almost unfair how much intense beauty, great cuisine and amazing aromas are jampacked into such a compact space.
Skip to next paragraph
Cinqueterre Travel Guide
Where to Stay
Where to Eat
What to Do
Go to the Cinqueterre Travel Guide »
Multimedia
Slide Show
Weekend in the Cinque Terre
Map
The Cinque Terre, Italy
Readers’ Opinions
Where are your favorite spots in the Cinque Terre?
Share Your Suggestions
Where to Stay | Where to Eat | What to Do Friday
4 p.m.
1) GAIN SOME PERSPECTIVE
Before you start connecting your Cinque Terre dots, bouncing from one village to the next, take a 15-minute uphill trek through gorgeous vineyards, to the Santuario della Madonna di Montenero (entrance is a five-minute drive west of Due Gemelli, a hotel at Via Litoranea, 1; 39-0187-920-111). The storybook journey, replete with fragrant wildflowers and colorful butterflies, is topped with uninterrupted views that allow visitors to size up the region's entire 11-mile coastline from 1,100 feet above sea level. The sanctuary, an active church with a pink and yellow bell tower, is a spectacular example of the 14th-century buildings that put these small towns on the map.
5:30 p.m.
2) LOVERS' WALK
Drive down to Riomaggiore proper, park your car and head downhill to explore its marina. Then double back to the main drag and look for signs pointing to the village's biggest attraction: the Via dell'Amore, the first segment of the Sentiero Azzurro or the Blue Trail — a five-hour and somewhat challenging hiking trail that connects all five hamlets (5 euros for a daily pass). Connecting Riomaggiore and Manarola, this patch is just a leisurely stroll, offering a relatively flat coastal path that was carved into the mountain almost a century ago. The inspiring views and romantic nooks have earned it the nickname, the Path of Love. What will you really love? It's super easy.
7 p.m.
3) TASTE TEST
The tiny town of Manarola is a sight to behold: a confection of pastel houses that climb up the side of black cliff, next to the region's most productive vineyards. This small area is known for not one, but two specialty wines: Cinque Terre white, a dry, tangy blend of three different grapes, and sciacchetrà, a super-sweet late-harvest dessert wine generally reserved for special occasions. To create your own special occasion, grab a table at the lovely Marina Piccola (Via Lo Scalo, 16; 39-0187-920-923), next to the waterside hotel of the same name. Ask to sample a Manarola Cinque Terre and then compare it to one that's made from grapes blended from all five villages (8 to 12 euros for a half-bottle). While you're at it, order the Cinque Terre sciacchetrà, too.
8:30 p.m.
4) FAMILY-STYLE DINING
For a taste of a home cooking, head to Trattoria dal Billy (Via Rollandi, 122; 39-0187-920-628), a quaint three-story restaurant tucked into Manarola's lush mountainside. An enchanting climb through the village's mazelike alleyways leads to a set of garden terraces where you can sample local specialties like anchovies with salt or lemon, and taglierini with tomato, pecorino, pine nuts, baby shrimp, pepper and olive oil (both 8 euros). Sweeping vineyard and sea views abound.
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) SECRET BEACH
With three towns to hit in one day, take the quick regional train via the Spezia line (www.ferroviedellostato.it, 1 euro) to Corniglia, the smallest and most remote of the five villages. Forgo the 365-step climb to its tourist-filled center. Instead take the road much less traveled, to the clothing-optional private beach, Guvano, that only locals seem to know about. It's not easy to find: above and to the right of the train platform head down a narrow flight of stairs, follow a brick coastal wall and turn right, until you come to an industrial tunnel with a metal gate. Ring the bell to the left. Someone on the other end will buzz you in. Walk through the 10-minute-long path to a private vineyard overlooking two phenomenal beaches. Pay the gatekeeper 5 euros for your little slice of sunbathing heaven. Be sure to stock up on water and snacks at the train station; there are no concession shacks at the beach.
1:30 p.m.
6) SQUARE MEAL
Vernazza, the next village over, could certainly nab Miss Congeniality in a Cinque Terre pageant. Everything from its historical attractions and manageable size to its somewhat chic vibe make this port arguably the most agreeable of the five towns. From the train station, walk along Via Visconti, the town's bustling main street, until you reach its adorable main square. Have a leisurely lunch at Trattoria Gianni Franzi (Piazza G. Marconi, 1; 39-0187-821-003), a 45-year-old institution that still serves scrumptious dishes like ravioli with fish sauce (13 euros) or baked fish with potatoes (20 euros). Finish things off with a glass of limoncino (3.50 euros), Northern Italy's answer to limoncello, the lemon liqueur popular in the south.
3 p.m.
7) HIGHS AND BUYS
With a full belly and a slight buzz, you'll want to check out these sights in the following order: Santa Margherita d'Antiocha, a 1318 church built on sea rock with an odd facade that seems to turn its back on the piazza; the lookout towers of the 11th-century Castello Doria (1.50 euros) where you'll be rewarded with magnificent aerial views of the entire region; and La Cantina del Molo (Via Visconti, 27; 39-0187-812-302), a high-end enoteca that sells the most divine delicacies, along with wines from the owner's vineyards.
5:50 p.m.
8) SAIL AWAY
You've been stealing glimpses of the Mediterranean Sea since you've arrived; now it's time to seize it. Board the last ferry (www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it; 3.50 euros) to the westernmost and largest village, Monterosso al Mare (or Monterosso by the Sea), which, as its name suggests, is the sandiest and most resortlike of them all. Upon disembarking, hang a left toward Fegina beach and join the locals enjoying sunset aperitivos after a day in the sun. Top-notch wines and terrific bruschettas (6 euros), as well as fantastic promenade people watching, can be had at the outdoor wine bar and shop Enoteca 5 Terre di Sassarini Giancarlo (Via Fegina, 94; 39-0187-818-063).
8:30 p.m.
9) A MODERN FISH TALE
Traditional Ligurian cuisine, while entirely delectable, can also get repetitive. For something regional yet refreshing, head to L'Ancora della Tortuga (Salita Cappuccini, 6; 39-0187-800-065), a new spot housed in a converted bunker that was used during World War II. The contemporary kitchen specializes in fish dishes, including a seafood carpaccio with country vegetables (11 euros) and the daily catch served on grapevine leaves (12 euros). Be sure to reserve one of three tables that overlook the sea, or a spot on the upstairs terrace.
10:30 p.m.
10) BEACH PARTIES
You didn't come to the Cinque Terre to party, but if you're looking to keep the torch burning in Monterosso al Mare, you might be in luck. During the warmer months, day trippers and locals alike will stage beach parties along the Via Fegina. All are welcome. Or mix with the congenial crowds at one of the mellow, pub-style bars on Via Roma in the historical district.
Sunday
8:30 a.m.
11) DOUBLE DELIGHT
The sweet and savory goodness at Il Frantoio (Via Goberti, 1; 39-0187-818-333) should be enough of a reason to get you up before your alarm clock rings. Bring your euro coins to this unassuming alleyway shop and make a breakfast of its unique dolci castagnina — warm circular pastries baked with chestnuts, salt, milk, pine nuts and raisins (1.60 euros each). Be sure, too, to grab a selection of the superior focacce to go (1.50 euros a square). The varieties are endless, and they'll make for the perfect lunch at the beach later on.
11 a.m.
12) GET YOUR GLAM ON
Soak up the town's biggest selling point: it's Riviera-ness! Not far from the entrance up to Convento dei Cappuccini monastery, you'll find the Bagni Eden beach club (Via Fegina, 7-11; 39-0187-818-256), a postcardlike world of colorful chaise longues (with matching umbrellas), turquoise water and bronzed beauties playing Kadima paddle ball. For 16 euros you get the chaise longue, umbrella and use of the changing cabin. Pellegrino, focaccia and salty air never tasted so jet set, especially after all that hiking.
VISITOR INFORMATION
While there are no regularly scheduled direct flights between Genoa and the United States, Delta Air Lines offers direct service between Kennedy Airport in New York and Pisa. It may be easier to fly to Milan's Malpensa airport and then drive three hours to reach the Cinque Terre.
Leave your car at the Autosilos garage, at the tip of Riomaggiore, and retrieve it at the end of your trip (40 euros for two days). Driving is not permitted within the villages. Shuttle around by foot, by train (one-day pass for 5 euros) or by ferry (except to and from the port-less Corniglia).
Lodging is scarce in Manarola, so book early to snag one of the 10 rooms at Ca' d'Andrean (Via Discovolo, 101; 39-0187-920-040; www.cadandrean.it), a charming hotel converted from an old oil press and wine cellar. The lemon-tree garden and cozy fireplace lounge are nice bonuses. Doubles start at 92 euros.
Expect a wider range of hotels in Monterosso al Mare. Avoid the well-worn warhorses and opt for the sharp new Hotel Margherita (Via Roma, 72; 39-0187-808-002, www.hotelmonterosso.it), the closest thing to a boutique hotel in the area. The 25 rooms have plasma-screen TVs, cosmopolitan mini-bars and luxurious bathrooms. Rates begin at 90 euros.
There are few ATMs and many places don't accept credit cards, so take cash.
Correction: August 19, 2007
The 36 Hours column on Aug. 5 about Cinque Terre, a coastal region in Italy, misstated the type of air service between Genoa and Pisa and the United States. While there are no regularly scheduled direct flights between Genoa and the United States, Delta Air Lines offers direct service between Kennedy Airport in New York and Pisa.
The B & B Option Is Put to a New York Test
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/07/20/travel/escapes/20BNB.html?pagewanted=all
The B & B Option Is Put to a New York Test
Michael Falco for The New York Times
Stay the Night, a Manhattan bed-and-breakfast in Carnegie Hill.
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By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
Published: July 20, 2007
I HAVE never liked bed-and-breakfasts, which I associate with Victorian furniture, officious hosts and forced conviviality at breakfast. But with the average price of a Manhattan hotel room nearing $300, I no longer knew what to tell friends who asked where they should stay in New York City.
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Bed-and-Breakfasts of the Big Apple
Michael Falco for the New York Times
The Bed & Breakfast on the Park, near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. More Photos »
Then I moved to Brooklyn, where I noticed that one of the brownstones down the block from my apartment — overlooking Prospect Park — contained a B & B. Surprised, I found myself searching the Internet, where I found at least 30 B & Bs, spread out over all five boroughs.
Intrigued by this unexpected abundance, I set out on a reconnaissance mission (glad that if I found myself in a place I hated, I was just a taxi ride from home).
I never had to sneak out in the middle of the night. Some of the B & Bs were terrific. Only one of the four I tried was really Victorian; one was ultramodern, and the other two were simply homey. There were no officious hosts — but there were lots of helpful employees. When there was breakfast, nobody made me talk (at the communal table in the Park Slope B & B, I was busy eating the delicious food).
Perhaps it was beginner's luck that my first stop in Manhattan was a gem: Stay the Night, occupying a town house on a gorgeous block in the East 90's. The husband-and-wife psychologists who live on the first two floors have created a hostelry upstairs. The smallest room (with a shared bath) is just $75 a night. My much larger room, with its own bath and a private roof deck overlooking a leafy backyard, was $195.
The place is advertised as a non-hosted inn. (Since it doesn't serve breakfast, unless you count the packaged muffins in the room's refrigerator, it's not really a B & B, but everything else about it puts it in that category.)
You're asked to arrive before 6 p.m., when an employee will still be available to admit you. (If you're late, you're charged $20 for his overtime.) Since there are no common rooms, and you drop your keys in a slot when you leave, you may never see another person. Nick Hankin, the manager, lives in Astoria, Queens, but is available by phone.
In other words, it's just like living in a New York apartment. But this is an apartment in Carnegie Hill, an extraordinarily pleasant neighborhood. Sarabeth's, which serves what many consider New York's most satisfying breakfast, is just around the corner. After a perfect goat cheese and spinach omelet with a pumpkin muffin and Sarabeth's incomparable marmalade, I set out for a tour of Carnegie Hill.
I lived in the neighborhood for many years, and it was a pleasure to revisit old haunts: the Corner Bookstore; the Guggenheim; the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; and finally Petak's, a deli that offers some of the best prepared food in the city (perfect for a picnic overlooking the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park). Stay the Night doesn't have a lot of amenities, but given what it offers — nice accommodations in a nonpareil location — it doesn't need to.
My next stop was in a less central location, but that's its draw: City Island, linked to the Bronx mainland by a bridge, resembles a slightly overcrowded New England fishing village.
ONE of its most surprising establishments is Le Refuge. Occupying a mansard-roofed house, it is indeed a refuge from the huge, carnival-like seafood restaurants lining the main drag, City Island Avenue. At Le Refuge, the $45 prix fixe dinner is a taste of classic French food — I had duck à l'orange — most of it delicious (even if my crème brûlée lacked the requisite crust). My $115 room, in the back of the house, was uninspiring, as was the utilitarian bathroom down the hall. But the whole experience, including Continental breakfast in a handsome, ground-floor sitting room, offered a chance to feel as though I had been across the Atlantic Ocean.
My third B & B also had a French flavor (but, again, no breakfast), thanks to Albert Delamour, who rents out two rooms on the seventh floor of a loft building in SoHo. The rooms adjoin an art gallery; Mr. Delamour said he started the B & B to subsidize that business (and his own career as a photographer). But the sideline is threatening to take over. “We get 100 calls a day,” he said, “and I can't do the gallery work,” explaining that he now accepts reservations only by e-mail.
Staying in a gallery is fun. Less fun is trudging up seven flights of stairs. At 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, the building's manager shuts off the elevator; he's afraid of someone getting stuck, Mr. Delamour said. The night I arrived, a couple from Canada carried their baby and their luggage up the stairs.
The Canadians' room was in the back of the building, but mine faced Lafayette Street. The noise of cars, trucks and even loud pedestrians didn't let up, and I couldn't fall asleep. Then I found a portable fan in the bathroom — private, but at the other end of the loft — and plugged it in next to my bed. Thanks to the white noise, I slept like a baby till morning, when the windows in my room offered terrific rooftop views (including the spires of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings), and when the elevator, now back in operation, carried me downstairs to look for a place for breakfast.
My room was $210, including tax; Mr. Delamour, who couldn't have been nicer, accepts payment by check or PayPal.
Finally, it was back to my own neighborhood. There, the Bed & Breakfast on the Park normally requires at least a three-night stay, but it makes exceptions when there's a room free for one or two nights. I would have been happy with the ground-floor room, with a short walk to the private bathroom, but the only thing available was a more expensive suite on the third floor. The suite, with deep red walls, lace on the windows and a four-poster bed draped in fake vines, was at the back of the building, where the view from the private roof terrace stretches from the Statue of Liberty to the Empire State Building and beyond.
Breakfast was served, promptly at 9 a.m., at a table that looked like it was set for a white-tie dinner, with cut-glass bowls and ornate silver. The other guests, it turned out, were couples who were visiting grown children in Park Slope and were thrilled to have a place to stay close by; they were sharing advice about the Brooklyn Museum, Green-Wood Cemetery and Coney Island.
The offerings included a “baked pear pancake” with the texture of a soufflé and sourdough rolls, baked on premises, that were among the best I've ever tasted. (According to the manager, Linda Kaffke, an old Italian baker drops the dough off once a week.)
True, for the price, I could have had a hotel room in Manhattan. But Manhattan doesn't have the old Italian baker, or the charms of Park Slope — or the view across the river to Manhattan.
MORE INFORMATION
BED-AND-BREAKFASTS operate in all five boroughs of New York City, and many offer inexpensive alternatives to hotels, especially for those willing to share a bathroom. They are less impersonal than hotels and have their own quirks: not all take credit cards; many have minimum stays of two or three nights but make exceptions when rooms are available; some will reduce rates for long-term stays.
Below are details of the four sampled for this article. To find others, check www.lanierbb.com or simply search for “New York bed and breakfast.”
MANHATTAN
Stay the Night, 18 East 93rd Street (212-722-8300; www.staythenight.com), has seven rooms with prices from $75 for a modest bedroom with shared bath to $215 for a complete apartment; costs increase around holidays. No breakfast. Nearby are Sarabeth's (1295 Madison Avenue, at 92nd Street; 212-410-7335) and Petak's Deli and Cafe (1246 Madison Avenue, at 89th Street; 212-722-7711).
Room in SoHo Loft, 153 Lafayette Street, at Grand Street (www.livingwithartusa.com), has two rooms on the seventh floor, with private baths, each $180 to $220 depending on the season; there are also two rooms on the fifth floor, attached to the proprietor's apartment. Reservations are taken by e-mail at roominsoho@mac.com. No breakfast, but there is access to a kitchen.
BROOKLYN
Bed & Breakfast on the Park (113 Prospect Park West; 718-499-6115; www.bbnyc.com) has seven rooms for $165 to $295 plus a 10 percent gratuity; all come with private baths and a very full breakfast.
THE BRONX
Le Refuge Inn Bed & Breakfast on City Island (586 City Island Avenue; 718-885-2478; www.lerefugeinn.com) has seven rooms; all are $115 single and $135 double, Continental breakfast and tax included. The prix fixe dinner is $45.
The B & B Option Is Put to a New York Test
Michael Falco for The New York Times
Stay the Night, a Manhattan bed-and-breakfast in Carnegie Hill.
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By FRED A. BERNSTEIN
Published: July 20, 2007
I HAVE never liked bed-and-breakfasts, which I associate with Victorian furniture, officious hosts and forced conviviality at breakfast. But with the average price of a Manhattan hotel room nearing $300, I no longer knew what to tell friends who asked where they should stay in New York City.
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The Bed & Breakfast on the Park, near Prospect Park in Brooklyn. More Photos »
Then I moved to Brooklyn, where I noticed that one of the brownstones down the block from my apartment — overlooking Prospect Park — contained a B & B. Surprised, I found myself searching the Internet, where I found at least 30 B & Bs, spread out over all five boroughs.
Intrigued by this unexpected abundance, I set out on a reconnaissance mission (glad that if I found myself in a place I hated, I was just a taxi ride from home).
I never had to sneak out in the middle of the night. Some of the B & Bs were terrific. Only one of the four I tried was really Victorian; one was ultramodern, and the other two were simply homey. There were no officious hosts — but there were lots of helpful employees. When there was breakfast, nobody made me talk (at the communal table in the Park Slope B & B, I was busy eating the delicious food).
Perhaps it was beginner's luck that my first stop in Manhattan was a gem: Stay the Night, occupying a town house on a gorgeous block in the East 90's. The husband-and-wife psychologists who live on the first two floors have created a hostelry upstairs. The smallest room (with a shared bath) is just $75 a night. My much larger room, with its own bath and a private roof deck overlooking a leafy backyard, was $195.
The place is advertised as a non-hosted inn. (Since it doesn't serve breakfast, unless you count the packaged muffins in the room's refrigerator, it's not really a B & B, but everything else about it puts it in that category.)
You're asked to arrive before 6 p.m., when an employee will still be available to admit you. (If you're late, you're charged $20 for his overtime.) Since there are no common rooms, and you drop your keys in a slot when you leave, you may never see another person. Nick Hankin, the manager, lives in Astoria, Queens, but is available by phone.
In other words, it's just like living in a New York apartment. But this is an apartment in Carnegie Hill, an extraordinarily pleasant neighborhood. Sarabeth's, which serves what many consider New York's most satisfying breakfast, is just around the corner. After a perfect goat cheese and spinach omelet with a pumpkin muffin and Sarabeth's incomparable marmalade, I set out for a tour of Carnegie Hill.
I lived in the neighborhood for many years, and it was a pleasure to revisit old haunts: the Corner Bookstore; the Guggenheim; the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum; and finally Petak's, a deli that offers some of the best prepared food in the city (perfect for a picnic overlooking the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in Central Park). Stay the Night doesn't have a lot of amenities, but given what it offers — nice accommodations in a nonpareil location — it doesn't need to.
My next stop was in a less central location, but that's its draw: City Island, linked to the Bronx mainland by a bridge, resembles a slightly overcrowded New England fishing village.
ONE of its most surprising establishments is Le Refuge. Occupying a mansard-roofed house, it is indeed a refuge from the huge, carnival-like seafood restaurants lining the main drag, City Island Avenue. At Le Refuge, the $45 prix fixe dinner is a taste of classic French food — I had duck à l'orange — most of it delicious (even if my crème brûlée lacked the requisite crust). My $115 room, in the back of the house, was uninspiring, as was the utilitarian bathroom down the hall. But the whole experience, including Continental breakfast in a handsome, ground-floor sitting room, offered a chance to feel as though I had been across the Atlantic Ocean.
My third B & B also had a French flavor (but, again, no breakfast), thanks to Albert Delamour, who rents out two rooms on the seventh floor of a loft building in SoHo. The rooms adjoin an art gallery; Mr. Delamour said he started the B & B to subsidize that business (and his own career as a photographer). But the sideline is threatening to take over. “We get 100 calls a day,” he said, “and I can't do the gallery work,” explaining that he now accepts reservations only by e-mail.
Staying in a gallery is fun. Less fun is trudging up seven flights of stairs. At 5:30 p.m. on weekdays, the building's manager shuts off the elevator; he's afraid of someone getting stuck, Mr. Delamour said. The night I arrived, a couple from Canada carried their baby and their luggage up the stairs.
The Canadians' room was in the back of the building, but mine faced Lafayette Street. The noise of cars, trucks and even loud pedestrians didn't let up, and I couldn't fall asleep. Then I found a portable fan in the bathroom — private, but at the other end of the loft — and plugged it in next to my bed. Thanks to the white noise, I slept like a baby till morning, when the windows in my room offered terrific rooftop views (including the spires of the Empire State and Chrysler Buildings), and when the elevator, now back in operation, carried me downstairs to look for a place for breakfast.
My room was $210, including tax; Mr. Delamour, who couldn't have been nicer, accepts payment by check or PayPal.
Finally, it was back to my own neighborhood. There, the Bed & Breakfast on the Park normally requires at least a three-night stay, but it makes exceptions when there's a room free for one or two nights. I would have been happy with the ground-floor room, with a short walk to the private bathroom, but the only thing available was a more expensive suite on the third floor. The suite, with deep red walls, lace on the windows and a four-poster bed draped in fake vines, was at the back of the building, where the view from the private roof terrace stretches from the Statue of Liberty to the Empire State Building and beyond.
Breakfast was served, promptly at 9 a.m., at a table that looked like it was set for a white-tie dinner, with cut-glass bowls and ornate silver. The other guests, it turned out, were couples who were visiting grown children in Park Slope and were thrilled to have a place to stay close by; they were sharing advice about the Brooklyn Museum, Green-Wood Cemetery and Coney Island.
The offerings included a “baked pear pancake” with the texture of a soufflé and sourdough rolls, baked on premises, that were among the best I've ever tasted. (According to the manager, Linda Kaffke, an old Italian baker drops the dough off once a week.)
True, for the price, I could have had a hotel room in Manhattan. But Manhattan doesn't have the old Italian baker, or the charms of Park Slope — or the view across the river to Manhattan.
MORE INFORMATION
BED-AND-BREAKFASTS operate in all five boroughs of New York City, and many offer inexpensive alternatives to hotels, especially for those willing to share a bathroom. They are less impersonal than hotels and have their own quirks: not all take credit cards; many have minimum stays of two or three nights but make exceptions when rooms are available; some will reduce rates for long-term stays.
Below are details of the four sampled for this article. To find others, check www.lanierbb.com or simply search for “New York bed and breakfast.”
MANHATTAN
Stay the Night, 18 East 93rd Street (212-722-8300; www.staythenight.com), has seven rooms with prices from $75 for a modest bedroom with shared bath to $215 for a complete apartment; costs increase around holidays. No breakfast. Nearby are Sarabeth's (1295 Madison Avenue, at 92nd Street; 212-410-7335) and Petak's Deli and Cafe (1246 Madison Avenue, at 89th Street; 212-722-7711).
Room in SoHo Loft, 153 Lafayette Street, at Grand Street (www.livingwithartusa.com), has two rooms on the seventh floor, with private baths, each $180 to $220 depending on the season; there are also two rooms on the fifth floor, attached to the proprietor's apartment. Reservations are taken by e-mail at roominsoho@mac.com. No breakfast, but there is access to a kitchen.
BROOKLYN
Bed & Breakfast on the Park (113 Prospect Park West; 718-499-6115; www.bbnyc.com) has seven rooms for $165 to $295 plus a 10 percent gratuity; all come with private baths and a very full breakfast.
THE BRONX
Le Refuge Inn Bed & Breakfast on City Island (586 City Island Avenue; 718-885-2478; www.lerefugeinn.com) has seven rooms; all are $115 single and $135 double, Continental breakfast and tax included. The prix fixe dinner is $45.
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/18/dining/18mini.html?pagewanted=all
The Minimalist
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
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By MARK BITTMAN
Published: July 18, 2007
The pleasures of cooking are sometimes obscured by summer haze and heat, which can cause many of us to turn instead to bad restaurants and worse takeout. But the cook with a little bit of experience has a wealth of quick and easy alternatives at hand. The trouble is that when it’s too hot, even the most resourceful cook has a hard time remembering all the options. So here are 101 substantial main courses, all of which get you in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes or less. (I’m not counting the time it takes to bring water to a boil, but you can stay out of the kitchen for that.) These suggestions are not formal recipes; rather, they provide a general outline. With a little imagination and some swift moves — and maybe a salad and a loaf of bread — you can turn any dish on this list into a meal that not only will be better than takeout, but won’t heat you out of the house.
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1 Make six-minute eggs: simmer gently, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.
2 Toss a cup of chopped mixed herbs with a few tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta, diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.
3 Cut eight sea scallops into four horizontal slices each. Arrange on plates. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chilies; serve after five minutes.
4 Open a can of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, small or chopped shrimp, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp are done; garnish with more olive oil.
5 Put three pounds of washed mussels in a pot with half a cup of white wine, garlic cloves, basil leaves and chopped tomatoes. Steam until mussels open. Serve with bread.
6 Heat a quarter-inch of olive oil in a skillet. Dredge flounder or sole fillets in flour and fry until crisp, about two minutes a side. Serve on sliced bread with tartar sauce.
7 Make pesto: put a couple of cups of basil leaves, a garlic clove, salt, pepper and olive oil as necessary in a blender (walnuts and Parmesan are optional). Serve over pasta (dilute with oil or water as necessary) or grilled fish or meat.
8 Put a few dozen washed littlenecks in a large, hot skillet with olive oil. When clams begin to open, add a tablespoon or two of chopped garlic. When most or all are opened, add parsley. Serve alone, with bread or over angel-hair pasta.
9 Pan-grill a skirt steak for three or four minutes a side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, slice and serve over romaine or any other green salad, drizzled with olive oil and lemon.
10 Smear mackerel fillets with mustard, then sprinkle with chopped herbs (fresh tarragon is good), salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Bake in a 425-degree oven for about eight minutes.
11 Warm olive oil in a skillet with at least three cloves sliced garlic. When the garlic colors, add at least a teaspoon each of cumin and pimentón. A minute later, add a dozen or so shrimp, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley, serve with lemon and bread.
12 Boil a lobster. Serve with lemon or melted butter.
13 Gazpacho: Combine one pound tomatoes cut into chunks, a cucumber peeled and cut into chunks, two or three slices stale bread torn into pieces, a quarter-cup olive oil, two tablespoons sherry vinegar and a clove of garlic in a blender with one cup water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, then serve or refrigerate, garnished with anchovies if you like, and a little more olive oil.
14 Put a few slices of chopped prosciutto in a skillet with olive oil, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a bit of butter; a minute later, toss in about half a cup bread crumbs and red chili flakes to taste. Serve over pasta with chopped parsley.
15 Call it panini: Grilled cheese with prosciutto, tomatoes, thyme or basil leaves.
16 Slice or chop salami, corned beef or kielbasa and warm in a little oil; stir in eggs and scramble. Serve with mustard and rye bread.
17 Soak couscous in boiling water to cover until tender; top with sardines, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and black pepper.
18 Stir-fry a pound or so of ground meat or chopped fish mixed with chopped onions and seasoned with cumin or chili powder. Pile into taco shells or soft tacos, along with tomato, lettuce, canned beans, onion, cilantro and sour cream.
19 Chinese tomato and eggs: Cook minced garlic in peanut oil until blond; add chopped tomatoes then, a minute later, beaten eggs, along with salt and pepper. Scramble with a little soy sauce.
20 Cut eggplant into half-inch slices. Broil with lots of olive oil, turning once, until tender and browned. Top with crumbled goat or feta cheese and broil another 20 seconds.
21 While pasta cooks, combine a couple cups chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon or more minced garlic, olive oil and 20 to 30 basil leaves. Toss with pasta, salt, pepper and Parmesan.
22 Make wraps of tuna, warm white beans, a drizzle of olive oil and lettuce and tomato.
23 The New York supper: Bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon. Serve with tomatoes, watercress or arugula, and sliced red onion or shallot.
24 Dredge thinly sliced chicken breasts in flour or cornmeal; cook about two minutes a side in hot olive oil. Place on bread with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.
25 Upscale tuna salad: good canned tuna (packed in olive oil), capers, dill or parsley, lemon juice but no mayo. Use to stuff a tomato or two.
26 Cut Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil; chop onions and bell peppers and add them to the pan. Cook until sausage is browned and peppers and onions tender. Serve in sandwiches.
27 Egg in a hole, glorified: Tear a hole in a piece of bread and fry in butter. Crack an egg into the hole. Deglaze pan with a little sherry vinegar mixed with water, and more butter; pour over egg.
28 New Joe’s Special, from San Francisco: Brown ground meat with minced garlic and chopped onion. When just about cooked, add chopped spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. At the last minute, stir in two eggs, along with grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.
29 Chop prosciutto and crisp it in a skillet with olive oil; add chopped not-too-ripe figs. Serve over greens dressed with oil and vinegar; top all with crumbled blue cheese.
30 Quesadilla: Use a combination of cheeses, like Fontina mixed with grated pecorino. Put on half of a large flour tortilla with pickled jalapenos, chopped onion, shallot or scallion, chopped tomatoes and grated radish. Fold tortilla over and brown on both sides in butter or oil, until cheese is melted.
31 Fast chile rellenos: Drain canned whole green chilies. Make a slit in each and insert a piece of cheese. Dredge in flour and fry in a skillet, slit side up, until cheese melts.
32 Cobb-ish salad: Chop bacon and begin to brown it; cut boneless chicken into strips and cook it with bacon. Toss romaine and watercress or arugula with chopped tomatoes, avocado, onion and crumbled blue cheese. Add bacon and chicken. Dress with oil and vinegar.
33 Sauté 10 whole peeled garlic cloves in olive oil. Meanwhile, grate Pecorino, grind lots of black pepper, chop parsley and cook pasta. Toss all together, along with crushed dried chili flakes and salt.
34 Niçoise salad: Lightly steam haricot verts, green beans or asparagus. Arrange on a plate with chickpeas, good canned tuna, hard-cooked eggs, a green salad, sliced cucumber and tomato. Dress with oil and vinegar.
35 Cold soba with dipping sauce: Cook soba noodles, then rinse in cold water until cool. Serve with a sauce of soy sauce and minced ginger diluted with mirin and/or dry sake.
36 Fried egg “saltimbocca”: Lay slices of prosciutto or ham in a buttered skillet. Fry eggs on top of ham; top with grated Parmesan.
37 Frisée aux lardons: Cook chunks of bacon in a skillet. Meanwhile, make six-minute or poached eggs and a frisée salad. Put eggs on top of salad along with bacon; deglaze pan with sherry vinegar and pour pan juices over all.
38 Fried rice: Soften vegetables with oil in a skillet. Add cold takeout rice, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, peas and two beaten eggs. Toss until hot and cooked through. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil.
39 Taco salad: Toss together greens, chopped tomato, chopped red onion, sliced avocado, a small can of black beans and kernels from a couple of ears of corn. Toss with crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheese. Dress with olive oil, lime and chopped cilantro leaves.
40 Put a large can of chickpeas and their liquid in a medium saucepan. Add some sherry, along with olive oil, plenty of minced garlic, smoked pimentón and chopped Spanish chorizo. Heat through.
41 Raita to the rescue: Broil any fish. Serve with a sauce of drained yogurt mixed with chopped cucumber, minced onion and cayenne.
42 Season boneless lamb steaks cut from the leg with sweet curry powder. Sear on both sides. Serve over greens, with lemon wedges.
43 Migas, with egg: Sauté chopped stale bread with olive oil, mushrooms, onions and spinach. Stir in a couple of eggs.
44 Migas, without egg: Sauté chopped stale bread with chopped Spanish chorizo, plenty of garlic and lots of olive oil. Finish with chopped parsley.
45 Sauté shredded zucchini in olive oil, adding garlic and chopped herbs. Serve over pasta.
46 Broil a few slices prosciutto until crisp; crumble and toss with parsley, Parmesan, olive oil and pasta.
47 Not exactly banh mi, but... Make sandwiches on crisp bread with liverwurst, ham, sliced half-sours, shredded carrots, cilantro sprigs and Vietnamese chili-garlic paste.
48 Not takeout: Stir-fry onions with cut-up broccoli. Add cubed tofu, chicken or shrimp, or sliced beef or pork, along with a tablespoon each minced garlic and ginger. When almost done, add half cup of water, two tablespoons soy sauce and plenty of black pepper. Heat through and serve over fresh Chinese noodles.
49 Sprinkle sole fillets with chopped parsley, garlic, salt and pepper; roll up, dip in flour, then beaten egg, then bread crumbs; cook in hot olive oil about three minutes a side. Serve with lemon wedges.
50 The Waldorf: Toast a handful of walnuts in a skillet. Chop an apple or pear; toss with greens, walnuts and a dressing made with olive oil, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and shallot. Top, if you like, with crumbled goat or blue cheese.
51 Put a stick of butter and a handful of pine nuts in a skillet. Cook over medium heat until both are brown. Toss with cooked pasta, grated Parmesan and black pepper.
52 Grill or sauté Italian sausage and serve over store-bought hummus, with lemon wedges.
53 Put a tablespoon of cream and a slice of tomato in each of several small ramekins. Top with an egg, then salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees until the eggs set. Serve with toast.
54 Brown small pork (or hot dog) chunks in a skillet. Add white beans, garlic, thyme and olive oil. Or add white beans and ketchup.
55 Dredge skate or flounder in flour and brown quickly in butter or oil. Deglaze pan with a couple of spoonfuls of capers and a lot of lemon juice or a little vinegar.
56 Make a fast tomato sauce of olive oil, chopped tomatoes and garlic. Poach eggs in the sauce, then top with Parmesan.
57 Dip pork cutlets in egg, then dredge heavily in panko; brown quickly on both sides. Serve over lettuce, with fresh lemon, or bottled Japanese curry sauce.
58 Cook chicken livers in butter or oil with garlic; do not overcook. Finish with parsley, lemon juice and coarse salt; serve over toast.
59 Brown bratwursts with cut-up apples. Serve with coleslaw.
60 Peel and thinly slice raw beets; cook in butter until soft. Take out of pan and quickly cook some shrimp in same pan. Deglaze pan with sherry vinegar, adding sauce to beets and shrimp. Garnish with dill.
61 Poach shrimp and plunge into ice water. Serve with cocktail sauce: one cup ketchup, one tablespoon vinegar, three tablespoons melted butter and lots of horseradish.
62 Southeast Asia steak salad: Pan- or oven-grill skirt or flank steak. Slice and serve on a pile of greens with a sauce of one tablespoon each of nam pla and lime juice, black pepper, a teaspoon each of sugar and garlic, crushed red chili flakes and Thai basil.
63 Miso steak: Coat beef tenderloin steaks (filet mignon) with a blend of miso and chili paste thinned with sake or white wine. Grill or broil about five minutes.
64 Pasta with fresh tomatoes: Cook chopped fresh tomatoes in butter or oil with garlic until tender, while pasta cooks. Combine and serve with grated Parmesan.
65 Sauté squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper and garlic; add chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes break down. Serve over pasta.
66 Salmon (or just about anything else) teriyaki: Sear salmon steaks on both sides for a couple of minutes; remove. To skillet, add a splash of water, sake, a little sugar and soy sauce; when mixture is thick, return steaks to pan and turn in sauce until done. Serve hot or at room temperature.
67 Rich vegetable soup: Cook asparagus tips and peeled stalks or most any other green vegetable in chicken stock with a little tarragon until tender; reserve a few tips and purée the rest with a little butter (cream or yogurt, too, if you like) adding enough stock to thin the purée. Garnish with the reserved tips. Serve hot or cold.
68 Brush portobello caps with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil until tender. Briefly sweat chopped onions, then scramble eggs with them. Put eggs in mushrooms.
69 Buy good blintzes. Brown them on both sides in butter. Serve with sour cream, apple sauce or both.
70 Sauté squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper. Make a sauce of minced garlic, smoked pimentón, mayo, lots of lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve with a chopped salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, grated carrot and scallion, lightly dressed.
71 Press a lot of coarsely ground black pepper onto both sides of filet mignon or other steaks or chopped meat patties. Brown in butter in a skillet for two minutes a side. Remove steaks and add a splash of red wine, chopped shallots and a bit of tarragon to skillet. Reduce, then return steaks to pan, turning in the sauce for a minute or two.
72 World’s leading sandwich: prosciutto, tomato, butter or olive oil and a baguette.
73 Near instant mezze: Combine hummus on a plate with yogurt laced with chopped cucumbers and a bit of garlic, plus tomato, feta, white beans with olive oil and pita bread.
74 Canned sardines packed in olive oil on Triscuits, with mustard and Tabasco.
75 Boil-and-eat shrimp, cooked in water with Old Bay seasoning or a mixture of thyme, garlic, paprika, chopped onion, celery, chili, salt and pepper.
76 Make a thin plain omelet with two or three eggs. Sauté cubes of bacon or pancetta or strips of prosciutto until crisp. Cut up the omelet and use it and the meat to garnish a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
77 Sear corn kernels in olive oil with minced jalapeños and chopped onions; toss with cilantro, black beans, chopped tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and lime.
78 Cook shrimp in a skillet slowly (five minutes or so) to preserve their juices, with plenty of garlic and olive oil, until done; pour over watercress or arugula, with lemon, pepper and salt.
79 Liverwurst on good sourdough rye with scallions, tomato and wholegrain mustard.
80 Not-quite merguez: Ground lamb burgers seasoned with cumin, garlic, onion, salt and cayenne. Serve with couscous and green salad, along with bottled harissa.
81 Combine crab meat with mayo, Dijon mustard, chives and tarragon. Serve in a sandwich, with potato chips.
82 Combine canned tuna in olive oil, halved grape tomatoes, black olives, mint, lemon zest and red pepper flakes. Serve with pasta, thinning with olive oil or pasta cooking water as needed.
83 Pit and chop a cup or more of mixed olives. Combine with olive oil, a little minced garlic, red pepper flakes and chopped basil or parsley. Serve over pasta.
84 Cook chopped tomatillos with a little water or stock, cilantro and a little minced fresh chili; serve over grilled, broiled or sautéed chicken breasts, with corn tortillas.
85 A winning sandwich: bresaola or prosciutto, arugula, Parmesan, marinated artichoke hearts, tomato.
86 Smoked trout fillets served with lightly toasted almonds, shredded fennel, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon.
87 Grated carrots topped with six-minute eggs (run under cold water until cool before peeling), olive oil and lemon juice.
88 Cut the top off four big tomatoes; scoop out the interiors and mix them with toasted stale baguette or pita, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (basil, tarragon, and/or parsley). Stuff into tomatoes and serve with salad.
89 Pasta frittata: Turn cooked pasta and a little garlic into an oiled or buttered skillet. Brown, pressing to create a cake. Flip, then top with three or four beaten eggs and loads of Parmesan. Brown other side and serve.
90 Thai-style beef: Thinly slice one and a half pounds of flank steak, pork shoulder or boneless chicken; heat peanut oil in a skillet, add meat and stir. A minute later, add a tablespoon minced garlic and some red chili flakes. Add 30 clean basil leaves, a quarter cup of water and a tablespoon or two of soy sauce or nam pla. Serve with lime juice and more chili flakes, over rice or salad.
91 Dredge calf’s liver in flour. Sear in olive oil or butter or a combination until crisp on both sides, adding salt and pepper as it cooks; it should be medium-rare. Garnish with parsley and lemon juice.
92 Rub not-too-thick pork or lamb chops with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper plus sage or thyme. Broil about three minutes a side and drizzle with good balsamic vinegar.
93 Cut up Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil until just about done. Dump in a lot of seedless grapes and, if you like, a little slivered garlic and chopped rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the grapes are hot. Serve with bread.
94 Ketchup-braised tofu: Dredge large tofu cubes in flour. Brown in oil; remove from skillet and wipe skillet clean. Add a little more oil, then a tablespoon minced garlic; 30 seconds later, add one and a half cups ketchup and the tofu. Cook until sauce bubbles and tofu is hot.
95 Veggie burger: Drain and pour a 14-ounce can of beans into a food processor with an onion, half a cup rolled oats, a tablespoon chili powder or other spice mix, an egg, salt and pepper. Process until mushy, then shape into burgers, adding a little liquid or oats as necessary. Cook in oil about three minutes a side and serve.
96 A Roman classic: In lots of olive oil, lightly cook lots of slivered garlic, with six or so anchovy fillets and a dried hot chili or two. Dress pasta with this.
97 So-called Fettuccine Alfredo: Heat several tablespoons of butter and about half a cup of cream in a large skillet just until the cream starts to simmer. Add slightly undercooked fresh pasta to the skillet, along with plenty of grated Parmesan. Cook over low heat, tossing, until pasta is tender and hot.
98 Rub flank steak or chuck with curry or chili powder before broiling or grilling, then slice thin across the grain.
99 Cook a couple of pounds of shrimp, shell on or off, in oil, with lots of chopped garlic. When they turn pink, remove; deglaze the pan with a half-cup or so of beer, along with a splash of Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, rosemary and a lump of butter. Serve with bread.
100 Cook red lentils in water with a little cumin and chopped bacon until soft. Top with poached or six-minute eggs (run under cold water until cool before peeling) and a little sherry vinegar.
101 Hot dogs on buns — with beans!
The Minimalist
Summer Express: 101 Simple Meals Ready in 10 Minutes or Less
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By MARK BITTMAN
Published: July 18, 2007
The pleasures of cooking are sometimes obscured by summer haze and heat, which can cause many of us to turn instead to bad restaurants and worse takeout. But the cook with a little bit of experience has a wealth of quick and easy alternatives at hand. The trouble is that when it’s too hot, even the most resourceful cook has a hard time remembering all the options. So here are 101 substantial main courses, all of which get you in and out of the kitchen in 10 minutes or less. (I’m not counting the time it takes to bring water to a boil, but you can stay out of the kitchen for that.) These suggestions are not formal recipes; rather, they provide a general outline. With a little imagination and some swift moves — and maybe a salad and a loaf of bread — you can turn any dish on this list into a meal that not only will be better than takeout, but won’t heat you out of the house.
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1 Make six-minute eggs: simmer gently, run under cold water until cool, then peel. Serve over steamed asparagus.
2 Toss a cup of chopped mixed herbs with a few tablespoons of olive oil in a hot pan. Serve over angel-hair pasta, diluting the sauce if necessary with pasta cooking water.
3 Cut eight sea scallops into four horizontal slices each. Arrange on plates. Sprinkle with lime juice, salt and crushed chilies; serve after five minutes.
4 Open a can of white beans and combine with olive oil, salt, small or chopped shrimp, minced garlic and thyme leaves in a pan. Cook, stirring, until the shrimp are done; garnish with more olive oil.
5 Put three pounds of washed mussels in a pot with half a cup of white wine, garlic cloves, basil leaves and chopped tomatoes. Steam until mussels open. Serve with bread.
6 Heat a quarter-inch of olive oil in a skillet. Dredge flounder or sole fillets in flour and fry until crisp, about two minutes a side. Serve on sliced bread with tartar sauce.
7 Make pesto: put a couple of cups of basil leaves, a garlic clove, salt, pepper and olive oil as necessary in a blender (walnuts and Parmesan are optional). Serve over pasta (dilute with oil or water as necessary) or grilled fish or meat.
8 Put a few dozen washed littlenecks in a large, hot skillet with olive oil. When clams begin to open, add a tablespoon or two of chopped garlic. When most or all are opened, add parsley. Serve alone, with bread or over angel-hair pasta.
9 Pan-grill a skirt steak for three or four minutes a side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, slice and serve over romaine or any other green salad, drizzled with olive oil and lemon.
10 Smear mackerel fillets with mustard, then sprinkle with chopped herbs (fresh tarragon is good), salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Bake in a 425-degree oven for about eight minutes.
11 Warm olive oil in a skillet with at least three cloves sliced garlic. When the garlic colors, add at least a teaspoon each of cumin and pimentón. A minute later, add a dozen or so shrimp, salt and pepper. Garnish with parsley, serve with lemon and bread.
12 Boil a lobster. Serve with lemon or melted butter.
13 Gazpacho: Combine one pound tomatoes cut into chunks, a cucumber peeled and cut into chunks, two or three slices stale bread torn into pieces, a quarter-cup olive oil, two tablespoons sherry vinegar and a clove of garlic in a blender with one cup water and a couple of ice cubes. Process until smooth, adding water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper, then serve or refrigerate, garnished with anchovies if you like, and a little more olive oil.
14 Put a few slices of chopped prosciutto in a skillet with olive oil, a couple of cloves of crushed garlic and a bit of butter; a minute later, toss in about half a cup bread crumbs and red chili flakes to taste. Serve over pasta with chopped parsley.
15 Call it panini: Grilled cheese with prosciutto, tomatoes, thyme or basil leaves.
16 Slice or chop salami, corned beef or kielbasa and warm in a little oil; stir in eggs and scramble. Serve with mustard and rye bread.
17 Soak couscous in boiling water to cover until tender; top with sardines, tomatoes, parsley, olive oil and black pepper.
18 Stir-fry a pound or so of ground meat or chopped fish mixed with chopped onions and seasoned with cumin or chili powder. Pile into taco shells or soft tacos, along with tomato, lettuce, canned beans, onion, cilantro and sour cream.
19 Chinese tomato and eggs: Cook minced garlic in peanut oil until blond; add chopped tomatoes then, a minute later, beaten eggs, along with salt and pepper. Scramble with a little soy sauce.
20 Cut eggplant into half-inch slices. Broil with lots of olive oil, turning once, until tender and browned. Top with crumbled goat or feta cheese and broil another 20 seconds.
21 While pasta cooks, combine a couple cups chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon or more minced garlic, olive oil and 20 to 30 basil leaves. Toss with pasta, salt, pepper and Parmesan.
22 Make wraps of tuna, warm white beans, a drizzle of olive oil and lettuce and tomato.
23 The New York supper: Bagels, cream cheese, smoked salmon. Serve with tomatoes, watercress or arugula, and sliced red onion or shallot.
24 Dredge thinly sliced chicken breasts in flour or cornmeal; cook about two minutes a side in hot olive oil. Place on bread with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise.
25 Upscale tuna salad: good canned tuna (packed in olive oil), capers, dill or parsley, lemon juice but no mayo. Use to stuff a tomato or two.
26 Cut Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil; chop onions and bell peppers and add them to the pan. Cook until sausage is browned and peppers and onions tender. Serve in sandwiches.
27 Egg in a hole, glorified: Tear a hole in a piece of bread and fry in butter. Crack an egg into the hole. Deglaze pan with a little sherry vinegar mixed with water, and more butter; pour over egg.
28 New Joe’s Special, from San Francisco: Brown ground meat with minced garlic and chopped onion. When just about cooked, add chopped spinach and cook, stirring, until wilted. At the last minute, stir in two eggs, along with grated Parmesan and salt and pepper.
29 Chop prosciutto and crisp it in a skillet with olive oil; add chopped not-too-ripe figs. Serve over greens dressed with oil and vinegar; top all with crumbled blue cheese.
30 Quesadilla: Use a combination of cheeses, like Fontina mixed with grated pecorino. Put on half of a large flour tortilla with pickled jalapenos, chopped onion, shallot or scallion, chopped tomatoes and grated radish. Fold tortilla over and brown on both sides in butter or oil, until cheese is melted.
31 Fast chile rellenos: Drain canned whole green chilies. Make a slit in each and insert a piece of cheese. Dredge in flour and fry in a skillet, slit side up, until cheese melts.
32 Cobb-ish salad: Chop bacon and begin to brown it; cut boneless chicken into strips and cook it with bacon. Toss romaine and watercress or arugula with chopped tomatoes, avocado, onion and crumbled blue cheese. Add bacon and chicken. Dress with oil and vinegar.
33 Sauté 10 whole peeled garlic cloves in olive oil. Meanwhile, grate Pecorino, grind lots of black pepper, chop parsley and cook pasta. Toss all together, along with crushed dried chili flakes and salt.
34 Niçoise salad: Lightly steam haricot verts, green beans or asparagus. Arrange on a plate with chickpeas, good canned tuna, hard-cooked eggs, a green salad, sliced cucumber and tomato. Dress with oil and vinegar.
35 Cold soba with dipping sauce: Cook soba noodles, then rinse in cold water until cool. Serve with a sauce of soy sauce and minced ginger diluted with mirin and/or dry sake.
36 Fried egg “saltimbocca”: Lay slices of prosciutto or ham in a buttered skillet. Fry eggs on top of ham; top with grated Parmesan.
37 Frisée aux lardons: Cook chunks of bacon in a skillet. Meanwhile, make six-minute or poached eggs and a frisée salad. Put eggs on top of salad along with bacon; deglaze pan with sherry vinegar and pour pan juices over all.
38 Fried rice: Soften vegetables with oil in a skillet. Add cold takeout rice, chopped onion, garlic, ginger, peas and two beaten eggs. Toss until hot and cooked through. Season with soy sauce and sesame oil.
39 Taco salad: Toss together greens, chopped tomato, chopped red onion, sliced avocado, a small can of black beans and kernels from a couple of ears of corn. Toss with crumbled tortilla chips and grated cheese. Dress with olive oil, lime and chopped cilantro leaves.
40 Put a large can of chickpeas and their liquid in a medium saucepan. Add some sherry, along with olive oil, plenty of minced garlic, smoked pimentón and chopped Spanish chorizo. Heat through.
41 Raita to the rescue: Broil any fish. Serve with a sauce of drained yogurt mixed with chopped cucumber, minced onion and cayenne.
42 Season boneless lamb steaks cut from the leg with sweet curry powder. Sear on both sides. Serve over greens, with lemon wedges.
43 Migas, with egg: Sauté chopped stale bread with olive oil, mushrooms, onions and spinach. Stir in a couple of eggs.
44 Migas, without egg: Sauté chopped stale bread with chopped Spanish chorizo, plenty of garlic and lots of olive oil. Finish with chopped parsley.
45 Sauté shredded zucchini in olive oil, adding garlic and chopped herbs. Serve over pasta.
46 Broil a few slices prosciutto until crisp; crumble and toss with parsley, Parmesan, olive oil and pasta.
47 Not exactly banh mi, but... Make sandwiches on crisp bread with liverwurst, ham, sliced half-sours, shredded carrots, cilantro sprigs and Vietnamese chili-garlic paste.
48 Not takeout: Stir-fry onions with cut-up broccoli. Add cubed tofu, chicken or shrimp, or sliced beef or pork, along with a tablespoon each minced garlic and ginger. When almost done, add half cup of water, two tablespoons soy sauce and plenty of black pepper. Heat through and serve over fresh Chinese noodles.
49 Sprinkle sole fillets with chopped parsley, garlic, salt and pepper; roll up, dip in flour, then beaten egg, then bread crumbs; cook in hot olive oil about three minutes a side. Serve with lemon wedges.
50 The Waldorf: Toast a handful of walnuts in a skillet. Chop an apple or pear; toss with greens, walnuts and a dressing made with olive oil, sherry vinegar, Dijon mustard and shallot. Top, if you like, with crumbled goat or blue cheese.
51 Put a stick of butter and a handful of pine nuts in a skillet. Cook over medium heat until both are brown. Toss with cooked pasta, grated Parmesan and black pepper.
52 Grill or sauté Italian sausage and serve over store-bought hummus, with lemon wedges.
53 Put a tablespoon of cream and a slice of tomato in each of several small ramekins. Top with an egg, then salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. Bake at 350 degrees until the eggs set. Serve with toast.
54 Brown small pork (or hot dog) chunks in a skillet. Add white beans, garlic, thyme and olive oil. Or add white beans and ketchup.
55 Dredge skate or flounder in flour and brown quickly in butter or oil. Deglaze pan with a couple of spoonfuls of capers and a lot of lemon juice or a little vinegar.
56 Make a fast tomato sauce of olive oil, chopped tomatoes and garlic. Poach eggs in the sauce, then top with Parmesan.
57 Dip pork cutlets in egg, then dredge heavily in panko; brown quickly on both sides. Serve over lettuce, with fresh lemon, or bottled Japanese curry sauce.
58 Cook chicken livers in butter or oil with garlic; do not overcook. Finish with parsley, lemon juice and coarse salt; serve over toast.
59 Brown bratwursts with cut-up apples. Serve with coleslaw.
60 Peel and thinly slice raw beets; cook in butter until soft. Take out of pan and quickly cook some shrimp in same pan. Deglaze pan with sherry vinegar, adding sauce to beets and shrimp. Garnish with dill.
61 Poach shrimp and plunge into ice water. Serve with cocktail sauce: one cup ketchup, one tablespoon vinegar, three tablespoons melted butter and lots of horseradish.
62 Southeast Asia steak salad: Pan- or oven-grill skirt or flank steak. Slice and serve on a pile of greens with a sauce of one tablespoon each of nam pla and lime juice, black pepper, a teaspoon each of sugar and garlic, crushed red chili flakes and Thai basil.
63 Miso steak: Coat beef tenderloin steaks (filet mignon) with a blend of miso and chili paste thinned with sake or white wine. Grill or broil about five minutes.
64 Pasta with fresh tomatoes: Cook chopped fresh tomatoes in butter or oil with garlic until tender, while pasta cooks. Combine and serve with grated Parmesan.
65 Sauté squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper and garlic; add chopped tomatoes. Cook until the tomatoes break down. Serve over pasta.
66 Salmon (or just about anything else) teriyaki: Sear salmon steaks on both sides for a couple of minutes; remove. To skillet, add a splash of water, sake, a little sugar and soy sauce; when mixture is thick, return steaks to pan and turn in sauce until done. Serve hot or at room temperature.
67 Rich vegetable soup: Cook asparagus tips and peeled stalks or most any other green vegetable in chicken stock with a little tarragon until tender; reserve a few tips and purée the rest with a little butter (cream or yogurt, too, if you like) adding enough stock to thin the purée. Garnish with the reserved tips. Serve hot or cold.
68 Brush portobello caps with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper and broil until tender. Briefly sweat chopped onions, then scramble eggs with them. Put eggs in mushrooms.
69 Buy good blintzes. Brown them on both sides in butter. Serve with sour cream, apple sauce or both.
70 Sauté squid rings and tentacles in olive oil with salt and pepper. Make a sauce of minced garlic, smoked pimentón, mayo, lots of lemon juice and fresh parsley. Serve with a chopped salad of cucumber, tomato, lettuce, grated carrot and scallion, lightly dressed.
71 Press a lot of coarsely ground black pepper onto both sides of filet mignon or other steaks or chopped meat patties. Brown in butter in a skillet for two minutes a side. Remove steaks and add a splash of red wine, chopped shallots and a bit of tarragon to skillet. Reduce, then return steaks to pan, turning in the sauce for a minute or two.
72 World’s leading sandwich: prosciutto, tomato, butter or olive oil and a baguette.
73 Near instant mezze: Combine hummus on a plate with yogurt laced with chopped cucumbers and a bit of garlic, plus tomato, feta, white beans with olive oil and pita bread.
74 Canned sardines packed in olive oil on Triscuits, with mustard and Tabasco.
75 Boil-and-eat shrimp, cooked in water with Old Bay seasoning or a mixture of thyme, garlic, paprika, chopped onion, celery, chili, salt and pepper.
76 Make a thin plain omelet with two or three eggs. Sauté cubes of bacon or pancetta or strips of prosciutto until crisp. Cut up the omelet and use it and the meat to garnish a green salad dressed with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
77 Sear corn kernels in olive oil with minced jalapeños and chopped onions; toss with cilantro, black beans, chopped tomatoes, chopped bell pepper and lime.
78 Cook shrimp in a skillet slowly (five minutes or so) to preserve their juices, with plenty of garlic and olive oil, until done; pour over watercress or arugula, with lemon, pepper and salt.
79 Liverwurst on good sourdough rye with scallions, tomato and wholegrain mustard.
80 Not-quite merguez: Ground lamb burgers seasoned with cumin, garlic, onion, salt and cayenne. Serve with couscous and green salad, along with bottled harissa.
81 Combine crab meat with mayo, Dijon mustard, chives and tarragon. Serve in a sandwich, with potato chips.
82 Combine canned tuna in olive oil, halved grape tomatoes, black olives, mint, lemon zest and red pepper flakes. Serve with pasta, thinning with olive oil or pasta cooking water as needed.
83 Pit and chop a cup or more of mixed olives. Combine with olive oil, a little minced garlic, red pepper flakes and chopped basil or parsley. Serve over pasta.
84 Cook chopped tomatillos with a little water or stock, cilantro and a little minced fresh chili; serve over grilled, broiled or sautéed chicken breasts, with corn tortillas.
85 A winning sandwich: bresaola or prosciutto, arugula, Parmesan, marinated artichoke hearts, tomato.
86 Smoked trout fillets served with lightly toasted almonds, shredded fennel, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of lemon.
87 Grated carrots topped with six-minute eggs (run under cold water until cool before peeling), olive oil and lemon juice.
88 Cut the top off four big tomatoes; scoop out the interiors and mix them with toasted stale baguette or pita, olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs (basil, tarragon, and/or parsley). Stuff into tomatoes and serve with salad.
89 Pasta frittata: Turn cooked pasta and a little garlic into an oiled or buttered skillet. Brown, pressing to create a cake. Flip, then top with three or four beaten eggs and loads of Parmesan. Brown other side and serve.
90 Thai-style beef: Thinly slice one and a half pounds of flank steak, pork shoulder or boneless chicken; heat peanut oil in a skillet, add meat and stir. A minute later, add a tablespoon minced garlic and some red chili flakes. Add 30 clean basil leaves, a quarter cup of water and a tablespoon or two of soy sauce or nam pla. Serve with lime juice and more chili flakes, over rice or salad.
91 Dredge calf’s liver in flour. Sear in olive oil or butter or a combination until crisp on both sides, adding salt and pepper as it cooks; it should be medium-rare. Garnish with parsley and lemon juice.
92 Rub not-too-thick pork or lamb chops with olive oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper plus sage or thyme. Broil about three minutes a side and drizzle with good balsamic vinegar.
93 Cut up Italian sausage into chunks and brown in a little olive oil until just about done. Dump in a lot of seedless grapes and, if you like, a little slivered garlic and chopped rosemary. Cook, stirring, until the grapes are hot. Serve with bread.
94 Ketchup-braised tofu: Dredge large tofu cubes in flour. Brown in oil; remove from skillet and wipe skillet clean. Add a little more oil, then a tablespoon minced garlic; 30 seconds later, add one and a half cups ketchup and the tofu. Cook until sauce bubbles and tofu is hot.
95 Veggie burger: Drain and pour a 14-ounce can of beans into a food processor with an onion, half a cup rolled oats, a tablespoon chili powder or other spice mix, an egg, salt and pepper. Process until mushy, then shape into burgers, adding a little liquid or oats as necessary. Cook in oil about three minutes a side and serve.
96 A Roman classic: In lots of olive oil, lightly cook lots of slivered garlic, with six or so anchovy fillets and a dried hot chili or two. Dress pasta with this.
97 So-called Fettuccine Alfredo: Heat several tablespoons of butter and about half a cup of cream in a large skillet just until the cream starts to simmer. Add slightly undercooked fresh pasta to the skillet, along with plenty of grated Parmesan. Cook over low heat, tossing, until pasta is tender and hot.
98 Rub flank steak or chuck with curry or chili powder before broiling or grilling, then slice thin across the grain.
99 Cook a couple of pounds of shrimp, shell on or off, in oil, with lots of chopped garlic. When they turn pink, remove; deglaze the pan with a half-cup or so of beer, along with a splash of Worcestershire sauce, cayenne, rosemary and a lump of butter. Serve with bread.
100 Cook red lentils in water with a little cumin and chopped bacon until soft. Top with poached or six-minute eggs (run under cold water until cool before peeling) and a little sherry vinegar.
101 Hot dogs on buns — with beans!
In Napa, Wilderness Above the Wineries
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/06/08/travel/escapes/08Napa.html?pagewanted=all
In Napa, Wilderness Above the Wineries
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By KERMIT PATTISON
Published: June 8, 2007
AFTER hours of tromping through the hills of Napa County, beneath towering redwoods, over mountain creeks, past ruins of 19th-century homesteads, there still wasn't a single grape to be seen.
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Redwoods, Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.
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Napa Valley Finally, from the top of a mountain peak, there was the wine country at last. Grids of green vineyards stretched for miles. Far below, perched on a hilltop, stood a white stucco winery that seemed small as a matchbox.
From the highway, Napa seems to be wall-to-wall vineyards. But from the trails that snake through the hills of the county, you can see just how little of it is actually covered in vines — only about 9 percent.
I had detoured into the hills to appreciate the Napa terroir in a new way — by hiking it. Napa offers a rare pairing of wine and wilderness. The climate and topography that make the region so ripe for viticulture also have created misty forests, petrified trees, striking rock formations and peaks with sweeping views of the vineyards.
“The hiking in Napa Valley is phenomenal,” said Ken Stanton, author of the guidebook “Great Day Hikes In and Around Napa Valley.” “There are places that still look like they did a hundred years ago.”
Better yet, hiking Napa means you don't have to sleep in a tent. Several excellent hikes lie within a short drive of the valley's renowned bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants and wineries. You can easily design an itinerary that captures the duality of Napa: a series of day hikes in the hills fueled by nights of food and wine on the valley floor.
A good place to begin is in the heart of wine country, at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, five miles north of the craftsman homes and Victorian mansions of St. Helena.
In the woods of Bothe, you can imagine Napa as the early settlers might have seen it. The park nestles against the western slope of the valley, where some of Napa's oldest wineries, like Beringer and Schramsberg, dug their first wine caves in the 1800s.
Development and vineyards are slowly claiming more of Napa's acreage, but in Bothe that process has been reversed, and wilderness has reclaimed the land.
In the brush beside a trail stands an old stone wall, perhaps a relic of a former vineyard. A one-mile hike on the state park's history trail passes a pioneer cemetery, the site of Napa Valley's first Methodist church, and ends at the Bale Grist Mill, built in 1846. At the mill, the overshot water wheel and millstones still grind corn and wheat.
Bothe is one of the few places in the valley to see redwoods. These great trees covered much of Northern California until they were decimated by logging after the Gold Rush. Bothe's redwoods sprouted after the area was logged in the 1850s, yet even these second-growth trees inspire awe.
THE forest was shrouded in cool mist as I hiked beside a bubbling creek. A great blue heron took off from the rocky bottom and flew upstream, maneuvering its great wingspan through the twisting ravine. (On a previous visit, a pair of deer dashed across my path.)
After a two-mile walk to Coyote Peak, a break in the trees revealed a dazzling view of the vineyards from 1,170 feet. The roads below were crowded with weekend traffic, but the summit was silent except for the wind whooshing through the treetops and the faint rumble of the occasional wine tanker truck passing far below.
In the distance, the wooded slopes of the Coastal Range faded into the horizon, one ridge after another, in ever duller shades of green. At the head of the valley loomed Mount St. Helena, at 4,343 feet one of the tallest peaks in the Bay Area, shrouded in clouds like the Mount Olympus of the land of Bacchus.
Luckily, the comforts of the valley floor are never far away. A five-minute drive south of the park takes you to the California campus of the Culinary Institute of America, on the edge of St. Helena. When I visited, a chef in a white toque prepared sopa de ajo inside a demonstration kitchen, and the bakery case brimmed with goodies baked by pastry students. In Napa, no hiker should have to subsist on trail mix.
Before Napa became famous for wine, its economy depended on another natural resource: mining. In the late 19th century, cinnabar (the ore used to make mercury), gold and silver mines dotted the mountainsides of the upper valley. Today, the old wagon roads now form some of the region's best hiking trails.
In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson and his bride, Fanny, honeymooned in an abandoned bunkhouse at the Silverado mine on the slopes of Mount St. Helena. They'd gone there to flee the fogs of San Francisco, which were thought harmful to the writer's sickly and perhaps tubercular lungs.
“The woods sang aloud, and gave largely of their healthful breath,” Stevenson wrote of his first ascent up the mountain. “Gladness seemed to inhabit these upper zones, and we had left indifference behind us in the valley. ... There are days in a life when thus to climb out of the lowlands seems like scaling heaven.”
Or maybe it was just the wine.
The bunkhouse is long gone, but the site is part of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Dappled sunlight filters through the trees, and the cool mountain air smells of pine, just as Stevenson described it more than a century before.
The next hike began near Stevenson's former honeymoon cabin at the Highway 29 trailhead. Mr. Stanton calls this 11-mile trek from the slopes of Mount St. Helena down to Calistoga “the premier hike in Napa Valley” because of its varied terrain and spectacular views.
The trail winds through two miles of forests and chaparral to Table Rock, a massive overlook with a condor's-eye view of the upper valley from 2,465 feet. From the valley floor, I'd looked up at mountain mansions that seemed to occupy the super-rich stratosphere; now I looked down on their tiny rooftops.
A short distance away stood the T-Rex rock, a formation named for its resemblance to the dinosaur and a reminder of the valley's prehistoric origins. Millions of years ago, volcanic eruptions buried the land in lava and ash. (Visitors can appreciate the power of these cataclysms with a short hike through the petrified forest near Calistoga, where trees toppled by violent blasts were buried in ash and turned to stone.)
Contrary to popular myth, however, these mountains are not extinct volcanoes. Rather, Napa's two ranges — the Vaca on the east and Mayacamas on the west — were thrust upward by the plate tectonics in what some geologists liken to gigantic freeway pileups of volcanic and marine rocks. This diversity of soils, along with microclimates created by the terrain, is reflected in the distinctiveness of Napa's wines.
The trail from the slopes of Mount St. Helena continues below one of the most stunning relics of this geologic history: the Palisades, a rampart-like volcanic formation high above Calistoga.
Peregrine falcons nested in the craggy heights, and raptors soared on the thermals. The trail wound through dewy meadows dotted with wildflowers, mossy groves fed by mountain springs and hillsides strewn with boulders.
The hike passes the ruins of a homestead built in 1898 by a Swedish sailor. Only foundation stones remain, shaded by oaks, and they make fine picnic benches. Across a meadow, one small part of the homesteader's dream survived: a few of his apple trees were blossoming with spring flowers.
The footprints of history are also visible on the Historic Oat Hill Mine Road, which descends from the homestead five miles to Calistoga. The old path once served one of the world's largest mercury mines, and the rocky surface still bears the ruts of wagon wheels.
Of course, there are less strenuous ways to enjoy the views. After the hike, my wife and I dined on the deck of the Auberge du Soleil resort on the eastern slopes above Rutherford. We sipped a local cabernet and watched the sun sink over the mountains to the west. In those distant peaks awaited the most spectacular vistas of all.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park straddles the mountains between Napa and Sonoma. As a hawk flies, it lies only four miles from St. Helena. But the journey, like fine wine, can't be rushed. By car, it's 25 miles.
The highest point at the Sugarloaf Ridge park is the 2,729-foot Bald Mountain. If the climb didn't take my breath away, the view from the windswept summit did.
To the east, the vineyards of Napa Valley spread out in panoramic view. Huge wine tanks appeared small as grape seeds. A plane buzzed over St. Helena just below eye level. To the south, more than 40 miles away, the skyscrapers of San Francisco and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge poked through the fog. To the west lay the vineyards of Sonoma Valley, Santa Rosa and the Pacific Ocean.
A steady stream of hikers trudged up to the peak and stopped to admire the views. “It's amazing,” said Joanne Thompson, a tourist from the Boston area, as she stood on the peak. “You can see 360 degrees.”
You could drink in the entire wine country in one gulp. I spent an hour on the summit before reluctantly returning.
Of course, I had one consolation: that night I'd be sipping the fruits of these valleys once again.
High And Dry | Non-Wine Trails
THREE California state parks offer nondrinking ways to experience the Napa Valley. Information on all three is available at www.parks.ca.gov.
BOTHE-NAPA VALLEY STATE PARK
This 2,000-acre park has about 10 miles of trails shaded by forests of redwood, Douglas fir, oak and madrone. Horseback riding and camping are permitted.
Directions: 3801 St. Helena Highway North, Calistoga. The park is on Highway 29, five miles north of St. Helena.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON STATE PARK
At this 5,272-acre park, shade is limited and some areas are hot in summer. No restrooms or camping.
The Mount St. Helena Trail (5.3 miles, 2,100-foot elevation gain) follows a fire road to the summit. Table Rock Trail (2.2 miles, moderate difficulty) winds though forests and chaparral to a scenic overlook. It connects to Palisades Trail (four miles, moderately strenuous), which connects to Oat Hill Mine Road (4.5 miles, moderate). Hikers also can access Oat Hill Mine Road from a trailhead at Highway 29 and Silverado Trail in Calistoga.
Directions: Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is seven miles north of Calistoga on Highway 29. Look for trailheads on both sides of the road at highest part of the highway.
Information for both parks: (707) 942-4575.
SUGARLOAF RIDGE STATE PARK
In this 2,820-acre park, camping and horseback riding are permitted.
There are about 25 miles of trails. The hike to summit of Bald Mountain is 2.8 miles and moderately strenuous.
Directions: End of Adobe Canyon Road off Route 12, Kenwood. The park is seven miles southeast of Santa Rosa.
Information: (707) 833-5712.
In Napa, Wilderness Above the Wineries
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By KERMIT PATTISON
Published: June 8, 2007
AFTER hours of tromping through the hills of Napa County, beneath towering redwoods, over mountain creeks, past ruins of 19th-century homesteads, there still wasn't a single grape to be seen.
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Redwoods, Bothe-Napa Valley State Park.
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Napa Valley Finally, from the top of a mountain peak, there was the wine country at last. Grids of green vineyards stretched for miles. Far below, perched on a hilltop, stood a white stucco winery that seemed small as a matchbox.
From the highway, Napa seems to be wall-to-wall vineyards. But from the trails that snake through the hills of the county, you can see just how little of it is actually covered in vines — only about 9 percent.
I had detoured into the hills to appreciate the Napa terroir in a new way — by hiking it. Napa offers a rare pairing of wine and wilderness. The climate and topography that make the region so ripe for viticulture also have created misty forests, petrified trees, striking rock formations and peaks with sweeping views of the vineyards.
“The hiking in Napa Valley is phenomenal,” said Ken Stanton, author of the guidebook “Great Day Hikes In and Around Napa Valley.” “There are places that still look like they did a hundred years ago.”
Better yet, hiking Napa means you don't have to sleep in a tent. Several excellent hikes lie within a short drive of the valley's renowned bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants and wineries. You can easily design an itinerary that captures the duality of Napa: a series of day hikes in the hills fueled by nights of food and wine on the valley floor.
A good place to begin is in the heart of wine country, at Bothe-Napa Valley State Park, five miles north of the craftsman homes and Victorian mansions of St. Helena.
In the woods of Bothe, you can imagine Napa as the early settlers might have seen it. The park nestles against the western slope of the valley, where some of Napa's oldest wineries, like Beringer and Schramsberg, dug their first wine caves in the 1800s.
Development and vineyards are slowly claiming more of Napa's acreage, but in Bothe that process has been reversed, and wilderness has reclaimed the land.
In the brush beside a trail stands an old stone wall, perhaps a relic of a former vineyard. A one-mile hike on the state park's history trail passes a pioneer cemetery, the site of Napa Valley's first Methodist church, and ends at the Bale Grist Mill, built in 1846. At the mill, the overshot water wheel and millstones still grind corn and wheat.
Bothe is one of the few places in the valley to see redwoods. These great trees covered much of Northern California until they were decimated by logging after the Gold Rush. Bothe's redwoods sprouted after the area was logged in the 1850s, yet even these second-growth trees inspire awe.
THE forest was shrouded in cool mist as I hiked beside a bubbling creek. A great blue heron took off from the rocky bottom and flew upstream, maneuvering its great wingspan through the twisting ravine. (On a previous visit, a pair of deer dashed across my path.)
After a two-mile walk to Coyote Peak, a break in the trees revealed a dazzling view of the vineyards from 1,170 feet. The roads below were crowded with weekend traffic, but the summit was silent except for the wind whooshing through the treetops and the faint rumble of the occasional wine tanker truck passing far below.
In the distance, the wooded slopes of the Coastal Range faded into the horizon, one ridge after another, in ever duller shades of green. At the head of the valley loomed Mount St. Helena, at 4,343 feet one of the tallest peaks in the Bay Area, shrouded in clouds like the Mount Olympus of the land of Bacchus.
Luckily, the comforts of the valley floor are never far away. A five-minute drive south of the park takes you to the California campus of the Culinary Institute of America, on the edge of St. Helena. When I visited, a chef in a white toque prepared sopa de ajo inside a demonstration kitchen, and the bakery case brimmed with goodies baked by pastry students. In Napa, no hiker should have to subsist on trail mix.
Before Napa became famous for wine, its economy depended on another natural resource: mining. In the late 19th century, cinnabar (the ore used to make mercury), gold and silver mines dotted the mountainsides of the upper valley. Today, the old wagon roads now form some of the region's best hiking trails.
In 1880, Robert Louis Stevenson and his bride, Fanny, honeymooned in an abandoned bunkhouse at the Silverado mine on the slopes of Mount St. Helena. They'd gone there to flee the fogs of San Francisco, which were thought harmful to the writer's sickly and perhaps tubercular lungs.
“The woods sang aloud, and gave largely of their healthful breath,” Stevenson wrote of his first ascent up the mountain. “Gladness seemed to inhabit these upper zones, and we had left indifference behind us in the valley. ... There are days in a life when thus to climb out of the lowlands seems like scaling heaven.”
Or maybe it was just the wine.
The bunkhouse is long gone, but the site is part of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Dappled sunlight filters through the trees, and the cool mountain air smells of pine, just as Stevenson described it more than a century before.
The next hike began near Stevenson's former honeymoon cabin at the Highway 29 trailhead. Mr. Stanton calls this 11-mile trek from the slopes of Mount St. Helena down to Calistoga “the premier hike in Napa Valley” because of its varied terrain and spectacular views.
The trail winds through two miles of forests and chaparral to Table Rock, a massive overlook with a condor's-eye view of the upper valley from 2,465 feet. From the valley floor, I'd looked up at mountain mansions that seemed to occupy the super-rich stratosphere; now I looked down on their tiny rooftops.
A short distance away stood the T-Rex rock, a formation named for its resemblance to the dinosaur and a reminder of the valley's prehistoric origins. Millions of years ago, volcanic eruptions buried the land in lava and ash. (Visitors can appreciate the power of these cataclysms with a short hike through the petrified forest near Calistoga, where trees toppled by violent blasts were buried in ash and turned to stone.)
Contrary to popular myth, however, these mountains are not extinct volcanoes. Rather, Napa's two ranges — the Vaca on the east and Mayacamas on the west — were thrust upward by the plate tectonics in what some geologists liken to gigantic freeway pileups of volcanic and marine rocks. This diversity of soils, along with microclimates created by the terrain, is reflected in the distinctiveness of Napa's wines.
The trail from the slopes of Mount St. Helena continues below one of the most stunning relics of this geologic history: the Palisades, a rampart-like volcanic formation high above Calistoga.
Peregrine falcons nested in the craggy heights, and raptors soared on the thermals. The trail wound through dewy meadows dotted with wildflowers, mossy groves fed by mountain springs and hillsides strewn with boulders.
The hike passes the ruins of a homestead built in 1898 by a Swedish sailor. Only foundation stones remain, shaded by oaks, and they make fine picnic benches. Across a meadow, one small part of the homesteader's dream survived: a few of his apple trees were blossoming with spring flowers.
The footprints of history are also visible on the Historic Oat Hill Mine Road, which descends from the homestead five miles to Calistoga. The old path once served one of the world's largest mercury mines, and the rocky surface still bears the ruts of wagon wheels.
Of course, there are less strenuous ways to enjoy the views. After the hike, my wife and I dined on the deck of the Auberge du Soleil resort on the eastern slopes above Rutherford. We sipped a local cabernet and watched the sun sink over the mountains to the west. In those distant peaks awaited the most spectacular vistas of all.
Sugarloaf Ridge State Park straddles the mountains between Napa and Sonoma. As a hawk flies, it lies only four miles from St. Helena. But the journey, like fine wine, can't be rushed. By car, it's 25 miles.
The highest point at the Sugarloaf Ridge park is the 2,729-foot Bald Mountain. If the climb didn't take my breath away, the view from the windswept summit did.
To the east, the vineyards of Napa Valley spread out in panoramic view. Huge wine tanks appeared small as grape seeds. A plane buzzed over St. Helena just below eye level. To the south, more than 40 miles away, the skyscrapers of San Francisco and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge poked through the fog. To the west lay the vineyards of Sonoma Valley, Santa Rosa and the Pacific Ocean.
A steady stream of hikers trudged up to the peak and stopped to admire the views. “It's amazing,” said Joanne Thompson, a tourist from the Boston area, as she stood on the peak. “You can see 360 degrees.”
You could drink in the entire wine country in one gulp. I spent an hour on the summit before reluctantly returning.
Of course, I had one consolation: that night I'd be sipping the fruits of these valleys once again.
High And Dry | Non-Wine Trails
THREE California state parks offer nondrinking ways to experience the Napa Valley. Information on all three is available at www.parks.ca.gov.
BOTHE-NAPA VALLEY STATE PARK
This 2,000-acre park has about 10 miles of trails shaded by forests of redwood, Douglas fir, oak and madrone. Horseback riding and camping are permitted.
Directions: 3801 St. Helena Highway North, Calistoga. The park is on Highway 29, five miles north of St. Helena.
ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON STATE PARK
At this 5,272-acre park, shade is limited and some areas are hot in summer. No restrooms or camping.
The Mount St. Helena Trail (5.3 miles, 2,100-foot elevation gain) follows a fire road to the summit. Table Rock Trail (2.2 miles, moderate difficulty) winds though forests and chaparral to a scenic overlook. It connects to Palisades Trail (four miles, moderately strenuous), which connects to Oat Hill Mine Road (4.5 miles, moderate). Hikers also can access Oat Hill Mine Road from a trailhead at Highway 29 and Silverado Trail in Calistoga.
Directions: Robert Louis Stevenson State Park is seven miles north of Calistoga on Highway 29. Look for trailheads on both sides of the road at highest part of the highway.
Information for both parks: (707) 942-4575.
SUGARLOAF RIDGE STATE PARK
In this 2,820-acre park, camping and horseback riding are permitted.
There are about 25 miles of trails. The hike to summit of Bald Mountain is 2.8 miles and moderately strenuous.
Directions: End of Adobe Canyon Road off Route 12, Kenwood. The park is seven miles southeast of Santa Rosa.
Information: (707) 833-5712.
A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html?pagewanted=all
A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
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By MARK BITTMAN
Published: May 9, 2007
THE question I’m asked more often than any other is, “What kitchen equipment should I buy?”
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Silicone Magic
Related
Hot Stuff (January 10, 2007)
A Guitar That Makes Beautiful Pasta (May 26, 2004)
Graphic: The Essentials
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
10-inch nonstick frying pan, $12.95. More Photos »
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
2 wooden spoons @ .95, $1.90. More Photos >
Photographs by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Left, can opener, $3.95. Right, peeler, $2.95. More Photos >
Like cookbooks, kitchen equipment is a talisman; people believe that buying the right kind will make them good cooks. Yet some of the best cooks I’ve known worked with a battered batterie de cuisine: dented pots and pans scarred beyond recognition, an old steak knife turned into an all-purpose tool, a pot lid held just so to strain pasta when the colander was missing, a food processor with a busted switch. They didn’t complain and they didn’t apologize; they just cooked.
But famous TV chefs use gorgeous name-brand equipment, you might say. And you’d be right. But a.) they get much of that stuff free, the manufacturers hoping that placing it in the hands of a well-known chef will make you think it’s essential; b.) they want their equipment to be pretty, so you’ll think they’re important; and c.) see above: a costly knife is not a talisman and you are not a TV chef.
Finally (and this is crucial), the best chefs may use the best-looking equipment when they are in public view, but when it is time to buy equipment for the people who actually prepare those $200 restaurant meals, they go to a restaurant supply house to shop for the everyday cookware I recommend to people all the time.
In fact, I contend that with a bit of savvy, patience and a willingness to forgo steel-handle knives, copper pots and other extravagant items, $200 can equip a basic kitchen that will be adequate for just about any task, and $300 can equip one quite well.
To prove my point I put together a list of everything needed for almost any cooking task. I bought most of the equipment at Bowery Restaurant Supply, 183 Bowery Street (Delancey Street), where the bill came to just about $200. Throw in a few items the store didn’t have and a few extras, and the total would be about $300. (New York happens to have scores of restaurant supply shops, but every metropolitan area has at least one.)
I started with an eight-inch, plastic-handle stainless alloy chef’s knife for $10. This is probably the most essential tool in the kitchen. People not only obsess about knives (and write entire articles about them), but you can easily spend over $100 on just one. Yet go into any restaurant kitchen and you will see most of the cooks using this same plastic-handle Dexter-Russell tool. (Go to the wrong store and you’ll spend $20 or even $30 on the same knife.)
Video
I found an instant-read thermometer, a necessity for beginning cooks and obsessive-compulsives, for $5. Three stainless steel bowls — not gorgeous and maybe a little thin — set me back about $5. You are reading that right. Sturdy tongs, an underappreciated tool: $3.50 (don’t buy them too long, make sure the spring is nice and tight, and don’t shop for them at a “culinary” store, where they’ll cost four times as much).
For less than $6 I picked up a sturdy sheet pan. It’s not an ideal cookie sheet but it’s useful for roasting and baking (not a bad tray, either, and one of the more common items in restaurant kitchens). A plastic cutting board was about the same price. For aesthetic purposes I’d rather have wood, but plastic can go into the dishwasher.
At $3, a paring knife was so cheap I could replace it every year or two. I splurged on a Japanese mandoline for $25. (It’s not indispensable, but since my knife skills are pathetic, I use mine whenever I want thin, even slices or a real julienne.)
You, or the college graduate you are thinking of, might own some of the things I bought: a $4 can opener; a vegetable peeler (I like the U-shaped type, which cost me $3); a colander ($7, and I probably could’ve gotten one cheaper).
You are thinking to yourself: “Humph. He’s ignoring pots and pans, the most expensive items of all.” Au contraire, my friend; I bought five, and I could live with four (though I’d rather have six): a small, medium and large cast-aluminum saucepan (total: about $30); a medium nonstick cast aluminum pan (10-inch; $13); and a large steep-sided, heavier duty steel pan (14-inch; $25). I bought a single lid ($5; I often use plates or whatever’s handy for lids because I can never find the right one anyway).
I like cast iron, and I have used it in some kitchens for nearly everything; but it can be more expensive than this quite decent cheap stuff, and it’s very heavy. What you don’t want is the awful wafer thin (and relatively more expensive) sets of stainless or aluminum ones sold in big-box stores.
Other things, like the mandoline, are almost luxury items: a skimmer (I like these for removing dumplings or gnocchi); a slotted spoon; a heat-resistant rubber spatula (which can replace the classic wooden spoon); a bread knife (good for crusty loaves and ripe tomatoes); and a big whisk (which I might use three times a year).
You should also have a food processor (you want 12-cup capacity, and Amazon.com, for example, has an adequate 14-cup Hamilton Beach for $60); a salad spinner (the one at Bowery Restaurant Supply was as big as my kitchen; you will find one for $15 somewhere); a Microplane grater (the old box graters have been largely replaced by the food processor, but you’ll need something for cheese, nutmeg and your oft-used asafetida; it’ll set you back less than $10). A coffee and spice grinder is another $10 item.
A blender is a bit more optional. An immersion one is nice, but standard ones are more useful, and you can find them for as little as $15.
And, finally, something with which to keep those knives sharp. A whetstone costs about $6, and if you use it, it will work fine; a decent steel is expensive enough that you may as well graduate to an electric sharpener. Though sharpeners take up counter space and cost at least $30, they work well.
The point is not so much that you can equip a real kitchen without much money, but that the fear of buying the wrong kind of equipment is unfounded. It needs only to be functional, not prestigious, lavish or expensive.
Keep that in mind, stay out of the fancy places and find a good restaurant supply house. If you make a mistake — something is the wrong size or of such lousy quality you can’t bear it — you can spend 20 bucks more another time. Meanwhile, you’ll be cooking.
The Inessentials
YOU can live without these 10 kitchen items:
BREAD MACHINE You can buy mediocre bread easily enough, or make the real thing without much practice.
MICROWAVE If you do a lot of reheating or fast (and damaging) defrosting, you may want one. But essential? No. And think about that counter space!
STAND MIXER Unless you’re a baking fanatic, it takes up too much room to justify it. A good whisk or a crummy handheld mixer will do fine.
BONING/FILLETING KNIVES Really? You’re a butcher now? Or a fishmonger? If so, go ahead, by all means. But I haven’t used my boning knife in years. (It’s pretty, though.)
WOK Counterproductive without a good wok station equipped with a high-B.T.U. burner. (There’s a nice setup at Bowery Restaurant Supply for $1,400 if you have the cash and the space.)
STOCKPOT The pot you use for boiling pasta will suffice, until you start making gallons of stock at a time.
PRESSURE COOKER It’s useful, but do you need one? No.
ANYTHING MADE OF COPPER More trouble than it’s worth, unless you have a pine-paneled wall you want to decorate.
RICE COOKER Yes, if you eat rice twice daily. Otherwise, no.
COUNTERTOP CONVECTION OVEN, ROTISSERIE, OR “ROASTER” Only if you’re a sucker for late-night cooking infomercials.
More Articles in Dining & Wine »
A No-Frills Kitchen Still Cooks
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
See a key to the items in this photograph More Photos >
E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxYahoo! BuzzPermalink
By MARK BITTMAN
Published: May 9, 2007
THE question I’m asked more often than any other is, “What kitchen equipment should I buy?”
Skip to next paragraph
Multimedia
Slide Show
Silicone Magic
Related
Hot Stuff (January 10, 2007)
A Guitar That Makes Beautiful Pasta (May 26, 2004)
Graphic: The Essentials
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
10-inch nonstick frying pan, $12.95. More Photos »
Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
2 wooden spoons @ .95, $1.90. More Photos >
Photographs by Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
Left, can opener, $3.95. Right, peeler, $2.95. More Photos >
Like cookbooks, kitchen equipment is a talisman; people believe that buying the right kind will make them good cooks. Yet some of the best cooks I’ve known worked with a battered batterie de cuisine: dented pots and pans scarred beyond recognition, an old steak knife turned into an all-purpose tool, a pot lid held just so to strain pasta when the colander was missing, a food processor with a busted switch. They didn’t complain and they didn’t apologize; they just cooked.
But famous TV chefs use gorgeous name-brand equipment, you might say. And you’d be right. But a.) they get much of that stuff free, the manufacturers hoping that placing it in the hands of a well-known chef will make you think it’s essential; b.) they want their equipment to be pretty, so you’ll think they’re important; and c.) see above: a costly knife is not a talisman and you are not a TV chef.
Finally (and this is crucial), the best chefs may use the best-looking equipment when they are in public view, but when it is time to buy equipment for the people who actually prepare those $200 restaurant meals, they go to a restaurant supply house to shop for the everyday cookware I recommend to people all the time.
In fact, I contend that with a bit of savvy, patience and a willingness to forgo steel-handle knives, copper pots and other extravagant items, $200 can equip a basic kitchen that will be adequate for just about any task, and $300 can equip one quite well.
To prove my point I put together a list of everything needed for almost any cooking task. I bought most of the equipment at Bowery Restaurant Supply, 183 Bowery Street (Delancey Street), where the bill came to just about $200. Throw in a few items the store didn’t have and a few extras, and the total would be about $300. (New York happens to have scores of restaurant supply shops, but every metropolitan area has at least one.)
I started with an eight-inch, plastic-handle stainless alloy chef’s knife for $10. This is probably the most essential tool in the kitchen. People not only obsess about knives (and write entire articles about them), but you can easily spend over $100 on just one. Yet go into any restaurant kitchen and you will see most of the cooks using this same plastic-handle Dexter-Russell tool. (Go to the wrong store and you’ll spend $20 or even $30 on the same knife.)
Video
I found an instant-read thermometer, a necessity for beginning cooks and obsessive-compulsives, for $5. Three stainless steel bowls — not gorgeous and maybe a little thin — set me back about $5. You are reading that right. Sturdy tongs, an underappreciated tool: $3.50 (don’t buy them too long, make sure the spring is nice and tight, and don’t shop for them at a “culinary” store, where they’ll cost four times as much).
For less than $6 I picked up a sturdy sheet pan. It’s not an ideal cookie sheet but it’s useful for roasting and baking (not a bad tray, either, and one of the more common items in restaurant kitchens). A plastic cutting board was about the same price. For aesthetic purposes I’d rather have wood, but plastic can go into the dishwasher.
At $3, a paring knife was so cheap I could replace it every year or two. I splurged on a Japanese mandoline for $25. (It’s not indispensable, but since my knife skills are pathetic, I use mine whenever I want thin, even slices or a real julienne.)
You, or the college graduate you are thinking of, might own some of the things I bought: a $4 can opener; a vegetable peeler (I like the U-shaped type, which cost me $3); a colander ($7, and I probably could’ve gotten one cheaper).
You are thinking to yourself: “Humph. He’s ignoring pots and pans, the most expensive items of all.” Au contraire, my friend; I bought five, and I could live with four (though I’d rather have six): a small, medium and large cast-aluminum saucepan (total: about $30); a medium nonstick cast aluminum pan (10-inch; $13); and a large steep-sided, heavier duty steel pan (14-inch; $25). I bought a single lid ($5; I often use plates or whatever’s handy for lids because I can never find the right one anyway).
I like cast iron, and I have used it in some kitchens for nearly everything; but it can be more expensive than this quite decent cheap stuff, and it’s very heavy. What you don’t want is the awful wafer thin (and relatively more expensive) sets of stainless or aluminum ones sold in big-box stores.
Other things, like the mandoline, are almost luxury items: a skimmer (I like these for removing dumplings or gnocchi); a slotted spoon; a heat-resistant rubber spatula (which can replace the classic wooden spoon); a bread knife (good for crusty loaves and ripe tomatoes); and a big whisk (which I might use three times a year).
You should also have a food processor (you want 12-cup capacity, and Amazon.com, for example, has an adequate 14-cup Hamilton Beach for $60); a salad spinner (the one at Bowery Restaurant Supply was as big as my kitchen; you will find one for $15 somewhere); a Microplane grater (the old box graters have been largely replaced by the food processor, but you’ll need something for cheese, nutmeg and your oft-used asafetida; it’ll set you back less than $10). A coffee and spice grinder is another $10 item.
A blender is a bit more optional. An immersion one is nice, but standard ones are more useful, and you can find them for as little as $15.
And, finally, something with which to keep those knives sharp. A whetstone costs about $6, and if you use it, it will work fine; a decent steel is expensive enough that you may as well graduate to an electric sharpener. Though sharpeners take up counter space and cost at least $30, they work well.
The point is not so much that you can equip a real kitchen without much money, but that the fear of buying the wrong kind of equipment is unfounded. It needs only to be functional, not prestigious, lavish or expensive.
Keep that in mind, stay out of the fancy places and find a good restaurant supply house. If you make a mistake — something is the wrong size or of such lousy quality you can’t bear it — you can spend 20 bucks more another time. Meanwhile, you’ll be cooking.
The Inessentials
YOU can live without these 10 kitchen items:
BREAD MACHINE You can buy mediocre bread easily enough, or make the real thing without much practice.
MICROWAVE If you do a lot of reheating or fast (and damaging) defrosting, you may want one. But essential? No. And think about that counter space!
STAND MIXER Unless you’re a baking fanatic, it takes up too much room to justify it. A good whisk or a crummy handheld mixer will do fine.
BONING/FILLETING KNIVES Really? You’re a butcher now? Or a fishmonger? If so, go ahead, by all means. But I haven’t used my boning knife in years. (It’s pretty, though.)
WOK Counterproductive without a good wok station equipped with a high-B.T.U. burner. (There’s a nice setup at Bowery Restaurant Supply for $1,400 if you have the cash and the space.)
STOCKPOT The pot you use for boiling pasta will suffice, until you start making gallons of stock at a time.
PRESSURE COOKER It’s useful, but do you need one? No.
ANYTHING MADE OF COPPER More trouble than it’s worth, unless you have a pine-paneled wall you want to decorate.
RICE COOKER Yes, if you eat rice twice daily. Otherwise, no.
COUNTERTOP CONVECTION OVEN, ROTISSERIE, OR “ROASTER” Only if you’re a sucker for late-night cooking infomercials.
More Articles in Dining & Wine »
Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/29Rparenting.html?pagewanted=all
Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard
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By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: April 29, 2007
ON a Sunday morning a few months back, I interviewed my final Harvard applicant of the year. After saying goodbye to the girl and watching her and her mother drive off, I headed to the beach at the end of our street for a run.
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Go to Complete Coverage » It was a spectacular winter day, bright, sunny and cold; the tide was out, the waves were high, and I had the beach to myself. As I ran, I thought the same thing I do after all these interviews: Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard.
That used to upset me. But I’ve changed.
Over the last decade, I’ve done perhaps 40 of these interviews, which are conducted by alumni across the country. They’re my only remaining link to my alma mater; I’ve never been back to a reunion or a football game, and my total donations since graduating in the 1970s do not add up to four figures.
No matter how glowing my recommendations, in all this time only one kid, a girl, got in, many years back. I do not tell this to the eager, well-groomed seniors who settle onto the couch in our den. They’re under too much pressure already. Better than anyone, they know the odds, particularly for a kid from a New York suburb.
By the time I meet them, they’re pros at working the system. Some have Googled me because they think knowing about me will improve their odds. After the interview, many send handwritten thank-you notes saying how much they enjoyed meeting me.
Maybe it’s true.
I used to be upset by these attempts to ingratiate. Since I’ve watched my own children go through similar torture, I find these gestures touching. Everyone’s trying so hard.
My reason for doing these interviews has shifted over time. When I started, my kids were young, and I thought it might give them a little advantage when they applied to Harvard. That has turned out not to be an issue. My oldest, now a college freshman, did not apply, nor will my twins, who are both high school juniors.
We are not snubbing Harvard. Even my oldest, who is my most academic son, did not quite have the class rank or the SATs. His SAT score was probably 100 points too low — though it was identical to the SAT score that got me in 35 years ago.
Why do I continue to interview? It’s very moving meeting all these bright young people who won’t get into Harvard. Recent news articles make it sound unbearably tragic. Several Ivies, including Harvard, rejected a record number of applicants this year.
Actually, meeting the soon-to-be rejected makes me hopeful about young people. They are far more accomplished than I was at their age and without a doubt will do superbly wherever they go.
Knowing me and seeing them is like witnessing some major evolutionary change take place in just 35 years, from the Neanderthal Harvard applicant of 1970 to today’s fully evolved Homo sapiens applicant.
There was the girl who, during summer vacation, left her house before 7 each morning to make a two-hour train ride to a major university, where she worked all day doing cutting-edge research for NASA on weightlessness in mice.
When I was in high school, my 10th-grade science project was on plant tropism — a shoebox with soil and bean sprouts bending toward the light.
These kids who don’t get into Harvard spend summers on schooners in Chesapeake Bay studying marine biology, building homes for the poor in Central America, touring Europe with all-star orchestras.
Summers, I dug trenches for my local sewer department during the day, and sold hot dogs at Fenway Park at night.
As I listen to them, I can visualize their parents, striving to teach excellence. One girl I interviewed described how her father made her watch the 2004 convention speeches by both President Bush and Senator John Kerry and then tell him which she liked better and why.
What kind of kid doesn’t get into Harvard? Well, there was the charming boy I interviewed with 1560 SATs. He did cancer research in the summer; played two instruments in three orchestras; and composed his own music. He redid the computer system for his student paper, loved to cook and was writing his own cookbook. One of his specialties was snapper poached in tea and served with noodle cake.
At his age, when I got hungry, I made myself peanut butter and jam on white bread and got into Harvard.
Some take 10 AP courses and get top scores of 5 on all of them.
I took one AP course and scored 3.
Of course, evolution is not the same as progress. These kids have an AP history textbook that has been specially created to match the content of the AP test, as well as review books and tutors for those tests. We had no AP textbook; many of our readings came from primary documents, and there was no Princeton Review then. I was never tutored in anything and walked into the SATs without having seen a sample SAT question.
As for my bean sprouts project, as bad it was, I did it alone. I interview kids who describe how their schools provide a statistician to analyze their science project data.
I see these kids — and watch my own applying to college — and as evolved as they are, I wouldn’t change places with them for anything. They’re under such pressure.
I used to say goodbye at my door, but since my own kids reached this age, I walk them out to their cars, where a parent waits. I always say the same thing to the mom or dad: “You’ve done a wonderful job — you should be very proud.” And I mean it.
But I’ve stopped feeling bad about the looming rejection. When my four were little, I used to hope a couple might go to Harvard. I pushed them, but by the end of middle school it was clear my twins, at least, were not made that way. They rebelled, and I had to learn to see who they were.
I came to understand that my own focus on Harvard was a matter of not sophistication but narrowness. I grew up in an unworldly blue-collar environment. Getting perfect grades and attending an elite college was one of the few ways up I could see.
My four have been raised in an upper-middle-class world. They look around and see lots of avenues to success. My wife’s two brothers struggled as students at mainstream colleges and both have made wonderful full lives, one as a salesman, the other as a builder. Each found his own best path. Each knows excellence.
That day, running on the beach, I was lost in my thoughts when a voice startled me. “Pops, hey, Pops!” It was Sammy, one of my twins, who’s probably heading for a good state school. He was in his wetsuit, surfing alone in the 30-degree weather, the only other person on the beach. “What a day!” he yelled, and his joy filled my heart.
E-mail: parenting@nytimes.com
Young, Gifted, and Not Getting Into Harvard
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By MICHAEL WINERIP
Published: April 29, 2007
ON a Sunday morning a few months back, I interviewed my final Harvard applicant of the year. After saying goodbye to the girl and watching her and her mother drive off, I headed to the beach at the end of our street for a run.
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Go to Complete Coverage » It was a spectacular winter day, bright, sunny and cold; the tide was out, the waves were high, and I had the beach to myself. As I ran, I thought the same thing I do after all these interviews: Another amazing kid who won’t get into Harvard.
That used to upset me. But I’ve changed.
Over the last decade, I’ve done perhaps 40 of these interviews, which are conducted by alumni across the country. They’re my only remaining link to my alma mater; I’ve never been back to a reunion or a football game, and my total donations since graduating in the 1970s do not add up to four figures.
No matter how glowing my recommendations, in all this time only one kid, a girl, got in, many years back. I do not tell this to the eager, well-groomed seniors who settle onto the couch in our den. They’re under too much pressure already. Better than anyone, they know the odds, particularly for a kid from a New York suburb.
By the time I meet them, they’re pros at working the system. Some have Googled me because they think knowing about me will improve their odds. After the interview, many send handwritten thank-you notes saying how much they enjoyed meeting me.
Maybe it’s true.
I used to be upset by these attempts to ingratiate. Since I’ve watched my own children go through similar torture, I find these gestures touching. Everyone’s trying so hard.
My reason for doing these interviews has shifted over time. When I started, my kids were young, and I thought it might give them a little advantage when they applied to Harvard. That has turned out not to be an issue. My oldest, now a college freshman, did not apply, nor will my twins, who are both high school juniors.
We are not snubbing Harvard. Even my oldest, who is my most academic son, did not quite have the class rank or the SATs. His SAT score was probably 100 points too low — though it was identical to the SAT score that got me in 35 years ago.
Why do I continue to interview? It’s very moving meeting all these bright young people who won’t get into Harvard. Recent news articles make it sound unbearably tragic. Several Ivies, including Harvard, rejected a record number of applicants this year.
Actually, meeting the soon-to-be rejected makes me hopeful about young people. They are far more accomplished than I was at their age and without a doubt will do superbly wherever they go.
Knowing me and seeing them is like witnessing some major evolutionary change take place in just 35 years, from the Neanderthal Harvard applicant of 1970 to today’s fully evolved Homo sapiens applicant.
There was the girl who, during summer vacation, left her house before 7 each morning to make a two-hour train ride to a major university, where she worked all day doing cutting-edge research for NASA on weightlessness in mice.
When I was in high school, my 10th-grade science project was on plant tropism — a shoebox with soil and bean sprouts bending toward the light.
These kids who don’t get into Harvard spend summers on schooners in Chesapeake Bay studying marine biology, building homes for the poor in Central America, touring Europe with all-star orchestras.
Summers, I dug trenches for my local sewer department during the day, and sold hot dogs at Fenway Park at night.
As I listen to them, I can visualize their parents, striving to teach excellence. One girl I interviewed described how her father made her watch the 2004 convention speeches by both President Bush and Senator John Kerry and then tell him which she liked better and why.
What kind of kid doesn’t get into Harvard? Well, there was the charming boy I interviewed with 1560 SATs. He did cancer research in the summer; played two instruments in three orchestras; and composed his own music. He redid the computer system for his student paper, loved to cook and was writing his own cookbook. One of his specialties was snapper poached in tea and served with noodle cake.
At his age, when I got hungry, I made myself peanut butter and jam on white bread and got into Harvard.
Some take 10 AP courses and get top scores of 5 on all of them.
I took one AP course and scored 3.
Of course, evolution is not the same as progress. These kids have an AP history textbook that has been specially created to match the content of the AP test, as well as review books and tutors for those tests. We had no AP textbook; many of our readings came from primary documents, and there was no Princeton Review then. I was never tutored in anything and walked into the SATs without having seen a sample SAT question.
As for my bean sprouts project, as bad it was, I did it alone. I interview kids who describe how their schools provide a statistician to analyze their science project data.
I see these kids — and watch my own applying to college — and as evolved as they are, I wouldn’t change places with them for anything. They’re under such pressure.
I used to say goodbye at my door, but since my own kids reached this age, I walk them out to their cars, where a parent waits. I always say the same thing to the mom or dad: “You’ve done a wonderful job — you should be very proud.” And I mean it.
But I’ve stopped feeling bad about the looming rejection. When my four were little, I used to hope a couple might go to Harvard. I pushed them, but by the end of middle school it was clear my twins, at least, were not made that way. They rebelled, and I had to learn to see who they were.
I came to understand that my own focus on Harvard was a matter of not sophistication but narrowness. I grew up in an unworldly blue-collar environment. Getting perfect grades and attending an elite college was one of the few ways up I could see.
My four have been raised in an upper-middle-class world. They look around and see lots of avenues to success. My wife’s two brothers struggled as students at mainstream colleges and both have made wonderful full lives, one as a salesman, the other as a builder. Each found his own best path. Each knows excellence.
That day, running on the beach, I was lost in my thoughts when a voice startled me. “Pops, hey, Pops!” It was Sammy, one of my twins, who’s probably heading for a good state school. He was in his wetsuit, surfing alone in the 30-degree weather, the only other person on the beach. “What a day!” he yelled, and his joy filled my heart.
E-mail: parenting@nytimes.com
Affordable Europe | Budget Airlines Adventures in Low-Cost Travel
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/22/travel/22journeys.html?pagewanted=all
Affordable Europe | Budget Airlines
Adventures in Low-Cost Travel
Leif Parsons
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By MATT GROSS
Published: April 22, 2007
Correction Appended
UNRESTED and unshowered, I arrived at Luton Airport, in suburban London, around 5 a.m., and did not expect my situation to improve. I’d been up all night, wandering around London with friends, and now I was about to fly to Morocco on an airline whose reputation for rock-bottom prices was surpassed only by its reputation for rock-bottom service. Bleary-eyed, I slapped my passport on the check-in counter, picked up the boarding pass (no assigned seating, of course), and began the long, long march to my gate.
Normally, I would have shrugged off the looming discomfort as I did the attendant’s warning about my overweight baggage. But I was halfway through a weeklong jaunt around Europe, traveling solely via low-cost carriers, the budget airlines that have multiplied across the Continent like unnecessary E.U. regulations, and the perpetual motion was getting to me. Where had I just been? Where was I going? I wasn’t really sure anymore — all I knew was that getting there wouldn’t cost much more than my sanity.
Every country or region has at least one budget airline: easyJet and RyanAir, the pioneers in this industry, operate out of the Britain and Ireland, while Air Berlin and HLX ferry the shallow-pocketed in and out of Germany. Spain has Vueling, Scandinavia has Sterling, and Italy has a host of tiny carriers that focus on random, disparate cities — Evolavia, for example, flies between Ancona, Paris and Moscow.
What unites these small airlines is a devotion to cheap fares. Flights routinely are less than 20 euros (about $27 at $1.36 to the euro), and can even drop to the low, low price of ... zero. How can the airlines afford that? By cutting out frills and tacking on fees. Fuel surcharges, airport taxes, excess-baggage fees and the ever-popular miscellaneous charges help make up for the seemingly unprofitable ticket prices.
Despite this sneakiness, these airlines remain the best way to bounce around the increasingly borderless superstate known as Europe — faster than railroads, more comfortable than a bus (if you’re lucky), and far cheaper than the major carriers.
This winter, I set out to test the network. The plan: seven flights in seven days, mixing established and off-the-beaten-path destinations, staying in modest hotels and never taking the same airline twice. Along the way, I would even try to enjoy myself wherever I landed.
At first, mapping out a route late last November drove me crazy. Not all budget airlines fly every route every day, and plugging schedules into Web sites took hours. Then I discovered Flylc.com, a booking engine that streamlines the process. Its page shows three columns: the first contains a list of every airport in Europe; click one and the second column displays every destination you can reach from there, while the third shows which airlines fly that route. One more click brings up a timetable showing every flight from, say, Dublin to Bratislava on SkyEurope. Neat!
Soon I had a drawn a viable route around Europe. From Geneva — a central location served by many budget airlines — I’d fly to Prague, then to Copenhagen, London, Fez (Morocco is around Europe, right?), Paris and Budapest, and back to Geneva. At each stop, I’d have a day, more or less, to get oriented before rushing off to the next far-flung city. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And so, early one January Monday in Geneva, I checked into Flybaboo Flight 75. Founded in 2003, the improbably named airline generally ferries passengers to warmer climes — the French Riviera, Ibiza, Sardinia — but for a mere 10 Swiss francs (about $8 at $1.24 Swiss francs to the U.S. dollar, but the equivalent of $59 with taxes), it also goes to Prague. As I walked to the farthest reaches of the airport, where Flybaboo’s gates lay, I wondered what I was getting into.
Then I arrived at the Flybaboo lounge — the slickest non-business-class waiting area I’d ever seen. Men in good suits sat on the red-leather banquettes, checking e-mail on complimentary iMacs. I picked up a copy of Baboo Time, a smart, stylish magazine, and read an interview with Dita Von Teese. I was in no hurry to board, because I worried that things could only get worse.
They got better. The plane was a cute twin-prop Dash 8-300, and as we sat shivering on the runway, waiting for the wings to be de-iced, the sole flight attendant — a young guy whose nice gray wool trousers and black V-neck sweater were accented by a red tie and a red nylon belt — kindly handed out blankets. A few minutes later, we took off, cruising up through the darkness to the clear sky, where the gray quilt of clouds stretched out before us, punctured by the peaks of the Jura Mountains, glowing in the first light of dawn. I gazed out the window till breakfast arrived — strong coffee and airy, just-sweet muffins — then snuggled under my blanket till we touched down, on time, in Prague.
A bus and a subway took me to the heart of Prague’s old town, where after a few wrong turns I arrived at my hotel, the Jerome House. I had a big, clean room, and I made the most of my 24 hours in the Czech capital, wandering the ancient streets and bridges, eating and drinking with friends of friends, and popping into the Kafka Museum for a peek into the life of the writer whose work is all about disorientation.
Too soon, it was back to the airport for Sterling Flight 564 to Copenhagen (7 euros, or 31 euros with taxes and fees). After Flybaboo, Sterling was a disappointment: service was efficient but impersonal, and the flight attendants wore brown pantsuits with tight brown gloves — the corporate dominatrix look. Worse, the Boeing 737-800 was filthy. The dark blue seat fabric hid ground-in grime, fingerprints smeared the windows, and the unmistakable smell of body odor lingered in the stale air. A flavorless chicken sandwich and a Diet Coke cost 8 euros. Luckily, the in-flight magazine provided distraction with an article on eco-friendly Danish fashion and an interview with Lars von Trier.
Less than an hour after we touched down, I arrived by speedy train at Copenhagen’s main station. Climbing up from the platform, I spotted an ad for my hotel that included directions. I turned right, then left, then right again — and promptly found myself nowhere near the Cab Inn. Instead, I was circling around the dark gates of Tivoli, the grand amusement park smack in the middle of downtown. The ad’s directions had seemed so clear — but where was I going?
Though the sky looked ready to pour at any minute, I pulled my MacBook from my messenger bag, found a public Wi-Fi signal and loaded the Cab Inn Web site: The hotel had moved from one side of Tivoli to the other; the train-station ad had not been updated. Fifteen minutes later I was in my room, designed to look like a ship’s cabin.
That evening, I reunited with Egil, a friend since childhood, and along with his girlfriend and his brother, we ate at Det Lille Apotek, which claims to be Copenhagen’s oldest restaurant. In the quaint little tavern, where Egil’s grandfather, the painter Asger Jorn, used to hang out, we reminisced over old times and devoured roast beef, gravy and way too many potatoes. I’d been lost; now I was found.
The sensation did not last long. The next day, Air Berlin was waiting to whisk me off to London via Berlin (31 euros, 65 euros with taxes and fees). The flight began on Air Berlin’s code-sharing partner, Fly DBA. The quarter-full 737-300 exuded shabbiness — tray tables opened crustily, and the color scheme was white and inconsistently green, with shades ranging from yellowish to kellyish to simply soupy, as in the shirts the flight attendants wore under black polyester jackets. The snacks, however, were great — breadsticks flavored with olive oil and rosemary — and as we approached Tegel Airport, we skimmed the clouds in a wide circle, the silhouette of our craft projected against the frothy white surface. Ah. ...
The next segment was on an actual Air Berlin plane, a spanking new Airbus A320 that was all computer-designed curves, with a gray color scheme that whispered sophistication. The air was so clean I could smell the high-tech filtering system, and for the first time I had a personal flat-screen, on which I watched “The King of Queens” and followed our westward progress across an ultra-detailed satellite map, all the way to Stansted, one of the London area’s four airports.
We landed around 8 p.m., and since my next flight was leaving out of Luton Airport at 6:30 a.m., a hotel room was pointless. Instead, I planned to prowl the streets all night with my friends Vincent and Weiting. Fortified with fish and chips, we set out across London from Vincent’s Bloomsbury town house, walking first to the Barbican Estate — a marvelous, messy, modernist apartment complex and arts center that is almost a town unto itself — then through the stately, lonely City and over the Thames to the Tate Modern. Maybe it was the threat of rain, but we saw no one else until we reached Waterloo Bridge, where a voluminously afro’d young woman was comforting a friend who’d had a lovers’ quarrel. They hugged and smiled for us, and at 3 a.m. we returned to Bloomsbury by cab.
Arriving at the airport tired and dirty is bad enough, but when you’re flying on RyanAir, it’s enough to make you suicidal. This was the airline friends had warned me about — not just the cheapest but the chintziest, not just no-frills but inhabiting a frill-free alternate universe. Still, when the London-Fez route is £1.39 (£38.32 with taxes and fees; $76.64 at $2 to the pound), who can complain?
I can. Boarding the 737-800, again at a distant gate, was absurd: seats on RyanAir are not assigned, and everyone made a mad dash for a good spot; all the while a flight attendant — in a blue uniform so crisp it seemed like she’d never worn it before — kept everyone out of the first six rows. They remained inexplicably empty the whole flight.
I settled in Row 7, then began to wish I’d never sat down. The cramped seats did not recline, and were made of molded blue plastic, as if they would be hosed down after the flight. Luckily, I’d been awake all night and fell instantly asleep.
RyanAir got me to Fez on time, however, and I even befriended my seatmate, a Canadian named Matt who said he was “studying terrorism” at a university in Wales. We shared a taxi to Fez’s medieval medina and spent much of the day exploring the labyrinthine marketplace together.
If I was going to get lost anywhere, I thought, it would be here, amid the high khaki walls and shadowy passageways to nowhere. Even before we entered, kids offered to guide us, warning, “La casbah est difficile!” I said I preferred difficulty — and plunged in. But though the market was enormous, with dead-end alleys and vegetable stands and near-identical knickknack vendors and swarms of schoolchildren who rioted with joy every time I pulled out my camera, I never quite lost my way. Even better, I felt comfortable — this was my kind of place, and I could have spent days or weeks drinking espresso with hash-smoking teens and stumbling upon the hidden ruins of pashas’ palaces. I left only out of exhaustion, but invited Matt to my hotel, a gracious courtyard house called the Riad Zamane, for a dinner of the best chicken tagine ever.
Next morning I was back in the air, this time on a 737-400 operated by Jet4you. My ride out of Fez, this tiny low-cost carrier — it flies between Morocco, France and Belgium with just two jets — had the highest fares (134 euros, or 144.09 euros with taxes and fees) and the oldest plane. The seats were threadbare, a chunk of my armrest was missing, and let’s not even talk about the stained fabric. The in-flight magazine was low-budget and unimaginative, and one of the French tourists on the nearly full flight was a middle-aged woman in a leopard-print top and tight black-leather Versace jeans. I closed my eyes and woke up at Paris Orly.
Ah, Paris! Now this was a place I knew well. Ever since I walked across the city one wintry night in 1994, my feet had developed an instinctual sense of the Haussmannian boulevards. I checked into my hotel, a cute, affordable Latin Quarter boutique called the Five, and headed straight for the Marais, where I found a pleasant surprise: winter sales! Virtually every store was offering deep discounts, and I took full advantage, picking up a Mandarina Duck suitcase to replace my venerable Briggs & Riley, which had lost a wheel under RyanAir’s care.
Getting to my flight the next day was a hassle. I was leaving not from Charles de Gaulle nor Orly, but from a little-known airport called Beauvais, about 50 miles north. (Colonizing third-tier airports is how many budget airlines offer such low fares.) To get to Beauvais, I took the Metro to Pont de Neuilly, wandered in a light drizzle until I found the bus depot, then rode an hour out to the airport, again befriending my seatmate, Gabriella, who like me was bound for Budapest on Wizz Air (6.99 euros, or 39.11 euros with taxes and fees).
“Oh, Wizz is the worst,” she said.
Not quite true, but Wizz, based in Poland and Hungary, was no Flybaboo. First, I had to pay an extra 35 euros for my overweight bag, now laden with 10 pounds of in-flight magazines, then the plane almost left without me. Inside, the air was overpressurized, and the flight attendants as confused as the color scheme, a mix of white and “magenta” that ranged from borscht to spilled zinfandel. At least Wizzit, the airline’s magazine, was entertaining: “The World’s Worst Food” was one cover line, and contributors included the travel editor of Wallpaper*.
Around 11 p.m. I checked into my hotel, but did not go to sleep. Instead, Bernadett, a friend of a friend, picked me up and we roamed the Hungarian capital in search of food — stacked crepes stuffed with mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese, and slathered in sour cream — and drink: Borsodi beers at Szimpla, a shabby but wonderful bar in what was once someone’s house.
The next afternoon, Bernadett and I drove up to Buda Castle, which looms gloriously over the city, and then to the airport. It was time for my final flight.
O easyJet, how I love thee! You may be a big shot, but in your Airbus A319, you treated me like a human being (for 5,950 forints, or 12,350 after taxes and fees, about $68 at 182 forints to $1). You looked the other way at my excess baggage, and though you don’t assign seats, you keep them spotless and roomy. Your flight attendants wore chic open-necked orange-and-gunmetal-gray shirts, and your in-flight magazine was professional and informative, with articles on percebes, the Spanish delicacy, and up-and-coming neighborhoods in Toulouse. “Come on,” winks your magazine, “let’s fly!” With you, baby? Anytime.
Alas, easyJet and I parted ways in Geneva. I grabbed a shuttle to NH, an airport hotel, and tried to sleep. I couldn’t. After a week of constant motion, I was buzzing with memories and inertia — I’d sampled so many places, so quickly, I wanted to revisit them all. Yet here I was at the end, in Switzerland on a desolate Sunday night. The adrenaline rush of disorientation was fading. Still, there was one ray of light: In the morning, I would be flying to Bulgaria. On Lufthansa. It was no low-cost carrier, but as I drifted off, I decided it would have to do.
WHERE TO GO ONLINE
Like all airlines, low-cost carriers often offer better prices to those who book early. Be sure to check all terms and conditions; these airlines often limit baggage and the changing of tickets after purchase.
FlyBaboo, www.flybaboo.com.
Sterling, www.sterling.dk.
Air Berlin, www.airberlin.com.
RyanAir, www.ryanair.com.
Jet4you, www.jet4you.com.
Wizz Air, www.wizzair.com.
EasyJet, www.easyjet.com.
MATT GROSS writes the Frugal Traveler column for the Travel section.
Correction: May 6, 2007
An article April 22 about budget airlines in Europe misstated the number of airports in the London area. There are five (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City), not four.
Affordable Europe | Budget Airlines
Adventures in Low-Cost Travel
Leif Parsons
E-MailPrint Reprints Save Share
LinkedinDiggFacebookMixxYahoo! BuzzPermalink
By MATT GROSS
Published: April 22, 2007
Correction Appended
UNRESTED and unshowered, I arrived at Luton Airport, in suburban London, around 5 a.m., and did not expect my situation to improve. I’d been up all night, wandering around London with friends, and now I was about to fly to Morocco on an airline whose reputation for rock-bottom prices was surpassed only by its reputation for rock-bottom service. Bleary-eyed, I slapped my passport on the check-in counter, picked up the boarding pass (no assigned seating, of course), and began the long, long march to my gate.
Normally, I would have shrugged off the looming discomfort as I did the attendant’s warning about my overweight baggage. But I was halfway through a weeklong jaunt around Europe, traveling solely via low-cost carriers, the budget airlines that have multiplied across the Continent like unnecessary E.U. regulations, and the perpetual motion was getting to me. Where had I just been? Where was I going? I wasn’t really sure anymore — all I knew was that getting there wouldn’t cost much more than my sanity.
Every country or region has at least one budget airline: easyJet and RyanAir, the pioneers in this industry, operate out of the Britain and Ireland, while Air Berlin and HLX ferry the shallow-pocketed in and out of Germany. Spain has Vueling, Scandinavia has Sterling, and Italy has a host of tiny carriers that focus on random, disparate cities — Evolavia, for example, flies between Ancona, Paris and Moscow.
What unites these small airlines is a devotion to cheap fares. Flights routinely are less than 20 euros (about $27 at $1.36 to the euro), and can even drop to the low, low price of ... zero. How can the airlines afford that? By cutting out frills and tacking on fees. Fuel surcharges, airport taxes, excess-baggage fees and the ever-popular miscellaneous charges help make up for the seemingly unprofitable ticket prices.
Despite this sneakiness, these airlines remain the best way to bounce around the increasingly borderless superstate known as Europe — faster than railroads, more comfortable than a bus (if you’re lucky), and far cheaper than the major carriers.
This winter, I set out to test the network. The plan: seven flights in seven days, mixing established and off-the-beaten-path destinations, staying in modest hotels and never taking the same airline twice. Along the way, I would even try to enjoy myself wherever I landed.
At first, mapping out a route late last November drove me crazy. Not all budget airlines fly every route every day, and plugging schedules into Web sites took hours. Then I discovered Flylc.com, a booking engine that streamlines the process. Its page shows three columns: the first contains a list of every airport in Europe; click one and the second column displays every destination you can reach from there, while the third shows which airlines fly that route. One more click brings up a timetable showing every flight from, say, Dublin to Bratislava on SkyEurope. Neat!
Soon I had a drawn a viable route around Europe. From Geneva — a central location served by many budget airlines — I’d fly to Prague, then to Copenhagen, London, Fez (Morocco is around Europe, right?), Paris and Budapest, and back to Geneva. At each stop, I’d have a day, more or less, to get oriented before rushing off to the next far-flung city. Lather, rinse, repeat.
And so, early one January Monday in Geneva, I checked into Flybaboo Flight 75. Founded in 2003, the improbably named airline generally ferries passengers to warmer climes — the French Riviera, Ibiza, Sardinia — but for a mere 10 Swiss francs (about $8 at $1.24 Swiss francs to the U.S. dollar, but the equivalent of $59 with taxes), it also goes to Prague. As I walked to the farthest reaches of the airport, where Flybaboo’s gates lay, I wondered what I was getting into.
Then I arrived at the Flybaboo lounge — the slickest non-business-class waiting area I’d ever seen. Men in good suits sat on the red-leather banquettes, checking e-mail on complimentary iMacs. I picked up a copy of Baboo Time, a smart, stylish magazine, and read an interview with Dita Von Teese. I was in no hurry to board, because I worried that things could only get worse.
They got better. The plane was a cute twin-prop Dash 8-300, and as we sat shivering on the runway, waiting for the wings to be de-iced, the sole flight attendant — a young guy whose nice gray wool trousers and black V-neck sweater were accented by a red tie and a red nylon belt — kindly handed out blankets. A few minutes later, we took off, cruising up through the darkness to the clear sky, where the gray quilt of clouds stretched out before us, punctured by the peaks of the Jura Mountains, glowing in the first light of dawn. I gazed out the window till breakfast arrived — strong coffee and airy, just-sweet muffins — then snuggled under my blanket till we touched down, on time, in Prague.
A bus and a subway took me to the heart of Prague’s old town, where after a few wrong turns I arrived at my hotel, the Jerome House. I had a big, clean room, and I made the most of my 24 hours in the Czech capital, wandering the ancient streets and bridges, eating and drinking with friends of friends, and popping into the Kafka Museum for a peek into the life of the writer whose work is all about disorientation.
Too soon, it was back to the airport for Sterling Flight 564 to Copenhagen (7 euros, or 31 euros with taxes and fees). After Flybaboo, Sterling was a disappointment: service was efficient but impersonal, and the flight attendants wore brown pantsuits with tight brown gloves — the corporate dominatrix look. Worse, the Boeing 737-800 was filthy. The dark blue seat fabric hid ground-in grime, fingerprints smeared the windows, and the unmistakable smell of body odor lingered in the stale air. A flavorless chicken sandwich and a Diet Coke cost 8 euros. Luckily, the in-flight magazine provided distraction with an article on eco-friendly Danish fashion and an interview with Lars von Trier.
Less than an hour after we touched down, I arrived by speedy train at Copenhagen’s main station. Climbing up from the platform, I spotted an ad for my hotel that included directions. I turned right, then left, then right again — and promptly found myself nowhere near the Cab Inn. Instead, I was circling around the dark gates of Tivoli, the grand amusement park smack in the middle of downtown. The ad’s directions had seemed so clear — but where was I going?
Though the sky looked ready to pour at any minute, I pulled my MacBook from my messenger bag, found a public Wi-Fi signal and loaded the Cab Inn Web site: The hotel had moved from one side of Tivoli to the other; the train-station ad had not been updated. Fifteen minutes later I was in my room, designed to look like a ship’s cabin.
That evening, I reunited with Egil, a friend since childhood, and along with his girlfriend and his brother, we ate at Det Lille Apotek, which claims to be Copenhagen’s oldest restaurant. In the quaint little tavern, where Egil’s grandfather, the painter Asger Jorn, used to hang out, we reminisced over old times and devoured roast beef, gravy and way too many potatoes. I’d been lost; now I was found.
The sensation did not last long. The next day, Air Berlin was waiting to whisk me off to London via Berlin (31 euros, 65 euros with taxes and fees). The flight began on Air Berlin’s code-sharing partner, Fly DBA. The quarter-full 737-300 exuded shabbiness — tray tables opened crustily, and the color scheme was white and inconsistently green, with shades ranging from yellowish to kellyish to simply soupy, as in the shirts the flight attendants wore under black polyester jackets. The snacks, however, were great — breadsticks flavored with olive oil and rosemary — and as we approached Tegel Airport, we skimmed the clouds in a wide circle, the silhouette of our craft projected against the frothy white surface. Ah. ...
The next segment was on an actual Air Berlin plane, a spanking new Airbus A320 that was all computer-designed curves, with a gray color scheme that whispered sophistication. The air was so clean I could smell the high-tech filtering system, and for the first time I had a personal flat-screen, on which I watched “The King of Queens” and followed our westward progress across an ultra-detailed satellite map, all the way to Stansted, one of the London area’s four airports.
We landed around 8 p.m., and since my next flight was leaving out of Luton Airport at 6:30 a.m., a hotel room was pointless. Instead, I planned to prowl the streets all night with my friends Vincent and Weiting. Fortified with fish and chips, we set out across London from Vincent’s Bloomsbury town house, walking first to the Barbican Estate — a marvelous, messy, modernist apartment complex and arts center that is almost a town unto itself — then through the stately, lonely City and over the Thames to the Tate Modern. Maybe it was the threat of rain, but we saw no one else until we reached Waterloo Bridge, where a voluminously afro’d young woman was comforting a friend who’d had a lovers’ quarrel. They hugged and smiled for us, and at 3 a.m. we returned to Bloomsbury by cab.
Arriving at the airport tired and dirty is bad enough, but when you’re flying on RyanAir, it’s enough to make you suicidal. This was the airline friends had warned me about — not just the cheapest but the chintziest, not just no-frills but inhabiting a frill-free alternate universe. Still, when the London-Fez route is £1.39 (£38.32 with taxes and fees; $76.64 at $2 to the pound), who can complain?
I can. Boarding the 737-800, again at a distant gate, was absurd: seats on RyanAir are not assigned, and everyone made a mad dash for a good spot; all the while a flight attendant — in a blue uniform so crisp it seemed like she’d never worn it before — kept everyone out of the first six rows. They remained inexplicably empty the whole flight.
I settled in Row 7, then began to wish I’d never sat down. The cramped seats did not recline, and were made of molded blue plastic, as if they would be hosed down after the flight. Luckily, I’d been awake all night and fell instantly asleep.
RyanAir got me to Fez on time, however, and I even befriended my seatmate, a Canadian named Matt who said he was “studying terrorism” at a university in Wales. We shared a taxi to Fez’s medieval medina and spent much of the day exploring the labyrinthine marketplace together.
If I was going to get lost anywhere, I thought, it would be here, amid the high khaki walls and shadowy passageways to nowhere. Even before we entered, kids offered to guide us, warning, “La casbah est difficile!” I said I preferred difficulty — and plunged in. But though the market was enormous, with dead-end alleys and vegetable stands and near-identical knickknack vendors and swarms of schoolchildren who rioted with joy every time I pulled out my camera, I never quite lost my way. Even better, I felt comfortable — this was my kind of place, and I could have spent days or weeks drinking espresso with hash-smoking teens and stumbling upon the hidden ruins of pashas’ palaces. I left only out of exhaustion, but invited Matt to my hotel, a gracious courtyard house called the Riad Zamane, for a dinner of the best chicken tagine ever.
Next morning I was back in the air, this time on a 737-400 operated by Jet4you. My ride out of Fez, this tiny low-cost carrier — it flies between Morocco, France and Belgium with just two jets — had the highest fares (134 euros, or 144.09 euros with taxes and fees) and the oldest plane. The seats were threadbare, a chunk of my armrest was missing, and let’s not even talk about the stained fabric. The in-flight magazine was low-budget and unimaginative, and one of the French tourists on the nearly full flight was a middle-aged woman in a leopard-print top and tight black-leather Versace jeans. I closed my eyes and woke up at Paris Orly.
Ah, Paris! Now this was a place I knew well. Ever since I walked across the city one wintry night in 1994, my feet had developed an instinctual sense of the Haussmannian boulevards. I checked into my hotel, a cute, affordable Latin Quarter boutique called the Five, and headed straight for the Marais, where I found a pleasant surprise: winter sales! Virtually every store was offering deep discounts, and I took full advantage, picking up a Mandarina Duck suitcase to replace my venerable Briggs & Riley, which had lost a wheel under RyanAir’s care.
Getting to my flight the next day was a hassle. I was leaving not from Charles de Gaulle nor Orly, but from a little-known airport called Beauvais, about 50 miles north. (Colonizing third-tier airports is how many budget airlines offer such low fares.) To get to Beauvais, I took the Metro to Pont de Neuilly, wandered in a light drizzle until I found the bus depot, then rode an hour out to the airport, again befriending my seatmate, Gabriella, who like me was bound for Budapest on Wizz Air (6.99 euros, or 39.11 euros with taxes and fees).
“Oh, Wizz is the worst,” she said.
Not quite true, but Wizz, based in Poland and Hungary, was no Flybaboo. First, I had to pay an extra 35 euros for my overweight bag, now laden with 10 pounds of in-flight magazines, then the plane almost left without me. Inside, the air was overpressurized, and the flight attendants as confused as the color scheme, a mix of white and “magenta” that ranged from borscht to spilled zinfandel. At least Wizzit, the airline’s magazine, was entertaining: “The World’s Worst Food” was one cover line, and contributors included the travel editor of Wallpaper*.
Around 11 p.m. I checked into my hotel, but did not go to sleep. Instead, Bernadett, a friend of a friend, picked me up and we roamed the Hungarian capital in search of food — stacked crepes stuffed with mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese, and slathered in sour cream — and drink: Borsodi beers at Szimpla, a shabby but wonderful bar in what was once someone’s house.
The next afternoon, Bernadett and I drove up to Buda Castle, which looms gloriously over the city, and then to the airport. It was time for my final flight.
O easyJet, how I love thee! You may be a big shot, but in your Airbus A319, you treated me like a human being (for 5,950 forints, or 12,350 after taxes and fees, about $68 at 182 forints to $1). You looked the other way at my excess baggage, and though you don’t assign seats, you keep them spotless and roomy. Your flight attendants wore chic open-necked orange-and-gunmetal-gray shirts, and your in-flight magazine was professional and informative, with articles on percebes, the Spanish delicacy, and up-and-coming neighborhoods in Toulouse. “Come on,” winks your magazine, “let’s fly!” With you, baby? Anytime.
Alas, easyJet and I parted ways in Geneva. I grabbed a shuttle to NH, an airport hotel, and tried to sleep. I couldn’t. After a week of constant motion, I was buzzing with memories and inertia — I’d sampled so many places, so quickly, I wanted to revisit them all. Yet here I was at the end, in Switzerland on a desolate Sunday night. The adrenaline rush of disorientation was fading. Still, there was one ray of light: In the morning, I would be flying to Bulgaria. On Lufthansa. It was no low-cost carrier, but as I drifted off, I decided it would have to do.
WHERE TO GO ONLINE
Like all airlines, low-cost carriers often offer better prices to those who book early. Be sure to check all terms and conditions; these airlines often limit baggage and the changing of tickets after purchase.
FlyBaboo, www.flybaboo.com.
Sterling, www.sterling.dk.
Air Berlin, www.airberlin.com.
RyanAir, www.ryanair.com.
Jet4you, www.jet4you.com.
Wizz Air, www.wizzair.com.
EasyJet, www.easyjet.com.
MATT GROSS writes the Frugal Traveler column for the Travel section.
Correction: May 6, 2007
An article April 22 about budget airlines in Europe misstated the number of airports in the London area. There are five (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton, Stansted and London City), not four.
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