36 Hours in Bar Harbor, Me.
By GERALDINE FABRIKANT
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: July 14, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/travel/36-hours-in-bar-harbor.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha210
THERE are summer resorts that get busier and more chic over the years. And then there are the ones, like Bar Harbor, Me., that feel deliciously frozen in time. Don’t look for Starbucks, McDonald’s or Ralph Lauren here. Fashion shoppers stop at places with names like Cool as a Moose. Carmen Verandah and the Thirsty Whale are among the evening hot spots. Bar Harbor is the largest town on Mount Desert Island, and nearby Acadia National Park encompasses some 50 square miles. The rest of Mount Desert belongs to residents and a tony array of summer tenants: Brooke Astor summered here, as did myriad Rockefellers and, once upon a time, the town of Northeast Harbor had so many Philadelphia families that it was dubbed “Philadelphia on the rocks.” They all came lured by the striking setting of mountains, woodlands, lakes and ocean waves crashing against granite cliffs. Then and now, Mount Desert has served as a glorious nature camp for biking, hiking and boating. At day’s end, a visitor can cozy up with a blueberry beer and lobster. Evening strollers can watch sailboats drop anchor and the mist slip down over the hundreds of islands that dot the water.
Friday
6 p.m.
1) TOAST THE SUNSET
Take the two-hour cruise on the Margaret Todd, a four-masted windjammer that sails through Frenchman Bay and the Porcupine Islands (207-288-4585; downeastwindjammer.com; $37.50). You’ll pass Ironbound Island, still owned by descendants of the painter Dwight Blaney, who with his contemporary John Singer Sargent and others painted the remarkable vistas of the bay and Acadia. A guitarist may serenade you, but if you want to toast the sunset, bring your own wine.
8:30 p.m.
2) SEAFOOD EXTRAVAGANZA
It may be called the Reading Room (7 Newport Drive; 207-288-3351; barharborinn.com/dining.html), but dining in a rotunda that overlooks the harbor feels more like eating on a ship than in a library. On weekends, a pianist usually plays old favorites. Lobster lovers can opt for the lobster pie ($36), but the broiled Maine haddock with butter crumb crust ($24) is also a treat. For something more exotic, try the red-walled Havana (318 Main Street; 207-288-2822; havanamaine.com), the Obamas’ choice when they visited last summer. The paella with lobster, mussels, clams and chorizo ($29) is worth the stop.
10 p.m.
3) BLUEBERRY BEER
Hang with the locals at Geddy’s (19 Main Street; 207-288-5077; geddys.com), a fun, funky pub filled with old photographs and local signage. Blueberry aficionados can try the Sea Dog blueberry draft beer ($5.30) or a blueberry margarita ($9.50).
Saturday
8:30 a.m.
4) MAINE BREAKFAST
By 8 o’clock the line is already forming at the cheerful Cafe This Way (14 ½ Mount Desert Street; 207-288-4483; cafethisway.com) on a tiny back street off the square, with bookshelves filled with classics and poetry. Mainers don’t stint on breakfast, nor should you; fill up on French toast with real maple syrup ($5.95) or a McThisWay sandwich of fried eggs, tomatoes, Cheddar cheese and bacon ($7.25). Those who want some oomph can try a mimosa or bloody mary ($6.50).
10 a.m.
5) EXPLORING ACADIA
There are numerous entrances to Acadia National Park (check nps.gov; 207-288-3338; $20 per car for seven days). Take a drive around the 27-mile Park Loop Road and head to the top of Cadillac Mountain, the highest point on the Eastern Seaboard. It was named after the French explorer who called himself Sieur de la Mothe Cadillac. He went on to help found Detroit, where the Cadillac was named after him. You cannot rent bikes or canoes within the park, but in Bar Harbor, Acadia Bike (48 Cottage Street; 207 288-9605; acadiabike.com) rents bikes for $21 a day. If you are not inclined to bike the steep 2.5 miles into the park, pack your bike on the free Island Explorer Shuttle (207-667-5796; exploreacadia.com; daily service from 9:15 a.m. at the Village Green to the Eagle Lake Carriage Road entrance). There are 45 miles of biking paths that wind through forests, along beaver dams and around lakes. Take a map — even the road signs can get tricky.
1 p.m.
6) POPOVERS IN THE PARK
Lunch at the Jordan Pond House (207-276-3316; thejordanpondhouse.com) shouldn’t be missed, with views across the park’s Jordan Pond to the Bubble Mountains. Popovers as rounded as the mountaintops are a specialty and come with everything from lobster salad ($20) to vegetable quiche ($12). If you bring your kayak or canoe, you can use them on the pond.
4 p.m.
7) LOCAL WARES
Window Panes (166 Main Street; 207-288-9550; windowpanesMDI.com) is a good stop for coasters made from local granite ($15). If you get chilly, Cool as a Moose (118 Main Street; 207-288-3904; coolasamoose.com) is a place to grab a sweatshirt ($40). Or immerse yourself in Maine lore at Sherman’s Book and Stationery Store (56 Main Street: 207-288-3161; shermans.com), where you might want to pick up a copy of “Time and Tide in Acadia” by Christopher Camuto ($24.95) and “The Maine Wild Blueberry Cookbook” ($14.99). For the Lilly Pulitzer look of hot pink, orange and blue tops or straw hats and summer bags, pop over to the Romantic Room (130 Main Street, Northeast Harbor; 207-276-4005; theromanticroom.com).
7 p.m.
8) IT’S ALL ABOUT LOBSTER
Any Maine stay is about, well, lobster. Nowhere is that fact driven home more bluntly than at Thurston’s (Steamboat Wharf Road, Bernard; 207-244-7600; thurstonslobster.com), in a half-plastic, half-canvas tent overlooking a working harbor and surrounded by stacks of lobster pots. You choose your live lobster, they cook it and you pick it up on a plastic tray. The result: high turnover and low prices (recently a large lobster went for $12.65 a pound). For variety try the lobster stew ($8.95). If you prefer a cottage setting, try Abel’s Lobster Pound (Abels Lane off Route 198, south of Junction 233; 207-276-5827), a lively family-owned restaurant set in a spruce grove on a fjord, where you eat on picnic tables illuminated by tiki torches overlooking the yacht basin or in the knotty pine dining room. A 1.5-pound lobster is $35 with baked potato.
10 p.m.
9) LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT
To unwind after a day outdoors, climb the steps to Carmen Verandah (119 Main Street; 207-288-2766; carmenverandah.com) for an evening of bands, karaoke or open mike. Cover charge is $2 to $5.
Sunday
9:30 a.m.
10) THE MANICURED SIDE
At the Asticou Azalea Garden (Peabody Drive and Sound Drive; 207-276-3727; gardenpreserve.org; free), a mix of pines, hemlocks, Korean firs, Japanese maples, azaleas and blueberries are set around a pond. The garden’s hybrid of styles includes a small Japanese karesansui garden composed of Maine granite island stones in a sea of raked white sands. Lanterns and stepping stones heighten the Japanese mood. Nearby, on Peabody Drive, is the Thuya Garden (207-276-5130; also gardenpreserve.org; free), named after the house built by the landscape architect Henry Curtis, who summered there. The lodge is now a horticultural library, and the setting features a broad array of trees, shrubs and an English-style garden with everything from wood lilies to Beverly Sills iris. One can drive or climb to the garden, but the climb, which affords broad views of Northeast Harbor, is well worth the effort.
11 a.m.
11) TRULY LOCAL
Take the mail boat to Little Cranberry Island from Northeast Harbor, and you may find yourself helping locals unload their groceries on the dock (207-244-3575; cranberryisles.com/ferries.html; $28 round trip). Stop at the Islesford Historical Museum, with its collection of ship models, tools and dolls (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Marina, 207-244-9224; acadianationalpark.com/bar_harbor_maine_attractions), and then have brunch or a drink at the Islesford Dock Restaurant (Marina, Islesford; 207-244-7494; islesforddock.com). The harbor setting and views capture the Maine atmosphere, and the place was mentioned last summer in Martha Stewart’s blog (she is a Seal Harbor summer resident). Try the Maine lobster fritter and grits ($8).
IF YOU GO
The elegant Asticou Inn overlooks the water in Northeast Harbor (15 Peabody Drive; 207-276- 3344; asticou.com). With its flowered wallpaper, chintz-covered chairs and ruffled curtains, it has the feel of a roomy, old Maine home, but one with a tennis court and heated swimming pool. There are 48 rooms and cottages, with rates from $195 in July, from $220 in August.
For a prettily decorated, cheerful B&B near the water, try The Inns at Ullikana (16 The Field, 207-288-9552; ullikana.com). Each room is decorated with a panoply of colors and fabrics. Rates, including afternoon refreshments, start at $160.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
36 Hours in Honolulu
36 Hours in Honolulu
By JOCELYN FUJII
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: July 7, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/travel/36-hours-in-honolulu.html?hpw
HONOLULU has never been hotter, and not just because it’s July. The city’s "it" factor has been on the rise since President Obama announced, two years ago in Singapore, that his self-described “home state of Hawaii” would host the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. This November, the 21-nation Pacific Rim summit may bring as many as 10,000 people to Waikiki, the renowned Honolulu destination on Oahu’s south shore. While the city primps for the media glare, it also brims with summer’s delights. Mangoes and sweet summer fruit add splashy colors to the market stands. Pikake, puakenikeni, gardenia and tuberose grace Chinatown lei stands, and Hawaiian music spills onto beaches from sunset-drenched oceanfront lounges.
36 Hours in Honolulu
Map
Honolulu
Friday
4 p.m.
1) A SPA WITHOUT WALLS
There’s nothing better than a summer moment at Kapiolani Park, the 300-acre recreational magnet at the foot of Diamond Head, the volcanic tuff cone and landmark the Hawaiians named Leahi. Work up a sweat with the joggers and rugby players while white terns soar above the ironwoods. Top that off with a sunset swim across the street, at the beach fronting the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel.
6 p.m.
2) HAWAIIAN TUNES
Sandy feet are not an anomaly at Duke’s Restaurant and Barefoot Bar (2335 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-922-2268; dukeswaikiki.com), where the stars of Hawaiian music play nightly at sunset. Maunalua, a trio offering contemporary Hawaiian music, usually plays on Fridays, and the guitarist-vocalist Henry Kapono, the self-proclaimed “wild Hawaiian,” is the Hawaiian-rock attraction on Sundays. The open-air spot has a vintage surfer feel and wall-to-wall tributes to the Olympic swimming legend Duke Kahanamoku. Parking is expensive, but there’s no cover charge.
7:30 p.m.
3) THE PALATE-PLEASER
Philippe Padovani, one of the 12 original founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, opened Padovani’s Grill earlier this year, just in time for the 20th anniversary of the culinary movement. Fans love him for his designer chocolates, masterful sauces, signature clam chowder (Manila clams, sweet corn from Oahu’s north shore and a soupçon of island seaweed) and risotto (truffle oil and several types of mushrooms). There are special touches across the board, including made-to-order sauces for the seafood and Black Angus beef dishes. The chef pays equal respect to vegetarians, with an excellent goat cheese ravioli and fricassee of mushrooms. For dessert, try the tarte Tatin and bourbon crème brûlée. A three-course dinner without drinks costs $55 to $65.
9:30 p.m.
4) FROM TATTOOS TO DRAGONS
The indie jazz scene is thriving at the top of a steep stairway in Chinatown, in a former tattoo parlor the size of a cozy living room. Some of the best musicians in town gather at the Dragon Upstairs (1038 Nuuanu Avenue; 808-526-1411; thedragonupstairs.com) to jam and entertain in grand bohemian style. Most nights it’s the spectacular Japanese/local contemporary jazz pianist, Satomi Yarimizo, with her drummer and bass player. Because many in the audience are musicians, there are surprise performances galore in a seriously music-loving room.
Saturday
9 a.m.
5) DIAMOND HEAD FOOD FEST
Yes, it’s possible to have breakfast on the slopes of Diamond Head, at Honolulu’s busiest farmers’ market. A bonanza for early-bird foodies, the Saturday farmers’ market at Kapiolani Community College (4303 Diamond Head Road; 808-848-2074; hfbf.org) is the raison d’être for many a local food lover. Take your own bag and go early to find parking: it’s worth it. Everything there is local. The rainbow of products is edible Hawaii in full color, whether it’s persimmons, homemade ginger and guava drinks, mangoes, goat cheese, local honey or scones and banana bread.
11 a.m.
6) IT’S ALL ABOUT ART
With the merger this summer of the Contemporary Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts (900 South Beretania Street; 808-532-8700; honoluluacademy.org), and a new director, Stephan Jost, the buzz is all about art. A $25, two-and-a-half-hour tour of Shangri La, the Islamic museum founded by the Doris Duke estate, begins and ends at the Academy, which runs the Shangri La tours. A 20-minute shuttle ride takes you to the 1930s oceanfront mansion-turned-museum with its Iznik tiles, Central Asian textiles and 13th-century prayer room. When you return to the Academy, leave time for the Hawaii collection in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery, with works by Jules Tavernier, Lionel Walden and other Hawaiian masters.
1:30 p.m.
7) ART AND THE PLATE
The Pavilion Cafe (900 South Beretania Street; 808-532-8734; honoluluacademy.org/394-pavilion_cafe), the restaurant for the Academy of Arts, scores high points for its Mediterranean menu and its alfresco location next to a waterfall and Jun Kaneko sculptures. The menu, while not fancy, is ideal: white bean salad with arugula and wilted radicchio ($12.95), hearty sandwiches (feta, tapenade, tomato; chopped salmon steak), a pasta of the day and desserts like chocolate pot de crème and fresh fruit crisp ($5.95 each). At the Academy boutique a few steps away, books, cards, textiles and handmade jewelry make it one of Honolulu’s stellar shopping attractions.
5:30 p.m.
8) SUNSET SERENADE
Halekulani’s House Without a Key (2199 Kalia Road; 808-923-2311; halekulani.com) is a magnet at sunset. A century-old kiawe tree is gracefully backlighted by the late afternoon sun, the mai tais ($12) are heroic, and the views of the ocean and Diamond Head make you forget about the neighboring high-rises. When the hula dancer Kanoe Miller takes the stage, small talk ceases. It could be a postcard from the 1940s, the heyday of Waikiki. On Ms. Miller’s nights off, Debbie Nakanelua fills the stage with her own brand of hula magic.
8 p.m.
9) THE RAW RAGE
Last year, Masaharu Morimoto, a star of the program “Iron Chef America,” opened his first Hawaii restaurant, Morimoto Waikiki. Sharing a pool and lounge with the Waikiki Edition hotel, the sleek, high-concept restaurant offers yacht-filled harbor views, indoor-outdoor dining, a fire pit, a sushi bar and a bar. Outdoors, lanterns light poolside picnic tables where urbane networkers linger over designer cocktails and tapas. Coral sculptures and panels of green algae encased in acrylic are a bold interior statement by the designer Thomas Shoos. Raw dishes, such as sashimi, toro tartare and the popular lamb and wagyu carpaccio, are classic Morimoto ($13 to $30), but the noodle dishes ($10 to $18), occasionally too salty and overcooked, are less successful. The wagyu steaks have a reverential following ($50 to $85), and the light-as-air tofu cheesecake ($12) is a favorite.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) THE TURNING POINT
The Makapuu Point Trail, at the easternmost part of the island, is the tour de force on a drive full of special moments. Pack sunscreen and a hat as you head south along Kalanianaole Highway past Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach. Koko Head Crater on the left has created striated cliffs that nearly run into the lava shoreline, and you’re driving between them both. Once past Sandy Beach, park at the Ka Iwi State Park lot and follow the trail to Makapuu Point along a two-mile 500-foot ascent. The 1909 Makapuu Lighthouse completes the package with views of the eastern coast and small offshore islands.
12:30 p.m.
11) THE BUZZ ABOUT BURGERS
Continue the drive along the windward coast, where sea turtles feed among fishermen and snorkelers. About 20 minutes from Makapuu, you’ll reach Kailua Beach, lined with ironwoods and dotted with paddlers and windsurfers. The local watering hole, Buzz’s Original Steakhouse (413 Kawailoa Road; 808-261-4661; buzzssteakhouse.com), is across the street with a charming veranda, and a tree growing through the center of the dining room. While it’s basically a burger joint, there are some standouts, including the kiawe-grilled fresh fish burgers ($11.95). Bloody Marys and beer flow freely from the koa and bamboo bar.
IF YOU GO
The year-old, style-centric Waikiki Edition (1775 Ala Moana Boulevard; 808-943-5800; editionhotels.com) has 353 rooms on 17 floors; rates range from $379 to $995. At the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel (2863 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-923-1555; kaimana.com) has a sleeker look with its refurbished interiors. Rooms start at $150.
Outrigger Reef on the Beach (2169 Kalia Road; 808-926-1959; outriggerreef-onthebeach.com) is on Waikiki Beach, with online summer rates from $179 to $369.
Specials and promotions are ongoing, so be sure to ask. Nightly Hawaiian music at the Kani Ka Pila Grille is a find for any music lover.
By JOCELYN FUJII
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: July 7, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/07/10/travel/36-hours-in-honolulu.html?hpw
HONOLULU has never been hotter, and not just because it’s July. The city’s "it" factor has been on the rise since President Obama announced, two years ago in Singapore, that his self-described “home state of Hawaii” would host the 2011 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. This November, the 21-nation Pacific Rim summit may bring as many as 10,000 people to Waikiki, the renowned Honolulu destination on Oahu’s south shore. While the city primps for the media glare, it also brims with summer’s delights. Mangoes and sweet summer fruit add splashy colors to the market stands. Pikake, puakenikeni, gardenia and tuberose grace Chinatown lei stands, and Hawaiian music spills onto beaches from sunset-drenched oceanfront lounges.
36 Hours in Honolulu
Map
Honolulu
Friday
4 p.m.
1) A SPA WITHOUT WALLS
There’s nothing better than a summer moment at Kapiolani Park, the 300-acre recreational magnet at the foot of Diamond Head, the volcanic tuff cone and landmark the Hawaiians named Leahi. Work up a sweat with the joggers and rugby players while white terns soar above the ironwoods. Top that off with a sunset swim across the street, at the beach fronting the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel.
6 p.m.
2) HAWAIIAN TUNES
Sandy feet are not an anomaly at Duke’s Restaurant and Barefoot Bar (2335 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-922-2268; dukeswaikiki.com), where the stars of Hawaiian music play nightly at sunset. Maunalua, a trio offering contemporary Hawaiian music, usually plays on Fridays, and the guitarist-vocalist Henry Kapono, the self-proclaimed “wild Hawaiian,” is the Hawaiian-rock attraction on Sundays. The open-air spot has a vintage surfer feel and wall-to-wall tributes to the Olympic swimming legend Duke Kahanamoku. Parking is expensive, but there’s no cover charge.
7:30 p.m.
3) THE PALATE-PLEASER
Philippe Padovani, one of the 12 original founders of Hawaii Regional Cuisine, opened Padovani’s Grill earlier this year, just in time for the 20th anniversary of the culinary movement. Fans love him for his designer chocolates, masterful sauces, signature clam chowder (Manila clams, sweet corn from Oahu’s north shore and a soupçon of island seaweed) and risotto (truffle oil and several types of mushrooms). There are special touches across the board, including made-to-order sauces for the seafood and Black Angus beef dishes. The chef pays equal respect to vegetarians, with an excellent goat cheese ravioli and fricassee of mushrooms. For dessert, try the tarte Tatin and bourbon crème brûlée. A three-course dinner without drinks costs $55 to $65.
9:30 p.m.
4) FROM TATTOOS TO DRAGONS
The indie jazz scene is thriving at the top of a steep stairway in Chinatown, in a former tattoo parlor the size of a cozy living room. Some of the best musicians in town gather at the Dragon Upstairs (1038 Nuuanu Avenue; 808-526-1411; thedragonupstairs.com) to jam and entertain in grand bohemian style. Most nights it’s the spectacular Japanese/local contemporary jazz pianist, Satomi Yarimizo, with her drummer and bass player. Because many in the audience are musicians, there are surprise performances galore in a seriously music-loving room.
Saturday
9 a.m.
5) DIAMOND HEAD FOOD FEST
Yes, it’s possible to have breakfast on the slopes of Diamond Head, at Honolulu’s busiest farmers’ market. A bonanza for early-bird foodies, the Saturday farmers’ market at Kapiolani Community College (4303 Diamond Head Road; 808-848-2074; hfbf.org) is the raison d’être for many a local food lover. Take your own bag and go early to find parking: it’s worth it. Everything there is local. The rainbow of products is edible Hawaii in full color, whether it’s persimmons, homemade ginger and guava drinks, mangoes, goat cheese, local honey or scones and banana bread.
11 a.m.
6) IT’S ALL ABOUT ART
With the merger this summer of the Contemporary Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts (900 South Beretania Street; 808-532-8700; honoluluacademy.org), and a new director, Stephan Jost, the buzz is all about art. A $25, two-and-a-half-hour tour of Shangri La, the Islamic museum founded by the Doris Duke estate, begins and ends at the Academy, which runs the Shangri La tours. A 20-minute shuttle ride takes you to the 1930s oceanfront mansion-turned-museum with its Iznik tiles, Central Asian textiles and 13th-century prayer room. When you return to the Academy, leave time for the Hawaii collection in the John Dominis and Patches Damon Holt Gallery, with works by Jules Tavernier, Lionel Walden and other Hawaiian masters.
1:30 p.m.
7) ART AND THE PLATE
The Pavilion Cafe (900 South Beretania Street; 808-532-8734; honoluluacademy.org/394-pavilion_cafe), the restaurant for the Academy of Arts, scores high points for its Mediterranean menu and its alfresco location next to a waterfall and Jun Kaneko sculptures. The menu, while not fancy, is ideal: white bean salad with arugula and wilted radicchio ($12.95), hearty sandwiches (feta, tapenade, tomato; chopped salmon steak), a pasta of the day and desserts like chocolate pot de crème and fresh fruit crisp ($5.95 each). At the Academy boutique a few steps away, books, cards, textiles and handmade jewelry make it one of Honolulu’s stellar shopping attractions.
5:30 p.m.
8) SUNSET SERENADE
Halekulani’s House Without a Key (2199 Kalia Road; 808-923-2311; halekulani.com) is a magnet at sunset. A century-old kiawe tree is gracefully backlighted by the late afternoon sun, the mai tais ($12) are heroic, and the views of the ocean and Diamond Head make you forget about the neighboring high-rises. When the hula dancer Kanoe Miller takes the stage, small talk ceases. It could be a postcard from the 1940s, the heyday of Waikiki. On Ms. Miller’s nights off, Debbie Nakanelua fills the stage with her own brand of hula magic.
8 p.m.
9) THE RAW RAGE
Last year, Masaharu Morimoto, a star of the program “Iron Chef America,” opened his first Hawaii restaurant, Morimoto Waikiki. Sharing a pool and lounge with the Waikiki Edition hotel, the sleek, high-concept restaurant offers yacht-filled harbor views, indoor-outdoor dining, a fire pit, a sushi bar and a bar. Outdoors, lanterns light poolside picnic tables where urbane networkers linger over designer cocktails and tapas. Coral sculptures and panels of green algae encased in acrylic are a bold interior statement by the designer Thomas Shoos. Raw dishes, such as sashimi, toro tartare and the popular lamb and wagyu carpaccio, are classic Morimoto ($13 to $30), but the noodle dishes ($10 to $18), occasionally too salty and overcooked, are less successful. The wagyu steaks have a reverential following ($50 to $85), and the light-as-air tofu cheesecake ($12) is a favorite.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) THE TURNING POINT
The Makapuu Point Trail, at the easternmost part of the island, is the tour de force on a drive full of special moments. Pack sunscreen and a hat as you head south along Kalanianaole Highway past Hanauma Bay and Sandy Beach. Koko Head Crater on the left has created striated cliffs that nearly run into the lava shoreline, and you’re driving between them both. Once past Sandy Beach, park at the Ka Iwi State Park lot and follow the trail to Makapuu Point along a two-mile 500-foot ascent. The 1909 Makapuu Lighthouse completes the package with views of the eastern coast and small offshore islands.
12:30 p.m.
11) THE BUZZ ABOUT BURGERS
Continue the drive along the windward coast, where sea turtles feed among fishermen and snorkelers. About 20 minutes from Makapuu, you’ll reach Kailua Beach, lined with ironwoods and dotted with paddlers and windsurfers. The local watering hole, Buzz’s Original Steakhouse (413 Kawailoa Road; 808-261-4661; buzzssteakhouse.com), is across the street with a charming veranda, and a tree growing through the center of the dining room. While it’s basically a burger joint, there are some standouts, including the kiawe-grilled fresh fish burgers ($11.95). Bloody Marys and beer flow freely from the koa and bamboo bar.
IF YOU GO
The year-old, style-centric Waikiki Edition (1775 Ala Moana Boulevard; 808-943-5800; editionhotels.com) has 353 rooms on 17 floors; rates range from $379 to $995. At the Diamond Head end of Waikiki, the New Otani Kaimana Beach Hotel (2863 Kalakaua Avenue; 808-923-1555; kaimana.com) has a sleeker look with its refurbished interiors. Rooms start at $150.
Outrigger Reef on the Beach (2169 Kalia Road; 808-926-1959; outriggerreef-onthebeach.com) is on Waikiki Beach, with online summer rates from $179 to $369.
Specials and promotions are ongoing, so be sure to ask. Nightly Hawaiian music at the Kani Ka Pila Grille is a find for any music lover.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Obama in Old San Juan
Obama in Old San Juan
By MARITZA STANCHICH
Published: June 14, 2011
Copyright by the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/opinion/15Stanchich.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
San Juan, P.R.
A MONTH of steady rain has brightened the cobblestones of Old San Juan. Now they are as blue as the crabs hawked alongside the coastal roads of this Caribbean territory of the United States. Public employees must have been relieved that nature cooperated, after weeks spent sprucing up the city for Barack Obama ’s arrival here on Tuesday morning.
His visit aggravated the city’s already grim traffic jams, called tapones, prompting some cynical reactions. A taxi driver named Reina Blanco waved her arm at the highway and told me: “Once again I’m going to be hearing tourists say they’ll never come back here because of the traffic.”
Nevertheless, most people consider the traffic a worthwhile inconvenience for the rare occasion of an official presidential visit, the first since John F. Kennedy came here 50 years ago. Welcome banners throughout the city picture the two presidents side by side with the words: “We are proud to be part of history, Kennedy 1961, Obama 2011.”
But how much do we have to celebrate?
A referendum on the future of Puerto Rico — independence, statehood or the status quo — will be held sometime in the next year or so, and Puerto Ricans are divided.
Hundreds of pro-independence protesters rallied Tuesday morning at the Plaza de Colón, named for Christopher Columbus, and El Morro fortress. One sign portrayed George Washington and read: “We too demand our independence.” At the same time, our pro-statehood governor, Luis Fortuño, celebrated Flag Day at the Capitol under the stars and stripes. (Mr. Obama didn’t attend.)
Earlier in the morning, with the streets closed off and quiet as a tomb, police officers at every corner, I spoke briefly to a slight woman who was passing through and was not a part of either extreme. “I was born under the two flags,” she said. “I was born in 1935, and every day in school we saluted the two flags.”
The daily newspapers have been full of ads from all sides of the debate and a litany of grievances. Official unemployment is over 16 percent, nearly half the commonwealth lives in poverty , and the murder rate is at a record high. Police abuses and civil rights violations, particularly against students, have intensified under the Fortuño administration, according to the American Civil Liberties Union. The country’s premier university, where I teach, had a quarter of its budget slashed this year. A controversial natural gas pipeline has been planned to nearly span the island from south to north. (The government calls it Via Verde; its opponents, Via de la Muerte.) And early this year, Puerto Rico’s most famous political prisoner, Oscar Lopez Rivera, was denied parole after nearly 30 years of imprisonment in the United States.
But Mr. Obama may not know much about what the residents of this island — who can’t vote for him in a general election anyway — care about. Banners along the expressway criticizing the government’s policies were removed before he arrived. And he mingled mainly with the bigwigs who paid between $10,000 and $35,800 to attend a Democratic fund-raiser at the Caribe Hilton (though to his credit, he also met with an opposition leader).
In any case, his visit is mostly aimed at winning votes stateside — where there are some 4.6 million Puerto Ricans , compared with 3.7 million on the island — particularly in swing states like Florida that have large Puerto Rican communities.
At one of the many kiosks where vendors sold hand-crafted jewelry and bacalaítos, or cod fritters, I ran into a young man named Joel Casanova from Tampa, who said he had made the trip with his family expressly for Mr. Obama’s visit. His parents had voted for him, but he wasn’t sure if he would. (He was clear, however, about his support for the Miami Heat, which lost in the N.B.A. finals last weekend to the Dallas Mavericks and its Puerto Rican point guard, J. J. Barea.)
Even if the president’s visit changes little about life in Puerto Rico, it may, at least, endear him more to those who live here. Millions sensed themselves a part of history in the symbolic power of President Obama ’s candidacy. I first remember feeling that during his speech in Selma, Ala. , in March 2007, when he poignantly recalled his grandfather living under British colonial rule in Kenya.
I can’t help but wonder what Mr. Obama’s grandfather would have thought about the still-colonial status of the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
By MARITZA STANCHICH
Published: June 14, 2011
Copyright by the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/15/opinion/15Stanchich.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
San Juan, P.R.
A MONTH of steady rain has brightened the cobblestones of Old San Juan. Now they are as blue as the crabs hawked alongside the coastal roads of this Caribbean territory of the United States. Public employees must have been relieved that nature cooperated, after weeks spent sprucing up the city for Barack Obama
His visit aggravated the city’s already grim traffic jams, called tapones, prompting some cynical reactions. A taxi driver named Reina Blanco waved her arm at the highway and told me: “Once again I’m going to be hearing tourists say they’ll never come back here because of the traffic.”
Nevertheless, most people consider the traffic a worthwhile inconvenience for the rare occasion of an official presidential visit, the first since John F. Kennedy came here 50 years ago. Welcome banners throughout the city picture the two presidents side by side with the words: “We are proud to be part of history, Kennedy 1961, Obama 2011.”
But how much do we have to celebrate?
A referendum on the future of Puerto Rico — independence, statehood or the status quo — will be held sometime in the next year or so, and Puerto Ricans are divided.
Hundreds of pro-independence protesters rallied Tuesday morning at the Plaza de Colón, named for Christopher Columbus, and El Morro fortress. One sign portrayed George Washington and read: “We too demand our independence.” At the same time, our pro-statehood governor, Luis Fortuño, celebrated Flag Day at the Capitol under the stars and stripes. (Mr. Obama didn’t attend.)
Earlier in the morning, with the streets closed off and quiet as a tomb, police officers at every corner, I spoke briefly to a slight woman who was passing through and was not a part of either extreme. “I was born under the two flags,” she said. “I was born in 1935, and every day in school we saluted the two flags.”
The daily newspapers have been full of ads from all sides of the debate and a litany of grievances. Official unemployment is over 16 percent, nearly half the commonwealth lives in poverty
But Mr. Obama may not know much about what the residents of this island — who can’t vote for him in a general election anyway — care about. Banners along the expressway criticizing the government’s policies were removed before he arrived. And he mingled mainly with the bigwigs who paid between $10,000 and $35,800 to attend a Democratic fund-raiser at the Caribe Hilton (though to his credit, he also met with an opposition leader).
In any case, his visit is mostly aimed at winning votes stateside — where there are some 4.6 million Puerto Ricans
At one of the many kiosks where vendors sold hand-crafted jewelry and bacalaítos, or cod fritters, I ran into a young man named Joel Casanova from Tampa, who said he had made the trip with his family expressly for Mr. Obama’s visit. His parents had voted for him, but he wasn’t sure if he would. (He was clear, however, about his support for the Miami Heat, which lost in the N.B.A. finals last weekend to the Dallas Mavericks and its Puerto Rican point guard, J. J. Barea.)
Even if the president’s visit changes little about life in Puerto Rico, it may, at least, endear him more to those who live here. Millions sensed themselves a part of history in the symbolic power of President Obama
I can’t help but wonder what Mr. Obama’s grandfather would have thought about the still-colonial status of the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
We should end our disastrous war on drugs
We should end our disastrous war on drugs
By Martin Wolf
Published: June 3 2011 22:39 | Last updated: June 3 2011 22:39
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aae86202-8e10-11e0-bee5-00144feab49a.html#axzz1OFpXt4DM
The global war on drugs has failed. Readers should not take my word for this. It is the opening sentence of a report on the failures of prohibition from an independent Global Commission on Drug Policy. What makes this report astonishing is not its content, now widely accepted among disinterested people, but who is associated with it.
Among signatories are George Shultz, former US secretary of state, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and Javier Solana, former European Union high representative for foreign and security policy. Salute them all. They are honourable people prepared to state that the policy on which the world has engaged for decades, at the behest of the US, is a disaster.
While failing to reduce the ills of drug use at which it is addressed, it has created massive “collateral damage”: the spread of avoidable diseases; use of drugs in dangerous forms; mass criminalisation and incarceration; a gigantic waste of public resources; corruption; creation of a cross-border network of organised crime; and the subversion of states. Mexico is perhaps the most important contemporary victim. It is a war with myriad innocent victims.
The argument for prohibition is that it would lead to an ever-diminishing market in controlled drugs. In practice, the opposite has happened: in the 10 years to 2008, according to the UN, global use of opiates has risen by 34.5 per cent, of cocaine by 27 per cent and of cannabis by 8.5 per cent. If this is a successful policy, what would a failed one look like?
The thrust of the report is that the challenges associated with the use and abuse of drugs – a pervasive feature of human societies – should be approached pragmatically, as a problem in public health, not moralistically, as a problem of crime.
The report offers powerful specific recommendations: have an open debate on the failure of current policy; replace the criminalisation and punishment of users with evidence-based treatment; encourage experimentation with a regulated legal supply of less harmful drugs, such as cannabis, and decriminalisation of use, along with supply via prescription, of more harmful drugs such as heroin; stop measuring the number of people in prison or drugs seized and focus on outcomes, such as the levels of drug dependence, violence, disease and death by overdose; challenge the misconceptions fed by panic-mongers; shift the focus of the criminal justice system toward violent organised crime; develop alternatives to incarceration for small-scale and first-time drug dealers; and, above all, focus on what actually works.
None of this is new. But from such a group it is surely revolutionary.
Some of the points are particularly compelling. Consider the huge costs of criminalisation, for example. In the US, the number of people in prisons has risen from 300,000 in 1972 to 2.3m today, the highest rate of incarceration in the world, overwhelmingly because of the war on drugs. One in 31 US adults is now in jail, on probation or on parole. Though African Americans are just 14 per cent of regular drug users, they account for 37 per cent of drug arrests and 56 per cent of those in prison. It is amazing that more Americans do not find this scandalous. However other countries have followed a similar route, including the UK, with devastating consequences. In some countries, minor drug suppliers are even executed, which is truly horrifying.
Again, some of the experiments with harm-reduction approaches have been remarkably successful. The report notes, for example, that the Swiss heroin substitution approach, which targeted hard-core users, has substantially reduced consumption and the number of new addicts. It has also secured a 90 per cent reduction in property crimes by those participating in the programme. Countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, with active needle-exchange programmes, have about a fifth of the US levels of HIV-prevalence among those who inject drugs.
In July 2001, Portugal became the first European country to decriminalise use and possession (as opposed to supply) of all illegal drugs. Since then, use has risen slightly, but fully in line with the increase in other similar countries. “Within this general trend,” says the report, “there has also been a specific decline in the use of heroin, which was in 2001 the main concern of the Portuguese government.”
Yet another important point is the irrationality of the categorisation of drugs. Expert ranking of the harmfulness of drugs puts alcohol, for example, well above many illegal substances, such as cannabis.
The report brings out some of the dire unintended consequences of the drugs war. One is the scale of the black market that now exists. Another is the creation of a vested interest in the maintenance of what we must call “the drugs suppression industry”. Yet another is the “geographical displacement”, as suppression of supply in one place leads to its almost inevitable shift to somewhere else. And another again is “substance displacement”, as consumers shift from one drug to another in response to changes in supply. All this is the inevitable consequence of efforts to suppress powerful market forces. In addition, there are dire social results from taking a punitive approach to the behaviour of users who have too often been the victims of abuse, suffer from mental illness, or come from marginalised social groups.
The biggest conclusion I draw from this report is that policies made in the grip of moral panic and punitive fervour are bound to be a catastrophe. So it has proved in this case: here we have a policy that has failed to achieve its main aims, but has imposed huge collateral costs.
The report calls for an urgent shift in approach, led, if possible, by the UN system. That is, alas, unlikely. But individual countries and groups of countries should shrug off the efforts of the US to export its punitive approach to the rest of the world and think for themselves, instead. Humanity does not have to be the victim of these savage efforts to prevent drug abuse. The time has come to think again. If we are brave, the publication of this report could mark a turn towards rationality.
The writer is the chief economics commentator of the Financial Times
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011.
By Martin Wolf
Published: June 3 2011 22:39 | Last updated: June 3 2011 22:39
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/aae86202-8e10-11e0-bee5-00144feab49a.html#axzz1OFpXt4DM
The global war on drugs has failed. Readers should not take my word for this. It is the opening sentence of a report on the failures of prohibition from an independent Global Commission on Drug Policy. What makes this report astonishing is not its content, now widely accepted among disinterested people, but who is associated with it.
Among signatories are George Shultz, former US secretary of state, Paul Volcker, former chairman of the Federal Reserve, Kofi Annan, former secretary general of the United Nations, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, former president of Brazil, Ernesto Zedillo, former president of Mexico and Javier Solana, former European Union high representative for foreign and security policy. Salute them all. They are honourable people prepared to state that the policy on which the world has engaged for decades, at the behest of the US, is a disaster.
While failing to reduce the ills of drug use at which it is addressed, it has created massive “collateral damage”: the spread of avoidable diseases; use of drugs in dangerous forms; mass criminalisation and incarceration; a gigantic waste of public resources; corruption; creation of a cross-border network of organised crime; and the subversion of states. Mexico is perhaps the most important contemporary victim. It is a war with myriad innocent victims.
The argument for prohibition is that it would lead to an ever-diminishing market in controlled drugs. In practice, the opposite has happened: in the 10 years to 2008, according to the UN, global use of opiates has risen by 34.5 per cent, of cocaine by 27 per cent and of cannabis by 8.5 per cent. If this is a successful policy, what would a failed one look like?
The thrust of the report is that the challenges associated with the use and abuse of drugs – a pervasive feature of human societies – should be approached pragmatically, as a problem in public health, not moralistically, as a problem of crime.
The report offers powerful specific recommendations: have an open debate on the failure of current policy; replace the criminalisation and punishment of users with evidence-based treatment; encourage experimentation with a regulated legal supply of less harmful drugs, such as cannabis, and decriminalisation of use, along with supply via prescription, of more harmful drugs such as heroin; stop measuring the number of people in prison or drugs seized and focus on outcomes, such as the levels of drug dependence, violence, disease and death by overdose; challenge the misconceptions fed by panic-mongers; shift the focus of the criminal justice system toward violent organised crime; develop alternatives to incarceration for small-scale and first-time drug dealers; and, above all, focus on what actually works.
None of this is new. But from such a group it is surely revolutionary.
Some of the points are particularly compelling. Consider the huge costs of criminalisation, for example. In the US, the number of people in prisons has risen from 300,000 in 1972 to 2.3m today, the highest rate of incarceration in the world, overwhelmingly because of the war on drugs. One in 31 US adults is now in jail, on probation or on parole. Though African Americans are just 14 per cent of regular drug users, they account for 37 per cent of drug arrests and 56 per cent of those in prison. It is amazing that more Americans do not find this scandalous. However other countries have followed a similar route, including the UK, with devastating consequences. In some countries, minor drug suppliers are even executed, which is truly horrifying.
Again, some of the experiments with harm-reduction approaches have been remarkably successful. The report notes, for example, that the Swiss heroin substitution approach, which targeted hard-core users, has substantially reduced consumption and the number of new addicts. It has also secured a 90 per cent reduction in property crimes by those participating in the programme. Countries such as the UK, Switzerland, Germany and Australia, with active needle-exchange programmes, have about a fifth of the US levels of HIV-prevalence among those who inject drugs.
In July 2001, Portugal became the first European country to decriminalise use and possession (as opposed to supply) of all illegal drugs. Since then, use has risen slightly, but fully in line with the increase in other similar countries. “Within this general trend,” says the report, “there has also been a specific decline in the use of heroin, which was in 2001 the main concern of the Portuguese government.”
Yet another important point is the irrationality of the categorisation of drugs. Expert ranking of the harmfulness of drugs puts alcohol, for example, well above many illegal substances, such as cannabis.
The report brings out some of the dire unintended consequences of the drugs war. One is the scale of the black market that now exists. Another is the creation of a vested interest in the maintenance of what we must call “the drugs suppression industry”. Yet another is the “geographical displacement”, as suppression of supply in one place leads to its almost inevitable shift to somewhere else. And another again is “substance displacement”, as consumers shift from one drug to another in response to changes in supply. All this is the inevitable consequence of efforts to suppress powerful market forces. In addition, there are dire social results from taking a punitive approach to the behaviour of users who have too often been the victims of abuse, suffer from mental illness, or come from marginalised social groups.
The biggest conclusion I draw from this report is that policies made in the grip of moral panic and punitive fervour are bound to be a catastrophe. So it has proved in this case: here we have a policy that has failed to achieve its main aims, but has imposed huge collateral costs.
The report calls for an urgent shift in approach, led, if possible, by the UN system. That is, alas, unlikely. But individual countries and groups of countries should shrug off the efforts of the US to export its punitive approach to the rest of the world and think for themselves, instead. Humanity does not have to be the victim of these savage efforts to prevent drug abuse. The time has come to think again. If we are brave, the publication of this report could mark a turn towards rationality.
The writer is the chief economics commentator of the Financial Times
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011.
Friday, June 3, 2011
36 Hours in Stockholm
36 Hours in Stockholm
By STEPHEN WHITLOCK
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: June 2, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/travel/36-hours-in-stockholm.html?hpw
STOCKHOLMERS revel in the long days of summer when the sun rises as early as 3:30 a.m. and doesn’t set until after 10 p.m. Many locals escape to their country houses, but those who remain in the city spend as much time as possible outdoors — an easy feat since water and parkland make up almost two-thirds of Stockholm. Situated on the Baltic at the mouth of Lake Malaren, Stockholm is built on 14 islands connected by bridges. On sunny days, waterside bars and cafes are packed with people wolfing down summer favorites like herring (served in a variety of ways) and toast Skagen (shrimp in mayonnaise with lemon and dill served with rye bread). Everywhere, visitors will find establishments — new and venerable — celebrating Nordic design, cuisine and culture.
36 Hours in Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
Friday
4 p.m.
1) WALK IN A CIRCLE
Get your bearings and work up an appetite with a bracing five-mile walk that loops around Riddarfjarden, Stockholm’s main body of water. Start at Stadshuset (the City Hall, where Nobel Prizes are handed out) and cross to Riddarholmen, visiting the church where generations of Swedish monarchs are interred. Carry on to Sodermalm, the large southern island, taking beautiful cobbled Bastugatan. Fortify yourself at Melqvist Kaffebar (Hornsgatan 78; 46-76-875-2992), one of the city’s best coffee bars (and the old haunt of Stieg Larsson, author of the Lisbeth Salander novels) before continuing over the high bridge that offers amazing views and then descending to the island of Kungsholmen. Reward yourself with waterside drinks at Malarpaviljongen (Norr Malarstrand 64; 46-8-650-8701; malarpaviljongen.se), an open-air cafe-lounge with three floating decks, one of Stockholm’s most popular summer hangouts.
7:30 p.m.
2) LOCAL HEROES
Stockholmers often seem to take a magpie approach to food, importing their favorite trends from abroad. Right now the most popular spots include the French bistro Zink Grill (Biblioteksgatan 5; 46-8-611-4222; zinkgrill.se) and the sensational sushi bar Rakultur (Kungstensgatan 2; 46-8-696-2325; rakultur.se). Thankfully, there are several places that are committed to serving locally sourced food that takes Swedish cuisine to the next level. One of the most enjoyable is the city’s newest culinary star, Restaurang Volt (Kommendorsgatan 16; 46-8-662-3400; restaurangvolt.se). Opened by four young men who have worked at many of Sweden’s top restaurants, the small space includes just one sparsely furnished room — all the excitement is on the plate. You can order à la carte, but it’s far better to opt for the three-, five- or seven-course menu, featuring dishes like rabbit with carrots and dandelion, and, for dessert, fennel with white chocolate and licorice (485, 685 and 785 Swedish kronor, or $78, $110 and $126, at 6.22 Swedish kronor to the dollar).
10 p.m.
3) STRAIGHT UP
There are a couple of places where you can get a drink with a panoramic view of the city. Gondolen (Stadsgarden 6; 46-8-641-7090; eriks.se) is part of a viewing platform on the edge of Sodermalm neighborhood that overlooks the Old Town (Gamla Stan) and harbor. For even more dramatic views, visit Och Himlen Dartill (Gotgatan 78; 46-8-660-6068; www.restauranghimlen.se), a bar and restaurant atop a Sodermalm skyscraper.
Saturday
11 a.m.
4) STORY TIME
When it comes to iconic Swedish writers, not even Stieg Larsson can match Astrid Lindgren, the creator of Pippi Longstocking. Junibacken (Galarvarvsvägen; 46-8-587-23000; junibacken.se) is a sort of indoor amusement park where you can visit Pippi’s house and take the Storybook Train, which will carry you through a series of tableaux drawn from her books. Even for an adult with no knowledge of Lindgren’s work, it’s great fun; for children, it’s thrilling. Afterward go for a rhubarb tart or a slice of mango-cardamom cheesecake (around 45 kronor) at nearby Helin & Voltaire (Rosendalsvagen 14; 46-8-664-51-08; helinvoltaire.com), a cafe that looks as if it came straight out of a fairy tale.
1:30 p.m.
5) ISLAND LUNCH
Any visit to Stockholm should include an exploration of one or more of the thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm Archipelago. It takes several hours’ sailing to reach the heart of the archipelago but you can get a quick fix by taking a ferry to Fjaderholmarna, a group of islands just 20 minutes from downtown. Book ahead for lunch on the deck beside the water at Fjaderholmarnas Krog (46-8-718-33-55; fjaderholmarnaskrog.se). The midsummer menu includes plenty of herring, dill-smoked salmon and oysters. Expect to spend 250 kronor for lunch.
3 p.m.
6) MAIN STREET
On Hamngatan, one of the city’s main shopping streets, two retail titans are squaring off, and national pride is at stake: on one side stands NK (Hamngatan 18-20; 46-8-762-8000; nk.se), the venerable Swedish department store that opened in 1902. Almost directly opposite is the challenger, the Danish design store Illums Bolighus (Hamngatan 27; 46-8-718-5500; illumsbolighus.dk), established in Copenhagen in 1925, which opened its first Swedish store last fall. NK has the edge as far as food and fashion go, but when it comes to cool Scandinavian design, Illums is unbeatable. Here you will find pieces by all the big names of Danish design — Finn Juhl, Hans Wegner, Verner Panton — as well as international brands at all prices.
4 p.m.
7) NORDIC BY NATURE
Book a treatment at the Raison d’Etre spa inside the Grand Hôtel (Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8; 46-8-679-3500; grandhotel.se). The spa feels thoroughly Nordic, with blocks of granite underfoot in the shower and murals with pixilated views of the archipelago. Of course, treatments (from 930 kronor for a neck, back and shoulder massage) include classic Swedish massage.
5:30 p.m.
8) ANIMAL INSTINCT
The Old Town, in the heart of the city, has no end of restaurants targeting tourists; it also has some of the best places to eat. Djuret (Lilla Nygatan 5; 46-8-506-40084; djuret.se), whose name means “the animal,” offers a meat-heavy menu that focuses on one meat-and-wine pairing at a time: lamb with Bordeaux, for instance, or veal with Barolo and Barbaresco. However, on June 27 Djuret closes for two months and instead offers a top-notch pork barbecue in the courtyard behind the building, weather permitting. Its name? Svinet, which means “the pig.” No reservations, so arrive soon after it opens at 5 p.m. A three-course meal with wine costs around 550 kronor.
10 p.m.
9) VINTAGE DRINKS
The restaurant-bar Riche (Birger Jarlsgatan 4; 46-8-545-03560; riche.se) has been going strong since 1893. It starts to fill up as soon as nearby offices close and is soon crammed with a glamorous, affluent crowd. You’ll most likely hear more Champagne bottles being popped open here than anywhere else in town. If the crush is too much, cross the road to KB (Smalandsgatan 7; 46-8-679-60-32; konstnarsbaren.se), a classic Stockholm restaurant that has a charming bar with murals dating from the 1930s of ale-swilling Vikings and tipsy monks sipping Chartreuse.
Sunday
11:30 a.m.
10) THE ART OF BRUNCH
Stockholm can be a sleepy town on a Sunday, and few restaurants serve brunch. The restaurant at the Moderna Museet (Skeppsholmen; 46-8-5195-6291-5282; modernamuseet.se) has a lavish weekend buffet brunch serving Asian, African, American and European dishes (265 kronor). Reservations are essential as there are only two sittings, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you don’t have a reservation, visit the cafe and enjoy a simpler meal alfresco on the large terrace.
1 p.m.
11) PICTURE PERFECT
Fotografiska (Stadsgardshamnen 22; 46-8-5090-0500; fotografiska.eu, admission 110 kronor) opened last year in a former tollhouse on the quayside of Sodermalm. It has photographic exhibitions of varying quality (Annie Leibovitz was the opening show, but some subsequent exhibitions have been somewhat ho-hum), but it’s worth visiting the top-floor cafe where you’ll find enormous windows looking out over the Old Town. The view is so spectacular that even if you don’t like the photos on the gallery walls you’re bound to end up snapping a few yourself.
IF YOU GO
Right now the 201-room Nobis (Norrmalmstorg 2-4; 46-8-614-10-00; nobishotel.se ), which opened in December 2010, is the hottest place to lodge. It’s got great service, a perfect location, and bedrooms (from 2,240 kronor) that manage to be stylish without sacrificing comfort.
Benny Andersson of the Swedish pop group Abba opened the Rival (Mariatorget 3; 46-8-545-789-24 00; rival.se) in 2003. The 96 rooms (from 1,595 kronor) have stills from Swedish movies over the beds, from Garbo in “Queen Christina” to, of course, “Abba: The Movie.”
When Nobel laureates come to pick up their checks for 10 million Swedish kronor (around $1.5 million), they stay at the 340-room Grand Hôtel (Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8; 46-8-679-3500; grandhotel.se), a Stockholm landmark since 1874. Doubles start at 1,990 kronor but check in only if you can afford one overlooking the water (from 3,000 kronor).
By STEPHEN WHITLOCK
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: June 2, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/05/travel/36-hours-in-stockholm.html?hpw
STOCKHOLMERS revel in the long days of summer when the sun rises as early as 3:30 a.m. and doesn’t set until after 10 p.m. Many locals escape to their country houses, but those who remain in the city spend as much time as possible outdoors — an easy feat since water and parkland make up almost two-thirds of Stockholm. Situated on the Baltic at the mouth of Lake Malaren, Stockholm is built on 14 islands connected by bridges. On sunny days, waterside bars and cafes are packed with people wolfing down summer favorites like herring (served in a variety of ways) and toast Skagen (shrimp in mayonnaise with lemon and dill served with rye bread). Everywhere, visitors will find establishments — new and venerable — celebrating Nordic design, cuisine and culture.
36 Hours in Stockholm
Stockholm, Sweden
Friday
4 p.m.
1) WALK IN A CIRCLE
Get your bearings and work up an appetite with a bracing five-mile walk that loops around Riddarfjarden, Stockholm’s main body of water. Start at Stadshuset (the City Hall, where Nobel Prizes are handed out) and cross to Riddarholmen, visiting the church where generations of Swedish monarchs are interred. Carry on to Sodermalm, the large southern island, taking beautiful cobbled Bastugatan. Fortify yourself at Melqvist Kaffebar (Hornsgatan 78; 46-76-875-2992), one of the city’s best coffee bars (and the old haunt of Stieg Larsson, author of the Lisbeth Salander novels) before continuing over the high bridge that offers amazing views and then descending to the island of Kungsholmen. Reward yourself with waterside drinks at Malarpaviljongen (Norr Malarstrand 64; 46-8-650-8701; malarpaviljongen.se), an open-air cafe-lounge with three floating decks, one of Stockholm’s most popular summer hangouts.
7:30 p.m.
2) LOCAL HEROES
Stockholmers often seem to take a magpie approach to food, importing their favorite trends from abroad. Right now the most popular spots include the French bistro Zink Grill (Biblioteksgatan 5; 46-8-611-4222; zinkgrill.se) and the sensational sushi bar Rakultur (Kungstensgatan 2; 46-8-696-2325; rakultur.se). Thankfully, there are several places that are committed to serving locally sourced food that takes Swedish cuisine to the next level. One of the most enjoyable is the city’s newest culinary star, Restaurang Volt (Kommendorsgatan 16; 46-8-662-3400; restaurangvolt.se). Opened by four young men who have worked at many of Sweden’s top restaurants, the small space includes just one sparsely furnished room — all the excitement is on the plate. You can order à la carte, but it’s far better to opt for the three-, five- or seven-course menu, featuring dishes like rabbit with carrots and dandelion, and, for dessert, fennel with white chocolate and licorice (485, 685 and 785 Swedish kronor, or $78, $110 and $126, at 6.22 Swedish kronor to the dollar).
10 p.m.
3) STRAIGHT UP
There are a couple of places where you can get a drink with a panoramic view of the city. Gondolen (Stadsgarden 6; 46-8-641-7090; eriks.se) is part of a viewing platform on the edge of Sodermalm neighborhood that overlooks the Old Town (Gamla Stan) and harbor. For even more dramatic views, visit Och Himlen Dartill (Gotgatan 78; 46-8-660-6068; www.restauranghimlen.se), a bar and restaurant atop a Sodermalm skyscraper.
Saturday
11 a.m.
4) STORY TIME
When it comes to iconic Swedish writers, not even Stieg Larsson can match Astrid Lindgren, the creator of Pippi Longstocking. Junibacken (Galarvarvsvägen; 46-8-587-23000; junibacken.se) is a sort of indoor amusement park where you can visit Pippi’s house and take the Storybook Train, which will carry you through a series of tableaux drawn from her books. Even for an adult with no knowledge of Lindgren’s work, it’s great fun; for children, it’s thrilling. Afterward go for a rhubarb tart or a slice of mango-cardamom cheesecake (around 45 kronor) at nearby Helin & Voltaire (Rosendalsvagen 14; 46-8-664-51-08; helinvoltaire.com), a cafe that looks as if it came straight out of a fairy tale.
1:30 p.m.
5) ISLAND LUNCH
Any visit to Stockholm should include an exploration of one or more of the thousands of islands that make up the Stockholm Archipelago. It takes several hours’ sailing to reach the heart of the archipelago but you can get a quick fix by taking a ferry to Fjaderholmarna, a group of islands just 20 minutes from downtown. Book ahead for lunch on the deck beside the water at Fjaderholmarnas Krog (46-8-718-33-55; fjaderholmarnaskrog.se). The midsummer menu includes plenty of herring, dill-smoked salmon and oysters. Expect to spend 250 kronor for lunch.
3 p.m.
6) MAIN STREET
On Hamngatan, one of the city’s main shopping streets, two retail titans are squaring off, and national pride is at stake: on one side stands NK (Hamngatan 18-20; 46-8-762-8000; nk.se), the venerable Swedish department store that opened in 1902. Almost directly opposite is the challenger, the Danish design store Illums Bolighus (Hamngatan 27; 46-8-718-5500; illumsbolighus.dk), established in Copenhagen in 1925, which opened its first Swedish store last fall. NK has the edge as far as food and fashion go, but when it comes to cool Scandinavian design, Illums is unbeatable. Here you will find pieces by all the big names of Danish design — Finn Juhl, Hans Wegner, Verner Panton — as well as international brands at all prices.
4 p.m.
7) NORDIC BY NATURE
Book a treatment at the Raison d’Etre spa inside the Grand Hôtel (Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8; 46-8-679-3500; grandhotel.se). The spa feels thoroughly Nordic, with blocks of granite underfoot in the shower and murals with pixilated views of the archipelago. Of course, treatments (from 930 kronor for a neck, back and shoulder massage) include classic Swedish massage.
5:30 p.m.
8) ANIMAL INSTINCT
The Old Town, in the heart of the city, has no end of restaurants targeting tourists; it also has some of the best places to eat. Djuret (Lilla Nygatan 5; 46-8-506-40084; djuret.se), whose name means “the animal,” offers a meat-heavy menu that focuses on one meat-and-wine pairing at a time: lamb with Bordeaux, for instance, or veal with Barolo and Barbaresco. However, on June 27 Djuret closes for two months and instead offers a top-notch pork barbecue in the courtyard behind the building, weather permitting. Its name? Svinet, which means “the pig.” No reservations, so arrive soon after it opens at 5 p.m. A three-course meal with wine costs around 550 kronor.
10 p.m.
9) VINTAGE DRINKS
The restaurant-bar Riche (Birger Jarlsgatan 4; 46-8-545-03560; riche.se) has been going strong since 1893. It starts to fill up as soon as nearby offices close and is soon crammed with a glamorous, affluent crowd. You’ll most likely hear more Champagne bottles being popped open here than anywhere else in town. If the crush is too much, cross the road to KB (Smalandsgatan 7; 46-8-679-60-32; konstnarsbaren.se), a classic Stockholm restaurant that has a charming bar with murals dating from the 1930s of ale-swilling Vikings and tipsy monks sipping Chartreuse.
Sunday
11:30 a.m.
10) THE ART OF BRUNCH
Stockholm can be a sleepy town on a Sunday, and few restaurants serve brunch. The restaurant at the Moderna Museet (Skeppsholmen; 46-8-5195-6291-5282; modernamuseet.se) has a lavish weekend buffet brunch serving Asian, African, American and European dishes (265 kronor). Reservations are essential as there are only two sittings, at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. If you don’t have a reservation, visit the cafe and enjoy a simpler meal alfresco on the large terrace.
1 p.m.
11) PICTURE PERFECT
Fotografiska (Stadsgardshamnen 22; 46-8-5090-0500; fotografiska.eu, admission 110 kronor) opened last year in a former tollhouse on the quayside of Sodermalm. It has photographic exhibitions of varying quality (Annie Leibovitz was the opening show, but some subsequent exhibitions have been somewhat ho-hum), but it’s worth visiting the top-floor cafe where you’ll find enormous windows looking out over the Old Town. The view is so spectacular that even if you don’t like the photos on the gallery walls you’re bound to end up snapping a few yourself.
IF YOU GO
Right now the 201-room Nobis (Norrmalmstorg 2-4; 46-8-614-10-00; nobishotel.se ), which opened in December 2010, is the hottest place to lodge. It’s got great service, a perfect location, and bedrooms (from 2,240 kronor) that manage to be stylish without sacrificing comfort.
Benny Andersson of the Swedish pop group Abba opened the Rival (Mariatorget 3; 46-8-545-789-24 00; rival.se) in 2003. The 96 rooms (from 1,595 kronor) have stills from Swedish movies over the beds, from Garbo in “Queen Christina” to, of course, “Abba: The Movie.”
When Nobel laureates come to pick up their checks for 10 million Swedish kronor (around $1.5 million), they stay at the 340-room Grand Hôtel (Sodra Blasieholmshamnen 8; 46-8-679-3500; grandhotel.se), a Stockholm landmark since 1874. Doubles start at 1,990 kronor but check in only if you can afford one overlooking the water (from 3,000 kronor).
Thursday, May 26, 2011
36 Hours in Niagara Falls
36 Hours in Niagara Falls
By BARBARA IRELAND
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 26, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/travel/36-hours-in-niagara-falls.html?hpw
AT Niagara Falls, the United States is the poor relation and Canada is king. Nature gave Canada the wide-angle view of the majestic waterfall that straddles the border between the two countries, and the Canadians’ commercial bet on tourism landed most of the visitor comforts on their side of the Niagara River. American reliance on industry, however, ended in Rust Belt ruin. Yet the story isn’t so simple. Casinos, high-rise hotels and hucksterish come-ons have so proliferated in Niagara Falls, Ontario, that it risks feeling like a tired amusement park. Meanwhile, in Niagara Falls, New York, the visitor who ventures inside the shabby, underfinanced state park is surprised to discover vestiges of something like a natural landscape. The party is in Canada. The real feel of the river, in all its awesome power, is more accessible in the United States. Hop back and forth to get the best of both Niagaras and see for yourself.
Niagara Falls
Friday
5 p.m.
1) FEET ACROSS THE BORDER
Cars sometimes line up for hours to cross the international border at the Rainbow Bridge, a few hundred yards downriver from the falls. But on the walkway it’s a breeze — a 10-minute stroll for two quarters, American or Canadian (niagarafallsbridges.com). Customs agents at each end are pedestrian-friendly, though you must have your passport. If you’re staying on the American side, make your first crossing now. If your hotel is in Canada, wait until tomorrow. Either way, this is one of the most scenic saunters you will ever take.
6 p.m.
2) BRINKMANSHIP
Push into the crowds on the riverfront walkway in Canada and see the whole geological spectacle at once. The imposing cascade on the left, 850 feet wide, is the American Falls. The supercharged one on the right, nearly half a mile wide, is the Horseshoe, often called the Canadian Falls although it touches both countries. Stop at the Horseshoe brink and wait your turn to be doused at the rail by spray from thousands of tons of water plunging down every second. Impressed? This thundering mass is only half of the river’s natural flow. The other 50 percent (75 percent in the off-season) is channeled underground to hydroelectric plants.
7 p.m.
3) WINE AND BACON
From the terrace at Edgewaters Tap & Grill (6342 Niagara Parkway; 905-356-2217; niagaraparks.com/dining), the tourist hordes below seem far away. Relax and sample one of the Niagara Region wines, like the Inniskillin Riesling (35 Canadian dollars a bottle, about the same in U.S. dollars). For a casual dinner, try the hearty Great Canadian Sandwich “EH” (14.49 dollars), made with the meaty and flavorful Canadian bacon hard to find south of the border. Afterward, explore the surrounding shady Queen Victoria Park, where gracious landscaping reflects the English style.
9 p.m.
4) OVER THE TOP
You want to hate Clifton Hill, a garish strip of fun houses, glow-in-the-dark miniature-golf palaces, 4-D theaters, wax museums and noisy bars. But tackiness on this level cries out to be experienced. So watch a multinational crowd shovel tickets into blinking game machines at the Great Canadian Midway. Observe the story-high monster chomping a hamburger atop the House of Frankenstein. Shop for maple candy and a moose puppet. And pay 9.99 Canadian dollars at the SkyWheel Ferris wheel (4960 Clifton Hill; 905-358-3676; cliftonhill.com) for five vertiginous revolutions and a wide-angle view of the colored lights projected nightly on the falls. (Oh right, there are waterfalls here. Remember?)
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) THE CENTRAL PARK
Frederick Law Olmsted and Frederic Church were among the 19th-century champions of a radical idea: public parks at Niagara Falls that would erase a clutter of factories and tourist traps (at some locations, visitors paid to see the falls through a peephole in a fence). The Free Niagara movement succeeded in both Canada and the United States, and on the American side Olmsted designed landscapes at the crest of both waterfalls and on Goat Island, which separates them. Explore the woods and walkways of the resulting Niagara Falls State Park (716-278-1796; niagarafallsstatepark.com) to find what remains of the original Niagara, breathtakingly close to the river’s edge and with commercialism pushed back. For an enticing mix of quiet glades and furious rapids, venture out over charming pedestrian bridges to the tiny Three Sisters Islands above the thunderous Horseshoe.
1 p.m.
6) WINGS OPTIONAL
Buffalo chicken wings were invented just 20 miles away in the city of Buffalo, and the menu at the Top of the Falls restaurant (in the state park; 716-278-0340; spicy wings $11.50) won’t let you forget it. Partake or not; alternatives include salads, burgers and wraps.
2 p.m.
7) WHY THE WATERFALL?
You’ll hunt in vain on both sides of the river for a straightforward geological explanation of Niagara Falls. At the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center in the park on the New York side ($3), look selectively at the displays and ask questions to tease out the basic facts. What’s falling is the water of the Great Lakes. The falls are on the move upriver, receding as much as six feet a year. There’s a giant whirlpool where they took a sharp turn 40 centuries ago. A Canadian attempt at explaining Niagara, a film called “Niagara’s Fury” (niagarasfury.com), which is shown in a building near the Horseshoe’s crest, is entertaining for children but not especially informative, mixing cartoon stereotypes with snippets of textbook language. Outside the Discovery Center, a trail heads toward the Niagara Gorge, where hikers get within a few feet of the largest standing, river-rapids waves in North America. Don’t bring the kayak: these rapids are Class 6.
3 p.m.
8) THE CLOSE-UP
Many of the contrived attractions at Niagara Falls are overhyped and disappointing. But the Maid of the Mist tour boats ($13.50 from the American side; 16.50 dollars from the Canadian; maidofthemist.com) have been satisfying customers since 1846. Chug out to the base of the Horseshoe on one of these sturdy craft, struggle to look up 170 feet to the top through the splashing torrents, and you’ll grasp the power of what brought you here. Go from the American dock. Not only is the wait likely to be shorter, but at the end of the ride, you can hang on to your flimsy slicker (included in the fee) and take a wet but exhilarating hike to the base of the American Falls.
7 p.m.
9) CULINARY CANADA
AG, the soothing, upscale restaurant in the Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 289-292-0000; sterlingniagara.com) serves imaginative dishes using seasonal Canadian ingredients, paired with local wines. One summer menu included basil-and-potato-encrusted Lake Huron trout and pork tenderloin stuffed with macerated Niagara orchard fruits (each 28 Canadian dollars). The desserts are good, but if you’re not up for one, you can get by on the eye candy of the red, white and crystal dining room.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) VINEYARDS HAVEN
Leave the falls behind and drive north in Canada on the lovely Niagara Parkway. Beyond placid Queenston, where an American attack was turned back in the War of 1812, the Niagara River turns relatively tame, and wineries, peach orchards, manorlike houses and an inviting bicycle path line the road. The tasting rooms pour chardonnays, pinot noirs and the regional specialty, ice wine. At Inniskillin ( 1499 Line 3, Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2187; inniskillin.com) tours and signboards explain grape-friendly local conditions; Reif Estate (15608 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-9463; reifwinery.com) has a gimmicky but pleasant Wine Sensory Garden. Peller Estates (290 John Street East; peller.com) pairs its vintages with an elegant restaurant. At Kurtz Orchards Gourmet Marketplace (16006 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2937; kurtzorchards.com), you can munch enough free samples of breads, tapenades, jams, cheeses and nut butters to take you all the way to dinner.
IF YOU GO
Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 877-783-7772; sterlingniagara.com), a former dairy building transformed into a boutique hotel, is an oasis of quiet and style at the edge of the tourist maelstrom. Its 41 spacious rooms start at around 200 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars.
Doubletree Fallsview Resort & Spa (6039 Fallsview Boulevard, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 905-358-3817; niagarafallsdoubletree.com), an attractive six-year-old hotel on a hill overlooking the falls, has 224 rooms starting at 199 dollars.
The Giacomo (222 First Street, Niagara Falls, N.Y.; 716-299-0200; thegiacomo.com), in a renovated Art Deco office building near the Niagara Falls State Park, has butler service and 38 rooms starting at $199.
By BARBARA IRELAND
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 26, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/travel/36-hours-in-niagara-falls.html?hpw
AT Niagara Falls, the United States is the poor relation and Canada is king. Nature gave Canada the wide-angle view of the majestic waterfall that straddles the border between the two countries, and the Canadians’ commercial bet on tourism landed most of the visitor comforts on their side of the Niagara River. American reliance on industry, however, ended in Rust Belt ruin. Yet the story isn’t so simple. Casinos, high-rise hotels and hucksterish come-ons have so proliferated in Niagara Falls, Ontario, that it risks feeling like a tired amusement park. Meanwhile, in Niagara Falls, New York, the visitor who ventures inside the shabby, underfinanced state park is surprised to discover vestiges of something like a natural landscape. The party is in Canada. The real feel of the river, in all its awesome power, is more accessible in the United States. Hop back and forth to get the best of both Niagaras and see for yourself.
Niagara Falls
Friday
5 p.m.
1) FEET ACROSS THE BORDER
Cars sometimes line up for hours to cross the international border at the Rainbow Bridge, a few hundred yards downriver from the falls. But on the walkway it’s a breeze — a 10-minute stroll for two quarters, American or Canadian (niagarafallsbridges.com). Customs agents at each end are pedestrian-friendly, though you must have your passport. If you’re staying on the American side, make your first crossing now. If your hotel is in Canada, wait until tomorrow. Either way, this is one of the most scenic saunters you will ever take.
6 p.m.
2) BRINKMANSHIP
Push into the crowds on the riverfront walkway in Canada and see the whole geological spectacle at once. The imposing cascade on the left, 850 feet wide, is the American Falls. The supercharged one on the right, nearly half a mile wide, is the Horseshoe, often called the Canadian Falls although it touches both countries. Stop at the Horseshoe brink and wait your turn to be doused at the rail by spray from thousands of tons of water plunging down every second. Impressed? This thundering mass is only half of the river’s natural flow. The other 50 percent (75 percent in the off-season) is channeled underground to hydroelectric plants.
7 p.m.
3) WINE AND BACON
From the terrace at Edgewaters Tap & Grill (6342 Niagara Parkway; 905-356-2217; niagaraparks.com/dining), the tourist hordes below seem far away. Relax and sample one of the Niagara Region wines, like the Inniskillin Riesling (35 Canadian dollars a bottle, about the same in U.S. dollars). For a casual dinner, try the hearty Great Canadian Sandwich “EH” (14.49 dollars), made with the meaty and flavorful Canadian bacon hard to find south of the border. Afterward, explore the surrounding shady Queen Victoria Park, where gracious landscaping reflects the English style.
9 p.m.
4) OVER THE TOP
You want to hate Clifton Hill, a garish strip of fun houses, glow-in-the-dark miniature-golf palaces, 4-D theaters, wax museums and noisy bars. But tackiness on this level cries out to be experienced. So watch a multinational crowd shovel tickets into blinking game machines at the Great Canadian Midway. Observe the story-high monster chomping a hamburger atop the House of Frankenstein. Shop for maple candy and a moose puppet. And pay 9.99 Canadian dollars at the SkyWheel Ferris wheel (4960 Clifton Hill; 905-358-3676; cliftonhill.com) for five vertiginous revolutions and a wide-angle view of the colored lights projected nightly on the falls. (Oh right, there are waterfalls here. Remember?)
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) THE CENTRAL PARK
Frederick Law Olmsted and Frederic Church were among the 19th-century champions of a radical idea: public parks at Niagara Falls that would erase a clutter of factories and tourist traps (at some locations, visitors paid to see the falls through a peephole in a fence). The Free Niagara movement succeeded in both Canada and the United States, and on the American side Olmsted designed landscapes at the crest of both waterfalls and on Goat Island, which separates them. Explore the woods and walkways of the resulting Niagara Falls State Park (716-278-1796; niagarafallsstatepark.com) to find what remains of the original Niagara, breathtakingly close to the river’s edge and with commercialism pushed back. For an enticing mix of quiet glades and furious rapids, venture out over charming pedestrian bridges to the tiny Three Sisters Islands above the thunderous Horseshoe.
1 p.m.
6) WINGS OPTIONAL
Buffalo chicken wings were invented just 20 miles away in the city of Buffalo, and the menu at the Top of the Falls restaurant (in the state park; 716-278-0340; spicy wings $11.50) won’t let you forget it. Partake or not; alternatives include salads, burgers and wraps.
2 p.m.
7) WHY THE WATERFALL?
You’ll hunt in vain on both sides of the river for a straightforward geological explanation of Niagara Falls. At the Niagara Gorge Discovery Center in the park on the New York side ($3), look selectively at the displays and ask questions to tease out the basic facts. What’s falling is the water of the Great Lakes. The falls are on the move upriver, receding as much as six feet a year. There’s a giant whirlpool where they took a sharp turn 40 centuries ago. A Canadian attempt at explaining Niagara, a film called “Niagara’s Fury” (niagarasfury.com), which is shown in a building near the Horseshoe’s crest, is entertaining for children but not especially informative, mixing cartoon stereotypes with snippets of textbook language. Outside the Discovery Center, a trail heads toward the Niagara Gorge, where hikers get within a few feet of the largest standing, river-rapids waves in North America. Don’t bring the kayak: these rapids are Class 6.
3 p.m.
8) THE CLOSE-UP
Many of the contrived attractions at Niagara Falls are overhyped and disappointing. But the Maid of the Mist tour boats ($13.50 from the American side; 16.50 dollars from the Canadian; maidofthemist.com) have been satisfying customers since 1846. Chug out to the base of the Horseshoe on one of these sturdy craft, struggle to look up 170 feet to the top through the splashing torrents, and you’ll grasp the power of what brought you here. Go from the American dock. Not only is the wait likely to be shorter, but at the end of the ride, you can hang on to your flimsy slicker (included in the fee) and take a wet but exhilarating hike to the base of the American Falls.
7 p.m.
9) CULINARY CANADA
AG, the soothing, upscale restaurant in the Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 289-292-0000; sterlingniagara.com) serves imaginative dishes using seasonal Canadian ingredients, paired with local wines. One summer menu included basil-and-potato-encrusted Lake Huron trout and pork tenderloin stuffed with macerated Niagara orchard fruits (each 28 Canadian dollars). The desserts are good, but if you’re not up for one, you can get by on the eye candy of the red, white and crystal dining room.
Sunday
10 a.m.
10) VINEYARDS HAVEN
Leave the falls behind and drive north in Canada on the lovely Niagara Parkway. Beyond placid Queenston, where an American attack was turned back in the War of 1812, the Niagara River turns relatively tame, and wineries, peach orchards, manorlike houses and an inviting bicycle path line the road. The tasting rooms pour chardonnays, pinot noirs and the regional specialty, ice wine. At Inniskillin ( 1499 Line 3, Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2187; inniskillin.com) tours and signboards explain grape-friendly local conditions; Reif Estate (15608 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-9463; reifwinery.com) has a gimmicky but pleasant Wine Sensory Garden. Peller Estates (290 John Street East; peller.com) pairs its vintages with an elegant restaurant. At Kurtz Orchards Gourmet Marketplace (16006 Niagara Parkway; 905-468-2937; kurtzorchards.com), you can munch enough free samples of breads, tapenades, jams, cheeses and nut butters to take you all the way to dinner.
IF YOU GO
Sterling Inn & Spa (5195 Magdalen Street, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 877-783-7772; sterlingniagara.com), a former dairy building transformed into a boutique hotel, is an oasis of quiet and style at the edge of the tourist maelstrom. Its 41 spacious rooms start at around 200 Canadian dollars, about the same in U.S. dollars.
Doubletree Fallsview Resort & Spa (6039 Fallsview Boulevard, Niagara Falls, Ontario; 905-358-3817; niagarafallsdoubletree.com), an attractive six-year-old hotel on a hill overlooking the falls, has 224 rooms starting at 199 dollars.
The Giacomo (222 First Street, Niagara Falls, N.Y.; 716-299-0200; thegiacomo.com), in a renovated Art Deco office building near the Niagara Falls State Park, has butler service and 38 rooms starting at $199.
Sunday, May 22, 2011
36 Hours in Milan
36 Hours in Milan
By INGRID K. WILLIAMS
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 19, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/travel/36-hours-in-milan.html?hpw
APPEARANCES matter in Milan. For proof, just stroll past the sights: the majestic Gothic cathedral, the stately Teatro alla Scala opera house, the smartly dressed Milanese (yes, they’re an attraction, too). But the true charm of Italy’s most cosmopolitan city is its refusal to coast on these beautiful treasures. A few blocks from Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century masterpiece “The Last Supper,” an ambitious project is inching toward completion: CityLife, a new center-city neighborhood featuring a trio of dazzling, futuristic skyscrapers. And in advance of hosting the 2015 Expo, the city is already blossoming with new museums and restaurants. In Milan, Italy’s future is already on display.
Friday
4:30 p.m.
1) DESIGN SHRINE
Design is a religion in Milan, so start by paying your respects at the high altar that is the Triennale Design Museum (Viale Alemagna, 6; 39-02-724-341; triennale.org). The museum, on the edge of the leafy Parco Sempione, is the first dedicated solely to Italian design. Where else could you expect to find a supersize Campari bottle beside a Brobdingnagian replica of a rainbow-hued Ferragamo sandal? A special admission rate on Thursday and Friday evenings lets you embrace another of Milan’s sacred rites, the predinner aperitivo, at the new ground-floor DesignCafe.
8:30 p.m.
2) THE FIRST SUPPER
Zucca e Melone (Via Gian Giacomo Mora, 3; 39-02-8945-5850; ristorantezuccaemelone.it) is a delightful restaurant that opened last year with a fresh farmhouse feel and charmingly absurd décor (think lime green and violet walls with chairs painted bright orange, yellow and purple). And the menu is as creative as the color scheme. Traditional strudel is reimagined as a savory appetizer with caramelized onions and taleggio cream (12.50 euros, or $17.60 at $1.41 to the euro), while tortelli stuffed with pumpkin is topped with sage butter, pecorino and a cookie crumble (14.50 euros).
11 p.m.
3) A MAN, A PLAN, NAVIGLI
Take a postprandial passeggiata — it’s required — past Porta Ticinese to the glowing canals and waterside drinking dens of the Navigli neighborhood. Designed in part by Leonardo, the narrow canals were neglected for decades, but recent preservation efforts have spurred the area’s emergence as one of the city’s hottest night-life destinations. Seek out Spritz (Ripa di Porta Ticinese 9; 39-02-8339-0192; spritz-navigli.it) for the lounge’s namesake drink, an Italian classic. Then hop over to El Brellin (Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 14; 39-02-5810-1351; brellin.it) for a glass of vino in the garden, or to the cozy beer pub Al Coccio (Alzaia Naviglio Pavese, 2; no phone) for a Baladin beer. After that, it’s your call.
Saturday
10 a.m.
4) NEW KID ON THE PIAZZA
After years of restoration, the resplendent white marble facade of Milan’s soaring Gothic cathedral, the Duomo, gleams anew. But lately, all eyes have been on its neighbor on the piazza, the Museo del Novecento (Piazza Duomo; 39-02-8844-4061; museodelnovecento.org), which opened in December in the renovated Palazzo dell’Arengario. A strikingly modern interior features a spiral ramp that whisks visitors up to the galleries, where an extensive collection of 20th-century Italian art includes works by Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà and many others. The museum’s showpiece, however, is the view from the top floor, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame a stunning panorama of the Piazza Duomo.
12:30 p.m.
5) A SICILIAN LUNCH HIT
The views are also superb from the museum’s buzzy new third-floor restaurant, Giacomo Arengario (Via Marconi, 1; 39-02-7209-3814; giacomoarengario.com) — provided you can score a table on the terrace. If not, console yourself with a cannolo at nearby Antica Focacceria San Francesco (Via San Paolo, 15; 39-02-4507-1057; afsf.it), a family-friendly cafeteria-style spot that serves up Sicilian specialties like ragù-stuffed arancine, caper-dotted caponata and thick slices of sfincione. This location, which opened in 2009, was the first outpost of the 176-year-old original in Palermo, an establishment famous for its refusal to pay pizzo (Mafia protection money).
2 p.m.
6) HIGH STREET ART
You may not be in the mood to try on couture after lunch, but there’s still reason to visit Via Montenapoleone, the main avenue of Milan’s haute fashion district. Tomorrow’s trendsetters strut past the glittering windows of Gucci, Pucci and Prada, but for the best street style, look underfoot. In a project called “Sopra il Sotto,” five of the world’s top street artists, including Shepard Fairey and Space Invader, designed 20 eye-popping manhole covers that were recently installed along the fashionable street. The colorful mosaics and cartoons smiling up from below will remain until December 2011, so watch your step.
3:30 p.m.
7) NOUVEAU GELATO
Dinner is still hours away, so swing by Il Gelato Centogusti (Piazzale Lagosta; 39-02-6900-9770; centogusti.it) for a sweet treat to tide you over. This spacious gelateria has 100 flavors to choose from, including unconventional concoctions like cream of celery and black sesame. Feeling overwhelmed? Try the newest scoop in town, Officine del Gelato (Viale Montenero, 46; 39-02-5990-4118; officinedelgelato.com), a bright little shop, opened in June, serving gelati made with natural ingredients.
4:30 p.m.
8) ART AND DESIGN
Ikea this is not. At Spazio Rossana Orlandi (Via Matteo Bandello 14/16; 39-02-467-4471; rossanaorlandi.com), every nook of the sprawling compound — a retail store, showroom and gallery — is packed with fantastical pieces of designy art and arty design. The proprietor, Ms. Orlandi, a fervent supporter of emerging designers from around the world, has curated an eclectic mix of lively pieces. Fancy an electric-blue pig statue for the front lawn (1,200 euros)? Or an embroidered deer head (8,000 euros) to hang above the fireplace?
8 p.m.
9) RISOTTO ROULETTE
In the Lombardy region (of which Milan is the capital), rice has traditionally trumped pasta as the preferred primo, and risotto is the sumptuous specialty. For an authentic taste, take the M1 (red) metro to the Pasteur stop and head to Da Abele (Via Temperanza, 5; 39-02-261-3855), an unassuming trattoria northeast of the city center. Only three risotti are offered each night, but with the options changing daily, the dark wood tables of this locals’ favorite stay crowded. On a recent evening, the menu pitted a fragrant spinach, pear and Gorgonzola risotto against a creamy version with celeriac, bottarga and Montasio cheese (9 euros each).
10:30 p.m.
10) LIQUID ARTS
Since you’re already far outside the ring, make an evening of it and head to Birrificio Lambrate (Via Adelchi, 5; 39-02-7063-8678; birrificiolambrate.com), Milan’s first craft brewery. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot an inked and pierced crowd on a narrow side street using parked cars as ersatz coasters. If you can (politely) elbow your way to the bar, order a pint of Domm, a Bavarian-style weizen, or a pale, hoppy Montestella (5 euros each). Prefer not to struggle for your tipple? The scene at the nearby Gusto Arte Vino, or GAV (Via Accademia, 56; 39-02-2890-1370; gustoartevino.it), a chic wine bar with walls adorned with art, is decidedly more subdued.
Sunday
9 a.m.
11) BODY POLISH
Immerse yourself in emerald and gold at the serene subterranean spa in the Bulgari Hotel (Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b; 39-02-805-8051; bulgarihotels.com). Arrive early for a solitary dip in the shimmering pool and an undisturbed steam in the sultry hammam, before submitting to an aromatherapy massage (120 euros). You will emerge refreshed and as polished as one of the haute jeweler’s precious gems.
Noon
12) SPACEY SPACE
Head north to the city limits where a former factory has been transformed into HangarBicocca (Via Privata Chiese 2; 39-02-6611-1573; hangarbicocca.it), a cavernous space bursting with mesmerizing, large-scale art installations. It’s a bit of a trek, but one worth making. The main exhibition area is a dark, hauntingly lunar-like scene dominated by Anselm Kiefer’s monumental work “The Seven Heavenly Palaces.” Around Mr. Kiefer’s seven colossal, spotlighted towers, an ever-changing exhibition has sprouted with innovative works like a melting wax sculpture, inverted scaffolding, and an enormous image of an old woman made of photosensitive grass. When you’ve reached your daily quota for wide-eyed wonderment, rehash the experience over brunch (20 euros) at HB Bistrot, the on-site cafe.
IF YOU GO
Opened in 2010, Hotel Milano Scala (via dell’Orso, 7; 39-02-870-961; hotelmilanoscala.it) riffs on an opera theme, but the modern hotel’s eco-conscious efforts are no act. Doubles from 170 euros ($240).
Near the Duomo and next door to the food-and-wine emporium Peck, the art-filled Hotel Spadari al Duomo (Via Spadari, 11; 39-02-7200-2371; spadarihotel.com) may have the best location in town. Doubles from 230 euros.
For understated luxury, nothing tops the Bulgari Hotel Milan (Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b; 39-02-805-8051; bulgarihotels.com). On a private street beside a botanical garden, the hotel is a calm jewel set in a bustling city. Doubles from 520 euros.
By INGRID K. WILLIAMS
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: May 19, 2011
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/travel/36-hours-in-milan.html?hpw
APPEARANCES matter in Milan. For proof, just stroll past the sights: the majestic Gothic cathedral, the stately Teatro alla Scala opera house, the smartly dressed Milanese (yes, they’re an attraction, too). But the true charm of Italy’s most cosmopolitan city is its refusal to coast on these beautiful treasures. A few blocks from Leonardo da Vinci’s 15th-century masterpiece “The Last Supper,” an ambitious project is inching toward completion: CityLife, a new center-city neighborhood featuring a trio of dazzling, futuristic skyscrapers. And in advance of hosting the 2015 Expo, the city is already blossoming with new museums and restaurants. In Milan, Italy’s future is already on display.
Friday
4:30 p.m.
1) DESIGN SHRINE
Design is a religion in Milan, so start by paying your respects at the high altar that is the Triennale Design Museum (Viale Alemagna, 6; 39-02-724-341; triennale.org). The museum, on the edge of the leafy Parco Sempione, is the first dedicated solely to Italian design. Where else could you expect to find a supersize Campari bottle beside a Brobdingnagian replica of a rainbow-hued Ferragamo sandal? A special admission rate on Thursday and Friday evenings lets you embrace another of Milan’s sacred rites, the predinner aperitivo, at the new ground-floor DesignCafe.
8:30 p.m.
2) THE FIRST SUPPER
Zucca e Melone (Via Gian Giacomo Mora, 3; 39-02-8945-5850; ristorantezuccaemelone.it) is a delightful restaurant that opened last year with a fresh farmhouse feel and charmingly absurd décor (think lime green and violet walls with chairs painted bright orange, yellow and purple). And the menu is as creative as the color scheme. Traditional strudel is reimagined as a savory appetizer with caramelized onions and taleggio cream (12.50 euros, or $17.60 at $1.41 to the euro), while tortelli stuffed with pumpkin is topped with sage butter, pecorino and a cookie crumble (14.50 euros).
11 p.m.
3) A MAN, A PLAN, NAVIGLI
Take a postprandial passeggiata — it’s required — past Porta Ticinese to the glowing canals and waterside drinking dens of the Navigli neighborhood. Designed in part by Leonardo, the narrow canals were neglected for decades, but recent preservation efforts have spurred the area’s emergence as one of the city’s hottest night-life destinations. Seek out Spritz (Ripa di Porta Ticinese 9; 39-02-8339-0192; spritz-navigli.it) for the lounge’s namesake drink, an Italian classic. Then hop over to El Brellin (Alzaia Naviglio Grande, 14; 39-02-5810-1351; brellin.it) for a glass of vino in the garden, or to the cozy beer pub Al Coccio (Alzaia Naviglio Pavese, 2; no phone) for a Baladin beer. After that, it’s your call.
Saturday
10 a.m.
4) NEW KID ON THE PIAZZA
After years of restoration, the resplendent white marble facade of Milan’s soaring Gothic cathedral, the Duomo, gleams anew. But lately, all eyes have been on its neighbor on the piazza, the Museo del Novecento (Piazza Duomo; 39-02-8844-4061; museodelnovecento.org), which opened in December in the renovated Palazzo dell’Arengario. A strikingly modern interior features a spiral ramp that whisks visitors up to the galleries, where an extensive collection of 20th-century Italian art includes works by Umberto Boccioni, Carlo Carrà and many others. The museum’s showpiece, however, is the view from the top floor, where floor-to-ceiling windows frame a stunning panorama of the Piazza Duomo.
12:30 p.m.
5) A SICILIAN LUNCH HIT
The views are also superb from the museum’s buzzy new third-floor restaurant, Giacomo Arengario (Via Marconi, 1; 39-02-7209-3814; giacomoarengario.com) — provided you can score a table on the terrace. If not, console yourself with a cannolo at nearby Antica Focacceria San Francesco (Via San Paolo, 15; 39-02-4507-1057; afsf.it), a family-friendly cafeteria-style spot that serves up Sicilian specialties like ragù-stuffed arancine, caper-dotted caponata and thick slices of sfincione. This location, which opened in 2009, was the first outpost of the 176-year-old original in Palermo, an establishment famous for its refusal to pay pizzo (Mafia protection money).
2 p.m.
6) HIGH STREET ART
You may not be in the mood to try on couture after lunch, but there’s still reason to visit Via Montenapoleone, the main avenue of Milan’s haute fashion district. Tomorrow’s trendsetters strut past the glittering windows of Gucci, Pucci and Prada, but for the best street style, look underfoot. In a project called “Sopra il Sotto,” five of the world’s top street artists, including Shepard Fairey and Space Invader, designed 20 eye-popping manhole covers that were recently installed along the fashionable street. The colorful mosaics and cartoons smiling up from below will remain until December 2011, so watch your step.
3:30 p.m.
7) NOUVEAU GELATO
Dinner is still hours away, so swing by Il Gelato Centogusti (Piazzale Lagosta; 39-02-6900-9770; centogusti.it) for a sweet treat to tide you over. This spacious gelateria has 100 flavors to choose from, including unconventional concoctions like cream of celery and black sesame. Feeling overwhelmed? Try the newest scoop in town, Officine del Gelato (Viale Montenero, 46; 39-02-5990-4118; officinedelgelato.com), a bright little shop, opened in June, serving gelati made with natural ingredients.
4:30 p.m.
8) ART AND DESIGN
Ikea this is not. At Spazio Rossana Orlandi (Via Matteo Bandello 14/16; 39-02-467-4471; rossanaorlandi.com), every nook of the sprawling compound — a retail store, showroom and gallery — is packed with fantastical pieces of designy art and arty design. The proprietor, Ms. Orlandi, a fervent supporter of emerging designers from around the world, has curated an eclectic mix of lively pieces. Fancy an electric-blue pig statue for the front lawn (1,200 euros)? Or an embroidered deer head (8,000 euros) to hang above the fireplace?
8 p.m.
9) RISOTTO ROULETTE
In the Lombardy region (of which Milan is the capital), rice has traditionally trumped pasta as the preferred primo, and risotto is the sumptuous specialty. For an authentic taste, take the M1 (red) metro to the Pasteur stop and head to Da Abele (Via Temperanza, 5; 39-02-261-3855), an unassuming trattoria northeast of the city center. Only three risotti are offered each night, but with the options changing daily, the dark wood tables of this locals’ favorite stay crowded. On a recent evening, the menu pitted a fragrant spinach, pear and Gorgonzola risotto against a creamy version with celeriac, bottarga and Montasio cheese (9 euros each).
10:30 p.m.
10) LIQUID ARTS
Since you’re already far outside the ring, make an evening of it and head to Birrificio Lambrate (Via Adelchi, 5; 39-02-7063-8678; birrificiolambrate.com), Milan’s first craft brewery. You’ll know you’ve arrived when you spot an inked and pierced crowd on a narrow side street using parked cars as ersatz coasters. If you can (politely) elbow your way to the bar, order a pint of Domm, a Bavarian-style weizen, or a pale, hoppy Montestella (5 euros each). Prefer not to struggle for your tipple? The scene at the nearby Gusto Arte Vino, or GAV (Via Accademia, 56; 39-02-2890-1370; gustoartevino.it), a chic wine bar with walls adorned with art, is decidedly more subdued.
Sunday
9 a.m.
11) BODY POLISH
Immerse yourself in emerald and gold at the serene subterranean spa in the Bulgari Hotel (Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b; 39-02-805-8051; bulgarihotels.com). Arrive early for a solitary dip in the shimmering pool and an undisturbed steam in the sultry hammam, before submitting to an aromatherapy massage (120 euros). You will emerge refreshed and as polished as one of the haute jeweler’s precious gems.
Noon
12) SPACEY SPACE
Head north to the city limits where a former factory has been transformed into HangarBicocca (Via Privata Chiese 2; 39-02-6611-1573; hangarbicocca.it), a cavernous space bursting with mesmerizing, large-scale art installations. It’s a bit of a trek, but one worth making. The main exhibition area is a dark, hauntingly lunar-like scene dominated by Anselm Kiefer’s monumental work “The Seven Heavenly Palaces.” Around Mr. Kiefer’s seven colossal, spotlighted towers, an ever-changing exhibition has sprouted with innovative works like a melting wax sculpture, inverted scaffolding, and an enormous image of an old woman made of photosensitive grass. When you’ve reached your daily quota for wide-eyed wonderment, rehash the experience over brunch (20 euros) at HB Bistrot, the on-site cafe.
IF YOU GO
Opened in 2010, Hotel Milano Scala (via dell’Orso, 7; 39-02-870-961; hotelmilanoscala.it) riffs on an opera theme, but the modern hotel’s eco-conscious efforts are no act. Doubles from 170 euros ($240).
Near the Duomo and next door to the food-and-wine emporium Peck, the art-filled Hotel Spadari al Duomo (Via Spadari, 11; 39-02-7200-2371; spadarihotel.com) may have the best location in town. Doubles from 230 euros.
For understated luxury, nothing tops the Bulgari Hotel Milan (Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b; 39-02-805-8051; bulgarihotels.com). On a private street beside a botanical garden, the hotel is a calm jewel set in a bustling city. Doubles from 520 euros.
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