Category Archives: Newspapers

Oct 15, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO is justifiably famous for the variety and the excellence of its restaurants. But as a visitor, particularly one looking for both a great meal and a good deal, it’s hard to avoid the feeling that you’ve somehow not quite found what you’re looking for. The tourist traps near Fisherman’s Wharf and most of the dizzying array of restaurants in visitor-heavy areas like North Beach rely on a stream of out-of-towners, most of whom will never come again. Instead, head for San Francisco’s eclectic neighborhoods, where restaurants have to compete for repeat customers in one of the country’s most restaurant-savvy cities.

Read it on the NYT site…

May 21, 2006

San Francisco may be grown up and cultivated, but its sophistication has a playful, even childlike side. It’s not unusual to see a man dressed in a pink bodysuit riding a unicycle, or to find oneself engulfed in a giggly crowd of partygoers dressed up as nuns.

Its quirky sensibility, liberal culture and thriving gay scene breed a nonjudgmental and creative streak that children may find inviting. That’s not to say that San Francisco is a magnet for raising families: only a fifth of households have children. Mayberry this is not. Rather, San Francisco is like a favorite aunt or uncle, always ready to spoil the little ones.

Read the rest on the NYT site…

April 30, 2006

THE storm had just broken, taking with it the August mugginess. I looked up from the balcony of my hotel across the dampened city of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Directly in front of me, the golden domes of the huge Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral were set against the dark sky. Twin rainbows arced above them as though the sky itself were part of the building’s design. Sofia is that kind of place.

Read the rest on the NYT site…