womantraveler

Fog City Survival Kit

All together now... “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.” It’s that time of year again, and though Mark Twain apparently never made this quip, he gets the credit for a phrase that is emblematic of Fog City. Sizzling temperatures in the low 100s in the valleys to the east of town suck in heavy fog from the Pacific Ocean. The Bay Area’s summer fog is nature’s air-conditioning.

When traveling to San Francisco in the summer, pack – and sometimes dress -- for three seasons: hot summer, cool summer and cold fog. Particularly if you’re planning to be in both the city and any of the outlying areas of Marin County, Berkeley and Oakland and the South Bay, in one 24-hour period you might need it all. A typical summer day -- temperatures may climb into the 90s outside the fog zone, dropping to the low 50s in the thick of blustery wet fog in the city.

I followed the thermometer on my car dashboard for 30 minutes, starting north of the Golden Gate Bridge in central Marin County: Greenbrae, 87 degrees F. Mill Valley, 10 minutes south, 64 degrees. The Golden Gate Bridge, 10 miles farther, gale-force winds, heavy fog blowing laterally from the ocean east across the San Francisco Bay, 57 degrees. Chrissie Field along the city’s Marina coast, 51 degrees. Ten minutes later in Union Square, low  to mid 70s, sunny and all outdoor restaurants were jam-packed. That evening, back to Marin County's village of Tiburon -- sunny for an outdoor dinner and then the fog set in for the evening.

San Francisco carries its own unique beauty and energy in the summer, whatever the weather – you just have to plan for the extremes. I'll be blogging from the Bay Area over the summer with the best Fog City escapes.Stay tuned!

Weekly Travel Blog Update

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network:

Shake Shack's long line for burgers now on webcam (NewYorkology)

Macbeth at Delacorte Theatre in NYC - FREE (A Guy in New York)

Don't Flip the Fish: Rules of Etiquette at a Meal in China (Travel Blogs)

Copenhagen: Overweight and a Genius (Shortcut)

The ABC's of Biz Travel

Successful business travel for me has three requirements -- comfort (including quiet), convenience and connectivity (and if we're lucky, charm). So much for the C's. Which means that the right B's (or B&B's) can fill the bill as much as any executive hotel. And we womentravelers get an A for adaptation. Which brings me to the Cornerstone Mansion in Omaha, Nebraska, where the ABC's of women's business travel are largely met.

As a frequent woman business traveler, you know it's a waste of a precious day to treat any destination as simply "a place" with no identity of its own. That's why the Cornerstone Mansion was a good find in Omaha and a great lesson for my business travel to other cities. I had always enjoyed the Hilton Omaha, but along with the other major hotels it was booked for the annual College World Series.

So my clients suggested a bed-and-breakfast inn. This 1893 mansion is populated during the weekly primarily by women business travelers. Situated in the city's historic "Gold Coast," where structures date back to the prairie explorations of the late 19th-early 20th century pioneers, it is adorned in hand-carved wall paneling, mantles and balustrades of mahogany, among other woods brought in from Oregon and the West. What better mix of past and present than of neighboring mansions in Scottish baronial, French chateau and American craftsman styles, rooms wired with free Wi-Fi and CNN news playing on the parlor TV?

Down the street was McFoster's Natural Kind vegetarian restaurant, a casual neighborhood place that serves chicken and seafood, interesting wines and fresh-squeezed juices. For my second-night dinner, I went downtown to the Old Market District, and was delightfully spoiled in the upscale elegance of The French Cafe, having previously enjoyed on other business trips neighboring restaurants V Mertz and M's Pub.

The Mystical Midsummer Solstice

Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year -- known in Europe as Midsummer Day. Revelers danced at Stonehenge when the sun rose this morning and had their annual dispensation to actually touch the prehistoric monument. Because of the sun's 24-hour presence in most northerly places like Scandinavia, all sorts of myths surround this day.

In Scandinavian countries, the "midnight sun" remains visible in the sky all night. I'll never forget staying up all night to witness that phenomenon for the first time one Midsummer Night in Kiruna, Sweden, about 100 miles inside the Arctic Circle. You still have time to get to Kiruna for the Midsummer celebration this weekend.

Last year in Spain, my son enjoyed the frolicking/rollicking Bonfires of St. John in Valencia, festive with beach fires, fireworks and all-night partying.

Weekly Travel Blog Update

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network, including our newest member, David Lebovitz: Living the Sweet Life in Paris. Visiting David's site will make you want to travel to France and consume large amounts of chocolate, so you've been warned. David's a cookbook author who leads chocolate tours of Paris and blogs about the city as well.

Favorite Paris Restaurants (Living the Sweet Life in Paris)

Roaming Hobbled (TravelBlogger.net)

Open House NY 2006 set for October 7 and 8 (NewYorkology)

Episode 46 - Turkey (Amateur Traveler Podcast)

Summer Festivals in Wine Country

There's little more glorious than a summer wine festival in Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley north of San Francisco. Warm days, cool nights and sparkling clear air in Wine Country matched by the release of new vintages, jazz and classical music and art festivals. We girlfriends and our guy friends keep returning over the summer for such marvelous events in the Valleys, because in just a few hours we can pack in wine, song and shopping, plus gorgeous rolling hills and fields as we cruise along the backroads. And for those of us living in the San Francisco Bay Area, we'll be visiting frequently this summer, as Fog City (San Francisco) cools down and the outlying valleys heat up.

Some of the featured events:

June 24: Matanzas Creek Wine and Lavender

July 13-15: Sonoma County Showcase of Wine and Food

July 15-16: 12 Sonoma Valley Wineries' Spotlight on Summer Wines

July 16-23: Festival del Sole

July 22-23: Catalan Festival

July 28-30: 21st Annual Sonoma Salute to the Arts

Aug. 18-20: Russian River Wine Weekend

Sept. 1-3: Sonoma Valley Harvest Wine Auction

And elsewhere across the state are many other other California wine festivals, including Santa Cruz, Monterey, Santa Barbara and Temecula.

Put the Sonoma Jazz Festival's "Wine & Song Around the Plaza" event on your calendars for next year. On Memorial Day Weekend, for $60 each, armed with a sipping glass and brochures, we walked through the four-block area to restaurant patios offering tastings from small family and large producers, light hors d'oeuvres and jazz, including Bay Area guitar favorite Josh Workman. We were disappointed that there was too little food (bite-size snacks, one each per ticket) for potentially a great deal of wine (12 tastings-plus, depending on the generosity of the pourer), especially for those driving. But we moderated ourselves and enjoyed an early dinner before our drive back.

Best bets for Sonoma wine this weekend afternoon: Dutcher Crossing chardonnays, Buena Vista Pinot Noir and Imagery's Malbec. Among the best local bets for food, Meritage Martini Oyster Bar & Grille (165 West Napa St., Sonoma, 707.938.9430) and El Dorado Kitchen (405 First Street West, Sonoma, 707.996.3030). For return visits to Sonoma, several of the cellars have their own tasting rooms on or near the plaza.

Weekly Travel Blog Update

This site is a member of the travel blog network at Blogads, a group of the best independent travel blogs on the web. Check out some of this week’s headlines from other travel blogs in the network:

Tribute Center to open near Ground Zero in August (NewYorkology)

Mexican Migration: Between the Wall and the Sword (Travel Blogs)

Berlin: The Right Word for the Game (Shortcut)

Episode 45 - Travel Photography (interview with Chris Marquart) (Amateur Traveler Podcast)

Mom's Student Abroad Summer Primer

Sending our college graduates and teenage kids abroad for summer studies or student travel takes a village for even a seasoned womantraveler -- with planning complexities far beyond sports and arts camps. Destinations, flight deals, often last-minute ticketing, safety issues, itineraries, hotels, cell phone and Internet cafe connections -- just for starters. Sure, there are books and guides, but the wired generation have their own resources -- and the Internet is primo. What's an experienced travel mom to do to help tee up the experience, yet stand back and let the kids have the enjoyment -- and challenges -- of making it happen?

The options aren't as simple as "packing my bag and heading off to Europe" to bum around, as we moms did back in the dark ages. though possible, it's not so easy as air travel is more expensive and more crowded. Hostels are so full this year in the popular European cities that students need to book ahead, not to mention plan for the reserved trains that are separate transactions from the various types of Eurailpass, which must be purchased in the US before the trip. And the choices can get even more complicated than that -- a father recently asked for a reference for a Spanish-language self-defense class in his hometown region for his 17-year-old daughter heading to Latin America in the next two weeks. Great question, but not a quick answer. With some digging, they found the best option. We parents have to think on our feet, too.

Having "been there, done that" now for the past two summers, and interviewing my womentraveler friends who have accomplished the same, there are several ways we can set the right stage for a great travel experience for our newly touring teens and 20-somethings...

Against Type in Rural France

For all the senses that France excites, the most pleasurable for me arrives with the unexpected. Discovering vegetarian feasts that would challenge the haute cuisine practitioners, yoga practice and geodesic domes (which harvest greenhouses and solar energy), I experienced that pure expression nearly 30 years ago in France and know it continues to exist today.

If you want to take a group to a breathtakingly simple, comfortable and genuine country retreat, where a Zen-like spirit creates an atmosphere of peace, beauty and exploration, then consider Le Moulin de Vaux two hours west of Paris in Chateau-du-Loir between Le Mans and Tours. My friends have preserved this unique environment because they believe in the quality of the, frankly, alternative opportunity that today would still fit in California, from Big Sur to Marin County. What more beautiful and accepting a location for a serene, rustic and introspective getaway, with an emphasis on community? The French culture, despite the hoopla, appreciates and supports quality experiences in all forms. Here in the Loire Valley countryside, the passion is quieter -- but the goal is the same -- wine, food, art, and health. 

Connecting Abroad by Cell

It's easier and simpler to take along an international cell phone on trips out of the US, especially if you want one for emergencies and minimal use. This is especially important for the womantraveler who wants or needs to stay connected to children, sitters and aging parents because, alas, alack, we feel more secure with the option of easy contact. And certainly this is essential for business womentravelers. But the choices for purchase and rental are wildly different, and you need to think ahead and have a sharp pencil to do the math for what suits you best.

Major options are (1) buying an international cell phone, (2) tenting a cell phone or satellite phone before you leave, (3) renting a cell phone once you arrive at your destination and (4) buying a phone card before you leave.

Other criteria that affect your cost:

• Per minute rates charged by your phone service
• Local charges in the countries you are visiting, or when calling from country to country
• The length of your trip and expected amount of usage
• Phone features

While renting sounds simpler, sometimes buying can be less expensive, especially for a long trip or if you are a frequent international traveler. For a 10-day vacation to Paris, my online research led me to a simple purchase option -- a $49 international cell phone with a standard rate for incoming and outgoing minutes. It beat the rental options and gives me an inexpensive international cell phone I can use on future trips to other countries. And my son can use it for no extra purchase or rental charge for his summer abroad trip this year.

Another smart option is to rent a cell phone once you arrive at your destination abroad -- if you're going to be in one country and use your cell phone frequently within that country. Those rates will be cheaper. But calling outside that country will not be, as I learned when renting a phone on a Caribbean island a couple of years ago.

Bottom line -- check out not only the rental or purchase options before you leave but also the rate plans in each country you'll visit -- and read on for more details...