In this issue:
Seriously Funny: Onstage and in his new documentary, Chris Rock says what you can't—and why we're glad he does.
Also: Taylor Swift: Our Q & A With Music's Girl Next Door
Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
I wonder why Americans love lists so much? Is it because lists offer to organize a disorganized world? Or because they confirm preconceptions? Every year, magazines sport bold cover lines announcing a list of the smartest, greenest, easiest-to-live-in—and so on--cities in America. I’ll save you the trouble of reading them all by summarizing some recent news.
Monday, November 30, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
I should only have to mention the word “Switzerland” for you to think of “winter.” Or at least, a fashionable winter. From the elegant main pedestrian street of Gstaad to the chocolate shops of Zürich and the peaks of the Alps, Switzerland is one long ode to snow and winter.
Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
A great pastry shop is always a happy thing, and although Paris may have store windows filled with lemon tarts and chocolate croissants that make you forget how to spell the word C-A-L-O-R-I-E-S, primo bakeries are harder to find on this side of the Atlantic. Unless you happen to be in Santa Monica.
Friday, October 30, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
Two great hotels in Manhattan reopened this summer, and both splashed out millions to remake themselves. Say hello—again—to Mark and Pierre. Well, The Mark and The Pierre.
The first time I checked into The Mark years ago, I thought it was the coolest hotel in the world. Before the phrase “boutique hotels” was on everyone’s lips, The Mark was a discreet hideaway on Madison and 77th with a tiny bar barely big enough to hold 15 people tucked off its lobby. A sophisticated restaurant was opposite the 77th Street entrance, and soon that will re-open with celeb chef Jean-George Vongerichten running things.
Friday, October 23, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
It’s a welcome bonus when a hotel reflects the city it’s in, and during a long weekend in Portland—crunchy, funky Portland, Oregon—I was the guest at two hotels that fit the bill. The Hotel deLuxe and the Hotel Lucia are managed by the same company, and they’re both great old Portland buildings that have found a new life as boutique hotels.
Thursday, October 15, 2009 by Rudy Maxa.
OK, so maybe you don’t want to become a butler, as I suggested you might in last week’s blog posting. How about a Gentleman Host®? What’s that, you ask? They’re the suave guys who oil their way across the dance floor aboard cruise ships with women who don’t have partners or whose partners don’t care to dance.
Rudy Maxa is host and executive producer of the public television travel series, Rudy Maxa's World. The 78 episodes he has hosted have won numerous awards, including a 2008 regional Emmy for his episode "Rajasthan." He's a contributing editor with National Geographic Traveler magazine and has written for a host of national travel magazines and newspapers. For nearly 15 years he offered consumer travel commentary on public radio's business show Marketplace as "The Savvy Traveler," which was also the name of a one-hour, coast-to-coast weekend show on public radio that he co-created and hosted for four years. Prior to his career as a travel writer and broadcaster, Maxa was an award-winning Washington Post investigative reporter, magazine writer, and columnist for 13 years, during which time his reporting was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. He was a senior writer at The Washingtonian magazine and Washington, D.C., bureau chief of Spy magazine. The author of two non-fiction books, Maxa lives in downtown St. Paul, Minnesota.
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