TravelswithCharie

Union Square An overnight stay in San Francisco is a welcome treat, especially during the holidays. The streets are abuzz with visitors during the day and there are many bargain finds for the hardy shopper. A stroll around Union Square enchants with decorated display windows vying for attention. And when evening descends upon the City by the Bay, thousands of Christmas lights illuminate the night sky. Neiman Marcus Atrium One of my favorite stops is Nieman Marcus. Their Christmas tree is a floor to ceiling giant barely scraping the beautiful stained glass dome. There's at least an hour wait if you decide to eat lunch at the Rotunda restaurant on the fourth floor with a view of Union Square. Best to make a reservation. An alternative would be the food court at The Cellar inside Macy's. It's crowded but there's usually a table or two. I ordered handrolled crab cakes from SC Asian. It came with a salad. It was all surprisingly good. There are also other restaurants to

Where are savvy travelers headed to in 2013? Here are the travel destination picks of National Geographic Traveler editors and Lonely Planet. Kyoto National Geographic Traveler Best of the World 2013 National Geographic Traveler Best of the World 2013: Crimea (Russia), Marseille (France), Raja Ampat (Indonesia), Ravenna (Italy), Great Bear Rainforest (Canada), Malawi, Quito (Ecuador), Bagan (Myanmar), Cape Breton (Canada), Uganda, Hudson Valley (New York), Thessaloniki (Greece), Grenada, Bodø (Norway), Valparaiso (Chile), Missouri River Banks, St. Augustine (Florida), Memphis (Tennessee), Kyoto (Japan), Jarash (Jordan) Lonely Planet Best in Travel 2013: Top 10 Countries Sri Lanka, Montenegro, South Korea, Ecuador, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Iceland, Turkey, Dominican Republic, Madagascar Top 10 Cities San Francisco, Amsterdam, Hyderabad, Londonberry Derry, Beijing, Christchurch, Hobart, Montreal, Addis Abbaba, Puerto Iguazú Palawan, Philippines Lonely Planet

Moonrise and church steeple I write most of my blogs from this small town in the Central Valley. Sometimes I can't concentrate, like at this very moment, because my neighbor has turned up his stereo system to absolute max and will stay that way until the wee hours of the morning.  It's the same "heavy on the bass" music that will wake me up at 6 a.m. And when I go outside tomorrow, I'll discover trash on the side of my garage from the previous night's shindig. " These are the times that try man's soul ."  My gardener complains to me how much "basura" he picks up when he mows the lawn. So I try to pick up the discarded cups, paper plates, plastic bottles, potato chip wrappers and all the leftover food, with a heavy heart. Why do people litter on private property? Aren't children taught what's right or wrong in school? These teenagers next door were apparently absent from school when the teacher was giving a lecture on ho

Main Hall of Kyoto Station When Hiroshi Hara conceived his plan for Kyoto Station, he thought about "geographical perspective" and Kyoto's grid patterned streets. I am reminded of Piet Mondrian's painting, Broadway Boogie Woogie , which is based on the grid pattern of the streets of Manhattan. Hara had essentially incorporated old Kyoto in his design. But his futuristic ideas met resistance from locals who viewed his modern aesthetic plan for the station as a threat to the traditional landscape of Kyoto. I felt dwarfed by the immensity of the main hall with its glass and steel beamed roof. Standing in the center of the hall, I looked around in wonder and wondered where to begin my exploration of this city within a city. Here's where three rail lines converge. There's a bus terminal on the north side of the station and a mall in the basement called Porta Underground with about a hundred shops and restaurants. No need to search far for lodging. T

Hanami-koji, Gion My first impression of Hanami-koji was that it was clean and orderly. Wooden machiya merchant houses line this street of ochaya (tea houses) and expensive restaurants serving Japanese haute cuisine. It was late afternoon but the machiyas were still shuttered from the world. It was relatively quiet as I walked up the street hoping to see a geiko (term for geisha in Kyoto) or two. A side street in Gion I passed by somnolent alleys where not even a cat stirred. I reached the end of the street and looked up at the houses to check for signs of life. No such luck.  I retraced my steps to Shijo Dori past Gion Corner where one can pay to watch maiko (apprentice geiko) perform traditional Japanese arts like the tea ceremony, ikebana, music, and dance. Then suddenly I noticed a maiko coming towards me from an alley to my right. She was walking fast in her geta sandals. I had to move faster to get that fleeting image. What I saw was an exquisite woman in a beautiful

Romon Gate Fushimi Inari Taisha is the main Shinto shrine of the thousands of shrines in Japan. It is dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice and sake. With Japan's transformation from an agricultural economy to an industrial state, Inari has come to represent success and prosperity especially for businessmen and companies. Shinto is an ethnic religion that flourished in Japan from the 12th century. References to Shinto practices have been traced as early as the 8th century. Shinto, unlike Christianity, does not recognize one god but rather believes in a multitude of deities (kami) who demonstrate superhuman qualities. About 46% of the Japanese population profess the Shinto faith.* Torii Gates Behind the honden (main hall) is a trail lined with thousands of vermilion torii gates which were donated by individual worshippers and businesses. The cost of a small torii gate is around 400,000 yen. Etched in black on the back of each gate is the name and address of the

Kinkakuji Temple (The Golden Pavilion) All that glitters is gold at Kinkakuji Temple in northern Kyoto. Gold leaf covers the two upper floors of Kinkakuji or the Golden Pavilion which was once the retirement villa of the shogun, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu. When he died in 1408, his villa became a Zen temple of the Rinzai sect of Buddhism as specified in his will.  It is officially called Rakuon-ji which is also the name given to Yoshimitsu on his journey to the next world. The Golden  Pavilion represents three architectural styles. The first floor is in the Shinden style featuring a large room with a veranda and wooden pillars supporting the upper storeys.  The second level reflects the samurai style and was used for private meetings. It's completely gilded on the outside. The top floor emulates Chinese Zenshu style of architecture with cusp windows, gilding inside and out, and houses the Amida triad and 25 Bodhisattvas. A bronze phoenix which is also covered in gold leaf crow