San Francisco, April 24-25.

The city by the sea has a lot to offer this Summer.

First-off, there’s the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge,         May 26-27. 38,976,078 vehicles crossed this 1.7 mile span in 2010.       It stands within the frame of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, a federal landmark. In 2009, 14,200,000 visited the park, which sits on San Francisco Bay. Included  here is Alcatraz island which recorded 1,354,714 visitors in 2009.

SF has over 14,000 Victorian home-sites, 3,588 restaurants, 150 theaters and more. There are 43 hills to climb within the city proper. Twin Peaks at 910′ is the highest, while the Sutro Tower is the tallest structure at 981′. The official flower is the Dahlia.The official bird is the California Quail.  St. Francis of Assisi is the patron saint. The official song is, of course, ” I Left My Heart in San Francisco.” And its official colors are gold and Black. The most popular attraction for me was the cable cars that strut more than 10 miles of city streets. There are 47 of them at last count.  It is a city of only 805,235 residents over 29.5 miles of shoreline.

SF is also a city of museums. There are 62 of them. The Pacific Heritage Museum, The Museum of Craft & Folk Art, the De Young Museum, the Asian Art Museum, the Chinese Culture Center, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Yerba Buena Center For The Arts are important places to consider. The California Exploratorium is a good place to start. It is an interactive exhibit located inside the precincts of the Presidio. But before you visit any of these perhaps you may try some of the foodie destinations in either Chinatown, the North End where a bevy of Italian restaurants are located, Union Square, the Mission district, noted for the best pizza on the West Coast, or Pier 39, the city’s most popular attraction.

In August and September  you’ll have a chance to experience  the World Series Cup for sailing, America’s oldest trophy in international sport. Beginning July 4- September 1, 2013, there’s the 34th America’s Cup racing series.

The city is a solid core for hotels and resorts, too. We discovered a handful of these in the medium price category. These included The  Golden Gate and the Cornell Hotel de France, along with its award winning Jeanne D’ Arc restaurant.  This property is truly unique as every one of its five floors is named after a figure in French history. It is  amply decorated with lively French themes while a turn-of-the century gold plated metal elevator complete with a hand crank gets you to your floor. And its restaurant is intensely decorated with French memorabilia and artists’ renderings of French pastoral scenes. It’s a living museum in itself. Chef Bernard has been there over twenty years we’re told. Breakfast is included in both properties. They are both located at Bush and Powell Streets in the city’s center. For the Cornell try www. cornellhotel.com

Perhaps the best thing about SF is the transportation. Easy to get to from all parts of the city. You have BART, the city transit line, and then there’s CALTRAN, the regional line. There’s also a cadre of ferry lines from the ports side. The choice is yours. You may prefer to use the SF City PASS booklet to partake of  many of the attractions the city has to offer. They are also good on public transit including the Cable Cars. For this go to: Info@citypass.com.

For more on San Francisco you can go to:

onlyinsanfrancisco.com

Maja, the love interest is heavy on political action, her need to compensate for a controlled early childhood by her big brother; one of rejection and compulsion. Hence, her
need for unrestrained sex and total acceptance by her paramours. Her very name in Indian religions suggests
“illusion” and an “unenlightened perspective” between her mind and her body, one that forces her to react
instinctively and with an outre behavior. The lovers are reigned in to control her temperament, one of whom finally murders her to survive her web of conceit.

Mario Fratti has written and produced plays on an international scale.His credits include the Broadway hit “Nine”, as well as “Cage”, ” Che Guevara”, “The Bridge”, “Porno”, “Erotic Adventures in Venice”, and nearly 100 other plays that have been translated and produced in nineteen languages. This prodigious author was born in Italy but now makes his home in New York City.
He is celebrated on both sides of the
continent. He is also a long standing member of the Foreign Press Association.Bravo, Mario.

Michael Zufolo,
Editor/ Let’s Travel! Radio

Two Italian Chefs, NYC at GALA ITALIA, Feb.23

Tuesday, Feb.21, was designated as International Tour Guides Day. Sponsored by NYC & Co., the official NYC agency for tourism and supported by GANYC, the official tour guides association of NYC, a bevy of tours took place under the guise of more than a dozen licensed NYC guides who participated in this full day program to a large attending public, free-of-charge.
All precincts of the city were covered, particularly the borough of Manhattan, the city’s main artery for tourism.

In 2011 over 50 million visitors were recorded according to NYC& Co.

As a member of GANYC  I led a group of consummate New Yorkers who had inquired about the monuments of Central Park since some of those participating had only a cursory knowledge of them. I obliged and in the short time I had on my clock that morning I endeavored to provide a collage of interesting anecdotes behind the monuments on Central Park South.

My first intro was on the venerable Plaza Hotel. I explained. Built in 1907 it was designed as a French. Chateau. The architect was Henry Hardenberg who designed the Dakota Apartments on Central Park West as well as the Copley Plaza in Boston, MA. Today the Plaza stands as the only hotel property listed in NYC as a landmark under the National Registry of historic places.

At this point an intro to the park itself was appropriate I thought.Central Park was first opened in 1858.

Frederick Law Olmsted was its first commissioner. Calvert Vaux was its first architect. It spanned 2  1/2 miles from West 59th Street to 110th Street. The concept was to provide a healthful experience for “proper” New Yorkers at first but eventually the park opened to a general public. Interestingly, the park’s zoo  is considered the first municipal zoo in the U.S. Under Parks Commissioner Robert Moses who served the city in a dozen capacities from 1924-’68, and who was credited with the construction of 658 playgrounds, 13 bridges, 416 miles of parkways, and various public housing projects, and together with architect Aymar Embury, Central Park expanded to accommodate an exploding public and subsequently became an international attraction. Today it’s under the guidance of the Central Park Conservancy, a quasi public-private trust.

Monument Row on Central Park South offers a unique run on American history through the 19th and 20th centuries. The first monument in Central Park South is that of Gen. Wm.Tecumseh Sherman, a respected military leader of the American Civil War. It construction in 1903 was the work of Auguste Saint-Gaudens, an American, who learned his craft both in the U.S. and in Paris. It stands in the Grand Army Plaza of the park on one of the park’s main entrances on the corner of West 59th Street and CPS. The statue is abounded by the “Pulitzer Fountain”, the work of Karl Bitter and sculptor Attilio Piccirilli,  the principal sculptor of the “Maine Monument” and the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

A trio of Latin-American leaders are housed in the Plaza of the Americas, a short walk west of the Sherman monument. The first monument at that location is that of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of Venezuela, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Panama. It was a gift of the Venezuelan government and was dedicated in 1921.The sculptor was Sally James Farnham. It sits in Bolivar Plaza. Warren G. Harding presided at the opening ceremonies at the time. The intent was to provide a harmonious relationship between the governing states of the Americas.
The second statue of this trio is that of Argentine general Jose de San Martin. It is a replica of a work by French sculptor Louis Joseph Dumas. It was dedicated on May 25, 1951. San Martin is acknowledged for his military victories in Argentina, Chile and Peru. In 1950, the City of Buenos Aires offered the statue to the City of New York in exchange for a statue of Gen. George Washington for whom both men have been favorably compared.
Following San Martin stands the statue of Cuban leader Jose Marti which was completed in 1959 and unveiled in 1965 due to the discord between the U.S. and Cuba at that time. It’s the work of Ann Vaughn Huntington, an American sculptor. The statue was presented to the Cuban government from the people of  New York as a symbolic gesture of peace and understanding. Marti is recognized for his labors to liberate Cuba from the dominance of Spain. He was killed by gunshot in the battle of Dos Rios in Cuba in 1895. He is the only non military leader of the three.

The trio of monuments stands at the intersection of Central Park South and West 59th Street and the Avenue of the America’s, the brainchild of Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The avenue was renamed to celebrate Pan-Americanism, in an effort to promote a spirit of democracy between the U.S. and the countries of South and Central America.

The last statue to the west of Bolivar Plaza at the intersection of Central Park South on West 59th Street and Broadway is the “Maine” monument, a tribute to men who lost their lives on the battleship Maine in Havana Harbor, 1896. It was inspired by Wm. Randolph Hearst, Jr., the publisher of the Hearst newspaper chain in the U.S., as a cause of war which was later refuted by his peers in Congress. The effect of the “Maine” monument was a cry-to-arms which in fact resulted in the U.S. participation in the war with Spain over the last remaining colonies of that government in both the Pacific and in the Caribbean. The war’s end enabled Cuba to become independent with Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines becoming U.S. possessions. The statue actually represents the U.S. as an emerging global power both on land and in the seas. The expressions on the monuments have a Roman theme, one of peace and of prosperity, however. It is the work of Italian sculptor Attilio Piccirilli who together with his brothers created the “Patience” and “Prudence” lions at the foot of the New York Public Library. The monument was dedicated “In Memorium, 1913.”

The statue of Cristoforo Colombo is the final statue bordering Central Park South at Columbus Circle on West 59th Street and Central Park West. It was the work of Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo in 1892, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the Americas by the Venetian explorer, Christopher Columbus, a gift of the Italian people to the City of New York. Carlo Bersotti, the Editor & Publisher of the Il Progresso Italo-Americano newspaper, perhaps the largest circulating foreign publication at that time was the founding light to the construction of the statue which stands 70′.The three ships of Columbus’s fleet, The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria, are posited on the statue with the phrases scripted to read:

” Genius of Geography”, and “Genius of Discovery.” The statue is further enhanced by a bronze relief of the shields of the City of Genoa, the birthplace of Columbus and the U.S.
The fountains in the plaza were designed by Douglas Leigh, however. The decorative fence surrounding the monument was made possible by a donation of the Delacorte Foundation in 1960. Both the circle and the statue have since been renovated to celebrate the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s voyages in 1992.

There are a total more than 40 monuments, statues and historical markers in Central Park to date.

For more inf on Central Park please contact the Central Park Conservancy at: 212-310.6600 or Central Park at: www.centralparknyc.org

Michael Zufolo reporting

GALA ITALIA, 27th annual salute for lovers of all things Italian, especially award winning Italian wines, last evening, the 23rd at the Marriott Marquis in NYC.

Over 30 wine producers, 14 NYC Italian restaurants,9 Italian product companies and 8 major sponsors attending.

Produced by the Italian Wine & Food Institute, New York, a non-profit org., under the auspices of the Italian Embassy, with the support of the ITC-Trade Promotion Dept., Italian Consulate and the Italian Ministry of Eco.Development, from 4-7 p.m.

The IWFI produces seminars, tastings on
Italian food & wine products to the U.S.,
with the intent to inform, educate and promote to American consumers and to the trade. Since 1985, the IFWI under Dott.Lucio Caputo, former U.S. Director of the ITC, has promoted the “Made in Italy” icon to the U.S.market. Mr. Caputo
currently chairs the European Wine Council. The IFWI also publishes Notiziario,a monthly newsletter to present quality Italian products for the general public.

GALA ITALIA offered a large selection of Italian wines last evening. I counted 120 selected wines from various regions of Italy, with 30 awarded a First Prize certificate. Major sponsors included Alitalia, Ferrero, FIAT, Compagnia Ducale, Eredi Pisano, MSC, Omnia and Smeraldina.

For more info on the event please contact iwfi@aol.com

Michael Zufolo reporting

JAZZ At Lincoln Center hits home with
concerts year-long, student programs, educational workshops, and a lecture series for novices as well as serious tenders of the music. It also supports a number of interactive websites, promotes national and international tours, and holds a series of student competitions, and a weekly national radio program. Try jalc.org for more info on JAZZ At Lincoln Center in NYC.The phone there is: 212- 258. 9595 where
you find a lineup for both the Rose Hall and Dizzy’s Coca-Cola, the center’s main stage for dinning and live performance.

Michael Zufolo reporting.

Food Systems Network NYC was the chief sponsor. This is a non-profit organization trying to address the issue of healthy choices in food service and affordable food costs for the NYC population. Really worthwhile. The NYC Council on the Environment of NYC is a prime motivator here. For more info on what they do go to: www. foodsystemsnyc.org.

I found this event unique and worthwhile. I’ll be back for next year’s third annual.

Michael Zufolo  reporting

Alan Capper, Pres., FPA New York led a panel of OWS participants on the merits of their 2-month siege of Zuccotti Park in NYC. A lively Q&A added to the premiere of this 1-hour
documentary directed by Kevin Breslin
Discussions were largely on the net results of the encampment which proved mixed based on the emotions of those attending. Seeking opportunities in a dire economy was the central theme here while Corporate America and the Obama administration were the prime targets. At most the occupation was strategic in ensuring a consciousness on the problems facing today’s youth in securing gainful employment and a “sharing of the wealth” with business and industry in this country.The issue, of course, is ongoing as it is presently manifest in a multiple of cities in the U.S. and in major cities abroad.
Mr. Capper noted that the press and media were particularly sensitive to the NYC face-off. For this writer it stirred the interest of many and in fact enabled numerous politicians to comment while forcing our business leaders and governing bodies to reply. To date, however, these have been in short order in the form of “what can be done.” The issue is heavily under consideration and is,for sure, a template of actions to come by those of us who are most concerned.

The FPA/ Foreign Press Association is a not-for-profit global organization made up of leading journalists actively addressing today’s major issues. The New York chapter under whose auspices this event was organized is one of many planned for 2012.

Jan.11-12, New York:IDIC 2012 Award Winners were announced at the International Culinary Institute. This will be followed by an International Day of Italian Cuisines on Jan.17.Some of Italy’s finest chefs participated on Jan.11 and 12. These included Master Pastry Chef Gianluca Fusto, Master Chef Pietro Zito for Pasta, Master Butcher Simone Fracassi for Salami and Salsiccia, Pizza Masters Mass.Crocetti and Domenico Crolla and Chef Gennaro Esposito and Master Chef Pino Cuttaia.

Picture: Winning chefs at IDIC’s 12th annual awards for excellence in Italian Cuisine, Jan.11-12, International Culinary Institute, New York

Jan.11-12, International Culinary Institute hosts Italian Chefs in its annual Italian Culinary awards program.  Winners include Master pastry Chef Gianluca Fusto; Master Chef Pietro Zito for  pasta; Master Butcher Simone Frascassi, for salami, salsiccia; Pizza Masters Massimiliano Crocetti and Domenico Crolla; Michelin star chefs Gennaro Esposito and Pino Cuttaia, both of whom offered a Master Class demonstration of their classic dishes in this two-day event at the ICI, located on Broadway and Grand sts., in New York City. At this I was able to sample a variety of regional dishes. My favorites  included Ossobuco Milanese, and various types of Rissoto. I also witnessed the making of fresh pasta, exquisite Neopolitan style pizza, and hefty provisions of salsiccia and salami. Wow! Also served in bold presence was the ever popular formaggio Grana Padana  now produced in five regions of Italy, I’m told. Their Grande Riserva, aged for 20 months or more is considered world-class. Choice of beverage included acqua Ferrelle  and Illy coffee from Trieste, Italy. Master Chef and Dean of the Italian Studies program at the ICI, Cesare Casella, officiated. This event is to follow on Jan.17 with the International Day of Italian Cuisines, a global event.

In this same week the region of Marche is here to celebrate its heritage through some of its  popular wines, natural food products, travel, theatre and art. On Friday, the 13th, salumeria Di Pola, a 100 year plus fixture on Grand Street in Little Italy will showcase its fare in an invitation only event from 5-8pm. Pasta Campofilone will be introduced by Vincenzo Spinosi, iconic producer from that region who states  ” we still break our eggs by hand.” Distillery Varnelly will provide a sampling of traditional products also while the Domodimonti Natural Wine group will oblige the guests with its varietals from its Ascoli Piceno precinct. The tasting then moves uptown to Eataly, a younger station but perhaps NYC’s largest emporium for traditional Italalian products. This takes place on Saturday, the 14th from 12-8pm at their 23rd street location.  In their Eccellenze Corner the tasting will however run from noon to closing. Not to be undone, the region will also celebrate its artistic measurements with a featured performance of Alexis, A Greek Tragedy, performed by Motus. Both The New York Times and I-Italy, a national web-site applauded this rendition of the ancient Greek play by Antigone.The La Mama Theatre in the East Village is the locale. Says Gilberto Santini of AMAT, the organizers of the event, ” At the beginning of each show we provide each viewer with an elegant program containing, along with the plot of the show, also detailed information about our region.”

A more detailed view of the Italian Genius may be experienced in a large panoramic display at the Italian Cultural Institute located on Park Avenue and 68th Street in New York City. The program runs through February.

Michael Zufolo, reporting