In San Francisco, miles away from the posh Ferry Building Farmer’s Market is the Alemany Farmer’s Market. Set between two freeways and adjacent to the housing projects, it’s an unlikely spot for the bountiful harvest each Saturday morning.  Lots of families, eager organic eaters and people of all walks of life and ethnicities, all just trying to fill their bellies with healthy fare, meander though the dazzling array of local products. I often see Muslim women with headscarves bargaining with the Chinese vendors, Russian couples arguing animatedly about the price of cherries or seniors out with their shopping cart. The bread stand is run by a Brazilian family and the Hummus guy is Algerian. Blueberries are sold by a Russian gal with my name (I always walk by and say hello) and the Japanese cucumbers are to die for.

The Mexican tamales are famous and an African lady sells shea butter and beautiful baskets. I look forward to a cafe con leche and all the samples. My little son walks with one hand clutching a cucumber, a pain au chocolat in his other and a strawberry juice goatee. The honey stall is my kids’ favorite stop for a little taste of heaven on a toothpick. I can get enough produce, bread, cheese, fish and flowers for less than $50; cheaper than the supermarket and way better! In our house it’s a Saturday ritual, we listen to music, chomp on kettle corn, run into many friends, chat with the vendors and when we can’t carry any more we lug our haul back up the hill.

Other writers have addressed the notion of getting window seats whenever they fly because they don’t want to miss the extraordinary sight of Earth from cruising altitude, an experience no one had ever had before the 20th century. I remember John Flinn, executive travel editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, writing about how he would stubbornly refuse to lower his window blind to accommodate movie-watching passengers because his entertainment was outside. “Bravo!” I said when I read that column.

Now I noticed in Larry Bleiberg’s blog on Coastal Living that he’s made a habit of choosing window seats for the same reason, most recently on a flight to Alaska. And Travel + Leisure’s Jeff Wise lays out a whole strategy for seeing as much as possible whenever you fly. Check it out for your next flight and enjoy the view.

The exhibit From The New Yorker to Shrek: The Art of William Steig runs through Sept. 7, 2008. The museum is magnificent! A whimsical fountain garden greets the visitors and I thought I’d never get my four-year-old inside.

New clean lines, unusual architecture and furniture and an extraordinarily friendly staff make the experience wonderful. The day we went it was not crowded at all, perhaps because of its newness, who knows, but it was glorious. Kids are offered a free art pack upon arrival. We had fun with it drawing cartoon faces and discussing what my son saw and felt about the exhibit. I perused the other exhibits quickly while my son sat with my dad drawing. The exhibition spaces are open, spacious and unusual. The gift shop is impressive, full of great books, toys and art artifacts. We didn’t stop at the cafe, but next time I’ll make sure to check it out.

“The map is not the territory” is a famous comment from semanticist Alfred Korzybski that reminds us we can’t tell from a map what we’re going to find in the actual place. But a good map is a godsend and sometimes even a friend who keeps us honest and out of trouble. In this age of GPS and Map Quest, Google Maps, and Yahoo! Maps, however, some people don’t know a good map when they see one. And now it appears that AAA Northern California is laying off its cartographers either to save money or because it feels the online competition is too stiff. Well, John Flinn in the San Francisco Chronicle has a few things to say about that.

“I can’t believe I spent $60 on apples,” I said to my friend as we try to eat organically and make ends meet in this the difficult economy.

You would think you’d get a deal since they don’t have to transport them! I support local farmers and got over the sticker shock quickly enough. It was a fun activity on a hot late-summer day!

Some time ago I was traveling via taxi from the Manila airport to the center of the city and was amazed that the traffic seemed to veer all over the road, unmindful of lane markings or what car should be where. To an American (me) it seemed complete chaos, but to the Filipinos it was smooth as could be. Everyone’s awareness was on the vehicles around them, not on their “right” to the lane they were in. Later, in the city, I was further amazed to see that when too much traffic flowed in one direction and there was room on the other side of the road, drivers simply crossed the center line and took over a lane or two, so traffic coming the other way had to squeeze over. Again, madness to an outsider, but it actually allowed the traffic to flow faster.

This sort of cooperative driving is common the world over, and is true in Cairo, as Anthony Bourdain discovered on a trip where he communed with Bedouins, felt most comfortable deep in the desert, and empathized with the millions of Egyptians struggling to get by. Things seem to work out one way or another when people cooperate, even when times are tough.

We came to see the Oum Khalsoum retrospective; a giant in the Arab world, this Egyptian singer/actress is on a par with perhaps Elvis in the U.S. It was a fabulous exhibit chronicling her life. Sound, video, historical context made this well curated multi-media exhibition a treat. Khalsoum was a deeply religious woman, but one who wore fabulous designer ensembles, sang in a traditional style and fostered many Warhol-esque treatments. She had this amazing bouffant hair and memorable glasses. I particularly loved her personal affects and the stunning dresses as well as the art and fashion her life inspired.The exhibit continues till November 2, entrance is 7 Euros.

Travelers in the Pacific Northwest have many options for superb outdoors experiences, but an unusual one that seems to be catching on is positively, uh, radiant. Hugo Martin in the Los Angeles Times reports on the growing numbers of kayakers and jet-boat tourists cruising the Columbia River past the Hanford Reach in Hanford, Washington, America’s most contaminated nuclear site. Soon the reactor that produced the plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in World War II may be designated a historic landmark and open for tours. I wonder if you’ll need to wear a lead suit?

(Via LA Times’s Daily Travel & Deal Blog)

It’s human nature to push limits and one-up friends, so it should be no surprise that for some travelers the world’s dangerous places are the places they want to go. Iraq, for instance. Or how about Afghanistan? Jayne Clark reports for USA Today that while these places may not be for the average traveler, they do appeal to a certain breed, and there are ways to get in and get out unscathed.