by Karen Warren | United States
San Francisco is built on 49 hills – not just ordinary slopes, but tall steep inclines. Yet the city’s early planners and developers chose to lay out the roads in a grid pattern, paying no heed to contours. This resulted in some very steep streets, causing problems...
by Karen Warren | United States
One of the pleasures of San Francisco is its historic architecture. Of course, the city is full of the impressive modern buildings that you’d expect in any American city. However there are also rows of well preserved Victorian houses. They seem to be everywhere, on...
by Karen Warren | United States
The links between San Francisco and Japan stretch back to the end of the 19th century, when the first emigrants arrived in the city. Today San Francisco has the largest remaining Japantown area in the US. And in 1957 it strengthened its relationship with Japan by...
by Karen Warren | United States
Even on a cold winter’s day New York’s High Line is a popular place. It is somewhere to escape from the noise and the traffic, a peaceful spot where you can enjoy the fresh air and the plants. With the added bonus of outdoor art and sculpture as you walk through the...
by Karen Warren | United States
I’d heard about the Cloisters Museum long before I ever went to New York. This is the home of a series of medieval unicorn tapestries; unicorns have been a mild obession of mine ever since I discovered the Cluny tapestries in Paris. But I soon found that there is far...
by Karen Warren | United States
I stood in the central plaza of Los Angeles Union Station and marvelled at the building, an eclectic mix of Art Deco and other architectural styles. I love railway stations. It’s partly the romance of travel, not just the destination but the journey itself. But it’s...
