Can’t Afford Europe? Take the A Train Instead.

Travel Blog  •  Julia Ross  •  11.12.07 | 4:42 PM ET

imageIf you’re a New Yorker pining for a week in Tuscany or Paris—but can’t face the prospect of an $8 soda—don’t despair: Cara O’Flynn has some tips for getting your Euro fix at home, all within steps of your nearest subway stop. While waiting for the dollar to rebound against the Euro, O’Flynn, a World Hum contributor writing in the New York Post, advises checking out the Alliance Francaise’s Cinema Tuesday series or the weekly flamenco theater Alegrias en la Nacional.

Or tracking down authentic Greek feta and Mythos beer in Astoria, Queens.

Her recommendation for good cannoli? “For real Italian food, stay far, far from Little Italy!” Brooklyn’s Fortunato Brothers is a better bet.

Good advice to soothe the travel itch short-term, but for me, enjoying an early morning Maison Kayser croissant anywhere but the rain-slicked streets of Paris is a pale substitute.

Related on World Hum:
* Wanted: Cambodian Noodle Joint in New York
* Jan Morris’s Manhattan: ‘A Sentimental Old Body at Heart’

Related on TravelChannel.com:
* Anthony Bourdain’s New York City

Photo by telethon via Flickr, (Creative Commons).

Tags: Cheap Travel, Food, North America, United States, New York, News and Briefs

Julia Ross is a Washington, DC-based writer and frequent contributor to World Hum. She has lived in China and Taiwan, where she was a Fulbright scholar and Mandarin student. Her writing has appeared in the Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Plenty and other publications. Her essay, Six Degrees of Vietnam, was shortlisted for "The Best American Travel Writing 2009."


2 Comments for Can’t Afford Europe? Take the A Train Instead.

WindowSeat Jenn 11.12.07 | 6:34 PM ET

Europe is Europe is Europe! There are no substitutes. The closest I’ve found in North America has to be Quebec City. The walls of this fortified city are still standing; it’s a World Heritage Site; and it’s one of the oldest cities on the continent!

starsea 11.13.07 | 12:20 AM ET

Paris has an excellent underground train system, known as the Métro (short for Chemin de Fer Métropolitain i.e. Metropolitan Railways). There are 16 lines (lignes) (1-14, 3bis and 7bis) on which trains travel all day at intervals of a few minutes between 5 AM and 1:30AM, stopping at all stations on the line. Line 14, which is fully automated, is called the Méteor. Scheduled times for first and last trains are posted in each station on the center sign. Since january 2007, the metro ends one hour later on saturday evenings.
More information,please go on:
http://www.worldtravelling.cn

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