Mengucci: The Intentional Tourist

[TRAVEL TIPS]

AS YOU'LL FIND. So WHEN ON THE

obert Kane has stayed at Britain's He suggests that, when in Switze rland, Grand Hotel, but he recommends one take the train. against it. "A single expletive- Wow l- is in order "The Grand Hotel has not, in for the Swiss train system. It embraces a my unhappy experience, proved very 3, 107-mile network that sees it speed grand," he writes. "Enviably well-situated through rolling countryside, climb steep and impressively venerable (it goes back a mountains, zoom through tunnels as long century), it seems tired. Refurbishings not as 12 miles (the Simplon), and- inevitably withstanding, corridors need paint; and at journey's end, if my not inconsiderable the restaurant at breakfast wants a more experience is typical- arrive at the destina­ appetizing buffet and supervised staff. r tion station on the minute. T hi s is a brilliantly would hope, too, for an offer of a bellman e ngineered, impeccably maintained, effi­ at check-in, for heavy baggage; a room ciently operated system right up there with doorlock that worked without having to the other E uropean rail road leaders, the call fo r staff help to effect entry; a toilet F rench and the Germans. You may travel that flushed properly; a hall porter who virtually everywhere by train." would smile and provide requested infor­ In Spain, you'll find relief in the shower. mation on train departures; a switchboard "My hat is off to the Spanish plumbing that would come through with an asked­ industry. Bathrooms of Spanish hotels, lux­ for wake-up call; and a bedside lamp with ury to budget, are invariably equipped with a bulb strong enough to read by." the kind of showers Americans li ke: MARY ELLEN MENGUCCI is an associate editor ofSyracuse University Magazine. She profiledphot ographer William Coupon for our September / 990 issue.

Published by SURFACE, 1991 1 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 7, Iss. 3 [1991], Art. 8

attached to the wall, with a wide nozzle. population-in France And shower curtains- so often absent in than in any other country. Continental European hotels, where show­ Certain restaurants deny ers are attached to rubber hoses that run them entry, but they go wild when turned on." shopping with masters and And when in France, along with those mistresses, and rare is the ho­ great sights and romantic accents, one can't tel in France that does not help noticing les chims. have special rates pour les ani­ "Although they do not vote (at least, to maux. I have yet to meet a my knowledge), dogs come close to being French dog that I did not like full-fledged French citizens. I have no fig­ (they are invariably friendly and ures, but there simply has to be a higher quite prepared to charm the pants proportion of dogs-vis-a-vis the human off you). Which is not to say they all

have been properly trained. Caveat: Watch where you walk."

t's a Thursday afternoon in December I and Robert Kane is sitting in his New York City apartment, chatting modestly about his 25-plus years as a rravel writer. He mentions some of his recent and upcoming excursions- Britain, Mexico, Washington, D.C., Spain, and Hong Kong-but he can squeeze no more from his memory. "Those are rhe major trips, anyway," he says matter of facrly. Ir can be difficult to remember every trip when you travel for a living. Soon, he's expounding on, of all things, packing a suitcase. H e always uses a com­ parrmentless, 26-inch bag (made by a Cali­ fornia firm called rhe French Company, to be exact). Inside he packs his suitcoars, shirrs, and trousers as flar as possible. Heal­ ways includes a sweater, in case of in­ clement weathe r. Kane neatly rolls his neckties and places rhem with his shoes, notebooks, maps, and orher belongings in- his rrick-separare clear bags. This en­ ables him to locare irems quickly, and helps to keep his bag organized and his clothes wrinkle-free. T hough h e has a sysrem down par, he readily admirs his dislike for rhe task. "I loarhe packing," he says, rolling his eyes. He particularly dislikes preparing for trips rhat require several rypes of clothing for sundry weather conditions and acrivi­ ries- dress clothes and beachwear, shorrs and swearers, heavy coars and lighr jackets. "For instance, when I leave for my trip to Spain this week-when is rhat?" he a sks himself and rhen answers. "Oh, my, rhar's Robett Kane, photographed in his Man hattatt ap{lttlllmt, is more likely to be elsewhere. His career as a travel wtiter draws him to the four comers ofth e eatth. One moment he's here, and the next he's not. tomorrow. I guess I'd better ger packing." https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol7/iss3/8 M A R C H I 9 9 I • 33 2 Mengucci: The Intentional Tourist

Whoops. Robert Kane can momentarily ent restaurant (sometimes in jacket and cover) for identification. "Otherwise," he forget an overseas trip the way you forget tie), even when he might prefer to do some­ says, "I find that they may think you're a your dry cleaning. But it's to his credit, be­ thing else (lie on the beach and skip lunch, nut or that you're going to blow the place cause those many, many years in the field for example). "Every restaurant and every up." In addition, Kane carries his press iden­ only enhance his ability to tell it like it is. meal is planned in advance. And each one tification cards and, in some cases, a letter His jetting from continent to continent has counts," he says. from the appropriate tourism bureau, with made him anything but blase about which he works closely in most countries. travel-rather a keen observer and critic. ust exactly how does one make a living When Kane dines at a restaurant or cafe, He knows nearly every trick of the travel Jwriting about other places? In Kane's he does so anonymously. Usually, he says, trade-where to go, what to see, and how to case, it means traveling approximately "They don't know who I am until the end best spend time and money. four months a year, usually in economy of the meal when I ask if I can take the in­ At first glance, Kane's job- writing class (like most of his readers). It means terior of the menu with me." This way he books and articles about faraway places and reading no more than the headlines when feels he receives the same type of service adventurous lands-seems glamorous, even an airplane crashes. It helps if you're bilin­ that one of his readers is apt to experience. romantic. It's a lifestyle many of us dream gual-Kane speaks French and some Span­ All this eating can put on the pounds, about. ish, though he admits it's no longer a neces­ though, so Kane rarely samples more than Kane runs into people like us all the sity for the average traveler. It means occa­ one dessert a day, and often eats only one or time, and he finds himself gently remind­ sional flight delays and lost luggage. It two courses at a restaurant. "And of course, ing us that what he does is indeed work. means thorough research and planning in this business, you walk a great deal. It "When you meet somebody new, who is prior to a trip-even paying bills in ad­ helps some," he says in a resigned manner. not in the business, they say, 'Oh, what a vance. And once Kane reaches his destina­ "It doesn't help as much as it should." fabulous job. Gee it must be great fun.' I do tion, it means visiting, staying, inspecting, To keep track of all his discoveries, Kane enjoy my work," Kane admits. "It's very or dining at each place he writes about. carries several pocket-size notebooks with satisfying and I am very pleased with the The nature of Kane's job requires him to him on each trip, and fills them with notes. books . ... But it is hard work, whether move frequently, sometimes at a whirlwind Whenever he can, he jots notes directly on you're writing a cookbook, or a novel, or pace, to provide his readers with as much a menu, hotel brochure, or a museum this kind of book." information as he can about accommoda­ guidebook. This, he says, makes the sorting In fact, Kane, like any other person tions in a particular area. "Three days in a and writing process a little easier when he working for a living, experiences days when hotel is a great luxury. I try to stay two-night returns home to begin work on a book. he'd rather not work at all. "You may want stands. I hate to stay one-night stands," he to say, 'Oh, I don't want to bother with says with a chuckle. orn in Albany, New York, Kane had lunch today,' or 'I'll just have a When Kane inspects a hotel other than Btraveled relatively little until World sandwich."' But because Kane's one where he is staying, he generally asks War II and the Navy interrupted his time in each location is limit­ the assistant manager on duty to provide studies at SU and took him to Hawaii and ed, he must eat every him with a tour. He brings one of his books the Pacific-albeit under less than ideal meal at a differ- with him (which pictures Kane on the back conditions-on his first real adventure.

TRICK OF THE TRAVEL TRADE-WHERE TO GO,

34 • S Y R A C U S E U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E

Published by SURFACE, 1991 3 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 7, Iss. 3 [1991], Art. 8

NESS AND EASY-GOING NARRATIVE STYLE.

After the war, Kane returned to Syracuse "and this is not a conventional narrative style. He organizes and graduated in 1947 with a degree in travel guide. Negative opin­ them logically, so that a travel­ journalism. He landed his first job with a ions are expressed, and the er need not fumble for infor­ newspaper in Kansas, by placing an adver­ Golden Rule of the American Travel mation. Kane divides each book into chap­ tisement about himself in Editor alld Pub­ Writer has been violated: there are allusions ters on specific cities or locations and pro­ lisher. "I got several replies, but the most in­ to political situations. These are coupled vides in-depth information about hotels, teresting was from the Great Bend Daily Tri­ with personal reactions, as well as histOrical restaurants, cafes, galleries, churches, and butle." So Kane packed his bags and headed and cultural background-all of which more; and he rates places as luxury, first­ west on what was one of many journeys yet complement the core of the book: factual class, or moderate. He tells his readers, ro come. "[felt like Judy Garland and the material which, it is hoped, will help the "Bear in mind that I am fussy." Harvey Girls," he says. "I was going out to prospective visiror, as well as the armchair Most books also contain an alphabetized the Wild West." traveler, whose curiosity may be whet­ mini-briefing about the country, city, or After a year, Kane left the paper to com­ ted- at least in part- by a concise, nutshell state as a whole- details about currency, plete graduate work at England's South­ picture of contemporary Africa." time zones, transportation methods, cli­ ampton University, where he studied con­ Published by Doubleday in the early six­ mates, culture, and hisrory. Usually, this is temporary British history. It was there, dur­ ties, it became the first in his series of A to as entertaining as it is informative. For in­ ing class field trips ro the Hampshire coun­ Z travel books. T here were seven A to Z's in stance, Kane writes this about peddlers in tryside, that Kane first began taking notes all , the others covering Asia, the South Pa­ New York: "During the warm-weather about his surroundings. cific, South America, Canada, the Capitals months, streets of Manhattan- the center When he returned to the States, Kane of Europe, and Eastern Europe. mainly but to the north and south as worked first for the Statm Island Advallce Meanwhile, Kane's byline continued ro well- are literally li ttered with vendors of and then the New York Herald Tributte, appear in such publications as Travel & oft-unappetizing-appearing and -smelling where, in the mid-fifties, he started to carve Leisure, Vogue, Harper~ Bazaar, the New York edibles, the while colleagues occupy valu­ a niche for himself as a travel writer. It Post, and the Los Allgeles Times. He began re­ able sidewalk space with assorted wares of­ started slowly- a travel piece here and ceiving awards for his work (including the ten of dubious quality, the only ones of there- but eventually Kane was writing Society of American Travel Writers' Best which I must admit ro liking are un­ about travel on a full -time basis, including Travel Book of the Year award) and served abashedly phony species of name-brand during his vacations. as president of both that society and the watches (reportedly made in Taiwan) sold His first book, Africa A to Z, evolved af­ New York Travel Writer's Association. mostly by kindly Senegalese (you may ter he completed a six-month job in Africa In the mid-eighties, Kane began work on make your purchase in French, if you like); writing feature pieces for a small wire ser­ his newest series, 'The World At Its Best' my fake 'Rolex,' which set me back all of20 vice. Kane realized he had coll ected Travel Guides, which provide insights and bucks, (you bargain with these guys) is now enough information to compile a book, and criticisms on places from Holland and Italy in its second year." he created the first-ever American-pub­ ro Switze rland and Germany. Washillgtoll New York At Its Best is, in fact, Kane's lished travel guide for post World War II D.C. At Its Best, the 12th in the series, will most recent book. T hough it is about his Africa. be released this spring by Passport Books. home city, the book took him the longest of "Africa is not a conventional continent," Kane's books repeatedly receive acco­ any ro complete. "I have to concede," he he writes in the introduction ro the book, lades for their thoroughness and easy-going writes in the forward, "that this book has https://surface.syr.edu/sumagazine/vol7/iss3/8 M A R C H 1 9 9 I • 35 4 Mengucci: The Intentional Tourist

LOOK FORWARD TO TRAVEL, WHETHER

not been the 'piece of cake' I termed it recently returned from a five-week trip to the Caribbean," he says, "but anybody when my Chicago-based publishers re­ there, and he's busy sorting through notes, who's gone to Hawaii first immediately quested it.. .. Indeed, this is the book that brochures, and menus he collected. sees what the good ole U.S.A. is about." has kept me at home for a longer period You might think that someone who trav­ than I have known since I began chroni­ t's the dead of winter and the sub-zero els for a living would choose to stay put dur­ cling the travel scene a quarter-century I temperatures and icy winds in the ing his vacations. But Kane says trekking back. Friends and colleagues have not been Northeast this time of year are enough across the world is so much a part of him surprised, correctly conjecturing that when to make any New Yorker consider a trip now that, despite the time changes and the you pen a guide to your adopted city, you elsewhere. So where does a man who has jet lag, he seldom tires of it. know too much about it in many respects, traveled to more than 100 countries and all "Every trip for me is a big deal," he says. and not enough about it, in others." the continents go when he wants to take a "I always look forward to travel, whether Maybe so, but Kane's unique ability to vacation? it's a weekend, or a week, or a month, or experience a place without rose-colored Kane chooses Hawaii. Though it has whatever. I always look forward to it and I glasses still shines through. He writes about changed enormously since he first visited always am wondering if it is going to work one popular eatery: "The Carnegie Deli the small Pacific islands during World War well. ... I think with anybody there's al­ has managed to achieve so much publicity II, he never passes up a chance to revisit. ways a degree of anxiety and anticipation over the years that out-of-town and foreign "Hawaii is still beautiful," he writes in before you go off on a trip." customers stand in lines easily a block long, Hawaii At Its Best. "And not only as regards Kane says travel simply refreshes people and even in the rain, to order what has to be swaying palms, white-sand beaches, and and, like his readers, he finds multiple ben­ the most expensive corned beef and pas­ the silhouettes of Diamond Head or Mauna efits in venturing around the world. "Peo­ trami sandwiches served in any deli of Loa. What continues to make it special is its ple travel because it's a welcome change which I am aware. Business is apparently so amalgam of people and their immediately from the familiar home scenes, people, good that management does not feel the likeable lifestyle- unlike any other in any jobs, and tasks. There's a kind of status val­ need to redecorate; even a single coat of other American state." ue to travel and I think that people feel a paint would be welcome. I'll be damned if Kane says, "Hawaii works so well be­ sense of achievement when they travel to I would wait out in the street to order a cause it is an American state and the stan­ well-known places, either here in this coun­ sandwich in an unattractive environment dard of living is relatively high and every­ try or abroad." such as this." body you're dealing with is a fellow Amer­ Caveat: Remember to pack a guide book When talking to Kane, "my latest" may ican. The Caribbean is another scene. It's when you go. • refer to any one of three books, such is his just not nearly as well operated or effi­ pace. With New York recently released and cient." He cites also the social-class prob­ Washington on its way, Kane is now working lems there, which create unfortunate ten­ on Hong Kong At Its Best, scheduled for re­ sions for both vacationers and the people of lease at the end of 1991 or early 1992. He the Caribbean. "I've always enjoyed going

Published by36 SURFACE,• S Y R A1991 C U S E U N I V E R S I T Y M A G A Z I N E 5 Syracuse University Magazine, Vol. 7, Iss. 3 [1991], Art. 8

and, as in the case of back in the 1950s, of the old legend all major basilicas, decreeing that if you threw a coin into tremendous scale." Trevi (presumably with your back to it) CITTA you were bound to return to Rome." VATICANO San Paolo Fuori le "This is the San Pietro. A SUBURBAN EXCURSION loveliest of the major "Laying aside its Villa d'Este at Tivoli. "The house is a fine basilicas, with a Roman­ function as No. Renaissance country villa, but in and of esque cloister that frames a Catholic place of worship itself, it would never draw the crowds that garden of quiet charm, and a (only the pope may officiate at come. T hey want to see the fountain­ mosaic frieze of popes, St. Peter to John mass from the high altar), it's Rome at its filled formal gardens. If one excepts XXIII." most reassuring, its most stable, Petrovorets, Peter the Great's horticultur­ yes-even more so than the core-of-town al fantasy at his country palace outside A PAIR OF REQUISITE remnants of the ancient empire-its most Leningrad, there is nothing else-any­ MUSEUNlS eternal." where-that can touch them." Museo Nazionale Romano-Baths ofD iocle­ Cappella Sistina. "Ifyou r visit is a summer tian. "Comprises the baths them­ AN IN-TO'W'N CASTLE one, prepare for a mob scene in the Sis­ selves-a complex of high-ceilinged, Castel Sant' Angelo. "It's a Roman surprise tine. Indeed, every part of it except the splendidly proportioned halls and patios, package, at least to the many visitors who ceiling- which Michelangelo began built 17 centuries ago (when it accommo­ believe that the ancient circular mau­ painting in 1508, and which was the sub­ dated some 3,000 bathers)-and a collec­ soleum-cum-fortress-cum-papal-palace ject of a controversial 1980s restora­ tion of classical art." on the right bank of the Tiber near the tion-will be occupied . ... But the Sis­ Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Antica-Palazzo Vatican is today no more than a historical tine is, more than anything else, Barberini. "Is one of two component parts landmark, to be admired for its derring-do Michelangelo, a masterwork that even of the national ancient-art museum. It is fa~ade . Well step inside." upon repeated visits remains one of the sumptuous Baroque.... Barberini's trea­ great interiors of a city where great interi­ sures are abundant- Tintoretto's Jesus AN ART-FILLED PALACE ors are commonplace. The crowds are and the Adulterous Woman; Lotto's Portrait Palazzo Corsini. "The palazzo continues understandable." ofa Young Man; Raphael's seductive lady, underappreciated. Located on the right ANCIENT RONlE La Fornarina, Piero di Cosima's exquisite bank of the Tiber, near Trastevere, it went La Maddalena; T itian's Venus andAdonis; a up in the early 18th century for Pope Co/osseo. "The Colosseum is sufficiently Holbein of Henry VIII." Clement XII's family, replacing an earlier intact to be appreciated for what it was: palace that had been the home of Swe­ seat of the action, with gladiators vs. lions A RENAISSANCE PALACE den's self-exiled Queen Christina in the and other fun and games, dating back to Palazzo Farnese. "Was begun in 1514 by 17th century." the first century, and with a seating capac­ Antonio Sangallo the You nger-using ity of some 50,000- not bad if you con­ building materials from the Colosseum, THE FORUNlS sider that ancient Rome had a population of all places. But it was completed by The Forums. "The Roman (the original) of about a million." Michelangelo. T he entire structure is a and Imperial (its successor) foru ms are Pantheon. "It is difficult to believe that work of genius- architectural propor­ ruins of the ancient city, in part restored. work was begun on the Pantheon almost tions, arched entrance vestibule, super­ Many visitors content themselves with three decades before Christ was born. It high ceilings, frescoed and tapestried vistas of the contiguous area they occupy, is the only 100-percent shipshape ancient reception rooms." from a distance. A better way to take in Roman building. Its domed, colonnaded this beautiful area is to walk down Via dei exterior is in such good shape that it could A SQUARE AND A Fori Imperiali, linking the Colosseum be neo-classic. But it's the real thing." FOUNTAIN and Piazza Venezia with the Roman Piazza Navona. "No Italian city, indeed Forum on one side and the Imperial Two MA.IOR BASILICAS no European city, is more beautifully Forums on the other." Santa Maria Maggiore. "It is the major endowed with these beloved appurte­ church in Rome named for St. Mary, of nances of urban life. Piazza Navona is the For more information about these and other sights many, many, many.. . . It's a mix of styles, most romantic in town." in Rome, refer to Robert Kane's Italy At Its Best, with a Baroque fa~ade, a Renaissance cam­ published by Passport Books, a division ofth e Fontana di Trevi. "It's the richest such in panile (the tallest in town), and a multi­ NTC Publishing Group. Copyright© /989 by the world, ever since the world learned period interior with a magnificent coffered RobertS. Kane. from a film, Three Coins in the Fountain, ceiling, fine mosaics, a number of chapels,

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