Reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages

An Unlikely Haven for Jazz

Travel Deals – THE pianist Fred Hersch seemed right at home here one recent Saturday night, onstage at the Falcon, a perfectly unlikely jazz haven in this Hudson Valley hamlet. Leading a trio, he mingled standards and originals, including a graceful waltz with the appropriate title “Snow Is Falling.” The standing-room crowd, a few hundred strong, was lavish with its applause, never more so than when Mr. Hersch made a brief acknowledgment: “I just want to congratulate Tony for putting this place together.”

An Unlikely Haven for Jazz, lakeunionwatertaxi.comTony is Tony Falco, an environmental scientist who has spent the last decade presenting jazz concerts in a barnlike structure he built behind his house. Over the years the intimacy of the setting and the hospitality of Mr. Falco and his family have brought a revolving roll call of top jazz talent to this town 70 miles north of Manhattan.

“It’s a really special place,” Kevin Hays, another acclaimed pianist, said of the Falcon, where he will appear with a trio on April 2. “The audiences are always great: quiet and respectful, even though it’s a very relaxed vibe, with kids often running around.”

I began hearing about the Falcon four or five years ago, from musicians who had played there. It sounded like a model of small but sturdy local activity, in a community far (but not too far) from the feverish metabolism of the city. Yet Mr. Falco’s operation isn’t on the radar of the average New York jazz fan; why would it be, with so many options closer to home? (Mr. Hersch, who played a week at the Village Vanguard in January, is scheduled to perform at the Weill Recital Hall on March 31.) Read more »

It Must Be Naples and Amalfi

Travel Deals – The beauty of the Amalfi Coast, on the Sorrento peninsula along the Tyrrhenian Sea, has been praised from antiquity to the present, by artists and tourists alike. The best way to reach this extraordinary landscape is to fly into Naples, which is also worth exploring. Check out Jill Santopietro’s “36 Hours in Naples, Italy” (April 27, 2008) for information on sightseeing, for where to find the best Neapolitan pizza and on the preserved ancient Roman city of Pompeii, 45 minutes away by car or train.

It Must Be Naples and Amalfi, lakeunionwatertaxi.comThen it’s on to the coast. One option is to make Sorrento, about 30 miles southeast of Naples, your base — it’s an easy ferry and hydrofoil ride to Capri (above) and the Amalfi Coast (you can also get to the coastline by bus or car, but the sea voyage is more dramatic). Sorrento, with cobblestone streets and a seafront promenade, sits on a cliff, with gorgeous views of the Bay of Naples and, on clear days, Capri.

About.com (owned by The New York Times Company) offers a list of accommodations in Sorrento, including Maison La Minervetta (www.laminervetta.com), a boutique hotel on a cliff with a panoramic view, and Hotel Mignon Mueblé (www.sorrentohotelmignon.com), a simple yet stylish hotel.

In two weeks, you could probably visit most of the dozen or so enchanting towns that are perched on cliffs overlooking shimmering blue-green water. Don’t miss the impressive centuries-old Duomo and the beautiful cloister in the medieval town of Amalfi, or the gardens and villas in the mountain village of Ravello. And then, of course, there’s the limoncello, the after-dinner drink native to the area.

Before you set off for the cliff-hugging Amalfi Drive with your rental car, you might want to read Jerry Garrett’s article “Old Amalfi, New Mouse” (April 6, 2008), about his experience driving the new Fiat 500 on this stretch of winding “stomach-churning” road. But the view, he wrote, was worth it.

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