City Guides & Travel Archives - Rachel B. Levin https://rachelbethlevin.com/category/city-guides-and-travel/ Freelance Writer, Los Angeles Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:32:15 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 Your Guide to Downtown L.A. https://rachelbethlevin.com/your-guide-to-downtown-l-a/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/your-guide-to-downtown-l-a/#comments Sun, 08 Sep 2019 20:38:16 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=2038 The cultural highlights and booming real estate markets of five Downtown Los Angeles neighborhoods.

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]]> A guide to the cultural highlights and booming real estate markets of five Downtown Los Angeles neighborhoods:

  • South Park
  • Little Tokyo
  • Arts District
  • Flower District
  • Figueroa Corridor

Read the full article in California Real Estate Magazine

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/your-guide-to-downtown-l-a/feed/ 23 Cartagena, Colombia: Gabriel García Márquez’s inspiration, the seaport mixes Old World and New https://rachelbethlevin.com/cartagena-colombia-gabriel-garcia-marquezs-inspiration-the-seaport-mixes-old-world-and-new/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/cartagena-colombia-gabriel-garcia-marquezs-inspiration-the-seaport-mixes-old-world-and-new/#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2018 21:42:59 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=958 The audio tour "The Cartagena of Gabriel García Márquez" traces the influence of this enchanted city on the author's work.

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I paused on a steamy February afternoon in Cartagena’s Plaza Santo Domingo. In the square’s center, tourists dined on fresh seafood and coconut rice at umbrella-shaded tables. At its edge was the 16th century Santo Domingo Church, whose twisted tower is — local legend has it — the result of the devil’s failed attempt to demolish the sanctuary.

Touts beckoned passersby into gleaming boutiques, while stray dogs, hoping for table scraps, competed with street musicians for the diners’ attention.

The plaza encapsulates the contrasts in this historic Colombian seaport on the Caribbean: Old World versus New, sunny leisure in the shadow of evil spirits, palpable hunger in the face of abundance.

It was also a fitting starting point for “The Cartagena of Gabriel García Márquez,” an audio tour released this year and the first of its kind to explore the Nobel Prize-winning author’s strong ties to the city.

García Márquez, a native of Aracataca on Colombia’s north coast, portrayed Cartagena’s many charms and complexities in novels set here, most notably “Love in the Time of Cholera” and “Of Love and Other Demons.” I had come to Cartagena for a month-long stay, lured, in part, by the author’s seductive depiction of the city — a place of “amethyst afternoons and nights of antic breezes”…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/cartagena-colombia-gabriel-garcia-marquezs-inspiration-the-seaport-mixes-old-world-and-new/feed/ 8 A Weekend Passport To Los Angeles: Old Hollywood Glamour https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-weekend-passport-to-los-angeles-old-hollywood-glamour/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-weekend-passport-to-los-angeles-old-hollywood-glamour/#comments Mon, 30 Jul 2012 02:34:33 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1109 This nostalgic L.A. itinerary will transport you back to the glamorous Golden Age of Hollywood.

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]]> If the mystique of Hollywood’s more brilliant past captures your fancy, or if you’ve got a hankering for Hollywood history, this itinerary will steep you in nostalgia.

It may be hard to remember a time before round-the-clock TMZ and Perez. What with incessant updates on Lindsay’s latest court appearance and Charlie Sheen’s latest manic stunt, movie stardom has been largely stripped of its glamour in the 24/7 spotlight of tell-all celebrity media. But once upon a time, the stars in Hollywood shone a little more brightly.

In the Golden Age of Hollywood — roughly from the late 1920s to the early 1960s — the studio system was in full swing, and its stars were anointed like royalty. With the likes of Clark Gable and Greta Garbo, glamour not scandal was the order of the day. If the mystique of Hollywood’s more brilliant past captures your fancy, or if you’ve got a hankering for Hollywood history, this itinerary will steep you in nostalgia…

Continue reading the full article in the Huffington Post

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-weekend-passport-to-los-angeles-old-hollywood-glamour/feed/ 1 Heliotrope-Melrose https://rachelbethlevin.com/heliotrope-melrose/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/heliotrope-melrose/#comments Tue, 08 Sep 2009 02:39:00 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1113 The L.A. neighborhood known as "Hel Mel" boasts a collegiate, counterculture vibe and hipsters galore.

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]]> In the shadow of Los Angeles City College, the intersection of Heliotrope Drive and Melrose Avenue boasts a collegiate, counterculture vibe, complete with avid bicycle activists, a smoke shop, tattoo parlor and a splash of colorful, graffiti-style murals. Yet this little pocket of shops and restaurants, known as “Hel Mel,” also offers the more refined pleasures of gourmet gelato, local craft beers and designer lingerie. The junction of grit and polish makes Hel Mel one of the most vibrant, up-and-coming neighborhoods on the hipster map…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/heliotrope-melrose/feed/ 6 Hikes, the universe and everything else https://rachelbethlevin.com/hikes-the-universe-and-everything-else/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/hikes-the-universe-and-everything-else/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 02:40:27 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1116 La Cañada Flintridge, the home of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, contrasts cutting-edge technology with pristine natural beauty.

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]]> A city of dualities, La Cañada Flintridge is home to both NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the pastoral Descanso Gardens, boasting pristine natural beauty yet also at the cutting edge of technology. It’s nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains yet only 15 miles from downtown Los Angeles, feeling like a small, rural town in the midst of a megalopolis. Residents love it for the mix of provincial and cosmopolitan — it’s the kind of place where you can get your ice cream from the local drive-through dairy or imported from Verona…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/hikes-the-universe-and-everything-else/feed/ 10 A trip back in time, with cutting-edge and fun cuisine and a cache of antiques https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-trip-back-in-time-with-cutting-edge-and-fun-cuisine-and-a-cache-of-antiques/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-trip-back-in-time-with-cutting-edge-and-fun-cuisine-and-a-cache-of-antiques/#comments Sat, 20 Jun 2009 03:06:33 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1147 Old-fashioned soda fountains, historic buildings, and antique stores add to the time-warp feel in Old Towne Orange.

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]]> In Old Towne Orange — a mile-square district established during the citrus boom of the late 19th century — reverence for the past is part of daily business. At the center is Plaza Square, where cars whip around the Victorian-era fountain and garden in a traffic circle once trod by horses and buggies. Around the plaza, old-fashioned soda fountains, barber shops and historic buildings mix with trendy fashion retailers and wine-tasting salons. It’s not surprising that Old Towne Orange has been dubbed the “Antique Capital of California,” with antique depots crowding the district…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/a-trip-back-in-time-with-cutting-edge-and-fun-cuisine-and-a-cache-of-antiques/feed/ 16 Neighborhoods: Boyle Heights https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-boyle-heights/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-boyle-heights/#comments Tue, 19 May 2009 02:42:24 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1119 Bright murals, handmade tamales, and mariachi tunes are just a few of the highlights in the predominantly Mexican community of Boyle Heights.

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]]> Handmade tamales and mariachi tunes await.

When the new Metro Gold Line extension rumbles into Boyle Heights this summer, it will bring visitors from all over the city to a neighborhood that has long been a threshold for newcomers. Named for Irish immigrant Andrew Boyle, it has been home to Jewish, Japanese and Mexican arrivals over the last century. Today, the predominant Mexican community has shaped this bluff above the L.A. River into a vibrant center of cultural pride where bright murals, handmade tamales and mariachi tunes await. Along the area’s main artery, named for labor leader Cesar E. Chavez, you’ll find trendy fashion boutiques next to traditional botanicas…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-boyle-heights/feed/ 6 Equestrian and hiking trails, art and avocados https://rachelbethlevin.com/equestrian-and-hiking-trails-art-and-avocados/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/equestrian-and-hiking-trails-art-and-avocados/#comments Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:54:22 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1132 Fallbrook -- California's avocado capital -- boasts beautiful nature, a lively arts scene, and avocado products galore.

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]]> Along the two-lane road that leads to rural Fallbrook, the cares of urban — and even suburban — life fall away.

The rolling hills of northern San Diego County, blanketed with avocado groves and ancient oak trees, seem to stretch forever. Poppies roll out a golden carpet, and equestrian facilities hugging the side of the road alert you that you’ve entered horse country.

In historical Fallbrook village, you’ll find a town that appreciates art and nature in equal measure — and where parking meters don’t exist…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/equestrian-and-hiking-trails-art-and-avocados/feed/ 7 Neighborhoods: Santa Monica https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-santa-monica/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-santa-monica/#comments Tue, 17 Mar 2009 02:57:03 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1135 Santa Monica's Main Street is the ideal place for a bar crawl on St. Patrick's Day. Here's where to "go green."

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]]> Progressive, eclectic Main Street in Santa Monica is notable for its green businesses. With organic cafes and boutiques catering to environmentally conscious living, this shopping street just steps from the Pacific is a great place to go green. But on St. Patrick’s Day, going green means something else altogether. Between Hill Street and Rose Avenue, Main is prime for a bar crawl — with taverns, lounges and alehouses aplenty — making it an ideal place to toast the Irish spirit…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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]]> https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-santa-monica/feed/ 8 Neighborhoods: Little Ethiopia https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-little-ethiopia/ https://rachelbethlevin.com/neighborhoods-little-ethiopia/#comments Tue, 10 Mar 2009 03:02:42 +0000 http://rachelbethlevin.com/?p=1141 In L.A.'s Little Ethiopia, Ethiopian coffee, authentic restaurants, and Afrocentric fashion boutiques transport visitors to Addis Ababa.

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]]> L.A.’s Fairfax Avenue has long been a meeting place for diverse cultures.

It became an artery for the Jewish community in the 1950s, and the original Farmers Market has been a central gathering ground for Angelenos of every stripe since 1934.

The most recent arrivals to claim a slice of Fairfax as home are Ethiopians, who in the 1990s began forming a critical mass of restaurants, markets and service shops between Olympic Boulevard and Whitworth Drive.

In 2002, the city officially recognized this enclave as Little Ethiopia, and today the buzz of commerce — and coffee — transports visitors to Addis Ababa…

 

Continue reading the full article in the Los Angeles Times

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