Great WiFi spots in Valencia's Old City and... a record store

Internet access is a big deal for me when I travel. I just feel cramped if I don't have a comfortable place to write and email. There are "Locutorios" aplenty throughout Spain but many of these I find are not that comfortable, but fine in a pinch, where you are in a crowded place packed with computers and stations. What I look for are the places I can sit for an hour or more and feel relaxed... and the ones below you could sit in happily for hours.

One of the nicest places to go in Valencia if you do NOT have your own computer is The Laundry Stop – a cool little spot in the heart of the hip and funky Barrio del Carmen. You can do laundry here or simply do the internet. What a GREAT idea - unfortunately I am not in need of a laundromat right now, but I wish ALL laundromats had Wifi! Coin operated computers are self-service and for every 50 cents-euros you get 20 minutes of cyber time. The Laundry Stop, c/ Baja 17, (or Baix on the street sign), 46003 Valencia, off of calles Quart and Caballeros, open every day from 9:30 am to 10:00pm; http://www.thelaundrystop.es

If you do have a laptop, the super nice places are the Rivendel Café where you can use their computers or your own. If you are using your own you need to ask for the password at the counter. You just need to buy drink or food (they make fresh squeezed zumo de naranja (orange juice) here!) This is an awesome place if you have a laptop because they have shaded outdoor seating which is lovely right by the old 16th century hospital, and gardens now converted into a public library. If you are using their computer you pay for time. Rivendel, c/ Hospital 18, Valencia. Open from lunch through the evening. For listings of their free music on Friday nights see: http://www.myspace.com/athikus.

Q-Art is a funky bar and restaurant in the shadows of the Torres de Quart (Quart Tower), one of the few remnants of the old walled city. Q-Art has marble-topped tables and a relaxed atmosphere – open Monday to Saturday from 11:00 am to 1:30 am. Here for a drink and/or food you can use their free wifi if you have your own computer. You need to ask for the password at the bar. Q-Art, C/ Guillem De Castro 78, 46001 Valencia; 963 916 115

Cava del Negret, c/ Calatrava 15, Valencia has indoor and outdoor seating and is open from 12:00pm to 1:30 am every day with wifi if you have your own computer, at Plaza Negrito (off of c/ Caballeros).

If you do NOT have your own computer you can go to CyberPhone open everyday from 9:30 am to Midnight. CyberPhone, Carrer del Manyans, 3 bajo 46001 Valencia. At CyberPhone you can use the computers for Internet, make calls, make photocopies, fax and more.

Right next door is a great store - nothing to do with wifi - I digress here - Devil Records, selling new and used rock and punk albums (cd and vinyl) as well as refurbished portable record players! – a flash from my childhood. Man, I loved my little record player. My parents fashioned my pink and white record player on some drawer runners so it would slide and hide into the cabinet in my small bedroom, but I could pull it out and listen to Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Monkees, and the Beatles whenever I wanted. Those were the days! Devil Records, c/ El Manyans 5, 46001 Valencia, http://www.myspace.com/devilrecords; open 11am to 2pm/5-8:30 Monday to Saturday.

Santa Cruz Delights

Santa Cruzans might wince when I say this, but Santa Cruz is little like a mini-Berkeley. It is full of a variety of places to find good eats, from cafes and restaurants to farmer’s markets and health food stores. Stores selling green products abound, as do all manner of biking, hiking and surfing possibilities. Even though the water is cool in this part of California, surfing is huge here, so on any given day you will see all sorts of people mostly in wet suits (some hale and hardy die-hards still “trunk-it” sans wetsuits…brrr) trying to catch the perfect wave. The beaches – all public access – are huge and beautiful. Dolphin sightings are fairly common so keep your eyes peeled if you are walking along the beach. If you felt so inclined you could walk almost thirty miles on the sand beaches from Capitola to Monterey. But be cautioned – there can be bad fog along the coast especially in the summer months…


While touring the Pacific Avenue part of Santa Cruz, I came upon a flyer in the Eco Goods store advertising an upcoming lecture about “Wifi-Stress”. My friend asked me, “What do you think this means?” I said, “That’s what I have – wifi stress - because I can’t find any darn wifi in California!” However the lack of abundant wifi was not the subject of the lecture, but rather about the potential hazards of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from cell phones and wifi. We proceeded to have a serious conversation about the other form of wifi stress that has to do with our insta-society and kids being glued to their cell phones constantly texting and yacking… making us wonder what the combination of the EMFs and the addiction to technology would bring us in the coming years.

And speaking of my kind of “wifi Stress”, I found relief at Verve, 816 41st Ave., Santa Cruz; 831-475-7776, a sweet coffee and tea café with good! wifi available when you purchase one of their delicious drinks or treats.

The weather was glorious while I was in Santa Cruz, although I was told not entirely normal for this time of year when they should be having more rain. I did not complain. While there are all sorts of great places to frequent in the area, I have listed below some of the places I discovered. Enjoy them if and when you find yourself in the Santa Cruz area.

River Café and Cheese Shop, 415 River Street, Santa Cruz; 831-420-1280. As the name implies, this is a café serving light meals for breakfast, lunch and snacks, as well as selling local delicacies – cheeses, canned local organic pears, apricots and other fruits, fresh breads, local olive oil and more tucked into a tiny space with a larger outdoor dining terrace. If you are a frequent River Café eater, you can purchase their $1,000 CSA-like share for the year so you can have a virtual prepaid charge account while supporting this local endeavor committed to organic, fresh foods.

Chocolate, 1522 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz; 831-427-9900; www.chocolatesantacruz.com; Open 11am-11pm. A full scale chocolaterie with all manner of chocolate drinks and eats plus delicious, organic, local soups, salads, sandwiches and traditional Mole dishes. Lovely outdoor dining as well as indoor seating.

La Vie, 429 Front Street, Santa Cruz; 831-429-6746; www.lavie.us; Open seven days a week. La Vie offers Raw Foods (dairy & gluten-free too), vegan, vegetarian and sustainable seafood as take out and a restaurant.

New Leaf Community Markets are large, full-service natural foods stores that carry a wonderful variety of local products with five stores in the Santa Cruz area – www.newleaf.com

Way of Life, 1220 A 41st, Ave., Begonia Shopping Plaza, Santa Cruz; 831-464-4113; www.wayoflife.net; Good selection of vitamins, supplements, herbs and homeopathics, as well as gift items, located in the same mini-mall as one of the New Leaf Markets.

Farmer’s Markets - www.santacruzfarmersmarket.org
Think Local First - www.thinklocalsantacruz.org

You can probably picture the myriad of yoga centers around Santa Cruz, and you would be correct. One such place is the Santa Cruz Integrative Medicine and Chi Center, East Cliff Shopping Center, 21511 East Cliff Drive, Suite B, Santa Cruz; 831-465-9088; www.santacruzchicenter.com. The Center offers classes throughout the day of yoga, Qi Gong, Tai Chi and meditation, as well as a full Integrative Medicine Clinic. I took a delightful yoga class here one morning with Kristin Lansdale as my teacher. She specializes in Yin Yoga, as well as a gentle, restorative yoga, which left me feeling deeply content.

Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz; 831-423-0900; www.bookshopsantacruz.com; Open 9am-10pm, Fridays and Saturdays until 11pm. A large independent bookstore selling new and used books. Santa Cruz: A Guide for Runners, Joggers and Serious Walkers, Journeyworks Publishing is just one of the thousands of good finds available at the store.

Eco Goods, 1130 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz; 831-429-5758; www.ecogoods.com
Purveyor of organic cotton and hemp clothing, bedding, and other eco-products. Look for the notepads and ornaments made out of elephant “poo”.

Enjoying the Country in the City: Green Space and Markets in New York City

While many people think of New York City as a hunk of grey concrete, there are many things “green” in the city. Two recent posts (see archives) have talked about some great green eating in the city. Public transportation and walking are the only way to get around, and for the brave, bicycling. While the downtown “Village” of Manhattan, and the boroughs (Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island) can be a little confusing to navigate, the center of Manhattan is very simple. It is based on a grid and numbered with ascending numbers going uptown or north. Below Central Park (south of 59th Street) most of the avenues are numbered and ascend from East to West. On either side of the park some of the avenues are named. For a native New Yorker these are ingrained as to which are West Side and which are East side, for visitors it is best to carry a map.

For literally green areas of the city there are over 1700 parks and recreational areas, the largest of which is Central Park, designated a National Historic Landmark, with 843 acres and 26,000 trees, the park runs 2.5 miles long by .5 miles wide. Strawberry Fields, named in honor of John Lennon, covers 2.5 acres within Central Park on the West side between 71st and 74th Streets. Strawberry Fields, considered a “Quiet Space” in Central Park, has a mosaic inscribed with the word “Imagine”. One hundred and twenty-one countries recognize Strawberry Fields as a Garden of Peace. Central Park is filled with trails and sites, ball fields, theaters, flowers and more. See the web site below for full information.

New York City has numerous Farmer’s Markets, called Greenmarkets. Thirty markets operate seasonally sometime between April and November, while sixteen markets are open year round. Some of the larger year round markets include:
Union Square in Manhattan between 14th-17th streets and Broadway, once a haven for drug dealers and users, is now a refurbished mini-park, home to the Union Square GreenMarket. Accessible by many subway lines and buses, the Union Square GreenMarket is open year round from 8am-6pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Farmers sell a variety of fresh, local foods including in-season specialties such as cherries and peaches, as well as vegetables, meats, dairy products, crafts and plants.
At the north entrance of Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Grand Army Plaza hosts a GreenMarket on Saturdays year round from 8am-4pm.
The Bowling Green GreenMarket is held at the southern tip of Manhattan at Broadway and Battery Place on Tuesdays and Thursdays around the year from 8am to 5pm. See the website information below for a full listing of all the GreenMarkets with their days, times and locations.

On sunny days the green spaces of New York come alive with walkers, joggers, bicyclers, roller bladers, sunbathers and others enjoying the country in the city. The GreenMarkets are always bustling, so arrive earlier rather than later for the best selections. You will find it almost hard to believe you are in one of the largest cities in the world!

To find Parks throughout New York City go to the following link for the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation - http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/park_list/index.html
You can also find free wifi hotspots in city parks including seven in Central Park, two in Prospect Park, and throughout Union Square, Washington Square and Battery Parks. For information specific to Central Park see the Central Park Conservancy - http://www.centralparknyc.org - for maps, events, sites and hours.


At the Council on the Environment of New York City (CENYC) – www.cenyc.org - you will find full information about Greenmarket Farmer’s Markets throughout the five boroughs with a downloadable map at: http://www.cenyc.org/files/gmkt/map.pdf . The Council also provides information about recycling throughout the city, as well as how to generally live a greener lifestyle using non-toxic alternatives to common products.