1. Korea Town, West 32nd Street, New York City.
New York's Korea Town is only one block long, but if you step inside any one of literally dozens of Korean barbeque restaurants, you will feel as if you are in Seoul. The lanch crowd is buttoned - downmanager types; at night, trendy twebty somethings fill the air with laughter and the sound of a million cell phone tones.
2. Little Denmarks, Solvang, California.
Apart from the balmy weather, Solvang is very much like a Danish Village, with its old country architecture, windmills, and cobblestone side streets. At Danish Days every September, the locls set up giant pans and cook Aebleskivers - an apple rolled up in a waffle, looking much like a tennis ball.
3. Little Havana, Miami, Florida.
Cuba has long been off-limits, so Miami's Little Havana-with its vibrant tropical architecture, home-style cooking, and red-hot nightlife that s all music, madness, and mojitoss- is the closest most of us will get to the real thing.
4. Fredericksburg, Texas.
Settled by German farmers 150 years ago, Fredericksburg is an oddball combination of Marlboro Country and Bavaria - with the latter winning out. You cant take three steps down Main Streets without being lured into a beer hall booming oompah music. Even the town's Web site greets you with a hearty " Wilkommen! ".
5. Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, California.
Once inhabited by Jewish immigrants, Boyle Heights is now the heart of the barrio, famous for its Mexican food and colorful murals. In Mariachi Plaza musicians in ruffled shirts and embroidered bolero jackets take up their guitars and entertain the passersby every afternoon and evening.
6. Chinatown, San Francisco, California.
San Francisco's Chinatown is inarguably non-Western-especially during the New Year, when fireworks drown out the clack of mah-jongg tiles and a phantasmagorical parade winds past the gilded storefronts, herb and tea shops, and dim sum joints that line its narrow streets.
7. Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York.
Once nicknamed " the retired poor man's Miami, " this neighborhood next door to Coney Island is now known as Little Odessa - home to some 150, 000 Soviet immigrants who still favor their cabbage pies, lard sandwiches, strong vodka, and sentimental music.
8. Lafayette, Louisiana.
Laissez les bon temps rouler is the unofficial motto of the Festival International de Louisiane. Every April there is food, music, and dancing from throughout the French-speaking world, all stirred together in a harmonious - and spicy - gumbo in this distinctly Cajun enclave. |
Travel to Europe
