Avant-Guide New York City
By Dan Levine
Empire Press--ISBN 1891603019

Dan Levine's travel guide plugs you into the city's style and culture--and gets you armed and ready to feel less like a tourist and more like a New Yorker. Looking for bargains? Trying to get off the beaten path? The Avant-Guide is a terrific place to start...

She shops New York and saves...
"You can get practically anything in New York for less money than you'd pay anywhere else. To Europeans, this city often looks like one giant red-tag sale. Orchard Street, on the Lower East Side, is where bargains were invented. There you'll find high-end designer fashions as well as basic family apparel at about 25% off the regular retail price. The street is jam-packed with shoppers on Sundays, and only about half the stores are open on Saturdays (many observe the Jewish Sabbath), so it's best to go mid-week to avoid the crowds."

The Complete Idiot's Travel Guide to NYC
By Bruce Murphy and Alessandra de Rosa
Macmillan General Reference--ISBN 0028631501

With advice on money matters, transportation to and around the city, finding your bearings, nightlife and entertainment, and a terrific shopper's guide, The Complete Idiot's Travel Guide really is that--complete!

Getting the right theatre seats...
�As a general rule, try to get seats that face the stage directly--not in the side aisles--either in the orchestra or the first row of each balcony. Avoid the upper balcony levels: the stage looks really tiny from up there and the air is thin. These strategies should protect you from getting either of the two main types of really bad seats: those with an obstructed view and those too far away to see a thing. The types of seats we�ve recommended are also the most expensive, but it�s better to pay a little more than not enjoy the show...However, don�t forget that many theatres set aside special tickets for seniors and full-time students; they generally go on sale the day of the performance.�

Strong city, strong women...

Sexual harassment of the wolf-whistling-on-the-streets variety is rare in Manhattan. Powerful, no-nonsense businesswomen have been yelling back their objections since the 1970's. If you want to sit alone in Central Park, take a book with you and position yourself where there are lots of people--for example on a bench near a children's playground. In restaurants and bars, downtown especially, you're unlikely to have any trouble because staff and customers are inured to the sight of women alone. Occasionally a hotel bellboy or other service staff might get fresh--a jovial refusal will be jovially accepted.
(Source: New York--The Virago Woman's Travel Guide)

Fun female facts...

	In 1970 only one woman ran the New York City Marathon. But by 1980, there were 1,962 women runners compared to 12,050 men and by 1990, women made up close to one-fifth of the competitors--4,727 of 25,012. And in 1999, at 9,426 females out of 32,503 runners, almost one in three marathoners was a woman. We've run a long way, baby!
	Some 500 ounces of fragrance are sprayed at Bloomingdale's every single day. Now that's a lot of perfume.
	More than 100 years ago, the elegant "Ladies' Mile" ran between 14th and 23rd streets and was lined with such shoppers' paradises as Tiffany and Co. Good news for shopaholics--the famous stretch is now being revived with a host of new stores.
	Not surprisingly, New York was the birthplace of the "New Woman" of the 1920's and 30's. She smoked, read Oscar Wilde, had short hair, wore men's suits, lived in Greenwich Village, and favoured "free love" over marriage.
	The first woman was not admitted to the New York Stock Exchange until 1967--Muriel Siebert paved the way for her trading floor sisters. Muriel was also the first woman to Chair the Boy Scouts, a position she won in 1985.
	The tallest woman on earth, the Statue of Liberty, measures a towering 151 feet. Lovely Lady Liberty was unveiled in New York harbor on October 28, 1886--in a ceremony women were barred from attending! AND, it was a woman, Emma Lazarus, who wrote the famous poem engraved on the statue's base--"Give me your tired, your poor,/ Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
(Source: The travel books reviewed in this article).

Attention bookwormettes.....

Each issue we'll be reviewing the latest and best travel literature available. We'll also be bringing back some of the golden oldies that we feel journeywomen everywhere will appreciate. And...we'd love your input. Guide books, biographies, short stories, how-to's, etc... Simply click here and let us know about your absolute favourites. C'mon. Let's Network!