Monica L. Smith's Blog: A blog about cities!

Reader Q: What's the first thing that you do when you're in a new city?

Let’s get something to eat! There’s nothing like the prospect of setting down your bags and anchoring your new sense of place with some local cuisine. There’s a little hotel that I stay at in Bangkok that has an amazing pad thai, and they’re kind enough to make it available at all hours. After a long flight and an intense taxi ride across town, a big plate of noodles makes me feel like I’m absolutely in the right place at the right time. In New York, a pizza slice is the way to go. In Delhi, I head for the dosas at Sagar Ratna in the Defence Colony market, where if you time it right before the big rush you’ll get a seat; otherwise, be prepared to wait. Sometimes you get a meal that makes you want to linger, like the mussels of Nice piled into a bucket in front of you within sight of the sea, and sometimes it’s a slam of intensity that gets your day started with a bang, like the rapid-fire espresso and cornetto con crema of a stand-up café in Naples.

Reader Q: What's your favorite modern city, and why?

A: Do I have to pick just one? Otherwise, it's a tough question -- like Will Rogers said about people, I've never met a city that I didn't like. And while modern cities share a lot that is similar, they still each have their own personalities. Los Angeles is big and sunny and spread-out; St. Louis and New Orleans have all of those rich traditions; New York is fast and compact and endlessly diverse. I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time in New Delhi, and I think that Bangkok is great with its swirl of royal architecture and the pulsing life of the river that runs through it. Nanjing is elegant, Tokyo is vibrant, and Mexico City is a place that I'd love to spend some more time.