Pravda

For the people!!

Angeli sits on one of the busiest corners in the French Quarter, surrounded by galleries and antiques shops and just a few steps from the famous New Orleans flea market. Old tile-and-wood floors, weathered columns and movies projected onto the patina-covered wall behind the bar contribute to the funky ambience. Abetting the atmosphere is the clientele of French Quarter residents, tourists and...

A bit high-concept, with its Soviet-era lounge kitsch, it is nonetheless the best place in town for vodka drinkers and the absinthe-curious. While other bars in town stock this once-banned liquor, Pravda has the best selection and the correct service paraphernalia. And they know better than to set it on fire (well, unless you ask), a silly party trick that gained favor in 1990s Eastern Europe....

One of the most entertaining and educational attractions in the Gold Country, the Sutter Gold Mine tours lead visitors on an hour-long excursion into the bowels of a modern hard-rock gold mine. After a ride on a mining shuttle to the mine, visitors "tag in" and go through the safety training room, as the miners once did. Wearing your hard hat, you'll proceed deep into the mine, learning about...

Its Soviet nostalgia--red drapes, red stars, red bunting, red Cyrillic graffiti, red table lamps--is just window dressing, sometimes literally. Pravda is really one of the few boho-approved Quarter bars, alternating between quiet during the day and early evening to flat-out packed as the night moves to morning. Armed with about 60 types of vodka, the able bartenders almost never serve a bad...