Boulder, Colorado

A Small-scale City
with Big-time Charm

By Jenn Director Knudsen

Window shopping, of course, often leads to real shopping, as it did for me at Two Hands Paperie, purveyor of beautifully displayed, elegant stationery, journals, pens and related items. I still love using the individual gift cards (a set of 150) I bought and plan to save the coffee-and-rust-colored African-print box they came in.

Another boutique on Pearl Street that caught my eye – and credit card – is the Alpaca Connection, direct importers of 100 percent cotton and Alpaca- and sheep-wool garments.

Heather, who'd spent time in Peru, encouraged me to snap up a pair of luxuriously warm "glittens" – gloves with a fold-over attachment that transform them into mittens – and a pumpkin-colored sarape. She said the shop's prices were better than those found in Peru itself.

To celebrate my purchases – and after quickly donning them – Heather and I strolled just a few more blocks and parked ourselves for quite a while at Trilogy Wine Bar & Lounge.

Owned by triplet sisters – get it? – we got in on its very reasonable and yummy (not to mention vegetarian-friendly) happy hour. We slowly sipped at least two glasses of red wine apiece in this dark-hued venue and made a dinner out of fresh baguette slices, sundry cheeses, hummus, olive tapenade, fruit and glazed almonds.

Two blocks west of the Pearl Street Mall is a cultural and visual wonder, the Boulder Dushanbe Tea House. As its Web site suggests, stepping into this teahouse is like stepping way back in time – roughly 2,000 years, actually.

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