Looking through the eyes of Anne Frank was truly an extraordinary experience at B Street Theatre. “Extraordinary Things: Through the Eyes of Anne Frank” captivates its audience with diverse characters and realistic props. Playwright Dana Friedman brings to life on stage the extreme conditions that millions of Jews had to face in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. Directed by Buck Busfield, the play is set in Amsterdam-present-day-Netherlands-where Anne Frank, her family and four others lived in her father’s office building for two years to ensure the safety of Anne’s older sister Margot from the German authorities, who would have taken her to the a Nazi concentration camp. The

Award-winning travel writer and TV host Rick Steves is coming to Sacramento next week to share his thoughts on travel at St. John’s Lutheran Church. “Americans can travel in one of two ways,” Steves said. “They can travel in a way that widens the gap between them and the rest of the world, or with the proper attitude, you can broaden your perspective and get empathy for other cultures.” Steves got his start in the travel industry as a tour guide, and he has since authored more than 50 guidebooks. He is also is the host of the PBS series “Rick Steves’ Europe.” He had a simple message for those who are nervous or afraid about setting foot on foreign shores: “Fear is for people who don’t

After 20 years in business, the owners of Midtown’s Cafe Marika said they are living their dream – but getting there was no easy task. Lubomir (Louie) and Eva Chruma were living in Karlovy Vary – a spa and resort town in then-Czechoslovakia, but they dreamed of escaping the communist regime and moving to the United States. “We escaped in 1982,” Eva said. “We bought a vacation to Yugoslavia and crossed into Austria.” After seven months in a NATO refugee camp in Austria with others who had fled the Eastern Bloc countries, the Chrumas were able to travel to the United States with permission from the American consulate. Without knowing where they would be living, the two professional chefs