Tag: history
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“Chicago, Chicago, That Todd’ling Town”
Stef and Stan in the Second City, Part 4 August 27, 2026 At long last, today was the day to get our Frank Lloyd Wright “fix.” After breakfast, we headed out to the suburb of Oak Park, where it all began. Oak Park was where well-heeled Chicagoans fled after the Great Fire of 1871, ostensibly…
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“Chicago, Chicago, That Todd’ling Town”
Stef and Stan in the Second City, Part 3 August 26, 2026 Tony, our tour leader, told us that Chicago’s population is roughly 30% Caucasian, 30% Black, 30% Hispanic, and 10% other ethnicities. Today we focused on the Hispanic part. There is a neighborhood in Chicago called Pilsen. After the Chicago Fire of 1871, it…
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“Chicago, Chicago, That Todd’ling Town”
Stef and Stan in the Second City August 24, 2026 Let’s get this over with: Here is the usual hommage in my intro blog post, this time to Fred Fisher, who composed the above-referenced tune in 1922. And to the performer, Frank Sinatra, who made it famous in 1958. Apologies to my subscribers under the…
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Abroad at Home, Part 4
The Wright Stuff Tuesday, August 4, 2026 Back in 2018, Stef and I took a mini-vacay to Chicago. We took in the South Side, visited the campus of the University of Chicago and toured the Robie House, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Some of the photos in this post are not mine.) It was totally…
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Abroad at Home, Part 3
Home is Where the Art Is July 23, 2026 The last time we did one of these “Abroad at Home” posts was (you may recall) when we visited Boston for the John Singer Sargent exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in December 2023. Full disclosure: none of the photos in this blog are mine.…
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If You Knew Sushi Like I Know Sushi #3
Tokyo, continued, May 8, 2026 May 9, 2026, 4:40 am Japan Standard Time (JST). Our first experience yesterday (Friday) was a visit to the Meiji Shrine. It’s a Shinto shrine (Shinto is the native Japanese religion, going back to the beginnings of Japanese culture). The shrine is dedicated to the deified spirits of Emperor Meiji…
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Snow Bird Interlude
Stef and Stan in Sarasota. February 3, 2026 Stef’s late mom (Ruth) lived in Sarasota for many years, and Stef was a frequent visitor. Ruth died in 2020 at the age of 106!! For the past several years, the two of us have been snow-birding here for two-week winter stays. The usual experience has been…
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If it’s October, this must be Belgium (#12, Final Post)
Last Day in Brussels: The Fine Arts and Magritte Museums October 29, 2025 We fly back to New York tomorrow, October 30. For our last day in Brussels, we wanted to check out the museum dedicated to Belgium’s own René Magritte. We were surprised that the Musée Magritte is actually a part of the complex…
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If it’s October, it must be Belgium (#7)
The Musical Instrument Museum Tuesday, October 22, 2025 Tuesday was somewhat problematic. We ran into some technical problems (washing machine, computer) that absorbed most of the morning. But all got fixed. In the afternoon, we visited the Musée des Instruments de Musique, or Muziekinstrumentenmuseum, or MIM. It’s in the Upper Town, near the Royal Palace.…
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“Mamma Mia, Here We Go Again…”
Almost at the Fin[n]ish Line Friday, June 27, 2025 Friday was a highpoint of the trip! First stop was the Helsinki Synagogue. We had failed to submit our documentation in advance; the kind but professional security guard offered to examine our passports and emails from another synagogue (the one in Tallinn, which we didn’t have…
Something to Declare 