Author Archives: marigold

From Peasant to POSH

Posted on December 19, 2010 by marigold

In a cable car going up Mt. Aetna in Sicily, I fell into conversation with a teen-aged boy and his mother who were  in on the island visiting family. The boy  had turned the trip into a quest for the … Continue reading →

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Naples with Three P’s

Posted on December 12, 2010 by marigold

The first P is for Pompeii, a short trip from Naples. I’m  glad I went to Pompeii  before the problems with falling walls and crumbling ruins escalated to where they are now. The site is spectacular, with Vesuvius brooding in … Continue reading →

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The Brothers Grimm Really Were

Posted on December 3, 2010 by marigold

Do you remember Hansel and Gretel?  I’m referring to the original story that became an opera by Englebert Humperdink long before  Stephen Sondheim incorporated part of it into the Broadway show Into the Woods? My recollections of  H &G  are … Continue reading →

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Turkey Redux

Posted on November 27, 2010 by marigold

Now that you’ve enjoyed your turkey, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie etc., the truth is  that most of the Thanksgiving story is a myth.  All the facts aren’t known but these are some: in 1621,  ninety Wampanoag Indians (not yet known … Continue reading →

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Now You See It…

Posted on November 15, 2010 by marigold

Magic captivates all ages, judging from the group at NYC’s Jewish Museum flooding in to see the exhibit: Houdini, Art and Magic. Erik Weisz, the name Houdini was born with, developed killer abs and a way with straitjackets and handcuffs. … Continue reading →

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Dim Sum Lunch

Posted on November 8, 2010 by marigold

My cousin and I have an every- few- months ritual of a weekend dim sum lunch in  Chinatown, convenient both to her coming from Brooklyn and me from uptown.   The literal translation of dim sum is something close to  … Continue reading →

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In Cooperstown But Not at Bat

Posted on October 31, 2010 by marigold

We went to Cooperstown in mid-October, well beyond baseball season.  On a previous trip to this town that looks like the town fathers insist on a  plants- and- flowers- surrounding- the- house when property changes hands, we went to the … Continue reading →

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How to Flame Your Dragon

Posted on October 23, 2010 by marigold

This metal dragon now makes his home on the center floor of the Ghent Belfry, which dates from1313.  The dragon  originally lived on top of the building where a contemporary gilded dragon current resides. In the old days, when times … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam Hermitage

Posted on October 15, 2010 by marigold

The Hermitage is in St. Petersburg, right? Well, yes but there’s another in Amsterdam. Seems that Tsar Peter the Great had a thing for Amsterdam and when the Russian powers that be were looking for a site for a “branch” … Continue reading →

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A Bowl of Snert

Posted on October 11, 2010 by marigold

In Amsterdam, everyone–young old, with dogs, kids or flowers, rides a bike. Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum is having a major renovation but what they term their “masterworks” are on view in the Phillips Wing. For two months, a portrait of Jan Six … Continue reading →

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