That Vegas Feeling in Washington’s Grand Dames Has anyone ever gone to the nation’s capital to experience the glitz? D.C. tends to be a staid and educational or work-related travel destination, one where a little history, a brush with power, and, increasingly, some good food, can be had. A quick visit to some monuments, a…
Author: BashfulAdventurer
What to Order at Russia House
On a quick trip to the District of Columbia with the Brawny Sherpa and the most senior of our youthful adventurers, we opt for dinner at the Russia House both for its convenience — located in close proximity to the Washington Hilton, where we are staying for the weekend — and in the hope that we will…
Gawking at Ford’s Theatre
That Creepiness at the Crossroads of Tourism and Assassination Despite living in the District of Columbia for more than a decade, I always dodged visits to Ford’s Theatre, the site of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination by actor John Wilkes Booth. “Too many fourth-graders on a field trip,” I’d mutter, dismissing the long lines snaking outside the…
Remembering the Romanovs in Russia
A Reading of Helen Rappaport’s Romanov Sisters The story of some sisters burdened with a bit of a wackadoodle mother and an autocratic father appeals to many of us, even if we do know the ending, as in the case of the daughters of the last Russian czar (Nicholas): Olga, Tatiana, Marie, and Anastasia. Intrigued,…
Peaceful Places to Visit: St. Patrick’s Cathedral
You Don’t Have to Be Catholic to Go In At a moment when the universe seems especially volatile, what with climate fluctuations, terrorist strikes, and police v. civilian discord, even adventuresome travelers can be tempted to stay indoors for a season or two. Certainly, sitting by the fireplace and reading a book has its appeal,…
Grand Central Eagle
Toodling around Manhattan’s 42nd Street before a meeting in midtown, I cross to the Pershing Square Café side of the street and head toward Bryant Park. I don’t know what makes me look toward the taxi stand at Grand Central Station, but when I do, I notice an eagle sculpture that I have never noticed…
France: The Oldest Friend of the United States
What’s Left of the Berlin Wall?
Seeing Where the World Really Changed It seems almost unimaginable now that for so many years, between 1961 and November 9, 1989, a wall divided East and West Berlin and tourists couldn’t cross easily beneath the Brandenburg Gate, and East Germans couldn’t easily get to the West, and this major city and this major country…
Looking for the Revolution in Russia
November 7 is Something of a Big Day The New York Times in 1917 reported that on November 7, “the Bolsheviki” had seized government buildings in what was then called Petrograd; in the same day’s paper, November 8, the Times reported that there were 10 Socialists in the New York Assembly, and that suffragists were…
A Flatiron Fling
A Quick Stay in the East 20s at Fifth Avenue, Manhattan The problem with living near New York City is the same as the problem with living in New York City: One tends to limit oneself to a particular neighborhood, whether it’s the one in which you reside (I used to joke when living on…