Category Archives: Two-fisted Touristing

Excursions around the world, ideally with some musical seasoning.

VERSAILLES – A Walk in the Park (and what a Park!)

Posted on March 25, 2019 by dannyashkenasi

A detailed guided tour through the baroque mythological splendors and eye popping and head scratching extravagance of the park of Versailles. The park grounds of Versailles are immense and splendid. Below a map of the whole park: Only the bottom … Continue reading →

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VERSAILLES – A Stroll Through the Gilded Chateau

Posted on January 28, 2019 by dannyashkenasi

Take a walk with me inside the opulent grandeur of Luis XIV’s showcase We approach the palace, or chateau, from the municipality of Versailles. An equestrian statue of Louis XIV greets the tourists at the first gate:     This … Continue reading →

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MARK TWAIN NEVER GOT TO THE LOUVRE (but I did)

Posted on December 14, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

A trip to the magnificent Louvre museum with Mark Twain.  Well actually Mark Twain himself never got there, but he wrote about not getting there in “The Innocents Abroad”, and that satirical anecdote about what happens to unwary, blustery Americans … Continue reading →

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SENSUAL RODIN

Posted on November 24, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

We start with a famous thought.  We end with a famous kiss.   Rodin’s Thinker greats you in the courtyard of the Rodin House in Paris.  And so he will be the introduction to this post of some of Rodin’s … Continue reading →

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VERSAILLES – Reflections in the Hall of Mirrors

Posted on October 21, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

  Paris provided a wealth of imagery and perspectives for me to share – it’ll probably take me a year to process it all in blog post sized bits (here the first one two three four five posts). Why, alone the long … Continue reading →

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Sensual Statues of the Musée D’Orsay

Posted on October 5, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Tensions of the world making you anxious? Here is much soothing, sculptural sensuality but also some less comforting, chiseled objectification Continuing my fascination with sensual statuary in Paris, the greatest concentration of such aesthetically, artistically, and, let’s admit it, amorously … Continue reading →

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Sensual Statues in the Streets of Paris

Posted on September 19, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Nude statues are all over Paris. I don’t know if statistically there are more nude statues there than in other European cultural capitals, or if the nude statues of Paris are particularly more sensual than elsewhere, or if it is … Continue reading →

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AH, PARIS!

Posted on September 13, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

The EIFFEL TOWER, as seen from many different Paris neighborhoods, constitutes the official kick off to a whole lot of Paris infused blog posts (even if it is actually the third of such blog posts – I’ll just call those first … Continue reading →

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MONA LISA & ME

Posted on September 5, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Yep that’s me.  And that’s the Mona Lisa.  And this is a little tale of how I spent some time with her. It starts with a trip to Paris.  And a whole day set aside for the Louvre, the immense … Continue reading →

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ISADORA DUNCAN (?) and the View from Pompidou

Posted on August 29, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

A pioneer of modern dance.  A preserved treasure of early film. Ed and I are spending two weeks in Paris (don’t feel sorry for me) and Monday we went to the Pompidou museum, where this little treasure of dance and … Continue reading →

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Museum Impressions

Posted on June 17, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Yesterday at the Brooklyn Museum with an unwitting special focus on the feminine    

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These Roses are Ready for their Close-Up, Mr. DeMille!

Posted on June 3, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Another year… another June… This year the rose garden at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden had received a “hard cut”, as we heard a passerby explain.  Which made it still lovely but less lush than in years past.  So I’ll focus … Continue reading →

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The Views from THE VIEW

Posted on May 3, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Ed and I were treated to dinner at The View restaurant on the top of the Marriott Hotel in Times Square.  48 stories high, the whole restaurant is perched on a circular platform that, like a very slowly rotating record, … Continue reading →

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GETTING KINKY WITH JAKE AND WAYNE

Posted on March 10, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

Ed and I originally saw “Kinky Boots” when it was still in previews.  We had treated each other with reciprocal Broadway tickets for Xmas, because we had high hopes for a Harvey Fierstein / Cyndi Lauper musical collaboration.  The performance … Continue reading →

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IT’S A PUZZLEMENT

Posted on January 7, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

One of Ed’s Christmas gifts to me was three puzzles made out of photos he had taken.  This was for one of our traditional “little” gifts we give each other, and Ed boasted of a Groupon offer that allowed him … Continue reading →

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The Map Room of Madison, Wisconsin

Posted on January 3, 2018 by dannyashkenasi

  On the second floor of a hundred year old house near Vilas Park in Madison, Wisconsin, is a guest bedroom known as the Map Room.     Three of its four walls have been wall papered by huge maps … Continue reading →

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