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Long feature article in the SMH about Parramatta Square, with a lot to unpack.
"All of these things happen within a few minutes: a shirtless man riding a skateboard jumps onto a bench and performs a triple somersault; four women in traditional Chinese dresses dance to music blasting from a portable speaker; two Mormons engage in conversation with a man in shorts; strangers – some kitchen staff from the nearby Indonesian restaurant, some in suits – compete at council-provided table tennis tables; about eight government bureaucrats, school students and corporate workers gather around a giant chessboard, appraising each other’s moves; five schoolgirls, some in hijabs and all in Adidas flats, eat ice-cream; and I am approached by a neatly dressed man who invites me to listen to a presentation about God the Mother.
...
"What started as an urban renewal project costing $2.7 billion worked – now Parramatta Square is just urban."
Definitely agree that, especially on weekdays, it's a very vibrant space and an example of urban renewal done well.
"It’s a question brought to the fore by an innocent enough change in tenancy: the main cafe that used to occupy space at the base of the public library is being replaced by the cult American chicken shop Wingstop.
"At Publique, the bistro-style cafe that spread its Prague chairs along the open sides of the French-designed “public living room”, library visitors and tourists, the down-and-out and university students, would all rub shoulders with the lanyard class of state bureaucrats and corporate officers in nearby buildings.
"Wingstop, with 3000 stores worldwide, is unlikely to attract such a crowd. But the change at the square’s flagship venue represents a shift in approach from the council: a daytime-focused venue that mainly attracted people working will turn into a nighttime-focused eatery aimed at young people, especially students.
...
"But Wingstop will be able to do what Publique never managed: stay open late, and on weekends. When the office workers leave and university students go home, Parramatta Square turns eerie. On weekends, the library is often the only place open during the day."
Yes, that space *should* have remained a café.
And, more importantly, Publique *should* have opened on weekends.
Phive, the library building, is absolutely packed with students on a weekend.
If it were open on weekends, many would buy coffees. Food too, if it's tasty abd affordable.
But Publique closed on weekends, in the misguided view that only office workers want coffee.
And then because all the cafés are closed by 1:30pm on weekends, there's less reason /to/ visit on weekends.
(Ironically, the few that are open later do an amazing trade.)
"Zoom out beyond the three-hectare site, and you’ll get a glimpse of the forces that will change how we experience the square.
To the west, land owned by St John’s Cathedral was last year rezoned to allow for the multi-storey development of church premises, with more than 2500 square metres of public space.
"And to the north, machinery is heaving around the site of the future Metro West station precinct, which will practically double the space in the area, with four towers stretching up to 38 storeys.
"Among the towers will be swathes of new public space, also forming part of the new Civic Link strip to connect the CBD to the river."
One of the issues with the Parra CBD at the moment is that so much of it is still under construction.
The other thing that it's sorely missing is arts and cultural spaces, especially a decent sized art gallery and live music venues.
The Parra Powerhouse and a rebuilt Riverside Theatre could help on that front. But I'd look to add a good main history museum, major public art gallery, and reopen the Roxy as an art gallery.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fried-chicken-corporate-towers-and-the-search-for-western-sydney-s-heart-20251230-p5nqpz.html
#Parramatta #WesternSydney #Sydney -
Long feature article in the SMH about Parramatta Square, with a lot to unpack.
"All of these things happen within a few minutes: a shirtless man riding a skateboard jumps onto a bench and performs a triple somersault; four women in traditional Chinese dresses dance to music blasting from a portable speaker; two Mormons engage in conversation with a man in shorts; strangers – some kitchen staff from the nearby Indonesian restaurant, some in suits – compete at council-provided table tennis tables; about eight government bureaucrats, school students and corporate workers gather around a giant chessboard, appraising each other’s moves; five schoolgirls, some in hijabs and all in Adidas flats, eat ice-cream; and I am approached by a neatly dressed man who invites me to listen to a presentation about God the Mother.
...
"What started as an urban renewal project costing $2.7 billion worked – now Parramatta Square is just urban."
Definitely agree that, especially on weekdays, it's a very vibrant space and an example of urban renewal done well.
"It’s a question brought to the fore by an innocent enough change in tenancy: the main cafe that used to occupy space at the base of the public library is being replaced by the cult American chicken shop Wingstop.
"At Publique, the bistro-style cafe that spread its Prague chairs along the open sides of the French-designed “public living room”, library visitors and tourists, the down-and-out and university students, would all rub shoulders with the lanyard class of state bureaucrats and corporate officers in nearby buildings.
"Wingstop, with 3000 stores worldwide, is unlikely to attract such a crowd. But the change at the square’s flagship venue represents a shift in approach from the council: a daytime-focused venue that mainly attracted people working will turn into a nighttime-focused eatery aimed at young people, especially students.
...
"But Wingstop will be able to do what Publique never managed: stay open late, and on weekends. When the office workers leave and university students go home, Parramatta Square turns eerie. On weekends, the library is often the only place open during the day."
Yes, that space *should* have remained a café.
And, more importantly, Publique *should* have opened on weekends.
Phive, the library building, is absolutely packed with students on a weekend.
If it were open on weekends, many would buy coffees. Food too, if it's tasty abd affordable.
But Publique closed on weekends, in the misguided view that only office workers want coffee.
And then because all the cafés are closed by 1:30pm on weekends, there's less reason /to/ visit on weekends.
(Ironically, the few that are open later do an amazing trade.)
"Zoom out beyond the three-hectare site, and you’ll get a glimpse of the forces that will change how we experience the square.
To the west, land owned by St John’s Cathedral was last year rezoned to allow for the multi-storey development of church premises, with more than 2500 square metres of public space.
"And to the north, machinery is heaving around the site of the future Metro West station precinct, which will practically double the space in the area, with four towers stretching up to 38 storeys.
"Among the towers will be swathes of new public space, also forming part of the new Civic Link strip to connect the CBD to the river."
One of the issues with the Parra CBD at the moment is that so much of it is still under construction.
The other thing that it's sorely missing is arts and cultural spaces, especially a decent sized art gallery and live music venues.
The Parra Powerhouse and a rebuilt Riverside Theatre could help on that front. But I'd look to add a good main history museum, major public art gallery, and reopen the Roxy as an art gallery.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fried-chicken-corporate-towers-and-the-search-for-western-sydney-s-heart-20251230-p5nqpz.html
#Parramatta #WesternSydney #Sydney -
Long feature article in the SMH about Parramatta Square, with a lot to unpack.
"All of these things happen within a few minutes: a shirtless man riding a skateboard jumps onto a bench and performs a triple somersault; four women in traditional Chinese dresses dance to music blasting from a portable speaker; two Mormons engage in conversation with a man in shorts; strangers – some kitchen staff from the nearby Indonesian restaurant, some in suits – compete at council-provided table tennis tables; about eight government bureaucrats, school students and corporate workers gather around a giant chessboard, appraising each other’s moves; five schoolgirls, some in hijabs and all in Adidas flats, eat ice-cream; and I am approached by a neatly dressed man who invites me to listen to a presentation about God the Mother.
...
"What started as an urban renewal project costing $2.7 billion worked – now Parramatta Square is just urban."
Definitely agree that, especially on weekdays, it's a very vibrant space and an example of urban renewal done well.
"It’s a question brought to the fore by an innocent enough change in tenancy: the main cafe that used to occupy space at the base of the public library is being replaced by the cult American chicken shop Wingstop.
"At Publique, the bistro-style cafe that spread its Prague chairs along the open sides of the French-designed “public living room”, library visitors and tourists, the down-and-out and university students, would all rub shoulders with the lanyard class of state bureaucrats and corporate officers in nearby buildings.
"Wingstop, with 3000 stores worldwide, is unlikely to attract such a crowd. But the change at the square’s flagship venue represents a shift in approach from the council: a daytime-focused venue that mainly attracted people working will turn into a nighttime-focused eatery aimed at young people, especially students.
...
"But Wingstop will be able to do what Publique never managed: stay open late, and on weekends. When the office workers leave and university students go home, Parramatta Square turns eerie. On weekends, the library is often the only place open during the day."
Yes, that space *should* have remained a café.
And, more importantly, Publique *should* have opened on weekends.
Phive, the library building, is absolutely packed with students on a weekend.
If it were open on weekends, many would buy coffees. Food too, if it's tasty abd affordable.
But Publique closed on weekends, in the misguided view that only office workers want coffee.
And then because all the cafés are closed by 1:30pm on weekends, there's less reason /to/ visit on weekends.
(Ironically, the few that are open later do an amazing trade.)
"Zoom out beyond the three-hectare site, and you’ll get a glimpse of the forces that will change how we experience the square.
To the west, land owned by St John’s Cathedral was last year rezoned to allow for the multi-storey development of church premises, with more than 2500 square metres of public space.
"And to the north, machinery is heaving around the site of the future Metro West station precinct, which will practically double the space in the area, with four towers stretching up to 38 storeys.
"Among the towers will be swathes of new public space, also forming part of the new Civic Link strip to connect the CBD to the river."
One of the issues with the Parra CBD at the moment is that so much of it is still under construction.
The other thing that it's sorely missing is arts and cultural spaces, especially a decent sized art gallery and live music venues.
The Parra Powerhouse and a rebuilt Riverside Theatre could help on that front. But I'd look to add a good main history museum, major public art gallery, and reopen the Roxy as an art gallery.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fried-chicken-corporate-towers-and-the-search-for-western-sydney-s-heart-20251230-p5nqpz.html
#Parramatta #WesternSydney #Sydney -
Raleigh City Council Recap: January 6, 2026 Meeting Highlights
The City of Raleigh City Council held a full agenda meeting on January 6, 2026, covering rezonings, affordable housing investments, committee restructuring, and major project updates—including the status of the Raleigh Convention Center and the New City Hall project. Below is a clear, community-focused recap of the most important actions and discussions for Raleigh residents.
👉 Full agenda and attachments:
Key Takeaways at a Glance
North Hills rezoning public hearing led the agenda and remains open for continued discussion Councilor Harrison named Mayor Pro Tem Raleigh Convention Center expected to reopen within days following fire-related repairs New City Hall remains on schedule for March 2027 completion, on time and on budget $2.88 million authorized for Duplex Village affordable housing development Multiple rezonings approved, delayed, or scheduled for future hearings City Council committees renamed to align with the adopted Strategic Plan Upcoming district meetings and Transportation & Transit Committee discussions announced
Leadership & Governance Updates
City Council unanimously named Councilor Harrison as Mayor Pro Tem, a key leadership role responsible for stepping in when the Mayor is unavailable and helping guide Council priorities.
Council also unanimously approved renaming two standing committees to better reflect policy focus:
Growth & Natural Resources Committee → Housing and the Environment Safe, Vibrant, and Healthy Communities Committee → Community Safety and Quality of Life
Major City Projects & Infrastructure
Raleigh Convention Center Update
Following a recent fire incident, staff reported:
Re-occupancy expected within a day or two Six events cancelled or relocated 34 Q1 events moving forward with minimal disruption Over $4 million in booked revenue retained More than 28,000 hotel room nights preserved
Council unanimously granted the City Manager expanded authority to enter contracts and approve budget transfers through June 30, 2026 to support recovery efforts.
New City Hall Project
The New City Hall project remains:
On schedule On budget Targeted for final completion in March 2027
Affordable Housing: Duplex Village
Council unanimously approved:
A $2,880,000 conditional commitment from the 2020 Affordable Housing Bond Authorization to lease city-owned land to BRAD (or designated ownership entity)
The Duplex Village project will deliver 120 affordable rental units for low-income households, representing a significant investment in housing stability and equity.
Rezoning & Land Use Decisions
Approved or Continued Rezoning Items
Z-9-25 – 4500 Western Blvd (District D): Approved 5–3, with concerns raised about tree canopy preservation Z-27-25 – 721 & 725 Grove Ave (District D): Unanimously approved Z-26-25 – Leesville Rd (District E): Unanimously approved Z-34-25 – North Hills (District A): Hearing held open until January 20 Z-33-25 – Gresham Lake Rd (District A): To return as a special item on January 20, with a public hearing set for February 3
Rezoning Delays for Further Discussion
Z-11-25 – 2230 S. New Hope Rd (District C): Public hearing delayed until January 20 to allow more discussion on affordable housing conditions Z-31-25 – 516 N. Blount St (District C): Planning Commission deadline extended by 45 days
Transportation & Street Closings
Street Closing STC-04-2025 (McLean Drive ROW): Unanimously approved Transportation & Transit Committee will meet January 29, 3–5 PM to discuss citizen-initiated street closures and transportation concerns, including Six Forks Road impacts related to North Hills development
Environmental & Public Health Actions
Council unanimously:
Authorized the sale of environmental credits generated by the Bioenergy Recovery Facility using Renewable Natural Gas Directed the City Attorney to draft a resolution adopting the NC DHHS model non-smoking ordinance
District & Community Meetings to Know
District D Neighborhood Alliance (DDNA): January 17, 9:30 AM – Crowder Center (hosted by Mayor Pro Tem Harrison) District E Meeting: January 14, 6–8 PM – La Cucina Italian Restaurant (Councilor Jones) Councilor Jones Book Club: January 17, 9:30–11:30 AM – New World Café District A Meeting: Tentatively scheduled for January 29 (location TBD, Councilor Silver)
Why This Matters
From housing affordability and downtown recovery to rezoning decisions and committee restructuring, the January 6 City Council meeting set the tone for Raleigh’s policy direction in early 2026. Residents are encouraged to stay engaged, attend upcoming committee meetings, and participate in district forums to help shape decisions that impact neighborhoods citywide.
👉 For continued coverage of Raleigh government, rezonings, and civic engagement opportunities, follow DoRaleigh.com.
Post your community News, Events, and you can request placing a Paid ad on our Submissions Page.
Follow Us: Instagram | Facebook | BSky | Linkedin
#AffordableHousingRaleigh #CityOfRaleigh #CityOfRaleighMeetings #DoRaleigh #events #News #NorthHillsRaleigh #RaleighCityCouncil #RaleighCivicEngagement #RaleighConventionCenter #RaleighGovernment #RaleighRezoning #RaleighTransit
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Quote of the day, 7 January: Valentino Macca, ocd
Many believed that with Teresa of Jesus, we were faced with a typical case of the Church declaring a Doctor equipollenter, from 1882 onwards. However, with ever greater insistence, the voices were heard of those who implored a formal declaration. In 1923, an appeal was made to the Holy See to achieve this intention; it failed. The time was not ripe.
Providence arranged that in the climate of grace created by Vatican II, Paul VI, so supernaturally open to the signs of the times, should have the inspiration to give for the first time to a female Saint, distinguished for a marvelous doctrine that made her the teacher and mother of spiritual life in the Church, the title of Doctor.
The Pope, chosen by God for this act, had already in 1965 practically called her Doctor; in 1967 he greeted her as “great teacher of Catholic mysticism” and “extraordinary interpreter of the things of God”; while on 10 September 1965, he declared her principal patroness of all Catholic writers in Spain, affirming that she was the “luminary of Spain and of the whole Church” through her books, filled with heavenly wisdom, and even today she remains praestantissima magistra [exceptional teacher].
The solemn act of 27 September 1970—crowning all of this—will give the title, full rights, and honors of “Doctor of the Church” to the one who loved to call herself “daughter of the Church.”
Valentino di Santa Maria Macca, O.C.D.
The Doctorate of Saint Teresa (excerpts)
Note: Father Valentino Macca, O.C.D. (Brescia, Italy, 17 February 1924 – 7 January 1988), entered the Discalced Carmelite Order at sixteen, was ordained in 1950 after studies at the Teresianum in Rome, and devoted decades of service to the Order and the Holy See. He served at the General Curia as General Archivist and director of Analecta O.D.C., taught Mariology at the Marianum, was widely cited for his scholarship, and acted as a consultor to several dicasteries; his final assignment was Relator for the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
Macca, V. di S. M. 1970–1971, ‘The doctorate of Saint Teresa: The historical development of an idea’, Ephemerides Carmeliticae, vol. 21, nos. 1–2, pp. 35–113.
Translation from the Italian text is the blogger’s own work product and may not be reproduced without permission.
Featured image: St. Teresa of Jesus, Doctor of the Church, Convento de la Concepción del Carmen, Valladolid. Image credit: Ángel Cantero, Iglesia en Valladolid / Flickr (Some rights reserved)
#DoctorOfTheChurch #history #StTeresaOfAvila #teacher #ValentinoMaccaOCD
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The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants – Robbreport.com
December 1, 2025
The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America, According to a New Ranking
A Chicago restaurant has taken the top spot, but New York City dominates the list.
By Jeremy Repanich, Published on December 1, 2025
Ray Kachatorian
Where’s the beef? A new ranking is glad to show you.
Asador Bastian in Chicago has been crowned the best steakhouse in North America, according to a new list of the 50 best steak restaurants on the continent. The Basque-influenced Asador Bastian opened in 2023 with chef Doug Psaltis at the helm, who had previously led Lettuce Entertain You’s wildly successful RPM division of restaurants that included RPM Steak. His new place sources steak from Galicia in Spain and also grills American beef that is bred to mimic Spanish cattle.
At No. 2 in the new ranking is the groundbreaking Korean American spot Cote, which was also just ranked one of the Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century in our new poll. Coming in at No. 3 is Jeffrey’s in Austin, Tex., followed by Daniel Boulud’s La Tête d’Or in New York City and celeb chef Tyler’s Florence’s Miller & Lux in San Francisco to round out out the top five.
In terms of cities that are the continent’s premier dining destinations for beef lovers, New York City stands far ahead of its fellow metropolises with 20 restaurants making the top 50. Those include 4 Charles Prime Rib, English import Hawksmoor, the successful reboot of Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. The next top city is Chicago with five restaurants, then Los Angeles with four, including the Michelin-starred Gwen at No. 6.
The organization behind these rankings, 101 Best Steak Restaurants, has a global list it releases each year in addition to regional lists—much like World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Top Pizza. It was founded in London in 2018 and has 21 anonymous inspectors on five continents who evaluate the steakhouses (sorry, steak restaurants) annually. And the inspectors evaluate dining destinations on a series of nine criteria including quality of meat, selection of cuts, service staff’s expertise in beef, wine program, design, and more. The full list below reveals the restaurants this group thinks really has the chops.
The 50 Best Steak Restaurants in North America for 2025
- 50. Nick + Stef’s, Los Angeles
- 49. Bardea Steak, Wilmington, Del.
- 48. Bern’s, Tampa, Fla.
- 47. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Chicago
- 46. Sparks, New York City
- 45. Porter House, New York City
- 44. Wolfgang’s, New York City
- 43. Al Biernat’s, Dallas
- 42. Gibsons Italia, Chicago
- 41. Klaw, Miami
- 40. Pappas Bros., Houston
- 39. Nuri Steakhouse, Dallas
- 38. Sammarco, Toronto
- 37. Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse, Las Vegas
- 36. Baltaire, Los Angeles
- 35. Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, San Francisco
- 34. Delmonicos, New York City
- 33. The Greggory, South Barrington, Ill.
- 32. Dirty French, New York City
- 31. Gui Steakhouse, New York City
- 30. Minetta Tavern, New York City
- 29. Keens, New York City
- 28. Marcel, Atlanta
- 27. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills
- 26. The Eight Six, New York City
- 25. Peter Luger, New York City
- 24. American Cut, New York City
- 23. Sunny’s, Miami
- 22. Gage & Tollner, New York City
- 21. Swift & Sons, Chicago
- 20. Prime + Proper, Detroit
- 19. Fat Rabbit, St. Catharines, Ontario
- 18. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, New York City
- 17. Gallaghers, New York City
- 16. Linny’s, Toronto
- 15. Txula Steak, New York City
- 14. Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Chicago
- 13. Jacobs & Co., Toronto
- 12. Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
- 11. Elisa, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 10. Hawksmoor, New York City
- 9. Daniel’s, Miami
- 8. Beefbar, New York City
- 7. 4 Charles Prime Rib, New York City
- 6. Gwen, Los Angeles
- 5. Miller & Lux, San Francisco
- 4. La Tête d’Or, New York City
- 3. Jeffrey’s, Austin, Tex.
- 2. Cote, New York City
- 1. Asador Bastian, Chicago
Continue/Read Original Article Here: The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants
Tags: 101 Steak Restaurants, 2025, 50 Best, Cooking, North America, Prime Steakhouses, RobbReport.com, Steakhouses#101SteakRestaurants #2025 #50Best #Cooking #NorthAmerica #PrimeSteakhouses #RobbReportCom #Steakhouses
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The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants – Robbreport.com
December 1, 2025
The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America, According to a New Ranking
A Chicago restaurant has taken the top spot, but New York City dominates the list.
By Jeremy Repanich, Published on December 1, 2025
Ray Kachatorian
Where’s the beef? A new ranking is glad to show you.
Asador Bastian in Chicago has been crowned the best steakhouse in North America, according to a new list of the 50 best steak restaurants on the continent. The Basque-influenced Asador Bastian opened in 2023 with chef Doug Psaltis at the helm, who had previously led Lettuce Entertain You’s wildly successful RPM division of restaurants that included RPM Steak. His new place sources steak from Galicia in Spain and also grills American beef that is bred to mimic Spanish cattle.
At No. 2 in the new ranking is the groundbreaking Korean American spot Cote, which was also just ranked one of the Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century in our new poll. Coming in at No. 3 is Jeffrey’s in Austin, Tex., followed by Daniel Boulud’s La Tête d’Or in New York City and celeb chef Tyler’s Florence’s Miller & Lux in San Francisco to round out out the top five.
In terms of cities that are the continent’s premier dining destinations for beef lovers, New York City stands far ahead of its fellow metropolises with 20 restaurants making the top 50. Those include 4 Charles Prime Rib, English import Hawksmoor, the successful reboot of Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. The next top city is Chicago with five restaurants, then Los Angeles with four, including the Michelin-starred Gwen at No. 6.
The organization behind these rankings, 101 Best Steak Restaurants, has a global list it releases each year in addition to regional lists—much like World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Top Pizza. It was founded in London in 2018 and has 21 anonymous inspectors on five continents who evaluate the steakhouses (sorry, steak restaurants) annually. And the inspectors evaluate dining destinations on a series of nine criteria including quality of meat, selection of cuts, service staff’s expertise in beef, wine program, design, and more. The full list below reveals the restaurants this group thinks really has the chops.
The 50 Best Steak Restaurants in North America for 2025
- 50. Nick + Stef’s, Los Angeles
- 49. Bardea Steak, Wilmington, Del.
- 48. Bern’s, Tampa, Fla.
- 47. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Chicago
- 46. Sparks, New York City
- 45. Porter House, New York City
- 44. Wolfgang’s, New York City
- 43. Al Biernat’s, Dallas
- 42. Gibsons Italia, Chicago
- 41. Klaw, Miami
- 40. Pappas Bros., Houston
- 39. Nuri Steakhouse, Dallas
- 38. Sammarco, Toronto
- 37. Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse, Las Vegas
- 36. Baltaire, Los Angeles
- 35. Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, San Francisco
- 34. Delmonicos, New York City
- 33. The Greggory, South Barrington, Ill.
- 32. Dirty French, New York City
- 31. Gui Steakhouse, New York City
- 30. Minetta Tavern, New York City
- 29. Keens, New York City
- 28. Marcel, Atlanta
- 27. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills
- 26. The Eight Six, New York City
- 25. Peter Luger, New York City
- 24. American Cut, New York City
- 23. Sunny’s, Miami
- 22. Gage & Tollner, New York City
- 21. Swift & Sons, Chicago
- 20. Prime + Proper, Detroit
- 19. Fat Rabbit, St. Catharines, Ontario
- 18. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, New York City
- 17. Gallaghers, New York City
- 16. Linny’s, Toronto
- 15. Txula Steak, New York City
- 14. Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Chicago
- 13. Jacobs & Co., Toronto
- 12. Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
- 11. Elisa, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 10. Hawksmoor, New York City
- 9. Daniel’s, Miami
- 8. Beefbar, New York City
- 7. 4 Charles Prime Rib, New York City
- 6. Gwen, Los Angeles
- 5. Miller & Lux, San Francisco
- 4. La Tête d’Or, New York City
- 3. Jeffrey’s, Austin, Tex.
- 2. Cote, New York City
- 1. Asador Bastian, Chicago
Continue/Read Original Article Here: The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants
Tags: 101 Steak Restaurants, 2025, 50 Best, Cooking, North America, Prime Steakhouses, RobbReport.com, Steakhouses#101SteakRestaurants #2025 #50Best #Cooking #NorthAmerica #PrimeSteakhouses #RobbReportCom #Steakhouses
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The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants – Robbreport.com
December 1, 2025
The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America, According to a New Ranking
A Chicago restaurant has taken the top spot, but New York City dominates the list.
By Jeremy Repanich, Published on December 1, 2025
Ray Kachatorian
Where’s the beef? A new ranking is glad to show you.
Asador Bastian in Chicago has been crowned the best steakhouse in North America, according to a new list of the 50 best steak restaurants on the continent. The Basque-influenced Asador Bastian opened in 2023 with chef Doug Psaltis at the helm, who had previously led Lettuce Entertain You’s wildly successful RPM division of restaurants that included RPM Steak. His new place sources steak from Galicia in Spain and also grills American beef that is bred to mimic Spanish cattle.
At No. 2 in the new ranking is the groundbreaking Korean American spot Cote, which was also just ranked one of the Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century in our new poll. Coming in at No. 3 is Jeffrey’s in Austin, Tex., followed by Daniel Boulud’s La Tête d’Or in New York City and celeb chef Tyler’s Florence’s Miller & Lux in San Francisco to round out out the top five.
In terms of cities that are the continent’s premier dining destinations for beef lovers, New York City stands far ahead of its fellow metropolises with 20 restaurants making the top 50. Those include 4 Charles Prime Rib, English import Hawksmoor, the successful reboot of Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. The next top city is Chicago with five restaurants, then Los Angeles with four, including the Michelin-starred Gwen at No. 6.
The organization behind these rankings, 101 Best Steak Restaurants, has a global list it releases each year in addition to regional lists—much like World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Top Pizza. It was founded in London in 2018 and has 21 anonymous inspectors on five continents who evaluate the steakhouses (sorry, steak restaurants) annually. And the inspectors evaluate dining destinations on a series of nine criteria including quality of meat, selection of cuts, service staff’s expertise in beef, wine program, design, and more. The full list below reveals the restaurants this group thinks really has the chops.
The 50 Best Steak Restaurants in North America for 2025
- 50. Nick + Stef’s, Los Angeles
- 49. Bardea Steak, Wilmington, Del.
- 48. Bern’s, Tampa, Fla.
- 47. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Chicago
- 46. Sparks, New York City
- 45. Porter House, New York City
- 44. Wolfgang’s, New York City
- 43. Al Biernat’s, Dallas
- 42. Gibsons Italia, Chicago
- 41. Klaw, Miami
- 40. Pappas Bros., Houston
- 39. Nuri Steakhouse, Dallas
- 38. Sammarco, Toronto
- 37. Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse, Las Vegas
- 36. Baltaire, Los Angeles
- 35. Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, San Francisco
- 34. Delmonicos, New York City
- 33. The Greggory, South Barrington, Ill.
- 32. Dirty French, New York City
- 31. Gui Steakhouse, New York City
- 30. Minetta Tavern, New York City
- 29. Keens, New York City
- 28. Marcel, Atlanta
- 27. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills
- 26. The Eight Six, New York City
- 25. Peter Luger, New York City
- 24. American Cut, New York City
- 23. Sunny’s, Miami
- 22. Gage & Tollner, New York City
- 21. Swift & Sons, Chicago
- 20. Prime + Proper, Detroit
- 19. Fat Rabbit, St. Catharines, Ontario
- 18. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, New York City
- 17. Gallaghers, New York City
- 16. Linny’s, Toronto
- 15. Txula Steak, New York City
- 14. Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Chicago
- 13. Jacobs & Co., Toronto
- 12. Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
- 11. Elisa, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 10. Hawksmoor, New York City
- 9. Daniel’s, Miami
- 8. Beefbar, New York City
- 7. 4 Charles Prime Rib, New York City
- 6. Gwen, Los Angeles
- 5. Miller & Lux, San Francisco
- 4. La Tête d’Or, New York City
- 3. Jeffrey’s, Austin, Tex.
- 2. Cote, New York City
- 1. Asador Bastian, Chicago
Continue/Read Original Article Here: The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants
#101SteakRestaurants #2025 #50Best #Cooking #NorthAmerica #PrimeSteakhouses #RobbReportCom #Steakhouses
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The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants – Robbreport.com
December 1, 2025
The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America, According to a New Ranking
A Chicago restaurant has taken the top spot, but New York City dominates the list.
By Jeremy Repanich, Published on December 1, 2025
Ray Kachatorian
Where’s the beef? A new ranking is glad to show you.
Asador Bastian in Chicago has been crowned the best steakhouse in North America, according to a new list of the 50 best steak restaurants on the continent. The Basque-influenced Asador Bastian opened in 2023 with chef Doug Psaltis at the helm, who had previously led Lettuce Entertain You’s wildly successful RPM division of restaurants that included RPM Steak. His new place sources steak from Galicia in Spain and also grills American beef that is bred to mimic Spanish cattle.
At No. 2 in the new ranking is the groundbreaking Korean American spot Cote, which was also just ranked one of the Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century in our new poll. Coming in at No. 3 is Jeffrey’s in Austin, Tex., followed by Daniel Boulud’s La Tête d’Or in New York City and celeb chef Tyler’s Florence’s Miller & Lux in San Francisco to round out out the top five.
In terms of cities that are the continent’s premier dining destinations for beef lovers, New York City stands far ahead of its fellow metropolises with 20 restaurants making the top 50. Those include 4 Charles Prime Rib, English import Hawksmoor, the successful reboot of Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. The next top city is Chicago with five restaurants, then Los Angeles with four, including the Michelin-starred Gwen at No. 6.
The organization behind these rankings, 101 Best Steak Restaurants, has a global list it releases each year in addition to regional lists—much like World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Top Pizza. It was founded in London in 2018 and has 21 anonymous inspectors on five continents who evaluate the steakhouses (sorry, steak restaurants) annually. And the inspectors evaluate dining destinations on a series of nine criteria including quality of meat, selection of cuts, service staff’s expertise in beef, wine program, design, and more. The full list below reveals the restaurants this group thinks really has the chops.
The 50 Best Steak Restaurants in North America for 2025
- 50. Nick + Stef’s, Los Angeles
- 49. Bardea Steak, Wilmington, Del.
- 48. Bern’s, Tampa, Fla.
- 47. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Chicago
- 46. Sparks, New York City
- 45. Porter House, New York City
- 44. Wolfgang’s, New York City
- 43. Al Biernat’s, Dallas
- 42. Gibsons Italia, Chicago
- 41. Klaw, Miami
- 40. Pappas Bros., Houston
- 39. Nuri Steakhouse, Dallas
- 38. Sammarco, Toronto
- 37. Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse, Las Vegas
- 36. Baltaire, Los Angeles
- 35. Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, San Francisco
- 34. Delmonicos, New York City
- 33. The Greggory, South Barrington, Ill.
- 32. Dirty French, New York City
- 31. Gui Steakhouse, New York City
- 30. Minetta Tavern, New York City
- 29. Keens, New York City
- 28. Marcel, Atlanta
- 27. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills
- 26. The Eight Six, New York City
- 25. Peter Luger, New York City
- 24. American Cut, New York City
- 23. Sunny’s, Miami
- 22. Gage & Tollner, New York City
- 21. Swift & Sons, Chicago
- 20. Prime + Proper, Detroit
- 19. Fat Rabbit, St. Catharines, Ontario
- 18. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, New York City
- 17. Gallaghers, New York City
- 16. Linny’s, Toronto
- 15. Txula Steak, New York City
- 14. Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Chicago
- 13. Jacobs & Co., Toronto
- 12. Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
- 11. Elisa, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 10. Hawksmoor, New York City
- 9. Daniel’s, Miami
- 8. Beefbar, New York City
- 7. 4 Charles Prime Rib, New York City
- 6. Gwen, Los Angeles
- 5. Miller & Lux, San Francisco
- 4. La Tête d’Or, New York City
- 3. Jeffrey’s, Austin, Tex.
- 2. Cote, New York City
- 1. Asador Bastian, Chicago
Continue/Read Original Article Here: The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants
Tags: 101 Steak Restaurants, 2025, 50 Best, Cooking, North America, Prime Steakhouses, RobbReport.com, Steakhouses#101SteakRestaurants #2025 #50Best #Cooking #NorthAmerica #PrimeSteakhouses #RobbReportCom #Steakhouses
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The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants – Robbreport.com
December 1, 2025
The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America, According to a New Ranking
A Chicago restaurant has taken the top spot, but New York City dominates the list.
By Jeremy Repanich, Published on December 1, 2025
Ray Kachatorian
Where’s the beef? A new ranking is glad to show you.
Asador Bastian in Chicago has been crowned the best steakhouse in North America, according to a new list of the 50 best steak restaurants on the continent. The Basque-influenced Asador Bastian opened in 2023 with chef Doug Psaltis at the helm, who had previously led Lettuce Entertain You’s wildly successful RPM division of restaurants that included RPM Steak. His new place sources steak from Galicia in Spain and also grills American beef that is bred to mimic Spanish cattle.
At No. 2 in the new ranking is the groundbreaking Korean American spot Cote, which was also just ranked one of the Greatest Restaurants of the 21st Century in our new poll. Coming in at No. 3 is Jeffrey’s in Austin, Tex., followed by Daniel Boulud’s La Tête d’Or in New York City and celeb chef Tyler’s Florence’s Miller & Lux in San Francisco to round out out the top five.
In terms of cities that are the continent’s premier dining destinations for beef lovers, New York City stands far ahead of its fellow metropolises with 20 restaurants making the top 50. Those include 4 Charles Prime Rib, English import Hawksmoor, the successful reboot of Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner, and Bazaar Meat by José Andrés. The next top city is Chicago with five restaurants, then Los Angeles with four, including the Michelin-starred Gwen at No. 6.
The organization behind these rankings, 101 Best Steak Restaurants, has a global list it releases each year in addition to regional lists—much like World’s 50 Best Restaurants and 50 Top Pizza. It was founded in London in 2018 and has 21 anonymous inspectors on five continents who evaluate the steakhouses (sorry, steak restaurants) annually. And the inspectors evaluate dining destinations on a series of nine criteria including quality of meat, selection of cuts, service staff’s expertise in beef, wine program, design, and more. The full list below reveals the restaurants this group thinks really has the chops.
The 50 Best Steak Restaurants in North America for 2025
- 50. Nick + Stef’s, Los Angeles
- 49. Bardea Steak, Wilmington, Del.
- 48. Bern’s, Tampa, Fla.
- 47. Gibsons Bar & Steakhouse, Chicago
- 46. Sparks, New York City
- 45. Porter House, New York City
- 44. Wolfgang’s, New York City
- 43. Al Biernat’s, Dallas
- 42. Gibsons Italia, Chicago
- 41. Klaw, Miami
- 40. Pappas Bros., Houston
- 39. Nuri Steakhouse, Dallas
- 38. Sammarco, Toronto
- 37. Delmonico by Emeril Lagasse, Las Vegas
- 36. Baltaire, Los Angeles
- 35. Izzy’s Steaks & Chops, San Francisco
- 34. Delmonicos, New York City
- 33. The Greggory, South Barrington, Ill.
- 32. Dirty French, New York City
- 31. Gui Steakhouse, New York City
- 30. Minetta Tavern, New York City
- 29. Keens, New York City
- 28. Marcel, Atlanta
- 27. Cut by Wolfgang Puck, Beverly Hills
- 26. The Eight Six, New York City
- 25. Peter Luger, New York City
- 24. American Cut, New York City
- 23. Sunny’s, Miami
- 22. Gage & Tollner, New York City
- 21. Swift & Sons, Chicago
- 20. Prime + Proper, Detroit
- 19. Fat Rabbit, St. Catharines, Ontario
- 18. Bazaar Meat by José Andrés, New York City
- 17. Gallaghers, New York City
- 16. Linny’s, Toronto
- 15. Txula Steak, New York City
- 14. Bavette’s Bar & Boeuf, Chicago
- 13. Jacobs & Co., Toronto
- 12. Niku Steakhouse, San Francisco
- 11. Elisa, Vancouver, British Columbia
- 10. Hawksmoor, New York City
- 9. Daniel’s, Miami
- 8. Beefbar, New York City
- 7. 4 Charles Prime Rib, New York City
- 6. Gwen, Los Angeles
- 5. Miller & Lux, San Francisco
- 4. La Tête d’Or, New York City
- 3. Jeffrey’s, Austin, Tex.
- 2. Cote, New York City
- 1. Asador Bastian, Chicago
Continue/Read Original Article Here: The 50 Best Steakhouses in North America 2025: 101 Steak Restaurants
Tags: 101 Steak Restaurants, 2025, 50 Best, Cooking, North America, Prime Steakhouses, RobbReport.com, Steakhouses#101SteakRestaurants #2025 #50Best #Cooking #NorthAmerica #PrimeSteakhouses #RobbReportCom #Steakhouses
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#Reading in Week Forty-Seven of 2025 | Nov 17–23 | ~1400 words | ~7800 characters | Tag to mute: #BokBooks |
━━━━━━━━━━●●●◐○ Forbidden Fruit - Kris Neville (ss) 1950
Earth was too civilized to execute anyone, even a serial killer. No, exile was the order of the day. But on which planet? A planet with a religiously nonviolent native species who would do anything the exiled criminal wanted wouldn't seem much of a punishment, would it? Think again.●●◐○○ Asking - Margaret St. Clair (ss) 1955
Humans had appeared independently on a million worlds. They inevitably advanced, formed a civilization, advanced some more, invented robots, and soon thereafter went extinct. One of the last men has been researching the matter, to figure out why. His robot assistant, burdened by questions, comes in for a checkup with the repair robot, and something odd is discovered about her.●●●○○ The Man Who Made Friends with Electricity - Fritz Leiber (ss) 1962
Real-estate salesman who hasn't been able to sell a house with a high-voltage power-line just outside its front window finally does so, to an elderly man who finds that the hum and crackle of the transformer is soothing.The man is eccentric, and talks to the transformer. Fervently American, he becomes upset when the electricity tells him that it flows everywhere, and has no special allegiance to the US. A deadly argument ensues.
●●○○○ Aestus 2 The Colony - S. Z. Attwell (nov) 2020
This novel is at least twice as long as it should be, due to middle-school romantic problems between nominal adults in their mid-twenties. Jossey has a large facial scar from a childhood accident, and has never believed a man could find her attractive. So when she has three men expressing romantic interest in her, it takes her forever to realize this. Add in the three men eyeing each other, and it's a mess.Now, the actual story. Climate change made rich Europeans flee to India, take over extant underground cities, driving out the locals, though some stayed as servants. Others fled to different cave systems, with their children kidnapped as labor for the surface farms. Not that the City folk are aware of that last part.
Generations later, the situation has come to a boil. A City tyrant wants to wipe out the natives, who occasionally revolt, and expand the solar systems to support underground farms. The leader of the natives is a man that was kidnapped as a boy who was kidnapped from the City and raised by the late native leader: Tark is Jossey's long-lost brother.
The leader of the faction in the City who wants to change its government is a special forces assassin: Caspar loves Jossey. The leader of the City's security forces, late come to realize the City was in the wrong, is Tark's childhood friend: he also loves Jossey. As does Altan, a leader in the native's military.
What I want out of the story is to learn what the world is like. We get few glimpses of this. Or how the native society and the City function: ditto. It's like a romance story with a revolution in the background, and we don't get to see who's fighting or why. A tale more frustrating than entertaining.
●●●◐○ World of Arlesia - Margaret St. Clair (ss) 1950
A couple go to an experimental, participatory, avant-garde theater production. The lights, music, and drugged mist make the husband think he's visiting the undersea city of Arlesia. The production doesn't work on the wife, who finds out humans are being transmuted into workers¹ by some aliens for offworld labor. She manages to talk the techs in the conversion facility into releasing her and her husband.●●○○○ Tree's a Crowd {Lefty Feep 22} - Robert Bloch (ss) 1946
Only one more Left Feep tale in the collection (though two more stories were written decades later). Lefty, being hounded by three ex-wives for alimony, gets involved with a man who's invented some new breakfast cereal, which proves to have the unusual side effect of turning people to wood. (Which means he never taste-tested his on product.) The usual hijinks ensue.●●○○○ Peril of the Starmen - Kris Neville (nva) 1954
Reality is unstable, and all will be lost unless a planet – the latest in a string of such planets – is destroyed. So sayeth the Oligarchy, and the aliens apparently believed it, stupid as the idea is that changing something as small as a planet would affect everything, that the problem should have arisen just now, and that the Oligarchs are the only ones who could do anything about it.Problem: Earth is the next selected planet. The world that must be destroyed, since it has a technological civilization that could one day reveal the charade the Oligarchy is playing on its populace. So the Oligarchs program three men (because their race looks human) to go to Earth and ask permission to conduct the "mineral surveys" that will serve as cover for planting atomic bombs to blow up the planet.
I'm sorry: I'm reading this novella because the last novel I read was too frustrating to start another right away, and here I am, right from the start, expected to accept four idiocies? ‹sigh›
Oh, and Herb and his never-named colleagues are also programmed to say all the right "democracy is great" stuff to impress the US Senate (because of course they get to decide for the planet), despite them being from a dictatorship. Like that's not gonna come back and bite the Oligarchs.
So, our cast of characters: Herb, a tech whose new programming has overridden his old, making him an enemy of the Oligarcy; Oligarch George, who has his own doubts about the idiotic system, but who still goes through the motions; Bud, an anxious junior senator who initially opposes the aliens, until bullied by his idealistic brother to change his vote; Norma, Bud's sister, who gets involved with Herb when she finds out George tricked Bud into killing his brother and agreeing to destroy Earth if George saves her (which George pretends to do). A right jolly old bunch.
●●●○○ Probate - Margaret St. Clair (ss) 1947
New Human mutants have been being born to Old Human parents for half a century. Their difference only manifests later in life, and they were able to hide for some time. When they were discovered, Old Humans turned genocidal. Eventually, though they are pacifists, New Humans were forced to fight for survival, and Old Humans are almost extinct. They treat the few left kindly, giving them anything they want². One has invented a sonic weapon that knocks out any New Humans in range, and will kill at a higher setting. Will he use it?●●◐○○ Before We Die Unwritten - Innocent Chizaram Ilo (ss) 2021
This starts off as bad scifi, turns into an awkward fable, and ends as a mess. Melifeonwu works in a high-tech "minerals acquisition" firm in a near-future Nigeria that seems nice. A new analyst shows up, saying the firm will start mining for "oledonium", a mineral with astonishing properties, and with which "Right-Leaners" are obsessed with. It's only found at the crust/mantle boundary.Melifeonwu says this is crazy talk, and management swats him down and calls him a sexual slur, causing M to resign: bad move, in that his wrongful termination lawsuit stumbles on the fact that he left before the company could fire him. He's also evicted from company housing, where he lives with his husband, his mother, and his brother.
In any case, the mining happens, and a catastrophe follows. Slippage between crust and mantle causes huge earthquakes, and released water causes huge floods. M's entire family dies, and the story ends with Melifeonwu about to die and civilization seemingly collapsing.
━━━━━━━━━━
Cumulative 2025 totals as of Week Forty-Seven:
273+7 ss | 30+0 nvt | 11+1 nva | 116+1 nov | #books[1] I was reminded of the Tall Man in the Phantasm films compactifying corpses into shrunk-down workers.
[2] Shades of Plur1bus.
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New York City Travel, Food, and Highlights – 2025
A couple of weeks ago, Selene and I took a family trip to New York. We did some cool stuff — some of it, rather touristy perhaps, but cool stuff nonetheless. I was going to show you a few highlights in a Monday update post, but then I ended up with about 280 pictures to go through.
Anyway, it was too much to be part of anything else. So here you go: here are pictures of cool things we did or delicious food that we ate.
Day 1
Arrival and Train Rides
We flew into JFK airport reasonably early in the day, then took the Long Island Rail Road into the city.
As we waited for our train to get to the station, I have a brief meeting with some locals.
Personally, I enjoy train rides. I find them relaxing.
We got off at Grand Central, which is always fun to explore. Here’s the ceiling.
From Grand Central, our intention was to walk to our hotel, but we got tired of lugging our suitcases around. So we cabbed it!
The Nintendo Store
After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we started a slow migration toward the Empire State building… but we weren’t due there until after sunset. Time for plenty of stops along the way… the first of which… was the Nintendo Store.
Super touristy. Very crowded. Do not recommend. Not really sure what all the fuss is about, but hey, I got to see Mario, Luigi, and Link.
There was also a Pikachu, but there were far too many people around to take a picture.
Next, more walking! By this point, we all realized that we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we stopped and got a hot dog.
Selene maintains that this hot dog was delicious. I, however, believe that we were all just very hungry.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This is like the second or third time we’ve tried to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I don’t remember what happened before to cause the mission to fail, but we always found the doors locked.
We were very happy to find them unlocked and open this time.
There was actually a wedding service going on. I thought it was interesting that you could just walk in while people were getting married. There was some very beautiful music playing and the pipe organ was epic — you could really feel it in the core of your being.
It’s got crazy ceilings.
New York Public Library
It was getting later in the day, but it still wasn’t dark enough for the nighttime view of the city we were hoping to get at Empire, so there was time for one more stop: The New York Public Library.
The ceiling of the upper floor is painted beautifully. Yes, lots of crazy ceilings in NY.
Okay, call me uninformed if you wish, as I hadn’t been to any sort of physical library in a long time, but I really expected to see books somewhere inside.
“Where can we see some books?” I asked one of the attendants. I really just wanted to experience the smell of old books. You know? Libraries have a smell.
He educated that all of the books are kept underground in Bryant Park — and you have to make a request to have them brought up to you. Go figure.
And with that minor disappointment, it was finally dark enough outside.
The Empire State Building
Is it possible to do anything in New York City that is more touristy than the Empire State building? I don’t think so.
And you obviously have to pose inside of King Kong’s hand.
Here’s a couple of pictures of the view from the observation floor that is fully enclosed by windows.
And here’s a couple of pics from the top where everything is out in the open air.
Aren’t we cute?
Tacombi
By the time we descended back to ground level, we realized we were all very hungry again. On the same block, there’s a little taco place called Tacombi, so we popped in. It was delicious.
I actually got a burrito, but it was still delicious. And the churros are from a Christmas market that was going on in Bryant Park.
Day 2
The second day of our trip started with more walking.
This is a building shaped like a trunk.
Liberty Bagels
Is it legal to visit New York without getting a bagel? I don’t think it should be.
We waited in a giant line at Liberty Bagels. That place is ridiculously packed — and rightfully so, their bagels are delicious and they have an insane selection of cream cheeses.
I got their famous Rainbow Bagel, topped with half blueberry and half strawberry cream cheese. It was really good.
Central Park
This is probably one of my favorite places in New York. I’d like to go on a warm, Spring day to have a picnic.
And then all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in and covered the tops of buildings.
And it started to rain. We took shelter in a nearby tunnel as we listened to a street performer play some classical guitar songs.
Then, off to the museum!
The MET Museum
The MET is one of those places where you could literally walk around all day and not be done.
I mean, I frequently search their archives for pictures of ancient stuff to use for the articles that I write, so seeing it in person is always awesome.
Like artwork on amphorae…
Or statues of dudes and carvings of stuff…
And look, it’s Pan! IO Pan!
And I can always get lost in the Ancient Egyptian wing…
They were currently doing an exhibition called “Divine Egypt.”
Yeah, of the nearly 300 photos I took, most of them are from the MET. I could have probably done an entire post just with those pictures.
And we finally got a chance to walk through the instruments section of the museum.
Alright, back to the hotel. It was raining really hard and we all needed a little rest.
Pasta Eater
We wanted to eat pasta, so we went to a place called Pasta Eater. Out of all the many places to eat pasta, however, this one was chosen specifically because they make one of the dishes in a wheel of parmesan cheese.
I’ve never had a bad experience with pasta made inside of a cheese wheel. Have you?
Macy’s
We stopped in at Macy’s flagship store, mostly because I needed a bathroom, but also in hopes that we could recreate some sort of Elf extravaganza by looking at Christmas tree displays through department store windows. There weren’t any decorated windows with trees, unfortunately.
They did have some sort of Christmas village going on in the lower floor, but we arrived 5 minutes after it was shut down and the security guard was very quick to let me know it was closed and that we should all gtfo.
I don’t really understand how a retail store has so many things that it can occupy such a large space. I’ve been in entire shopping malls that are smaller than this one Macy’s store. Capitalism at its finest.
Serendipity 3
Don’t worry. Even though we ate all that pasta earlier, we saved room for dessert.
We stopped into Serendipity 3 without a reservation and were initially told that it would be 45 minutes for a table. After some brief witchcraft, they sat us immediately.
After all, we just wanted to try their famous hot chocolate.
We got the s’mores flavor and it was unexpectedly delightful.
Pizza
As much as there should be a law against visiting New York without getting a bagel, there should also be one about pizza.
But I don’t care about bagels so much as I do pizza. And it doesn’t matter how much food we’ve already eaten or what time of day it is… if I walk by 20 different places that say “$1.50 Pizza” in neon lights, I’m going to have to go get one sooner or later.
And then it was time for bed.
Day 3
We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us so we could continue wandering around the city for a while.
I don’t know what this building is, but I guess I thought it looked cool, so I took a few pictures of it.
Our first stop of the day was a bookstore… uhhh… sorry, but I’m a little light on the details here. It was supposed to be where the filmed the tv show You or something like that. It didn’t catch my interest at all, so I didn’t take any pictures. Also, we sat outside in the rain for about 20 minutes past their scheduled opening time and nobody ever opened the store.
After that, we went to a little underground subway mall to check out some comics.
But the final stop of the day… truly the highlight… perhaps even the coolest part of the entire trip… was sushi.
Shirokuro
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dine in a 2D comic strip? Maybe in a hand-drawn, black and white world?
Well… that’s basically what this place is.
It was pretty trippy.
But aside from the aesthetics, they also had amazing sushi.
I’ve never really been a sushi person. I’ll eat it, but I’ve never been like, “hey, I really want sushi right now.”
They may have converted me.
Seriously, it was that good.
Heading Home
And that was one of our last stops for the trip. We caught an Uber Airport Shuttle at the Port Authority Bus Station and went for a long drive to LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was recently remodeled, apparently. We were there briefly for our last New York visit and it felt like one small, musty room… and the only food option was a tiny little shop that had some donuts, coffee, and snacks. But now… it’s huge! You basically have to walk through an entire shopping mall before you get to the gates. They even have a giant fountain of water that rains down from the ceiling with color-changing lights.
Once we made it past all the shopping, we were greeted by a large fight status display screen that claimed our return flight was cancelled. We continued to the gate to ask questions — there was nobody there, but the gate status said delayed.
And then it got delayed a little bit longer.
And then a little bit longer…
We eventually did make it back to Florida, however. I think in total we lost about 3 hours from the delays. Very happy it wasn’t a cancellation.
#eats #food #metMuseum #newYork #newYorkCity #nyc #pasta #pastaEater #serendipity3 #shirokuro #sushi #travel
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New York City Travel, Food, and Highlights – 2025
A couple of weeks ago, Selene and I took a family trip to New York. We did some cool stuff — some of it, rather touristy perhaps, but cool stuff nonetheless. I was going to show you a few highlights in a Monday update post, but then I ended up with about 280 pictures to go through.
Anyway, it was too much to be part of anything else. So here you go: here are pictures of cool things we did or delicious food that we ate.
Day 1
Arrival and Train Rides
We flew into JFK airport reasonably early in the day, then took the Long Island Rail Road into the city.
As we waited for our train to get to the station, I have a brief meeting with some locals.
Personally, I enjoy train rides. I find them relaxing.
We got off at Grand Central, which is always fun to explore. Here’s the ceiling.
From Grand Central, our intention was to walk to our hotel, but we got tired of lugging our suitcases around. So we cabbed it!
The Nintendo Store
After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we started a slow migration toward the Empire State building… but we weren’t due there until after sunset. Time for plenty of stops along the way… the first of which… was the Nintendo Store.
Super touristy. Very crowded. Do not recommend. Not really sure what all the fuss is about, but hey, I got to see Mario, Luigi, and Link.
There was also a Pikachu, but there were far too many people around to take a picture.
Next, more walking! By this point, we all realized that we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we stopped and got a hot dog.
Selene maintains that this hot dog was delicious. I, however, believe that we were all just very hungry.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This is like the second or third time we’ve tried to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I don’t remember what happened before to cause the mission to fail, but we always found the doors locked.
We were very happy to find them unlocked and open this time.
There was actually a wedding service going on. I thought it was interesting that you could just walk in while people were getting married. There was some very beautiful music playing and the pipe organ was epic — you could really feel it in the core of your being.
It’s got crazy ceilings.
New York Public Library
It was getting later in the day, but it still wasn’t dark enough for the nighttime view of the city we were hoping to get at Empire, so there was time for one more stop: The New York Public Library.
The ceiling of the upper floor is painted beautifully. Yes, lots of crazy ceilings in NY.
Okay, call me uninformed if you wish, as I hadn’t been to any sort of physical library in a long time, but I really expected to see books somewhere inside.
“Where can we see some books?” I asked one of the attendants. I really just wanted to experience the smell of old books. You know? Libraries have a smell.
He educated that all of the books are kept underground in Bryant Park — and you have to make a request to have them brought up to you. Go figure.
And with that minor disappointment, it was finally dark enough outside.
The Empire State Building
Is it possible to do anything in New York City that is more touristy than the Empire State building? I don’t think so.
And you obviously have to pose inside of King Kong’s hand.
Here’s a couple of pictures of the view from the observation floor that is fully enclosed by windows.
And here’s a couple of pics from the top where everything is out in the open air.
Aren’t we cute?
Tacombi
By the time we descended back to ground level, we realized we were all very hungry again. On the same block, there’s a little taco place called Tacombi, so we popped in. It was delicious.
I actually got a burrito, but it was still delicious. And the churros are from a Christmas market that was going on in Bryant Park.
Day 2
The second day of our trip started with more walking.
This is a building shaped like a trunk.
Liberty Bagels
Is it legal to visit New York without getting a bagel? I don’t think it should be.
We waited in a giant line at Liberty Bagels. That place is ridiculously packed — and rightfully so, their bagels are delicious and they have an insane selection of cream cheeses.
I got their famous Rainbow Bagel, topped with half blueberry and half strawberry cream cheese. It was really good.
Central Park
This is probably one of my favorite places in New York. I’d like to go on a warm, Spring day to have a picnic.
And then all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in and covered the tops of buildings.
And it started to rain. We took shelter in a nearby tunnel as we listened to a street performer play some classical guitar songs.
Then, off to the museum!
The MET Museum
The MET is one of those places where you could literally walk around all day and not be done.
I mean, I frequently search their archives for pictures of ancient stuff to use for the articles that I write, so seeing it in person is always awesome.
Like artwork on amphorae…
Or statues of dudes and carvings of stuff…
And look, it’s Pan! IO Pan!
And I can always get lost in the Ancient Egyptian wing…
They were currently doing an exhibition called “Divine Egypt.”
Yeah, of the nearly 300 photos I took, most of them are from the MET. I could have probably done an entire post just with those pictures.
And we finally got a chance to walk through the instruments section of the museum.
Alright, back to the hotel. It was raining really hard and we all needed a little rest.
Pasta Eater
We wanted to eat pasta, so we went to a place called Pasta Eater. Out of all the many places to eat pasta, however, this one was chosen specifically because they make one of the dishes in a wheel of parmesan cheese.
I’ve never had a bad experience with pasta made inside of a cheese wheel. Have you?
Macy’s
We stopped in at Macy’s flagship store, mostly because I needed a bathroom, but also in hopes that we could recreate some sort of Elf extravaganza by looking at Christmas tree displays through department store windows. There weren’t any decorated windows with trees, unfortunately.
They did have some sort of Christmas village going on in the lower floor, but we arrived 5 minutes after it was shut down and the security guard was very quick to let me know it was closed and that we should all gtfo.
I don’t really understand how a retail store has so many things that it can occupy such a large space. I’ve been in entire shopping malls that are smaller than this one Macy’s store. Capitalism at its finest.
Serendipity 3
Don’t worry. Even though we ate all that pasta earlier, we saved room for dessert.
We stopped into Serendipity 3 without a reservation and were initially told that it would be 45 minutes for a table. After some brief witchcraft, they sat us immediately.
After all, we just wanted to try their famous hot chocolate.
We got the s’mores flavor and it was unexpectedly delightful.
Pizza
As much as there should be a law against visiting New York without getting a bagel, there should also be one about pizza.
But I don’t care about bagels so much as I do pizza. And it doesn’t matter how much food we’ve already eaten or what time of day it is… if I walk by 20 different places that say “$1.50 Pizza” in neon lights, I’m going to have to go get one sooner or later.
And then it was time for bed.
Day 3
We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us so we could continue wandering around the city for a while.
I don’t know what this building is, but I guess I thought it looked cool, so I took a few pictures of it.
Our first stop of the day was a bookstore… uhhh… sorry, but I’m a little light on the details here. It was supposed to be where the filmed the tv show You or something like that. It didn’t catch my interest at all, so I didn’t take any pictures. Also, we sat outside in the rain for about 20 minutes past their scheduled opening time and nobody ever opened the store.
After that, we went to a little underground subway mall to check out some comics.
But the final stop of the day… truly the highlight… perhaps even the coolest part of the entire trip… was sushi.
Shirokuro
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dine in a 2D comic strip? Maybe in a hand-drawn, black and white world?
Well… that’s basically what this place is.
It was pretty trippy.
But aside from the aesthetics, they also had amazing sushi.
I’ve never really been a sushi person. I’ll eat it, but I’ve never been like, “hey, I really want sushi right now.”
They may have converted me.
Seriously, it was that good.
Heading Home
And that was one of our last stops for the trip. We caught an Uber Airport Shuttle at the Port Authority Bus Station and went for a long drive to LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was recently remodeled, apparently. We were there briefly for our last New York visit and it felt like one small, musty room… and the only food option was a tiny little shop that had some donuts, coffee, and snacks. But now… it’s huge! You basically have to walk through an entire shopping mall before you get to the gates. They even have a giant fountain of water that rains down from the ceiling with color-changing lights.
Once we made it past all the shopping, we were greeted by a large fight status display screen that claimed our return flight was cancelled. We continued to the gate to ask questions — there was nobody there, but the gate status said delayed.
And then it got delayed a little bit longer.
And then a little bit longer…
We eventually did make it back to Florida, however. I think in total we lost about 3 hours from the delays. Very happy it wasn’t a cancellation.
#eats #food #metMuseum #newYork #newYorkCity #nyc #pasta #pastaEater #serendipity3 #shirokuro #sushi #travel
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New York City Travel, Food, and Highlights – 2025
A couple of weeks ago, Selene and I took a family trip to New York. We did some cool stuff — some of it, rather touristy perhaps, but cool stuff nonetheless. I was going to show you a few highlights in a Monday update post, but then I ended up with about 280 pictures to go through.
Anyway, it was too much to be part of anything else. So here you go: here are pictures of cool things we did or delicious food that we ate.
Day 1
Arrival and Train Rides
We flew into JFK airport reasonably early in the day, then took the Long Island Rail Road into the city.
As we waited for our train to get to the station, I have a brief meeting with some locals.
Personally, I enjoy train rides. I find them relaxing.
We got off at Grand Central, which is always fun to explore. Here’s the ceiling.
From Grand Central, our intention was to walk to our hotel, but we got tired of lugging our suitcases around. So we cabbed it!
The Nintendo Store
After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we started a slow migration toward the Empire State building… but we weren’t due there until after sunset. Time for plenty of stops along the way… the first of which… was the Nintendo Store.
Super touristy. Very crowded. Do not recommend. Not really sure what all the fuss is about, but hey, I got to see Mario, Luigi, and Link.
There was also a Pikachu, but there were far too many people around to take a picture.
Next, more walking! By this point, we all realized that we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we stopped and got a hot dog.
Selene maintains that this hot dog was delicious. I, however, believe that we were all just very hungry.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This is like the second or third time we’ve tried to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I don’t remember what happened before to cause the mission to fail, but we always found the doors locked.
We were very happy to find them unlocked and open this time.
There was actually a wedding service going on. I thought it was interesting that you could just walk in while people were getting married. There was some very beautiful music playing and the pipe organ was epic — you could really feel it in the core of your being.
It’s got crazy ceilings.
New York Public Library
It was getting later in the day, but it still wasn’t dark enough for the nighttime view of the city we were hoping to get at Empire, so there was time for one more stop: The New York Public Library.
The ceiling of the upper floor is painted beautifully. Yes, lots of crazy ceilings in NY.
Okay, call me uninformed if you wish, as I hadn’t been to any sort of physical library in a long time, but I really expected to see books somewhere inside.
“Where can we see some books?” I asked one of the attendants. I really just wanted to experience the smell of old books. You know? Libraries have a smell.
He educated that all of the books are kept underground in Bryant Park — and you have to make a request to have them brought up to you. Go figure.
And with that minor disappointment, it was finally dark enough outside.
The Empire State Building
Is it possible to do anything in New York City that is more touristy than the Empire State building? I don’t think so.
And you obviously have to pose inside of King Kong’s hand.
Here’s a couple of pictures of the view from the observation floor that is fully enclosed by windows.
And here’s a couple of pics from the top where everything is out in the open air.
Aren’t we cute?
Tacombi
By the time we descended back to ground level, we realized we were all very hungry again. On the same block, there’s a little taco place called Tacombi, so we popped in. It was delicious.
I actually got a burrito, but it was still delicious. And the churros are from a Christmas market that was going on in Bryant Park.
Day 2
The second day of our trip started with more walking.
This is a building shaped like a trunk.
Liberty Bagels
Is it legal to visit New York without getting a bagel? I don’t think it should be.
We waited in a giant line at Liberty Bagels. That place is ridiculously packed — and rightfully so, their bagels are delicious and they have an insane selection of cream cheeses.
I got their famous Rainbow Bagel, topped with half blueberry and half strawberry cream cheese. It was really good.
Central Park
This is probably one of my favorite places in New York. I’d like to go on a warm, Spring day to have a picnic.
And then all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in and covered the tops of buildings.
And it started to rain. We took shelter in a nearby tunnel as we listened to a street performer play some classical guitar songs.
Then, off to the museum!
The MET Museum
The MET is one of those places where you could literally walk around all day and not be done.
I mean, I frequently search their archives for pictures of ancient stuff to use for the articles that I write, so seeing it in person is always awesome.
Like artwork on amphorae…
Or statues of dudes and carvings of stuff…
And look, it’s Pan! IO Pan!
And I can always get lost in the Ancient Egyptian wing…
They were currently doing an exhibition called “Divine Egypt.”
Yeah, of the nearly 300 photos I took, most of them are from the MET. I could have probably done an entire post just with those pictures.
And we finally got a chance to walk through the instruments section of the museum.
Alright, back to the hotel. It was raining really hard and we all needed a little rest.
Pasta Eater
We wanted to eat pasta, so we went to a place called Pasta Eater. Out of all the many places to eat pasta, however, this one was chosen specifically because they make one of the dishes in a wheel of parmesan cheese.
I’ve never had a bad experience with pasta made inside of a cheese wheel. Have you?
Macy’s
We stopped in at Macy’s flagship store, mostly because I needed a bathroom, but also in hopes that we could recreate some sort of Elf extravaganza by looking at Christmas tree displays through department store windows. There weren’t any decorated windows with trees, unfortunately.
They did have some sort of Christmas village going on in the lower floor, but we arrived 5 minutes after it was shut down and the security guard was very quick to let me know it was closed and that we should all gtfo.
I don’t really understand how a retail store has so many things that it can occupy such a large space. I’ve been in entire shopping malls that are smaller than this one Macy’s store. Capitalism at its finest.
Serendipity 3
Don’t worry. Even though we ate all that pasta earlier, we saved room for dessert.
We stopped into Serendipity 3 without a reservation and were initially told that it would be 45 minutes for a table. After some brief witchcraft, they sat us immediately.
After all, we just wanted to try their famous hot chocolate.
We got the s’mores flavor and it was unexpectedly delightful.
Pizza
As much as there should be a law against visiting New York without getting a bagel, there should also be one about pizza.
But I don’t care about bagels so much as I do pizza. And it doesn’t matter how much food we’ve already eaten or what time of day it is… if I walk by 20 different places that say “$1.50 Pizza” in neon lights, I’m going to have to go get one sooner or later.
And then it was time for bed.
Day 3
We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us so we could continue wandering around the city for a while.
I don’t know what this building is, but I guess I thought it looked cool, so I took a few pictures of it.
Our first stop of the day was a bookstore… uhhh… sorry, but I’m a little light on the details here. It was supposed to be where the filmed the tv show You or something like that. It didn’t catch my interest at all, so I didn’t take any pictures. Also, we sat outside in the rain for about 20 minutes past their scheduled opening time and nobody ever opened the store.
After that, we went to a little underground subway mall to check out some comics.
But the final stop of the day… truly the highlight… perhaps even the coolest part of the entire trip… was sushi.
Shirokuro
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dine in a 2D comic strip? Maybe in a hand-drawn, black and white world?
Well… that’s basically what this place is.
It was pretty trippy.
But aside from the aesthetics, they also had amazing sushi.
I’ve never really been a sushi person. I’ll eat it, but I’ve never been like, “hey, I really want sushi right now.”
They may have converted me.
Seriously, it was that good.
Heading Home
And that was one of our last stops for the trip. We caught an Uber Airport Shuttle at the Port Authority Bus Station and went for a long drive to LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was recently remodeled, apparently. We were there briefly for our last New York visit and it felt like one small, musty room… and the only food option was a tiny little shop that had some donuts, coffee, and snacks. But now… it’s huge! You basically have to walk through an entire shopping mall before you get to the gates. They even have a giant fountain of water that rains down from the ceiling with color-changing lights.
Once we made it past all the shopping, we were greeted by a large fight status display screen that claimed our return flight was cancelled. We continued to the gate to ask questions — there was nobody there, but the gate status said delayed.
And then it got delayed a little bit longer.
And then a little bit longer…
We eventually did make it back to Florida, however. I think in total we lost about 3 hours from the delays. Very happy it wasn’t a cancellation.
#eats #food #metMuseum #newYork #newYorkCity #nyc #pasta #pastaEater #serendipity3 #shirokuro #sushi #travel
-
New York City Travel, Food, and Highlights – 2025
A couple of weeks ago, Selene and I took a family trip to New York. We did some cool stuff — some of it, rather touristy perhaps, but cool stuff nonetheless. I was going to show you a few highlights in a Monday update post, but then I ended up with about 280 pictures to go through.
Anyway, it was too much to be part of anything else. So here you go: here are pictures of cool things we did or delicious food that we ate.
Day 1
Arrival and Train Rides
We flew into JFK airport reasonably early in the day, then took the Long Island Rail Road into the city.
As we waited for our train to get to the station, I have a brief meeting with some locals.
Personally, I enjoy train rides. I find them relaxing.
We got off at Grand Central, which is always fun to explore. Here’s the ceiling.
From Grand Central, our intention was to walk to our hotel, but we got tired of lugging our suitcases around. So we cabbed it!
The Nintendo Store
After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we started a slow migration toward the Empire State building… but we weren’t due there until after sunset. Time for plenty of stops along the way… the first of which… was the Nintendo Store.
Super touristy. Very crowded. Do not recommend. Not really sure what all the fuss is about, but hey, I got to see Mario, Luigi, and Link.
There was also a Pikachu, but there were far too many people around to take a picture.
Next, more walking! By this point, we all realized that we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we stopped and got a hot dog.
Selene maintains that this hot dog was delicious. I, however, believe that we were all just very hungry.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This is like the second or third time we’ve tried to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I don’t remember what happened before to cause the mission to fail, but we always found the doors locked.
We were very happy to find them unlocked and open this time.
There was actually a wedding service going on. I thought it was interesting that you could just walk in while people were getting married. There was some very beautiful music playing and the pipe organ was epic — you could really feel it in the core of your being.
It’s got crazy ceilings.
New York Public Library
It was getting later in the day, but it still wasn’t dark enough for the nighttime view of the city we were hoping to get at Empire, so there was time for one more stop: The New York Public Library.
The ceiling of the upper floor is painted beautifully. Yes, lots of crazy ceilings in NY.
Okay, call me uninformed if you wish, as I hadn’t been to any sort of physical library in a long time, but I really expected to see books somewhere inside.
“Where can we see some books?” I asked one of the attendants. I really just wanted to experience the smell of old books. You know? Libraries have a smell.
He educated that all of the books are kept underground in Bryant Park — and you have to make a request to have them brought up to you. Go figure.
And with that minor disappointment, it was finally dark enough outside.
The Empire State Building
Is it possible to do anything in New York City that is more touristy than the Empire State building? I don’t think so.
And you obviously have to pose inside of King Kong’s hand.
Here’s a couple of pictures of the view from the observation floor that is fully enclosed by windows.
And here’s a couple of pics from the top where everything is out in the open air.
Aren’t we cute?
Tacombi
By the time we descended back to ground level, we realized we were all very hungry again. On the same block, there’s a little taco place called Tacombi, so we popped in. It was delicious.
I actually got a burrito, but it was still delicious. And the churros are from a Christmas market that was going on in Bryant Park.
Day 2
The second day of our trip started with more walking.
This is a building shaped like a trunk.
Liberty Bagels
Is it legal to visit New York without getting a bagel? I don’t think it should be.
We waited in a giant line at Liberty Bagels. That place is ridiculously packed — and rightfully so, their bagels are delicious and they have an insane selection of cream cheeses.
I got their famous Rainbow Bagel, topped with half blueberry and half strawberry cream cheese. It was really good.
Central Park
This is probably one of my favorite places in New York. I’d like to go on a warm, Spring day to have a picnic.
And then all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in and covered the tops of buildings.
And it started to rain. We took shelter in a nearby tunnel as we listened to a street performer play some classical guitar songs.
Then, off to the museum!
The MET Museum
The MET is one of those places where you could literally walk around all day and not be done.
I mean, I frequently search their archives for pictures of ancient stuff to use for the articles that I write, so seeing it in person is always awesome.
Like artwork on amphorae…
Or statues of dudes and carvings of stuff…
And look, it’s Pan! IO Pan!
And I can always get lost in the Ancient Egyptian wing…
They were currently doing an exhibition called “Divine Egypt.”
Yeah, of the nearly 300 photos I took, most of them are from the MET. I could have probably done an entire post just with those pictures.
And we finally got a chance to walk through the instruments section of the museum.
Alright, back to the hotel. It was raining really hard and we all needed a little rest.
Pasta Eater
We wanted to eat pasta, so we went to a place called Pasta Eater. Out of all the many places to eat pasta, however, this one was chosen specifically because they make one of the dishes in a wheel of parmesan cheese.
I’ve never had a bad experience with pasta made inside of a cheese wheel. Have you?
Macy’s
We stopped in at Macy’s flagship store, mostly because I needed a bathroom, but also in hopes that we could recreate some sort of Elf extravaganza by looking at Christmas tree displays through department store windows. There weren’t any decorated windows with trees, unfortunately.
They did have some sort of Christmas village going on in the lower floor, but we arrived 5 minutes after it was shut down and the security guard was very quick to let me know it was closed and that we should all gtfo.
I don’t really understand how a retail store has so many things that it can occupy such a large space. I’ve been in entire shopping malls that are smaller than this one Macy’s store. Capitalism at its finest.
Serendipity 3
Don’t worry. Even though we ate all that pasta earlier, we saved room for dessert.
We stopped into Serendipity 3 without a reservation and were initially told that it would be 45 minutes for a table. After some brief witchcraft, they sat us immediately.
After all, we just wanted to try their famous hot chocolate.
We got the s’mores flavor and it was unexpectedly delightful.
Pizza
As much as there should be a law against visiting New York without getting a bagel, there should also be one about pizza.
But I don’t care about bagels so much as I do pizza. And it doesn’t matter how much food we’ve already eaten or what time of day it is… if I walk by 20 different places that say “$1.50 Pizza” in neon lights, I’m going to have to go get one sooner or later.
And then it was time for bed.
Day 3
We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us so we could continue wandering around the city for a while.
I don’t know what this building is, but I guess I thought it looked cool, so I took a few pictures of it.
Our first stop of the day was a bookstore… uhhh… sorry, but I’m a little light on the details here. It was supposed to be where the filmed the tv show You or something like that. It didn’t catch my interest at all, so I didn’t take any pictures. Also, we sat outside in the rain for about 20 minutes past their scheduled opening time and nobody ever opened the store.
After that, we went to a little underground subway mall to check out some comics.
But the final stop of the day… truly the highlight… perhaps even the coolest part of the entire trip… was sushi.
Shirokuro
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dine in a 2D comic strip? Maybe in a hand-drawn, black and white world?
Well… that’s basically what this place is.
It was pretty trippy.
But aside from the aesthetics, they also had amazing sushi.
I’ve never really been a sushi person. I’ll eat it, but I’ve never been like, “hey, I really want sushi right now.”
They may have converted me.
Seriously, it was that good.
Heading Home
And that was one of our last stops for the trip. We caught an Uber Airport Shuttle at the Port Authority Bus Station and went for a long drive to LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was recently remodeled, apparently. We were there briefly for our last New York visit and it felt like one small, musty room… and the only food option was a tiny little shop that had some donuts, coffee, and snacks. But now… it’s huge! You basically have to walk through an entire shopping mall before you get to the gates. They even have a giant fountain of water that rains down from the ceiling with color-changing lights.
Once we made it past all the shopping, we were greeted by a large fight status display screen that claimed our return flight was cancelled. We continued to the gate to ask questions — there was nobody there, but the gate status said delayed.
And then it got delayed a little bit longer.
And then a little bit longer…
We eventually did make it back to Florida, however. I think in total we lost about 3 hours from the delays. Very happy it wasn’t a cancellation.
#eats #food #metMuseum #newYork #newYorkCity #nyc #pasta #pastaEater #serendipity3 #shirokuro #sushi #travel
-
New York City Travel, Food, and Highlights – 2025
A couple of weeks ago, Selene and I took a family trip to New York. We did some cool stuff — some of it, rather touristy perhaps, but cool stuff nonetheless. I was going to show you a few highlights in a Monday update post, but then I ended up with about 280 pictures to go through.
Anyway, it was too much to be part of anything else. So here you go: here are pictures of cool things we did or delicious food that we ate.
Day 1
Arrival and Train Rides
We flew into JFK airport reasonably early in the day, then took the Long Island Rail Road into the city.
As we waited for our train to get to the station, I have a brief meeting with some locals.
Personally, I enjoy train rides. I find them relaxing.
We got off at Grand Central, which is always fun to explore. Here’s the ceiling.
From Grand Central, our intention was to walk to our hotel, but we got tired of lugging our suitcases around. So we cabbed it!
The Nintendo Store
After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we started a slow migration toward the Empire State building… but we weren’t due there until after sunset. Time for plenty of stops along the way… the first of which… was the Nintendo Store.
Super touristy. Very crowded. Do not recommend. Not really sure what all the fuss is about, but hey, I got to see Mario, Luigi, and Link.
There was also a Pikachu, but there were far too many people around to take a picture.
Next, more walking! By this point, we all realized that we hadn’t really eaten much all day, so we stopped and got a hot dog.
Selene maintains that this hot dog was delicious. I, however, believe that we were all just very hungry.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
This is like the second or third time we’ve tried to visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral. I don’t remember what happened before to cause the mission to fail, but we always found the doors locked.
We were very happy to find them unlocked and open this time.
There was actually a wedding service going on. I thought it was interesting that you could just walk in while people were getting married. There was some very beautiful music playing and the pipe organ was epic — you could really feel it in the core of your being.
It’s got crazy ceilings.
New York Public Library
It was getting later in the day, but it still wasn’t dark enough for the nighttime view of the city we were hoping to get at Empire, so there was time for one more stop: The New York Public Library.
The ceiling of the upper floor is painted beautifully. Yes, lots of crazy ceilings in NY.
Okay, call me uninformed if you wish, as I hadn’t been to any sort of physical library in a long time, but I really expected to see books somewhere inside.
“Where can we see some books?” I asked one of the attendants. I really just wanted to experience the smell of old books. You know? Libraries have a smell.
He educated that all of the books are kept underground in Bryant Park — and you have to make a request to have them brought up to you. Go figure.
And with that minor disappointment, it was finally dark enough outside.
The Empire State Building
Is it possible to do anything in New York City that is more touristy than the Empire State building? I don’t think so.
And you obviously have to pose inside of King Kong’s hand.
Here’s a couple of pictures of the view from the observation floor that is fully enclosed by windows.
And here’s a couple of pics from the top where everything is out in the open air.
Aren’t we cute?
Tacombi
By the time we descended back to ground level, we realized we were all very hungry again. On the same block, there’s a little taco place called Tacombi, so we popped in. It was delicious.
I actually got a burrito, but it was still delicious. And the churros are from a Christmas market that was going on in Bryant Park.
Day 2
The second day of our trip started with more walking.
This is a building shaped like a trunk.
Liberty Bagels
Is it legal to visit New York without getting a bagel? I don’t think it should be.
We waited in a giant line at Liberty Bagels. That place is ridiculously packed — and rightfully so, their bagels are delicious and they have an insane selection of cream cheeses.
I got their famous Rainbow Bagel, topped with half blueberry and half strawberry cream cheese. It was really good.
Central Park
This is probably one of my favorite places in New York. I’d like to go on a warm, Spring day to have a picnic.
And then all of a sudden, a thick fog rolled in and covered the tops of buildings.
And it started to rain. We took shelter in a nearby tunnel as we listened to a street performer play some classical guitar songs.
Then, off to the museum!
The MET Museum
The MET is one of those places where you could literally walk around all day and not be done.
I mean, I frequently search their archives for pictures of ancient stuff to use for the articles that I write, so seeing it in person is always awesome.
Like artwork on amphorae…
Or statues of dudes and carvings of stuff…
And look, it’s Pan! IO Pan!
And I can always get lost in the Ancient Egyptian wing…
They were currently doing an exhibition called “Divine Egypt.”
Yeah, of the nearly 300 photos I took, most of them are from the MET. I could have probably done an entire post just with those pictures.
And we finally got a chance to walk through the instruments section of the museum.
Alright, back to the hotel. It was raining really hard and we all needed a little rest.
Pasta Eater
We wanted to eat pasta, so we went to a place called Pasta Eater. Out of all the many places to eat pasta, however, this one was chosen specifically because they make one of the dishes in a wheel of parmesan cheese.
I’ve never had a bad experience with pasta made inside of a cheese wheel. Have you?
Macy’s
We stopped in at Macy’s flagship store, mostly because I needed a bathroom, but also in hopes that we could recreate some sort of Elf extravaganza by looking at Christmas tree displays through department store windows. There weren’t any decorated windows with trees, unfortunately.
They did have some sort of Christmas village going on in the lower floor, but we arrived 5 minutes after it was shut down and the security guard was very quick to let me know it was closed and that we should all gtfo.
I don’t really understand how a retail store has so many things that it can occupy such a large space. I’ve been in entire shopping malls that are smaller than this one Macy’s store. Capitalism at its finest.
Serendipity 3
Don’t worry. Even though we ate all that pasta earlier, we saved room for dessert.
We stopped into Serendipity 3 without a reservation and were initially told that it would be 45 minutes for a table. After some brief witchcraft, they sat us immediately.
After all, we just wanted to try their famous hot chocolate.
We got the s’mores flavor and it was unexpectedly delightful.
Pizza
As much as there should be a law against visiting New York without getting a bagel, there should also be one about pizza.
But I don’t care about bagels so much as I do pizza. And it doesn’t matter how much food we’ve already eaten or what time of day it is… if I walk by 20 different places that say “$1.50 Pizza” in neon lights, I’m going to have to go get one sooner or later.
And then it was time for bed.
Day 3
We had to check out of our hotel in the morning, but they held our bags for us so we could continue wandering around the city for a while.
I don’t know what this building is, but I guess I thought it looked cool, so I took a few pictures of it.
Our first stop of the day was a bookstore… uhhh… sorry, but I’m a little light on the details here. It was supposed to be where the filmed the tv show You or something like that. It didn’t catch my interest at all, so I didn’t take any pictures. Also, we sat outside in the rain for about 20 minutes past their scheduled opening time and nobody ever opened the store.
After that, we went to a little underground subway mall to check out some comics.
But the final stop of the day… truly the highlight… perhaps even the coolest part of the entire trip… was sushi.
Shirokuro
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to dine in a 2D comic strip? Maybe in a hand-drawn, black and white world?
Well… that’s basically what this place is.
It was pretty trippy.
But aside from the aesthetics, they also had amazing sushi.
I’ve never really been a sushi person. I’ll eat it, but I’ve never been like, “hey, I really want sushi right now.”
They may have converted me.
Seriously, it was that good.
Heading Home
And that was one of our last stops for the trip. We caught an Uber Airport Shuttle at the Port Authority Bus Station and went for a long drive to LaGuardia Airport.
LaGuardia was recently remodeled, apparently. We were there briefly for our last New York visit and it felt like one small, musty room… and the only food option was a tiny little shop that had some donuts, coffee, and snacks. But now… it’s huge! You basically have to walk through an entire shopping mall before you get to the gates. They even have a giant fountain of water that rains down from the ceiling with color-changing lights.
Once we made it past all the shopping, we were greeted by a large fight status display screen that claimed our return flight was cancelled. We continued to the gate to ask questions — there was nobody there, but the gate status said delayed.
And then it got delayed a little bit longer.
And then a little bit longer…
We eventually did make it back to Florida, however. I think in total we lost about 3 hours from the delays. Very happy it wasn’t a cancellation.
#eats #food #metMuseum #newYork #newYorkCity #nyc #pasta #pastaEater #serendipity3 #shirokuro #sushi #travel
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US cities to resist Trump’s crackdown on dissent with No Kings protests: ‘We will not be bullied’ – US news – The Guardian
US cities to resist Trump’s crackdown on dissent with No Kings protests: ‘We will not be bullied’
Second round of protests at more than 2,500 sites are set for Saturday, including in cities where Trump has sent troops
By Rachel Leingang, Fri 17 Oct 2025 06.00 EDT
Donald Trump has promised to crack down on dissent and sent troops into US cities. His allies are claiming antifa, the decentralized antifascist movement, is behind plans to protest. He is looking for any pretext to go after his opponents.
Still, this Saturday, even in cities with troops on the ground, millions of people are expected to march against the president as part of a second “No Kings” protest. The last No Kings protest in June drew several million people across more than 2,000 locations. This time, more than 2,500 cities and towns nationwide are hosting protests.
Organizers expect this Saturday’s protests to draw more people than the June events as the American public sees the excesses of the Trump administration more clearly.
No Kings image / Internet“Their goal is to dissuade you from participating,” said Ezra Levin, a co-founder of Indivisible, the progressive movement organization with chapters around the US that is a main organizer of No Kings. “That doesn’t mean that everybody has the same threat level. It doesn’t mean that people should ignore what the threats are, but it does mean we’re going to need to see a lot of courage out there on Saturday.”
More than 200 organizations are signed on as partners for the 18 October protests; none have dropped off for fear of a Trump backlash, Levin said. The American Civil Liberties Union, the civil rights group, is a partner, as is the advocacy group Public Citizen. Unions including the American Federation of Teachers and SEIU are in the coalition. The new protest movement 50501, which began earlier this year as a call for protests in all 50 states on a single day, is also a partner. Other partners include the Human Rights Campaign, MoveOn, United We Dream, the League of Conservation Voters, Common Defense and more.
Resistance to Trump continues to grow. The Harvard Crowd Counting Consortium, which tracks political crowds, noted that 2025 had seen “far more protests” than during the same time period in 2017. The June No Kings protests were “probably the second-largest single day demonstration since Donald Trump first took office in January 2017”, second to the Women’s March in 2017, the consortium said.
In June, on the same day a man shot and killed a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, tens of thousands of people still turned out for No Kings in St Paul while the shooter was on the loose, with attenders saying they didn’t want to back down in the face of political violence.
The messages behind the No Kings protests are simple: Trump is acting like a king, and the US rejects kings. The No Kings coalition has cited Trump’s “increasing authoritarian excesses and corruption” as motivation for the protests, including ramping up of deportations, gutting healthcare, gerrymandering maps and selling out families for billionaires.
In the months since the first No Kings protests, Trump’s menace against the opposition has only grown, particularly after the far-right commentator Charlie Kirk was murdered. Trump declared antifa to be a terrorist organization and has promised to investigate and take action against any leftwing groups he deems support terrorism.
Amid this backdrop, tens of thousands of people have joined calls in recent weeks to prepare safety plans, train on how to serve as marshals for the protests and learn de-escalation tactics.
Still, some people may decide to stay home because the threats against them are too great, including the fear of deportation for participating in peaceful protest.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: US cities to resist Trump’s crackdown on dissent with No Kings protests: ‘We will not be bullied’ | US news | The Guardian
#2025 #America #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #NoFacists #NoKings #NoNazis #Opinion #Politics #Protests #Resistance #Science #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates
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Want To Know More About Addison, Texas?
Addison, Texas, traces its origins to the mid-19th century as part of Peters Colony, with early settlement occurring as far back as 1846 when Preston Witt established a homestead along White Rock Creek and erected an ox-powered gristmill by 1849. The area remained largely rural until the late 1880s, when settlers Sidney Smith Noell, W.W. Julian, and W.E. Horten donated land to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway, fostering a coaling station known as Noell Junction; a post office opened in 1904, but to avoid duplication with an existing community in Leon County, it was renamed Addison after local resident and postmaster Addison Robertson, who served until 1916. Incorporated as a city in 1953 amid post-World War II suburban expansion from Dallas, the municipality—renamed a town in 1982—evolved rapidly into a commercial powerhouse, leveraging its strategic location thirteen miles north of downtown Dallas along Belt Line Road, the Dallas North Tollway, and rail lines to attract over 200 restaurants, corporate headquarters, and entertainment venues, while maintaining a population that reached 16,661 by the 2020 census.
Today, Addison thrives as a dynamic North Texas hub renowned for its culinary scene, signature festivals like the award-winning Kaboom Town! fireworks extravaganza—which marked its 40th anniversary in July 2025—and cultural offerings including Oktoberfest and Taste Addison. Recent developments underscore its forward momentum: the City Council approved the fiscal year budget in September 2025 and advanced a major transit-oriented project, while construction on a new North Texas Emergency Communication Center facility commenced this month to enhance public safety services by 2028. The Addison Performing Arts Centre welcomed Pegasus Theatre in October 2025 for expanded productions, and economic incentives continue to bolster growth in sectors like healthcare data optimization through firms such as HealthMark Group. With ongoing events at Vitruvian Park and Addison Circle Park through late October, alongside a new rental property inspection program effective earlier this year, the town exemplifies balanced urban vitality and community resilience.
Addison, Texas, is a vibrant incorporated town nestled in northern Dallas County, just 13 miles north of downtown Dallas within the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, spanning a compact 4.4 square miles with a population of approximately 16,661 as of the 2020 census and an estimated 17,100 by 2023. Known for its economic dynamism and as a hub for business and leisure, Addison boasts over 200 restaurants—more per capita than any other U.S. city—along with 22 hotels offering more than 3,000 rooms, nearly two million square feet of office space, and major corporate headquarters like Mary Kay Cosmetics, Wingstop, and Dresser, drawing a daytime population exceeding 120,000. The town’s diverse demographics reflect its growth, with a mix of about 48% White, 16% Black or African American, 8% Asian, and 23% Hispanic or Latino residents, all amid a landscape of parks, the Addison Airport, and events like the explosive Kaboom Town! fireworks show. Historically, Addison’s story begins in the 1840s as part of Peter’s Colony, when early settlers like Preston Witt arrived in 1846, building a home near White Rock Creek and opening an ox-powered gristmill in 1849 that became a vital community anchor. By 1880, Sidney Smith Noell acquired significant land south of present-day Belt Line Road, and in 1888, he joined W.W. Julian and W.E. Horten in donating right-of-way to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway—later the Cotton Belt—for a coaling station, spurring the area’s first rail connections. A cotton gin established in 1902 marked the debut of substantial industry, followed in 1903 by a depot and branch line to Dallas, dubbing the site Noell Junction; a post office opened in 1904 but was renamed Addison in 1908 to avoid conflict with another Texas community, honoring postmaster Addison Robertson who served until 1916. Julian platted the original six city blocks that year, fostering modest growth to 75 residents by 1914 with grocers and a short-lived bank, though the population dipped to 40 by 1926 amid economic challenges. Post-World War II annexation threats from neighboring Dallas, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch prompted incorporation on June 15, 1953, via a narrow 19-11 vote, electing M.H. “Harry” McKool as the first mayor and setting the stage for expansion. In 1956, W.T. Overton announced Addison Airport, which broke ground in 1957 and opened for business aviation, while a 1961 industrial park developed by Overton, John D. Murchison, and Trammell Crow fueled further progress; by 1970, the population hit 595 with 80 businesses. The 1976 approval of alcohol sales, coupled with low taxes, ignited a boom in restaurants and hotels during the late 1970s and early 1980s, swelling the populace beyond 8,000 by 1991 alongside 118 eateries, and in 1982, the city rebranded as the Town of Addison. Milestones like hosting the Dallas Grand Prix from 1989 to 1991 and completing the innovative Addison Airport Toll Tunnel in 1999 underscored its evolution from rural outpost to a premier North Texas destination blending history, commerce, and culinary allure.
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Marie Walton, GRI REALTOR & ASSOCIATED BROKER (972) 816-5197 [email protected] View Website Ebby Halliday – North Dallas 16000 Preston Road, Suite 100 Dallas TX 75248 - #RealEstateDallasAddison #HomesForSaleFarmersAddison #AddisonHomes #DFWRealEstate #NorthTexasHomes #MarketUpdate #RealEstateTrends #BuyerAgent #HouseHunting #HomeBuying #DreamHome #MovingToDFW #Relocation #SellerAgent #SellingMyHouse #DallasCountyTX #Texas #DallasCountyTX2025 #FastestGrowing #DFWSuburbs #TexasVibes #RealEstateBoom #DFW #AddisonTX #TexasHistory #DallasSuburb #TownOfAddison
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Want To Know More About Addison, Texas?
Addison, Texas, is a vibrant incorporated town nestled in northern Dallas County, just 13 miles north of downtown Dallas within the bustling Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, spanning a compact 4.4 square miles with a population of approximately 16,661 as of the 2020 census and an estimated 17,100 by 2023. Known for its economic dynamism and as a hub for business and leisure, Addison boasts over 200 restaurants—more per capita than any other U.S. city—along with 22 hotels offering more than 3,000 rooms, nearly two million square feet of office space, and major corporate headquarters like Mary Kay Cosmetics, Wingstop, and Dresser, drawing a daytime population exceeding 120,000. The town’s diverse demographics reflect its growth, with a mix of about 48% White, 16% Black or African American, 8% Asian, and 23% Hispanic or Latino residents, all amid a landscape of parks, the Addison Airport, and events like the explosive Kaboom Town! fireworks show. Historically, Addison’s story begins in the 1840s as part of Peter’s Colony, when early settlers like Preston Witt arrived in 1846, building a home near White Rock Creek and opening an ox-powered gristmill in 1849 that became a vital community anchor. By 1880, Sidney Smith Noell acquired significant land south of present-day Belt Line Road, and in 1888, he joined W.W. Julian and W.E. Horten in donating right-of-way to the St. Louis, Arkansas and Texas Railway—later the Cotton Belt—for a coaling station, spurring the area’s first rail connections. A cotton gin established in 1902 marked the debut of substantial industry, followed in 1903 by a depot and branch line to Dallas, dubbing the site Noell Junction; a post office opened in 1904 but was renamed Addison in 1908 to avoid conflict with another Texas community, honoring postmaster Addison Robertson who served until 1916. Julian platted the original six city blocks that year, fostering modest growth to 75 residents by 1914 with grocers and a short-lived bank, though the population dipped to 40 by 1926 amid economic challenges. Post-World War II annexation threats from neighboring Dallas, Carrollton, and Farmers Branch prompted incorporation on June 15, 1953, via a narrow 19-11 vote, electing M.H. “Harry” McKool as the first mayor and setting the stage for expansion. In 1956, W.T. Overton announced Addison Airport, which broke ground in 1957 and opened for business aviation, while a 1961 industrial park developed by Overton, John D. Murchison, and Trammell Crow fueled further progress; by 1970, the population hit 595 with 80 businesses. The 1976 approval of alcohol sales, coupled with low taxes, ignited a boom in restaurants and hotels during the late 1970s and early 1980s, swelling the populace beyond 8,000 by 1991 alongside 118 eateries, and in 1982, the city rebranded as the Town of Addison. Milestones like hosting the Dallas Grand Prix from 1989 to 1991 and completing the innovative Addison Airport Toll Tunnel in 1999 underscored its evolution from rural outpost to a premier North Texas destination blending history, commerce, and culinary allure.
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MY SPECIALTY: EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE
Marie Walton, GRI REALTOR & ASSOCIATED BROKER (972) 816-5197 [email protected] View Website Ebby Halliday – North Dallas 16000 Preston Road, Suite 100 Dallas TX 75248 - #RealEstateDallasAddison #HomesForSaleFarmersAddison #AddisonHomes #DFWRealEstate #NorthTexasHomes #MarketUpdate #RealEstateTrends #BuyerAgent #HouseHunting #HomeBuying #DreamHome #MovingToDFW #Relocation #SellerAgent #SellingMyHouse #DallasCountyTX #Texas #DallasCountyTX2025 #FastestGrowing #DFWSuburbs #TexasVibes #RealEstateBoom #DFW #AddisonTX #TexasHistory #DallasSuburb #TownOfAddison
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Educating Children, Bakers and Tourists: the thread about Castlehill Public School
Preamble. The schools of the “School Board” era of public education (1872-1918) have for some reason a particular fascination for me, one which is more profound where they are either no longer in use as schools or have disappeared entirely. This thread began as a couple of lines for my own notes about each of the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” but rapidly snowballed into an intention to cover each, in alphabetical order, on its own and in rather more detail, but not so much that they can’t be posted quite frequently.
The third chapter of our series looking at the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” investigates the life and times of Castlehill School. This occupied the site of the Gordon House, the 17th century residence of George Gordon, 1st Duke of Gordon who was Captain and Constable of Edinburgh Castle and is remembered for surrendering that fortification all too readily to the Protestant Lords during the Glorious Revolution of 1689. His property came later into the possession of the Bairds of Saughtonhall who gave their name to Blair’s Close that forms the western boundary of the school plot.
Gordon House in 1887, immediately before demolition to make way for Castlehill School. Photo by Alexander Adam Inglis, Edinburgh & Scottish Collection of Edinburgh City LibrariesThe school was designed by Robert Wilson, architect to the Edinburgh School Board, and was a radical departure in style from its rather austere Collegiate Gothic contemporaries by the adoption of Scots Baronial Revival; complete with turrets, crowstepped gables and mock battlements. This was seen as more befitting of its prominent location at the head of the Old Town. Another change was the use of red Cornockle sandstone from Lochmaben in Dumfriesshire to add a visual contrast with the more usual yellowy-grey from the local Hailes Quarry.
Castlehill School, north elevation on the Castlehill itself. CC-by-SA 2.0 Neil T, via FlickrA third change from its predecessors was the extension from two to three storeys; an attic level, lit by rooflights, providing rooms for teaching specialist subjects such as needlework and drawing. This was done to make the best use of a cramped site which amounted to just quarter of an acre; half that of the contemporary Milton House School in the Canongate and even less than the notoriously cramped Bristo Public School. (The only other three storey board school before this was West Fountainbridge, which had a similarly small plot)
Ordnance Survey Town Plans of Edinburgh, 1876 (right) and 1893 (left), before and after Castlehill School opened. Move the slider to compare. Note in the 1876 map that the Church of Scotland and Free Church both have schools in the district; St. Columba’s and St. John’s respectively. Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of ScotlandInternally, three original mantlepieces from the Gordon mansion were incorporated into staff rooms as was an old entrance door. To the rear (south), the site dropped steeply away down the slope of the Old Town’s Crag and Tail topography. An additional level was therefore required, originally this was an open colonnade, providing a covered extension to the playgrounds, but later it was enclosed to provide additional teaching areas. A tall retaining wall faced onto Johnston Terrace at the rear, with entrance staircases (separate for boys and girls) up to the playgrounds and a three storey Janitor’s house bridged the two levels.
South (rear) elevation of Castlehill School, showing the plot sloped steeply in two directions; down from the Castlehill and down Johnston Terrace. The additional lower storey to the rear with the arched windows, the retaining wall with entrance stairways and the three-level janitor’s house can be seen. The spire of the Highland Tolbooth St John’s church towers over an already tall school. CC-by-SA 4.0 Stephencdickson via FlickrThe school opened on Monday December 3rd 1888. Although there was no formal ceremony to mark the occasion, over 800 pupils were marched out of their old schools (those inherited by the School Board at Brown Square, Borthwick and Old Assembly Close and Victoria Terrace) up the hill to their new home. A formal opening would take place exactly 5 months later on May 3rd 1889.
Former Brown Square school in 1913. This was one of the Heriot Trust day schools that were merged into the School Board after 1872, immediately identifiable by all the Jacobean decorations modelled off of Heriot’s Hospital itself. Edinburgh Photographic Society collection, via National Galleries Scotland.Interestingly, the legend carved prominently into both the front and read façades reads “CASTLE HILL SCHOOL”, even though it was nearly always officially referred to as one word, just Castlehill, a change that was also reflected in the Ordnance Survey maps around the time.
“CASTLE HILL SCHOOL” on the north façade from the Flickr of Bob White, CC-by-NC-ND 2.0From the beginning the school was also used for evening education. But – maintaining the theme of being different – at Castlehill this was not for adults. Instead it catered only for children under 14, pupils given special dispensation by the School Board to attend evening school on account of them needing to work during the school day to help support their families. In 1898 there were 212 boys and girls so registered. In 1890, the school’s first headmaster, John Davidson, resigned on account of poor health. In May 1898 headmaster William C. S. Hunter died and was replaced by James C. Anderson of Leith Walk School. His salary of £340 being equivalent to around £38,400 in 2025 and his “reign” was formally inaugurated with a presentation by Colin G. Macrae, chairman of the School Board, and concert at the school on Wednesday 1st June that year.
The school and its pupils suffered as a result of the harsh social conditions in Edinburgh’s Old Town in the late 19th and early 20th century. Headmaster Anderson was one of a number of his peers in the district who in spoke publicly in 1904 on “how drunkenness [of parents] affects the children“. 150 of his pupils were on the “food roll” due to the inability of their parents to feed then, with a further 30 receiving relief from the district fund. This was almost a quarter of the school and other children of leaving age (14) were being taught with 7 year-olds on account of how much schooling they had missed. Anderson put this down to drunkenness which he said was getting worse, as was thriftlessness. In 1908, under the terms of the Education (Scotland) Act of that year, the School Board instituted a meal scheme for necessitous children, each receiving a bowl of soup and bread during their school day. This was a great success and was expanded in 1911 by converting West Fountainbridge School into a dedicated central cooking centre. One hundred children from Castlehill were among the first recipients to benefit, but as their school lacked a dining hall they went to the Independent Labour Party Hall on Melbourne Place to eat. The tickets for these dinners issued daily at school to encourage children deserving of the meals to actually attend their lessons. They could also be purchased for 6d a week; with a little bit of liberal rounding they became known as “penny dinners“.
Soup and bread is served for lunch at North Canongate School, c. 1914. The man with the moustache and white apron is the headmaster. Note the lack of shoes on a number of the boys’ feet.Feeding was not the only effort made to improve the lot of the children of Castlehill. In 1908 permission was gained by the School Board to adopt a piece of ground on Johnston Terrace next to the Church of Scotland Normal School (a teacher training college) for use as a playground, that at the school being completely insufficient in size and aspect. In 1909, under the auspices of Patrick Geddes’ Edinburgh Social Union, a patch of wasteland on Johnston Terrace was converted by pupils at the school into a model demonstration garden of their very own. Geddes established numerous such gardens, believing them as living classrooms for teaching both biology and self-improvement. Vegetable plots 150 feet long and 7 feet wide grew potatoes, peas, beans, cauliflowers, cabbages, turnips, leeks, onions, carrots, lettuces and other salad vegetables which were used in cookery classes in the school. This space was used for teaching natural history lessons and the principles of crop rotation. It also allowed the school to apply for a valuable additional grant for teaching gardening from the Education Department.
The Castlehill School garden off Johnston Terrace, c. 1914The next year, 1910, headmaster H. F. Sim brought the first case of its kind in Edinburgh to the City Police Court under the Children Act 1908, when two shopkeepers were charged with and pleaded guilty to selling “smoking mixture” to to children under the age of 16. Sim had caught boys in the school trying to smoke a pipe filled with the ersatz tobacco and confiscated from them their paper bag marked “The Boys’ Smoking Mixture and Pipe: price One Halfpenny“. On questioning, he had found from them where they had acquired it and reported the matter to the city’s Medical Officer of Health. The magistrate admonished the defendants and said “a warning should be given to tobacconists that the sale of such a mixture was an illegal practice, and that in other cases of the kind the offenders would certainly be punished.“
A production of scenes from Julius Caesar for the benefit of the School Board by the boys of Castlehill School, March 1912. The Evening News recorded that Mark Anthony was played by William Caldwell and that he “made a very excellent attempt at the speech at Caesar’s funeral”.In October 1912, to remedy a lack of accommodation in the school, the adjacent ancient tenement known as Cannonball House – the last block of old Castlehill – being acquired by the Board for £1,925. It had recently been bought by the Cockburn Association with a view to preservation and the Board spent £3,500 thoroughly renovating and converting into additional teaching spaces. Its four principal classrooms could accommodate 180 children and there were special rooms for practical subjects such as cookery. In the basement were “spray baths“; showers for the children, most of whom lacked even basic domestic sanitation in their homes. The building was substantially altered, with one wing and the old Blair’s Close removed to improve ventilation and daylight. A number of original 17th century features were uncovered during restoration and were retained and installed in the fabric in new locations, making the end result something of a chimaera. The east gable is the biggest give-away way that not all is what it seems with this apparently old tenement; look for the tall classroom windows and the Edinburgh School Board emblem high up on the pediment.
Cannonball House, before and after. In 1900, an image by James C. H. Balmain (left) and in 1957 by H. D. Wyllie. Photos in the Edinburgh and Scottish Collection, Edinburgh City Libraries. Move the slider to compare.In WW1 the school was requisitioned by to act as a depot and billeting for soldiers of the 5th Royal Scots based out of Edinburgh Castle. The Church of Scotland Young Men’s Guild was given the use of a room the following year to run a canteen and recreation room for them, with a gramophone, games, books, newspapers and writing materials. A teacher at the school, James Bathgate, was injured on war service in July 1915 when serving as a private with the College Company, 4th Royal Scots, in France. In April 1917, Headmaster Sim lost his son, Charles Henry Stuart, who died in hospital having been fatally injured serving with the Royal Field Artillery.
After the war, in April 1922, Headmistress Miss C. E. Anderson retired and was presented with a gold wristlet watch from the parents and her colleagues and a diamond brooch from the pupils. She had been teaching the children of the area since the school opened – a record period of 41 years!
In 1936 a new technological front in teaching was opened up at Castlehill when a room was specifically converted for the use of the Edinburgh branch of the newly instituted Scottish Educational Film Association for the production of educational films. It had been recognised that technology had a part to play in education – in 1931 a group from Canonmills School had been given a trial lesson on the theme of sound recording and reproduction at their local cinema – but further progress was wanting on account of a lack of suitable films for the classroom. The Education Committee thus resolved to make them for themselves: as well as providing the studio for the Association, they also covered the (then) substantial overhead of film costs and in return had a controlling say in the content of films. The first production was a four-part geography film entitled “The Port of London“. The Association would remain at Castlehill until 1957, when they moved to Boswell’s Court.
Members of the Scottish Educational Film Association and school teachers working on a production in the new studio at Castlehill. Edinburgh Evening News, December 19th 1936On the morning of September 1st 1939, children showed to schools all over the city with their coat, a bag or case and a cardboard label – they were being evacuated. Some 200 gathered at Castlehill before heading to Waverley station and destinations unknown. The school remained open for those children that stayed behind and there were still 273 on the roll in September 1940. The logbook records the peculiarities of an education during wartime; there were separate air raid shelters for infants, girls and boys; all children had to carry their gas masks with them; there were weekly gas mask drills and weekly marching drills to and from the shelters.
Excerpt from the logbook at Castlehill School for February 1940 with notes on the gas mask and air raid shelter drills.Additional wartime uses were found for the partially vacant school. A central depot for clothing for evacuees was established in October 1939; donations were received and sorted before being distributed to those in need who had been evacuated and found themselves wanting during their “enforced holiday to the country“. This was organised by Miss Cairns, Superintendent of Domestic Subjects for the Corporation, and she had 50 sewing mistresses from across the city under her direction. The supply of children’s coats proved insufficient and so these “clever-fingered” women picked apart the excess of larger items, cut them down to the required sizes and put them back together again. They were joined by women of the Edinburgh Personal Service League who performed a similar operation for men’s clothing, to be sent via the Red Cross to injured servicemen and prisoners of war. Wartime cookery classes were run in the school by the Corporation’s night school teachers. These were aimed at women to try and instruct them in how to eke out their rations, substitute various items that were off ration to recreate old favourites and how to do so more healthily and with less waste of fuel. Mrs Gray of the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) established a group of like-minded women to make soft toys and dolls and clothing for babies and toddlers who were being cared for in public nurseries, their mothers being on war work. Most of these things were no longer being manufactured during wartime. Such was the success of this endeavour that it later relocated to a dedicated workshop at Bristo School as the Nursery Equipment Centre.
A wartime cookery lesson at Castlehill. Edinburgh Evening News, May 14th 1940Postwar, a shock announcement in May 1951 broke news that the school was to be closed at the end of that term. It had been built for 800 but as a result of the long term urban depopulation of the city it was down to 293 by this point; there was plenty excess capacity to rehouse them at Milton House, Tollcross and South Bridge schools for the same reason.
A Castlehill class, 1947A secondary reason behind the closure was that the authorities wanted to establish a Central School Of Bakery and Catering where apprentice workers from the city’s important baking industry (as well as more general cookery and catering) could undertake industry-specific further education. Parents protested the decision but the Corporation was unmoved and voted by 14 to 5 for closure. Its only concession was to promise crossing guards to help children navigate the busy roads that they now needed to transit on their way to their new schools.
One mother vents her frustration towards Councillors Thomson and Hedderwick of the Education Committee at a meeting to oppose the closure of Castlehill School, May 25th 1951.The bakery school opened on Monday 19th January 1954, Councillor H. A. Brechin performed the honours and stated “these new premises, together with the modern equipment, give Edinburgh one of the most up-to-date baking and catering schools in the United Kingdom“.
Mr John Russell shows apprentices a loaf fresh from the oven (left) and John Notman (right) is supervised in the correct way to serve diners at Castlehill School in these photos from the Evening News, October 2rd 1957It did not last long however and as a result of changes to further education and the city’s industries, it was closed by 1970. While it once again sought a purpose, during the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh that year it served as a temporary museum of regimental history at Edinburgh Castle. In 1971 the main building was converted to offices for the City Engineer’s department and would later be occupied by the Drainage Department of Lothian Regional Council. Between 1972 and 1974 it was also the home for the Theatre Workshop, an arts and drama centre for children, while it was found permanent premises.
1965, the sad sight of the abandoned School Garden. Photo by Ronald Alexander © Edinburgh City LibrariesIn August 1986, Lothian Region accepted an offer for £250,000 from William Muir distillers who proposed to convert the former school it into a whisky museum and heritage centre. £2 million was spent on this project which opened its doors on 3rd May 1988, the building’s centennial year. It was an instant success and is now into its 5th decade of offering a very different sort of education than that the building’s planners had in mind.
Cannonball House was retained by the Education Department when the main building became the bakery school and was used for community education, passing to Lothian Regional Council on the formation of that organisation. In 1984 a Children’s History Centre was opened and the building was later properly converted by the Region for £200,000 for use as a schools education centre modelled on Patrick Grddes’ ideas; the Castehill Urban Studies Centre. It was the first such centre in Britain and I recall school trips there in the early 1990s, the name of the guide was Mrs Quick – I’m not sure why that name stuck with me, but it did!. Between 1999 until the opening of the new Scottish Parliament at Holyrood in 2004, Cannonball House was used as a schools education centre for the temporary parliament housed in the General Assembly Hall of the Church of Scotland on the Lawnmarket. In 2013, 100 years after it opened as part of the school, it found a new life as a high-end restaurant by the Scottish-Italian Contini family, who themselves had started out in Scotland a century before.
Contini Cannonball Restaurant and Bar, via Contini.comWant to read more about Edinburgh’s Lost Board Schools? The previous chapter was about Canonmills School.
Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.
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Teaching “self denial as well as thrift”: the thread about Canonmills Public School
Preamble. The schools of the “School Board” era of public education (1872-1918) have for some reason a particular fascination for me, one which is more profound where they are either no longer in use as schools or have disappeared entirely. This thread began as a couple of lines for my own notes about each of the “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” but rapidly snowballed into an intention to cover each, in alphabetical order, on its own and in rather more detail, but not so much that they can’t be posted quite frequently.
The second instalment of our series detailing “Lost Board Schools of Edinburgh” looks at Canonmills Public School on Rodney Street. Before this institution, education in the neighbourhood was provided either at the Church of Scotland’s St Mary’s School – also on Rodney Street – or the Free Church School at the foot of Canonmills (the former is now part of the Elsie Clark Halls of the Royal British Legion and the latter is the Canonmills Baptist Church.) The Edinburgh School Board acquired half an acre of ground immediately to the east of St Mary’s for a new school and plans were prepared by architect to the Board, Robert Wilson. These were forwarded for approval of the Scotch Education Department in 1879, the estimates for the total cost being £8,500, to be paid for by a loan over thirty years from that authority.
Overlay comparison of 1893 Ordnance Survey town plan of Edinburgh, centred on Canonmills School (Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland) and contemporary Google Earth satellite imagery. Move the slider to compare.The school was very similar to others for the board by Wilson (who would later become their staff architect); a two-storey sandstone building in the favoured Collegiate Gothic style, minimally ornamented except for the Edinburgh School Board roundel (“the female figure of education” dispensing knowledge to the young and surrounded by books and a globe) on the central gable. It was roughly symmetrical in layout, with an entrance at the north end of the block for boys and another at the south end for girls and infants. Internally it was similarly segregated and effectively two schools, the two halves meeting in the centre in large, multi-function halls on both floors. These had moving partitions to allow them to be split up into smaller teaching spaces and also served as the only direct connection between the two halves. To the rear was a playground, around the edge of which were play sheds, and a house for the resident janitor.
The former Canonmills School. The building to the right is the Elsie Clark Halls, which includes the original St Mary’s School building to its rear. Note the ESB roundel on the principal gable in the centre of the building. Picture via S1 Developments.The Board advertised to staff their new school in May 1880, ahead of its opening for the new term later that year. They appointed Mr Maxwell Shennan headmaster but he left before the end of that first term to join the Heriot Trust schools. He was replaced by Mr John Bauchope of New Street Public School.
Evening News, 20th May 1880, “Situations Vacant” requesting applications for various teachers at the new Canonmills and Lothian Road schholsCompared to its contemporaries in the city, Canonmills suffered less from the effects of social deprivation. As an example, in 1893 it had an attendance rate of 99.5% while Castlehill in the Lawnmarket could achieve only 78%. In a favourable inspection the following year it was remarked as running a library and a penny savings bank; “very successful institutions” . Headmaster Bauchope had instituted a similar scheme at his previous charge and noted that by saving their pennies rather than spending them, the “children are taught self-denial as well as thrift“.
The expansion of Edinburgh’s late Victorian tenement town as well as the nationwide abolition of school fees in 1890 put pressure on school rolls thus in 1894 an extension at Canonmills was authorised to provide workshops and a sewing room as was another new school for the district – at Broughton Road. In 1897 the pupils raised £2 7s 6d towards famine relief in India.
The rear of the redeveloped school, with the playground turned over to car parking. The low structure on the left was the block containing the workshops and sewing room. Picture via S1 Developments.In 1908 the school was briefly the focus of some of the bitter, anti-Catholic sectarianism that flourished in Edinburgh local politics in the first half of the 20th century. At this time the education of Roman Catholic children was still directly provided for by that church – it was not until the Education (Scotland) Act 1918 that it would be incorporated into the public sector. In November a crowded meeting was held at the Queen’s Hall on Queen Street to protest there being two “nuns” teaching at Canonmills. These, it turned out, were students allocated by the Provincial Committee for the Training of Teachers who were in general (i.e. not religious) training towards becoming teacher at Catholic schools and who wore a uniform which had been mistaken for the habit of a nun. The School Board capitulated on the issue, under pressure from “Pastor Primmer” – the Rev. Jacob Primmer, a prominent Protestant rabble-rouser at the time – and the students were withdrawn. They wrote to the Provincial Committee requesting that it no longer send them any Catholic students and were condemned in turn by Canon Stuart as “a committee of nun-hunters“.
Reporting on the case of the “nuns” at Canonmills School. Edinburgh Evening News, November 23rd 1908A further “Popish plot” at the school was soon uncovered and in December Primmer’s meeting attacked the School Board for allowing a class of boys from St. Mary’s Cathedral Roman Catholic School on York Place the use of the workshop at Canonmills for woodworking lessons once a week. The meeting was outraged that Catholic children should get to use the “benches, expensive tools and fittings, along with the manual instructor, which are all paid for by the Edinburgh ratepayers“. This, they said, was “virtually placing a Popish school to a certain extent, on the rates” and they protested that “Popish Schools, not being under popular control, had no right to a share of the public rates”. It is not clear who won this particular denominational battle.
During WW1, Continuation Classes (that is, education continuing beyond the school leaving age of 14 for those who wished to take it but did not pass the qualifying exams for Higher schools) for young women were moved from London Street School which had been commandeered by the military for the duration for the instruction of new recruits. These classes offered “a wide variety of educational courses, thoroughly practical and well suited to meet modern requirements” and included domestic subjects, “cutting out, sick-nursing and cookery” for “married women” (i.e. expectant mothers) and trade dressmaking. In 1916 a number of windows in the school were broken as a result of bombs dropped nearby on empty ground at Bellevue Terrace during the Edinburgh and Leith Zeppelin Raid of 2nd – 3rd April 1916.
In 1928 the boys of Canonmills School won the Edinburgh Inspector’s Cup, one of the first junior football trophies in Scotland and – as far as I can establish – the oldest that is still competed for. They beat Gorgie Public School by 1-0 at Tynecastle Park, M. Mcphee scoring the winning goal for the Boys from Bellevue. In 1930 a further sporting accolade was brought to the school by pupil Harry Harkness who was chosen as captain of the Scottish schoolboy’s eleven in an international match against England. Harkness was a centre half who played for Edinburgh Emmet, a junior side at Meadowbank, and later the short-lived Niddrie Thistle senior team.
The Inspector’s Cup in 2025. Photo by James HobsonIn 1931, sixty pupils from the school took part in a novel educational experiment in the neighbouring Ritz picture house. They were shown an instructive cartoon film by the Western Electric Company explaining how sound was recorded and reproduced in motion pictures, a subject on which they were later tested. The school’s headmaster, Mr D. Fulton, expressed his support of the idea as “an educational force” but noted that such films would have to be specially made for the purpose. Fulton was replaced by Mr Bunce in 1932, who died only three years later on June 27th 1935.
In 1937 the Scottish Education Department (it dropped the title Scotch in 1918) condemned both Stockbridge School and – provisionally – Canonmills as unfit for purpose. A particular complaint about Canonmills was that it was “very noisy“, being surrounded by a number of industries and also being immediately above the Scotland Street railway yard. The city Corporation therefore quickly advanced plans for a combined new school for the district at Tanfield. At this time, Stockbridge had a roll of 547 and Canonmills 449 and it was forecast that a 14-class building with a capacity of 800 would be sufficient to replace both. £30,000 was budgeted for this scheme as part of a huge, city-wide investment in schools on the back of the Education (Scotland) Act 1936. Approval was granted in 1938, however like many of the plans made at this time for schools in the city it was put on a hiatus as a result of WW2, one which would become permanent.
At 7AM on Friday 1st September 1939, Canonmills was one of the central assembly points for the wartime evacuation of the city’s children who would proceed from there directly to Waverley station. But not all children evacuated and many soon returned home once the initial fears of sudden, mass aerial attacks on cities had passed. The school therefore remained open during wartime, the Evening News reporting on 10th March 1943 that class 5A had raised £12 12s 6d towards the “Wings for Victory” appeal, which they presented to the Lord Provost William Young Darling. In May it was reported further that the children of the school had formed a Street Savings Group and had bought one hundred and eleven National Savings certificates.
A class at Canonmills School during wartime in 1941. Via Edinphoto.org, with acknowledgement to Ian ScottThe next phase of the school’s life began in 1956 when the Corporation announced a major shake-up to education in the north central area of the city. Canonmills, condemned for replacement 20 years previously, was to close. By this time as a result of the general post-war depopulation of the inner city only seven of its twelve classrooms were in use and its pupils would be reallocated to the schools at Broughton, Stockbridge (by now no longer condemned!) and London Street. At those schools there was also an excess of capacity for the same reason. Primary pupils left for the last time on Friday March 1st 1957, heading the following Monday instead to their allocated new schools.
Headline and photograph of Canonmills School on the announcement of closure. Evening News, 27th November 1956.After closure the school remained in educational use, becoming a temporary annexe for Ainslie Park Secondary at East Pilton whose roll had risen to 1,900 and which was bursting at the seams. This problem was as a result of the deferred pre-war schemes to provide new Secondary schools, delays to the new Craigroyston Secondary at Muirhouse and a demographic “bulge” in children of secondary school age on account of the effect that the end of WW2 had on human reproduction. The capacity issue at Ainslie Park was particularly acute as that school had never been properly completed and much of its accommodation was in “temporary” wooden huts.
After Ainslie Park’s overspill left, in 1970 Clarebank School for the Mentally Handicapped was relocated to Canonmills. That establishment had been forced to move from its home in Leith when it was condemned and was moved to the former North Fort Street School which too was then condemned in short order. Parents of the 73 children at Clarebank pointed out these Victorian schools were “hopelessly inadequate” for modern specialist educational needs and it lasted only a few years at Canonmills. Following this the name returned to Canonmills School and it was used for children of secondary school age with “behavioural difficulties” who had been removed from other schools or who were persistent truants. By the year 2000, there were just 54 students attending.
In that year plans were announced to close Canonmills and merge it with Cairnpark School, the two getting a new, purpose-built school for children with additional needs on the site of the former North Merchiston Public School. This scheme became something of a cursed one. Part of the funding was to come from the sale of the Canonmills building and planning permission in outline was granted for the property developer Miller Homes to demolish it and replace it with a 6-storey block of 24 flats. This was strongly objected to by Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, the Cockburn Association and other local civic and residents’ groups and it took three years for it to be finally rejected. A further and more significant spanner was thrown in the works when there was the sort of suspicious fire at the vacant North Merchiston site in 2002 (isn’t it curious how suspicious fires so often seem to happen for no good reason when there is a vacant public building and the involvement of property developers… 😇) Following the fire, protracted wrangling by the Council with both its insurers and the Public Private Partnership body that was meant to fund and build the school eventually resulted in the whole scheme collapsing. The North Merchiston site was sold to the developers and an alternative was sought. After an exhausting hunt for a site, which considered seventeen different locations across the city, it was eventually decided to build upon the former Willowpark and St Nicholas’ Special Schools in Gorgie and do so by direct contract. It was therefore not until February 2008 that the combined new school opened, called Gorgie Mills.
Gorgie Mills School, a descendant of Canonmills. Architect’s picture from Anderson Bell + ChristieCoincidentally, just days after Gorgie Mills opened, there was a suspicious fire in the now closed and vacant Canonmills School library… Following the refusal of the plans to demolish it, an alternative scheme to retain and convert the original building for this purpose was proceeded with by S1 Developments, who christened their scheme “Primary One“. This consists of fourteen flats, five maisonettes and two Mews houses and was completed in 2010, opening a new and hopefully long and secure chapter in the life of the 130-year old school.
Want to read more about Edinburgh’s Lost Board Schools? The previous chapter was about Bristo Public School and the next chapter is about Castlehill School.
Note to readers: unfortunately in April 2026, a third-party plug-in more than exceeded its authority and broke many of the image links on this site. No images were lost but I will have to restore them page-by-page, which may take some time. In the meantime please bear with me while I go about rectifying this issue.
If you have found this site useful, informative or amusing then you can help contribute towards its running costs by supporting me on ko-fi. This includes my commitment to keeping it 100% advert and AI free for all time coming, and in helping to find further unusual stories to bring you by acquiring books and paying for research.
Or please do just share this post on social media or amongst friends and like-minded people, sites like this thrive on being shared.Explore Threadinburgh by map:
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#Lochend #Logan #Restalrig #StMargaret -
🎯 NOW PUBLISHING: On-Location Coverage from Black Hat USA 2025!
We're back in the office and excited to start sharing all the conversations we captured on location in Las Vegas with our amazing sponsors and editorial coverage!
🔔 Follow ITSPmagazine, Sean Martin, CISSP, and Marco Ciappelli to get this content fresh as it drops!
We're proud to share this game-changing Brand Story conversation thanks to our friends at Stellar Cyber 🙏
#StellarCyber Revolutionizes #SOC Operations with Human-Augmented Autonomous Platform
Security operations centers are drowning in thousands of daily alerts while sophisticated threats demand immediate response. At Black Hat USA 2025, Subo Guha from Stellar Cyber shows how their revolutionary platform transforms this chaos into clarity.
Unlike traditional approaches that pile on more automation, Stellar Cyber recognizes that effective security requires intelligent collaboration between AI and human expertise. Their autonomous SOC concept dramatically reduces alert volume from hundreds of thousands to manageable numbers within days—not weeks.
Key innovations include:
• AI-driven auto-triage that identifies true positives among thousands of false alarms
• Natural language queries
• Advanced #identity threat detection catching physical impossibilities like logins from Portland and Moscow 30 minutes apart
• Vendor-neutral architecture supporting CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Sophos, and more
The result?
#MSSPs report dramatic efficiency gains, analysts focus on strategic decisions instead of alert fatigue, and organizations achieve faster threat detection with smaller, more focused teams.
📺 Watch the video: https://youtu.be/N3M1fxhMryM
➤ Learn more about Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-cyber--inc--357947
✦ Catch more stories from Stellar Cyber: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/stellarcyber
🎪 Follow all of our #BHUSA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25
#Cybersecurity #SOC #SecurityOperations #AI #ThreatDetection #BlackHatUSA #BHUSA25 #IdentitySecurity #MSSP #AlertFatigue #agenticAI #infosec #infosecuity
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🎯 NOW PUBLISHING: On-Location Coverage from Black Hat USA 2025!
We're back in the office and excited to start sharing all the conversations we captured on location in Las Vegas with our amazing sponsors and editorial coverage!
🔔 Follow ITSPmagazine, Sean Martin, CISSP, and Marco Ciappelli to get this content fresh as it drops!
We're proud to share this game-changing Brand Story conversation thanks to our friends at Stellar Cyber 🙏
#StellarCyber Revolutionizes #SOC Operations with Human-Augmented Autonomous Platform
Security operations centers are drowning in thousands of daily alerts while sophisticated threats demand immediate response. At Black Hat USA 2025, Subo Guha from Stellar Cyber shows how their revolutionary platform transforms this chaos into clarity.
Unlike traditional approaches that pile on more automation, Stellar Cyber recognizes that effective security requires intelligent collaboration between AI and human expertise. Their autonomous SOC concept dramatically reduces alert volume from hundreds of thousands to manageable numbers within days—not weeks.
Key innovations include:
• AI-driven auto-triage that identifies true positives among thousands of false alarms
• Natural language queries
• Advanced #identity threat detection catching physical impossibilities like logins from Portland and Moscow 30 minutes apart
• Vendor-neutral architecture supporting CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Sophos, and more
The result?
#MSSPs report dramatic efficiency gains, analysts focus on strategic decisions instead of alert fatigue, and organizations achieve faster threat detection with smaller, more focused teams.
📺 Watch the video: https://youtu.be/N3M1fxhMryM
➤ Learn more about Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-cyber--inc--357947
✦ Catch more stories from Stellar Cyber: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/stellarcyber
🎪 Follow all of our #BHUSA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25
#Cybersecurity #SOC #SecurityOperations #AI #ThreatDetection #BlackHatUSA #BHUSA25 #IdentitySecurity #MSSP #AlertFatigue #agenticAI #infosec #infosecuity
-
🎯 NOW PUBLISHING: On-Location Coverage from Black Hat USA 2025!
We're back in the office and excited to start sharing all the conversations we captured on location in Las Vegas with our amazing sponsors and editorial coverage!
🔔 Follow ITSPmagazine, Sean Martin, CISSP, and Marco Ciappelli to get this content fresh as it drops!
We're proud to share this game-changing Brand Story conversation thanks to our friends at Stellar Cyber 🙏
#StellarCyber Revolutionizes #SOC Operations with Human-Augmented Autonomous Platform
Security operations centers are drowning in thousands of daily alerts while sophisticated threats demand immediate response. At Black Hat USA 2025, Subo Guha from Stellar Cyber shows how their revolutionary platform transforms this chaos into clarity.
Unlike traditional approaches that pile on more automation, Stellar Cyber recognizes that effective security requires intelligent collaboration between AI and human expertise. Their autonomous SOC concept dramatically reduces alert volume from hundreds of thousands to manageable numbers within days—not weeks.
Key innovations include:
• AI-driven auto-triage that identifies true positives among thousands of false alarms
• Natural language queries
• Advanced #identity threat detection catching physical impossibilities like logins from Portland and Moscow 30 minutes apart
• Vendor-neutral architecture supporting CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Sophos, and more
The result?
#MSSPs report dramatic efficiency gains, analysts focus on strategic decisions instead of alert fatigue, and organizations achieve faster threat detection with smaller, more focused teams.
📺 Watch the video: https://youtu.be/N3M1fxhMryM
➤ Learn more about Stellar Cyber: https://itspm.ag/stellar-cyber--inc--357947
✦ Catch more stories from Stellar Cyber: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/stellarcyber
🎪 Follow all of our #BHUSA 2025 coverage: https://www.itspmagazine.com/bhusa25
#Cybersecurity #SOC #SecurityOperations #AI #ThreatDetection #BlackHatUSA #BHUSA25 #IdentitySecurity #MSSP #AlertFatigue #agenticAI #infosec #infosecuity
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ROAMING THE REGION: FREE CONCERTS AND EVENTS TO ENJOY FOR THE REST OF THE SUMMER
Summer is the season of outdoor concerts and music festivals, and Waterloo Region has plenty of both. In fact, many of them are family-friendly and free.
From local classics like the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival that attracts international names and happens each July to newer more intimate concert series such as Roos Island in Willow River (Victoria) Park, there is a free musical event nearly every day of the week. Here are some tune-filled dates to fill your calendar.
Starting with the heavy hitter, the Kitchener Blues Festival runs from Aug. 7 to 10 in Downtown Kitchener. Now in its 25th year, this festival attracts world class musicians, singers and performers to entertain enthusiastic and loyal crowds. Thirty-five bands will perform on four stages, with first come first serve seating. The event is licenced to sell alcohol and there are water refill stations, so don’t forget to bring your reusable bottle. Food trucks will be on-site to satisfy your hunger, not to mention the array of international cuisine available in the downtown restaurant scene.
Newcomer festival, Caribana Ignite is bringing its vibrant energy to Kitchener’s Downtown for the second year in a row. The festival is a celebration of Caribbean music, dance, heritage and cuisine. It is a stunning tribute to the diaspora and an exciting weekend you won’t want to miss! Throughout the month of August there are Road to Caribana events on Thursdays at TWH Social with signature half price drinks. The festivities officially start on Friday, Aug. 22 with a Family Glow Party at 6 p.m. in Carl Zehr Square. On Saturday watch the parade along King Street at 11 a.m. and enjoy performances and activities into the evening. Join the fun and order your own costume on the Caribana Ignite website. A new addition to the Caribana lineup is an All-White Brunch on Sunday at The Boathouse.
Rock out with Beauty Eh at Cambridge’s Forbes Park Bandshell on Sunday, Aug. 10 at 7 p.m. Bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy a night of Canadian rock music.
Every Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Centennial Park in Downtown Ayr is the Music in the Park series featuring local bands and aspiring young singer-songwriters. Bring a chair and relax in the park.
There’s nothing like a unique setting to create a memorable atmosphere. The Castle Concert Series at Castle Kilbride fits the bill. Every Thursday from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., this by-donation live music event sometimes also includes a craft market. Bring a chair and soak in the magic.
Jazz lovers, mark your calendars for Sunday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. at Preston’s Central Park Bandshell for popular local musicians, Top Pocket Fusion Jazz Band.
Feeling the itch to get out of your seat and groove to the music? Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener each have weekly salsa, bachata, and merengue nights complete with beginner lessons and social dances. They’re free, inclusive of skill and experience, family-friendly and open to all interested participants. Bring friends or your partner, ask a friendly stranger to dance, or move those hips on your own. Latin Music on Main Street in Downtown Galt is on Saturday, Aug. 16 from 6 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Latin Music on Queen St. in Hespeler is on Saturdays, Aug. 2 and 30 from 6:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. Fuel up beforehand at The Mule, The Local Eatery or Bombay Sizzler.
In Uptown Waterloo enjoy learning a variety of dance styles for Dance It Off Tuesdays. From Chinese Square to West Coast Swing to K-Pop and East Coast Swing, there’s something for everyone to shake it off.
On Thursdays from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., head to the Kitchener Market for Music at the Market. Conexion Latina and TenC will teach you all the steps.
Sprinkled throughout August at the bandstand on Willow River Park’s picturesque island is the Roos Island Concert Series hosted by Good Company Productions and the City of Kitchener. Bring a picnic blanket or chair, snacks and refreshments from nearby local shops like Café Pyrus, The Civil or The Lab Street Eats (among several others), and settle in for a variety of homegrown talent. Times vary, so find the most up-to-date information on Good Company Productions’ Instagram.
Last, though certainly not least is the popular Sunset Sessions surprise concerts held at Vogelsang Green every Friday at 7 p.m. Co-hosted by the Downtown Kitchener BIA and Good Company Productions, these concerts are the definition of summer: magical vibes, friendly people, tasty food and sun on your skin. Each week surprise local and international bands perform under twinkle lights for appreciative crowds. Come prepared with a chair or blanket to sit on, as well as with food and drinks from spots like KW Empanadas, Taste of Seoul Express, or Casa Toro 88 to name a few.
These musical happenings are an excellent way to get outside, learn about new music, or hear musicians you already love. They’re also a wonderful opportunity to interact with others, learn new names, and build community connections. If you’re looking for a way to make friends, find that special someone, or strengthen your social ties, these free outdoor concerts are calling your name.
#beautyEh #caribana #centennialPark #classics #Column #ConexionLatina #downtownAyr #forbesPark #freeConcerts #friendlyPeople #Heritage #Ignite #kingStreet #kitchenersDowntown #magicalVibes #musicalEvents #musicians #Performers #roaming #roamingTheRegion #singers #Summer #sun #TARAMACANDREW #tastyFood #tenc #WillowRiver
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#Australia #SocialHistory #Sectarianism #ChildrenLearningFromParents
have been sharing a collection of family stories with a niece, and for context, adding bits of social history.
i was 5th generation born in australia, 1/16th irish dna, yet ironically raised as “irish catholic”.
— anyone who conflates dna with culture is seriously wrongaustralia in the 1950s and 1960s was still predominantly white and christian, but divided into two main groups — anglican and catholic
Daniel Mannix, Irish born catholic archbishop of melbourne, was a focal point for australian sectarianism, having opposed conscription for world war I, and still archbishop during the great labor party split of 1955
[wikipedia says: The Australian Labor Party split of 1955 was a split within the Australian Labor Party along ethnocultural lines and about the position towards communism. Key players in the split were the federal opposition leader H. V. "Doc" Evatt and B. A. Santamaria, the dominant force behind the "Catholic Social Studies Movement" or "the Movement".]
australia had an interesting relationship with communism through all these years (PM Menzies sought desperately to ban communism, and failed)
The breakaway DLP (democratic labor party) was “nourished” by anti-communist sentiment among post-war immigrants. (santamaria is now described by some writers as a fascist)
meanwhile, the rest of us “micks” (catholics of irish variety) were seen as “other” — at the very least, our loyalty to the british crown was questionable.
in the 1960s there was a movement determined to prevent governments from supporting private schools. (today we might reasonable question whether we should subsidise extremely wealthy and privileged schools to the tune of billions, but in the 1960s it was all about not giving one penny to even the most impoverished catholic schools.
wikipedia, for example, tells us The Goulburn School Strike was a protest action in July 1962 in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia.
The protesters were families of students attending St Brigid's Primary School - as a school run by the local Catholic church. Children enrolled at the school were all withdrawn and enrolled at local state schools in the town, placing pressure on the resources available at those schools. The immediate aim of the protest was to secure government assistance to construct a new toilet block at St Brigid's to meet government health requirements. The protests arose in a background of heated political debate about "state aid" to Catholic schools and accusations of sectarianism. The strike, in effect a lockout, generated hostility in Goulburn and across Australia.
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7 & 23 July: Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Divine Grace
July 23
In the Provinces of Europe, July 7
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY,
MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACEMemorial
‘The Blessed Virgin Mary was eternally predestined, in the context of the Incarnation of the divine Word, to be the Mother of God. As decreed by divine Providence, she served on earth as the loving Mother of the divine Redeemer, His associate, uniquely generous, and the Lord’s humble servant. She conceived, bore, and nourished Christ; presented Him to the Father in the Temple; and was united with Him in His suffering as He died on the cross. In a completely unparalleled way she cooperated, by her obedience, faith, hope and burning charity, with our Savior’s work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason, she is Mother to us all in the order of grace’ (Lumen Gentium, the Constitution on the Church, 61).
From the Common of the Blessed Virgin Mary, except the following:
Office of Readings
The Second Reading
Hom. 4From the homily of St. Cyril of Alexandria preached at the Council of Ephesus
Our access to the fountainhead of grace is through Mary
Hail Mary, Mother of God, august treasury of the whole world, unquenchable torch, crown of virginity, scepter of orthodoxy, temple indestructible, and place of the uncontainable, mother and virgin. Through you is named blessed in the holy gospel He who comes in the name of the Lord. Hail Mary! You contained the uncontainable in your holy virginal womb. Through you the Trinity is glorified; through you is the cross named precious, and adored throughout the whole world; through you heaven exults; through you angels and archangels rejoice; through you demons are put to flight; through you the devil, the tempter, fell from heaven; through you the fallen creature is taken up to heaven; through you the whole created world, gripped in the madness of idolatry, come to a recognition of the truth; through you comes about holy baptism for believers; through you the oil of gladness; through you churches have been founded through the whole world; through you nations are led to repentance.
What need is there to speak at length? Through you the only Son of God shone His light for those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death; through you prophets foretold what was to come; through you apostles preach salvation to the nations; through you the dead are raised to life; through you kings reign, through the Holy Trinity.
What man can sing adequately the praise of Mary? She is both virgin and mother! The wonder astounds me. Shall the Builder be forbidden to inhabit the temple He has built? Shall He be despised who chose His handmaid for His mother?
See then, all things rejoice. May it be ours to fear and bow before the unity of the Trinity, to worship and tremble in awe before the indivisible Trinity, as we sing praises of the ever-virgin Mary, that is the holy Church, and of her Son and immaculate spouse; for to Him is glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Responsory
R/. With confidence let us draw near to the throne of grace, * so that we may receive mercy, and find grace when we are in need of help.
V/. To you do we cry, blessed Virgin, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears, * so that we may receive mercy, and find grace when we are in need of help.Morning Prayer
Canticle of Zechariah
Ant. It is I who give birth to all noble loving and the holy gift of hope. From me comes every grace of faithful observance; from me all promise of life and vigor.
Prayer
God of eternal wisdom,
in your providence, you willed that the Blessed Virgin Mary
should bring forth the Author of Grace,
and take part with him
in the mystery of man’s redemption.
May she obtain for us grace in abundance
and bring us to the haven of everlasting salvation.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.Evening Prayer
Canticle of Mary
Ant. Our salvation is in your hands, O Mother; smile upon us, and we shall be happy in our service of the Lord our King.
“She is Mother to us all in the order of grace” (LG 61)Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
#BlessedVirginMary #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #Memorial #MotherOfDivineGrace
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14 June: SAINT ELISHA
UNOFFICIAL TEXT*
June 14
SAINT ELISHA
ProphetOptional Memorial
“Elijah came upon Elisha and threw his cloak over him. Immediately Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah as his attendant” (cf. 1 Kgs 19:19–21). Elisha was filled with the spirit of Elijah; among the many signs he performed, he cured Naaman of Leprosy and raised a dead child to life. He lived among the sons of the prophets and in God’s name, he frequently intervened in the affairs of the Israelites. Mindful of its origin on Mount Carmel, the Carmelite Order desired to perpetuate the memory of the great prophets’ presence and deeds through the liturgical celebration of St. Elijah and Elisha. Thus the General Chapter of 1399 decreed the celebration of the feast of St. Elisha. In 2023, the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments extended the celebration to the Teresian Carmel at the rank of an optional memorial. Through his fidelity to the true God and by his service to God’s people, St. Elisha effectively illustrates the meaning of the prophetic office in our day.
Invitatory
Ant. Let us worship the Lord who has worked wonders through the prophets.
Office of Readings
HYMN
Let all the court of heaven above
and all the creatures here on earth
give glory to almighty God
and at Elisha’s fame rejoice.‘Twas he the great Elijah chose
endowed with wisdom’s gift by God,
and called him from his daily tasks
to lead the band of Carmelites.While living still upon this earth,
he yet had power over hell;
a soul he summoned from the grave
and to its earthly form restored.He cured the wounds of leprosy
of Náaman the Syrian
and when he offered rich rewards,
would not exchange his gift for gold.His heart beheld with deep concern
the widow woman’s poverty;
he caused the oil to multiply,
and freed her from the weight of debt.After his body was consumed
and to the tomb in peace consigned,
its very touch at once revived
others, themselves deprived of life.Unto the one and triune Lord
be praise forever and acclaim;
may he accept Elisha’s prayers
and lead us to our home above.Amen.
L.M.
Congratuletur curia
Tr. Joachim Smet, O.Carm.Psalmody
Antiphons and psalms from the weekday.
V/. I will raise up a prophet for them from among their brethren.
R/. He shall tell them all that I command him.The First Reading
2 Kings 2:1–15
A reading from the Second book of Kings
Elijah is taken up to heaven
When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, he and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. “Stay here, please,” Elijah said to Elisha. “The Lord has sent me on to Bethel.” “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live,” Elisha replied, “I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel, where the guild prophets went out to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know it,” he replied. “Keep still.”
Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, please, Elisha, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho.” “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live,” Elisha replied, “I will not leave you.” They went on to Jericho, where the guild prophets approached Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord will take your master from over you today?” “Yes, I know it,” he replied. “Keep still.”
Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here; The Lord has sent me on to the Jordan.” “As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live,” Elisha replied, “I will not leave you.” And so the two went on together. Fifty of the guild prophets followed, and when the two stopped at the Jordan, stood facing them at a distance. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up and struck the water, which divided and both crossed over on dry ground.
When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask for whatever I may do for you before I am taken from you.” Elisha answered, “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” “You have asked something that is not easy,” he replied. “Still, if you see me taken up from you, your wish will be granted; otherwise not.” As they walked on conversing, a flaming chariot and flaming horses came between them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. When Elisha saw it happen he cried out, “My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and drivers!” But when he could no longer see him, Elisha gripped his own garment and tore it in two.
Then he picked up Elijah’s mantle which had fallen from him, and went back and stood at the bank of the Jordan. Wielding the mantle which had fallen from Elijah, he struck the water in his turn and said, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When Elisha struck the water it divided and he crossed over.
The guild prophets in Jericho, who were on the other side, saw him and said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” They went to meet him, bowing to the ground before him.
Responsory
R/. Elisha saw it and he cried out, “My father! my father! Israel’s chariots and driver!” * And the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha.
V/. Elisha said: “May I receive a double portion of your spirit.” * And the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha.The Second Reading
Sermo 87
From a Sermon of Saint Ambrose, bishop
The healing of the waters, a type of the Church
What shall we say about the merits of Elisha? The first thing we praise him for is that he wanted to surpass his father [Elijah] in grace, for he asked for more than Elijah was able to bestow. Although he was greedy in his request, he was nonetheless worthy to have it granted. For while he demanded more from his father than Elijah had to give, through his own merits he enabled him to bestow more than he possessed.
Following his master’s ascent, when Elisha arrived in Jericho, he was invited by the townspeople to remain with them; they said: this is an excellent site for the town, except that the water is bad and causes sterility. He then asked for a clay jar, filled it with salt, and went to the place where the water was coming up out of the ground; he threw it into the water saying: “Thus says the Lord: ‘I have purified these waters; never again shall death or sterility come from them.’ ” And those waters remain pure even to this day.
So we see how remarkable Elisha’s merits are: in response to the citizens’ hospitality his very first gift to them was great fruitfulness. For by healing the water, he provided for their posterity. What he did was not for the benefit of any one person, or any one family: it was for all the people of the entire city. Had he delayed, they would all have been sterile and grown old without descendants, and the city would have been left deserted. Thus, by healing the water Elisha healed the people; and by blessing the spring, he provided them as it were with a fountain of life. For just as through his blessing good water came forth from the unseen veins in the earth, so too from the seclusion of their wombs mothers gave birth to healthy children.
For Elisha did not bless only the water that was already flowing into the spring’s basin, but rather all the water without distinction which was yet to flow little by little from the earth’s hidden moisture even until now. As Scripture has it, Elisha blessed the place where the water was coming up out of the earth, to indicate that it was the flowing water rather than the basin of the spring that he had sanctified. Thus, as the Apostle Paul says, all these things happened as signs; let us try to discover, therefore, the truth contained in this sign.
The Church is the sterile city which, before the coming of Christ, suffered from sterility due to the pollution of the waters—that is, to the idolatry of the Gentiles—and was unable to bring forth children for God. But when Christ came and took on the fragile clay of the human body, he healed the pollution of the waters; that is, he banished the idolatries of the Gentiles, and immediately the church, which had been sterile, began to be fertile.
Thus the Apostle also says: Rejoice, you barren one who bear no children; break into song, you stranger to the pains of childbirth! For many are the children of the wife deserted—far more than of her who has a husband! For Christ brought to birth more children from the Church which had been sterile than he had from the synagogue which had been fertile.
Responsory
R/. Elisha went out to the spring and threw salt into it, saying: “Thus says the Lord, ‘I have purified this water. * Never again shall death or miscarriage spring from it.’ “
V/. And the water has stayed pure even to this day, just as Elisha prophesied. * Never again shall death or miscarriage spring from it.Prayer
O God,
protector and redeemer of mankind,
whose glories have been proclaimed
through the wonders accomplished by
your chosen prophets,
you have bestowed the spirit of Elijah
on your prophet Elisha;
in your kindness grant us too
an increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
so that, living as prophets,
we will bear constant witness
to your abiding presence and providence.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.Morning Prayer
Hymn
Grant to us, your sons, Elisha,
songs that ring with fervor due,
praise upon our lips bestowing,
of your wondrous deeds and true.By almighty God anointed,
master of the prophets’ school,
at a garment’s touch converted,
with Elijah you were one.Flowing waters of the Jordan
you divided with your cloak;
from their cells you called the hermits
and presided at their rites.In the caves of desert dwelling
far from you the world’s pomp;
lofty merits show you gifted
with a heart of prayer and deed.Leader strong and prophet blessed,
son of earth and simple ploughman,
light of life and virtue’s model,
healer of the string of death.We, the sons of Carmel, praise you
Holy Godhead, one and three,
suppliant we ask for mercy;
spare us, your devoted ones.87.87.D.
Ut possint claris commendare sonis
Tr. Joachim Smet, O.Carm.Psalmody
Ant. 1 Elisha said: Let Naaman come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.
Psalm 63
O God, you are my God, for you I long; *
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you*
like a dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary *
to see your strength and your glory.For your love is better than life, *
my lips will speak your praise.
So I will bless you all my life, *
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet, *
my mouth shall praise you with joy.On my bed I remember you. *
On you I muse through the night
for you have been my help; *
in the shadow of your wings I rejoice.
My soul clings to you; *
your right hand holds me fast.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.Ant. Elisha said: Let Naaman come to me and find out that there is a prophet in Israel.
Ant. 2 When the minstrel played, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha and he prophesied.
Canticle – Daniel 3:57-88, 56
Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord. *
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord. *
You heavens, bless the Lord,
All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord. *
All you hosts of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Sun and moon, bless the Lord. *
Stars of heaven, bless the Lord.Every shower and dew, bless the Lord. *
All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord. *
Cold and chill, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord. *
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord. *
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord. *
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.Let the earth bless the Lord. *
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Mountains and hills, bless the Lord. *
Everything growing from the earth, bless the Lord.
You springs, bless the Lord. *
Seas and rivers, bless the Lord.
You dolphins and all water creatures, bless the Lord. *
All you birds of the air, bless the Lord.
All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord. *
You sons of men, bless the Lord.O Israel, bless the Lord. *
Praise and exalt him above all forever.
Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord. *
Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord.
Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord. *
Holy men of humble heart, bless the Lord.
Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, bless the Lord. *
Praise and exalt him above all forever.Let us bless the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. *
Let us praise and exalt him above all for ever.
Blessed are you, Lord, in the firmament of heaven. *
Praiseworthy and glorious and exalted above all for ever.Ant. When the minstrel played, the power of the Lord came upon Elisha and he prophesied.
Ant. 3 During his lifetime he did not fear even princes, nor was anyone able to overcome him.
Psalm 149
Sing a new song to the Lord, *
his praise in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Israel rejoice in its maker, *
let Zion’s sons exult in their king.
Let them praise his name with dancing *
and make music with timbrel and harp.For the Lord takes delight in his people. *
He crowns the poor with salvation.
Let the faithful rejoice in their glory, *
shout for joy and take their rest.
Let the praise of God be on their lips *
and a two-edged sword in their hand,to deal out vengeance to the nations *
and punishment on all the peoples;
to bind their kings in chains *
and their nobles in fetters of iron;
to carry out the sentence pre-ordained; *
this honor is for all his faithful.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.Ant. During his lifetime he did not fear even princes, nor was anyone able to overcome him.
Scripture Reading
Sir 48:12b–14
During his lifetime he feared no one, nor was any man able to intimidate his will. Nothing was beyond his power; beneath him flesh was brought back into life. In life he performed wonders, and after death, marvelous deeds.
Short Responsory
R/. Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind, * and the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha. Repeat R/.
V/. Elisha picked up Elijah’s mantle * and the spirit of Elijah rested on Elisha. Glory… R/.Canticle of Zechariah
Ant. Blessed be the King of heaven and Lord of prophets, who instructs the faithful through the mouth of his holy ones; through his deeds he makes known the way of peace and salvation, and through the intercession of Elisha he sets us firmly upon the path to heaven.
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; *
he has come to his people and set them free.
He has raised up for us a mighty savior, *
born of the house of his servant David.Through his holy prophets he promised of old †
that he would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.He promised to show mercy to our fathers*
and to remember his holy covenant.This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham: *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight all the days of our life.You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High; *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,
to give his people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.Ant. Blessed be the King of heaven and Lord of prophets, who instructs the faithful through the mouth of his holy ones; through his deeds he makes known the way of peace and salvation, and through the intercession of Elisha he sets us firmly upon the path to heaven.
Intercessions
In times past, God spoke and worked through the prophets, but today he is present to us through his Son, the Incarnate Word. Let us invoke him with perseverance:
R/. Make us witnesses of your word.
King of prophets, you filled Elisha with the spirit of Elijah: — stir up in us that prophetic gift which each of us has received in the sacrament of baptism. R/.
Word of the Father, through the Holy Spirit you inspired the prophets to be your spokespersons; — grant that all pastors and ministers of the word may proclaim your word with integrity and fidelity. R/.
Healer of body and soul, through the prophets you worked wonders for the infirm and the needy; — heal the sick, strengthen the wavering, protect the defenseless. R/.
Bread of angels and of men, through the prophet Elisha you relieved the hunger of the people; — fill your disciples with a sense of solidarity and communion with the needy and poor of the whole world. R/.
Source of mercy, through Elisha you extended mercy even to the enemies of Israel; — may all your disciples be ministers of compassion and reconciliation. R/.
Our Father …
Prayer
O God,
protector and redeemer of mankind,
whose glories have been proclaimed
through the wonders accomplished by
your chosen prophets,
you have bestowed the spirit of Elijah
on your prophet Elisha;
in your kindness grant us too
an increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
so that, living as prophets,
we will bear constant witness
to your abiding presence and providence.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.Evening Prayer
Hymn
Gladly this joyful day of June
with fervent prayer we celebrate,
and Carmel’s height resounds with song,
to honor great Elisha’s name.Holy Elijah, known of old,
at God’s command anointed you
with holy chrism he granted you
his double spirit, prayer and deed.Soaring aloft in car of flame,
your father leaves his cloak behind;
parting the waves, with dry-shod feet
you tread the waves and gain the shore,Taught by the Lord, you prayed and lo!
the Shunammite conceived a child;
after it died, you summoned it,
O greatest prophet, back to earth.Praise be to God, the source of all,
and to His Son and Spirit too;
one act of homage we employ
our triune God to glorify.L.M.
Prima lux surgens Idibus peractis
Tr. Joachim Smet, O.Carm.Psalmody
Ant. 1 Elisha answered: The Lord lives, whom I serve.
Psalm 15
Lord, who shall be admitted to your tent *
and dwell on your holy mountain?He who walks without fault; *
he who acts with justice
and speaks the truth from his heart; *
he who does not slander with his tongue.He who does no wrong to his brother, *
who casts no slur on his neighbor,
who holds the godless in disdain, *
but honors those who fear the Lord;he who keeps his pledge, come what may; *
who takes no interest on a loan
and accepts no bribes against the innocent. *
Such a man will stand firm for ever.Ant. Elisha answered: The Lord lives, whom I serve.
Ant. 2 Elisha went with the sons of the prophets to build a place to live.
Psalm 112
Happy the man who fears the Lord, *
who takes delight in all his commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth; *
the children of the upright are blessed.Riches and wealth are in his house; *
his justice stands firm for ever.
He is a light in the darkness for the upright: *
he is generous, merciful and just.The good man takes pity and lends, *
he conducts his affairs with honor.
The just man will never waver: *
he will be remembered for ever.He has no fear of evil news; *
with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear; *
he will see the downfall of his foes.Open-handed, he gives to the poor; †
his justice stands firm for ever. *
His head will be raised in glory.The wicked man sees and is angry, †
grinds his teeth and fades away;
the desire of the wicked leads to doom.Ant. Elisha went with the sons of the prophets to build a place to live.
Ant. 3 The king said, Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.
Canticle: Rev 15:3–4
Great and wonderful are your deeds, *
O Lord God the Almighty!
Just and true are your ways, *
O King of the ages!Who shall not fear and glorify your name, O Lord? *
For you alone are holy.
All nations shall come and worship you, *
for your judgments have been revealed.Ant. The king said, Tell me all the great things that Elisha has done.
Scripture Reading
2 Pet 1:19–21
Besides, we possess the prophetic message as something altogether reliable. Keep your attention closely fixed on it, as you would on a lamp shining in a dark place until the first streaks of dawn appear and the morning star rises in your hearts. First you must understand this: there is no prophecy contained in Scripture which is a personal interpretation. Prophecy has never been put forward by man’s willing it. It is rather that men impelled by the Holy Spirit have spoken under God’s influence.
Short Responsory
R/. This is a man who loves his brethren, * and fervently prays for his people. Repeat R/.
V/. He gives his life for his brethren, * and fervently prays for his people. Glory… R/.Canticle of Mary
Ant. Today Elisha, Carmel’s mentor, proclaims the greatness of the Lord of hosts; through him the Lord casts down the mighty and raises up the lowly. Glory to you who have received your servant into the kingdom of peace.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, *
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant, *
and from this day all generations will call me blessed.The Almighty has done great things for me: *
holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him *
in every generation.He has shown the strength of his arm, *
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,*
and has lifted up the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things, *
and has sent the rich away empty.He has come to the help of his servant Israel*
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers, *
to Abraham and his children for ever.Glory to the Father, and to the Son, *
and to the Holy Spirit:
as it was in the beginning, is now, *
and will be for ever. Amen.Ant. Today Elisha, Carmel’s mentor, proclaims the greatness of the Lord of hosts; through him the Lord casts down the mighty and raises up the lowly. Glory to you who have received your servant into the kingdom of peace.
Intercessions
Let us acclaim our God who has wrought marvels through the word of his prophet, which is like a lamp shining in a dark place until the first streaks of dawn appear. Let us pray to him:
R/. Pour forth your prophetic spirit on the ministers of your word.
King of the universe, you have guided the leaders of the people through the prophet Elisha; — pour out your wisdom and valor on those who govern nations that they may promote peace and justice for all. R/.
Prototype of every community, you inspired Elisha to live among the brotherhood of prophets as one of them; — bestow on the family of Carmel a sense of unity and harmony with all your children. R/.
Lord of justice, you raised up Elisha to proclaim both your rights and those of your people; — strengthen in society that sense of righteousness which is a pledge of true peace. R/.
Jesus, the prophet Elisha was sent to help those who could not help themselves and so became a type of your own mission to your least brethren; — watch over those in every condition of life, assist widows and orphans, provide food for the hungry. R/.
Lord of the living and of the dead, through Elisha you restored a child to life; — show your great mercy to our brothers and sisters who have died. R/.
Our Father …
Prayer
O God,
protector and redeemer of mankind,
whose glories have been proclaimed
through the wonders accomplished by
your chosen prophets,
you have bestowed the spirit of Elijah
on your prophet Elisha;
in your kindness grant us too
an increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit
so that, living as prophets,
we will bear constant witness
to your abiding presence and providence.We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever. Amen.*This unofficial text comes from the Memorial of St. Elisha approved for use by the Carmelite Order (O.Carm.). Discalced Carmelite Postulator General Marco Chiesa, o.c.d. has indicated that the Optional Memorial of the Prophet Elisha does not yet have approved texts for use by the Teresian Carmel, thus the above texts approved for use by the Ancient Observance (O.Carm.) may be used on an unofficial basis. We await the official English translation approved by the Holy See, which will be distributed by the Discalced Carmelite General Curia.
Catholic Church 1993, Proper of the Liturgy of the Hours of the Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel and the Order of Discalced Carmelites (Rev. and augm.), Institutum Carmelitanum, Rome.
The BibleWalks.com website offers virtual tours of all the locations in the Holy Land that are associated with the Prophets Elijah and Elisha. To view them, click here.
Featured image: Elijah Taken Up in a Chariot of Fire, Giuseppe Angeli (c. 1740/1755), National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. (Public domain)
#Carmelites #DiscalcedCarmelite #LiturgyOfTheHours #optionalMemorial #Prophet #StElisha
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50 Years of Music in Gainesville
I turned 40 this weekend, which is a bit of a mind-blowing experience. It so happens, that this same weekend was the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the Gainesville Community Band (GCB), so I went to the concert as part of my birthday celebration as well. I played in the GCB for about 5 years a while ago, before work schedules interfered. When my work schedule changed so I could go to rehearsal again, I quickly found out that my stamina was no longer up for 2 hour music practices1 and I had to finally quit for real. This made me very sad, as it was something I did with my mother (she continues to play in the band), and also kept me playing my clarinet on a regular basis. It was also just plain fun. Some of my favorite memories are from band rehearsals and concerts, and GCB is no exception.
The Concert yesterday was a typically wonderful experience, even if I had to watch from the audience instead of sitting on stage with everyone else. The current conductor, R. Gary Langford is great fun to play music for, as well as an expert at working an audience. He’s my second favorite conductor I’ve ever played for, only surpassed by my high school Band Director who was exceptionally cool and gave me a lot of great opportunities. Gary is a bit of a card, and can be counted on to both dress exceptionally snazzily and tell many jokes between pieces.
Conductor Gary Langford in his 50th Anniversary Chic Look: Sparkly Gold suit jacket, bow tie, and loafers with black accents.The concert was a bit of a walk through musical eras, with such favorites as Blue Tango, St Louis Blues, Grease, and ending with a patriotic sing along of From Sea to Shining Sea. Before St Louis Blues Gary demonstrated a jazz improvisation on his trumpet, which I was able to capture below.
https://youtube.com/shorts/auOVKTCHDic?feature=share
Along the way, the band also played a tune called The Old Grumbly Bear, which featured one of the bassoonists soloing on a contra-bassoon, an exceptionally funny instrument. It plays the lowest note in the orchestra, getting as low as the lowest note on a 64 foot pipe organ. Below is just the first 15 seconds of the piece showing the contrabassoon, but you can also listen to a previous performance of the piece in its entirety on my YouTube. The video is just of my leg in that one, but the audio is pretty good still.
https://youtube.com/shorts/EjpemsM3u5Q?feature=share
The crowning point of the concert though was a piece that Gary commissioned one of his former students and a former member of the band to compose & guest conduct, called Tree City Triptych. This concert was the piece’s World Premiere, and it was lovely. The band did a stellar job of performing it, and the piece was really beautiful. To quote part of the program notes for the piece
Tree City Triptych, a three-movement piece, is based on a motive derived from the band’s three initials, “GCB.” Those three pitches appear as the melody which begins the first movement of the piece, “Sojourn.” This motive reappears many times over the course of the composition in its original form, but also inverted (as in “Solace,” the second movement) and also in retrograde. In the third movement “Sonare,” the motive is transposed to the key of E-Flat, the relative major of C minor, the key of the opening movement.
There is a full video of the piece below. Dr Chris Sharpe, the composer and conductor for this piece, is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Lynchburg (Virginia). I think his musical talent really shines through in this piece as well. He has said he drew inspiration for the piece from the band itself, the city of Gainesville, and from a well-known piece of music called Men of Florida.
Overall, it was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday. Afterwards my family and one of my closest friends went out for Indian food at a really nice new restaurant in town. Sometimes, living in Gainesville is good, actually.
- It doesn’t seem like it should be as you’re just sitting in one spot moving only your fingers, but playing a wind instrument is insanely tiring. I always work up a good sweat on a long practice.
#aboutMe #communityBand #concertBandMusic #concertBands #GainesvilleFL #music
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50 Years of Music in Gainesville
I turned 40 this weekend, which is a bit of a mind-blowing experience. It so happens, that this same weekend was the 50th Anniversary Celebration for the Gainesville Community Band (GCB), so I went to the concert as part of my birthday celebration as well. I played in the GCB for about 5 years a while ago, before work schedules interfered. When my work schedule changed so I could go to rehearsal again, I quickly found out that my stamina was no longer up for 2 hour music practices1 and I had to finally quit for real. This made me very sad, as it was something I did with my mother (she continues to play in the band), and also kept me playing my clarinet on a regular basis. It was also just plain fun. Some of my favorite memories are from band rehearsals and concerts, and GCB is no exception.
The Concert yesterday was a typically wonderful experience, even if I had to watch from the audience instead of sitting on stage with everyone else. The current conductor, R. Gary Langford is great fun to play music for, as well as an expert at working an audience. He’s my second favorite conductor I’ve ever played for, only surpassed by my high school Band Director who was exceptionally cool and gave me a lot of great opportunities. Gary is a bit of a card, and can be counted on to both dress exceptionally snazzily and tell many jokes between pieces.
Conductor Gary Langford in his 50th Anniversary Chic Look: Sparkly Gold suit jacket, bow tie, and loafers with black accents.The concert was a bit of a walk through musical eras, with such favorites as Blue Tango, St Louis Blues, Grease, and ending with a patriotic sing along of From Sea to Shining Sea. Before St Louis Blues Gary demonstrated a jazz improvisation on his trumpet, which I was able to capture below.
https://youtube.com/shorts/auOVKTCHDic?feature=share
Along the way, the band also played a tune called The Old Grumbly Bear, which featured one of the bassoonists soloing on a contra-bassoon, an exceptionally funny instrument. It plays the lowest note in the orchestra, getting as low as the lowest note on a 64 foot pipe organ. Below is just the first 15 seconds of the piece showing the contrabassoon, but you can also listen to a previous performance of the piece in its entirety on my YouTube. The video is just of my leg in that one, but the audio is pretty good still.
https://youtube.com/shorts/EjpemsM3u5Q?feature=share
The crowning point of the concert though was a piece that Gary commissioned one of his former students and a former member of the band to compose & guest conduct, called Tree City Triptych. This concert was the piece’s World Premiere, and it was lovely. The band did a stellar job of performing it, and the piece was really beautiful. To quote part of the program notes for the piece
Tree City Triptych, a three-movement piece, is based on a motive derived from the band’s three initials, “GCB.” Those three pitches appear as the melody which begins the first movement of the piece, “Sojourn.” This motive reappears many times over the course of the composition in its original form, but also inverted (as in “Solace,” the second movement) and also in retrograde. In the third movement “Sonare,” the motive is transposed to the key of E-Flat, the relative major of C minor, the key of the opening movement.
There is a full video of the piece below. Dr Chris Sharpe, the composer and conductor for this piece, is an Assistant Professor of Music at the University of Lynchburg (Virginia). I think his musical talent really shines through in this piece as well. He has said he drew inspiration for the piece from the band itself, the city of Gainesville, and from a well-known piece of music called Men of Florida.
Overall, it was a lovely way to celebrate my birthday. Afterwards my family and one of my closest friends went out for Indian food at a really nice new restaurant in town. Sometimes, living in Gainesville is good, actually.
- It doesn’t seem like it should be as you’re just sitting in one spot moving only your fingers, but playing a wind instrument is insanely tiring. I always work up a good sweat on a long practice.
#aboutMe #communityBand #concertBandMusic #concertBands #GainesvilleFL #music