Fun In The City

An Evening With Elton John and Billy Joel at the Kohl Center

I arrived in Madison on a Thursday afternoon. Aria had told me she was able to get tickets for us to see Elton John and Billy Joel in concert that night. I was so-oo excited.

We joined the huge sell out crowd at the Kohl center arena for a night of outrageous fun.


The dueling pianos rose up from the floor. Elton John entered from one end of the stage and Billy Joel entered from the opposite side. From 7:30 to 11:00 they sang. First duets, then one hour solo performances and then closing with duets again. For those hours (no breaks) the sounds of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Just the Way You Are", "Uptown Girl", "Rocket Man" filled the area. They seemed to build with enthusiasm as the crowd shouted and cheered with each introduction of the next song. They sang one number after the next including all their greatest hits. I think this may have been the greatest concert I have been to.

They are the ultimate performers and their songs, voices, piano talents compliment each other perfectly. The whole arena was up on their feet and dancing and singing along. A crazy, fun night that I will long remember.

An Evening at "The Overture Center for the Arts"

On a Saturday night we were able to see a performance in Overture Hall by Chicago’s famed Second City ensemble. It was an evening of stinging satire and impish improv. This is the outfit that launched the careers of such comic giants as John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Chris Farley, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bill Murray and Mike Myers, just to name a few. Arguably the premier comedy institution in the world, The Second City delivers the perfect blend of smart and silly, sophisticated and chaotic, insightful and irreverent. It was a fun evening. When we exited the theater it was lightly raining. We walked across the Capitol Square to a pub restaurant called "The Old Fashioned" and had a late night dinner and drinks.

Touring the Capitol Building

Rising between the picturesque waters of Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, the majestic granite structure
of Wisconsin's Capitol building glows like a beacon, accenting the Madison skyline.


Reaching to a height of over 200 feet the Capitol dome is topped by Daniel Chester French's elegant
gilded bronze statue, "Wisconsin".

Inside, visitors are treated to the unique textures of 43 varieties of stone from around the world,

hand-carved furniture and exquisite glass mosaics.

Edwin Blashfield's mural "Resources of Wisconsin" lavishly decorates the ceiling of the rotunda, which is the only granite dome in the United States.

The best way to experience the beauty and grandeur of Wisconsin's Capitol building (located at 2 East Main Street, Madison, WI 53702) is to see it for yourself. It is open to the public weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and weekends and holidays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Free tours are offered daily, year round except on the following holidays: New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas. Tours start at the information desk Monday through Saturday at 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 a.m. and 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 p.m. A 4:00 p.m. tour is offered weekdays (Monday - Friday), excluding holidays, during Memorial Day through Labor Day. The sixth floor museum and observation deck are open during the summer months.

Standing on State Street looking towards the Capitol.

Frank Lloyd Wright's "Monona Terrace

Wright's Monona Terrace
On July 18, 1997, Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center opened its doors after nearly 60 years of debate. It was first designed by Wisconsin native and internationally renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938 as a cultural, governmental and recreational building. Wright reworked the design several times between 1938 and 1958 before signing off on the final plans seven weeks before his death in 1959.
In 1992, Madison voters approved referenda to construct Monona Terrace—on the same site Wright had originally proposed—as a community and convention center. While Wright's design was used for the building's exterior, the interior was redesigned by Wright apprentice and Taliesin architect Tony Puttnam to house state-of-the-art exhibition, meeting and public space.

Views from Monona Terrace were lovely and vast overlooking the Lake below. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. We were able to relax and enjoy the scenes of both the city and the lake.

Our tour guide Aria, relaxes...

Jocelyn always makes us smile

A very lovely, scenic spot...

William T. Evjue Rooftop GardenOpen Sunday - Thursday 8 a.m. - 10 p.m.Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. - midnight
The rooftop of Monona Terrace is an ideal location for summertime events and recreation, including weddings, receptions, art exhibits, public meetings or concerts. The panoramic view encompasses Lake Monona, the State Capitol and the near east and west sides of Madison.

Lake Monona Bike & Pedestrian PathAn essential design element of the building was to keep the 12 km pathway around Lake Monona. The bike path and walkway wrap around this building and there is an elevator on the east side that can accommodate up to three bicycles and riders at a time. The elevator, which was the first of its kind in Madison, enables bikers to move from the lake level to the Wilson Street level.

Tomorrow's post: Eating, Drinking and Shopping in the city

My Trip to Madison Wisconsin, May 7-12

With my travelling partner, my sister Jocelyn, we were able to make this trip together to visit my daughter Aria, who has spent the last year working on her Master's degree in Italian Language and Literature at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I'm so happy we were able to travel together. Jocelyn is the best travel buddy, so kind and sweet and we all appreciate her great sense of humour.

We booked "The Madison Concourse Hotel & Governor's Club"

1 W. Dayton St., Madison

It was a wonderful location for us. Close to the capital and the associated activities like the farmers market, close to State Street shopping and food venues, close to campus and just a couple of blocks from Aria's apartment.

This map will show you how this part of the city lies on an Isthmus bordered on one side by Lake Monona and the other side by Lake Mendota. Our hotel was on the corner of Dayton and Wisconsin. Aria's apartment was located two blocks away on Gorham and Pinckney so it was a very easy walk for us to her place and central to all the sights in the city. The map also shows Cafe Monmartre which was a good stop off for Happy hour margaritas and good pizzas. You can see how close we were to the Capitol and to State Street which runs directly into the University. We did not need a car. There are restaurants, museums, great shopping all around the surrounding areas of our hotel. The bus lines are convenient to local attractions that we wanted to see. Madison is a great walking city. We loved it.

Touring the University of Wisconsin campus

This is the patio of the student union. With such great weather everyone was outside. This looks out to the Lake. What a great view.

These are the famous sunburst chairs that are everywhere on the patio of the student union. I love them!

State street runs directly into the campus.

If we turn up this street we will arrive at Aria's apartment

We're here!!!

This is the view from the front window. I liked that house on the corner.

This is looking down the street. Lots of student housing.

Here's Aria with her boyfriend Daniele. He arrived Monday night from Boston. He just finished a year of teaching at Holy Cross College. They'll be travelling back to Italy together to visit his family and for some R and R.

This is Kate, Aria's room-mate. We had a great time meeting her. She was such a good person for Aria to live with this past year.

This is us waiting for the taxi to take us to the airport. The five days in Madison were wonderful. We learned alot about this beautiful city and it made me so happy to experience a bit of Aria's life here.

For the next few days I will be posting more about Madison and the things we experienced while there.

Sunset Beach California

We spent several hours at the beach near our home on Saturday. It was a hazy, lazy day and not as hot as we expected it would be. I didn't even bother with opening the umbrella up. Normally, I hide under the shade of the umbrella but not this day.

Here's Mike with our usual set up...beach chairs, umbrella, binoculars to see dolphins and watch the surfers and my bag of books and sunscreen. We love the quiet peace and the sound of the ocean waves. There were hardly any people on the beach.

There were a few birds...

and a man that was fishing.

It takes solitude under the stars, for us to be reminded of our eternal origin and our far destiny.

-Archibald Rutledge

Valentino The Last Emperor

Photo shoot above from the documentary: Valentino: The Last Emperor.

One critic described viewing the film as
" a little like gorging on chocolate and Champagne until that queasy moment arrives when you realize you’ve consumed far too much."

Well, I've just seen this film and you might know, I do love chocolate and adore Champagne so this film was right up my alley!


I have always been fascinated by the world of fashion. As a child I would love to carefully go over each page of my mother's monthly "Vogue" magazines. I would study the fashions, the make-up and the hair styles. I learned to sew at an early age and loved the idea of making my own clothes. In high school there were dances every Friday night. On Mondays my mom would take me shopping for material. I'd decide what I wanted to make and I'd work on a dress throughout the week to wear to the dance on Friday night. I know it sounds crazy but I loved it. Sometimes I literally would have to sew myself into the dress because it wasn't quite finished. I would make really fancy dresses for the holidays out of satin brocade material. As a child (and as an adult) I loved dressing up and I still love anything to do with fashion, including shoes and accessories, especially sparkly jewelry.

In the late 60's as a young teen, I opened a hippie boutique with several friends. We designed and sewed dresses made out of rich velvets and sheer fabrics...they had long butterfly sleeves perfect for hippie girls to dance in at "love-in's" and "be-in's" and we made Nehru styled shirts and cowboy shirts for the guys. That was the style that was popular then. Sometimes famous people would come into our shop. It was a wild and crazy time and a lot of fun. One day, I'll post pictures and tell you stories of some of the things I experienced in the 60's.

Seeing this movie on Valentino brought back alot of those old memories. I really enjoyed this film with many scenes in Italy and France and footage behind the scenes of high fashion design from the construction of garments to the actual fashion shows. It is a very telling , often touching story of this man ...the life and times of a fashion genius. Here are some Valentino highlights:

Valentino was born Valentino Garavani in Voghera, Italy in 1932. He studied French and fashion design at the Academia de'll Arte in Milan (1948), in preparation for his move to Paris.
In Paris, he worked as assistant designer to Jean Desses and Guy Laroche (1955-1958). In 1960, he returned to Italy, and established his company in Rome.
In 1962, he presented his collection in Florence. During this time, his clientele is already a who's who list of the rich and famous - Jacqueline Kennedy, Princess Margaret and Elizabeth Taylor.
In 1965, he received the Neiman Marcus Award, and during the rest of the 1960s, Valentino would gain international fame. He will be a member of the elite group which would make the "Made in Italy" label famous and equate it with luxury goods.
Valentino's signature style is "opulence" He is known for his meticulous detailing and magnificent embroidery. The perfection of luxury in Valentino is never ostentatious, but rather a very strong yet discreet appeal of shades stolen from precious stones, from the impalpable delicateness of powder and milk. Absolutely unique, incredibly elegant Valentino style contain all the best italian fashion design and style.
In 1998, Holding di Partecipazioni Industriali (HdP) acquired Valentino with plans of creating a new luxury goods group.
In 2002, HdP sold the company to Marzotto, another Italian luxury goods group which includes Hugo Boss, world-wide leader in menswear, and the Marlboro Classic, Gianfranco Ferre Studio and M Missoni licenses.

Valentino: The Last Emperor (2009) (Trailer) (HD) (CE)

Here is an interesting journey into the high fashion world of italian fashion designer, Valentino. I really enjoyed this documentary.

A Little Wine With Dinner

Celibacy can be a choice in life,
or a condition imposed by circumstances.
While attending a Marriage Encounter Weekend,
Stuart and his wife Marcia listened to the instructor declare,
"It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other."
He addressed the men:

"Can you name and describe your wifes favorite wine?"

Stuart leaned over,
gently touched Marcia's arm
and whispered,

"I wanna go to Italy... isn't it?"

And thus began Stuart's life of celibacy.