A ghostly tour of the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto

A ghostly tour of the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre, Toronto

Step up to the birdcage, buy a ticket for a tour of the last operating double-decker Edwardian theatre in the world.  It’s cool and dark inside.  The Elgin below, all red velvet with leering gilt satyrs, the Winter Garden a fairylit birch forest above.  But if you think something beckoned from behind an old backdrop, […]

31.10.2012 · Filled under: Architecture, Canada, Myths & Legends · Tags: , ,
Summoning the so-called dead in Lily Dale, New York

Summoning the so-called dead in Lily Dale, New York

A black cat disappears into a bank of tiger lilies, prayer ribbons stir on a puff of air.  On Cassadaga Lake, afternoon sun glints off the water in darts of light that drift ashore like summoned souls. Spirit summoning has been going on for over 150 years at Lily Dale, home to the world’s largest Spiritualist community and over 40 registered […]

05.09.2011 · Filled under: Architecture, New York, Spirituality · Tags: , ,
Oh, Oahu!

Oh, Oahu!

Finally, Hawaii. We’re kicking ourselves for not having gone before. Why didn’t we? Too expensive? Not in April. Too far? Not bad if you fly during the day (jetlag doesn’t seem to happen flying east). With only a week we stayed on O’ahu, wanting the quintessential Hawaiian vacay, headquartered in touristy–and, yes, gorgeous–Waikiki.  The Hawaiian Islands […]