All posts by Rebecca Michelle

Educator, traveler, reader, blogger. Loves learning, black coffee, and friendly people.

Buildings in Buffalo

Thursday, 28 July 2016 Rebecca Michelle 4 Comments

A Conversation
Wonderful friend Ally: Hey, I have an idea!
Me: Ooh an idea! What is it?
Wonderful friend Ally: Let’s go to Buffalo to learn about architecture! You can make some photographs and I can make some sketches.
Me: You’re brilliant! And wonderful. Let’s go!

So we did.

Today, Ally and I spent the morning on a walking tour of historic, beautiful, and interesting buildings in Buffalo, NY. Even though Buffalo is only an hour from Rochester, I’ve been there for exactly two reasons:

NSYNC concert in 2002
Hockey tournaments for my brother

I can’t tell you nearly as much about the buildings as I’d like to, mostly because I was too busy playing with my camera to pay attention. However, I did manage to caption all the photos in the gallery below with the name of each building. For more information, either contact Ally (a very smart, delightful person who asked the tour guide a whole bunch of intelligent questions) or take a tour!

Old signs are fun

Dun Building

Buffalo Savings Bank

Pearl Street Grill and Brewery

Old Post Office

Guaranty Building

Guaranty Building

I just like old signage

Old Post Office (with a bison for Buffalo!)

St. Paul’s Cathedral

A really neat bonus was that someone was actually playing the organ at St. Joseph’s Cathedral. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard live organ music before and really enjoyed it.

After a delicious lunch of toast, cheese, and spicy red peppers at Five Points Bakery, we made our way to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Darwin Martin House, which is currently undergoing a massive restoration project. The tour guide was very knowledgeable about all things Frank Lloyd Wright, Martin family, and architecture of the time period. She encouraged us to return for a visit this fall when the restoration will be completed and photos of the interior allowed. The outside of the house is still pretty cool:

I still don’t know much about Buffalo, but it has neat buildings, informative tour guides, tasty toast, and cool street art:

Cheers to a great friend for a good day!

Recipes

Recipe Box: Watermelon Steak with Chickpeas and Feta

Wednesday, 27 July 2016 Rebecca Michelle 1 Comment

My mother is the best cook I’ve ever met and this post is really all hers. I had no hand in this meal at all, except for choosing Dr. Konstantin Franks Dry Riesling to go with it. However, it was so delicious and beautiful that I wanted everyone to hear about it!

You can take a look at the original recipe here. The ingredients and steps below reflect what my mum actually did to put it all together. (And honestly, it’s a salad. Measurement are merely suggestions.)

What You Need
For the salad:
1 small watermelon
2 Romaine lettuce hearts
12 grape tomatoes (different colors), halved
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 large spoonfuls feta cheese
2 tsp sumac

For the dressing:
2 tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
Fresh parsley, chopped
Salt

What to Do
1. Slice watermelon into 1/2-inch rounds and put each slice on a plate
2. Top each watermelon slice with lettuce, tomatoes, chickpeas, and cheese
3. Whisk together all dressing ingredients and drizzle over topped watermelon
4. Finish with a sprinkle of sumac

Bon appétit!

Travel Guide

Travel Guide: Philadelphia, PA

Tuesday, 26 July 2016 Rebecca Michelle 1 Comment

In all my travel blogging, this is only the second blog post about the US! I’ve been other places, really.

Last week my parents and I turned a wedding in New Jersey into a short vacation that included three days in the City of Brotherly Love. My dad has been there a number of times for conferences, but neither my mum nor I had ever visited. We loved the architecture we saw, the history we learned, and the food we ate.

Philadelphia looks like this:

Anyone who has ever studied American history knows that many discussions about the formation of the US took place here. We visited Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed . . .

. . . Congress Hall where the first US Congresses met, way back when Congress actually did anything . . .

. . . and the Liberty Bell, so named because it has been the symbol of liberty for various groups working for freedom and justice in this country. . . .

We spent a while in the National Museum of American Jewish History, too. I particularly liked the section on Judaism in colonial America because that’s what I know the least about. My knowledge of modern Jewish history is much better. As a result, I wasn’t as captivated by the museum’s exhibits as someone new to the topic might be. The museum was really well done, and I’d recommend a visit.

For a dose of local life and fresh vegetables, we visited Reading Terminal Market on three separate occasions, which I absolutely loved:

Philadelphia is also home to Eastern State Penitentiary, which struck me as ironic considering the love infused in so much of Philadelphia’s portrayal of itself. There is a dark side to everything human, a side that reminds us that there is more than one story. Through audio testimony, we learned how prison design and the purpose of prison in the US has changed over time. The exhibits also asked visitors to consider important questions about the prison system today, like whether prison is rehabilitative, whether it is objective, and whether punishments truly fit crimes. That was the most important section for me because it put visitors in uncomfortable positions and asked them to think about humans rather than numbers.

We also spent a good deal of time at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which has multiple buildings with a wide variety of exhibits. Tickets are good for the day of purchase and the following day, so we took advantage of that. That’s where the Rocky statue and steps are, too. Yes, I ran up the steps and I’m pretty sure my mum took a video as proof.