Latest news with #Summertime
News.com.au
4 days ago
- News.com.au
Tourists slam popular European holiday spot for being overcrowded
Summertime is when many tourists travel to European hotspots like Italy and Greece — but oftentimes the experience people encounter there during the busy season is anything but relaxing. According to Jam Press, 27-year-old Gabriella Barras spent close to AU$4,611 on a four-day trip to Santorini — an extremely popular Greek island many people flock to for its picturesque villages and stunning beaches. She went into her trip with undoubtedly high expectations, but Barras was unfortunately anything but impressed due to the island being overrun by eager tourists. 'I expected Santorini to be a picturesque, relaxing and gorgeous holiday,' Barras told Luxury Travel Daily. 'The overflow of tourists at every given spot we went to was overwhelming and definitely not the gorgeous, relaxing retreat I was expecting. There were hundreds of people trying to see the sunset at once.' While it's hard to deny that travel hotspots like Santorini are stunning — sometimes the influx of pushy tourists can take away from the place's charm and history. 'While it was indeed picturesque and the views were phenomenal, I didn't think that there was much old school tradition and culture. It's so commercialised to the point where I didn't necessarily find it relaxing at all.' And Barras isn't the only one who was disappointed by her European summer holiday. It's one thing to be in a crowd of people, feeling like a herd of cows in a popular island town — but trying to travel from one place to another using public transportation is another frustrating feat. Traveller, Claire, also stayed in Santorini and struggled fighting the crowds to board a bus to visit another part of the island. 'Trying to get on a bus was animalistic mayhem,' she told Luxury Travel Daily. 'We were getting the bus back from Kamari to Fira, and the bus stop had heaps of people all scrambling to get on it. 'There was no line at the bus stop to make it orderly, so it was a free-for-all.' The overcrowding of summer tourists in European countries has gotten out of hand over the past several months. Earlier this summer, thousands of tourists caused a 'gridlock' of both traffic and people to access Sirmione, a resort town situated on the scenic shores of Lake Garda in northern Italy. Dramatic footage of the rowdy scene was posted to X with the caption: 'Overrun by tourists — chaos, gridlock and hours of waiting. A crisis that must be urgently addressed and regulated. It damages our heritage and turns the experience into a negative one …'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
A Rangers Offensive Lineup That Could Be A Big Winner
Summertime is fantasy time and one of the Fischler Family's pastimes is guessing an offensive line up that Rangers coach Mike Sullivan will present on opening night.
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Travel + Leisure
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Travel + Leisure
This Nevada City Was Just Named a Las Vegas Dupe—Offering Casino Culture at a Fraction of the Price
Summertime in Las Vegas certainly delivers the fun. Take this year as the perfect example, with the Backstreet Boys in town for their residency at the Sphere, Bruno Mars at the Park MGM, and pool parties galore, there's something for everyone in Sin City. However, spending a summer vacation in Vegas can come with a hefty price tag. According to Budget Your Trip, the average cost of a week-long stay in Vegas will run about $2,583 for a solo traveler. And that's without major ticket items. So, what's one to do? It's easy: visit a Las Vegas dupe. Travel dupes are those lesser-known destinations that are very similar to other, more popular spots, offering entertainment, dining, and fun that's nearly identical at a lower price point. In July, travel and entertainment experts at a platform for casino and gaming insights, unveiled its list of five budget-friendly destinations in the U.S. that deliver the "thrills, entertainment, and casino action Vegas is famous for." "These alternatives prove you don't need to break the bank to experience world-class gaming, vibrant nightlife, and memorable entertainment," the team added. No. 2 on that list is also rather close to Las Vegas: Reno, Nevada. "Known as 'The Biggest Little City in the World,' Reno delivers authentic Nevada casino culture without the inflated Strip prices," the team wrote. "You're still getting that desert casino atmosphere, but hotel rooms often cost half of what you'd pay in Vegas, and restaurant prices are significantly more reasonable." It added that Reno's downtown casino district is very walkable and far more compact than the Strip, "which makes it easy to hop between venues. Reno also offers outdoor activities like Lake Tahoe access, giving you more bang for your vacation buck." The only destination to outrank Reno is a bit of a wildcard: Kansas City, Missouri. "The Heart of America delivers surprising casino excitement with multiple gaming destinations and entertainment venues at prices that make Vegas look overpriced," the team wrote. "Kansas City's casino resorts offer spacious rooms for less than half of what you'd pay on the Strip, and the city's famous barbecue scene means you'll eat like royalty without the premium pricing." It noted that, beyond offering all the table games and slots you may be looking for, the city comes with the bonus of plenty of Midwest hospitality and a fantastic live music scene that provides "entertainment options that go well beyond the casino floor." Also joining these two on the list is Biloxi, Mississippi, which provides a unique coastal backdrop to your gaming; Laughlin, Nevada, which the team called a "more relaxed, affordable version of the Nevada casino experience; and Tunica, Mississippi, which "has reinvented itself as a major casino destination in the Mississippi Delta." Though if you can swing it, nothing beats a true Vegas experience. And if you need a little help on how to do it right, here's Travel + Leisure's guide on how to plan the perfect trip to Las Vegas for the summer of 2025.
New York Post
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Inside Brooklyn's ‘unique' jazz haven where Duke Ellington meets viral fame and all ages sit down, enjoy the music: 'It's so special'
Step inside this Bed-Stuy brownstone and you'll swear you've been whisked back to a jazz venue in 1940s Brooklyn. Housed in a 19th-century home with floral drapes, moody lamps and live music, this intimate Victorian parlor revives the borough's storied musical roots — no time machine required. Welcome to BrownstoneJAZZ, the romantic, toe-tapping hot spot that's putting Brooklyn back on the jazz map — and picking up a new generation of fans on Instagram and TikTok in the process. The venue at 107 Macon St. — founded by newly crowned 'jazz hero' Debbie McClain and co-owner and music director Eric Lemons — is part speakeasy, part stage, part black history museum. And every weekend, it transforms into a swinging tribute to the borough's deep jazz legacy. 9 Debbie McClain and Eric Lemons are two lifelong jazz fans who preserve the history of the genre in Bed-Stuy at BrownstoneJAZZ. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post 'Most people who live in Bed-Stuy don't know what was once here. There were major recordings and performances in this neighborhood that impacted the whole musical world,' Lemons told The Post. Inside the performance room, a trio of glowing lamps — one purple, one orange, one green — bathe the 'ballroom,' as McClain calls it, in a mesmerizing, ethereal glow. 9 During a recent performance, Patience Higgins (from left) played saxophone, Yovanne Pierre took to the piano, Lemons held down the bass, Kathryn Farmer delivered vocals, and Bruce Cox kept time on drums. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post Ornate white floral molding lines the walls, flanked by vintage mirrors, tasseled paisley sconces, angel-footed lamps and a framed black-and-white shot of Billie Holiday mid-performance in 1947. With an upright grand piano, double bass, drum set and vinyl records from Scott Joplin to John Coltrane on display, the whole space feels like a jazz lover's dream frozen in time — just how McClain planned it. 'This venue is so unique and special because when you enter it, you feel as if you're stepping back in time,' singer and BrownstoneJAZZ performer Kathryn Farmer told The Post. 9 Singer and violinist Mimi Block performs with Higgins (left) and Pierre. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post On a recent steamy Saturday night, Farmer took the mike alongside a lineup of local legends, which rotate every week — Patience Higgins on sax, Bruce Cox on drums, Yovanne Pierre on piano and Lemons on bass — for a soul-stirring set that had the audience swaying, snapping and erupting into applause after every tune. Farmer dazzled with a riveting take on George Gershwin's 'Summertime,' while singer and violinist Mimi Block later scatted and bowed her way through the blues classic 'I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water' while backed by the band. 'Our performances are a combination of planned songs and improv,' Higgins, who played with Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, told The Post. 'Sometimes we even take audience requests.' That spontaneity, paired with the parlor's plush ambience, creates a spellbinding effect — one that has been taking place for 16 years. Step into the parlor 9 Tucked inside a spruced-up brownstone at 107 Macon St., this Bed-Stuy jazz joint doubles as a stage and a black history museum. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post Born in Harlem and raised in Brooklyn, McClain grew up tickling the ivories and belting out ballads — performing at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and singing with the All-City Schools Choir. BrownstoneJAZZ came to life in 2010 after McClain turned the family home into a bed and breakfast called Sankofa Aban. So it was no surprise when, a year after opening the B&B, she transformed the backyard of the home into a jazz haven, known as Jazz Under the Stars, to honor her and her family's love of the genre. 'Music has always been so important to our family, and so has this brownstone,' said McClain's brother, Arnold McDonald, who helps check tickets and greet guests at each show. McClain met her friend and co-owner, Lemons, when she hired him to play bass for those early backyard sets. 'He actually convinced me to bring the music into the parlor, and 16 years later, here we are,' she told The Post. Now called the BrownstoneJAZZ Weekend Concert Series, McClain and Lemons usually sell out four shows a weekend: Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., and Sunday 'after-brunch' sets at 4 and 6 p.m. — with tickets priced at $55.30. 9 Dubbed the BrownstoneJAZZ Weekend Concert Series, McClain and Lemons pack the house every weekend. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post 9 It's been years of velvet chairs, vintage rugs and family portraits setting the mood — but it's the live jazz that keeps guests under its spell. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post It's 'dress-to-impress' but far from stuffy. The venue doesn't serve alcohol or food, so guests BYOBB — that's 'bring your own brown bag' — and sip discreetly while the band plays. What began as a modest open mic has grown into a tightly curated concert room — with McClain and Lemons now booking genre heavy-hitters on the regular, like Higgins, saxophonist and flutist James Spaulding, nine-time Grammy-nominated percussionist Bobby Sanabria, vocalist Carla Cook, and the late trombonist Kiane Zawadi. After a pandemic pause, BrownstoneJAZZ experienced a major resurgence in 2023, thanks to viral buzz and a growing Gen Z fanbase. 'Many of them aren't even huge jazz fans — they just saw a clip on social media and want to feel the energy and hear the music in person,' Lemons told The Post. And once they're inside, he makes sure they leave with more than just a great set. 'Real jazz' in Bed-Stuy 9 Lemons tells audience members about the history of jazz in Bed-Stuy. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post Each night, Lemons delivers a monologue full of jazz history and Bed-Stuy pride. He tells audiences how bebop was born right here, how Lena Horne lived on this street and how the borough rivaled Manhattan's jazz scene with 27 clubs in the '60s. Back then, Bed-Stuy boasted more than 20 bustling jazz joints, Lemons told The Post. Bed-Stuy's jazz roots run deep. The neighborhood once rivaled Harlem with its booming mid-century scene. Legendary jazz drummer Max Roach was raised in Bed-Stuy and helped pioneer the bebop style of jazz. 'They [music historians] always talk about Midtown and Harlem and Manhattan. If you were around in the '40s and wanted to hear real jazz, you'd come to Bed-Stuy.' Today, BrownstoneJAZZ is carrying that torch, being the only Bed-Stuy venue that plays classic 1940s and 1950s-style American jazz. For Lemons, jazz is more than music — it's an American art form, a cultural lifeline, and a story too few have heard. 9 Pierre (left), Lemons and Cox perform to an energetic audience. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post 'It's important,' he told The Post, 'because most people never learn about black excellence and contributions to music in school.' BrownstoneJAZZ, he said, is helping fix that. 'There are very few jazz venues that are still black-owned in New York City like ours is,' Lemons said. 'That tells us we have a lot of work to do in preserving history.' 'Being shared among generations' The work is paying off. Lemons said that 95% of their audience is made up of 'out-of-towners' — from Ohio to Poland to Switzerland — and many discover the venue through social media. 9 Audience members are captivated by the performance. Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post 'I heard about BrownstoneJAZZ thanks to my algorithm on Facebook, and my daughter bought me a ticket for my birthday,' H. Bosh Jr., an audience member, told The Post. 'I drove four hours to get here, from just outside of Schenectady. I love jazz, and this was so worth it.' McClain sees it, too. 'This set is even younger than the last set,' she said as concertgoers trickled in for the 9:30 p.m. Saturday show. McClain and Lemons are proud of the show they put on — especially when they witness audience members absorbing the energy 'we've been feeling for years,' Lemons told The Post. 'When they actually listen, put their phones down and focus on our music, it's so special,' he said. 'Sometimes I'll see younger people in the audience return for more shows with their older family members, and that's so meaningful to me — to see jazz being shared among generations.'
Los Angeles Times
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Violinist has the world on 2 strings
Nathaniel was shy in our first encounter a few months ago, if not a little wary. He took a step back when I approached to say I liked the way his violin music turned the clatter around downtown L.A.'s Pershing Square into an urban symphony. 'Oh, thank you very much,' he said politely, apologizing for his appearance. He had gone through a couple of recent setbacks, Nathaniel said, but he intended to be whole again soon and playing at a higher level. Next time I saw him, he had relocated to the mouth of the 2nd Street tunnel near Hill Street. 'Well, first of all, it's beautiful here,' said Nathaniel, 54, who told me he had been diagnosed many years ago with schizophrenia. 'And right there is the Los Angeles Times building. New York, Cleveland, Los Angeles. All I have to do is look up at that building and I know where I am.' Nathaniel had an orange shopping cart that contained all of his belongings, including a huge plastic water gun, a single black boot and his violin case. We were practically in the shadow of the new Disney Concert Hall, and although Nathaniel said he wasn't sure where it was, he had written the following on the side of his shopping cart: 'Little Walt Disney Concert Hall — Beethoven.' Nathaniel plays classical music, some of it recognizable to me, some of it not. One day, I asked if he could play jazz, and he tucked the violin under his chin, closed his eyes in anticipation of the ecstasy that music brings him and began to play 'Summertime.' He doesn't always hit every note, but it's abundantly clear that Nathaniel has been a student of music for many years. 'That was Ernest Bloch,' he casually told me after one piece, spelling out Ernest and then Bloch. 'Opus 18, No. 1.' I was more than a little impressed, especially when it occurred to me that Nathaniel's grimy, smudged violin was missing two of the four strings. 'Yeah,' he said, frustration rising in his brown eyes. 'This one's gone, that one's gone and this little guy's almost out of commission. You see where it's coming apart right here?' Playing with two strings wasn't that hard, he said, because he began his music education in the Cleveland public schools, where the instruments were often a challenge. 'If you got one with one or two strings,' he said, 'you were happy to have it.' I noticed an empty bag from Studio City Music in Nathaniel's violin case and gave the store a call to ask if they had a homeless customer. 'Black man?' asked Hans Benning, a violin maker. 'We do have a guy who plays with a badly beaten-up fiddle. He comes here every so often. He's very kind, very gentle and very proper. He's a delight.' I told Benning his name is Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, and he seems to know a thing or two about music. 'Yes, he does,' Benning said. 'He talks about the Beethoven sonatas and then slips back into another world.' The reason he used to hang around Pershing Square, Nathaniel told me, was so he could study the Beethoven statue for inspiration. 'I've never seen anything in my life that great,' he said. 'I'm flabbergasted by that statue because I can't imagine how he's there. I don't know how God is operating.' When I asked more about his training, Nathaniel told me he had gone to Ohio University and Ohio State University. He also said he'd played many times at the Aspen Music Festival, and he'd gone to Juilliard for two years in the early '70s. Juilliard? I asked. 'I was there for a couple of years,' he said, as if it were nothing. While waiting for a callback from Juilliard, I called Motter's Music House in Lyndhurst, Ohio. Nathaniel told me he had bought many instruments there over the years, including the Glaesel violin he now owns. 'He's an outstanding player,' said Ron Guzzo, a manager at Motter's. He saw a lot of Nathaniel over a span of 20 years, because Nathaniel's instruments were often stolen from him on the streets. He would work at a Wendy's or shovel snow to save up for another. 'As I understand it, he was at Juilliard and got sick, so he came back home. He'd sit out in our parking lot on a nice day playing the cello, and we'd wonder where the heck that was coming from. It was Tony,' Guzzo said, using Nathaniel's nickname. Cello? Yes, it turns out Nathaniel started on the bass, switched to cello and has never had any training on the violin. He switched to the latter after ending up on the streets, because it fits more neatly into his shopping cart. Everything he had told me about his life was checking out, so I figured Juilliard must be for real too. Sure enough. Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, who sleeps on the streets of the city, takes his meals at the Midnight Mission and plays a two-string violin, attended the acclaimed New York City music school on a scholarship. Nathaniel told me a bass player named Homer Mensch was one of his mentors at Juilliard. Mensch, 91, is still teaching, and he immediately recalled Nathaniel. 'He had the talent, that was for sure,' said Mensch, who remembered that Nathaniel had suddenly disappeared, never to return. I told him Nathaniel's illness had begun while he was at Juilliard and he was now a homeless violinist in downtown L.A. 'Give him my very best,' said Mensch. 'I would certainly like to hear from him.' Nathaniel has memorized the phone numbers of the people who inspired him. To recall the numbers, he writes them in mid-air with his index finger. One day he gave me the home phone number of Harry Barnoff, a bass player and former teacher who recently retired after 46 years with the Cleveland Orchestra. Barnoff was in tears at the memory of Nathaniel. 'Please,' Barnoff pleaded, 'you have got to go tell him how much I think of him and that I still remember what a wonderful musician he was.' Barnoff says Nathaniel was a bit of a slacker when he was in junior high and taking lessons at the Cleveland Music School Settlement. But with encouragement, Nathaniel set the highest possible goals for himself. 'During the riots, he was in the music building, practicing. He really worked at it and got to where he knew I had gone to Juilliard, and he wanted to go, too. ... Next thing I knew, he got a scholarship.' Nathaniel had the potential to play with any of the major orchestras in the United States, Barnoff said. He tried to help Nathaniel through his most difficult times, offering him work around his house and taking Nathaniel's calls from mental hospitals and the streets. Nathaniel was often in a state of distress, Barnoff says of his former student, until they began talking about music. And then everything was right with the world. 'He once sent me a card saying he would give his left hand for me,' Barnoff said. I got hold of Nathaniel's sister, Jennifer Ayers-Moore, at her home in Fayetteville, Ga. She was relieved to hear that her older brother is OK but disturbed to know he's on the streets — again. He was never the same after he got back from New York, Ayers-Moore said, and he has been in and out of hospitals and group homes for three decades. Time after time, he has tested the patience of the people who love him. 'It got to the point where he didn't want to talk to anybody and didn't want to be in reality. I couldn't watch the movie 'A Beautiful Mind,' because every stitch of it reminded me of Nathaniel.' As do so many schizophrenics, Ayers-Moore says, her brother would improve with medication but then refuse to take it and slip back into his tortured world. 'It was very difficult for my mother, because he would curse her out, call her names, threaten her. When we went to visit her in the nursing home on her birthday, she looked at me and said, 'I miss Tony.' He was her pride and joy, and she did everything she possibly could to help him.' Nathaniel talks often of his mother, expressing his love in his own way. 'She was a beautician,' he said. 'That's beauty. And music is beauty, so I guess that's why I started playing.' Nathaniel came west after his mother's death five years ago. He hooked up with his estranged father and other relatives but soon found the streets. 'It's an absolute dream here, and I notice that everyone is smiling,' Nathaniel said at 2nd and Hill, where he sometimes steps into the tunnel to hear the echo of his violin. 'The sun is out all day, and the nights are cool and serene.' Nathaniel often takes a rock and scrawls names on the sidewalk. 'Oh, those,' he said. 'A lot of those are the names of my classmates at Juilliard.' One day I asked about his hopes and dreams. 'Oh, that's easy,' he said. 'I need to get these other two strings, but I don't have the money right now.' He had no use for a house, he said, or a car or anything else. 'All I want is to play music, and the crisis I'm having is right here,' Nathaniel said, pointing to the missing strings and calling out the names of Itzhak Perlman and Jascha Heifetz, as if the renowned violinists might hear his plea and send along the strings. Nathaniel refused to accept money from me or freebies from Studio City Music. I suggested he go back to Pershing Square, where passersby often dropped money in his violin case, but it didn't seem logical to him. When I brought him a new set of strings from Studio City Music, I had to insist that he not pay me for them. He had trouble attaching the strings because his violin is in such bad shape. But by the next day, he had jury-rigged them and was happy to give me a show at his Little Walt Disney Concert Hall. I had invited two staffers from Lamp Community, a service agency for homeless, mentally ill men and women. Maybe they could get his trust, I figured, and determine whether they could help him at some point. But as Nathaniel began to play, I doubted there was anyone or anything that could deliver the same peace that music brings him. He was in his sanctuary, eyes half-mast in tribute to the masters. As cars roared by and trash flew off a dump truck, Nathaniel was oblivious. He played a Mendelssohn concerto, a Beethoven concerto and the Brahms double concerto for violin and cello, his bow gliding effortlessly as it sliced through the madness. * The columnist can be reached at
