Do you like the finer things in life? I enjoy classical ballet.

Yes and I desperately miss the ballet and the opera. Also, one of the principal reasons I accepted this project to haul my 40+ year old ass all the way to Romania and leave the comfort of my home in LA was because I thought that it may be my last chance in life to cheaply travel all over Europe and take in the museums, architecture, history, and the beauty of ballet and opera at some of the greatest places on earth. Well...that plan went to hell in March 2020. At least I did it before a little in 2019, awhile in 2017 when they sent me over for 6 months, and with my late partner but when I think of the things I could have done...a performance at La Scala, at the Opera in Paris to see Angela Ghiorgiu in Carmen (cancelled due to COVID last year)....to spend a whole day in the Louvre...oh, well, at least I kept my health but what a loss.

I do. A big criteria of where I'd like to travel next is what the museum situation is like in that city/region.

R2 - it was a ghost town in Europe's most famous museums the last summer. Apparently the Spanish are saying they have to open up because the economy can't endure another summer of 2020. Too many out of work and the economy is in trouble. I think the fact that even liberals in Germany and France are protesting the restrictions may be in response to the total closure of the tourism industry. However, loads of talk is going on in the EU about allowing tourism and dining indoors on the basis of presenting proof of vaccination. Who knows what the outcome will be?

They are saying that Broadway shows may return by September.

Yes I love Kraft cheese whiz

Fuck, no. Right now, I don’t want to sit or watch or listen. I want OUT and I don’t want people sounds or crowd issues or hillbilly problems.

There’s a video of a guy skipping with a cow down a lane. That’s what I enjoy right now and it would be expensive to keep people away from nature at the moment.

I love Bway and opera. Sometimes I do ballet and modern but not enough

I love ballet, opera, classical music, classic art museums, but not theater, modern art, or usually, the type of Literature-with-a-capital-L that academics take seriously. Or antique furniture, my house is full of modern practical stuff and art from local artists or which I did myself, nothing fabulous.

But I live in an area with wonderful ballet and opera companies, and I used to go with friends whenever I could. I was so grateful to have the friends and the high-quality art companies available, but 2020 ruined all that for at least a year. I hope it's not much longer.

The elder gays, the ones who died of aids, took their love of fine arts with them.

I like fine dining.

I like classical music especially pipe organs. I go to a lot of organ recitals BC (before Covid). I also like early music-records, krumhorns, Sackbuts, Dulcians, viols, etc. Fine dining is good as well, but it's too expensive to go to very often.

The Phantom of The Opera has both opera AND ballet in it. It's a double dose of culture and beyond amazing.

J'adore the perfectly set table.

R9 - this is the truth. As the older gay men die out, that seems to be going down the tube. I dated shop bottoms in their 50's back in the 1990's and I could talk to them about so many things I can't talk to with men in their 40's I am meeting now. It is tragic. Apparently, Freddie Mercury's ex said she told him to make his house a museum because it's upkeep is hard given the amazing art and antiques he collected. Rumor has it that she plans to leave it as a museum upon her death. So, yes, many of those in the generation that died of AIDS knew finer culture. Today's gay celebrities strike me, for the most part, as tacky and in love with "new money kitch". Sad.

Honey, I'm bustin' out in class in every direction!!!!

And if you do, what are you doing here?

Who gets to define exactly what “finer” means?

I like classic well tailored clothes. They last much longer and do not go out of style.

R17 if you have to ask, you do not define.

This is a stupid thread, with no more stupid and meaningless posts than R19.

Cartier, querido.

Seriously, what happened to classical ballet? Are there any true stars anymore? It just seems to be a dying activity, like Roller Derby.

I like fine dining. The last time I got to do it was a couple of years ago, though.

I had some type of mixed seafood dish (like a bouillabaisse). It came out in a heated bowl and stayed hot until I was done eating. The wait staff crumbed the table, etc. I was too full to really enjoy the meal, is what I remember.

I paid for it. I treated a friend to that meal b/c I had received some money when my Grandfather died.

R20 I agree with R19. I can't stand going on a date and finding out that some airhead calls himself an "artist" because of his Instagram profile and speaks ONLY of his gym and health food routine while, should I mention Paris he says "ewwwww everyone smokes there...". I think R19 knows what I mean.

I like local sourced linen silk and cotton handspuns.

I like gold-plated toilets and having my name on all my buildings.

And whores-- the best European whores.