THURSDAY, NOV. 24/06
Oka, my feet are wor down to the andkles and I have a huge lister on my big toe. My ankle has a twinge and m legs are aching but still, we soldier on, determined to see eerything we can in he short time we are here.
Getting Around by Bus
There are a abundancer of rickety old ellow ¨micros¨that rce up ad dow the avenues as if they are on a speedway. The city has replaced some of them with sleek new green double length buses which will cut down o the chaos and pollution, but there are still swarm of these anceint yellow Mercedes Benz speedsters spewing exhaust and racing to pick up passengers along their routes. This morning we took our second bus ride down to Santiago Cetro with grandma. The bus was alread full when it got to our stop but we jammed on, backpacks and all, and found a place to stand up front clinging on for dear life as the bus hurtled down El Santo Avenida through the morning traffic. Amazingl it picked up at each stop and more people pushed their way on til it was so crammed full the doors wouldn´t shut. Then içoff we went careening down the avenue dodging thrug the heavy lines of traffic. At each jolting stop I was sure Íd be grown through the windshield but we somehow managed to arrive at our stop in one piece. Pretty exciting, like being at the midway!
Patrick and I have preferred t take the metro which is sleek, clean and efficient )so clean hat I defy anyoe to find so mch as a crumb ont he floors of the stations.) Santiago metro has four lines, three of themm )green, yellow and red= merge with the forth newer line. The fare is reasonable too, less than a dollar except duriing peak periods. There are also plenty of cab, and taxi colectivos which run on a ixed route.
Today´s city exploration tour took us to Barrio Brazil, was an area once occupied by the wealthy but after they moved to newer areas, for years was neglected but now is enjoying a new popularity as many of the yonger well'to'do are treturning to create a lively bohemian atmosphere. There is a charming plaza with a towering monkey pzzle tree, various beautifu palms and other ornamental trees. The park is popular with students and today there were many folk sitting on benches reading newspapers. We discovered that there were a lot of Chinese restaurants in Barrio Brazil which was quite unusual.
One of he landmarks of Barrio razil is the newo Gaothi Basilica de Salvador which dates from 1892. We missed that one, but saw another newer church that was worth a photo op. Then we walked around enjoying the various other architectural delights that grace this tranquil area of the city. We walked around and came across tiny Barrio Concha y Toro, a little cobble stone square with quaint buildings and a gushing fountain, a little oasis at the edge of Barro Brazil
We decided to stop by another area, Barrio Patromato, where there is an enclave of Palestinian and Korean people,but we found it rather run down and uninteresting, so returned to Santiago Centro, back to Cafe Cecilia where we were treated to a delicious lunch of bean soup and tomato salad and another tour around the Station with grandma(this time with Patrick in tow). It´s quite amusing these round'about treks to the washrooms, as everyone along the way seems to know grandma and she stops to introduce us to everyone. They were again setting up for another extravagent banquet and again we went out to the the little plaza in back to see the memorial for the poets and writers.)
Next: off to the the ocean
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Saturday, November 25, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
ADVENTURES IN CHILE: BARRIO LASSTARIA AND A BEAUTIFUL PARK
THURSDAY, Nov 23-06
Barrio Lastarria is on the eastern fringe of Santiago Centro, just beyond Cerro Santa Lucia. It´s an oasis of architctural, culinary and cultual delights with Parisian style buildings, tree'lined streets and shady plazas, a tranquil pleasaant partof the city and the hub of Santiago´s cafe culture.
We visited the Musio de Artes Vusuales and the Museo Arqueologico which are housed in brand new quarters. We watched an interesting film about Easter Island (which is part of Chile although several thousand miles off'shore. ) The museum has artifacts dating back to the earliest inhabitants of Chile and ester island which included the tiny mummy of a child. These people were the first in the world to mummify their dead, going back to 5000 BC. Among the artifacts was pottery fromthe Incas, and objects fromthe Mapuch0 people incluidng curiously, items used for smoking, pulveriziing and storing hallucenogenics and other drugs and colorful bags carried by the men to hold their coca. There were also indigenous carvings and beautiful silver jewelry (earrings, necklaces and belts= worn by the Mapucho women.
After our tour around the museum we headed back to santigao Centro the Cafe Cecilia by the river. She had prepared a most delicious lunch for us which we really appreciateñ
grandma took me on a tour of estacion Maphocho to find the toilet. They were setting up for a huge anquet of 3,000 men )alumni and stdents= to celebrate the 100th anniversary of
San Ignacio school, a wealthy Catholic boys school. Grandma book me through the banquet hall, introducing me to people along the way, and ushered me out the back to a little plaza wherethere is a memorial to some of Chile´s poets and writers. Of course she waned me to see Pablo Neruda. And there was a plaqu honoring him and his ¨Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair"
After that rather comical excursion Patrick and I headed back to Barrio Lasstaria with a quick stop at the Mercado Central right across from Cecilia´s cafe. It wasn´t asinteresting as the big market we had gone to theother day so we didn´t stay to browse long but got the metro back to Cerro Santa Lucia.
A 19th century city mayor, Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, wasinstrumental in transforming Santa Lucia Mt. from a rocky hillinto a beautifullylandscaped park. Its footpaths and stone stairways lead you up to the top of the mountain where there are castle turrets and a magnificent viewpoint of the city (and today the Andes were visible again!) At the entrance is an ornate fountain Terraza Neptuno and up he curved staircase you come to the tomb of the mayor, Mackenna. The vista from the top isone of the best, as commented on by Charles Darwin whose signature appears on a plque emedded on the rocks commemorating his visit there in the 1880´s.
Back to Recolta and a little visit with Cecilia and grandma before bedtime. Plans made for our trip to the Coast, leaving Friday evening. Both Patrick and I are very excited about this trip and looking forward to a few days by the sea enjoying a swim and a visit to Isla Negra to see another of Neruda´´s fantastical houses.
NEXT: Travelling around by bus, metro and by foot and a visit to another barrio or two.
Barrio Lastarria is on the eastern fringe of Santiago Centro, just beyond Cerro Santa Lucia. It´s an oasis of architctural, culinary and cultual delights with Parisian style buildings, tree'lined streets and shady plazas, a tranquil pleasaant partof the city and the hub of Santiago´s cafe culture.
We visited the Musio de Artes Vusuales and the Museo Arqueologico which are housed in brand new quarters. We watched an interesting film about Easter Island (which is part of Chile although several thousand miles off'shore. ) The museum has artifacts dating back to the earliest inhabitants of Chile and ester island which included the tiny mummy of a child. These people were the first in the world to mummify their dead, going back to 5000 BC. Among the artifacts was pottery fromthe Incas, and objects fromthe Mapuch0 people incluidng curiously, items used for smoking, pulveriziing and storing hallucenogenics and other drugs and colorful bags carried by the men to hold their coca. There were also indigenous carvings and beautiful silver jewelry (earrings, necklaces and belts= worn by the Mapucho women.
After our tour around the museum we headed back to santigao Centro the Cafe Cecilia by the river. She had prepared a most delicious lunch for us which we really appreciateñ
grandma took me on a tour of estacion Maphocho to find the toilet. They were setting up for a huge anquet of 3,000 men )alumni and stdents= to celebrate the 100th anniversary of
San Ignacio school, a wealthy Catholic boys school. Grandma book me through the banquet hall, introducing me to people along the way, and ushered me out the back to a little plaza wherethere is a memorial to some of Chile´s poets and writers. Of course she waned me to see Pablo Neruda. And there was a plaqu honoring him and his ¨Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair"
After that rather comical excursion Patrick and I headed back to Barrio Lasstaria with a quick stop at the Mercado Central right across from Cecilia´s cafe. It wasn´t asinteresting as the big market we had gone to theother day so we didn´t stay to browse long but got the metro back to Cerro Santa Lucia.
A 19th century city mayor, Benjamin Vicuna Mackenna, wasinstrumental in transforming Santa Lucia Mt. from a rocky hillinto a beautifullylandscaped park. Its footpaths and stone stairways lead you up to the top of the mountain where there are castle turrets and a magnificent viewpoint of the city (and today the Andes were visible again!) At the entrance is an ornate fountain Terraza Neptuno and up he curved staircase you come to the tomb of the mayor, Mackenna. The vista from the top isone of the best, as commented on by Charles Darwin whose signature appears on a plque emedded on the rocks commemorating his visit there in the 1880´s.
Back to Recolta and a little visit with Cecilia and grandma before bedtime. Plans made for our trip to the Coast, leaving Friday evening. Both Patrick and I are very excited about this trip and looking forward to a few days by the sea enjoying a swim and a visit to Isla Negra to see another of Neruda´´s fantastical houses.
NEXT: Travelling around by bus, metro and by foot and a visit to another barrio or two.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
ADVENTURES IN CHILE: EXPLORING THE BARRIOS
WED. NOVEMBER 22/06
TOURING AROUND SANTIAGO:
Santiago is a city of lovely parks, plazas and tree'line boulevards. The weather right now is like Greece in June or late summer in Vancouver : hot but not reall unbearable although today I regretted not bringing my sun cap, and of course the sun screen is necessary as well as the important bottle of water (mostly the fizzy mineral kind here).
Cecilia´s barrio, where we are staying, is called Recoleta and it´s quite near the edge of the city, a humble older part of town with little houses that remind me of the old parts of Athens, and sidewalks with wonky, uneven pavements. There´s a lot of character in both the narrow alley'like streets, the little houses with the inner courtyards, and the pleasant folk who live there. Patrick and I both felt immediately comfortable being there and have been made to feel like visiting royalty by both Cecilia and her adorable little mother. I said it reminded me of Greece, and if you have been to the villages in Greece you will understand my fondness for it, and why I feel so comfortable here. It has that ´village´flavour which I love.
Today we decided to stop first the Cemetary of the Generals which is nearby, but when we got there and saw what an awesome place it is, we decided instead to wait til we could get a tour around it.
So we set off on the metro to tour around some of Santiago´s ritzy districts starting with Las Condes, the city´s financial district where there are ultra modern buildings, some skyscrapers, though none higher than 30 stories, condominium buildings, fancy restaurants and upscale hotels. The world´s embassies are located here as well as Chile´s World Trade Centre.
When we got out of the metro station we followed along the avenue stopping for the many ´Kodak moments¨there are in this city. I was amused to find a display of painted horses placed in various places all along the avenues in the same way we in Vancouver have the spirit bears and orcas. I took a nice collection of photos of them as they were very pretty.
There´s quite a different atmosphere here than in other parts of the city. It´s a very elegant, exclusive district. The people on the street are well'dressed and stylish, obviously the ´monied´class of Santiago. As Cecilia remarked, "The people look different, their clothes, even their skin....even the GRASS is different in Las Condes.
We spent a lot of time walking around there before taking the metro to a different part of town, one we had visited yesterday, Barrio Bellavista the bohemian district. This time we were heading for Cerro San Cristobal and the Parque Metropolitano. First we stopped to visit the Jardin Zoologico which houses a collection of exotic animals and birds.
Cerro San Cristobal is Santiago´s largest open space. A 14 m. statue of the Virgin del la Immaculada Concepcion towers on top of the Cerro San Cristobal. We took the funicular up to the top, a climb of 485 m. from the Plaza Coupolican at the north end of the Pio Nono, a treelined street where there are a lot of craft shops and sidewalk cafes popular with the young crowd.
The climb up the mountain stops at the Terraa Bellavista where you get amazing views of the city. Today Los Andes were visible though still smog shrouded. We stopped to rest our weary feet at one of the concessions on the terrace then took the funicular back down and walked through the barrior, across the river to the metro station.
By the time we reached Cecilia´s home it was after nine and she had stayed up to greet us, and had prepared a delicious chicken and rice dinner for us.
It was a rather exhausting day. I don´t think I´ve ever walked up so many flights of stairs as I have here in Santiago, nor put in as many miles per day trudging around the city streets, but it´s worth all the effort. Tomorrow we´ll do some more touring around another barrio. Time is passing so quickly and we´re only just getting used to the idea that we are actually here!
NEXT: ANOTHER BARRIO AND A BEAUTIFUL PARK
TOURING AROUND SANTIAGO:
Santiago is a city of lovely parks, plazas and tree'line boulevards. The weather right now is like Greece in June or late summer in Vancouver : hot but not reall unbearable although today I regretted not bringing my sun cap, and of course the sun screen is necessary as well as the important bottle of water (mostly the fizzy mineral kind here).
Cecilia´s barrio, where we are staying, is called Recoleta and it´s quite near the edge of the city, a humble older part of town with little houses that remind me of the old parts of Athens, and sidewalks with wonky, uneven pavements. There´s a lot of character in both the narrow alley'like streets, the little houses with the inner courtyards, and the pleasant folk who live there. Patrick and I both felt immediately comfortable being there and have been made to feel like visiting royalty by both Cecilia and her adorable little mother. I said it reminded me of Greece, and if you have been to the villages in Greece you will understand my fondness for it, and why I feel so comfortable here. It has that ´village´flavour which I love.
Today we decided to stop first the Cemetary of the Generals which is nearby, but when we got there and saw what an awesome place it is, we decided instead to wait til we could get a tour around it.
So we set off on the metro to tour around some of Santiago´s ritzy districts starting with Las Condes, the city´s financial district where there are ultra modern buildings, some skyscrapers, though none higher than 30 stories, condominium buildings, fancy restaurants and upscale hotels. The world´s embassies are located here as well as Chile´s World Trade Centre.
When we got out of the metro station we followed along the avenue stopping for the many ´Kodak moments¨there are in this city. I was amused to find a display of painted horses placed in various places all along the avenues in the same way we in Vancouver have the spirit bears and orcas. I took a nice collection of photos of them as they were very pretty.
There´s quite a different atmosphere here than in other parts of the city. It´s a very elegant, exclusive district. The people on the street are well'dressed and stylish, obviously the ´monied´class of Santiago. As Cecilia remarked, "The people look different, their clothes, even their skin....even the GRASS is different in Las Condes.
We spent a lot of time walking around there before taking the metro to a different part of town, one we had visited yesterday, Barrio Bellavista the bohemian district. This time we were heading for Cerro San Cristobal and the Parque Metropolitano. First we stopped to visit the Jardin Zoologico which houses a collection of exotic animals and birds.
Cerro San Cristobal is Santiago´s largest open space. A 14 m. statue of the Virgin del la Immaculada Concepcion towers on top of the Cerro San Cristobal. We took the funicular up to the top, a climb of 485 m. from the Plaza Coupolican at the north end of the Pio Nono, a treelined street where there are a lot of craft shops and sidewalk cafes popular with the young crowd.
The climb up the mountain stops at the Terraa Bellavista where you get amazing views of the city. Today Los Andes were visible though still smog shrouded. We stopped to rest our weary feet at one of the concessions on the terrace then took the funicular back down and walked through the barrior, across the river to the metro station.
By the time we reached Cecilia´s home it was after nine and she had stayed up to greet us, and had prepared a delicious chicken and rice dinner for us.
It was a rather exhausting day. I don´t think I´ve ever walked up so many flights of stairs as I have here in Santiago, nor put in as many miles per day trudging around the city streets, but it´s worth all the effort. Tomorrow we´ll do some more touring around another barrio. Time is passing so quickly and we´re only just getting used to the idea that we are actually here!
NEXT: ANOTHER BARRIO AND A BEAUTIFUL PARK
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
ADVENTURES IN CHILE: LA CHASCONA, The Poet´s House
TUESDAY, NOV. 21
SANTIAGO, CHILE
We wondered why we couldn´t see Los Andes these past few days and now we know it is because of the dense smog over the city. We had planned to go up the funicular to Cerra San Cristobal today but were advised to wait until the mountains were clear. In the morning we went with Cecilia to the Comunidad Mercado De La Vega which is just across the river from her little cafe. It´s a vast sprawling market offering a kaleidoscopic selection of fruits and veggies as well as every kind of meat, spices, condiments and just about anything else you can imagine. ( I saw some sticks of cannella = cinnamon, the size of tree branches!) We were fascinating and busily snapping photos of all the colorful sites in this hub of activity when a security guard stopped us and said we were prohibited from taking photos. (Odd that yesterday at the Presidential Palace there were no such restrictions!) Anyway, Cecilia explained we were foreigners on our first trip to Chile and we were sent to an office and issued an official permit to take pictures. Quite a novel souvenier! After Cecilia had purchased her groceries for the shop, we went backto the cafe and had some yoghurt and sweet pastries called "broken underwear" that Marisol had prepared for us. Then we set off an another adventure by metro.
We intended to visit Pablo Neruda´s house and then go up the mountain as both are in close vicinity. The walk through Barrio Bellavista was so pleasant. It´s quite a bohemian area with craft shops and sidewalk cafes where the young folk from the local university hang out. It´s a community of artists, writers and craftsmen. The streets are shaded by trees and there are interesting shops and buildings..(I guess you could compare it to Greenwich Village in New York). We found an artisans market where we went later on and I bought a few very nice little souveniers. There are also lots of lapis lazuli shops on that street (only Chile and Afghanistan have major deposits of this semi precious gem.) I´m definitely going to look into purchasing something with lapis before I leave here!
It wasn´t too difficult to find the Poet´s house, named La Chascona after Matilde, his third wife, who had a tumble of wild hair. (That´s what the name means: wild hair) In the paintings and photos of her, the hair reminds me of Monica at the L.Q.!) Before I describe the house, I must introduce the Poet.
Pablo Neruda is not only Chile´s Nobel Prize winning poet but also a political icon. His poetry is the soul of Chile and his own life played an important role in Chile´s recent history.
He was awarded a diplomatic post and his subsequent travels brought him international fame. Despite his leftist beliefs he had a flambouyant life and was friends with artist such as Pablo Piccasso and Diego Rivera whose paints hang in his houses. He was also friends with notable political figures including Salvadore Allende. Only a few days after Allende´s death in the bombing of the Presidential Palace on Sept 11, 1973, Neruda died of cancer and a broken heart. His will left everything to the Chilean people through the Neruda Foundation.
I was introduced to the beautiful poetry of Neruda by my friend Anibal. My favorite collection is Twenty Love Poem and a Song of Despair. And what a thrill to see the original publication of it in Neruda´s library collection!
Like all of the other houses own by Neruda (he had 3, one here in Santiago, one inValparaiso and the most extravagant on at Isla Negra down the coast) this house is built like a ship. Nerdua was obsessed by the sea and even wrote his poetry in blue and green ink, sea colours. There were some of his hand'written poems on display as well as his books. Neruda was also an obsessive collector of curios and odd items = everything from ash trays to figure heads of ships.
The house used to be crammed with these treasures until the military coup and it was ransacked by the military and partly burned (resorations have been made but many of his precious collections were gone.) What is left is an amazing assortment of curios and whimsical items which kept us entertained for the whole tour. The house has tiny rooms, so only a few people at a time are allowed in with a guide who explains everything in a most enjoyable and informative way, telling little anecdotes about the Poet who was a fun'loving and whimsical guy just as he was a serious political and literary figure. The Neruda Foundation maintains the house and has it´s headquarters here.
We are really looking forward to visiting the other two houses in Valparaiso and Isla Negra, possibly next weekend. So look for more about the Poet here. And be sure to pick up a book of is beautiful poems. You´ll understand how I have grown to love his work!
Footsore and weary we ended up back in Recoleta where Cecilia lives by early evening. She had cooked us a delicious Chilean meal and we enjoyed our amusing chats with her and grandma.
Then it was off to bed early to get some rest for our next day of adventures.
NEXT: EXPLORING THE BARRIOS
SANTIAGO, CHILE
We wondered why we couldn´t see Los Andes these past few days and now we know it is because of the dense smog over the city. We had planned to go up the funicular to Cerra San Cristobal today but were advised to wait until the mountains were clear. In the morning we went with Cecilia to the Comunidad Mercado De La Vega which is just across the river from her little cafe. It´s a vast sprawling market offering a kaleidoscopic selection of fruits and veggies as well as every kind of meat, spices, condiments and just about anything else you can imagine. ( I saw some sticks of cannella = cinnamon, the size of tree branches!) We were fascinating and busily snapping photos of all the colorful sites in this hub of activity when a security guard stopped us and said we were prohibited from taking photos. (Odd that yesterday at the Presidential Palace there were no such restrictions!) Anyway, Cecilia explained we were foreigners on our first trip to Chile and we were sent to an office and issued an official permit to take pictures. Quite a novel souvenier! After Cecilia had purchased her groceries for the shop, we went backto the cafe and had some yoghurt and sweet pastries called "broken underwear" that Marisol had prepared for us. Then we set off an another adventure by metro.
We intended to visit Pablo Neruda´s house and then go up the mountain as both are in close vicinity. The walk through Barrio Bellavista was so pleasant. It´s quite a bohemian area with craft shops and sidewalk cafes where the young folk from the local university hang out. It´s a community of artists, writers and craftsmen. The streets are shaded by trees and there are interesting shops and buildings..(I guess you could compare it to Greenwich Village in New York). We found an artisans market where we went later on and I bought a few very nice little souveniers. There are also lots of lapis lazuli shops on that street (only Chile and Afghanistan have major deposits of this semi precious gem.) I´m definitely going to look into purchasing something with lapis before I leave here!
It wasn´t too difficult to find the Poet´s house, named La Chascona after Matilde, his third wife, who had a tumble of wild hair. (That´s what the name means: wild hair) In the paintings and photos of her, the hair reminds me of Monica at the L.Q.!) Before I describe the house, I must introduce the Poet.
Pablo Neruda is not only Chile´s Nobel Prize winning poet but also a political icon. His poetry is the soul of Chile and his own life played an important role in Chile´s recent history.
He was awarded a diplomatic post and his subsequent travels brought him international fame. Despite his leftist beliefs he had a flambouyant life and was friends with artist such as Pablo Piccasso and Diego Rivera whose paints hang in his houses. He was also friends with notable political figures including Salvadore Allende. Only a few days after Allende´s death in the bombing of the Presidential Palace on Sept 11, 1973, Neruda died of cancer and a broken heart. His will left everything to the Chilean people through the Neruda Foundation.
I was introduced to the beautiful poetry of Neruda by my friend Anibal. My favorite collection is Twenty Love Poem and a Song of Despair. And what a thrill to see the original publication of it in Neruda´s library collection!
Like all of the other houses own by Neruda (he had 3, one here in Santiago, one inValparaiso and the most extravagant on at Isla Negra down the coast) this house is built like a ship. Nerdua was obsessed by the sea and even wrote his poetry in blue and green ink, sea colours. There were some of his hand'written poems on display as well as his books. Neruda was also an obsessive collector of curios and odd items = everything from ash trays to figure heads of ships.
The house used to be crammed with these treasures until the military coup and it was ransacked by the military and partly burned (resorations have been made but many of his precious collections were gone.) What is left is an amazing assortment of curios and whimsical items which kept us entertained for the whole tour. The house has tiny rooms, so only a few people at a time are allowed in with a guide who explains everything in a most enjoyable and informative way, telling little anecdotes about the Poet who was a fun'loving and whimsical guy just as he was a serious political and literary figure. The Neruda Foundation maintains the house and has it´s headquarters here.
We are really looking forward to visiting the other two houses in Valparaiso and Isla Negra, possibly next weekend. So look for more about the Poet here. And be sure to pick up a book of is beautiful poems. You´ll understand how I have grown to love his work!
Footsore and weary we ended up back in Recoleta where Cecilia lives by early evening. She had cooked us a delicious Chilean meal and we enjoyed our amusing chats with her and grandma.
Then it was off to bed early to get some rest for our next day of adventures.
NEXT: EXPLORING THE BARRIOS
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
ADVENTURES IN CHILE: ¿HABLA ESPANOL?
MONDAY, NOV 20
First impressions: I´m grateful to have Patrick along as interpreter as you really do need to speak Spanish here. Somehow my small vocabulary has vanished and I´m doing my best to remember things I learned before but somehow, perhaps because so much here reminds me of Greece, that every time I open my mouth to speak Greek comes out. Oh well, keep trying and eventually I will increase my basic vocabulary to a little more than buenas dias and gracias.
This is a country of small, dark people and without a doubt me with my white blonde hair and the gentle giant Patrick stand out conspicuously wherever we got, but people are gracious and friendly and only once did I hear someone remark ¨gringo!"
We`ve mastered the metro in just one day. It´s slick, modern, clean and very efficient. Some of the stations have archaeological displays (like the metro in Athens), most play music and all are orderly and easy to board the swift, comfortable trains. We feel like experts already! Patrick is great to be with as he can translate when necessary, ask directions and this it´s a lot easier to get around.
Yesterday we set off in the morning with grandma. Cecilia´s mom is 86 yrs old, a tiny spry woman with a gold'toothed smile and boundless energy. Trouble is, she´s a bit forgetful, though she did ask us if we wanted to walk to Cecilia´s shop or take the bus. We opted to walk. She said it was a long way and it was but so interesting to stroll through the residential areas of town. They live in Recoleta, one of the many barrios of Santiago. Yes, it was a long walk, and it turned out Cecilia had left her the bus fare but she forgot. Oh well, fun anyway. Cecilia has a small cafe by the river where she sells fast food and snacks and does a brisk business with passers by. It´s right next to the old train station the Estacion Mapocho, which is now an exhibition hall and Santigao´s main cultural centre. The Rio Mapocho runs swiftly through the city, rapids and muddy water. We ate lunch at the cafe then set off to see the Presidential Palace.
Palacio de la Moneda (literally named "the coin"as it was once the mint) has been the government palace since 1846´s. It was designed by Italian architect Joaquien Toesca in the 18th centre. It was here, during the junta of 1973, that the army under General Pinochet, aided by the US and CIA staged a coup and bombed the palace. From here Salvadore Allende, the elected socialist president delivered is final speech as the bombs rained down and killed him.
"May you go forward in the knowlege that sooner than later, the great avenues will open once again along which free citizens will march in order to build a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers! These are my last words, and I am sure that this sacrifice will constitue a moral lesson that will punish cowardice, perfidy and treason.¨ As of today, Gen. Augusto Pinochet is still to be tried for his crimes against the Chilean people.
We were able to go inside the palace courtyards and look around. The president doesn´t live here now as in Allende´s time. And now they have a woman president, Michelle Bachalet, and there are hopes for a better and more progressive Chile which certainly seems evident to us observers.
After this little tour we took the metro over to the Plaza de Armes which is a central square surrounded by colonial architecture. A fountain dedicated to Simon Bolivar is in the centre of the square and a mounted figure of Pedro de Valdivia who founded Santiago in 1541 stands before the main cathedral. Tje Cathedral Metropolitana is aneoclassical church built by the same architect who designed La Moneda. The interior is lavishly decorated with carvings, stained glass and plenty of gold and silver. (These Catholic cathedrals always astound me filled with their priceless decor and relics in these countries where poverty abounds.)
Outside the cathedral they are erecting an emmense Christmas tree out of a frame made of steel wires. Workers climb up the frame to hang the plastic garlands that will make up the tree´s boughs and on top is a huge star.
We got oursleves back to Cecilia´s house with no problem. And spent the evening visiting and relaxing. We considered our first full day in Santiago quite a successful adventure.
NEXT: The browsing the market and house of the Poet
First impressions: I´m grateful to have Patrick along as interpreter as you really do need to speak Spanish here. Somehow my small vocabulary has vanished and I´m doing my best to remember things I learned before but somehow, perhaps because so much here reminds me of Greece, that every time I open my mouth to speak Greek comes out. Oh well, keep trying and eventually I will increase my basic vocabulary to a little more than buenas dias and gracias.
This is a country of small, dark people and without a doubt me with my white blonde hair and the gentle giant Patrick stand out conspicuously wherever we got, but people are gracious and friendly and only once did I hear someone remark ¨gringo!"
We`ve mastered the metro in just one day. It´s slick, modern, clean and very efficient. Some of the stations have archaeological displays (like the metro in Athens), most play music and all are orderly and easy to board the swift, comfortable trains. We feel like experts already! Patrick is great to be with as he can translate when necessary, ask directions and this it´s a lot easier to get around.
Yesterday we set off in the morning with grandma. Cecilia´s mom is 86 yrs old, a tiny spry woman with a gold'toothed smile and boundless energy. Trouble is, she´s a bit forgetful, though she did ask us if we wanted to walk to Cecilia´s shop or take the bus. We opted to walk. She said it was a long way and it was but so interesting to stroll through the residential areas of town. They live in Recoleta, one of the many barrios of Santiago. Yes, it was a long walk, and it turned out Cecilia had left her the bus fare but she forgot. Oh well, fun anyway. Cecilia has a small cafe by the river where she sells fast food and snacks and does a brisk business with passers by. It´s right next to the old train station the Estacion Mapocho, which is now an exhibition hall and Santigao´s main cultural centre. The Rio Mapocho runs swiftly through the city, rapids and muddy water. We ate lunch at the cafe then set off to see the Presidential Palace.
Palacio de la Moneda (literally named "the coin"as it was once the mint) has been the government palace since 1846´s. It was designed by Italian architect Joaquien Toesca in the 18th centre. It was here, during the junta of 1973, that the army under General Pinochet, aided by the US and CIA staged a coup and bombed the palace. From here Salvadore Allende, the elected socialist president delivered is final speech as the bombs rained down and killed him.
"May you go forward in the knowlege that sooner than later, the great avenues will open once again along which free citizens will march in order to build a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers! These are my last words, and I am sure that this sacrifice will constitue a moral lesson that will punish cowardice, perfidy and treason.¨ As of today, Gen. Augusto Pinochet is still to be tried for his crimes against the Chilean people.
We were able to go inside the palace courtyards and look around. The president doesn´t live here now as in Allende´s time. And now they have a woman president, Michelle Bachalet, and there are hopes for a better and more progressive Chile which certainly seems evident to us observers.
After this little tour we took the metro over to the Plaza de Armes which is a central square surrounded by colonial architecture. A fountain dedicated to Simon Bolivar is in the centre of the square and a mounted figure of Pedro de Valdivia who founded Santiago in 1541 stands before the main cathedral. Tje Cathedral Metropolitana is aneoclassical church built by the same architect who designed La Moneda. The interior is lavishly decorated with carvings, stained glass and plenty of gold and silver. (These Catholic cathedrals always astound me filled with their priceless decor and relics in these countries where poverty abounds.)
Outside the cathedral they are erecting an emmense Christmas tree out of a frame made of steel wires. Workers climb up the frame to hang the plastic garlands that will make up the tree´s boughs and on top is a huge star.
We got oursleves back to Cecilia´s house with no problem. And spent the evening visiting and relaxing. We considered our first full day in Santiago quite a successful adventure.
NEXT: The browsing the market and house of the Poet
Friday, November 17, 2006
FLYING ON A WING AND A PRAYER: Chile Here I Come!
The journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step." Lao-Tzu 604-581 BC
The Way of Lao Tzu
Just a few hours left to departure. It's been storming here for days, everything flooded with the incessant rain. I'm hoping for a little bit of clearing before I set off tomorrow morning. I hear it's stormy in Toronto to. But at least, we'll be flying into the South American sunshine.
As usual, it's another of my "flying on a wing and a prayer" trip, never certain til the last moment how it will all come together (the money that is) but it always does. "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" they say. And I guess that's my motto alright. Always a leap of faith, but never one I regret taking.
All the packing is done, everything is ready, the last minute details that almost get forgotten, like photo-copying important papers. I've had a busy week getting it all together, finishing up classes, visiting friends. And now I'm ready to go! I wonder if I'll spot any condors in the Andes?
Watch for the news reports along the way. This is going to be another unforgettable adventure!
"The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, to feel, to do just as one pleases."
William Hazlett 1778-1830 "On Going A Journey".
The Way of Lao Tzu
Just a few hours left to departure. It's been storming here for days, everything flooded with the incessant rain. I'm hoping for a little bit of clearing before I set off tomorrow morning. I hear it's stormy in Toronto to. But at least, we'll be flying into the South American sunshine.
As usual, it's another of my "flying on a wing and a prayer" trip, never certain til the last moment how it will all come together (the money that is) but it always does. "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" they say. And I guess that's my motto alright. Always a leap of faith, but never one I regret taking.
All the packing is done, everything is ready, the last minute details that almost get forgotten, like photo-copying important papers. I've had a busy week getting it all together, finishing up classes, visiting friends. And now I'm ready to go! I wonder if I'll spot any condors in the Andes?
Watch for the news reports along the way. This is going to be another unforgettable adventure!
"The soul of a journey is liberty, perfect liberty, to think, to feel, to do just as one pleases."
William Hazlett 1778-1830 "On Going A Journey".
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
A JOURNEY TO THE ANDES: More Trip Preparations
"Andes" a native word, meaning unknown.
The Andes Mountains are the longest and one of the highest mountain ranges in the world, stretching 7250 Km (4500 mi) from North to Sound along the West Coat of the South American continent, from the warm equator in the north to Cape Horn in Patagonia. The southernmost tip is not far from Antartica. The tallest peak is Mt. Aconcagua, a giant towering volcano 6,959 meters (22,831 ft) situatiedn near the Chilean/Argentine border. The Andes are rich in minerals: gold, silver, tin, copper, platinum, lead and zinc. The most famous bird is the Andean Condor. These immense birds that live along the Andean chain now face extinction.
I've been doing more research for our trip to Chile, and proposed visit to Mendoza, which is just across the border in Argentina. Mendoza is situated at the foot of the Andes Mountains and is the most imortant city in western Argentina. It's a popular tourist destination because of various interesting activities in the region. Because of the mild climate, it's the fruit and vegetable growing area, famous for its vineyards. Mendoza is a beautiful city with many historic traditions. (Anyone I 've spoken to who has been there have raved about the city so now, more than ever, I'm excited to visit there.)
Mendoza was founded in 1561 by Pedro del Castillo, who named the city after the governor of Chile, Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza but after only four years, just twelve Spaniards remained and the governor of Chile stepped in and offered compensation to the local natives who farmed the land and soon the Spanish population increased. Most of the residents were Huapes Indians and Incas and Puelches. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1861, then rebuilt and became a regional metropolis with imortant commercial, industrial, financial and cultural development. Currently the population is 130,000 (800,00 includig Gran Medoza.)
Besides the attraction of mountain hiking, horse-back riding, skiing, spas and other outdoor activities there are some interesting museums and things of cultural interest such as the many craft and artisan markets.
I'm most excited about visiting some of the wineries, most imortantly the Bodega La Rural wine museum. Mendoza wineries produce some of the countries best wines. The sunny days, termal dry, arid climate result in it being an oases for the highest quality of wine-making.
In the city there's also the Museo del Area Fundacional, which has relics from the city's beginnings.
I hope we get a chance to go up into the higher mountain areas. I remember seeing some photos of my friend Anibal's brothers up in the Andeas with the condors soaring around. That would be quite a thrill. The trip over to Argentina is also a sentimental journey in memory of my soul-brother Roberto Hallberg who was from Buenos Aries, and who, like Anibal, educated me about his country. He'd be pleased to know I am planning a visit there.
The Andes Mountains are the longest and one of the highest mountain ranges in the world, stretching 7250 Km (4500 mi) from North to Sound along the West Coat of the South American continent, from the warm equator in the north to Cape Horn in Patagonia. The southernmost tip is not far from Antartica. The tallest peak is Mt. Aconcagua, a giant towering volcano 6,959 meters (22,831 ft) situatiedn near the Chilean/Argentine border. The Andes are rich in minerals: gold, silver, tin, copper, platinum, lead and zinc. The most famous bird is the Andean Condor. These immense birds that live along the Andean chain now face extinction.
I've been doing more research for our trip to Chile, and proposed visit to Mendoza, which is just across the border in Argentina. Mendoza is situated at the foot of the Andes Mountains and is the most imortant city in western Argentina. It's a popular tourist destination because of various interesting activities in the region. Because of the mild climate, it's the fruit and vegetable growing area, famous for its vineyards. Mendoza is a beautiful city with many historic traditions. (Anyone I 've spoken to who has been there have raved about the city so now, more than ever, I'm excited to visit there.)
Mendoza was founded in 1561 by Pedro del Castillo, who named the city after the governor of Chile, Don Garcia Hurtado de Mendoza but after only four years, just twelve Spaniards remained and the governor of Chile stepped in and offered compensation to the local natives who farmed the land and soon the Spanish population increased. Most of the residents were Huapes Indians and Incas and Puelches. The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1861, then rebuilt and became a regional metropolis with imortant commercial, industrial, financial and cultural development. Currently the population is 130,000 (800,00 includig Gran Medoza.)
Besides the attraction of mountain hiking, horse-back riding, skiing, spas and other outdoor activities there are some interesting museums and things of cultural interest such as the many craft and artisan markets.
I'm most excited about visiting some of the wineries, most imortantly the Bodega La Rural wine museum. Mendoza wineries produce some of the countries best wines. The sunny days, termal dry, arid climate result in it being an oases for the highest quality of wine-making.
In the city there's also the Museo del Area Fundacional, which has relics from the city's beginnings.
I hope we get a chance to go up into the higher mountain areas. I remember seeing some photos of my friend Anibal's brothers up in the Andeas with the condors soaring around. That would be quite a thrill. The trip over to Argentina is also a sentimental journey in memory of my soul-brother Roberto Hallberg who was from Buenos Aries, and who, like Anibal, educated me about his country. He'd be pleased to know I am planning a visit there.
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
PREPARING FOR THE GREAT ADVENTURE
A wise man travels light on the road trip of life.Wisdom is his map, wonder, his fuel,and a good story, his favorite souvenir."
I went to an information workshop about Chile last week and learned some important facts, like North Americans entering the country have to pay $135 U.S. entry fee. Well, that cuts into my travel fund somewhat but it's just one of those facts. No visa necessary though.
I'm also still trying to find out about the ATMs. According to the tourism people you can only use debit cards with a "cirrus" logo and this presents a problem as my card doesn't have that. And I simply have to be able to access my account while I'm there. I checked the internet and also my bank. Both say the ATMs in Chile accept cards with both Visa and "Plus" logos. But just to be sure I'll visit the Chilean consul this week and double-check.
Ah...there's always some little hassles that travellers must be confronted with and at least these are fairly simple to deal with. No innoculations necessary. Anyway, I've had all mine since I went to Malaysia and I even have some of the stomach medicine left over just in case.
We were shown some beautiful films of Chile at the presentation. In particular I was impressed with the film about Patagonia. Too bad we're only going for two week and will just travel around the Santiago area and Coast...but we do plan to take a bus trip across the border of Argentina to Mendoza, the wine-growing area. And on the weekend I spoke to a man who has spent a lot of time there (he was a mountaineer) and he assured me that we would have a marvelous time as it is quite spectacular.
My good camera has been broken and I neglected to get it repaired til now, debating on buying a digital, but realized I couldn't afford one just yet. So it's going to cost me to have it fixed but I need to take lots of good photos while I'm there. And my travel partner is a very talented photographer too, so Patrick says he's thinking of buying a digital which would be super then we can exchange photos.
I'm on the count-down now...only two and half weeks. It still seems incredible that I'm actually going there. I'm already getting butterflies in my stomach at the thought of it.
Pre-preparations? I'm trying to review what little Spanish I know. Couldn't get into any of the classes so I have my tapes and text books. But I'm still getting muddled up with Greek.
I went to an information workshop about Chile last week and learned some important facts, like North Americans entering the country have to pay $135 U.S. entry fee. Well, that cuts into my travel fund somewhat but it's just one of those facts. No visa necessary though.
I'm also still trying to find out about the ATMs. According to the tourism people you can only use debit cards with a "cirrus" logo and this presents a problem as my card doesn't have that. And I simply have to be able to access my account while I'm there. I checked the internet and also my bank. Both say the ATMs in Chile accept cards with both Visa and "Plus" logos. But just to be sure I'll visit the Chilean consul this week and double-check.
Ah...there's always some little hassles that travellers must be confronted with and at least these are fairly simple to deal with. No innoculations necessary. Anyway, I've had all mine since I went to Malaysia and I even have some of the stomach medicine left over just in case.
We were shown some beautiful films of Chile at the presentation. In particular I was impressed with the film about Patagonia. Too bad we're only going for two week and will just travel around the Santiago area and Coast...but we do plan to take a bus trip across the border of Argentina to Mendoza, the wine-growing area. And on the weekend I spoke to a man who has spent a lot of time there (he was a mountaineer) and he assured me that we would have a marvelous time as it is quite spectacular.
My good camera has been broken and I neglected to get it repaired til now, debating on buying a digital, but realized I couldn't afford one just yet. So it's going to cost me to have it fixed but I need to take lots of good photos while I'm there. And my travel partner is a very talented photographer too, so Patrick says he's thinking of buying a digital which would be super then we can exchange photos.
I'm on the count-down now...only two and half weeks. It still seems incredible that I'm actually going there. I'm already getting butterflies in my stomach at the thought of it.
Pre-preparations? I'm trying to review what little Spanish I know. Couldn't get into any of the classes so I have my tapes and text books. But I'm still getting muddled up with Greek.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
CHILE: A Sentimental Journey
"Night, snow and sand compose the form
of my slender homeland,
all silence is contained within its length,
all foam issues from its seaswept beard,
all coal fills it with mysterious kisses."
Pablo Neruda
In just a month from today I'll be embarking on a long-awaited sentimental journey to Chile. Who would have guessed a year ago that all this would happen, and all because my special friend was dying of cancer.
I had heard Anibal talk many times about his country. He was an exile here, and always longed for his homeland, just as my dear friend and soul-brother Roberto (my friend in Greece) longed to return to Argentina. Both of them died before their wishes could be fulfilled. And now it's me who is heading to South America to follow in their footsteps. (Although I can't get to Buenos Aires this trip, I do plan on crossing the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country. As Roberto was so very fond of wine, this will be my tribute to him.)
While Anibal was in the hospital his ex-wife came to visit him from Chile. She and I formed a bond of friendship out of the love we both had for him, as did his daughters and I. My friend Patrick, who had made a special trip from Germany to see Anibal, but who sadly arrived too late, also became friends with Anibal's family. So we were invited to visit Cecilia in Santiago. It was an invitation we both knew we could not refuse.
Anibal had educated me about his country's political history, told me many stories about Santiago and how he'd worked in the shanty towns there, and he introduced me to his beloved favorite poet Pablo Neruda. Now I'm reading more to learn about the history and geography of this fascinating land.
Some facts I've learned:
Chile is the longest and narrowest country ini the S.A. continent (6,965 mi in length and an average of 285 mi in width) Chile has long had a history of democratic governments. (This was shattered in '73 by the CIA-U.S. backed military coup that saw thousands of Chileans killed or 'disappeared' and drove my friend and his family into exile) Chile is a land of extremes -- from the Atacama Desert in the north to the fjords and icefields of Patagonia in the far south of Antartica.
We will visit mainly the central valley and west coastal areas of the country beginning with Santiago, Chile's capital, founded in 1541 by the Spanish Captain Pedro de Valdivia. Santiago was Anibal's home and I am looking forward to retracing his footsteps there, sharing the memories of his life, meeting his family and seeing all the places where he and Cecilia and their children lived, worked and played.
On the Central Coast we'll visit Valparaiso, "Pearl of the Pacific", Chile's premier port, which may soon be dedicated as a World Heritage site. Close by are the seaside resorts of Renaca and Vina del Mar. I believe Cecilia has a beach house at Renaca where she has made a little shrine for Anibal so he can rest in peace and quiet solitude by the sea.
The Nobel Prize winning poet, Pablo Neruda, had three houses: one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso and one in the town of Isla Negra. This will be a highlight of my pilgrimage.
Besides these historic cities and the beautiful Pacific seaside resorts, I hope to visit at least one of Chile's famous vineyards. There are several wine tours offered near Santiago. The central Valley boasts an ideal climate for winemaking and Chilean wines are renown.
We plan to take a bus from Santiago to the Andes to cross the border into Argentina. The Andes Mountains rise to peaks of over 6,600 meters. the landscape is semi-arid in the foothills
with permanent snow-capped mountains. There are beautiful forests, canyons, glaciers, lakes and white water rivers. The city of Mendoza, in the Argentine wine region is a short distance from the frontier with Chile. It was founded in 1561 and was originally an Indian settlement. Besides the wineries, there are spas, and plenty of cultural activities and sightseeing as well as adventure sports. The town has good craft markets and we must sample some of the famous Argentine gastronomy specials such as fried pastries, casserole meat, and the classic tenderloin (beef sandwiches) together with the best beef and pork cuts and free-range farm chicken. And, of course, the wine!
Next week I'm attending an educational workshop about Chile to learn more about Chile's culture, history and entertainment.
of my slender homeland,
all silence is contained within its length,
all foam issues from its seaswept beard,
all coal fills it with mysterious kisses."
Pablo Neruda
In just a month from today I'll be embarking on a long-awaited sentimental journey to Chile. Who would have guessed a year ago that all this would happen, and all because my special friend was dying of cancer.
I had heard Anibal talk many times about his country. He was an exile here, and always longed for his homeland, just as my dear friend and soul-brother Roberto (my friend in Greece) longed to return to Argentina. Both of them died before their wishes could be fulfilled. And now it's me who is heading to South America to follow in their footsteps. (Although I can't get to Buenos Aires this trip, I do plan on crossing the Andes to Mendoza, Argentina's wine country. As Roberto was so very fond of wine, this will be my tribute to him.)
While Anibal was in the hospital his ex-wife came to visit him from Chile. She and I formed a bond of friendship out of the love we both had for him, as did his daughters and I. My friend Patrick, who had made a special trip from Germany to see Anibal, but who sadly arrived too late, also became friends with Anibal's family. So we were invited to visit Cecilia in Santiago. It was an invitation we both knew we could not refuse.
Anibal had educated me about his country's political history, told me many stories about Santiago and how he'd worked in the shanty towns there, and he introduced me to his beloved favorite poet Pablo Neruda. Now I'm reading more to learn about the history and geography of this fascinating land.
Some facts I've learned:
Chile is the longest and narrowest country ini the S.A. continent (6,965 mi in length and an average of 285 mi in width) Chile has long had a history of democratic governments. (This was shattered in '73 by the CIA-U.S. backed military coup that saw thousands of Chileans killed or 'disappeared' and drove my friend and his family into exile) Chile is a land of extremes -- from the Atacama Desert in the north to the fjords and icefields of Patagonia in the far south of Antartica.
We will visit mainly the central valley and west coastal areas of the country beginning with Santiago, Chile's capital, founded in 1541 by the Spanish Captain Pedro de Valdivia. Santiago was Anibal's home and I am looking forward to retracing his footsteps there, sharing the memories of his life, meeting his family and seeing all the places where he and Cecilia and their children lived, worked and played.
On the Central Coast we'll visit Valparaiso, "Pearl of the Pacific", Chile's premier port, which may soon be dedicated as a World Heritage site. Close by are the seaside resorts of Renaca and Vina del Mar. I believe Cecilia has a beach house at Renaca where she has made a little shrine for Anibal so he can rest in peace and quiet solitude by the sea.
The Nobel Prize winning poet, Pablo Neruda, had three houses: one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso and one in the town of Isla Negra. This will be a highlight of my pilgrimage.
Besides these historic cities and the beautiful Pacific seaside resorts, I hope to visit at least one of Chile's famous vineyards. There are several wine tours offered near Santiago. The central Valley boasts an ideal climate for winemaking and Chilean wines are renown.
We plan to take a bus from Santiago to the Andes to cross the border into Argentina. The Andes Mountains rise to peaks of over 6,600 meters. the landscape is semi-arid in the foothills
with permanent snow-capped mountains. There are beautiful forests, canyons, glaciers, lakes and white water rivers. The city of Mendoza, in the Argentine wine region is a short distance from the frontier with Chile. It was founded in 1561 and was originally an Indian settlement. Besides the wineries, there are spas, and plenty of cultural activities and sightseeing as well as adventure sports. The town has good craft markets and we must sample some of the famous Argentine gastronomy specials such as fried pastries, casserole meat, and the classic tenderloin (beef sandwiches) together with the best beef and pork cuts and free-range farm chicken. And, of course, the wine!
Next week I'm attending an educational workshop about Chile to learn more about Chile's culture, history and entertainment.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
THE GUGGENHEIM: DAY FOUR, PART TWO
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum began in 1937 as the Museum for Non-Objective Art, but was renamed after its wealthy founder, a copper magnate, and was then refered to as a "Museum of Modern Art". In 1943 Guggenheim commissioned renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright to erect a new museum, his first in NY. It took sixteen years to complete because of ongoing building restrictions, and by the time the museum was finally opened Wright was 88 years old! Unfortunately, the innovative concrete struction has been plagued by surface cracks almost since it's opening in 1959. Beginning in 2005 twelve layers of paint were removed and the building's concrete surface was revealed. The repair and repainting is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, in time for the building's 50th anniversary.
This is the only NY musuem as famous for its architecture as for its contents. Wright designed it as one single large room on one continuous floor that spirals, helix-like, on a ramp 432 M (473 yds) long. Visitors start at the top and wind their way down the whorl. The only natural light comes into the museum from the glass roof. There are no windows. It feels much like being inside a snail shell, certainly one of the most unique buildings I've visited.
The Museum puts on five or six special exhibits a year, many of which occupy the whole museum. There are a few permanent collections including those of Kadinsky, Jackson Polloak and paintings by Klee and Picasso and others shown in the extension rooms built in 1980.
The exhibit on show to Oct. 25 was titled "Thirty Years in Architecture" a most amazing display of work by the Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid who is known as one of today's most innovative architects. Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid studied in Switzerland, England and Lebanon. She pursued studies at London's Architectural Association and later joined the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). She opened her independent practice in London in 1979 and got international recognition in 1982 for her submission The Peak which won a competition for a leisure club in Hong Kong. Although this project was never completed she has since then designed several other buildings and has been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
This was truly one of the most remarkable exhibits I've ever seen. Zara Hadid says "My ambition is always to realize theoretical projects that seem difficult at the time." Her designs are exciting and impressive. My favorite was The Dancing Towers" a model of the three towers she has built in Dubai that, instead of standing erect, intertwine with each other. Her designs distort perspective creating an unorthodox viewpoint with fractured forms that give way to fluid and undulating shapes.
By the time we returned to our hotel later that afternoon, we were both exhausted, our minds crammed full of all the wonderful and unforgettable sights we'd seen that day. It was our last night in New York. We'd only had a few days but we had savoured a delicious slice of what the The Big Apple has to offer.
The next morning we set off to do some shopping but unfortunately didn't make it to Macy's or Bloomingdales we we'd planned. Instead went to some local shops, then, because the day was hot, humid and we were tired of ploughing through the crowds in Times Square, we hung out in the hotel lounge sipping lemonade until it was time to board the shuttle to the airport.
That morning Seventh Ave was blocked off with a street market and Fifth Ave was blocked off with a long never-ending Labour Day Parade (all the trade unions). The cross streets were open but the whole thing created a traffic gridlock the likes of which we'd never witnessed before. Luckily the conceirge had suggested we take the 2.20 pm shuttle to JFK, allowing us plenty of time to arrive at the check-in. The traffic was literally bumper-to-bumper all the way out across the Queensborough Bridge. Strangely, we didn't notice any road-rage or horn-honking which the New Yorkers have been famous for in the past. I've learned since that the City had passed a by-law against horn-honking! We weren't too worried by the delays but one woman in the shuttle anxiously asked the driver at ten minutes to four when we'd arrive at the airport. We were still quite a distance away and her plane was due to leave at 4.45!
We got to the checkin in good time and I was impressed to see how well things went at JFK compared to the nightmare that was LAX when I'd returned from Malaysia in the Spring. We went through the security quickly, and had lots of time to relax in the waiting area before boarding our Harmony flight home at 7 p.m. Unlike LAX it's a bright, airy building and didn't seem to exhude the paranoid and hustle-bustle of L.A.'s infamous airport.
Recapping our short, sweet adventure in Manhattan: We had agreat time, saw lots, walked our feet off and had nothing but excellent experiences which left us impressed and happy.
There was so much more to see, and it would have been nice to have had a bit more spending money, but I managed -- spent it all to my last penny -- and have gained a wealth of memories.
I have to say a big thanks here to the B.C. Travel Writer's Association who provided me with the winning door-prize, to Harmony for the airline tickets, N.Y. Tourism for the City Tours and to all my friends who contributed to help make this a wonderful holiday in the Big Apple!
This is the only NY musuem as famous for its architecture as for its contents. Wright designed it as one single large room on one continuous floor that spirals, helix-like, on a ramp 432 M (473 yds) long. Visitors start at the top and wind their way down the whorl. The only natural light comes into the museum from the glass roof. There are no windows. It feels much like being inside a snail shell, certainly one of the most unique buildings I've visited.
The Museum puts on five or six special exhibits a year, many of which occupy the whole museum. There are a few permanent collections including those of Kadinsky, Jackson Polloak and paintings by Klee and Picasso and others shown in the extension rooms built in 1980.
The exhibit on show to Oct. 25 was titled "Thirty Years in Architecture" a most amazing display of work by the Iraq-born architect Zaha Hadid who is known as one of today's most innovative architects. Born in Baghdad in 1950, Zaha Hadid studied in Switzerland, England and Lebanon. She pursued studies at London's Architectural Association and later joined the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). She opened her independent practice in London in 1979 and got international recognition in 1982 for her submission The Peak which won a competition for a leisure club in Hong Kong. Although this project was never completed she has since then designed several other buildings and has been awarded the prestigious Pritzker Architecture Prize.
This was truly one of the most remarkable exhibits I've ever seen. Zara Hadid says "My ambition is always to realize theoretical projects that seem difficult at the time." Her designs are exciting and impressive. My favorite was The Dancing Towers" a model of the three towers she has built in Dubai that, instead of standing erect, intertwine with each other. Her designs distort perspective creating an unorthodox viewpoint with fractured forms that give way to fluid and undulating shapes.
By the time we returned to our hotel later that afternoon, we were both exhausted, our minds crammed full of all the wonderful and unforgettable sights we'd seen that day. It was our last night in New York. We'd only had a few days but we had savoured a delicious slice of what the The Big Apple has to offer.
The next morning we set off to do some shopping but unfortunately didn't make it to Macy's or Bloomingdales we we'd planned. Instead went to some local shops, then, because the day was hot, humid and we were tired of ploughing through the crowds in Times Square, we hung out in the hotel lounge sipping lemonade until it was time to board the shuttle to the airport.
That morning Seventh Ave was blocked off with a street market and Fifth Ave was blocked off with a long never-ending Labour Day Parade (all the trade unions). The cross streets were open but the whole thing created a traffic gridlock the likes of which we'd never witnessed before. Luckily the conceirge had suggested we take the 2.20 pm shuttle to JFK, allowing us plenty of time to arrive at the check-in. The traffic was literally bumper-to-bumper all the way out across the Queensborough Bridge. Strangely, we didn't notice any road-rage or horn-honking which the New Yorkers have been famous for in the past. I've learned since that the City had passed a by-law against horn-honking! We weren't too worried by the delays but one woman in the shuttle anxiously asked the driver at ten minutes to four when we'd arrive at the airport. We were still quite a distance away and her plane was due to leave at 4.45!
We got to the checkin in good time and I was impressed to see how well things went at JFK compared to the nightmare that was LAX when I'd returned from Malaysia in the Spring. We went through the security quickly, and had lots of time to relax in the waiting area before boarding our Harmony flight home at 7 p.m. Unlike LAX it's a bright, airy building and didn't seem to exhude the paranoid and hustle-bustle of L.A.'s infamous airport.
Recapping our short, sweet adventure in Manhattan: We had agreat time, saw lots, walked our feet off and had nothing but excellent experiences which left us impressed and happy.
There was so much more to see, and it would have been nice to have had a bit more spending money, but I managed -- spent it all to my last penny -- and have gained a wealth of memories.
I have to say a big thanks here to the B.C. Travel Writer's Association who provided me with the winning door-prize, to Harmony for the airline tickets, N.Y. Tourism for the City Tours and to all my friends who contributed to help make this a wonderful holiday in the Big Apple!
CRUISING AROUND MANHATTAN ISLAND: DAY FOUR, PART ONE
SEPT. 8/06
We were on the go early today, headed for the Port Authority (Pier 83 at the foot of W. 43rd St) a good walk from our hotel. Along the way we noticed a group of police officers from Toronto who had arrived that morning to attend a ceremony at Ground Zero. The city was beginning to fill up with visitors that weekend, most of them there to attend the anniversaary of 9/11. We had considered going to Ground Zero but changed our minds, because of the crowds, and decided it would be best to leave this emotional time for those who had come to mourn or pay their respects.
We had tickets for the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan Island, a pleasant three-hour boat trip which I'd recommend to anyone who's never visited NY before. The view from the water gives you a magnificent perspective of the city skyline, offering views of many different points of interest. That morning, as we slowed down nearing the Statue of LIbery, the guide pointed out the exact location where the World Trade Centre towers had once loomed over the other skyscrapers. Now there is a wide void, a chilling reminder of the tragedy of 9/11.
The little tour boat chugs down the shore of the Upper Bay, past the tall, impressive Statue of Liberty, circling around so you can get a good close-up view of it. The statue was given to the U.S. by the people of France in 1886 to commemorate the alliance of the two countries during the american Revolution. It was the work of of French sculptor Auguste Barthode with the help of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel who built the supporting framework. The statue's face is apparantly modeled after the scultpor's mother. She stands 152 feel high, the pedestal is another 150 ft., the uplifted arm holding the liberty torch is 42 ft. and the head is large enough for a couple of people to stand inside. I recall on my first trip to NYC in 1968 that I actually climb up inside the Statue to the observation deck which is the Lady's "crown".
Just a hundred yards north of the Statue is Ellis Island, the portal through which more than 12 million immigrants entered the U.S. between 1892 and 1954. The buildings on the island have been restored in 1990 and now house a museum.
The boat tour, narrated by an amusing and very informative tour guide, cruises up along the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, by the former Brooklyn Navy Yard. The guide points of places of interest such as the wharves where "On the Waterfront" were film, and the berth where the Titanic was supposed to land. Along the East River we passed the splendid glass buildings of the United Nations, headquarters for almost 6,000 men and women from all over the world who carry on the work of the Secretariat of the General Assembly. You can actually get tickets to attend the General Assembly, free of charge.
Next to it is the home of Koffi Annan (one of my heroes) and just below, other notables such as the actress Signoury Weaver has a vine-covered house by the River. Farther along is Gracie Mansion, home of the NYC mayor. Apparantly this mayor who is a billionaire, does not reside there but has opened it for tours, and because of his wealth, has contributed his 'salary' to the City. Past here, the East River merges into the Harlem River, and the boat sails north through Hell Gate to the Hudson River, under the great lattice-work of the George Washington Bridge, by Riverside Park and all the docks of the big shipping companies where the great liners like QE II birth.
The cruise was certainly a highlight of our short stay in NYC and a refreshing way to spend a warm, sunny day away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square and downtown Mahattan.
We bypassed a tour of The Intrepid sea-air museum, the aircraft carriet docked alongside Pier 86. This ship wis a veteran of air and sea battles of the South Pacific during World War II and later Vietnamn and is now converted into a fascinating floating museum of naval history and technology. Instead, we headed uptown for a visit to the famous Guggenheim Museum.
(**See Day Four, Part Two)
We were on the go early today, headed for the Port Authority (Pier 83 at the foot of W. 43rd St) a good walk from our hotel. Along the way we noticed a group of police officers from Toronto who had arrived that morning to attend a ceremony at Ground Zero. The city was beginning to fill up with visitors that weekend, most of them there to attend the anniversaary of 9/11. We had considered going to Ground Zero but changed our minds, because of the crowds, and decided it would be best to leave this emotional time for those who had come to mourn or pay their respects.
We had tickets for the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan Island, a pleasant three-hour boat trip which I'd recommend to anyone who's never visited NY before. The view from the water gives you a magnificent perspective of the city skyline, offering views of many different points of interest. That morning, as we slowed down nearing the Statue of LIbery, the guide pointed out the exact location where the World Trade Centre towers had once loomed over the other skyscrapers. Now there is a wide void, a chilling reminder of the tragedy of 9/11.
The little tour boat chugs down the shore of the Upper Bay, past the tall, impressive Statue of Liberty, circling around so you can get a good close-up view of it. The statue was given to the U.S. by the people of France in 1886 to commemorate the alliance of the two countries during the american Revolution. It was the work of of French sculptor Auguste Barthode with the help of Alexandre Gustave Eiffel who built the supporting framework. The statue's face is apparantly modeled after the scultpor's mother. She stands 152 feel high, the pedestal is another 150 ft., the uplifted arm holding the liberty torch is 42 ft. and the head is large enough for a couple of people to stand inside. I recall on my first trip to NYC in 1968 that I actually climb up inside the Statue to the observation deck which is the Lady's "crown".
Just a hundred yards north of the Statue is Ellis Island, the portal through which more than 12 million immigrants entered the U.S. between 1892 and 1954. The buildings on the island have been restored in 1990 and now house a museum.
The boat tour, narrated by an amusing and very informative tour guide, cruises up along the East River, under the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, by the former Brooklyn Navy Yard. The guide points of places of interest such as the wharves where "On the Waterfront" were film, and the berth where the Titanic was supposed to land. Along the East River we passed the splendid glass buildings of the United Nations, headquarters for almost 6,000 men and women from all over the world who carry on the work of the Secretariat of the General Assembly. You can actually get tickets to attend the General Assembly, free of charge.
Next to it is the home of Koffi Annan (one of my heroes) and just below, other notables such as the actress Signoury Weaver has a vine-covered house by the River. Farther along is Gracie Mansion, home of the NYC mayor. Apparantly this mayor who is a billionaire, does not reside there but has opened it for tours, and because of his wealth, has contributed his 'salary' to the City. Past here, the East River merges into the Harlem River, and the boat sails north through Hell Gate to the Hudson River, under the great lattice-work of the George Washington Bridge, by Riverside Park and all the docks of the big shipping companies where the great liners like QE II birth.
The cruise was certainly a highlight of our short stay in NYC and a refreshing way to spend a warm, sunny day away from the hustle and bustle of Times Square and downtown Mahattan.
We bypassed a tour of The Intrepid sea-air museum, the aircraft carriet docked alongside Pier 86. This ship wis a veteran of air and sea battles of the South Pacific during World War II and later Vietnamn and is now converted into a fascinating floating museum of naval history and technology. Instead, we headed uptown for a visit to the famous Guggenheim Museum.
(**See Day Four, Part Two)
Thursday, September 14, 2006
MAMA MIA! WHAT A DAY! (Day Three, Part Two)
You see Pedi-cabs all over Manhattan and we'd been curious about them, so when the guy approached us in Central Park and offered his services for a pedi-cab tour to the Strawberry Fields, the Dakota Apartments, the Lincoln Centre and other sites along the way right to the discount ticket place in Times Square, for only $55 (plus tip) we agreed. And we certainly weren't sorry we did, nor did we begrudge the fare. After all, our City Pass tickets to all the other sites had been donated by New York Tourism as part of the prize I'd won, along with the airfare to NY. So we hopped in and off we went.
Straberry Fields is the living memorial to John Lennon set in the park opposite from the Dakota Apartments on Central Park West at 72ns Street where Lennon was slain on December 9, 1980.
Established in 1985, five years after the tragic event by his widow Yoko Ono who donated $1 million to the project, it grew into a peace memorial with contributions of plants and trees from countries all around the world. Known as the "International Garden of Peace" it is a round slab of black marble with the word "Imagine" set in a starburst of black and white mosaics, contributed by Italy. All around it are planted river birches from the Soviet Union, maples from Canada, cedars from Israel, daffodils from Holland, dogwood from the late Princess Grace of Monaco and other plants and trees forming a shaded bower around the memorial.
Across the street, the Dakota Apartments, built in the 1880's, designed by architect Henry Hardenberg for Singer Co. heir Edward Clark, was the first luxury apartment building in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and still probably the most famous apartment building in the city. Our pedi-cab driver, William, took us to the exact spot by the side entrance where John Lennon was shot down by a crazed assassin who had lurked by the building waiting for him to come out. That man is still in prison. Yoko Ono still lives in the Dakota and William pointed out the entire floor where she resides. Lauren Bacall also lives in the Dakota. Marily Monroe lived there for a time. Peter Tchaikowski did too. And Leonard Bernstein died there.
Boris Karloff's ghost is said to haunt the hallways.
We cycled down Central Park West toward the city centre, passing the Juilliard School, the most prestigious music institution in the country, which is located near the Lincoln Centre of Performing Arts, composed of many buildings that house permanent companies as well as venues for world class performances such as the Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, NY City Opera, NY City Balley and NY Philharmonic. We were told by William that there are excellent jazz concerts at Lincoln Centre and we wished we'd had time to go back there one evening.
As it was, we were pretty thrilled to get a close-up look at the Met and while we were sitting there in the pedi-cab a man came along and asked if we'd like him to take our photo. It turned out he was one of the tenors from the opera company and he told us if we came there Saturdaywe could see a performance of Carmen for just $25. What a thrill that would have been! Unfortunately, so much to do, so little time!
Right across from the Lincoln Centre is the fabled Trump Tower, a black glass sky-scraper, and nearby is Columbus Circle with a tall statue of Christopher Columbus directing the traffic around it. It was thrilling to ride in the pedi-cab right in the middle of the New York traffic, weaving in and out. William dropped us off at TKTS (Times Square Theatre Centre) at Broadway and 47th St. so we could pick up our half-price tickets for a show. He recommended we see Mama Mia as he said he'd seen it three times and loved it. I'd always wanted to see this show too, as I enjoy ABBA's music and was curious to see how they would work it into a Broadway musical. So, without even having to wait long in the line we scored tickets for $76.
The tickets are generally sold for that night's performance and go from 25% to 50% discounts. Ours were 35% discount. We thanked William for his informative, interesting tour of Upper Manhattan, tipped him $10 and went back to our hotel to prepare for an evening at the theatre. We decided to dress for it, and treat ourselves to a lobster dinner at The Oyster Bar
then we headed off to the lovely old Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre for the evening's show.
NYC is the entertainment capital of the nation and here you can catch not only Broadway and off- Broadway theatre performances, but opera, musicals, dance, and shows from all over the world. (I was disappointed to find I'd be missing a performance of Aescylus' The Persians by the Greek National Theatre Company, peformed in Greek with sub-titles on Sept 15.) The city has hundreds of theatres, some of them dating back to the turn of the last century, and these include the many off-Broadway theatres such as those in Greenwich Village where the Pronvinceton Playhouse started up on MacDougal Street to show the works of a young playwright, Eugene O'Neill. These off-Broadway theatres became popular during the '50's and '60's, known as The Golden Years of Circle in the Square, the Theatre de Lys and the Cherry Lane Theatre. It was at these theatres that the late Geraldine Page rose to stardom, Edward Albee tried out his early work, and names like Ionesco, Beckett, Bertoll Brecht and Kurt Weill became household words. The longest running show on Broadway or off was The Fantastics that ran for over 30 years.
I had done some research on the current productions before going the NY, but we were happy we'd settled on Mama Mia! because, just as William had said, "You'll come out of there singing and dancing!" And we did! Mama Mia! What a day!
Next: A Circle Island Tour
Straberry Fields is the living memorial to John Lennon set in the park opposite from the Dakota Apartments on Central Park West at 72ns Street where Lennon was slain on December 9, 1980.
Established in 1985, five years after the tragic event by his widow Yoko Ono who donated $1 million to the project, it grew into a peace memorial with contributions of plants and trees from countries all around the world. Known as the "International Garden of Peace" it is a round slab of black marble with the word "Imagine" set in a starburst of black and white mosaics, contributed by Italy. All around it are planted river birches from the Soviet Union, maples from Canada, cedars from Israel, daffodils from Holland, dogwood from the late Princess Grace of Monaco and other plants and trees forming a shaded bower around the memorial.
Across the street, the Dakota Apartments, built in the 1880's, designed by architect Henry Hardenberg for Singer Co. heir Edward Clark, was the first luxury apartment building in the Upper West Side of Manhattan and still probably the most famous apartment building in the city. Our pedi-cab driver, William, took us to the exact spot by the side entrance where John Lennon was shot down by a crazed assassin who had lurked by the building waiting for him to come out. That man is still in prison. Yoko Ono still lives in the Dakota and William pointed out the entire floor where she resides. Lauren Bacall also lives in the Dakota. Marily Monroe lived there for a time. Peter Tchaikowski did too. And Leonard Bernstein died there.
Boris Karloff's ghost is said to haunt the hallways.
We cycled down Central Park West toward the city centre, passing the Juilliard School, the most prestigious music institution in the country, which is located near the Lincoln Centre of Performing Arts, composed of many buildings that house permanent companies as well as venues for world class performances such as the Metropolitan Opera, American Ballet Theatre, NY City Opera, NY City Balley and NY Philharmonic. We were told by William that there are excellent jazz concerts at Lincoln Centre and we wished we'd had time to go back there one evening.
As it was, we were pretty thrilled to get a close-up look at the Met and while we were sitting there in the pedi-cab a man came along and asked if we'd like him to take our photo. It turned out he was one of the tenors from the opera company and he told us if we came there Saturdaywe could see a performance of Carmen for just $25. What a thrill that would have been! Unfortunately, so much to do, so little time!
Right across from the Lincoln Centre is the fabled Trump Tower, a black glass sky-scraper, and nearby is Columbus Circle with a tall statue of Christopher Columbus directing the traffic around it. It was thrilling to ride in the pedi-cab right in the middle of the New York traffic, weaving in and out. William dropped us off at TKTS (Times Square Theatre Centre) at Broadway and 47th St. so we could pick up our half-price tickets for a show. He recommended we see Mama Mia as he said he'd seen it three times and loved it. I'd always wanted to see this show too, as I enjoy ABBA's music and was curious to see how they would work it into a Broadway musical. So, without even having to wait long in the line we scored tickets for $76.
The tickets are generally sold for that night's performance and go from 25% to 50% discounts. Ours were 35% discount. We thanked William for his informative, interesting tour of Upper Manhattan, tipped him $10 and went back to our hotel to prepare for an evening at the theatre. We decided to dress for it, and treat ourselves to a lobster dinner at The Oyster Bar
then we headed off to the lovely old Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre for the evening's show.
NYC is the entertainment capital of the nation and here you can catch not only Broadway and off- Broadway theatre performances, but opera, musicals, dance, and shows from all over the world. (I was disappointed to find I'd be missing a performance of Aescylus' The Persians by the Greek National Theatre Company, peformed in Greek with sub-titles on Sept 15.) The city has hundreds of theatres, some of them dating back to the turn of the last century, and these include the many off-Broadway theatres such as those in Greenwich Village where the Pronvinceton Playhouse started up on MacDougal Street to show the works of a young playwright, Eugene O'Neill. These off-Broadway theatres became popular during the '50's and '60's, known as The Golden Years of Circle in the Square, the Theatre de Lys and the Cherry Lane Theatre. It was at these theatres that the late Geraldine Page rose to stardom, Edward Albee tried out his early work, and names like Ionesco, Beckett, Bertoll Brecht and Kurt Weill became household words. The longest running show on Broadway or off was The Fantastics that ran for over 30 years.
I had done some research on the current productions before going the NY, but we were happy we'd settled on Mama Mia! because, just as William had said, "You'll come out of there singing and dancing!" And we did! Mama Mia! What a day!
Next: A Circle Island Tour
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
COSMIC COLLISIONS AND DINOSAURS: Day Three in NYC (part 1)
Thursday, Sept 8
During our short time in the Big Apple we managed to cover a lot of territory, and this was one of those days so I'll break it down into two parts for easier reading.
We made our way by subway to Upper Manhattan to visit the Guggenheim this morning, after sleeping in late, and arrived only to find it was closed on Thursdays. So we decided to walk through Central Park to the American Museum of Natural History instead.
This has to be one of the most famous Parks in the world, located between Ffth Avenue and Central Park North. The Park was laid out between 1859-1870 and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Veax. It was referred to as "The Greensward Project". It's a magnificent garden park, 19 acres in total, 5% of the total area of Manhattan, extending 4 kms in length and 500 meters wide.
When I visited NYC in '68 and in the mid '70's the Park wasn't a safe place to wander about, though in '68 I definitely went there and enjoyed strolling by the lake and visiting the Zoo. Since Guilliani's reign as Mayor, the Park has been made safe and is the most pleasant respite, a cool, green patch among Manhattan's concrete canyons. We wandered the shaded paths, enjoyed a bit of time to relax, hear the birds sing, breathe the fresh air. The park is popular with joggers, strollers, cyclists. You can rent bikes or go rowing on Conservatory Lake or have a picnic under the trees. And a romantic way to see the Park is by horse drawn carriage or pedi-cab.
The Museum of Natural History is only a short walk through the Park from the Guggenheim. It happened that our ticket included a show at the Hayden Planetarium as well, making it a very interesting morning and quite unexpected.
The Museum is another one of those magnificent historical NY buildings, and happens to be one of the greatest scientific museums in the world. Besides the impressive natural history collections and dinosaur halls, it includes the Rose Centre of Earth and Space, the Hayden Planetarium show, and other space exhibits such as the Big Bang Theatre which recreates the birth of the Universe. The Museum was founded in 1869 and it would take hours to see it all, so we focused on only a few of the exhibits.
First stop was the Hayden Planetarium show "Cosmic Collisions" a virtual reality experience that takes your breath away! The show "launches visitors on an awe-inspiring trip through space and time exploring the hypersonic impacts that drive the dynamic and continuing evolution of the universe." You witness collisions past, present and future including the creation of our Moon, a re-creation of the meteorite impact that ended the Age of Dinosaurs and "a nail-biting future scenario where humanity desperately attempts to divert the path of an oncoming asteroid on a collison course with Earth." Whew! It missed by a heart-beat!
After that breath-taking show finished we walked along the spiral "Cosmic Pathway" down to the main level, chronicaling 15 billion years of evolution of the universe, to the Hall of the Universe were there's a 15 1/2 ton meteorite, to the Hall of Planet Earth which focuses on the geological process of our home planet.
By the time we'd finished viewing all this brain-numbing, awesome stuff, we were a bit too exhausted to tour too much more of the museum, but we wandered through the displays of the African mammals and the outstanding dinosaur halls were there were immense reconstructed skeletons of every type of prehistoric creature immaginable. Wow! When you see those creatures up close and personal, it's amazing. A tall man would only come up to the knee-bone of one of most of them. Pretty scary!
After we finished that tour, we decided to take another stroll through the Park to find the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon. And that's when another fine adventure began...
Part Two: Strawberry Fields by Pedi-Cab.
During our short time in the Big Apple we managed to cover a lot of territory, and this was one of those days so I'll break it down into two parts for easier reading.
We made our way by subway to Upper Manhattan to visit the Guggenheim this morning, after sleeping in late, and arrived only to find it was closed on Thursdays. So we decided to walk through Central Park to the American Museum of Natural History instead.
This has to be one of the most famous Parks in the world, located between Ffth Avenue and Central Park North. The Park was laid out between 1859-1870 and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Veax. It was referred to as "The Greensward Project". It's a magnificent garden park, 19 acres in total, 5% of the total area of Manhattan, extending 4 kms in length and 500 meters wide.
When I visited NYC in '68 and in the mid '70's the Park wasn't a safe place to wander about, though in '68 I definitely went there and enjoyed strolling by the lake and visiting the Zoo. Since Guilliani's reign as Mayor, the Park has been made safe and is the most pleasant respite, a cool, green patch among Manhattan's concrete canyons. We wandered the shaded paths, enjoyed a bit of time to relax, hear the birds sing, breathe the fresh air. The park is popular with joggers, strollers, cyclists. You can rent bikes or go rowing on Conservatory Lake or have a picnic under the trees. And a romantic way to see the Park is by horse drawn carriage or pedi-cab.
The Museum of Natural History is only a short walk through the Park from the Guggenheim. It happened that our ticket included a show at the Hayden Planetarium as well, making it a very interesting morning and quite unexpected.
The Museum is another one of those magnificent historical NY buildings, and happens to be one of the greatest scientific museums in the world. Besides the impressive natural history collections and dinosaur halls, it includes the Rose Centre of Earth and Space, the Hayden Planetarium show, and other space exhibits such as the Big Bang Theatre which recreates the birth of the Universe. The Museum was founded in 1869 and it would take hours to see it all, so we focused on only a few of the exhibits.
First stop was the Hayden Planetarium show "Cosmic Collisions" a virtual reality experience that takes your breath away! The show "launches visitors on an awe-inspiring trip through space and time exploring the hypersonic impacts that drive the dynamic and continuing evolution of the universe." You witness collisions past, present and future including the creation of our Moon, a re-creation of the meteorite impact that ended the Age of Dinosaurs and "a nail-biting future scenario where humanity desperately attempts to divert the path of an oncoming asteroid on a collison course with Earth." Whew! It missed by a heart-beat!
After that breath-taking show finished we walked along the spiral "Cosmic Pathway" down to the main level, chronicaling 15 billion years of evolution of the universe, to the Hall of the Universe were there's a 15 1/2 ton meteorite, to the Hall of Planet Earth which focuses on the geological process of our home planet.
By the time we'd finished viewing all this brain-numbing, awesome stuff, we were a bit too exhausted to tour too much more of the museum, but we wandered through the displays of the African mammals and the outstanding dinosaur halls were there were immense reconstructed skeletons of every type of prehistoric creature immaginable. Wow! When you see those creatures up close and personal, it's amazing. A tall man would only come up to the knee-bone of one of most of them. Pretty scary!
After we finished that tour, we decided to take another stroll through the Park to find the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon. And that's when another fine adventure began...
Part Two: Strawberry Fields by Pedi-Cab.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
GREENWICH VILLAGE: Day Two, Part Two
The first time I visited NYC, I went to stay in the West Village where my girlfriend lived. At that time I didn't know much of the history of Greenwich Village, only that this was where my litarary hero Jack Kerouac and the Beat Poets such as Allan Ginsberg had hung out during the '50's. I thought I'd died and gone to Beatnik Heaven. At that time the Village was at the height of Flower Power, and there was a lot of buzz about an event called Woodstock that was about to take place just outside of New York City. I had no idea what this was. I just knew I was there, walking around those tree-lined streets, sitting on the stoop in the evening, watching the crowds go by. My friend lived on MacDougal Street. I didn't know then that this was the street were Louisa May Alcott (Little Women) had also lived.
This time when I was preparing to return to NYC, I did some research, mainly about the literary history of the Village. I wanted to visit every home, pub and theatre where famous writers had lived and worked. Greenwich Village has always been a symbol of NYC's artistic and literary history. The Village was largely developed in the late 19th century so the streets aren't laid out on a grid system and have names rather than numbers. Washington Square was once one of Manhattan's first prestigious residential neighbourhoods. The Park was established 1828, surrounded by Greek Revival townhouses. Several of the oldest of these are still standing as is the Stanford White designed archway in the Park. Henry James lived here, also Edith Wharton. In the cluster of rooming houses on West 10th St. writers such as
ee cummings and Theodore Dreiser lived.
Eventually the Village attracted a more bohemian group of writers, among them Edna St. Vincent Millay, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and O Henry. And during the 50's and 60's it was popular with the existentialists and Beat generation writers as well as poets like Dylan Thomas.
The Village was also the centre for theatrical experimentation. Playwright Eugene O'Neill got his start at the Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal St. For over 40 years the Sullivan Street Playhouse was home to The Fantastics. And Edna St. Vincent Millay founded the Cherry Lane Theatre.
Nowadays the Village has become more upscale with trendy boutiques, antique shops, night spots and cinemas. We window-shopped as we walked through the shaded streets in search of
The White Horse Tavern which opened in 1880 and gained a name for itself in the late '50's as a haunt of Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer and poet Dylan Thomas. Inside, the snug little booths and polished wooden bar are perfect for the literary crowd to gather for discussion along with their pints. On the walls are portraits of Thomas who collapsed and died on the sidewalk outside the pub after imbibing a vast quantity of whiskey (the accounts run from 7 to 19 shots! Apparantly he was diabetic.)
We sat at one of the little tables outside and ordered burgers. Of course I had a pint of Guiness in honour of Dylan.
A few blocks from here on Bedford St. is Chumleys. It was a little hard to find because it used to be a speak-easy and there is no sign outside, just a big old wooden door with the number 86. Here's where Kerouac hung out. It's long been known as a writer's hangout. John Steinbeck used to come here too. And F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote part of The Great Gatsby here. It was also a favorite haunt of actor Humphrey Bogart.
I stepped inside only long enough to take a photo or two of the interior. The walls were covered with photos of authors and book cover illustrations. It's a dining place so the tables were full. If we hadn't already chowed down on the burgers we might have stopped here for a bite to eat and another pint. But it was time to head for The Village Vanguard for an evening of cool jazz.
This is one of the oldest jazz clubs in NYC and known as "New York's most prestigious jazz club". It's located in the West Village on Seventh Ave S. down in a dim-lit basement.
There is limited seating and though we'd booked our tickets ahead, we were advised to get there early to find a good table. We were lucky to get seated near the front. The $35 admission includes $10 toward your drinks. We ordered and sat back to enjoy the evening.
This show featured Paul Motian (drums), Joe Lovana (sax) and Bill Frisell (guitar).
One thing I liked about it was nobody talks while the performance is on so you can really enjoy the quality of the music. When the first show over you can pay another $10 to stay for the second show and this would cover your drinks.
We opted to leave and take the subway back to Manhattan, just in time to browse through Times Square enjoying the excitement of the night-time crowds, and stop of Lindy's for some of their famous cheese cake. Yum!
I have never tasted cheese cake like it! A thick, rich slab that melts in your mouth.
We got back to our hotel at midnight, exhausted but happy with our day. Even our misguided little adventure on the subway when we were heading for the Village, had turned out to be fun. (We took the wrong train in the wrong direction. The folks on the train were helpful and polite, showing us the way to go -- back to Times Square and then down a different set of steps to get the Downtown train. ) Remeber this about Manhattan: Central Park and north are Uptown.
Times Square is Midtown. Greenwich Village and south is Downtown.
Next: Dinosaurs at Central Park and a Pedi-cab ride to Strawberry Fields!
This time when I was preparing to return to NYC, I did some research, mainly about the literary history of the Village. I wanted to visit every home, pub and theatre where famous writers had lived and worked. Greenwich Village has always been a symbol of NYC's artistic and literary history. The Village was largely developed in the late 19th century so the streets aren't laid out on a grid system and have names rather than numbers. Washington Square was once one of Manhattan's first prestigious residential neighbourhoods. The Park was established 1828, surrounded by Greek Revival townhouses. Several of the oldest of these are still standing as is the Stanford White designed archway in the Park. Henry James lived here, also Edith Wharton. In the cluster of rooming houses on West 10th St. writers such as
ee cummings and Theodore Dreiser lived.
Eventually the Village attracted a more bohemian group of writers, among them Edna St. Vincent Millay, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and O Henry. And during the 50's and 60's it was popular with the existentialists and Beat generation writers as well as poets like Dylan Thomas.
The Village was also the centre for theatrical experimentation. Playwright Eugene O'Neill got his start at the Provincetown Playhouse on MacDougal St. For over 40 years the Sullivan Street Playhouse was home to The Fantastics. And Edna St. Vincent Millay founded the Cherry Lane Theatre.
Nowadays the Village has become more upscale with trendy boutiques, antique shops, night spots and cinemas. We window-shopped as we walked through the shaded streets in search of
The White Horse Tavern which opened in 1880 and gained a name for itself in the late '50's as a haunt of Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer and poet Dylan Thomas. Inside, the snug little booths and polished wooden bar are perfect for the literary crowd to gather for discussion along with their pints. On the walls are portraits of Thomas who collapsed and died on the sidewalk outside the pub after imbibing a vast quantity of whiskey (the accounts run from 7 to 19 shots! Apparantly he was diabetic.)
We sat at one of the little tables outside and ordered burgers. Of course I had a pint of Guiness in honour of Dylan.
A few blocks from here on Bedford St. is Chumleys. It was a little hard to find because it used to be a speak-easy and there is no sign outside, just a big old wooden door with the number 86. Here's where Kerouac hung out. It's long been known as a writer's hangout. John Steinbeck used to come here too. And F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote part of The Great Gatsby here. It was also a favorite haunt of actor Humphrey Bogart.
I stepped inside only long enough to take a photo or two of the interior. The walls were covered with photos of authors and book cover illustrations. It's a dining place so the tables were full. If we hadn't already chowed down on the burgers we might have stopped here for a bite to eat and another pint. But it was time to head for The Village Vanguard for an evening of cool jazz.
This is one of the oldest jazz clubs in NYC and known as "New York's most prestigious jazz club". It's located in the West Village on Seventh Ave S. down in a dim-lit basement.
There is limited seating and though we'd booked our tickets ahead, we were advised to get there early to find a good table. We were lucky to get seated near the front. The $35 admission includes $10 toward your drinks. We ordered and sat back to enjoy the evening.
This show featured Paul Motian (drums), Joe Lovana (sax) and Bill Frisell (guitar).
One thing I liked about it was nobody talks while the performance is on so you can really enjoy the quality of the music. When the first show over you can pay another $10 to stay for the second show and this would cover your drinks.
We opted to leave and take the subway back to Manhattan, just in time to browse through Times Square enjoying the excitement of the night-time crowds, and stop of Lindy's for some of their famous cheese cake. Yum!
I have never tasted cheese cake like it! A thick, rich slab that melts in your mouth.
We got back to our hotel at midnight, exhausted but happy with our day. Even our misguided little adventure on the subway when we were heading for the Village, had turned out to be fun. (We took the wrong train in the wrong direction. The folks on the train were helpful and polite, showing us the way to go -- back to Times Square and then down a different set of steps to get the Downtown train. ) Remeber this about Manhattan: Central Park and north are Uptown.
Times Square is Midtown. Greenwich Village and south is Downtown.
Next: Dinosaurs at Central Park and a Pedi-cab ride to Strawberry Fields!
Monday, September 11, 2006
THE BIG APPLE, Day Two: Art and Architecture
Wednesday, Sept. 6
The first thing this morning we went across the road to Benash's Deli/Restaurant and had a typical N.Y. nosh: bagels and cream cheese. (Absolutely the best!)
Manhattan alone has over 4,000 restaurants with a wide range fo food, flavours and prices from hot-dogs to haut-cuisine. If you're a foodie you'll find everything to suit your tastes and you could actually make your stay in NYC a culinary tour. No trip here is complete without sampling the quintessential NY fare such as bagels and cream cheese or the famous cheese cake (we'd visit Lindy's later that day but I never did get to sample a corned beef on rye sandwich or a hot-dog which was first introduced on Coney Island.)
The legendary Carnegie Hall was right across the street from our hotel so we spent some time browsing around reading the play-bills. There aren't any performances until next month and if we'd known we could have taken a tour of the Hall. The premier concert here was conducted by Tchaikovsky; the NY Philharmonic played here in the heyday of Mahler, Toscanini, Stokovwski and Bernstein. A concert date here is recognized as a mark of supreme artistry. Nowadays it also hosts pop concerts as well as classical.
A short walk away is MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Originally founded in 1929, it is devoted exclusively to modern art from the late 19th C. The new museum opened in 1984 and has been recently renovated. Famous paintings hang here from the Impressionists to those by Cubists and the Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol. Currently there is an exhibit of Dada artists.
We spent some time browsing in the Sculpture Garden before going inside to see the other exhibits. There are sculptures by Aristide Maillot, Gaston Lachaise, Henry Moore and my favorite, a little nanny goat cast in bronze by Pablo Picasso. As well there is a bronze wall by Henri Matisse.
As I'm most fond of the Impressionist painters I was especially thrilled to view Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies" as well as others. There were several of Picasso's works including "Demoiselles d'Avignon". I'm not much of a Jackson Pollock fan but it's interesting to view these famous artists' work.
We ate lunch at the MOMA and then walked over to look at Rockefeller Centre. This is one of Manhattan's landmarks, a masterpiece of Art Deco idealism, erected in 1930 and designated as as historic landmark in 1988. It's the world's largest privately owned buisness-entertainment centre composed of 18 buildings on 21 acres on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. You enter via the slope of the Promenade to the Channel Gardens which leads to the Lower plaza where the famous ice skating rink is located in winter, and al fresco dining in summer. All around flutter the flags of U.N. member countries and in the centre is the imposing gilded bronze statue of Prometheus by sculputor Paul Manship. Just behind Prometheus is where the city's magestic Christmas tree towers over the ice rink during December and early January.
The architecture in New York is amazing and, like in London, you must walk around constantly looking up so as not to miss any of the abundance of architecutral treasures from the shiny glass and steel sky-scrapers to the Gothic revival spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Beaux Arts of Grand Central Terminal, the Art Deco of the Chrysler Building and many other historic buildings. There are a total of nineteen Art Deco buildings between Fifth and Seventh Avenues at 48th and 51 Sts alone, all clustered around the Radio City Music Hall with its ornate facades
that are a virtual musuem of sculpture, bas-relief, gilding, mosaics, carvings and moldings.
I had made a list of historic houses and apartments I wanted to see, most notably those that had once been the homes of famous writers, musicians or actors, but unfortunately time did not permit me to see many of them. On another trip to NYC I'd definitely plan to take a historic buildings tour because there's just so much to see in this city that is so rich with history.
Later that afternoon we would venture forth on our first subway ride which would take us to Greenwich Village. I'll write a seperate blog about the Village because that's where I stayed when I first visited NYC in 1968 so for me it would be a nostalgic visit.
The first thing this morning we went across the road to Benash's Deli/Restaurant and had a typical N.Y. nosh: bagels and cream cheese. (Absolutely the best!)
Manhattan alone has over 4,000 restaurants with a wide range fo food, flavours and prices from hot-dogs to haut-cuisine. If you're a foodie you'll find everything to suit your tastes and you could actually make your stay in NYC a culinary tour. No trip here is complete without sampling the quintessential NY fare such as bagels and cream cheese or the famous cheese cake (we'd visit Lindy's later that day but I never did get to sample a corned beef on rye sandwich or a hot-dog which was first introduced on Coney Island.)
The legendary Carnegie Hall was right across the street from our hotel so we spent some time browsing around reading the play-bills. There aren't any performances until next month and if we'd known we could have taken a tour of the Hall. The premier concert here was conducted by Tchaikovsky; the NY Philharmonic played here in the heyday of Mahler, Toscanini, Stokovwski and Bernstein. A concert date here is recognized as a mark of supreme artistry. Nowadays it also hosts pop concerts as well as classical.
A short walk away is MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Originally founded in 1929, it is devoted exclusively to modern art from the late 19th C. The new museum opened in 1984 and has been recently renovated. Famous paintings hang here from the Impressionists to those by Cubists and the Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol. Currently there is an exhibit of Dada artists.
We spent some time browsing in the Sculpture Garden before going inside to see the other exhibits. There are sculptures by Aristide Maillot, Gaston Lachaise, Henry Moore and my favorite, a little nanny goat cast in bronze by Pablo Picasso. As well there is a bronze wall by Henri Matisse.
As I'm most fond of the Impressionist painters I was especially thrilled to view Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies" as well as others. There were several of Picasso's works including "Demoiselles d'Avignon". I'm not much of a Jackson Pollock fan but it's interesting to view these famous artists' work.
We ate lunch at the MOMA and then walked over to look at Rockefeller Centre. This is one of Manhattan's landmarks, a masterpiece of Art Deco idealism, erected in 1930 and designated as as historic landmark in 1988. It's the world's largest privately owned buisness-entertainment centre composed of 18 buildings on 21 acres on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. You enter via the slope of the Promenade to the Channel Gardens which leads to the Lower plaza where the famous ice skating rink is located in winter, and al fresco dining in summer. All around flutter the flags of U.N. member countries and in the centre is the imposing gilded bronze statue of Prometheus by sculputor Paul Manship. Just behind Prometheus is where the city's magestic Christmas tree towers over the ice rink during December and early January.
The architecture in New York is amazing and, like in London, you must walk around constantly looking up so as not to miss any of the abundance of architecutral treasures from the shiny glass and steel sky-scrapers to the Gothic revival spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Beaux Arts of Grand Central Terminal, the Art Deco of the Chrysler Building and many other historic buildings. There are a total of nineteen Art Deco buildings between Fifth and Seventh Avenues at 48th and 51 Sts alone, all clustered around the Radio City Music Hall with its ornate facades
that are a virtual musuem of sculpture, bas-relief, gilding, mosaics, carvings and moldings.
I had made a list of historic houses and apartments I wanted to see, most notably those that had once been the homes of famous writers, musicians or actors, but unfortunately time did not permit me to see many of them. On another trip to NYC I'd definitely plan to take a historic buildings tour because there's just so much to see in this city that is so rich with history.
Later that afternoon we would venture forth on our first subway ride which would take us to Greenwich Village. I'll write a seperate blog about the Village because that's where I stayed when I first visited NYC in 1968 so for me it would be a nostalgic visit.
THE BIG APPLE, Day Two: Art and Architecture
Wednesday, Sept. 6
The first thing this morning we went across the road to Benash's Deli/Restaurant and had a typical N.Y. nosh: bagels and cream cheese. (Absolutely the best!)
Manhattan alone has over 4,000 restaurants with a wide range fo food, flavours and prices from hot-dogs to haut-cuisine. If you're a foodie you'll find everything to suit your tastes and you could actually make your stay in NYC a culinary tour. No trip here is complete without sampling the quintessential NY fare such as bagels and cream cheese or the famous cheese cake (we'd visit Lindy's later that day but I never did get to sample a corned beef on rye sandwich or a hot-dog which was first introduced on Coney Island.)
The legendary Carnegie Hall was right across the street from our hotel so we spent some time browsing around reading the play-bills. There aren't any performances until next month and if we'd known we could have taken a tour of the Hall. The premier concert here was conducted by Tchaikovsky; the NY Philharmonic played here in the heyday of Mahler, Toscanini, Stokovwski and Bernstein. A concert date here is recognized as a mark of supreme artistry. Nowadays it also hosts pop concerts as well as classical.
A short walk away is MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Originally founded in 1929, it is devoted exclusively to modern art from the late 19th C. The new museum opened in 1984 and has been recently renovated. Famous paintings hang here from the Impressionists to those by Cubists and the Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol. Currently there is an exhibit of Dada artists.
We spent some time browsing in the Sculpture Garden before going inside to see the other exhibits. There are sculptures by Aristide Maillot, Gaston Lachaise, Henry Moore and my favorite, a little nanny goat cast in bronze by Pablo Picasso. As well there is a bronze wall by Henri Matisse.
As I'm most fond of the Impressionist painters I was especially thrilled to view Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies" as well as others. There were several of Picasso's works including "Demoiselles d'Avignon". I'm not much of a Jackson Pollock fan but it's interesting to view these famous artists' work.
We ate lunch at the MOMA and then walked over to look at Rockefeller Centre. This is one of Manhattan's landmarks, a masterpiece of Art Deco idealism, erected in 1930 and designated as as historic landmark in 1988. It's the world's largest privately owned buisness-entertainment centre composed of 18 buildings on 21 acres on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. You enter via the slope of the Promenade to the Channel Gardens which leads to the Lower plaza where the famous ice skating rink is located in winter, and al fresco dining in summer. All around flutter the flags of U.N. member countries and in the centre is the imposing gilded bronze statue of Prometheus by sculputor Paul Manship. Just behind Prometheus is where the city's magestic Christmas tree towers over the ice rink during December and early January.
The architecture in New York is amazing and, like in London, you must walk around constantly looking up so as not to miss any of the abundance of architecutral treasures from the shiny glass and steel sky-scrapers to the Gothic revival spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Beaux Arts of Grand Central Terminal, the Art Deco of the Chrysler Building and many other historic buildings. There are a total of nineteen Art Deco buildings between Fifth and Seventh Avenues at 48th and 51 Sts alone, all clustered around the Radio City Music Hall with its ornate facades
that are a virtual musuem of sculpture, bas-relief, gilding, mosaics, carvings and moldings.
I had made a list of historic houses and apartments I wanted to see, most notably those that had once been the homes of famous writers, musicians or actors, but unfortunately time did not permit me to see many of them. On another trip to NYC I'd definitely plan to take a historic buildings tour because there's just so much to see in this city that is so rich with history.
Later that afternoon we would venture forth on our first subway ride which would take us to Greenwich Village. I'll write a seperate blog about the Village because that's where I stayed when I first visited NYC in 1968 so for me it would be a nostalgic visit.
The first thing this morning we went across the road to Benash's Deli/Restaurant and had a typical N.Y. nosh: bagels and cream cheese. (Absolutely the best!)
Manhattan alone has over 4,000 restaurants with a wide range fo food, flavours and prices from hot-dogs to haut-cuisine. If you're a foodie you'll find everything to suit your tastes and you could actually make your stay in NYC a culinary tour. No trip here is complete without sampling the quintessential NY fare such as bagels and cream cheese or the famous cheese cake (we'd visit Lindy's later that day but I never did get to sample a corned beef on rye sandwich or a hot-dog which was first introduced on Coney Island.)
The legendary Carnegie Hall was right across the street from our hotel so we spent some time browsing around reading the play-bills. There aren't any performances until next month and if we'd known we could have taken a tour of the Hall. The premier concert here was conducted by Tchaikovsky; the NY Philharmonic played here in the heyday of Mahler, Toscanini, Stokovwski and Bernstein. A concert date here is recognized as a mark of supreme artistry. Nowadays it also hosts pop concerts as well as classical.
A short walk away is MOMA, the Museum of Modern Art. Originally founded in 1929, it is devoted exclusively to modern art from the late 19th C. The new museum opened in 1984 and has been recently renovated. Famous paintings hang here from the Impressionists to those by Cubists and the Pop Artists such as Andy Warhol. Currently there is an exhibit of Dada artists.
We spent some time browsing in the Sculpture Garden before going inside to see the other exhibits. There are sculptures by Aristide Maillot, Gaston Lachaise, Henry Moore and my favorite, a little nanny goat cast in bronze by Pablo Picasso. As well there is a bronze wall by Henri Matisse.
As I'm most fond of the Impressionist painters I was especially thrilled to view Van Gogh's "Starry Night", Monet's "Water Lilies" as well as others. There were several of Picasso's works including "Demoiselles d'Avignon". I'm not much of a Jackson Pollock fan but it's interesting to view these famous artists' work.
We ate lunch at the MOMA and then walked over to look at Rockefeller Centre. This is one of Manhattan's landmarks, a masterpiece of Art Deco idealism, erected in 1930 and designated as as historic landmark in 1988. It's the world's largest privately owned buisness-entertainment centre composed of 18 buildings on 21 acres on Fifth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets. You enter via the slope of the Promenade to the Channel Gardens which leads to the Lower plaza where the famous ice skating rink is located in winter, and al fresco dining in summer. All around flutter the flags of U.N. member countries and in the centre is the imposing gilded bronze statue of Prometheus by sculputor Paul Manship. Just behind Prometheus is where the city's magestic Christmas tree towers over the ice rink during December and early January.
The architecture in New York is amazing and, like in London, you must walk around constantly looking up so as not to miss any of the abundance of architecutral treasures from the shiny glass and steel sky-scrapers to the Gothic revival spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Beaux Arts of Grand Central Terminal, the Art Deco of the Chrysler Building and many other historic buildings. There are a total of nineteen Art Deco buildings between Fifth and Seventh Avenues at 48th and 51 Sts alone, all clustered around the Radio City Music Hall with its ornate facades
that are a virtual musuem of sculpture, bas-relief, gilding, mosaics, carvings and moldings.
I had made a list of historic houses and apartments I wanted to see, most notably those that had once been the homes of famous writers, musicians or actors, but unfortunately time did not permit me to see many of them. On another trip to NYC I'd definitely plan to take a historic buildings tour because there's just so much to see in this city that is so rich with history.
Later that afternoon we would venture forth on our first subway ride which would take us to Greenwich Village. I'll write a seperate blog about the Village because that's where I stayed when I first visited NYC in 1968 so for me it would be a nostalgic visit.
A SMALL SLICE OF THE BIG APPLE: A Short Trip to NYC
It seems appropriate that I should be writing this blog about my visit to NYC on the eve of the anniversary of 9/11. The first time I visited New York, in 1968, was a life-changing experience for me. The second time, in the mid '70's, my life was also at a cross-roads. And this time, once again I am on the threshold of a new beginning.
I won this trip from the Travel Writer's Association and was thrilled about it. But a number of things happened that had made me a bit reluctant to go. First, I had a hard time putting together the money I needed and then I was given an eviction notice which meant I had to move. Fortunately, everything turned out just right. I've found a beautiful new apartment which I'll officially move into next weekend, thanks to good fortune and friends, enough money came together for me to enjoy my holiday, and from the moment I arrived back in NYC I knew it was 'right' for me to be there. The City has gone through some changes too, emerging after that terrible disaster, with a new sparkle and warmth. People there were friendly, kind and helpful, and most of all...patient. Even though by the weekend the place was filling up with visitors, including police and fire department contingents from all over coming there especially for the solemn occasion that will mark the commemoration of 9/11, there was still a beautiful spirit. New York is amazing, and our stay there, though brief, was filled with adventure and wonderful experiences.
I'll begin with our arrival, Tuesday night Sept 5, on a pleasant flight with Harmony Airlines from Vancouver to J.F.K. We came in through cloud cover and a misty rain. After my last experience in an U.S. airport (the nightmare that is LAX) I didn't know what we'd find at this world famous terminal, but we were relieved to discover what an impressive airport it is. Everything was controlled, well-run, non of the chaos and paranoia I experienced at LAX on my arrival from Malaysia. We cleared through customs with absolutely no hassles. The airport is modern and clean (L.A. take note!) and after realizing we'd be waiting in the taxi lineup for hours we found a shuttle bus that would take us into the City. Here we experienced some fo the NY frenzy that I seem to remember from the past. The guy who was herding us into the shuttle wasn't too helpful about indicating the best of the two stops we should be aiming for. We chose the Bus Terminal/Port Authority, but once on the bus it was announced that anyone going to a hotel should get off at Grand Central. We did so along with the other folks, but when the driver was taking luggage out, because ours was in a compartment for the Bus Terminal he refused to get it out. A few other people were in the same situation and the driver then threw a hissy fit, refused to get the luggage off and said "Get it yourself!". One of the passangers did so, had to climb right into the luggage compartment because the driver wouldn't offer him his pole to pull stuff out. In all that commotion we were then herded over to another small shuttle that would take us to our hotel. The African American guy who operated this vehicle was speaking in such a jargon that it was impossible to understand him. We wondered if we'd actually get to our hotel. In the end he turned out to be quite amusing and good natured after all the hustle, bustle and drama, and dropped us off right in front of the Park Central Hotel, located at 7th and Broadway.
Our hotel, one of the grand old established hotels dating back to the '20's, was elegant and beautifully restored. Our room was spacious, overlooking 7th avenue on the 8th floor but it was surprisingly quiet. We decided to have dinner in the hotel's New York Cafe, and afterwards went out to explore.
A RAINY NIGHT IN TIMES SQUARE
A misty rain was falling as we set off from the hotel after dinner. Our hotel was conveniently situation, right across from Carnegie Hall, and just minutes away from the hub of activity in Manhattan that is Times Square and the Theatre District. What a trhill it was to see all the neon lights advertising shows, the theatre marquees and famous restaurants like Ruby Foos and Lindy's Cheese Cake. We even saw the marquee for the David Letterman Show.
Broadway, the Theatre District and Times Square are New York! Times Square was once the New York Times newspaper's headquarters, from 1905 and it's the place where the famous ball drops every Newy Years as it has since that time. The area was once noted to be seedy but it has since seen sweeping changes and renovations. During Mayor Rudy Gulliani's term of office the City has been cleaned up and made safe. We didn't see any pan-handlers, street people, shady characters or trouble makers the whole time we were in mid-Manhatten. Times Square hosts about 20 million visitors a year and is a major tourist attraction. There's almost a carnival atmosphere with all the flashing lights and music and dozens of souvenier shops along with the famous NY delis where you can buy cheap snacks, featuring bagels and cream cheese, sandwiches and fruit of every description. Times Square is sometimes called "The Crossroads of the World" and is one of the major transportation crossroads in Manhattan. (We'd see a sample of a massive traffic grid-lock on our last day there!)
If you haven't been here for awhile, like me, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the "New Times Square" although perhaps it has become a bit over-done, a bit tacky. Besides the neon there's now the flashing high-tech screens and far too many billboards advertising everything under the sun including movies and shows.
New theatres have opened, old ones renovated. The oldest still remaining is the Lyceum, built in 1903. There's always been fashionable restaurants in this area, many of which still remain along with lots of trendy new ones. There are also numerous jazz, comedy and music clubs, clothing shops and megastores. Everything sparkles with neon and strobe lights and there's the famous Times running-lights headlines, a big feature in the Square though the N.Y. Times has moved to larger and more modern quarters along with other famous publishing houses including Random House, Conde Naste Magazine Group and MTV, Warner Bros, Virgin and Disney mega stores to name a few.
We had a long walk down and back (one of several we'd make during the week). By that time we felt damp and foot-sore so it was time to retire to our comfortable hotel room.
We thought we'd have a night-cap at the hotel bar before turning in, but even in NY some things close early so we went to our room, unpacked, relaxed and planned for the next day which would be New York Art and Architecture.
I won this trip from the Travel Writer's Association and was thrilled about it. But a number of things happened that had made me a bit reluctant to go. First, I had a hard time putting together the money I needed and then I was given an eviction notice which meant I had to move. Fortunately, everything turned out just right. I've found a beautiful new apartment which I'll officially move into next weekend, thanks to good fortune and friends, enough money came together for me to enjoy my holiday, and from the moment I arrived back in NYC I knew it was 'right' for me to be there. The City has gone through some changes too, emerging after that terrible disaster, with a new sparkle and warmth. People there were friendly, kind and helpful, and most of all...patient. Even though by the weekend the place was filling up with visitors, including police and fire department contingents from all over coming there especially for the solemn occasion that will mark the commemoration of 9/11, there was still a beautiful spirit. New York is amazing, and our stay there, though brief, was filled with adventure and wonderful experiences.
I'll begin with our arrival, Tuesday night Sept 5, on a pleasant flight with Harmony Airlines from Vancouver to J.F.K. We came in through cloud cover and a misty rain. After my last experience in an U.S. airport (the nightmare that is LAX) I didn't know what we'd find at this world famous terminal, but we were relieved to discover what an impressive airport it is. Everything was controlled, well-run, non of the chaos and paranoia I experienced at LAX on my arrival from Malaysia. We cleared through customs with absolutely no hassles. The airport is modern and clean (L.A. take note!) and after realizing we'd be waiting in the taxi lineup for hours we found a shuttle bus that would take us into the City. Here we experienced some fo the NY frenzy that I seem to remember from the past. The guy who was herding us into the shuttle wasn't too helpful about indicating the best of the two stops we should be aiming for. We chose the Bus Terminal/Port Authority, but once on the bus it was announced that anyone going to a hotel should get off at Grand Central. We did so along with the other folks, but when the driver was taking luggage out, because ours was in a compartment for the Bus Terminal he refused to get it out. A few other people were in the same situation and the driver then threw a hissy fit, refused to get the luggage off and said "Get it yourself!". One of the passangers did so, had to climb right into the luggage compartment because the driver wouldn't offer him his pole to pull stuff out. In all that commotion we were then herded over to another small shuttle that would take us to our hotel. The African American guy who operated this vehicle was speaking in such a jargon that it was impossible to understand him. We wondered if we'd actually get to our hotel. In the end he turned out to be quite amusing and good natured after all the hustle, bustle and drama, and dropped us off right in front of the Park Central Hotel, located at 7th and Broadway.
Our hotel, one of the grand old established hotels dating back to the '20's, was elegant and beautifully restored. Our room was spacious, overlooking 7th avenue on the 8th floor but it was surprisingly quiet. We decided to have dinner in the hotel's New York Cafe, and afterwards went out to explore.
A RAINY NIGHT IN TIMES SQUARE
A misty rain was falling as we set off from the hotel after dinner. Our hotel was conveniently situation, right across from Carnegie Hall, and just minutes away from the hub of activity in Manhattan that is Times Square and the Theatre District. What a trhill it was to see all the neon lights advertising shows, the theatre marquees and famous restaurants like Ruby Foos and Lindy's Cheese Cake. We even saw the marquee for the David Letterman Show.
Broadway, the Theatre District and Times Square are New York! Times Square was once the New York Times newspaper's headquarters, from 1905 and it's the place where the famous ball drops every Newy Years as it has since that time. The area was once noted to be seedy but it has since seen sweeping changes and renovations. During Mayor Rudy Gulliani's term of office the City has been cleaned up and made safe. We didn't see any pan-handlers, street people, shady characters or trouble makers the whole time we were in mid-Manhatten. Times Square hosts about 20 million visitors a year and is a major tourist attraction. There's almost a carnival atmosphere with all the flashing lights and music and dozens of souvenier shops along with the famous NY delis where you can buy cheap snacks, featuring bagels and cream cheese, sandwiches and fruit of every description. Times Square is sometimes called "The Crossroads of the World" and is one of the major transportation crossroads in Manhattan. (We'd see a sample of a massive traffic grid-lock on our last day there!)
If you haven't been here for awhile, like me, you'll be pleasantly surprised by the "New Times Square" although perhaps it has become a bit over-done, a bit tacky. Besides the neon there's now the flashing high-tech screens and far too many billboards advertising everything under the sun including movies and shows.
New theatres have opened, old ones renovated. The oldest still remaining is the Lyceum, built in 1903. There's always been fashionable restaurants in this area, many of which still remain along with lots of trendy new ones. There are also numerous jazz, comedy and music clubs, clothing shops and megastores. Everything sparkles with neon and strobe lights and there's the famous Times running-lights headlines, a big feature in the Square though the N.Y. Times has moved to larger and more modern quarters along with other famous publishing houses including Random House, Conde Naste Magazine Group and MTV, Warner Bros, Virgin and Disney mega stores to name a few.
We had a long walk down and back (one of several we'd make during the week). By that time we felt damp and foot-sore so it was time to retire to our comfortable hotel room.
We thought we'd have a night-cap at the hotel bar before turning in, but even in NY some things close early so we went to our room, unpacked, relaxed and planned for the next day which would be New York Art and Architecture.
Saturday, August 12, 2006
THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK
"East Side, West Side, all around the town,
The tots sang "Ring-a-rosie", "London Bridge is falling down,";
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York."
James W. Blake 1862-1935 The sidewalks of New York" 1894
In the midst of unexpected eviction notices, finding a new place to live, and packing/moving
I've been doing some research for the up-and-coming week in New York City -- that trip I won at the Travel Writer's gala last May.
All the arrangements are made: air tickets provided by Harmony, City tour tickets provided by NYC tourism and the hotel is booked from Sept 5 - Sept 9. It's just a matter of getting there but in this unexpected turmoil I've been stressed out trying to figure out if I'll have enough to spend, and all the other details that go along with cramming a trip in between moving.
To distract myself from these hassles and worries, I started to read some NYC books and make notes for the trip. I like to figure out in advance what are the best things to focus on in regards to a possible travel article about the trip. So I decided to focus on anything to do with writers in NYC and of course there were (and are) lots of writers in that old town. I've listed residences, pubs, dineries and other places of interest. Actually there were far too many to make note of and I doubt we'll have time in five days to see them all, but just in case...
An interesting detail about our hotel, the Park Central (near Central Park of course). It was the scene of two mob shoot-outs 30 years apart, never solved. Arnold Rothstein was shot in Room 349 on Nov 4/28. He was apparantly a gambler involved with the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. Albert Anastasia, a hit man for the mob, was murdered in the hotel barbershop on Oct 24, 1957.
I'd like to visit some spots in Greenwich Village. I was there in '68 visiting a girlfriend for a month but I don't really remember too many details of places I saw or went to with her. Chumley's Bar sounds interseting. It was a writer's hangout frequented by John Steinbeck, Allen Ginsberg and Scott Fitzerald.
I've made notes about other historical or famous landmarks around town too, including various houses where famous people lived and dramatic events occured. Whether or not we'll get to pass by, take photos, or visit them all remains to be seen. We have a lot of tour tickets to use up (media passes so no waiting in line-ups). No matter what it'll be quite an adventure.
The tots sang "Ring-a-rosie", "London Bridge is falling down,";
Boys and girls together, me and Mamie O'Rorke,
Tripped the light fantastic on the sidewalks of New York."
James W. Blake 1862-1935 The sidewalks of New York" 1894
In the midst of unexpected eviction notices, finding a new place to live, and packing/moving
I've been doing some research for the up-and-coming week in New York City -- that trip I won at the Travel Writer's gala last May.
All the arrangements are made: air tickets provided by Harmony, City tour tickets provided by NYC tourism and the hotel is booked from Sept 5 - Sept 9. It's just a matter of getting there but in this unexpected turmoil I've been stressed out trying to figure out if I'll have enough to spend, and all the other details that go along with cramming a trip in between moving.
To distract myself from these hassles and worries, I started to read some NYC books and make notes for the trip. I like to figure out in advance what are the best things to focus on in regards to a possible travel article about the trip. So I decided to focus on anything to do with writers in NYC and of course there were (and are) lots of writers in that old town. I've listed residences, pubs, dineries and other places of interest. Actually there were far too many to make note of and I doubt we'll have time in five days to see them all, but just in case...
An interesting detail about our hotel, the Park Central (near Central Park of course). It was the scene of two mob shoot-outs 30 years apart, never solved. Arnold Rothstein was shot in Room 349 on Nov 4/28. He was apparantly a gambler involved with the Black Sox Scandal of 1919. Albert Anastasia, a hit man for the mob, was murdered in the hotel barbershop on Oct 24, 1957.
I'd like to visit some spots in Greenwich Village. I was there in '68 visiting a girlfriend for a month but I don't really remember too many details of places I saw or went to with her. Chumley's Bar sounds interseting. It was a writer's hangout frequented by John Steinbeck, Allen Ginsberg and Scott Fitzerald.
I've made notes about other historical or famous landmarks around town too, including various houses where famous people lived and dramatic events occured. Whether or not we'll get to pass by, take photos, or visit them all remains to be seen. We have a lot of tour tickets to use up (media passes so no waiting in line-ups). No matter what it'll be quite an adventure.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
A LITTLE BIT OF LOCAL HISTORY
THURSDAY, June 29/06
Patrick and I have returned from our mini vacation around the Province so, as promised, I've decided to write a mini history lesson about the places we visited and describe some of the things we saw and did.
We headed East first, by Greyhound, taking the scenic route from the Coast, through the Fraser Valley to the mountains and over the Coquihalla Pass to the Okanagan Valley. Our first stop was Peachland where my sister lives (and my Dad used to live.) Peachland is a small picturesque town located on the shore of Lake Okanagan. The lake is surrounded by orchards, vineyards and the mountains are crowned with towering Ponderosa pine trees (except for the East side of the lake which was devastated by forest fires a couple of years ago.)
Peachland town (population 5,077) was established in 1897 by a pioneer farmer from Manitoba who recognized the value of the land and possibilities for agricultural growth. Today the Okanagan valley is laden with orchards and vineyards and this has become a prime industry of the area. You can take tours of the wineries and in the late summer there are fruit stands along the highway where you can buy an abundance of fresh produce. Peachland is also the hometown of the legendary Ogopogo, a mysterious creature similar to the famous Nessie of Loch Ness. Every year there are supposed 'sightings' of her and a few years ago a group of Japanese tourists set out determined to find her. They never did!
After a couple of pleasant days in Peachland with my family, we took the bus north through the town of Kelowna, to Vernon, one of the oldest communities in the B.C. Interior. This lovely town (pop 35,548) is nestled between three lakes: Swan Lake, Kalamalka and Okanagan. Gold miners and ranchers were attracted here in the 1860's and just north of the town is the famous O'Keefe Ranch, founded in 1867, once the biggest ranch in B.C. (You can read about it in an early post here). The town has interesting historical murals decorating the various shops and businesses. There are many recreational areas in and around Vernon including the Silver Star Mountain Resort (elevation 1915 m.) which is an excellent ski/snowboard area. The chalets are brightly painted and built in the style of the 1800's pioneer houses.
We had a wonderful time in Vernon, sightseeing and swimming in the lake. My friend had a BBQ one night and even my daughter showed up from her home in Salmon Arm, about a 40 minute drive into the mountains.
After our leisurely visit to the Okanagan, basking in the hot sun and enjoying the sights, we headed back to the Coast. The day after our return we headed by ferry to Vancouver Island where we met up with my cousins for a lovely garden party in an estate garden, then in the evening continued on up the coast to Chemainus ("the Little Town that Could") to take the small ferry over to Thetis Island where my cousins have a cottage.
The whole coast of B.C. has an interesting naval and pioneer history. Most of the islands are named after either British or Spanish sea captains who plied those waters in search of the Northwest Passage. Even Capt. Cook and Capt. Bligh of the Bounty sailed up that Coast.
In 1851 a crew of sailors were cruising among the small islands exploring and naming them. One they named after their Captain Augustus Leopold Kuper and the other was named after his frigate HMS Thetis a 36 gun Royal Navy frigate stationed to survey the Pacific coast area between 1851 and 1853. ( The ship was named after Thetis a sea nymph, daughter of Zeus, and mother of the legendary Achilles. ) Thetis Island was first settled in 1874 by British pioneers. There is currently a population of 350 residents but during the summer months the population increases including the many young campers who attend the Pioneer Pacific Christian camp here. (My cousins are very involved with this camp and their Cape Cod style house is located on the site of the old camp pump house, so it is known as The Pump House. My cousin's husband has built it all himself using mostly recycled materials. It's truly a work of art!
The island has a micro climate much like the Mediterranean and is forested with some farmland, meadows and marinas. We enjoyed long walks in the forest and relaxing afternoons sun-bathing and reading. The only sounds were the cheerful twittering of the birds and the wind in the treetops. Once we saw a band of angry robins trying to harass a big old owl and chase it out of the tree where he was perched, trying to snooze.
We visited one of the two marinas and enjoyed a lunch there before embarking on the little ferry to return to Vancouver Island. Right across from Thetis is the other smaller island, Kuper Island which is mainly populated by First Nations people. Once the two islands were connected by mud flats that have since been dredged and widened to allow passage for small craft.
On April 20, 1863 the British naval gunboat Forward attacked the native village on Kuper believing they were harbouring individuals involved in assaults against European transients. A fierce battle ensued between the sailors and native warriors ending with some casualties. This resulted in a major military operation by the colonial government after which aboriginal lands were alienated and native jurisdiction eroded. The island's dark history included the oppression of natives, especially native chidren at the hands of the Church and State. Hundreds of Coast Salish children were removed from their homes and sent to the Kuper Island Indian Residential School operated by Roman Catholic missionaries and funded by the Dept. of Indian affairs. These children suffered loss of culture, identity, language, family and many were cruelly treated and abused physically and sexually. Now many of these unfortunate victims are speaking out and telling their stories as they embark on a spiritual journey of recovery. Today the island is home to the Penelakut First Nations Tribe and has a population of 302.
Our wonderful relaxing holiday ended in Victoria (our Provincial capital) at my cousin's home which happens to be a heritage house. The next morning before we left for the mainland, Patrick had a mini tour of the city and some of its historic sites. There's so much to see in and around Victoria it would take at least a weekend to cover the main attractions such as the Parliament Buildings, Craigdaroch Castle, the old Empress Hotel, and the many beautiful parks and gardens, but thanks to Garry he got to glimpse some of it.
We returned to the city feeling refreshed and rested. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour around the Province, but we both enjoyed it and had a great time with relatives and friends.
That was my 'summer holiday' for now. Next: A week in NYC!
Patrick and I have returned from our mini vacation around the Province so, as promised, I've decided to write a mini history lesson about the places we visited and describe some of the things we saw and did.
We headed East first, by Greyhound, taking the scenic route from the Coast, through the Fraser Valley to the mountains and over the Coquihalla Pass to the Okanagan Valley. Our first stop was Peachland where my sister lives (and my Dad used to live.) Peachland is a small picturesque town located on the shore of Lake Okanagan. The lake is surrounded by orchards, vineyards and the mountains are crowned with towering Ponderosa pine trees (except for the East side of the lake which was devastated by forest fires a couple of years ago.)
Peachland town (population 5,077) was established in 1897 by a pioneer farmer from Manitoba who recognized the value of the land and possibilities for agricultural growth. Today the Okanagan valley is laden with orchards and vineyards and this has become a prime industry of the area. You can take tours of the wineries and in the late summer there are fruit stands along the highway where you can buy an abundance of fresh produce. Peachland is also the hometown of the legendary Ogopogo, a mysterious creature similar to the famous Nessie of Loch Ness. Every year there are supposed 'sightings' of her and a few years ago a group of Japanese tourists set out determined to find her. They never did!
After a couple of pleasant days in Peachland with my family, we took the bus north through the town of Kelowna, to Vernon, one of the oldest communities in the B.C. Interior. This lovely town (pop 35,548) is nestled between three lakes: Swan Lake, Kalamalka and Okanagan. Gold miners and ranchers were attracted here in the 1860's and just north of the town is the famous O'Keefe Ranch, founded in 1867, once the biggest ranch in B.C. (You can read about it in an early post here). The town has interesting historical murals decorating the various shops and businesses. There are many recreational areas in and around Vernon including the Silver Star Mountain Resort (elevation 1915 m.) which is an excellent ski/snowboard area. The chalets are brightly painted and built in the style of the 1800's pioneer houses.
We had a wonderful time in Vernon, sightseeing and swimming in the lake. My friend had a BBQ one night and even my daughter showed up from her home in Salmon Arm, about a 40 minute drive into the mountains.
After our leisurely visit to the Okanagan, basking in the hot sun and enjoying the sights, we headed back to the Coast. The day after our return we headed by ferry to Vancouver Island where we met up with my cousins for a lovely garden party in an estate garden, then in the evening continued on up the coast to Chemainus ("the Little Town that Could") to take the small ferry over to Thetis Island where my cousins have a cottage.
The whole coast of B.C. has an interesting naval and pioneer history. Most of the islands are named after either British or Spanish sea captains who plied those waters in search of the Northwest Passage. Even Capt. Cook and Capt. Bligh of the Bounty sailed up that Coast.
In 1851 a crew of sailors were cruising among the small islands exploring and naming them. One they named after their Captain Augustus Leopold Kuper and the other was named after his frigate HMS Thetis a 36 gun Royal Navy frigate stationed to survey the Pacific coast area between 1851 and 1853. ( The ship was named after Thetis a sea nymph, daughter of Zeus, and mother of the legendary Achilles. ) Thetis Island was first settled in 1874 by British pioneers. There is currently a population of 350 residents but during the summer months the population increases including the many young campers who attend the Pioneer Pacific Christian camp here. (My cousins are very involved with this camp and their Cape Cod style house is located on the site of the old camp pump house, so it is known as The Pump House. My cousin's husband has built it all himself using mostly recycled materials. It's truly a work of art!
The island has a micro climate much like the Mediterranean and is forested with some farmland, meadows and marinas. We enjoyed long walks in the forest and relaxing afternoons sun-bathing and reading. The only sounds were the cheerful twittering of the birds and the wind in the treetops. Once we saw a band of angry robins trying to harass a big old owl and chase it out of the tree where he was perched, trying to snooze.
We visited one of the two marinas and enjoyed a lunch there before embarking on the little ferry to return to Vancouver Island. Right across from Thetis is the other smaller island, Kuper Island which is mainly populated by First Nations people. Once the two islands were connected by mud flats that have since been dredged and widened to allow passage for small craft.
On April 20, 1863 the British naval gunboat Forward attacked the native village on Kuper believing they were harbouring individuals involved in assaults against European transients. A fierce battle ensued between the sailors and native warriors ending with some casualties. This resulted in a major military operation by the colonial government after which aboriginal lands were alienated and native jurisdiction eroded. The island's dark history included the oppression of natives, especially native chidren at the hands of the Church and State. Hundreds of Coast Salish children were removed from their homes and sent to the Kuper Island Indian Residential School operated by Roman Catholic missionaries and funded by the Dept. of Indian affairs. These children suffered loss of culture, identity, language, family and many were cruelly treated and abused physically and sexually. Now many of these unfortunate victims are speaking out and telling their stories as they embark on a spiritual journey of recovery. Today the island is home to the Penelakut First Nations Tribe and has a population of 302.
Our wonderful relaxing holiday ended in Victoria (our Provincial capital) at my cousin's home which happens to be a heritage house. The next morning before we left for the mainland, Patrick had a mini tour of the city and some of its historic sites. There's so much to see in and around Victoria it would take at least a weekend to cover the main attractions such as the Parliament Buildings, Craigdaroch Castle, the old Empress Hotel, and the many beautiful parks and gardens, but thanks to Garry he got to glimpse some of it.
We returned to the city feeling refreshed and rested. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour around the Province, but we both enjoyed it and had a great time with relatives and friends.
That was my 'summer holiday' for now. Next: A week in NYC!
Saturday, June 17, 2006
BE A TOURIST IN YOUR OWN HOME TOWN
SATURDAY, June 17
One of the classes I instruct in Travel Writing is called "Be a Tourist In Your Own Home Town". We tend to forget that you don't have to go abroad to some exotic destination to see some pretty intersting sights. And as lots of tourists come here to your own back yard you can always write about it for them.
I realized this a few years ago when I was assigned to work on the "Trips and Tours" section of the A.P.A. Insight Guide for Vancouver and Environs. I had five weeks to take myself on numerous field trips and write short blubs about them for the travel guide. It was exhilarating and fun and I got to see lot of things I might otherwise have bypassed.
This week I have a guest in town from Germany. My friend Patrick is a world traveler and since we met four years ago he's made several trips to Vancouver. Each time he comes he wants to see new and different sights. So this time we're making a trip to the lovely Okanagan Valley in the Interior. First we'll visit my sister in Peachland, by Okanagan Lake. Then we're going up to Vernon by Kalamalka Lake to see my friend Rosie. There are lots of intersting things to see in the OK Valley including the many wineries and several pioneer sights. A year or so ago I wrote about the O'Keefe Ranch (there's a blog here about that famous place.)
And the trip to the Interior is beautiful, through mountain scenery.
When we return next weekend, we'll take the ferry over to Vancouver Island to visit cousins in Victoria. Then we've been invited to their summer home on Thetis Island, one of the many Gulf Islands.
There will be lots to write about these adventures. So if you are not informed already, check back and find out what you're missing!
One of the classes I instruct in Travel Writing is called "Be a Tourist In Your Own Home Town". We tend to forget that you don't have to go abroad to some exotic destination to see some pretty intersting sights. And as lots of tourists come here to your own back yard you can always write about it for them.
I realized this a few years ago when I was assigned to work on the "Trips and Tours" section of the A.P.A. Insight Guide for Vancouver and Environs. I had five weeks to take myself on numerous field trips and write short blubs about them for the travel guide. It was exhilarating and fun and I got to see lot of things I might otherwise have bypassed.
This week I have a guest in town from Germany. My friend Patrick is a world traveler and since we met four years ago he's made several trips to Vancouver. Each time he comes he wants to see new and different sights. So this time we're making a trip to the lovely Okanagan Valley in the Interior. First we'll visit my sister in Peachland, by Okanagan Lake. Then we're going up to Vernon by Kalamalka Lake to see my friend Rosie. There are lots of intersting things to see in the OK Valley including the many wineries and several pioneer sights. A year or so ago I wrote about the O'Keefe Ranch (there's a blog here about that famous place.)
And the trip to the Interior is beautiful, through mountain scenery.
When we return next weekend, we'll take the ferry over to Vancouver Island to visit cousins in Victoria. Then we've been invited to their summer home on Thetis Island, one of the many Gulf Islands.
There will be lots to write about these adventures. So if you are not informed already, check back and find out what you're missing!
Friday, May 19, 2006
TRIP PLANS
MAY 19/06
This has been a week of making trip plans. On Tuesday I received my e-ticket confirmations for both Chile and NYC (going to NYC on Sept 5 - 9) and also received a package of City Tour tickets (media) for all the important sites around NYC. (We'll never have time to see them all!)
In addition to these exciting adventures, there will be a few local trips this summer, starting the first weekend of June when my writer's group goes on our writer's retreat weekend to Mayne Island. That will be particularly special as it's my birthday weekend so it will be a Gemini celebration. On the 10th, my friend and travel buddy Patrick arrives from Germany. We are planning a trip over to Vancouver Island and also a few days in the Interior, then he's heading up to Banff to see the Rockies. The rest of the summer will be spent in town here, hopefully enjoying sunshine and beach time and getting a bit of work so I can pay for the big trips in the Fall.
I'll start doing some research about Chile soon, because as travel journalist I can approach the Chilean tourism about hosting tours and possibly accomodations. I know I want to see Pablo Neruda's house and also visit Valparaiso. But what else is there to see? I know C. will take us to all the places familiar to A. and that will be the highlight of the journey.
So...the summertime will be full of dreams of adventures and making more trip plans.
Something to really look forward to!
***there had been some talk of me going to the Havana Jazz Festival with my Havana Buddy but the dates conflict with Chile. However he asked if I'd be interested in going another time and certainly, I would! I love Cuba -- cha-cha-cha!
This has been a week of making trip plans. On Tuesday I received my e-ticket confirmations for both Chile and NYC (going to NYC on Sept 5 - 9) and also received a package of City Tour tickets (media) for all the important sites around NYC. (We'll never have time to see them all!)
In addition to these exciting adventures, there will be a few local trips this summer, starting the first weekend of June when my writer's group goes on our writer's retreat weekend to Mayne Island. That will be particularly special as it's my birthday weekend so it will be a Gemini celebration. On the 10th, my friend and travel buddy Patrick arrives from Germany. We are planning a trip over to Vancouver Island and also a few days in the Interior, then he's heading up to Banff to see the Rockies. The rest of the summer will be spent in town here, hopefully enjoying sunshine and beach time and getting a bit of work so I can pay for the big trips in the Fall.
I'll start doing some research about Chile soon, because as travel journalist I can approach the Chilean tourism about hosting tours and possibly accomodations. I know I want to see Pablo Neruda's house and also visit Valparaiso. But what else is there to see? I know C. will take us to all the places familiar to A. and that will be the highlight of the journey.
So...the summertime will be full of dreams of adventures and making more trip plans.
Something to really look forward to!
***there had been some talk of me going to the Havana Jazz Festival with my Havana Buddy but the dates conflict with Chile. However he asked if I'd be interested in going another time and certainly, I would! I love Cuba -- cha-cha-cha!
Monday, May 15, 2006
THE TRAVEL GODS HAVE SMILED ON ME!
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune..."
William Shakespeare, 1654=1616 "Julius Caesar" IV iii, 217
Last week was one of those weeks that started out with frustrations (mainly computer gliches) and ended up to be a most incredible Mother's Day weekend. Last Thursday I booked my flight to Chile, leaving November 18 via Toronto where I'll meet up with my travel pal, Patrick. We're planning to stay two weeks and will visit Santiago mostly, but I want to make it more than a sentimental journey and do some travel writing assignments as well. For one thing, I really want to visit the home(s) of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and the city of Valparaiso which was one of my friend A's favorite places. (I hear there is a lovely beach area near there.)
On Saturday it was the annual B.C. Assoc. of Travel Writer's gala and seminar (the one where I had the good fortune of winning the trip to Malaysia last year). I went along with a friend who has just started travel writing. This is an excellent group of people, dynamic and fun. There were several people there who have taken my travel writing courses so it was a nice reunion too.
The seminars are always informative and interesting and of course there is time for schmoozing, visiting and eating good food. Following the gala was the monthly "Beers with Peers" which is also a lot of fun.
During the course of the afternoon various prizes were drawn for members and non-members. My friend and I agreed that if one of us won the spa or mountain retreat weekend, we'd take the other along. We didn't win one of those, but I won a flash thingy for my computer which, co-incidentally happened to be a gift from Malaysian Tourism. Well, the day was drawing to it's close and suddenly there was one last draw - the big one -- the door prize, for members only.
And guess who won the tickets for two to New York City! (plus city tours). I could hardly believe it! Such a surprise. Certainly the gods of good fortune are smiling on me these days!
It's been years since I was in NYC and the idea of going back there is so exciting. I look forward to spending a few days there, probably in the Fall, to take in some shows and look around the old haunts where I had visited so long ago.
So for the next months this travel blog will contain pre-trip research and of course, the interesting little local trips I'll be making throughout the summer. It seems this is to be the Year of Travel. I'm sure looking forward to it! (I'm going out now to buy a lottery ticket!)
"When Fortune is on our side, popular favor bears her company."
Publilius Syrus First Century B.C. "Maxim 275"
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune..."
William Shakespeare, 1654=1616 "Julius Caesar" IV iii, 217
Last week was one of those weeks that started out with frustrations (mainly computer gliches) and ended up to be a most incredible Mother's Day weekend. Last Thursday I booked my flight to Chile, leaving November 18 via Toronto where I'll meet up with my travel pal, Patrick. We're planning to stay two weeks and will visit Santiago mostly, but I want to make it more than a sentimental journey and do some travel writing assignments as well. For one thing, I really want to visit the home(s) of the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda and the city of Valparaiso which was one of my friend A's favorite places. (I hear there is a lovely beach area near there.)
On Saturday it was the annual B.C. Assoc. of Travel Writer's gala and seminar (the one where I had the good fortune of winning the trip to Malaysia last year). I went along with a friend who has just started travel writing. This is an excellent group of people, dynamic and fun. There were several people there who have taken my travel writing courses so it was a nice reunion too.
The seminars are always informative and interesting and of course there is time for schmoozing, visiting and eating good food. Following the gala was the monthly "Beers with Peers" which is also a lot of fun.
During the course of the afternoon various prizes were drawn for members and non-members. My friend and I agreed that if one of us won the spa or mountain retreat weekend, we'd take the other along. We didn't win one of those, but I won a flash thingy for my computer which, co-incidentally happened to be a gift from Malaysian Tourism. Well, the day was drawing to it's close and suddenly there was one last draw - the big one -- the door prize, for members only.
And guess who won the tickets for two to New York City! (plus city tours). I could hardly believe it! Such a surprise. Certainly the gods of good fortune are smiling on me these days!
It's been years since I was in NYC and the idea of going back there is so exciting. I look forward to spending a few days there, probably in the Fall, to take in some shows and look around the old haunts where I had visited so long ago.
So for the next months this travel blog will contain pre-trip research and of course, the interesting little local trips I'll be making throughout the summer. It seems this is to be the Year of Travel. I'm sure looking forward to it! (I'm going out now to buy a lottery ticket!)
"When Fortune is on our side, popular favor bears her company."
Publilius Syrus First Century B.C. "Maxim 275"
Monday, May 08, 2006
PLANNING THE SENTIMENTAL JOURNEY
"Gonna take a sentimental journey..."
As the song goes...I'm going to take a sentimental journey to Chile this November. Plans are taking shape, and I'm about to book my flight. My good friend Patrick from Germany will accompany me and we plan to meet up in Toronto for the long flight down.
This journey is an invitation...a 'gift' from the ex-wife of my dear friend A. who died last Fall.
When she was here during A's stay in Palliative and for several weeks after his death, C. and I and her children became friends, and she invited Patrick and I to visit her in Santiago. So now we are making plans and hope to go there for about two weeks.
All during my friendship with A. he talked incessantly about his country, which he longed to return to. He was living in exile here, after escaping Pinochet's junta and then the junta in Argentina where he'd fled with his wife and children. He and his wife were active in the revolutionary movement and worked and lived in the shanty towns. He was a great suporter of Salvatore Allende and had turned down an opportunity to be part of his government. A. 'educated' me about Chile and what had happened there. So this invitation means a lot to me. It's going to be a real 'sentimental journey' to the land that A. loved so much and the places where he and C. spent time and were actively involved in that part of Chile's history. I hope too that I can visit some of Pablo Neruda's places as A. was the one who introduced me to the poet.
It's really exciting to have a new destination in mind and within the week have that ticket booked and paid for making the 'dream' a reality.
So watch this space for more news as the plans take shape.
As the song goes...I'm going to take a sentimental journey to Chile this November. Plans are taking shape, and I'm about to book my flight. My good friend Patrick from Germany will accompany me and we plan to meet up in Toronto for the long flight down.
This journey is an invitation...a 'gift' from the ex-wife of my dear friend A. who died last Fall.
When she was here during A's stay in Palliative and for several weeks after his death, C. and I and her children became friends, and she invited Patrick and I to visit her in Santiago. So now we are making plans and hope to go there for about two weeks.
All during my friendship with A. he talked incessantly about his country, which he longed to return to. He was living in exile here, after escaping Pinochet's junta and then the junta in Argentina where he'd fled with his wife and children. He and his wife were active in the revolutionary movement and worked and lived in the shanty towns. He was a great suporter of Salvatore Allende and had turned down an opportunity to be part of his government. A. 'educated' me about Chile and what had happened there. So this invitation means a lot to me. It's going to be a real 'sentimental journey' to the land that A. loved so much and the places where he and C. spent time and were actively involved in that part of Chile's history. I hope too that I can visit some of Pablo Neruda's places as A. was the one who introduced me to the poet.
It's really exciting to have a new destination in mind and within the week have that ticket booked and paid for making the 'dream' a reality.
So watch this space for more news as the plans take shape.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
WAKING FROM THE DREAM
THURSDAY, April 5/06
It was like a sudden jolt, waking from a beautiful dream to the nightmare that is LAX, Los Angeles Int. Airport. No, our plane landed smoothly and safely, but as soon as you disembark you can feel the stress level of being in the U.S.A. Where were all the happy, smiling faces, the courteous, gracious Malay people we had grown so fond of? We were hustled and bustled into yet more lineups, went through various rigorous security checks, and then had to wait seven hours in that dingy, uninviting airport. After clean and sparkling Kuala Lumpur and the Tai Pai airports it was quite a shock! Disgusting, actually.
Our flight from K.L. left at 10.30 a.m. Saturday morning. Four hours later we landed in Taipei for an hour refuelling stop. Then the long, rather cramped, flight across the Pacific which was around 17 hours. Landed in LAX at 9.30 a.m. Saturday morning. Then we waited another 7 hours before boarding our flight to Vancouver. Arrived here about 9.30 pm and went straight to the hotel that my travel buddy had booked for us. A brilliant idea!
What a lovely surprise for two weary travellers to find two long-stemmed red roses and a bottle of champagne, welcome home gifts from her husband!
After a long sleep, we finally headed to our homes on Sunday noon. Yes, I'm home now but still feeling rather disembobulated, though I think the worst of it is over now. For a few days my brain was frazzled and I was really in that lovely dream-world of Malaysia, still imgining the white sandy beach under the palms. The first few nights I laid awake thinking of everything that has happened in the last two weeks. Yes, it is like a dream. And now, the reality, the culture shock sets in. But we have such lovely memories.
Here's a recap of some of the 'best' and 'worst' and most fun things of the trip:
#1 best was just being there. Every day was a wonder!
#1 worst being at LAX (both going and coming home!)
#1 best fun time There were so many, but perhaps one of the most memorable was being on theisland with all those monkeys, seeing them up-close and personal in their own habitat.
#1 disappointment Unfortunately, the Lagoon Resort pool was closed for 4 of the 7 days we were there. We did, however get to swim on a couple of gorgeous beaches during that time.
#1 Most memorable dining experience: There were several, but I think the Malay restaurant our driver Hasbullah took us to was the best. Not just the ambience and the food, but finding those fragrant flowers floating in the loo was one example of the care and thoughtfulness of these people.
#1 Most disappointing meal: It was a rip-off, really and a lesson we learned was, ask first if they are weighing the lobster meat only or including the shell. It was a not-very-tastey and horribly expensive meal at that Chinese Seafood Restaurant. Shocking big mistake!
#1. Most special event: Hard to choose. But for me, the personal tour around Rimbun Dahan,
the Centre for Contemporary and Traditional Art and the botanical gardens.
#1 Most disappointing event: I guess it was not being able to get tickets to go up in the Petronas Twin Towers. We went early to wait in line, but had to leave because of tour driver was picking us up. So we didn't get an opportunity to experience the thrill of this. But we compensated by going up the telecommunications tower instead.
Would I go to Malaysia again? Most certainly! It is a destination I would recommend for sure. This trip was a gift (door-prize) from the B.C. Association of Travel Writers, at a gala sponsored by Malaysian Tourism and I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity. We were treated like the Queen Bees everywhere we went. We were both touched and thrilled by the hospitality and friendliness of the Malay people. Kuala Lumpur is an amazing city and we only wished we'd had more time to explore it. Langkawi is a laid-back, lovely isalnd, not yet over-run with tourists (such as neighbouring Thailand). And most of all, we felt safe and welcome and were treated respectfully and generously by the gracious Malay people wherever we went. We were impressed with the efficiency of the tour operators and drivers. It was definitely a vacation I will not forget!
It was like a sudden jolt, waking from a beautiful dream to the nightmare that is LAX, Los Angeles Int. Airport. No, our plane landed smoothly and safely, but as soon as you disembark you can feel the stress level of being in the U.S.A. Where were all the happy, smiling faces, the courteous, gracious Malay people we had grown so fond of? We were hustled and bustled into yet more lineups, went through various rigorous security checks, and then had to wait seven hours in that dingy, uninviting airport. After clean and sparkling Kuala Lumpur and the Tai Pai airports it was quite a shock! Disgusting, actually.
Our flight from K.L. left at 10.30 a.m. Saturday morning. Four hours later we landed in Taipei for an hour refuelling stop. Then the long, rather cramped, flight across the Pacific which was around 17 hours. Landed in LAX at 9.30 a.m. Saturday morning. Then we waited another 7 hours before boarding our flight to Vancouver. Arrived here about 9.30 pm and went straight to the hotel that my travel buddy had booked for us. A brilliant idea!
What a lovely surprise for two weary travellers to find two long-stemmed red roses and a bottle of champagne, welcome home gifts from her husband!
After a long sleep, we finally headed to our homes on Sunday noon. Yes, I'm home now but still feeling rather disembobulated, though I think the worst of it is over now. For a few days my brain was frazzled and I was really in that lovely dream-world of Malaysia, still imgining the white sandy beach under the palms. The first few nights I laid awake thinking of everything that has happened in the last two weeks. Yes, it is like a dream. And now, the reality, the culture shock sets in. But we have such lovely memories.
Here's a recap of some of the 'best' and 'worst' and most fun things of the trip:
#1 best was just being there. Every day was a wonder!
#1 worst being at LAX (both going and coming home!)
#1 best fun time There were so many, but perhaps one of the most memorable was being on theisland with all those monkeys, seeing them up-close and personal in their own habitat.
#1 disappointment Unfortunately, the Lagoon Resort pool was closed for 4 of the 7 days we were there. We did, however get to swim on a couple of gorgeous beaches during that time.
#1 Most memorable dining experience: There were several, but I think the Malay restaurant our driver Hasbullah took us to was the best. Not just the ambience and the food, but finding those fragrant flowers floating in the loo was one example of the care and thoughtfulness of these people.
#1 Most disappointing meal: It was a rip-off, really and a lesson we learned was, ask first if they are weighing the lobster meat only or including the shell. It was a not-very-tastey and horribly expensive meal at that Chinese Seafood Restaurant. Shocking big mistake!
#1. Most special event: Hard to choose. But for me, the personal tour around Rimbun Dahan,
the Centre for Contemporary and Traditional Art and the botanical gardens.
#1 Most disappointing event: I guess it was not being able to get tickets to go up in the Petronas Twin Towers. We went early to wait in line, but had to leave because of tour driver was picking us up. So we didn't get an opportunity to experience the thrill of this. But we compensated by going up the telecommunications tower instead.
Would I go to Malaysia again? Most certainly! It is a destination I would recommend for sure. This trip was a gift (door-prize) from the B.C. Association of Travel Writers, at a gala sponsored by Malaysian Tourism and I am deeply appreciative of the opportunity. We were treated like the Queen Bees everywhere we went. We were both touched and thrilled by the hospitality and friendliness of the Malay people. Kuala Lumpur is an amazing city and we only wished we'd had more time to explore it. Langkawi is a laid-back, lovely isalnd, not yet over-run with tourists (such as neighbouring Thailand). And most of all, we felt safe and welcome and were treated respectfully and generously by the gracious Malay people wherever we went. We were impressed with the efficiency of the tour operators and drivers. It was definitely a vacation I will not forget!
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