The Balearic Islands just off the coast of mainland Spain, provide peaceful get-aways for tourists seeking rest, relaxation, moments on the beach, or food and fiestas. There are many fine hotels and beach side resorts, so when booking your stay on the island of Menorca, check this out, a website that will provide you with all of the information you need to make your decision an informed one. I found my perfect lodging, and headed off to discover the tastes of the island, which were much more varied than I had expected.
Throughout all of Spain, and each of the islands, seafood is a staple, and on the island of Menorca it is fresh and prepared with spices and sauces that will tantalize your senses, all five of the them. I, myself, could live on a diet of seafood, and here I was simply in heaven, from mussels in spicy tomato based sauces, to grilled squid and prawns. But my big surprise was to find out that the island specialty is a dish called calderata de llagosta , which is simply stew made with lobster. Lobster? Delicious! This began as a meal made by fisherman when they were out to sea, it is the Menorcan version of comfort food. And I must say, that as I was half way through my first experience with a bowl of lobster stew, I was feeling pretty comfortable.
Cheese, another one of my favorite experiences I discovered while traveling through the American cheese capital state of Wisconsin. The cheese of Menorca was given an honor, just as the Michoacán cheese of Mexico, Cotija is known to be a regional cheese, so too is the Mahon cheese of this Balearic Island, gaining that distinction of Denomination of Origin in 1985. And what better to enhance the flavor of such foods as the Menorca gin. The gin produced on the island is different from gins produced in other countries, there is no need for a mixer of tonic when sipping the herb based spirit. In all, there are many experiences to be had on the island, and for those seeking a bit of the traditional culinary delights, well let’s just say…they won’t be disappointed.
We didn’t venture too far because it was our last day in New York City. We drove to Forest Hills, which the staff at our hotel told us was a nice leafy and green suburb that had some unique shops and excellent restaurants. They also told us we were lucky to have hired a car in New York, because some of the bus drivers don’t like to take people to Forest Hills; one of the staff told us how he didn’t know that the buses wouldn’t accept a $5 bill, that he would only take quarters, and then the bus driver told him to ask the other passengers on the bus, to give him change for the $5! The passengers readily gave him the change he needed, which he never thought would happen in New York City.
When we drove into Forest Hills, we found a nice coffee shop, which reminded us of back home, an English Tea Room. We treated ourselves to cake and tea. Afterwards we parked our car and went inside a nearby shopping mall. We are here to report that we didn’t make any purchases. We didn’t think anything seemed unique or unusual, maybe we needed to have asked our hotel staff what shops they were referring to. So, we had lunch a an Applebee’s. Forest Hills was leafy and green, but after driving around for about an hour, we really didn’t see any shops that we were interested in, so we drove back to our hotel and packed up our bags, because it was time to return our car hire and catch our flight back to England from JFK.
We were about 10 minutes into our drive, when we realize that we had forgotten one of our bags at the hotel! We turned right around and it was great to see one of the hotel staff members holding on to our bag up at the front desk! New York, didn’t thrill us like we thought it would, we really weren’t sure what all the hype was about.
Many fictional stories have been set in one of the most popular apartment buildings in New York City, the Dakota. However in this case, as in most cases the truth of the building is much more interesting than any works of fiction. Over the years, many famous people have lived and died in this architectural wonder which is situated just across the street from Central Park on 72nd Street. To this day, so many years later, fans of John Lennon still leave gifts and flowers along the walls of the building.
In the years during the construction, 1880-1884, the area was still quite vast and wide open, hence the name “The Dakota” as to many it seemed as remote and far away as the territory of the Dakotas. This was one of the first residential buildings of its kind, as the well to do in the city had been living previously in single family homes with servants. Many were not certain as to this new way of life, apartment building living, and were not sure that they cared to live so far out of the city, but within twenty years, the city of Manhattan had expanded and the Dakota was soon surrounded by other buildings and some of New York’s best hotels.
This had become quite the fashionable and desirable location. Many of the building that where constructed in the city at this time, where similar in architecture, drawing from French influences and the German Renaissance, but the Dakota is just a bit special and has been well maintained for almost one hundred years. There are 65 separate apartments in the building, ranging drastically in size from four rooms to twenty rooms.
Many celebrities have been attracted to this address over the years, such as the late John Lennon, Boris Karloff, Judy Garland, Lauren Bacall and Leonard Bernstein. And the building itself has made appearances in many films and television shows throughout the years. This is one of the many stunning bits of New York architecture, rich with the history of the city, and the history of those who have lived there. So when taking a walk through New York, be sure to head to Central Park West and catch a wonderful view of the marvelous Dakota Building.
Stephen had learned all about the first Thanksgiving and the early colonial days of America at school. This was all exciting for him and it had already become obvious to his parents that Stephen had a strong interest in history. It began, or they first noticed it, as soon as he started to talk. He would frequently comment on stories that related to programs he had seen on the History Channel. Of course when he was just learning to speak the words would come out sporadically and not in sentences, but when he clearly said Caesar it caught their attention. They soon realized that what they had been hearing earlier as us gus, was actually Agustus. A program on the early development of the Roman Empire had been on earlier in the day and a commercial for olive oil reminded little Stephen of the first Roman emperor.
After this experience they began to pay closer attention to the words their son was trying to say and his mother finally had to admit that he wasn’t always saying Mama. They wanted to encourage their son’s interest and would frequently leave the television tuned to the History Channel. This was also one of the most affective ways calming Stephen down when he was being disruptive or unruly. They could simply plop him in front of one of the history programs and he would become quiet and still.
After Stephen returned home and began talking about the first Thanksgiving to his mother she came up with a great idea. They were going to be spending the holiday with just the three of them that year so she talked to her husband and they decided to surprise Stephen with a trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. They booked a room in a hotel Plymouth and planned to spend two days there. Stephen was thrilled and would remember this as being one of his all time favorite Thanksgivings. He particularly enjoyed watching the recreation of the first Thanksgiving and wanted to talk to and congratulate the actors when it was finished.
Finally made it to New York City! I’ve already done tons of things here. After landing, I was so happy to have whisked myself away from the airport with a New York City car hire. Nice black sedan with leather interior with GPS so I could find my way to Rhonda’s home. The car was a welcomed convenience after having spent several hours getting through airport security, which by-the-way, I thought was way too ridiculous. The retina check and fingerprinting I can understand, but that angry Chinese man who basically interrogated me was totally unnecessary.
Once I arrived at Rhonda’s, we went out for dinner at this very old-style pizza parlour and this old dude named Louis, sitting at the table next to us was celebrating his 65th birthday with all these mafioso types. We really enjoyed listening to all of them cajoling and I really liked hearing ‘Fa get about it’ or ‘no problem’. Then we drove to get some drinks in the West Village, which I really found very lovely. Our drinking hole was called the ‘Spotted Pig’, which is some famous chef’s place. Rhonda doesn’t have a car, so my car hire was a real treat for her.
The next day, Saturday, we drove for breakfast at a great place for people watching. New York is really like what I see in the movies, with all the trucks and there are so many small dogs. Later, around dinner time, we drove to Brooklyn for a birthday party. Rhonda’s friend has this amazing apartment that has one of those roof top terraces. We got to watch the the sunset over NYCs skyline while drinking wine and eating cheese. It all felt very sophisticated. I met a photographer guy who works for some magazine, I didn’t recognize the name, and all I could do was tell him how much I don’t know about cameras, silly me.
Sunday, we went on a shopping excursion, I drove Rhonda down to Soho and only managed to shop a fraction of it, we were so shopped out. I found items are either very expensive or very cheap. In the high-end shops, the prices were almost double London prices, but with the exchange rate the way it is, I bought a lot of clothes and good quality luggage. After exhausting shopping, we headed back to her place and we both crashed on the sofa. It was so nice to be with Rhonda again and I’m glad she got a chance to go places she wouldn’t have bothered to go if I didn’t have a car.
Atlanta has enjoyed a spectacular rise in popularity in the past few years, further establishing itself as a world-class city, offering a host of amazing attractions. It doesn’t fail in appealing to a very wide spectrum of tastes, and ages, with events going on day and night. Its recent rise in popularity is not completely unexpected, because Atlanta has had many different periods where its hipness was visible and recognized the word at large. People who live here, however, have always known that it’s one of the more progressive cities in the world, in many different ways, and continues to impress and inspire its residents as well as its visitors.
There are all sorts of accommodations available here, from the very simple and humble to the heights of luxury. Atlanta hotels are splendid places to get a taste of the city’s famous hospitality, and to enjoy time being catered to with a special flare. There are many different ways to see Atlanta, of course, and one of its most exciting circles of culture is in the arts community. It’s probably more correct to identify the community as being made up of multiple cultures that overlap at times. There is always a distinctive and extremely inventive flavor to any of the arts institutions here, and one of the places to explore is certainly 7 Stages.
This award-winning theatre began in 1979, with a mission to allow emerging artists a space to explore the pressing spiritual, social, and political issues of the time. Within five years it had established itself as a major new force in regional theatre, and today is an institution. They’ve produced many of Sam Shepard’s most essential productions, and continue to provide cutting-edge entertainment to a broad spectrum of the public. They’re connected to larger organizations like Theatre Communications Group, and also house new and upcoming small theatre groups, and are a mainstay for new and exciting theatrical performance.
Although I am not usually drawn to landscapes, either in paintings or in photography, there is something about the work of Ansel Adams that quite literally can steal my breath away. Without intending to sound too “New Age”, his work is mysterious and borders on the mystical realm for me. His photos are quiet, and haunting. Some of his photographs make me think of natural architecture, with structure and with strength. And lucky for me, he will be hanging in the Phoenix Art Museum beginning the 31st of January and running through the 6th of June, 2010.
The exhibit will include one hundred and twenty of his photographs, along with his correspondence to friends and colleagues, film footage, negatives, his equipment and photographs of the artist himself. There are six aspects of his prolific career which will be highlighted. From his early works, to his photographs taken of the Southwest, with themes on the environment and aspect of his black and white photography as well as his works in color. Ansel Adams has focused throughout his life on his concern for and dedication to the preservation of the environment, be it natural, or cultural…as found in the photos of American ghost towns.
Along with his photographs, samples of his writings will be made available to the public, which will allow all those in attendance to grasp a deeper understanding of the man, his sensibilities and philosophies, and of his artwork. Through his life, Adams offered up his knowledge and his inspiration to students of the art of photography. He has published many instructional works, beginning in 1935 with his book, “Making a Photograph. He taught many workshops over the the years, as well as being on the faculty of the San Francisco Art Institute. For those traveling to the city to see the show, many of the best Phoenix hotels located downtown will offer shuttle services to and from the museum. This is a show, of the many offered at the Phoenix Art Museum, that should not be missed.