Historic Areas of Istanbul August 5, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Air Tickets, Cairo, Cars, Istanbul, Museum, Rail Pass, Sightseeing, Tickets, Tour, Trip, Turkey , 8commentsLittle modern research seems to have been done (or, at least, published) with regard to the ancient geomancy of the Islamic world. We note the occurrence of mosques on a much older alignment in ancient Thebes, and a dramatic alignment of mosques and tombs in medieval Cairo has been recorded,’ but greater contemporary appraisal of Middle Eastern geomantic patterns needs to be carried out. The alignment in Istanbul described here was initiated as a result of preliminary observations made by architect Patrick Horsbrugh,2 and it is presented merely in the spirit of experimental research, to bring previously unconsidered material to the reader’s attention. (more…)
“In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on the trail of the Lonesome Pine . . .” continue… June 28, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Beach Resorts, Cars, China, Destination, Europe, Georgia, Motel, New York, Turkey , add a commentI walk in the forest all day without seeing or hearing a soul. Now the going is flat; now I am scrambling over large rocks, across streams, up steep slopes. The forest is wide awake and I hear the continual muted plop of falling acorns, the piping squeaks of the chipmunks, the whistling of jays, the raucous bark of the slope-soaring ravens. Sound carries in the mountains. Now and again a heavier thud denotes the falling of dead wood, perhaps close by, perhaps way over on the opposite slope — the forest sheds twenty-five tons an acre every year. When I sit quite still, for several minutes, the wood mice emerge to explore me. The chipmunks, jaw pouches grotesquely distended with freshly garnered acorns, scamper stiff-legged and tail erect to where I watch; but they never look me in the eye. Water-thrush sit in the ninebark by my head. Bear, deer, bobcat and the emblematic wild turkey, are lurking in these forests unseen. (more…)
“In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia on the trail of the Lonesome Pine . . .” June 28, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Air Tickets, Airlines, Beach Resorts, Cars, Europe, Georgia, Hotels, Motel, New York, Round The World, Turkey , add a commentThe Blue Ridge Mountains are the first ridge of the Appalachians as you cross the coastal plains from the Atlantic and step up off the Piedmont plateau. Famed in the Laurel and Hardy theme song, they rise fold on rounded fold of thick hardwood forest, to some 6,000 feet.
Three hours’ drive from the steaming sauna which is Washington in the summer, and 3,800feet up in the clear air of the Blue Ridge Mountains, lies the Wintergreen Mountain Resort. Perched a few miles west of Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and the University of Virginia which he founded, the resort is stamped by a distinctive feature. The facilities are owned and controlled by the property owners, who have bought sites and built second homes within the Wintergreen area. The owners underwrite a management company for the resort, securing it against insensitive over-development and downmarket pressures with a degree of success which has made them keenly studied and imitated by leisure resorts elsewhere. (more…)
Malmaison: the Favourite country residence of Napoleon and Josephine continue… May 22, 2008
Posted by dodo in : Accommodation, Destination, England, France, Library, Museum, Paris, Turkey , add a commentIt soon became obvious that the château was too small. Percier and Fontaine added on two wings and pulled down the dividing walls in order to enlarge the drawing rooms. In doing so they practically caused the main structure to collapse and had to reinforce it with massive pilasters which still today look somewhat incongruous. The interior was decorated with care in the taste of the day. The walls were hung with both antique and modern pictures. Two red marble obelisks adorned one of the doorways; they came originally from the Château de Rueil, once the residence of Cardinal de Richelieu but now nonexistent. Berthault built follies in the shade of the trees; a Gothic aviary, a temple of love, sphinxes were dotted about the groves and the banks of the stream. (more…)
