(All links are from the BBC)
School is a second home.
"A classroom, says Atwell, who was chosen for the Global Teacher Award from over 5,000 nominations from 127 countries, should be a place of 'wisdom and happiness' rather than stress and fear of failure."
"Stowe in Buckinghamshire is, without doubt, one of the world’s most beautiful schools. ... Stowe’s founding headmaster, said it would be a school where every pupil would 'know beauty when he sees it all his life.'"
"NLE architects, a Dutch firm, ... have shaped a simple, yet hauntingly beautiful timber school floating among lagoon houses. Makoko is a poor place ... . NLE have brought not just education to Makoko’s children, but self-esteem and a new beauty to this shanty town, too."
"The beauty as well as the practicality of the medieval colleges of Oxford and Cambridge ... have also inspired the design of university campuses worldwide."
"The most delightful places of learning have always been lined with books. To wander into the Long Room of the Old Library of Trinity College, Dublin is to experience a literary and architectural epiphany."
"It is not cost, but imagination that counts the most in the design of schools and colleges, this and the idea that they are, above all, places to learn and to grow."
Theater is a dream factory.
"A performance of Verdi' s opera A Masked Ball in 1999 took place on a giant book being read by a skeleton."
"Cornwall’s open-air theatre ... with the Atlantic Ocean providing a spectacular backdrop for the many plays. William Shakespeare’s The Tempest was the first play to be performed at the venue back in 1932."
Museum is a new church.
"The art museum has supplanted the church as the pinnacle of architectural ambition, but a more curious ecclesiastical shift may be taking place inside the museum’s walls. These days we frequently use religious language when talking about art. We make ‘pilgrimages’ to museums or to landmarks of public art in far-off locales. We experience ‘transcendence’ before major paintings or large-scale installations. Especially important works – Mona Lisa at the Louvre, most famously – are often displayed in their own niches rather than in historical presentations, all the better for genuflection. What is the busiest day of the week for most contemporary art museums? That would be Sunday: the day we used to reserve for another house of worship."
Library is a fueling station.
Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris, built in 1842-50.
Skyscraper is a high-rise park.
"... the Burj Khalifa is an undeniably beautiful tower. Rising 2,717 feet (828m) above Dubai, it’s a ground-breaking feat of architecture and engineering, and a clear message of intent about the future of the super-tall skyscraper."
"The building’s (Turning Torso ) twisting spine was inspired by the architect Santiago Calatrava’s studies of nature and the human form."
Bookshop is a brain-food store.
"Visitors can go from stage to page at this Argentinian icon (El Ateneo, Buenos Aires). First built as the Teatro Grand Splendid in 1919 ... becoming a cinema in 1929 ... it has retained its original splendour: customers can sit in the theatre boxes to browse in comfort. "
"... Shakespeare & Company is a place that does more than sell books. Named after a bookstore frequented by Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce during the 1920s ... . Opened in 1951 by the American George Whitman – and run by his daughter Sylvia since his death in 2011 – it became a gathering place for Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs. "
Retirement is a new adventure.
"These days most of us can expect our retirement to last for more than a couple of decades. ... A growing number of pensioners are seeking far-flung destinations. They’re lured by hours of sunshine, a slower pace of life, favourable tax rates, and the prospect of a more fulfilling lifestyle where their income goes much further than it does at home. ... From tropical towns in Thailand to coastal comforts in Central America, our guide to the seven best countries to retire has it all."
"Panama ... Ecuador ... Malaysia ... Spain ... Malta ... Portugal ... Thailand."
Google-Earth-View is an abstract painter.
Math equations are inner beauty of everything.
"... mathematical equations ... represent some of the most profound rules that govern the Universe and everything in it."
"Understanding the most profound equations takes years of training, and many of them are so complex that they are hard to convey in normal language. However, that does not mean we cannot all appreciate their beauty. "
City is not only a birthplace but an outcome of civilization.
Expatriate is a one-way-ticket traveller.
"... but an increasing number of expats are travelling to new countries for personal rather than financial reasons "
"The income situation and quality of life in a country ... , but there are other components that also influence your expat life .... Something we value very highly is how friendly locals are towards foreigners and how easy it is to settle in"
Forest is an open temple.
Cabin is a palace in the wild.
"Bored" place is a hidden wonderland.
"We live in an age that has little patience for monotony. Tethered to our iThings, we text and tweet the days away... .Travel presents an opportunity to untether, and that is best done in less interesting places. That’s because such destinations are completely distraction free... ."
"Boring places are like gyms. There’s a reason we join, and that reason has little to do with immediate gratification."
"On a recent visit to Geneva ... I realised the hidden benefit of a place like Switzerland: it’s challenging ... to make your own excitement, they say. We’re not going to help you."
"My issue with so-called “exciting” destinations is that they’re crowded, swarming with fellow travellers in search of that very same exhilaration."
"Boring places, by contrast, are fresher, less thumbed-through , and therefore more receptive to our trespasses."
"There’s another problem with exciting and beautiful destinations – or heaven forbid, 'breathtaking' ones. They create expectations, and expectations are the enemy of happiness ... But in boring places, the bar isn’t only set low; often there is no bar. Any joy we squeeze from their lacklustre sites, their tedious landscape, their humdrum cafes is pure gravy. Boring places lower expectations and, from a happiness perspective, that’s a good thing."
"With low expectations, you are playing a head game with yourself, trying to forestall disappointment. With no expectations, you are open to whatever comes along."
"Philosophers have, through the ages, elucidated the benefits of boredom. 'A certain amount of boredom is… essential to a happy life, ...'"
"We travel in order to change the rhythm of our lives, and that means embracing the lulls as well as the storms we encounter on the road."
"More than that, boring places stretch our travel skills, forcing us to find beauty and meaning -- and, yes, excitement too -- in the ordinary."
"They alter our 'muscle memory' – our natural inclination to grow accustomed to anything – and, in the process, make us stronger, better. Isn’t that why we travel in the first place?"
"The truth is there are no boring places. Only boring travellers."
Temple is a home for heart."
"With their awe-inspiring architecture, magnificent facades and sheer size, places of worship are often some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. No matter the religion, travellers from around the world can appreciate the work that led to their creation. ...each of these buildings has a beauty that transcends any single belief and brings together visitors from every creed and culture."
Railway station is an adventure-bound gate.
"Opened in 1903 ... It (Grand Central) is a truly great place to sit and while away the New York rush hour, cocktail to hand, while watching great shafts of evening sunlight slant through the huge Beaux-Arts windows ... . Look higher again, above the famous four-faced station clock, and there’s a glorious ceiling to marvel at, a map no less of the constellations and the signs of the zodiac. ... One upon a time, you could ride from here to points far west ... overnight in sheer style from Manhattan to Chicago as Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint did in Alfred Hitchcock’s impeccably stylish North by Northwest. ... When the rush hour is over, it’s time to eat in the station’s beautiful Oyster Bar, and drink a toast to one of the finest railway stations of all."
Metro is a city bloodstream.
"A Metro station in Amsterdam has won a 2014 Royal Institute of British Architects Award. With laser-cut steel screens allowing light to filter through, Kraaiennest station is now 'a lantern for the local neighbourhood' at night."
"Stockholm’s Metro system, has been called 'the world’s largest art museum'"
"Beneath the university that taught Nobel Prize winning poets Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, the Universidad de Chile station in Santiago contains the vast mural Visual Memory of a Nation"
Airport is a stopover nest.
"... the airport is a difficult building type with which to fall in love. The reality is that many passengers rarely give much of a second glance at the quality of the architecture around them. And, yet, there are airports that do have a special ability to encourage us to look up and around, airports that have been designed one way or another to offer something of the adventure and poetry of flight even in an era of mass travel and budget fares."
"Opened in 1961 to boost the fortunes of this top-end French Alpine ski-resort, Courchevel is the most demanding for pilots. ... James Bond was possibly an exception: you can see his exploits at Courchevel in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies."
Volcano is a lava-to-Java converter.
"With fiery molten channels that stretch far below the surface, volcanoes connect us to the very core of the Earth. Active or dormant – they resonate with an energy and beauty beyond that of mere mountains. Their violent origins also tend to create stunning natural landscapes that attract sightseers from around the world."
Cinema is a story gallery.
"Havana’s Cine Acapulco opened in 1958, ... . It is a masterpiece of late Art Deco design, ... . Today there are only 40 cinemas operating in Cuba – and all under strict government control – but prices at most of them, including at the Cine Acapulco, have not changed since the 1950s."
"The Tampa Theatre is a temple to the 1920s Baroque... . The cinema ... includes touches of Moorish, Spanish, Byzantine, Italian Renaissance, and Greek Revival influence."
-------------------007 is a world traveller.
Canal city is a Venice-like place.
"This small town outside of Amsterdam grew up in swampy marshland, and the solution of 12th century peat farmers was to dig canals to transport their goods. Giethoorn still possesses 6.4km of waterways, crisscrossed by more than 150 wood footbridges, with lush front yards sloping from thatched-roof houses down to the water’s edge. Roads do not extend to the central old town, so 2,500 residents get around mostly by punting."
Park is a 7D picture.
"Looping between 30th and 34th streets around railway yards ... the third and final section of New York’s popular High Line opened in late September. ... Next year, the Whitney Museum will reopen ... right by the High Line, ... the Hudson Yards will be covered over as 16 new skyscrapers ... a whole new city quarter complete with five thousand new homes, schools, places of work and entertainment, markets and cafes comes to life."
"In fact one of the very first modern city parks – Princes Park in Toxteth, Liverpool opened in 1842 ... – was planned with elegant middle-class homes around it. ... the pattern was soon repeated not just in England, but throughout Europe and across the Atlantic, too."
"... urban parks are inherently democratic places, for everyone regardless of income or background. They are spaces where we can all daydream, play games, keep fit, slump in deckchairs, walk the dog, peep at flowers, munch sandwiches at lunchtime away from offices "
Island is a bone of sea.
"Santorini , an ancient island that endured one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. ... . Here, 120 miles southwest of mainland Greece, everything is brighter: the whitewashed cube-shaped houses, the lapis lazuli sea and the sunsets that light up the caldera."
Walled city is (was) a war giant .
"Massive stone walls were once the last line of defence for ancient cities, ... those that remain continue to protect a way of life for those living within, providing residents with a daily appreciation for history and influencing various aspects of life, from safety to traffic to tourists and more."
"... the whole city was like a big playground for children to play in."
"... those residents who are six-, seven-, eight-generations (native to) Jerusalem.”
"The effect is as if you were living in a tale, set in the Middle Ages. It’s magical."
"Living in the Old City feels like living in a real-life movie set."
"Halfway around the world and hundreds of years later, Spain built another set of walls. The Caribbean port city ... providing for its protection in the pirate-plagued 18th Century, funding the walls and fortresses that still stand today."
Footbridge is a city heart-bypass.
"The humble footbridge has come a long way from a simple arch across a waterway. Designs now feature complex moving parts, winding forms and interlocking ramps"
"A design competition to create a structure spanning the Thames in London ... included spiralling ramps, irregular latticework and a waterfall"
Bridge is a human connector.
“The curving bridge ( Langkawi Sky Bridge) deck allows visitors an intimate experience of the forest canopy and wildlife. It’s a great example of treading lightly on the land.”
“No modern bridge can compare in grace with traditional stone arch bridges. Stone bridges often demonstrate the tenacity of mankind to overcome physical obstacles, even with modest technical means. Shaharah Bridge in Yemen is a marvellous case of that.”
Canyon is a rock-composed poetry.
---Silence of the Canyon---
by: William Wendell Riley
.........................................................
Grand Canyon had no speech to make.
She never said a word.
While I viewed her matchless glory,
I was startled by a bird.
.............................................................
It came flying, tumbling through the air,
And stopped beside me there,
And sung the sweetest little song.
How I wanted you to hear.
............................................................
A little chipmunk then rushed out
And stood on his hind legs
And chattered me a welcome
To this land of towering crags.
.............................................................
Then, another little songster,
From the tip top of a pine,
Sang as sweet as ever echoed
In the valley of the Rhine!
............................................................
But the Gorge was mute, but glorious,
Magnificent, sublime!
Her secrets still remain her own
And will throughout all time!
Your house is your castle .
"In 1565, Paolo Almerico ... commissioned Andrea Palladio, one of history’s greatest architects, to design a new type of house. Built on a hill overlooking the city and surrounding countryside, La Rotonda was a freestanding villa independent of agriculture, religion or commerce. A place of study, contemplation and quiet enjoyment, it was also a work of impeccable art. ... this exquisite house connected landscape to city while fusing art to architecture. Ever since, and in no matter what style, material or culture, certain architects and enlightened or excitable patrons have aimed to do more or less what Palladio and Almerico did 450 years ago."
"... Correalism, a design philosophy concerned with shaping a continuity of spaces, people, objects, concepts and art."
"The world is a book."
School is a second home.
"A classroom, says Atwell, who was chosen for the Global Teacher Award from over 5,000 nominations from 127 countries, should be a place of 'wisdom and happiness' rather than stress and fear of failure."
"Stowe in Buckinghamshire is, without doubt, one of the world’s most beautiful schools. ... Stowe’s founding headmaster, said it would be a school where every pupil would 'know beauty when he sees it all his life.'"
"NLE architects, a Dutch firm, ... have shaped a simple, yet hauntingly beautiful timber school floating among lagoon houses. Makoko is a poor place ... . NLE have brought not just education to Makoko’s children, but self-esteem and a new beauty to this shanty town, too."
"The beauty as well as the practicality of the medieval colleges of Oxford and Cambridge ... have also inspired the design of university campuses worldwide."
"The most delightful places of learning have always been lined with books. To wander into the Long Room of the Old Library of Trinity College, Dublin is to experience a literary and architectural epiphany."
"It is not cost, but imagination that counts the most in the design of schools and colleges, this and the idea that they are, above all, places to learn and to grow."
Theater is a dream factory.
"A performance of Verdi' s opera A Masked Ball in 1999 took place on a giant book being read by a skeleton."
"Cornwall’s open-air theatre ... with the Atlantic Ocean providing a spectacular backdrop for the many plays. William Shakespeare’s The Tempest was the first play to be performed at the venue back in 1932."
Museum is a new church.
"The art museum has supplanted the church as the pinnacle of architectural ambition, but a more curious ecclesiastical shift may be taking place inside the museum’s walls. These days we frequently use religious language when talking about art. We make ‘pilgrimages’ to museums or to landmarks of public art in far-off locales. We experience ‘transcendence’ before major paintings or large-scale installations. Especially important works – Mona Lisa at the Louvre, most famously – are often displayed in their own niches rather than in historical presentations, all the better for genuflection. What is the busiest day of the week for most contemporary art museums? That would be Sunday: the day we used to reserve for another house of worship."
Library is a fueling station.
Sainte-Geneviève Library in Paris, built in 1842-50.
Skyscraper is a high-rise park.
"... the Burj Khalifa is an undeniably beautiful tower. Rising 2,717 feet (828m) above Dubai, it’s a ground-breaking feat of architecture and engineering, and a clear message of intent about the future of the super-tall skyscraper."
"The building’s (Turning Torso ) twisting spine was inspired by the architect Santiago Calatrava’s studies of nature and the human form."
Bookshop is a brain-food store.
"Visitors can go from stage to page at this Argentinian icon (El Ateneo, Buenos Aires). First built as the Teatro Grand Splendid in 1919 ... becoming a cinema in 1929 ... it has retained its original splendour: customers can sit in the theatre boxes to browse in comfort. "
"... Shakespeare & Company is a place that does more than sell books. Named after a bookstore frequented by Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway and James Joyce during the 1920s ... . Opened in 1951 by the American George Whitman – and run by his daughter Sylvia since his death in 2011 – it became a gathering place for Beat Generation writers like Allen Ginsberg and William S Burroughs. "
Retirement is a new adventure.
"These days most of us can expect our retirement to last for more than a couple of decades. ... A growing number of pensioners are seeking far-flung destinations. They’re lured by hours of sunshine, a slower pace of life, favourable tax rates, and the prospect of a more fulfilling lifestyle where their income goes much further than it does at home. ... From tropical towns in Thailand to coastal comforts in Central America, our guide to the seven best countries to retire has it all."
"Panama ... Ecuador ... Malaysia ... Spain ... Malta ... Portugal ... Thailand."
Google-Earth-View is an abstract painter.
Math equations are inner beauty of everything.
"... mathematical equations ... represent some of the most profound rules that govern the Universe and everything in it."
"Understanding the most profound equations takes years of training, and many of them are so complex that they are hard to convey in normal language. However, that does not mean we cannot all appreciate their beauty. "
City is not only a birthplace but an outcome of civilization.
Expatriate is a one-way-ticket traveller.
"... but an increasing number of expats are travelling to new countries for personal rather than financial reasons "
"The income situation and quality of life in a country ... , but there are other components that also influence your expat life .... Something we value very highly is how friendly locals are towards foreigners and how easy it is to settle in"
Forest is an open temple.
Cabin is a palace in the wild.
"Bored" place is a hidden wonderland.
"We live in an age that has little patience for monotony. Tethered to our iThings, we text and tweet the days away... .Travel presents an opportunity to untether, and that is best done in less interesting places. That’s because such destinations are completely distraction free... ."
"Boring places are like gyms. There’s a reason we join, and that reason has little to do with immediate gratification."
"On a recent visit to Geneva ... I realised the hidden benefit of a place like Switzerland: it’s challenging ... to make your own excitement, they say. We’re not going to help you."
"My issue with so-called “exciting” destinations is that they’re crowded, swarming with fellow travellers in search of that very same exhilaration."
"Boring places, by contrast, are fresher, less thumbed-through , and therefore more receptive to our trespasses."
"There’s another problem with exciting and beautiful destinations – or heaven forbid, 'breathtaking' ones. They create expectations, and expectations are the enemy of happiness ... But in boring places, the bar isn’t only set low; often there is no bar. Any joy we squeeze from their lacklustre sites, their tedious landscape, their humdrum cafes is pure gravy. Boring places lower expectations and, from a happiness perspective, that’s a good thing."
"With low expectations, you are playing a head game with yourself, trying to forestall disappointment. With no expectations, you are open to whatever comes along."
"Philosophers have, through the ages, elucidated the benefits of boredom. 'A certain amount of boredom is… essential to a happy life, ...'"
"We travel in order to change the rhythm of our lives, and that means embracing the lulls as well as the storms we encounter on the road."
"More than that, boring places stretch our travel skills, forcing us to find beauty and meaning -- and, yes, excitement too -- in the ordinary."
"They alter our 'muscle memory' – our natural inclination to grow accustomed to anything – and, in the process, make us stronger, better. Isn’t that why we travel in the first place?"
"The truth is there are no boring places. Only boring travellers."
Temple is a home for heart."
"With their awe-inspiring architecture, magnificent facades and sheer size, places of worship are often some of the most beautiful buildings in the world. No matter the religion, travellers from around the world can appreciate the work that led to their creation. ...each of these buildings has a beauty that transcends any single belief and brings together visitors from every creed and culture."
Railway station is an adventure-bound gate.
"Opened in 1903 ... It (Grand Central) is a truly great place to sit and while away the New York rush hour, cocktail to hand, while watching great shafts of evening sunlight slant through the huge Beaux-Arts windows ... . Look higher again, above the famous four-faced station clock, and there’s a glorious ceiling to marvel at, a map no less of the constellations and the signs of the zodiac. ... One upon a time, you could ride from here to points far west ... overnight in sheer style from Manhattan to Chicago as Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint did in Alfred Hitchcock’s impeccably stylish North by Northwest. ... When the rush hour is over, it’s time to eat in the station’s beautiful Oyster Bar, and drink a toast to one of the finest railway stations of all."
Metro is a city bloodstream.
"A Metro station in Amsterdam has won a 2014 Royal Institute of British Architects Award. With laser-cut steel screens allowing light to filter through, Kraaiennest station is now 'a lantern for the local neighbourhood' at night."
"Stockholm’s Metro system, has been called 'the world’s largest art museum'"
"Beneath the university that taught Nobel Prize winning poets Pablo Neruda and Gabriela Mistral, the Universidad de Chile station in Santiago contains the vast mural Visual Memory of a Nation"
Airport is a stopover nest.
"... the airport is a difficult building type with which to fall in love. The reality is that many passengers rarely give much of a second glance at the quality of the architecture around them. And, yet, there are airports that do have a special ability to encourage us to look up and around, airports that have been designed one way or another to offer something of the adventure and poetry of flight even in an era of mass travel and budget fares."
"Opened in 1961 to boost the fortunes of this top-end French Alpine ski-resort, Courchevel is the most demanding for pilots. ... James Bond was possibly an exception: you can see his exploits at Courchevel in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies."
Volcano is a lava-to-Java converter.
"With fiery molten channels that stretch far below the surface, volcanoes connect us to the very core of the Earth. Active or dormant – they resonate with an energy and beauty beyond that of mere mountains. Their violent origins also tend to create stunning natural landscapes that attract sightseers from around the world."
Cinema is a story gallery.
"Havana’s Cine Acapulco opened in 1958, ... . It is a masterpiece of late Art Deco design, ... . Today there are only 40 cinemas operating in Cuba – and all under strict government control – but prices at most of them, including at the Cine Acapulco, have not changed since the 1950s."
"The Tampa Theatre is a temple to the 1920s Baroque... . The cinema ... includes touches of Moorish, Spanish, Byzantine, Italian Renaissance, and Greek Revival influence."
-------------------007 is a world traveller.
Canal city is a Venice-like place.
"This small town outside of Amsterdam grew up in swampy marshland, and the solution of 12th century peat farmers was to dig canals to transport their goods. Giethoorn still possesses 6.4km of waterways, crisscrossed by more than 150 wood footbridges, with lush front yards sloping from thatched-roof houses down to the water’s edge. Roads do not extend to the central old town, so 2,500 residents get around mostly by punting."
Park is a 7D picture.
"Looping between 30th and 34th streets around railway yards ... the third and final section of New York’s popular High Line opened in late September. ... Next year, the Whitney Museum will reopen ... right by the High Line, ... the Hudson Yards will be covered over as 16 new skyscrapers ... a whole new city quarter complete with five thousand new homes, schools, places of work and entertainment, markets and cafes comes to life."
"In fact one of the very first modern city parks – Princes Park in Toxteth, Liverpool opened in 1842 ... – was planned with elegant middle-class homes around it. ... the pattern was soon repeated not just in England, but throughout Europe and across the Atlantic, too."
"... urban parks are inherently democratic places, for everyone regardless of income or background. They are spaces where we can all daydream, play games, keep fit, slump in deckchairs, walk the dog, peep at flowers, munch sandwiches at lunchtime away from offices "
Island is a bone of sea.
"Santorini , an ancient island that endured one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history. ... . Here, 120 miles southwest of mainland Greece, everything is brighter: the whitewashed cube-shaped houses, the lapis lazuli sea and the sunsets that light up the caldera."
Walled city is (was) a war giant .
"Massive stone walls were once the last line of defence for ancient cities, ... those that remain continue to protect a way of life for those living within, providing residents with a daily appreciation for history and influencing various aspects of life, from safety to traffic to tourists and more."
"... the whole city was like a big playground for children to play in."
"... those residents who are six-, seven-, eight-generations (native to) Jerusalem.”
"The effect is as if you were living in a tale, set in the Middle Ages. It’s magical."
"Living in the Old City feels like living in a real-life movie set."
"Halfway around the world and hundreds of years later, Spain built another set of walls. The Caribbean port city ... providing for its protection in the pirate-plagued 18th Century, funding the walls and fortresses that still stand today."
Footbridge is a city heart-bypass.
"The humble footbridge has come a long way from a simple arch across a waterway. Designs now feature complex moving parts, winding forms and interlocking ramps"
"A design competition to create a structure spanning the Thames in London ... included spiralling ramps, irregular latticework and a waterfall"
Bridge is a human connector.
“The curving bridge ( Langkawi Sky Bridge) deck allows visitors an intimate experience of the forest canopy and wildlife. It’s a great example of treading lightly on the land.”
“No modern bridge can compare in grace with traditional stone arch bridges. Stone bridges often demonstrate the tenacity of mankind to overcome physical obstacles, even with modest technical means. Shaharah Bridge in Yemen is a marvellous case of that.”
Canyon is a rock-composed poetry.
---Silence of the Canyon---
by: William Wendell Riley
.........................................................
Grand Canyon had no speech to make.
She never said a word.
While I viewed her matchless glory,
I was startled by a bird.
.............................................................
It came flying, tumbling through the air,
And stopped beside me there,
And sung the sweetest little song.
How I wanted you to hear.
............................................................
A little chipmunk then rushed out
And stood on his hind legs
And chattered me a welcome
To this land of towering crags.
.............................................................
Then, another little songster,
From the tip top of a pine,
Sang as sweet as ever echoed
In the valley of the Rhine!
............................................................
But the Gorge was mute, but glorious,
Magnificent, sublime!
Her secrets still remain her own
And will throughout all time!
Your house is your castle .
"In 1565, Paolo Almerico ... commissioned Andrea Palladio, one of history’s greatest architects, to design a new type of house. Built on a hill overlooking the city and surrounding countryside, La Rotonda was a freestanding villa independent of agriculture, religion or commerce. A place of study, contemplation and quiet enjoyment, it was also a work of impeccable art. ... this exquisite house connected landscape to city while fusing art to architecture. Ever since, and in no matter what style, material or culture, certain architects and enlightened or excitable patrons have aimed to do more or less what Palladio and Almerico did 450 years ago."
"... Correalism, a design philosophy concerned with shaping a continuity of spaces, people, objects, concepts and art."