Mountain Monkeys

posted by maggie on May 25

Many love some aspect of Greek culture, it’s very hard not to like at least one thing about this stunning country. Some love the fact every city has a story or ties into a myth about a patron god or goddess while others are smitten with the food. Everyone falls in love with the scenery. Beautiful blue Mediterranean waters, orchards and vineyards, the friendly social locals. All of these can be found on Corfu and there is an abundance of hotels on Corfu to choose from for your stay.

The island of Corfu has a rich history filled with battles and conquests that have left the island scattered with castles in various locations of strategic value. The capitol of Corfu is Corfu, but it is also known as Kastropolis or “the castle city” and is enclosed between two different castles. It is the only city in Greece with this architectural phenomenon. One of the most strategic castles on the island is Angelokastro which does mean Angelo’s Castle but is frequently referred to as St. Angelo’s due to poorly translated tourist signs. Many of the castles are of Byzantine architecture though there are a few palaces and forts also on the island.

Like any place with a rich history this island has many museums for those who don’t feel like hiking through the ruins of these stunning castles. For those looking to explore the history related to the gods and goddesses worshiped on the island a must see is the Archaeological Museum which has a large variety of exhibits from local excavations, Like the gorgon from the Temple of Artemis , as well as other excavations from Epirus and classical, Roman, and Hellenistic exhibits. Looking for something equally historical but more recent? In 1890, after the loss of her son, the Empress of Austria Elisabeth of Bavaria had the Achilleion built. A palace dedicated to Achilles, the Greek hero of the Battle of Troy. The Achilleion is filled with paintings and sculptures depicting the victories of the war surrounding Achilles. In the center of the gardens surrounding the palace is a majestic marble statue of the mortally wounded hero. Truly, a place to see if you have a passion for mythology.

posted by maggie on Mar 23

In 1755 a man named Thomas Polk traveled through North Carolina and found a homely spot along a wagon road. Between two rivers, the  Yadkin and the Catawba, were the native Americans traveled to do their trading is were he built his new home. The man, who was United State President James K Polk’s uncle, was the first of many settlers to come to the area that grew to be called Charlotte Town. It was named after Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, who was the wife of King George III. This area was still under British influence and the settlers wanted to have favor with the King so they named it after his German born wife. Over time, however, there came tensions between the British King and the small Charlotte Town. The King tried to impose some laws on the towns people who wanted their independence and it didn’t go over well. In May of  1775, the men of Charlotte Town signed a proclamation called Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence . It was the first declaration of independence created and signed by one of the thirteen colonies. It was said to have been put into play a year before the U.S. Declaration of Independence but there is no real reference to that claim. Historians still debate this declaration because if it was truly written first than that would make the North Carolinian’s the first to declare their independence from Britian. During the Revolutionalry War there were camps of both British and American armies. They had many smaller fights between the troops and Lord General Charles Cornwallis , frustrated with the situation, called the town the Hornet’s Nest. Religion is also a major part of the development of North Carolina. This is were many of the different Christian sects developed. Most of them were Presbyterian but there were also many Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians as well as Catholics. This is why the city also carries the name The City of Churches. This area also had a great Gold Rush during the 1800s which led to the Charlotte Mint opening in 1837. This was the place to mine for gold until the California Gold Rush happened. The Mint was seized by the Confederate forces during the Civil War and was not reopened again. The town went on to become a cotton processing center as well as a railroad hub when those industries were strong. Now the city is filled with luxurious hotels and lots of banking activities. It is the second largest banking headquarters in America.

posted by maggie on Mar 3

When I was in college I read stories written by two different authors who made me want to visit the state of Maine. Due to the way they described the landscape and the small towns along the water I became curious and wanderlust.  I don’t remember the name of the author who wrote the first one I read.  It was a short story that described the rocky shores of the Atlantic ocean.  Steep, old, rock staircases leading up to the businesses and the hotels of Maine that overlooked the shoreline.  She made it sound like the landscapes, the seascapes and the buildings were shades of gray. Not gray in a bad or depressing way that winters in some places can become, but the shades of gray that make up the life of an old town and illustrate its history.

The second writer to make me wonder about the state, was May Sarton. She wrote a book of a year she spent alone, in order to gather herself together and to work on her craft of writing, to work in the garden, to shovel the snow.  This book was titled “A Year of Solitude”.  This is what I wanted.  A year away from everything that threatened my painting.  Day jobs, ex-boyfriends, family and friends.  I wasn’t leaving them forever…I just needed to spend time away to discover what the different shades of gray meant.  And I needed to find out whether I could capture that in the paintings–the shades of subtle color necessary in order to create the images I wanted to capture on the canvas. I didn’t spend a whole year in Maine, just one winter.

It was cold.  Makes sense.  It was Maine in the winter and it was cold.  I had rented a small cottage which was old and not well insulated. But a fire each night, and to be honest a fire throughout the day cast a warmer kind of glow on the grays that were just outside my windows.  Occasionally a small deer would walk across the yard, and her smooth brown coat seemed cadmium red in comparison to this black and white winter world.  I learned a lot about color during the months I spent in Maine.   I found that it is the subtleties of life, the grays of life that made the browns so vibrant.  My paintings changed a lot that winter.  I changed a lot that winter, that winter in spent in a state of grays–in the state of Maine.

posted by maggie on Feb 21

There are lots of great things to see and do while you are visiting in Hong Kong. The city is filled with many elegant hotels you can find here www.hongkonghotel.com to stay in and some of them are famous for there architecture and service. While you are staying on this island, there are other islands near by that are worth exploring and there are many tours you can take to see and learn about each one. Whether you want to take a bike ride or hike the areas to see the historical monuments you will find the area charming and relaxing. There are even some places along the beaches to take your shoes off and enjoy the ocean.

One of these islands is called Cheung Chau which means long island in Chinese. It takes no more than an hour to get to the island by ferry from the Hong Kong Central District. This little island has actually be occupied longer than any of the surrounding area. It was mainly a fishing village originally and was part of lands leased to the U.K. under the terms of the Second Convention of Peking. It became the fishing and supply hub for a few of the other neighboring islands like Lantau. In 1953 they set up the Hong Kong Observatory that helps track weather patterns and more.

Lantau Island is the largest island in the Hong Kong chain and is located at the opening of the Pearl River. There are some great tourist attractions on this island. People come from all over the world to see the Tian Tan Buddha which is a bronze Buddha statue that stands about eighty five feet high. There are monastery buildings and restaurants near by which makes a nice place to have lunch. There is a great ride on the Ngong Ping Cable Car that goes between Ngong Ping Cable Terminal out to Tung Chung Terminal with give a spectacular view of the big Buddha statue and all of the beautiful park surrounding it. It is a twenty five minute ride.

posted by maggie on Feb 17

Do you have an interest in the Middle Ages?  Do you feel the only way to really immerse yourself in the 11th Century is to travel to Europe and tour the various cities built in those times?  Or is it possible to travel to New York City and get a taste of it there?  Most people in New York head out to the top five or so attractions, the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, the Chrysler Building, Central Park, and so on, but how many take a trip up to a hill that overlooks the Hudson in Fort Tyron Park.  There, you will find a museum covering four acres of ground that contains about five thousand works of art from Medieval Europe, mostly through the 12th through 15th Centuries.  This is the Cloisters Museum.

A branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cloisters is dedicated to the architecture and the art of Medieval Europe.  Even the building and cloistered gardens are a part of the collection, which includes such works of art as the Plaque with Saint John the Evangelist, from the early 9th Century, the Cloisters Cross, from the 12th Century, the actual Chapter House from Notre Dame-dePontaut, from the 12th Century, the Tomb Effigy of Jean d’Alluye, from the mid-13th Century, to the Doorway from Moutiers-Saint-Jean, also from the mid-13th Century.

Absolutely vital to see are the Unicorn Tapestries.  These seven hangings were believed to have been designed in Paris and made in Brussels  somewhere between 1495 and 1505, and are known to be some of the best and most complicated art works that survive from the Middle Ages.  Known as The Hunt of the Unicorn, they’re made of wool, silk, and metallic threads, and these seven hangings depicting, as its title suggests, a hunt for a Unicorn, have been displayed together since the 17th Century.  They’re an amazing sight.

If you’re planning a trip to New York City, find a hotel here at http://www.luxurymanhattanhotel.com, and then make your way to Fort Tyron Park and see this incredible piece of Medieval history in the United States.