Three weeks ago, I spent a day in London. I did some shopping near Piccadilly and some sightseeing. This time I went to Rotherhithe (where Canada Water lies) and took some nice pictures. Enjoy!
Forest Hill
28 MarMid-february, I spent a few days in London. I took the opportunity to go to Forest Hill (Borough of Lewisham). I wanted to see Horniman Gardens, part of the Horniman Museum. There, you can take beautiful panoramic pictures of the southern part of the City.
Happy New Year – Bonne année
31 DecJe vous souhaite une très bonne année 2016. Une année pleine de bonheur, de paix et de joie.
I wish a happy new year to everybody. A year full of peace, joy and fun!
Hadrian’s Wall
27 OctHadrian’s Wall was buit by the order of the emperor Hadrian, following his visit to Britain in AD 122. It was planned as a continuous wall with a milecastle every Roman mile (1.48 km) and two turrets equally spaced between each milecastle. The wall, with its defensive ditches and large forts, stretched from coast to coast, a distance of 80 Roman miles (approximately 120 km or 75 miles). It formed the northernmost frontier of the Roman empire. Hadrian’s Wall is a World Heritage Site, designated by UNESCO.
Aira Force
24 AugAira Force is located 5 km north of Glenridding and one of the prettiest, most romantic, of Lakeland forces. It is a 22 meter waterfall that’s spectacular in spate and can be viewed from stone bridges spanning the top and bottom of the drop.
The falls flank the western side of Gowbarrow Park, whose hillside still blazes green and gold in spring, as it was doing when the Wordsworths visited in April 1802. Dorothy’s sprightly recollections of the visit in her journal inspired William to write his famous Daffodils poem, though it was not until two years later that he first composed the famous lines (borrowing many of Dorothy’s exact phrases). Despite its fame now, nothing much was thought of the poem at the time; it didn’t even have a title on first publication in 1807.
Lake District – A lexical note
3 JulFrom times to times I’ll use less frequent words in my future posts relating to L.D. So today I publish a few definition from COED12 (COED12 stands for Concise Oxford English Dictionary Twelfth Edition).
Ait or Eyot
▶N. [in place names] Brit. A small island in a river.
Beck
▶N. A stream.
Cairn
▶N. A mound of rough stones built as a memorial or landmark.
Dale
▶N. A valley, especially in northern England.
Fell
▶N. A hill or stretch of high moorland, especially in northern England.
Force
▶N. N. English A waterfall.
Garth
▶N. 1 Brit. An open space surrounded by cloisters. 2 archaic A yard or garden.
Ghyll or Gill
▶N. chiefly N. English 1 A deep ravine, especially a wooded one. 2 A narrow mountain stream.
Holm or Holme
▶N. Brit. 1 An islet. 2 A floodplain.
Howe
▶N. N. English A tumulus or barrow.
Kirk
▶N. Scottish & N. English A church.
Mere
▶N. literary (except in place names) A lake or pond.
Tarn
▶N. A small mountain lake.
Thorp or Thorpe
▶N. [in place names] A village or hamlet.
Thwaite
▶N. [in place names] A piece of wild land cleared or reclaimed for cultivation.
Lake District
30 JunI spent last fortnight on holiday in Lake District (aka The Lakes or Lakeland). Lake District is a National Park located in Cumbria (Northern England), between Lancaster and Scottish border. It’s a land full of lakes, fells, castles, ruins, sheep, kirks, forces…
Cette année, je suis parti en vacance au Lake District. Le L. D. se situe dans le nord-ouest de l’Angleterre, grosso modo entre Lancaster et la frontière écossaise. C’est très peu connu en dehors de la Grande-Bretagne mais en Angleterre, c’est une destination très prisée. Cette région est un immense parc national d’environ 2300 km², au relief montagneux avec des lacs, des châteaux, des moutons, des ruines…
Le L. D. est associé aux ‘Lake Poets’, un groupe de poètes romantiques de la première moitié du XIX s. ayant tous vécus au L. D. Parmi eux, citons William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge et Robert Southey.
Interesting building in Brooklyn (III)
31 MaySoaring more than 500 ft. above Hanson Pl., the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank with its striking silhouette is the most prominent feature of the Brooklyn skyline. Situated at the intersection of two main thoroughfares –Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues–, it was the tallest building on Long Island for many years.
The setback and the fine ornamental details and rich carving of the lower two stories are the Byzantine building’s most striking features. The crowning gilded copper dome was intended to recall the dome of the bank’s first building on Broadway (in Brooklyn). Beneath the dome is the famous illuminated four–faced dial clock, one of the largest in the world.
The interior, a simple and elegant Romanesque and Revival space, imagines baking as a quasi–religious act. The great banking room –112 by 73 ft., 63 ft. high– is a basilica–like three–bay space set on a nave–and–aisles plan. The walls and floors of the banking room are finished in polished exotic marbles, and it is highlighted with golden mosaic vaults and enameled steel.
Erected in 1929, the bank remained in continuous use until 2005, when the upper floors were converted into luxury condominiums.
Interesting building in Manhattan (XI)
30 Apr
The northernmost of the four twin-towered apartment houses that give Central Park West its distinctive skyline, the Eldorado is one of the finest and most dramatically massed Art Deco residential buildings in the city. The form of the building, with its massive base and twin towers set at the Central Park West corners, closely resembles the massing of the nearby San Remo, which was also completed in 1930.
The Eldorado towers rise free of the seven stories base for twelve stories. Each is six bays wide on CPW and faced with tan brick. Futuristic, rocket–like pinnacles crown each tower and an angular frieze runs above the third floor. There are stylized brick spandrel panels below many of the windows, and angular balconies with zigzag panels.
Construction of the Eldorado coincided with the stock market crash of 1929, which led to the collapse of the real estate market. Despite financial and labor problems, the building was completed in 1930, but the owners experienced rental problems and finally defaulted on loan payments. The Eldorado has attracted many residents of note, particularly people associated with the arts, such as Milton Avery, Carrie Fisher, Groucho Marx and Marilyn Monroe.
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