GARNISH ISLAND

GARDEN PARADISE  

Garnish, a small island of 37 acres in County Cork, Ireland, was a most pleasant surprise. Glengariff meaning rugged glen, is tucked between the Caha Mountains and Bantry Bay and is where we boarded a small boat for the ten-minute ride to Garnish. The tide was half out so Harbor Seals were sunning and resting all over the rocks in the harbor. Garnish, the near island, is also called Ilnacullin, island of holly. The use of Ilnacullin distinguishes this beautiful tropical island paradise from another Garnish Island in County Kerry.

The island was originally used by the British as a defense against a Napoleonic invasion. A Martello Tower, thought to be the first in Ireland, is located at the highest point of the island.

In 1910 Annan Bryce bought the island and hired Harold Peto as the architect and garden designer. The Gulf Stream moderates the weather so sub-tropical plants thrive. The island is known to horticulturists around the world. It is a lovely subtropical island garden of beauty. The warm wet climate is perfect for growing such plants. The average rainfall 73 inches

Rhododendrons line the shore paths that revealed beautiful views of inlets, loughs and lounging seals. The walled garden, 100-meters long, contains many fine plants and shrubs with a Clock Tower in the western corner of the garden.

An Italian tearoom borders the southwest lawn of the formal Italian garden with its steps, terraces and pool. An avenue of Italian Cypress trees leads to the Grecian Temple The Caha Mountains are a magnificent backdrop to the Temple.

Except for the tower and tea house, no buildings are visible. Work sheds and storage areas are all hidden among the shrubbery and trees. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time wandering all the gardens and enjoying the beautiful tropical atmosphere. The colors of the garden rotate with the seasons.

The island was bequeathed to the Irish people in 1953, and is cared for by the Office of Public Works

The mild climate has turned Glengarriff into a winter resort town, and as a result craft chops abound as well as boatmen soliciting business

STOCKHOMN

SPECTACULAR CITY HALL   

One of the most spectacular buildings in Stockholm, Sweden is the elegant City Hall, Stadshuset. The 395’ high brick tower is topped with three crowns. There are three explanations for the crowns. They represent the three tribes that inhabited Sweden; they represent the three wise men; and they represent Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, the three Scandinavian countries.

In 1923 eight million bricks went into making one of Europe’s finest public buildings. The brick work is 3- D in some places and is some of the finest brick masonry I’ve ever seen. More like a palace than a City Hall, each room is finer than the previous one.

The Blue Room, 1911, used for Nobel Prize presentations, was finished in 1923 with interruptions of WW I. The cost was estimated to be 6 million crowns, but actually cost 18 million crowns. All materials are from Sweden. The staircase steps are wide enough and shallow enough so Nobel winners can glide down them. There is a 10,000-pipe organ in the room and 1360 people can be seated for dinner.

The Parliament Room has high ceilings with wooden beams that represent the Viking past. The roof is V shaped. The doors are beautiful carved ones. The original Parliament had 100 members, 14 of whom were women. The women had their own red velvet room to confer in, while men would go off to the ‘smoking room’. Today there are 54 women in the 101 member parliament. There are 20 provinces in Stockholm. Members are elected for four years.

The tower is popular for weddings. The open ceiling has glass between it and the wall. Next to the tower is a room built specially to house several beautiful French tapestries.

The Prince Gallery is a long hall with large windows. On the wall opposite the windows a prince painted the reflection in pastel of what is seen out each window so everyone seated in the room would be looking at the same view. The windows were inset with top to bottom granite-type reliefs. In effect they framed the huge windows. They are beautiful and each one different.

The Three Crown Room contains 19 million 1/4 -inch pieces of glass and gold mosaic chips. The designs, done and completed in three years by a 27 year old, depict Sweden’s history. The entire walls are covered. The big eyes of the people were the artist’s desire. Its glitter is earth shattering and there are 200 color shades. About 30 tiles disappear each year, the majority of them on Nobel Prize night.

I’ve never seen a public building like Stockholm’s beautiful City Hall.

COCO CABS

A WHAT?

I was lucky to get to Cuba a month before President Bush cut off all travel to the island country. Our Havana hotel was right on the Malecon—a busy street we’d call the waterfront boulevard. We had wonderful views of the ocean, but we also had a terrific viewing position to watch all the well known 40s and 50s automobiles of my youth. Mingled among all these wonderful old cars were the cutest little yellow coco cabs.

I had been alerted to the coco cabs by a friend, so it was on top of my list to see and ride. Coco cabs are small, yellow, fiber-glass, open vehicles with a small gas engine. The top curves to cover the driver and two passengers who sit in the back. These 3-wheel ‘taxis’ are seen all over the city and the average fee for a ride to about anywhere was three dollars, US.

The coco cab is described many ways. A hollowed out coconut. Like a hat of ancient Hawaiian royalty. A circle with a bite taken out of it. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. You can decide how to describe them. They’re cute as can be and a lot of fun to ride. They look like they’d be slow, but they actually are pretty fast and zip in and out of traffic with no problems.

One evening we were returning to the hotel after a concert. The ocean was raging throwing huge amounts of water on the Malecon as the waves broke on the seawall. You could say our coco cab was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Enough water splashed onto us to short out the engine. The driver tried and tried to restart the engine but finally ended up pushing the cab. We could see the hotel less than a block away so we paid him and walked to the hotel.

After visiting a museum in Remidos I was examining the pedicab which was our transportation in that Cuban city. After figuring out the bit different break, I asked the driver of our pedicab if I could peddle it back to the bus. He didn’t hesitate and jumped in the backseat with my traveling buddy. I mounted the bike and peddled off in the middle of our pedicab caravan. It was an easy bike ride and fun for me. I guess it caused quite a stir as everyone came out their front door to watch us. I have no idea what they were saying among themselves. I was having a good time!