Parts
of Europe do some strange trimming to their linden trees. I’ve seen this
several places and am always in awe, but it was most prominent in Belgium.
Maybe it was just the right time of the year. The Linden tree is deciduous so
the trimming seemed severe and was most obvious. The linden tree is a
decorative fragrant tree that can be long lived and grow big. It appears that
the severely trimmed trees are meant to be kept medium height so they can be
trimmed each year. The best answer I could ever get anywhere was, “It’s a
European thing.”
In
the days of the English witch hunts the thumbs of a supposed witch was tied to
her big toes before being thrown into the water, river or whatever. If she
floated she was guilty and if she sank she was innocent—either way she was dead.
Pierre
Cardin described The Queen Victoria Building (QVC)
as the most beautiful shopping centre in
the world. Built in 1898 and occupying an entire city block the building is
an outstanding example of Byzantine architecture. It was built to replace the original
Sydney Markets. Remodeled in the 1930s it has housed a concert hall, City
Library, and municipal offices. Refurbished in 1984 it now accommodates more
than 200 shops. With a series of domes and domelets and exquisite stained glass
windows along with extensive wood paneling the building has retained the
turn-of-the-century charm. When in Sydney, Australia the QVC should be on your
to see list.
If
you’ve been where sugar grows you may know that sugarcane is cut once a year
and then regrows. After the third cutting the fields are burned and the remains
plowed under. Beans are then planted to
replace the nitrogen to the soil, and then the next year sugarcane is planted
to start the cycle over again.
Australia’s
Vegemite is made at the very end of the sugar process.
The story was framed in our Sydney,
Australia hotel room. The second part of the building was built of sandstone
with Georgian flattened brick arches over the windows. Built as six terrace
houses, it was known as Scarlett’s Cottages. Scarlett was a well-known lady of
the night who lived and died in the area.
Scarlett
was Eric’s one true love, but although in a moment of thoughtlessness she
declared her love for him, she did not mean it. However, Eric died before
learning of Scarlett’s lie. It is well known that to this day Eric wanders the
halls and rooms of the cottages searching and calling for Scarlett, who had met
an untimely and tragic death. On occasion Eric has appeared in front of
unknowing hotel staff members, questioning them of Scarlett’s whereabouts.
We were staying in a haunted hotel!
However, none of us ran into Eric’s ghost during our stay.
A
really clean modern restroom:
Our van driver detoured into
Ashburton to show us an ultra modern restroom. The
clean public unisex toilets were all push button. A button was pushed to close
the door. Another button was pushed to dispense the TP. The toilet flushed only
when the sensor activated soap and faucet were in use! Another button
opened the door.
A sign
warns that at 9 minutes you will be given
a warning and at 10 minutes the door will automatically open--- best that
you be finished with your business! Really a very neat system. We again saw the
same system at Queenstown, New Zealand Botanical Gardens.
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