“As we live and as we are, Simplicity – with a capital “S” – is difficult to comprehend nowadays. We are no longer truly simple. We no longer live in simple terms or places. Life is a more complex struggle now. It is now valiant to be simple: a courageous thing to even want to be simple. It is a spiritual thing to comprehend what simplicity means.”
― Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House
Santa Lucija, Gozo
Architecture
MEMORIES FROM BOSTON
Architecture of the nineteen seventies – architect Ieoh Ming Pei.
The Pavillion
The sailboat Victura and the exterior of the library.
If one would like to catch up with some historical and biographical information on John F. and Robert Kennedy, then it would be a good idea to visit the
J.F.Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum at Columbia Point in South Boston.
Apart from getting a good oversight of the life, the presidency and history of that period, a visit to the building itself is definitely worth it.
The building was designed by Chinese born American architect, I.M.Pei, and was build during 1977-79.
As you walk towards this massive construction, you see a stark contrast between its white concrete exterior and its black steel and glass façade, an unornamented expression in abstract shapes, a monument to modern American architecture.
Pei also designed other great buildings in Boston; like the extension to the
Boston Public Library, the West wing of the Museum of Fine Arts, the Hancock Tower.
I was particularly impressed to see how well old and new architecture can be together, this is shown over and over in the city of Boston, Boston is probably a good example to show how architecture has changed from the American Renaissance, to the Modern, in the 20th century, with the more modern buildings making a clear statement of what they are meant for, attracting visitors from afar, to not only look at the external building, but also see what is to be found inside, and what the buildings are used for.
It was interesting to learn that Pei was also the architect that designed the great pyramid shaped entrance and addition to the Louvre Museum in Paris, a piece of work that I have always admired very much.
Looking back I enjoyed very much taking photos of this building. And of course also learning a little bit about J.F.Kennedy. The friend who was with me was very knowledgeable on the history of all America’s presidents and he guided me around.
I have very many good memories of my stay in Massachusetts and Connecticut, especially visiting David Henry Thoreau’s and Walt Whitman’s Concord, and the Florences Griswolds museum in Old Lyme. I am looking at some of my photos and notes and hope to share more in future.
SIMPLICITY
“As we live and as we are, Simplicity – with a capital “S” – is difficult to comprehend nowadays. We are no longer truly simple. We no longer live in simple terms or places. Life is a more complex struggle now. It is now valiant to be simple: a courageous thing to even want to be simple. It is a spiritual thing to comprehend what simplicity means.”
― Frank Lloyd Wright, The Natural House
Santa Lucija, Gozo
GETTING TO KNOW IR-RABAT
St.Francis square and church, this is where the library is found also, beside the old hospital on the right. It is a busy square and the café at the corner is where one can find the locals drink and chat. In the old hospital, besides a beautiful courtyard is a place where regular exhibitions are held of work by Maltese or Gozitan artists.
Road where national reference library is
Close to where the National Research Library is situated, I found this little bookshop, it was closed as it was around one o’clock, but in the window were displayed the sweetest and most beautifully sculpted little portrayals of life on Gozo, people in all sort of work and play, I will visit there again and hopefully the shop will be open. The old door is one of much found style here, the arches are plentiful in local architecture, I think that it looks real nice. It is in the little streets like the one above on the left that one finds all these treasures, and there are plenty of these streets.
In another one of those narrow streets I came upon a lady, her name is Victoria, she was making her lace in the doorway and we got chatting, seems I can take classes after all, she is going to talk to her teacher around the corner, that would be lovely and I will take the opportunity if it presents itself. The interesting thing was that the lady hardly spoke any English, wish I could speak Malti but so far only a few words like bonju, and triq….
Another interesting shop I came across was this one where the man was restoring religious statues, he did a marvellous job by the look of it. The place smelled of paint. It is interesting about the culture here in Gozo that religious objects are still part and parcel of everyday life. I entered another little shop just beside the St.George church where a nice man called Martin informed me about the sisters (a religious order instigated by Don Bosco in Italy called the Salesians) that are still working with orphans and young people right here in Victoria, he told me to go and see them and they would tell me all about the more social aspects of the place, as in what sort of social work is being done and what problems, if any, are most prominent here on Gozo. I will take him up on it and go see the sisters. If you live in a place you have got to know a bit more about the people, the culture, and the community. It is what interest me most beside the architecture, the plants and insects, and the limestone.
What a pleasant and most interesting morning I experienced, now more than ever I believe that if I want to get to know a place and its people, all I have to do is talk to whoever is open to chat. It is amazing the knowledge you gather that way. And what a lovely and interesting place this island really is.
OUR IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOURHOOD IN VICTORIA
It is now two weeks ago that we arrived in Victoria – Ir Rabat, and we are living in a spaceous flat in the shadow of the Citadella – we are not quite in the oldest part of the town with its little, narrow and beautiful streets, but we are close enough to hear, loud and clear, the bells of Santa Marija, the Citadella’s cathedral, this is something I value very much. Both my father and grandfather were bell ringers back in Belgium. The houses in the street here are architecturally interesting, typically built in the Maltese style with its closed balconies, some made of wood like you see in Malta, some made out of stone which you see more on Gozo. I have read that these balconies provided women, who may not have been walking out so often in the past, with the possibility of watching the world go by providing food for talk later on in the day! Personally I find these balconies a very attractive feature. Where we live it is not so quiet, but that does not matter, I want to see life here and experience it. I want to draw it and photograph it, and I want to interact with people, with the Gozitans. A class that I was hoping to attend, in lace making, fell through yesterday, I was disappointed – I even brought my bobbins with which I used to practice making Flemish lace with me. So now I need to try and find other ways to interact and meet the local people. I talk with shopkeepers, librarians, and anybody I meet and seems open to talk – I think that is a start anyway. As with my container garden I need to be patient with this too.
Everyday I take a long walk, not only to buy fresh produce from a vegetable stalls, or to get fish, but also to visit the library, a local museum, or just to get the feel of the town, there is so much to see and take in, I keep discovering new things; buildings, streets, interesting architecture, churches and other aspects of life in Victoria. It sure is interesting. And there is so much to read up on the history of the place, luckily the local library has a good variety of books on the subject.
LONDON FROM THE WINDOW OF A TAXI CAB
Kings Cross Station – London
It had been a long time since I was in London for any reason, but recently we had the pleasure of being invited to a luncheon with my partner’s brother and cousins, a bit of a reunion you could say, and very pleasant it was. This meant that we would take a taxi ride from the train station to the venue, and sitting in the back of the vehicle I had quite a good view behind me and also from the side windows, so out came my mobile phone and I just snapped away. Not too unhappy about the result I decided to share some of the photos here. All these photos are taken somewhere in the central area. London has so much to see architectural wise, also delightful is to see all the people passing by, normally I am very careful about photographing people, I am always conscious of not wanting to be intrusive, so I was delighted to notice that I got quite a few people in my pictures this time, I find it so interesting, such an amazing diversity of humankind to be seen in this cosmopolitan city. I was very impressed with the beautiful contemporary architecture of Kings Cross railway station. Like being underneath a gigantic mushroom inside!
I am also always very interested in the trees that grow in cities, they make all the difference to and add enormously to the beauty of the buildings, even, and perhaps especially in winter. I am thinking of the boulevards in Paris, the many mulberry trees in Lisbon, the pine trees around Athens, and the plane trees in Antwerp to name but a few. It is also good to see that trees can still form part of modern city planning, more and more so in fact.
I’ve enjoy the short visit to London and after all it’s only an hour’s flight from Cork!
JUST VISUAL
Just some more photos of the beauty of Budapest’s rich heritage and different styles.
An inner city church near hotel
SOLID AND INTERESTING
While being driven through the late night lit up streets of the city the above thoughts went through my mind, the buildings solid and heavy, the serious looking people, the streets wide and straight, it all gave the impression of things being grounded. Solid.
I loved it straight away and my extended walk around the old town of Pest did not disappoint the next day. I immediately noticed that even though the buildings appeared ‘heavy’ they were far from it. A variety of architectural styles; neo-classical, neo-renaissance, neo-baroque, and art nouveau. Many beautiful buildings to be seen. I visited the St. Stefan Basilica first, all around it there were Christmas market stalls, the ambience was very pleasant. The basilica was impressive, the lightning gave just the right feel for the beautiful arches, capitals, the cupola, and other features, I took quite a few photos. When leaving, as I walked down the steps the bells rang out over the town, a sound that I truly love and enjoyed.
I wandered around part of the old town, looking up more than down and was amazed and delighted to see the ornate windows everywhere, again I tried to document some of these features as I’m quite fascinated by them.
This was only a three day visit to Budapest, we did not get to see the other part of the city which is called Buda and is across the river Danube. But we will return in May next year, looking forward to see and find out more.
As for the people, lovely and very polite, but more about that in another blog. And plenty more photos too. I’ve sure come away with nice memories.
agoyvaerts 