10 September 2022 - TEVERGA PREHISTORIC PARK - SPAIN

 

TEVERGA 

PREHISTORIC PARK 

- SPAIN -

 

G'day folks,

Here, you can see replicas of Europe's most famous cave paintings and even some of the animals that feature in the art. 

No replica, no matter how realistic, can ever compare with seeing a real cave painting created by the hands of prehistoric humans. But at the Prehistoric Park of Tevergaain, located in the foothills of the awe-inspiring mountains of Asturias, you have the chance to visit some astoundingly replicated rock art in preparation for visiting the real thing.

At Tevergaain’s main gallery, the “Cave of Caves,” reproductions of the famous cave paintings at Niaux, Tito Bustillo, Pena de Candamo, Altamira, and many other sites are exhibited in dark underground tunnels explored with a tour guide using flashlights. Exact copies of Ice Age artifacts from all over Europe are also displayed in the museum building.

 

As a unique added touch, Tevergaain is also a superb place to see, in the flesh, some of the animals that feature in the cave art and once roamed the prehistoric landscape. Species such as European bison, Przewalski horses (which look just like the equines painted at the Tito Bustillo and Pena de Candamo caves), red deer and fallow deer are housed in large enclosures on the grounds. You can also marvel at the results of modern attempts to “recreate” extinct species like the Aurochs and the Tarpan through selective breeding.

The park hosts workshops throughout the day where you can learn to light fires in the laborious way that primitive humans would have done, or how to accurately use an atlatl (spear-thrower) or bow and arrow to hunt game (no real animals harmed in this). This educational park is a window into another era, and a great way to learn about the environmental and historical context in which this ancient cave art was created by the early human tribes of modern Europe.

 

29 January 2022 - SONNY BONO MEMORIAL PARK - WASHINGTON DC

 

SONNY BONO

 MEMORIAL PARK 

- WASHINGTON DC -

G'day folks,

A small triangle of DC grass is the final resting place of one of Sonny and Cher's songs. 

Not every memorial in Washington, DC is a colossal, tourist-swarmed, marble and stone monument. Some, like Sonny Bono Memorial Park, are quiet, intimate, and easy to miss if you don’t know where to look. 

The small, triangular patch of grass where New Hampshire Avenue intersects 20th and O Streets has been a memorial to Salvatore “Sonny” Bono since his friend Geary Simon, a local real estate developer, dedicated the 800-square-foot space in 1998. Bono, who had achieved fame in his early life as a recording artist and producer, became friendly with Simon while serving as a representative for California’s 44th district, an office he held until his sudden death in 1998. The two men met at a martial studio owned by Simon’s girlfriend and attended by Bono’s children, and quickly developed a close friendship. Following Bono’s tragic ski accident, Simon approached the DC Department of Parks and Recreation, offering $25,000 of his own money for the development and maintenance of the unused space.

 Simon decorated the traffic island with shrubbery, small benches, a tree from Bono’s congressional district in Southern California, and a plaque reading “In Memory of My Friend Sonny Bono 1935-1998: Entertainer, Entrepreneur, Statesman, Friend.” Buried underneath the plaque is a small vault containing various memorabilia, including the original sheet music to Sonny & Cher’s “The Beat Goes On.”

Clancy' comment: A nice gesture for a friend, eh?

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24 September 2019 - PARQUE TRIANON, BRAZIL

PARQUE TRIANON, BRAZIL

G'day folks,

This park feels like a lush little jungle full of wildlife nestled within São Paulo. 

 

This city park is so lush, you can easily forget you’re in the middle of a bustling metropolis. It feels like a small slice of the jungle, conveniently placed within São Paulo.

 

  Numerous trails wind around the park. The paths lead you among all kinds of native species of palms and trees such as the iron wood, jequitibá, zebra wood, Nectaranda, and of course the “Pau Brasil” (the Brasilwood tree), which the country is named after.

 

 The park is also home to a surprising variety of native wildlife. Over 29 species of birds have been reported within the park, including numerous hummingbirds and even parrots such as the white-eyed parakeet and the maroon-bellied parakeet. There are also some resident two-toed sloths; however, these are much harder to see due to the dense foliage.

 You’ll find some human-made attractions, too. A number of sculptures with a Greco-Roman theme, such as a sublime dryad and a surreal faun, are sprinkled throughout the park. There are also benches where you can hunker down with a book or simply sit and watch the world go by.

Clancy's comment: Sounds like a great place to chill out, and take photographs of wildlife. 

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