Waffle Research

[wildsweetone]

I have to toot the New Zealand horn here. Last weekend I saw Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.

Having recently been to our South Island and walked on the Arthur's Pass area of the Southern Alps, I have to say "Far out we have one hell of a beautiful country here!"

We have lakes, rivers, glaciers, deserts, fields, native bush, wild beaches - some with black sand - etc...

We are so lucky here.

What does your neck of the woods have, that you really love? Describe it at will if you please, I'd like to know. Yep, it's all in the name of Research

 

[Ms.M]

I have to agree with you wso, New Zealand does look beautiful, a little paridise off the beaten path.

Where i live in Seattle is sort of like that, tucked up way in the corner of the states, its the largest city in this region, but it really is closer to Vancouver, Canada than any other large city in the states.

It is a very beautiful place, Puget Sound borders the west of the city, the ballard locks runs through the northern part of the city, connecting to Lake Washington on the eastern side.

Beyond Lake Washington 30 miles or so sit the Cascade mountain range, covered in snow year round and running down the range and if i walk down to the lake i will see towering above everything MT. Ranier the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states...yes i know to my fellow americans it is listed as the 3rd tallest mountain, but hell whats 75 feet when we are talking 14,500 :

Now if we turn back to the sound and stare off across it, we will see the Olympic Mountain Range, where somewhere inside the national park you will find the largest rain forest in the states.

The weather is usually mild, never gets to hot or to cold, it is known as the rain capital of the country....but that is a myth it actually rains more in NYC than it does here.

So all in all it quite a nice place to live.

Ms. M

 

[TheEarl]

WSO: Have been to NZ and agree that it is one of the most beautiful places on earth. Went to Queenstown and ended up riding through most of the places where they filmed LotR.

England is one of the most over industrialised nations in the world (btw. OT I love the new season of Buffy The vampire Slayer where they show England and it's all green fields and pastures. Such a cliche), but there is some incredible natural beauty if you know where to look.

Par exemple: Coming over the hill when driving into the city of Bath. The entire Roman city is laid out beneath you in a perfect sweeping landscape of hills and marble buildings.

The Earl

 

[wildsweetone]

Oh Ms.M where you are sounds like a nice place to be Hmm maybe I'll add Seattle to my dream holiday after all...

Oh Earl, THAT was you??? I heard about you you know

They filmed LoTR all over this country. Some amazing places. The Rivendell waterfalls were, I think, in the Wellington Zoo...?

They're filming The Last Samurai here too. We drove through that area a couple of weeks ago. Rolling countryside, wild west coast *sigh*

I like very much the sound of the view of Bath Earl, thank you I've never seen it, but can picture it

 

[wildsweetone]

27oC / 80oF

whew, it's hot!

what i'd do for a snowball right now...

 

[jfinn]

Though I've not made it to NZ yet it's definately at the top of my have to see list. My parents were there fifteen years or so ago and still talk of it as one of the best trips of their lives.

But I live in Michigan and though most people who've never visited have the idea that all of it is like Detroit, there is actually some gorgeous scenery in this state most of it having to do with our lakes and rivers.

Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay with it's aqua water and pale yellow beaches is a technicolor dream. Charlevoix, Petoskey and Harbor Springs are picture postcard towns that nestle between Lake Charlevoix, Walloon Lake and Little Traverse Bay.

Because most of the soil in Michigan is mainly sand, you'll find very little silt in the water. This gives it a crystal clear appearance, and even with our rivers run blue.

Jayne

 

[Guest]

Oh Boy........

Good old Utah in these here United States is one of those "hidden" little known treasures of beauty and remarkable scenery. (We don't like to advertise it all that much...brings in too damn many people).

BUT.......

In the North...you've got a valley (where I live) surrounded on two sides by some of the most beautiful mountains imaginable. From downtown Salt Lake, you're only 45 minutes away (tops) from some of the greatest skiing anywhere. (In the winter). During the summer, some of the most beautiful, majestic lakes, rivers and streams. Plenty of hiking, fishing or camping. Not to mention an abundance of wild life.

To the south...it's like entering a whole different country. You like westerns? Well, we're the proud owner of what's called "Castle valley" where in damn near every western you watch...your looking at a part of Utah. Canyon Lands contains some of the most beautiful red rock formations (Arches National Park) not to mention Zion's park...where one of the deepest gordges in the world exists. Just to name a few of the many, many wonderful scenic and beautiful places to visit.

To the east.....Dinosaur National park....talk about fascinating with tons of excavations...(on going) and tons of fossils to hunt and have fun looking for.

To the West......the biggest damn Lake this side of the Mississippi, not to mention the world renown Salt Flats, record area of the fastest land car (speed record) in the world.

A little further west from there...then you're looking at Las Vegas, gambling.....hell. What more can you want?

I remain, (Happy to be living here. And no...I'm not a mormon)

 

[deliciously_naughty]

Well, I'm back in boston...

Boston MA is a small town in a big cities' clothes. While we are a world class city, offering Museums (the Museum of Fine Arts Boston has the best Egyptian collection in the world after Egypt and the British Museum), Broadway shows (Medea and other shows often have the pre broadway run in Boston and the tours often come through town), Shopping (we have one of the only Tiffany's in New England, great galleries, funky little stores), Music (Aerosmith among others got their start here and there are some great unknowns still on the circut), Clubs (manray caters to the alterna crowd, gay clubs, trendy clubs, college clubs), World Class Education (MIT, Harvard, BU, BC, Northeastern and other fabulous universities are here...there are over 100 colleges in the city), and a really good public transit system (affordable and well thought out...except it closes early)....we are small enough that I often run into friends when I just run around.

The age of the city is obvious in the beautiful brick buildings, the historical markers, and the beautiful boston public garden. If you walk around Beacon Hill, the townhouses and streets make you feel like you're walking through a European town. Gorgeous churches, like Trinity church sit next to skyscrapers...I love Boston and it's gorgeous.


New york...my previous home is great too The pace is great...it makes your heart faster and all the broadway theaters bring a smile to my face. The skyline is famous and it's sooo fun to see a familiar city when I see a movie or show that takes place in NYC. I'll miss it.

 

[hiddenself]

beantown

Well, I'm back in boston...

the problem with that city is that everyone's transient... like a huge college town...

hs

PS MANRAY rules!!!
(Or used to, at least *sigh* I miss it)

 

[wildsweetone]

we moved four or five years ago from living amongst native bush to living in a spanking new subdivision, new houses, no trees, no gardens, nothing. it has nearly killed me.

a month or two ago a friend encouraged me to go and take some photos of the area where i live. i walked across the road and up to the top of a park - really a paddock for horse riding enthusiasts lol - carying my camera.

i could have sworn black and blue there was no 'green' area near me. i sat myself down on this horse jump and simply stared around me. there it was, just for the looking...

green lush paddocks, big old trees, wind, blue sky, rolling countryside... for the first time, i saw beauty. i make sure i go there often now. all i needed was different eyes.

i wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience...


jayne: if you come here, do please see the South Island. everything is at your fingertips there. i've heard that Michigan is beautiful, i'm glad you've been able to see that.

Sandman: you make me ache to travel. Utah sounds like a definately worthwhile place to visit. thank you for adding to the thread I never knew there was a Dinosaur National Park... i recall way back in the dark ages i had a hankering to be an archeologist *smile*

DN: hmm yep, Boston is now on my 'to visit' list please excuse my ignorance, but is there anything specifically to see to do with the Boston Tea Party?

hiddenself: please feel free to come back and tell me something great about where you live. this is my chill out thread for the moment and i would like to enjoy it

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

The best thing I can think to say about Dallas and its flat, dull terrain, is that it's not Lubock, Abileen, or Midland (hometown of G. Bush). Believe it or not, they're even flatter and duller.

RF

 

[hiddenself]

apologies

hiddenself: please feel free to come back and tell me something great about where you live. this is my chill out thread for the moment and i would like to enjoy it [/B]

I llived in Boston for 10 years and have very fond memories of it. I thought that d_n had coverred the city pretty well and I did not want to ramble on on the same city. So, I tried to be as brief as possible.

Boston is very international, mostly because it has a huge concentration of colleges/universities and they are the kind that attract lots of foreign students. But that is also a minus because many people get there and only stay until they finish up and leave for the four corners of the world. I made great friends there but most of them are now gone (as I am). It was not fun to lose the everyday support and connection that we all had.

I am now in Philadelphia but do not feel sufficiently emotionally invested here to adveritse it.

Again, my most humble apologies.

hs

 

[SlaveMasterUK]

Thanks Sandman for your description of Utah, it sounds really beautiful. I think perhap's I'd better visit some canyon country before I finish writing my apocalyptic thriller, I've always wanted to experience *true* wilderness.

The best thing about England right now is it's scenery, which in my part is not rolling green fields so much as rolling brown fields... I live in a little valley between Bristol & Bath (and believe me there is little Roman about Bath to the naked eye). The city itself is cocooned between two great rows of hills, sprawling up either side in narrow rows of oddly angled terraces and tall, flat georgian buildings in the centre with our famous yellow Bath Stone.

Bristol is a dark nightmare of traffic lights that turn red when there's nothing coming the other way and green when your way ahead is blocked, narrow shortcuts for businessmen too tired with life to care about safety and, recently, armed police to separate the two rival gangs of St. Pauls (Bristol's ghetto).

I drive to work across the Mendips, which is what the West Country is all about. It really is all rolling green hills, on a clear day I can stare for miles down a valley into the heart of Bristol, highlighted by the tiny dot of a helium balloon way above its mooring in Castle Park, Central Bristol. On a fresh summer's morning the air for miles around Chew Valley and Blagdon lakes (two freshwater reservoirs that I pass every day) turns to a thick white cloud for miles around, until I reach the hills of Blagdon and climb above it, staring at the tops of hills beyond over a rolling white sea of mist.

The West Country is beautiful and it's still possible to go walking on a warm summer's day and get completely lost in fields of hard ploughed mud, thinking of nothing but emptiness. Just gotta be ready to run when the farmer comes bouncing across the ruts in his Land Rover, waving his shotgun and screaming "GET ORF MOI LAAAAND!!"

Aaaargh...

ax

 

[wildsweetone]

Rumple: Dallas is totally flat? golly that's hard to picture coming from where i come from. is there not even one little thing you like about where you live though?

hiddenself: thank you, though it was me who misunderstood. i'm sorry. i didn't realise you were from Boston. how long have you been in Philidelphia? there's got to be something you like about the place...? some little thing you can describe in infinate detail for me...?

SlaveMasterUK: thank you for posting a little about your area. you make it sound like i was walking through the West Country with you. thank you for that.


now that my feet are well and truely itching to travel....

grrr

 

[MathGirl]

What does your neck of the woods have, that you really love? Describe it at will if you please, I'd like to know. Yep, it's all in the name of Research

I live in northern California. We have beautiful mountains, coastilne, redwoods, and best of all SAN FRANCISCO.

I do not, repeat, do NOT live in Southern California.

 

[NoJo]

I spent three months or so hitching around the US when I was twenty. I loved it. Every so often I go back and repeat the experience, but with a 4X4 and my kid as co-driver. Two years ago I travelled from NY to LA via Canada and Oregon in Springtime.

Thre were so many beautiful places, and great people. But the two states that stood out for me as the most beautiful were Northern Wyoming and Northern California.

Coming from Britain, a place where it's hard to walk more than a couple of miles without seeing someone, the experience of space in the States is wonderful. I really liked the flat pastures of Nebraska, seen from a deserted two-lane highway (I try to avoid Interstates).

Mathgirl, I really like San Francisco too - it's almost European -- you can walk around (I lived in Berkeley, California for a while). I even like LA -- well, Santa Monica.


But I'm definitely a Londoner. There's simply nowhere like it for beautiful parks and cosmpolitan culture (food, music, pubs, bars, cafes, art). except for the City of London itself, It's really a lot of villages that have fused together but kept a slightly different feel from each other. Which is why the roads are so mazy, and why the transport is so comletely messed up there.

I like taking American friends on a walk from Hampstead Heath, which really is a piece of rural heathland inside London, through to Little Venice via Camden Lock and Regent's Park. A lot of it is part of London few visitors see, and it really shows off all the best features of the town, from rolling woodland, urban chic, to Georgian architecture and formal landscaped gardens.

 

[wildsweetone]

MathGirl, redwoods are trees, is that right? is a redwood the same as a sequioa (sorry about the spelling)?

Sub Joe, i have a friend visiting me tomorrow for a week. he's coming from Worthing. he too was a Londonder... it must be something in the blood i think, some 'pull' that keeps true Londoners wanting to stick around the place, and never forget the special things about being there.

i think that's indicative of any of us that falls in love with a particular place we want to call 'home'.

 

[MathGirl]

Redwoods

MathGirl, redwoods are trees, is that right? is a redwood the same as a sequioa (sorry about the spelling)?
i.

Redwood trees. Sequoia National Park, California. Tallest trees in the world. Botanical name is Sequoia gigantica. Meaning way big. Trunks up to fifty feet in diameter. Yes, diameter.

Coast redwoods of California. Sequoia sempervirens, meaning "always living" because they are the oldest trees in the world. I think they're the oldest living THINGS

Yes, we got trees, bigguns and olduns

By the way, the wood of those trees is ....... well....... red.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I live in a fairytale country. Sweden has tons of beautiful nature. Mountains clothed with dark bluegreen forests. Meadows overflowing with high grass and flowers, where the cows graze. Coastlines with rocks and wooden bridges, seagulls and fishnets, and kids with fishing poles. Or, as I see my part of the world right now, houses and sheds crouching under blankets of snow, children fighting their way through the masses of snow that go up to their waistlines, making snowmen or going downhill on bobsleighs. 3F degrees. HUman beings share this land with animals and fairies.

Down south, on the othe hand, people share land with the ugly trolls, living in concrete caves, walking through slushing, greybrown wet snow on their way to the subway, kids walking around the evil magicians with their poisionous potions, just to have something to do.

I used to work in such a town, and I'm never doing it again. After just a few days down there, my aura feels so soiled I want to go home and take a cleansing bath.

I do love the beauty up here. The green grass, the rivers, the flowers, the wild animals (I saw a fox just outside my house this winter), the forests that are full of berries and mushrooms and eatible leaves that taste soursweet. The smell of warm earth and wood - forests have their own smell, do you know that?

I love the ducks that come into town every day in the winter, asking for food. I often go and buy hotdog buns and give to them, it feels so great to see them munch it down and hear them quack for more.

I love the 1800-style stone buildings in my town. Most of my town burned down in a big fire 1889, and the former wooden-house-town was rebuilt in stone. I still discover new details in architecture here and there!

I love the fact that just outside of the city, there are farms with lots of animals, cows, sheep, horses, pigs, chicken, duck, turkeys, goats... I grew up on a sheep farm myself, and we had cats and dogs. It's really great for a child to grow up in the country, with lots of animals around. It gives them a sense of security, a sense of belonging, that I doubt any city kid has. Serenity beats clubhopping! And, if the mood should strike... there are always cars...

My classmates made fun of me sometimes, when I told them that I took the train into town every now and then... Hey, country is country! And it was much more comfortable than the bus.

 

[MathGirl]

Eire

Last fall we went to Ireland. Stayed in Dublin for a few days, then rented a car and drove around the country for about two weeks.

I loved the whole place. Beautiful scenery, very nice people. No snowcapped mountains or rugged deserts, but lots of GREEN. No wonder they call if the Emerald Isle.

Dublin was neat. Very historical. I liked the small cities best, though. My favorite places were two small cities on the south coast, Tremore and Kinsale. Quiet, cosy, friendly places. Killarney is a wonderful city. There's a scenic area called the Ring of Kerry that's unforgettable.

We went after tourist season, and there was no crowding, easy to find nice places to stay. Everything from bed and breakfast places with five rooms to monstrous old baronial mansions converted into five star hotels with their own golf courses.

The greatest thing about Ireland, though, is the people. We would go to pubs in the evening and just talk to people sitting around drinking that horrible black Guiness stuff. I didn't meet a single grouch on the entire trip.

I'd recommend Ireland to anyone for a relaxing vacation and who wants to meet some lovely people. The roads are very narrow, though, and they drive on the wrong side. Driving there is not for the faint of heart.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I was surprised to see how green the city of Beijing was. The Chinese are trying to correct the balance of nature after cutting down every tree they had during the reign of Mao, so now they have a law saying that every man, woman and child must plant one tree a year.
When me and mum went to Beijing a few years ago, there were flowers, leaves, trees, everywhere!
Very charming.

 

[Octavian]

The malevolence of jagged snow-capped mountains threatening an azure blue sky. The ever-present roar of ice-cold melt water cascading over a 200 ft drop precipice. The silence of a clear cold moonlit night suddenly broken by the eerie howl of a timber wolf.

These are some of the things we don't have where I live.
But it is handy for the shops!

Octavian
Bearer of the Silver Rose

 

[TheEarl]

IMHO, the most beautiful place on Earth is on top of an extinct volcano on the small pacific island of Nguna which is part of the archipelago of Vanuatu.

The Earl

 

[wildsweetone]

MathGirl: The redwoods sound beautiful. Our largest tree here is the Kauri. The most famous one has a name Tane Mahuta and is in the Waipoua Forest (north of Auckland), it's 14m in girth and is 51m tall and 1,200 years old. The largest recorded kauri had a girth of 23.43m. So I reckon that's pretty big too

Ireland sure sounds just as I'd pictured it, thanks MathGirl

Svenskaflicka: Your part of Sweden sounds nice, thanks for the contrast between north and south. Just thinking about China, I wonder why Mao decided all trees should be cut down...?

Octavian: No, you're not getting away with skipping out of describing some part of your area you like. If you like the shops, then tell me about them. I'd truely like to know. Please.

TheEarl: Thanks for attaching the piccy! It looks beautiful I can just imagine sitting up on that volcano and staring at the sea and islands for days on end... *sigh* oh well...

 

[Guest]

I agree.........

The Redwoods ARE simply amazing. Kind of makes you realize just how insignificant we are at times......<smile>

I remain,