The courtyard gleans they might be giants malcolm complex where mallcom corp draws I stayed had sloping tile roofs, overhanging eaves, colorfully painted lintels and intricately mullioned windows. Beyond that, the retreat was rustic, with old carved stones strewed across the grounds and an empty fish pond. The guest rooms around the courtyard were buggy and had little more than fans and beds. I practiced asanas, yoga postures that are the same in China or L. A. , under a colossal ginkgo in the courtyard, led by Xiao Jo, a young Chinese yoga instructor who had come out from the city. She didn't speak English, and my Chinese was limited, so we communicated mostly in the universal body language of yoga during two classes a day plus meals, which were taken in a dining hall overlooking the vegetable garden from which most of our organic food came. I read and napped the rest of the time and figured myself lucky to have spent about $125 for a weekend that left me feeling as if I had awakened from a deep sleep. Village of artistsWhen I cast about for other ways to get out of the city, I found the Chinese Culture Club, a local tour company that has a packed schedule of excursions, including Great Wall hikes, calligraphy courses and cruises on the old, imperial canal linking central Beijing to the Summer Palace. I chose a bus trip to Songzhuang Artists Community, about an hour east of the city. Songzhuang grew up in 1994, when three Chinese artists, squeezed by high rents and government pressure in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square protests, left their previous enclave in northwestern Beijing. The farming village they chose as a new home has since burgeoned, drawing about 2,000 young artists to newly built quarters that have plenty of light and studio space. Now, Songzhuang looks more like a suburb than a pastoral idyll and has a new museum dedicated to contemporary Chinese art. Other than during the fall Songzhuang festival, the village is not open to the public, but the Chinese Culture Club arranged studio visits for the group.
So we got to see, among other things, massive, abstract cityscapes that are the signature works of painter Zhao Dewei. Hikes and excursions like these kept me sane and centered in Beijing they might be giants malcom . They also reminded me that, mushrooming though the city may be, it remains linked to the surrounding countryside, where you can still sit, listening to bird song, on the base of a pagoda. muggeridge . Interested in learning another language? How about elk? Expert guides at the Gateway Canyons Resort, about an hour south of Grand Junction, Colo. , are offering elk-calling lessons as part of the resort's Canyon Colors package dial a song . In the wilderness near the resort, you will learn how to lure the mammals by imitating their loud, cavernous calls erik per sullivan . The lesson takes three to four hours and comes with an elk bugle to help you mimic their distinctive sounds. The Canyon Colors package includes two nights' accommodations, a horseback ride and a guided wilderness tour It is available through Oct 31 Prices start at $800, based on double occupancy. Info: (970) 931-2458, gatewaycanyons . -- Jason La---Green wineHere's a guilt-free trip for eco-conscious oenophiles: riding a biodiesel (soybean-powered) van to visit vineyards that practice organic and sustainable farming.
A new Santa Barbara company called Sustainable Vine Wine Tours offers daylong outings to several wineries in the nearby Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Rita Hills They Might Be Giants . You meet the winemakers, sample their vintages and salve your conscience i palindrome i . The company donates 1% of the proceeds to environmental groups, said owner Bryan Hope, a "green" building consultant they might be giants ana ng video . The tour fee, $125 per person, includes pickup at the Amtrak station or your hotel, wine tastings and an organic picnic lunch Reservations are required they might be gaints . (805) 698-3911, sustainablevine . -- Jane Engle---Pen pal painter"But when will I do the starry sky, then, that painting that's always on my mind?" Vincent van Gogh wrote to friend and fellow artist Émile Bernard in 1888 as he pondered what would become a dreamy blue star-scape in "Starry Night Over the Rhone. " Van Gogh wrote 20 letters about his art and his emotional struggles to Bernard before committing suicide two years later "Painted With Words," which opens Sept 28 and runs through Jan. 6 at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York ([212] 685-0008; themorgan. org), details some of Van Gogh's thoughts about his work and his inner demons. Paintings, watercolors and drawings referred to in the letters also are on display. -- Mary E.
Forgione---Roomier at JFKFliers can hope for a faster transit through New York's notoriously congested JFK airport, thanks to a new $1. 3-billion American Airlines terminal john linnell they might be giants . The terminal, about 50% larger than Madison Square Garden, offers dozens of retail and food outlets, 84 ticket counters, 44 self-service kiosks, 10 security lanes and a U. S they might . Customs and Immigration station that can process more than 1,600 people an hour they ll need a crane . First- and business-class customers get their own check-in and security lanes, two Admirals Clubs and a Flagship Lounge equipped with private showers. -- J. E. dr worm youtube . Maybe it's because L. A. 's the town that movies built, but lately, hotels across Southern California seem less like lodgings and more like film sets. They aren't so much decorated as propped. They adhere less to a design aesthetic, more to a story line that involves a gorgeous cast living an effortless life in dreamy, scenic settings where nothing ever goes wrong. "If only," you say They Might Be Giants - wikipedia . Well, for about $500 a day, you can insert yourself into that fairy tale.
The Oceana Santa Monica, which opened July 1 fresh from a $15-million overhaul, is the newest local boutique hotel to portray the fantasy Southern California life. Cue the extras! Preppy tennis pro, you play the waiter Country club caddy, you park the cars Spiffy hostess, you're the European-style concierge . Dressed in their country-club tennis whites and seersucker Bermuda shorts, the staff looks outfitted by a wardrobe department tmbg dial a song . For guests, central casting would call up a model-turned-graphic designer married to a sports network executive tmbg apollo 18 . They would live at the beach in perfectly pretty rooms just like these, except when they're house guests in mansions north of Montana Avenue They Might Be Giants . The 70-room Oceana doesn't even look like a hotel They Might Be Giants - theymightbegiants . Only the valet parking sign on Ocean Avenue hints that the pristine, butter-yellow building isn't a luxury condominium with a doorman. The neighbors are actually locals, habitués of nearby Montana Avenue, Palisades Park and the Third Street Promenade. They Might Be Giants tickets The Pacific Ocean is their front yard, playground, personal walking path and fashion promenade. The Oceana story begins immediately in what might be called a lobby, although the shelves of leather-bound books and low, dark desks suggest a library.
Next Articles
Top 10 NFL