The high line is...high

     If I would ever think of  a real space for pedestrians (and just pedestrians), I would defenetly say  THE HIGH LINE, in Manhattan, NY. And yes, this is one of the places I would like to see when in The big Apple.
     What I didn't know is that this place was created in the 1930's, and was part of an infrastructure that should have kept trains away from the industrial district of Manhattan. Another thing is that any train hasn't passed through there since 1980. It is a short life for a train line, is it? Since 1990, the city of  NY is trying to preserve it and this is the project it came up to for it: a suspended 1.5 mile public park, involving the old railway.
    The project came to life thanks to  landscape architects James Corner Field Operations, and architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and I must say they did a great job. They've started working on it in 2006 and this year, in June, they have opened  the second section of the park to the public , revealing  the very inspirational blending between the old high-line and the new perspective upon landscaping. Everything is extremely simple and well done, combining materials like concrete pathways and large planted spaces, combined with seating areas. I bet that from it's opening, it has became the perfect meeting point for most of the Manhattan residents and for the tourists too. It is true that it doesn't have the image of an usual park, it seems to me that it has the aspect of a path from a part of the city from another, but in the same time it creates places where you can halt and contemplate the city from above. Well,not from very "above".
  

   Dreaming of holiday in Manhattan, I wish you a great weekend, and don't forget about all the events happening in our little European town, beginning with the grande reopening of Grigore Antipa Museum and the last days of George Enescu Festival ( which is great, I must say) and the great event happening on the STRADA DE C'ARTE, near the Central University Library.

photos from http://www.dezeen.com/

http://www.thehighline.org/

FIRST DAY OF SCOOL, REMEMBER THE TIMES...

OMG!!! I had to use my pc to find out how many years passed since  I started school! Today, there are exactly 19 years! This is crazy! Where is all that time in between?! I slightly remember my first day of school, most of it is in blur, but I can see the school yard, clearly( I have been studying in that school for 8 years), with a lot of kids, scared and amazed just like me. I can see my teacher, which I totally loved at that time(she was young and smiling all the time, probably to make the transition from the playground to school more easier. I bet she was my age now...,or even younger), and I clearly  remember the "ABECEDAR"( the first school book I have ever touched and that was the IT of school books at that time and for a time then) and of course lots of flowers. I thought of the beginning of the school yesterday, during my Sunday shopping day in the supermarket, when I  stumbled in a hole bunch of children and parents probably at the florists! Funny thing is that we still use to give teachers flowers at the beginning of school, even with this crisis. :P
So, today , when all the streets were filled with children and their parents, I remembered with a little melancholy, my first contact with school life, that has just ended last year. And I am amused by my father's saying at that time, when I had days when I didn't enjoyed going to school:" Stay chill, because your school days are just at the beginning. There are more years to come!". Well, those years have passed. Just like the wind, and now I am thinking of starting school again by going to a post university course. Yes, I know what you are saying, that probably I am a kind of maniac but you probably remember my workaholic post, so...
This day brings me memories of the week before school when we had those shopping days for school supplies. I loved the smell of ink on my notebook, or of a new plastic pencil box, or the new ironed uniform. Oh, I truly miss those days when adult complicated life seemed so far away...

And again, for those little ones that start their first day of school today, good luck and break a leg! And don't forget, this is the first day of a great adventure!;)

Mara,
XOXO

P.S.: In the honor of this day, I purchased myself a drawing book, just like in old days of school.

Feeling Septemberish

      Yes, it is already september, it hasn't started feeling like autumn yet but it is here. Everybody is in a rush, for a reason:  they just came from the summer holiday and they had just started working, or they are preparing to start school. These are the two events that reign these weeks. Nothing elese. As if people forgot how to take a break, a big breath and a big mug of hot chocolate ( if there would be a drop of September rain, but it is hot like in July) and meditate for a while. No, they have to run up and down like crazy.
     That's why I thought that you would like my today post, and see it like a little break in the everyday routine. I thought,why not run free from all the city noise and chill in a mountain cabin, snuggling in sheets. The ones from http://www.aurahome.com.au/

     They are so cozy looking and you can't bare to look at them without wanting to try them out and maybe jump for a little nap. The site is also very convincing and you can feel the whole atmosphere from the pictures. They just send you a calm ant tranquil mood, don't they? It is primordial to create that atmosphere that you feel closer to your soul and mind, that would help you relax after a big day at work, inside your bedroom. A few weeks ago I was promoting a happy and colourful immage for the house, but I must say, pastel colours are perfect for a gloomy day, and they are much more elegant. The patel colours tend a little bit towards grey so they work together very well, even if one is blueish and the others are red or pink. That is the fun thing about pastels, that they can be mixed up without making a messy immage as in combining pure colours.

     Now, I should follow my advice, and  make myself a chocolate, or better a cold drink, for the temperature outside is still over 30, and catch up with my September reading. Tell you what's the book later.



Mara