What if Halong Bay were your living room? Vietnam
That would be great unless the government won’t let you live anywhere else because doing so would wreck the charm for tourists.
Hello, mysterious place,
Good morning, interesting people,
Goodbye, beautiful jail,
Hello, open water.
Fall into the Arts on Roosevelt Island, Manhattan.
An invitation,
to view,
to participate in creating art,
to dance,
to play,
to fly away.
A new longing, Rano Raraku, the quarry, Easter Island.
Long after the original statues and the population decimation caused by slavery and disease, a Rapanui artist came to the quarry and carved this sculpture.
He used different stone than the original carvers, lava. Notice the skyward gaze…
and the magnificent, ancient Ahu Tongariki on the shore in the background, all statues gazing inward.
Visit a sunny, autumn day and a street full of brownstones. Manhattan.
94th and 95th streets between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West.
3 (music plus poetry) reasons to love Manhattan
Attend concerts for 15 bucks at The Manhattan School of Music on Sundays:
Amazing musicianship.
The Institute of Musical Art, which became the Juilliard School, once occupied this building on the upper (upper) West side. When Juilliard moved to Lincoln Center in Midtown, The Neighborhood Music School, which was located on the East side, moved into the building and became The Manhattan School of Music.
It’s a wonderful building. Three buildings altogether, actually. Above a stairwell in the oldest part of the building, the evening light filtered through a circle of stained glass with the name and logo of the Institute of Musical Art.
The concert was held in the John C. Borden Auditorium.
Also on the upper West side, Smoke Jazz and Dinner Club, has all the atmosphere of a smoky jazz club without the cigarettes (hooray).
The show was fantastic, absolutely. Tribute to Pepper Adams (http://www.motema.com/artist/pepper-adams-joy-road). The experience doesn’t come cheap: over a hundred, but worth it. The acoustics very good, proximity amazing. Ballads and sung poetry directed to you.
Action!
Ms. Cole collaborated with poet (and performance poet), Barry Wallenstein (http://www.nyqbooks.org/author/barrywallenstein), to translate e.e. cumming’s [i carry your heart with me(i carry it in] into jazz lyrics. Unbelievably beautiful. Do check out this wonderful poem:
Rain destroys snow, Alpine Meadows
But is still beautiful: 
Four days ago and four hours away, a different winter forest scene:
Delight? Yes! Dalat, Vietnam
A moment out of time, a French legacy, The Dalat Palace:
When you first arrive, after a long day of travel, you are seated here and served champagne:
before being given the (giant) key to your room:
At the breakfast buffet, you can build your own Pho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pho):
Or build a delicate omelet on a baguette:
From your balcony, the grounds and lake beckon:
And so you take the stairs to enjoy a cool and unique day in Dalat:
Angkor… what?
First viewing of Angkor Wat.
Mind cannot categorize. Stops. Out of mind experience.
First viewing of Angkor Thom:
Eeeert. Mind stops, again.
By now, mind is swallowed whole, by man’s creation, inverse of jungle reclaiming man’s creation:
14 (glass)… reasons to love Manhattan (Travel theme: glass)
This post was inspired by:
Nicci Carrera 