The Week That Was #5

Welcome to my weekly collection of The Odd, The Useful, and The Downright Bizarre.

The Odd: The Floor of The Standard Grill, New York City. Their website is nothing to shout about, but apparently the floors are! The image shows a photograph of one of the floor areas of the New York City eatery, The Standard Grill. Located under the High Line, on the corner of Washington and West 13 Street, at 848 Washington Street. The floor is covered entirely in pennies. (Note: click on the image to view full size).

The Useful: Capturing great photographs of your vacation or family holiday has never been easier if you own a digital camera. However, if you want to improve your photographic skills higher than the usual ‘happy snaps’ that pass for most holiday photos, take a few minutes to read through the tips on the following two Microsoft At Home pages, here; 8 tips for better holiday photos, and here, 8 tips for super vacation snapshots.

The Downright Bizarre: The World's Worst Travel Gear. Spot Cool Stuff is a website that examines products and places of interest for the most discerning traveller. Sometimes, though, a product can be so mind boggling terrible that there is something good about the horribleness of it. Like the Shenis, a device that let’s women urinate while standing up - in public. You can even see a photograph or watch a video of the Shenis in action if you are game! Warning: Adult content. Not for the fainthearted!

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing – enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Friday Photo #3: Cypress Hills National Cemetery

Note: Click on image to view full size.

The Cypress Hills National Cemetery at 625 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, is the only United States National Cemetery in New York City. More than 21,000 veterans and civilians are interred here, including veterans of every conflict from the American Revolutionary War of 1812, through to the Vietnam War.

The Cemetery is just a short walk from the 12 Towns/North Brooklyn YMCA – also on Jamaica Avenue. I spent several weeks at the 'Y' during April and May, 2008, and visited the cemetery on a number of occasions.

It was late spring when I took this photograph (and the video footage embedded below). As you can see, the stunning pink cherry blossoms had begun to fall, blanketing the lush green lawns with a fine carpet of eye-catching colour.

There is something intensely solemn about visiting a site like this. It is not a place you can hurry through. You have to take the time to reflect and remember; to ponder the fate of so many veterans and civilians. To question and contemplate. To ask yourself, Why? To also ask yourself, What if…?

The video footage below was filmed at the same time as the above photograph was taken. As I recall, it was a grey, damp, overcast day. The type of day that helps heighten the experience and adds to the overall impact of seeing thousands upon thousands of white marble headstones laid out in perfect formation. It runs for just three minutes. So why not click the ‘play’ button, and take the time right now to reflect, ponder, question and contemplate?

Location: Cypress Hills National Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

Photography and video footage: Jim Lesses, May 2008.

Note: Click on image to view full size.

Ten Things for Ten Dollars (more or less)

~ The Hostel Bookers website is featuring a number of cities where they say you can see 10 things for $10. That is, ten dollars per selected attraction or event. Well, more or less.

I’m not sure about the math, and I guess it all depends on the exchange rates you achieve at the time you are travelling, but I like the idea behind the series. It is good to know that not everything has to be a constant attack on your credit card whenever you travel.

There are cheap things to do in every major city in the world, and in fact, using the resources of the internet, you can easily find a host of free things to do in all the cities selected for these online features.

So far, the site has created lists for the cities of New York, Edinburgh, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Athens, Amsterdam, and London.

The articles focus on the not quite ‘top tier’ attractions. Sites that might be your second choice, rather than your first. For example: instead of fighting your way through the thousands of tourists swarming over the Forum and the Colosseum in Rome, they recommend a visit to Ostia Antica, the remarkable ruins of ancient Rome’s port city.

In Athens they suggest a visit to the Agora (market) that surrounds the Acropolis, and I agree. I spent several hours exploring this area and was surprised by the many ‘hidden’ treasures this site holds. Developed in the 6th century BC, the Agora was once the focal point of Ancient Greek society. It was here that Socrates first talked philosophy and where St Paul tried to convert people to Christianity.

I can also vouch for the full English Breakfast they recommend on the London feature. I would start each day with the ‘Builder’s Breakfast’, which as its name suggests is a meal fit for the British working man. For £5, you can expect each ‘Full English’ to consist of bacon, eggs, sausage, baked beans, fried tomatoes, toast and a large pot of black tea. It may not be the healthiest way to start the day, but it was cheap, filling, and enough to see you through several hours of brisk walking around London’s busy streets.

I can only say, I wish I had the information in my hands before I visited New York, London and Athens, last year. London especially, I found to be very expensive, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that museums and galleries offer mostly free entry, I’m not sure that I would have been able to see very much at all during my all too brief stay there.

Thankfully, New York was much more wallet friendly, and I was surprised at the range of reasonably priced attractions on offer. Of course, there is so much to see and do in New York anyway, that you could spend days, and weeks, simply walking around that great city before you felt a need to pay to see the major attractions that virtually every tourist or visitor has on their list of ‘must see’ sites.

Anyway, if you are heading to any of the cities listed, take the time to explore the links to your location of choice and see how much money you can save by visiting some of the recommended sites.

Image: Agora, Athens, Greece.

Photograph: Jim Lesses