I can’t believe that at this time last year I was packing for a trip to New Zealand and voting for Penguin of the Year. Well elections are on everyone’s mind in the US, New Zealand and beyond. But advance voting has now begun for the Penguin of the Year. Personally I’m voting for Martin, but Dave is a close runner-up.
One of the many joys of New Zealand travel is the opportunity to see penguins in the wild without going to Antarctica. I was lucky to get close-up with groups of blue penguins like Martin in Fiordlands National Park and I was also able to see the very rare yellow-eyed penguins on the Otago Peninsula on the South Island near Dunedin. There are only a few thousand of the yellow-eyed aquatic birds in the world and many of them visit the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust each year. You can learn about them right here.
Dave
Stuttgart Germany’s Wanderbaumallee’s project brings “walking trees ” and bee-friendly patches of greenery to neighborhoods around the city throughout the spring and summer months. The mobile units contain trees, shrubbery and seating areas that are transported and then cared for by the locals themselves. Moving through the city, Wanderbaumallee makes a striking statement about the need for more green spaces while encouraging locals to get involved in changing their environment. In the autumn, the trees are then planted to allow them to grow, flourish and make their permanent homes in the city.
The trees are mounted on transportable decks that double as benches and resting spaces for the locals once the trees have reached their temporary homes in the city. The trees then act not only as greenery serving the local insects, but also as temporary community spaces offering meeting points, benches and places for the local community to stop, rest or gather.
Originating from a frustration about the city administration’s process of creating guidelines and policies that allow their citizens take part in urbanism, city planning and greening, Wanderbaumallee defy any city regulations so far. It is this that the striking and impressive moving of the trees through the city emphasizes A small greening army of trees forces the city to reconsider its regulations and give more power to the people.
If you visit Travel Between The Pages regularly, you probably have noticed that we are big fans of the always clever and insightful cartoon artist Grant Snider. It’s about time that we acknowledge his brilliant book I Will Judge You By Your Bookshelf and point you in the direction to purchase a copy.
Signed copies are available from @watermarkbooks, his favorite independent bookstore:
Regular readers of TBTP know that I am a bit obsessed with Iceland. And even though I couldn’t visit this year due to the pandemic travel restrictions, I’ve already made plans for my next trip. So until then I must be satisfied with virtual visits.
Over the past few years, California photographer, biker, and surfer Chris Burkhard has also been a little obsessed with Iceland. You may have seen some of his extraordinary photos from his trips or heard about his insane bike trip across the country from east to west coast through the wild highlands. His wonderful short film below titled Unnur tells the story of Icelandic surfer and photographer Elli Thor and his young daughter. The 19 minute video is a lovely tale of a father-daughter relationship, as well as an exceptional look at one of my favorite places on Earth.
Rainer Maria Rilke // “Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them…the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”
Kurt Vonnegut // “Why me? That’s a very Earthling question to ask…why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber? Yes. Well here we are…trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why.”
Toni Morrison // “And fantasy it was, for we were not strong, only aggressive; we were not free, merely licensed; we were not compassionate, we were polite; not good, but well behaved. We courted death in order to call ourselves brave, and hid like thieves from life. We substituted good grammar for intellect; we switched habits to simulate maturity; we rearranged lies and called it truth.”
Somehow I missed one of the most important stories of last month with the news that Lindt has opened an all new headquarters museum near Zurich. The Lindt Home of Chocolate welcomed its first visitors in Kilchberg, Switzerland on September 15th. The largest of its kind in the world, the museum offers 65,000 square feet of chocoholic content, including an interactive exhibition dedicated to the magic food’s history and production, a café, a Lindt chocolate shop, a research facility for chocolate innovation, a space for chocolate-making classes, and a viewable production line.
Arguably the museum’s main attraction is an enormous 9-meter chocolate fountain situated in the central hall. The impressive fountain features an giant golden whisk that drips 1,500 liters of liquid cocoa into a giant Lindor truffle. The chocolate flows through the sculpture’s 100 meters of hidden piping at a rate of a kilogram per second.
Situated in the southwestern Chinese city of Dujiangyan, in Sichuan province, this extraordinary new bookstore looks like it could have been designed by M.C. Escher himself. The amazing building features mirrored ceilings and extremely tall bookshelves in soaring C-shaped arches. Mirrored ceilings and lofty interiors create an otherworldly display space. Highly reflective black tile floors make furnishings appear to almost float.
One can’t help but be jealous of these astounding new bookstores that are popping up across China, while here in North America we can barely keep threadbare chain booksellers open.
by Liana Finck
Travel Between The Pages 