All posts by She Seeks Serene

My Journey of Reimagining Life, Love and Education

Classic Car Racing: ‘Inside The 2020 Mille Miglia’, Italy

Gentleman’s Journal

This year, the race had its own challenges, as the pandemic ripped across the world. The Mille Miglia usually takes place in May, but was postponed until October this time round — and many had feared it might be cancelled altogether. But the show must go on — and the sight of more than 400 stunning classic cars glinting in the autumn sun is one I will remember for a very long time.

The first Miglia Mille took place in 1927, founded by a group of car enthusiasts in the town of Brescia, Northern Italy — the race was their response to the region’s loss of the Italian Grand Prix to Monza, seven years earlier. A 1,000 mile loop around Northern Italy (hence the name), the race took place every year for three decades, save for a break during the Second World War. But the perilous, do-or-die nature of the contest led to many crashes and more than ten fatalities, and the final chequered flag fell in 1957. In the 1970s, the Mille Miglia was reborn as we know it today — more of a grand tour than a hotly-contested, breakneck race (although some drivers, even now, forget this from
time to time.)

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Home Tours: ‘Tree House’ In Bronte Beach, Sydney, Australia’ By Madeleine Blanchfield Architects

Madeleine Blanchfield – Architect

Tree House by Madeleine Blanchfield Architects is a light-filled family home near Bronte Beach in Sydney. As the architect’s own home, the project exemplifies the studio’s experiential design approach, which sees light, form and materiality coalesce to create an experience of place.

The architecture and interiors evoke mood and respond to the changes in light over the course of the day, while the elevated position within the treetops that gives Tree House its name creates a calming atmosphere. With the living space located at the top floor of the architect’s own home, a journey is created through the architecture via a sculptural staircase.

The sculptural forms created by the spiral staircase are balanced by the more pared back interiors, which take their cues from the natural setting. Pale timber, concrete and terracotta tiles, along with the careful approach to both natural and artificial light, reflect the design’s connection to the garden that surrounds it and the nearby beach. This use of few materials detailed to create a highly refined architectural response is characteristic of an architect’s own home.

It highlights how Madeleine Blanchfield Architects has created an experiential home in which simple elements such as materials, details, and changes in light can enhance the mood of a space, resulting in a family home whose architecture, interiors and garden work together to create a sense of lightness and calm.

For More from The Local Project: Website – https://thelocalproject.com.au/

FULL-TIME CAMPER TRAVEL: CATHERINE GREGORY – June Lake Loop In The EASTERN SIERRAS, California (VIDEO)

Filmed and Edited by: Catherine Gregory

Come along on a road trip to the Eastern Sierra. I know that many viewers aren’t able to hike for varying reasons so I wanted to create a video of locations that are all accessible by vehicle (during the non heavy snow months). No hiking required. These are spots everyone can enjoy and all very beautiful….including 4 lakes within the June Lake Loop.

Health: American ‘Covid-19 Data In Motion’ (Video)

Video highlights of COVID-19 data trends as of December 13, 2020. This daily report shares critical data on the spread of COVID-19 over the last 24 hours.

For the latest news, trends, and expert insights on the coronavirus pandemic, visit the JHU Coronavirus Resource Center: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

Explore COVID-19 trends around the world with our in-depth data tracking: New cases and cumulative cases: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/cumu…

Daily new cases, testing, and positivity ratio by U.S. state: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/testing/t…

New cases by country: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/data/new-…

Travel Video: Street Food And Hot Air Ballooning In Cappadocia, Turkey (2020)

Hello again from TURKEY! This is our last STREET FOOD IN TURKEY video from the series, and we had an AMAZING time here. Today, we are showing you the BEST Turkish food Cappadocia has to offer and also bring you on a hot air ballon flight, and take you to Göreme National Park for breathtaking views over this crazy place.

We are starting early in the morning for a hot air balloon flight with Voyager Balloons. We took their Ultra Comfort Flight (75 mins/8 people max.) and our pilot Ali was knowledgable, fun and kept us up to date with how high we were flying. The flight was SO smooth, the sunrise was gorgeous and it was a UNIQUE experience! We highly recommend Voyager Balloons!

After our flight, we were HUNGRY and ready to eat CAPPADOCIA FOOD. The local specialties are Mantı (Turkish dumplings) and Testi kebab (pottery kebab). The mantı were stuffed with beef, covered in a sour yogurt sauce and chili oil. Traditionally mantı are made to be extremely small. The testi kebab was sealed in a pottery vessel and lit on fire. The restaurant owner then cracks it open and pours out the DELICIOUS stew.

Beef, onions, tomatoes and tons of spices make up this dish. We tried testi kebab in other tourist restaurants in Cappadocia and it was terrible. YOU MUST check out THIS restaurant – the kebab was flavourful, the portion was large and service was very friendly! Next, we visit and explore the national park to see the fairy chimneys up close. It was a beautiful sight to see these landscapes. Before heading to our “cave room”, we stopped to pick up another local specialty – CAPPADOCIA WINE! Cappadocia is famous for their endemic grapes and the caves allow wine to be stored in ideal conditions, so the wine here is fantastic. We picked up a Kalecik Karası and enjoyed a glass from our private terrace of our cave room.

Aerial Travel: ‘Rotterdam – The Netherlands’ (Video)

Rotterdam is a major port city in the Dutch province of South Holland. The Maritime Museum’s vintage ships and exhibits trace the city’s seafaring history. The 17th-century Delfshaven neighborhood is home to canalside shopping and Pilgrim Fathers Church, where pilgrims worshiped before sailing to America. After being almost completely reconstructed following WWII, the city is now known for bold, modern architecture. 

Sunday Morning Podcast: World News From Zurich, London And Stockholm

Monocle’s Emma Nelson covers the weekend’s top stories with Vincent McAviney, Florian Egli, Guy DeLauney – and Tyler Brûlé.

Outdoor Sport: ‘The Path Less Paved’ – Gravel Biking

For decades, cycling disciplines have diverged, and in some cases, even polarized from each other. Road bikes stay on the road and mountain bikes stay on the trails. But in our contemporary age of cross-functional design and innovative engineering, bikes have more recently started to transcend their own genres.

Take gravel biking. This relatively “new” sport is actually a reboot of what cycling was up until the mid-20th century, before concrete and asphalt roadways spread across the developed world. Now, gravel has taken the backcountry freedom and exhilaration of mountain biking and blended it with the speed, efficiency and achievable distances of road cycling. Skinny tires, but not too skinny. Powerful yet light hydraulic disc brakes. Gear ratios that encourage speed both up and down the terrain.

Gravel bikes evolved due to an insatiable demand for riders to explore. Not just a Trailforks route or a Strava segment, but capitalizing on the thousands of miles of dirt and gravel roads that exist in rural regions. The result is more bikes rolling through more of the landscape, unhindered by the need for constructed trails or an asphalt surface.
Gravel follows the path less paved.