Downtown Frankfurt as most of Germany is turned into a ghost town. Eerie athmosphere in this normally busy city. Scary times.
Tag Archives: Europe
Auto Racing Nostalgia: “Targa Florio” Endurance Race In Sicily (1906 – 1977)
The Targa Florio was an open road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island’s capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 and 1973. While the first races consisted of a whole tour of the island, the track length in the race’s last decades was limited to the 72 kilometres (45 mi) of the Circuito Piccolo delle Madonie, which was lapped 11 times.
After 1973, it was a national sports car event until it was discontinued in 1977 due to safety concerns. It has since been run as a rallying event, and is part of the Italian Rally Championship.
The race was created in 1906 by the wealthy pioneer race driver and automobile enthusiast, Vincenzo Florio, who had started the Coppa Florio race in Brescia, Lombardy in 1900. The Targa also claimed to be a worldly event not to be missed. Renowned artists, such as Alexandre Charpentier and Leonardo Bistolfi, were commissioned to design medals. A magazine was initiated, Rapiditas, which aimed to enhance, with graphic and photographic reproductions of the race, the myth of the car and the typical character of modern life, speed.[1]
One of the toughest competitions in Europe, the first Targa Florio covered 3 laps equalling 277 miles (446 km) through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred. Alessandro Cagno won the inaugural 1906 race in nine hours, averaging 30 miles per hour (50 km/h).
By the mid-1920s, the Targa Florio had become one of Europe’s most important races, as neither the 24 Hours of Le Mans nor the Mille Miglia had been established yet. Grand Prix races were still isolated events, not a series like today’s F1.
After winning the race several times, Porsche named the hardtop convertible version of the 911 after the Targa. The name targa means plaque or plate, see targa top.
From Wikipedia
Architecture: A Look At The Restoration Of Notre Dame Cathedral In Paris
Scientists lead the way in repairing the cathedral, while discovering historical insights along the way.
New Arts & Travel Video: “Kari Kola – Savage Beauty” In Connemara Ireland
Filmed and Edited by: Janne Tanskanen
Savage Beauty light installation in Connemara Ireland (Lough Nafooey) March 2020. Savage Beauty by Kari Kola commissioned by Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture.
Music: Lawrence Hodge
Connemara’s Islands
Flung out into the Atlantic and shaped by the sheer force of the sea, Connemara’s islands are spectacular remnants of life long lost in other parts of Ireland. Staunchly proud of their traditions and as famous for their culture as their dramatic landscapes, Inishbofin and the Aran Islands are a patchwork of tiny, tightly packed fields, rambling stone walls, pristine beaches and craggy shores.
The islands’ relative isolation has fostered a profound sense of peace and protected a rich traditional heritage. They’re wonderful places to walk or cycle, and famous for their live music and traditional dances.
Situated in the choppy waters of Galway Bay, the three Aran Islands in the Gaeltacht region. The largest and most developed island is Inis Mór, a place blanketed in fissured limestone and snaking stone walls. The island’s most famous sight is Dún Aonghasa, a breathtaking semi-circular stone fort perched dramatically on top of a 100m cliff. Other prehistoric forts dot the island, as well as numerous early Christian remains. The heritage centre, Ionad Árann, gives a great insight into the island’s history and traditions but you’ll also see them first hand in the nightly music sessions, regular dances and impromptu storytelling.
“Do Remember They Can’t Cancel The Spring” – A Message From 82-Year Old Painter David Hockney
David Hockney has unveiled a new painting to add a splash of colour to the dark times facing the country.
The 82-year-old painter, often dubbed Britain’s greatest living artist, new piece is titled ‘Do remember they can’t cancel the spring’.
Bright yellow daffodils spring up in the foreground in front of a gloomy grey mass in the back of the painting.
Mr Hockney is currently in lockdown in Normandy, northern France, where he has been located since his last exhibition opened.
From a Daily Mail online article
Food Podcasts: The “Rich Delights” Of Cork, Ireland’s Second City
Monocle’s Charlie Jermyn talks us through the rich and varied culinary delights on offer in Ireland’s second city.
Cork is the second largest city in Ireland. Located in the south-west of Ireland, in the province of Munster, since an extension to the city’s boundary in 2019, its population is c.210,000.
The city centre is an island positioned between two channels of the River Lee which meet downstream at the eastern end of the city centre, where the quays and docks along the river lead outwards towards Lough Mahon and Cork Harbour, one of the largest natural harbours in the world.
Originally a monastic settlement, Cork was expanded by Viking invaders around 915. Its charter was granted by Prince John in 1185. Cork city was once fully walled, and the remnants of the old medieval town centre can be found around South and North Main streets. The third largest city by population on the island of Ireland, the city’s cognomen of “the rebel city” originates in its support for the Yorkist cause in the Wars of the Roses. Corkonians sometimes refer to the city as “the real capital”, a reference to its opposition to the Anglo-Irish Treaty in the Irish Civil War.
Nature Video: “Jutland II – Breath Of The Seasons” In Denmark By Jonas Høholt
Filmed and Edited by: Jonas Høholt
‘Breath of the Seasons’ has been my personal project from early 2017 until early 2020.
Living around the Jutland peninsula in Denmark my entire life, what inspired me to make this film was the very difference between winter, spring, summer and autumn in the already diverse Jutlandic landscapes – and the visually beautiful story this has.
To show this cycle in nature through timelapse photography has been a mammoth task and a huge completion for me personally. It has driven me through all spectres emotionally; exhaustion, excitement, despair, joy and everything in between.
The countless hours spent on locations made me see and feel the difference of all four
seasons. It opened my eyes to how similar nature actually is to humans; As nature takes a single breath all four seasons play before our eyes until she’s ready for the next breath and it all starts over again. Energy is everywhere and nothing is at a standstill.
Sound design by Slava Pogorelsky
Music: Davis Harwell – Eureka
Travel Videos: “Dolomites Symphony” In Northern Italy By Mark Soetebier
Directed and edited by: Mark Soetebier
The Dolomites are 10 years of Unesco, for this occasion I selected the most beautiful video frames on Vimeo to package this video, hoping that the Coronavirus will leave this beautiful world and life will resume its “better” path than before.
Let yourself be dazzled by the monumental beauty of the Italian Dolomites, with majestic pinnacles, pillars, spiers and rocky faces that change color at different points throughout the day. This short video documentary is a collection of the most beautiful frames on the Dolomites made by Vimeo photographers.
The video frames are by: Joren de Jager, Marius Winkler, Lumen Art Studio, Ales, David Perucchin, Stefan Kellner, Gaetan Piolot, Ski Center Latemar, Alvern Ariston, Suedtirolvideo.it, Coral Climb / Lucas Preti, Mark Soetebier
Music by: Generdyn, Luke Atencio, May, Daniel Deuche, Jordan Crut
Urban Culture Podcasts: “Milan – City Life Under Quarantine” (Monocle 24)
Monocle 24 “The Urbanist” discusses the impact that quarantines can have on cities and what lessons city planners can learn when an outbreak causes borders to close. Here is a report from the ground on the changing nature of city life in Milan.
New Wine Books: “The 100 Burgundy” – Building A “Dream Cellar” (Assouline)
An exceptional Burgundy is not only well crafted and well balanced, it also must have essential qualities reflecting its own terroir as well as those unique to the particular vintage, distilling the very essence of the vine itself and the earth from which it springs.
Essential reading for all fine wine aficionados, whether curating a dream cellar or selecting the best Burgundy wines to experience with friends and family, The 100 Burgundy: offers a fresh perspective by a dedicated professional who visits the region regularly and recognizes the best it has to offer.
For wine enthusiasts discovering Burgundy—and those already smitten with the region’s seductive wines—The 100 Burgundy: is the first guide of its kind to the region’s best wines and makers, detailing the domaines and highlighting each chosen wine with tasting notes. Considering factors such as a wine’s quality, its ability to evolve and improve over time, and its ability to evoke emotion, Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee invites readers to explore 100 memorable Burgundy wines of the Côte d’Or, from benchmark domaines to rising stars.
With a foreword by Lalou Bize-Leroy, owner of Domaine Leroy and co-owner of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, this enlightening volume is a journey through the countryside of Burgundy, capturing the context, people, and history that inspire the creation of these masterful wines.
Jeannie Cho Lee is the first Asian Master of Wine (MW), an award-winning author, wine critic, judge, and educator. Currently a professor at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where she helped launch the Master of Science program in International Wine Management, she is also a consultant for Singapore Airlines since 2009.
Boomers Daily 