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Published: November 7th 2009
Rubens
The Eucharist cycle was Rubens'largest and most complex tapestry cycle, commissioned around 1625 by the Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia. It is an example of the ..... tell you the rest later !!Well, well, well, what a surprise. We’d heard Sarasota was nice but didn’t really expect somewhere quite so pleasant. It’s very European in a number of ways so we can see why it attracts so many ex-pats. We had a couple of days of house and community viewing booked that we won’t bore you with, except to say that with 4 bedroom houses on a golf course for £125K, 85 degrees in November and one of the best beaches in the world, we could understand the attraction.
Sarasota was settled by the Scots, it’s got a lot better since then, but they did build America’s 1st golf course here. A reminder of its recent history comes in the form of Sarasota Highland Games, still held annually. Its British heritage is even more obvious when, to Chris’s delight, we drove past the Sarasota Cricket Club, yep a thriving club coupled with football for old blokes - marvellous. Sarasota’s recent history owes a lot to John Ringling, of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus fame. He made a mark on the community of Sarasota in various ways. In the 1920s, he and his wife, Mable, built a magnificent Venetian-style estate on
Ringling
The gardens of the Art Museum Sarasota Bay named Cà d' Zan. Then they built a museum for their collection of art by Peter Paul Rubens and other 17th-century Italian and Flemish artists. In addition, John used his circus elephants to help build the first bridge from the mainland to St. Armands Key, which he developed as a commercial and residential centre.
After a drive out along Longboat Key we took a stroll around, St Armand’s Circle, a lovely plaza that would grace any European city. Designer boutiques sit alongside cafes, restaurants and galleries. Strolling past one of these innocuous galleries a piece of sculpture caught our eye, we went in and discovered it was a genuine Salvador Dali, ‘The Twisted Christ’, the kind assistant then proceeded to explain to us the inspiration behind each element of the sculpture, completely lost us after 30 secs (although we managed to pull off looking like we knew what she was on about) but it was still a great piece of art. Art is at the heart of modern Sarasota, it has its own ballet company, numerous theatres, cinemas, galleries and art schools and as you drive around the town there are also numerous statues, the most striking
Big Snog
Or better known as "Unconditional Surrender" being an enormous statue, ‘Unconditional Surrender’, depicting the famous embrace between a sailor and a nurse celebrating the end of WWII. The Ringling’s purchased an Italian theatre, the Asolo, had it shipped and rebuilt here, it’s now a museum but open for a few performances each year. With all this culture around we just had to dip our toes in the water and as luck would have it, on Mondays, entry to the Ringling Museum of Art is free, and we’re not ones to waste an opportunity. A huge gallery, full of magnificent works, starting with a number of huge Rubens and ending with a delightful display of Canaletto and Venetian artwork. A great way to spend the afternoon. Enthused, we purchased tickets for a show called ‘Contact’, half ballet, half musical and all we can say is ‘bravo’, it was brilliant, the dancing was superb, the acting excellent, the tickets did not cost an arm and a leg and nobody looked down on us for wearing jeans.
The other great thing about Sarasota is Siesta Key beach, its sand just had to be felt to be believed, like walking on icing sugar, miles and miles and miles of
To infinity and beyond
Well the ISS anyway. The shuttle Atlantis on the launch pad. soft white sand and the right amount of sunshine to enjoy it - so we did. To top it all, the surf was also just right for a bit of cooling off when the sun became quite hot. In summary, yep we liked Sarasota, if you were going to think about living in Florida this, for a Brit, is just about spot on. If you are in Orlando, doing the mouse thing, the beach is worth visiting for a few days, just to relax.
Back in Orlando for our final week on the East coast. The condo was great and in a great location, a few minutes from Disney, the only down side being the heat of the pool water. Flippin’ cold and Lisa doesn’t do flippin’ cold! So our plans for this week included shopping, possibly more shopping, Kennedy Space Centre and then to top it all off Sea World. Taken in order, the shopping - great.
We headed off to Kennedy Space Centre and the first major plus for this attraction - free parking. Won’t find that anywhere else in Disney. What a great day, with lots to do and see and lots to feed the
Huge Thrust
The Saturn V Rocket of course. grey matter which has not been overly used for the past few weeks. What did we like most - well all of it was pretty darned good, but we enjoyed the two IMAX 3D films, the photographs courtesy of the Hubble were totally mind blowing and really puts you in your place in the universe and the exhibition of the Saturn V, which took Armstrong and Aldrin to the moon, just takes your breath away. We decided not to buy the VIP tour, which is supposed to take you nearer to the shuttle launch pad than the ordinary tour. As the Shuttle Atlantis was on the launch pad ready to blast into space on November 16 taking parts to the International Space Station the VIP tour would not be able to get any closer - security you know (Chris was up for stowing away, now that would have been a holiday). Anyway the observation point gave a great view of both launch pads and it is really mind blowing to know that in a few weeks the shuttle we were looking at would be in space. The tour passed the VAB - Vehicle Assembly Building (see how I just slipped
Up Close & Personal
Friendly even when you haven't got fish. that in there - I know what I am talking about!), where the shuttle is assembled before it is moved to the launch pad, is so big it has to have a special ventilation system to stop it from forming clouds and rain inside - how cool is that! Unfortunately for us we were going to miss Buzz Aldrin who was due to be at Kennedy on the day we leave the US, giving autographs etc. Anyway for us Kennedy Space Centre never fails to deliver a good day. We enjoyed it when we went with Matthew many moons ago, and enjoyed it just as much this time. Well worth the money.
The following day was spent by the pool just trying to catch a few last minute rays as Chris was looking quite pale! Thursday was the day we decided to spend at Sea World courtesy of our half price tickets obtained in our first week in Orlando. Just so it doesn’t sound as if we like everything - maybe we are just easily pleased - something negative, 12 BUCKS TO PARK AT SEAWORLD !!!. You would think with the cost of the tickets the parking might be
Shamuuuuuu
Breathtaking. free and Chris felt compelled to make a sarcastic comment to the person on the gate - she had obviously heard it all before and took it all in good humour. The queuing to get into the park was a bit of a pain in the bum, but other than that we LOVED IT. We could go on forever about how much we loved it all - the turtles, penguins, sea lions and manatees all pulling at our heart strings, but for us the cost of the car park was more than made up for by the dolphins. We visited dolphin cove expecting to see them from behind a high wall or glass, never expecting we would get to touch them. We didn’t bother with the feeding but waited patiently until all those visitors had left to see one of the shows and then after great teasing and tormenting (from the dolphins that is) they graciously let us touch them. Words could not describe how we felt when they came up to where we were standing in order for us to stroke them. One was even good enough to turn on its back and lay on the wall so we
could stroke its soft, pink underbelly. One of the most emotional moments of my life, and one we will both never forget. We went back a few times, and to be quite honest we could have spent the whole day there, but felt we should give everything else a chance. The shows were spectacular and professional as you would expect, with the mime artist taking the mickey out of people going into the Sea Lion and Otter show being particularly amusing. The star of the show “Shamu” and the other killer whales were breathtaking and graceful and beautiful. They picked on a small lad who wanted to be a whale trainer when he grew up and let him stand right at the front by the whale show, and I felt like shouting out I want to be a whale trainer when I grow up too - or maybe I just want to be younger when I grow up - not quite sure. A fabulous way to end the USA trip.
Last minute update: If you are ever in Orlando book a table at Charleys Steakhouse on I Drive, Chris just polished off a 24oz Porterhouse, fantastic, the plane may
Get Off
No I wouldn't want an annoying diver on my nose either. not take off tomorrow.
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