Leonidas Sculptures

 

Location: Sparti, Greece
Address: Triakosion 77
Date: Aug 2015
Website: visitpeloponnese.com

  "Put down your weapons" the Spartans were told.  "Come and get them!" was the reply.

  Leonidas was King of the city-state of Sparta. The Spartans were known for never backing down in a battle. Leonidas was famously killed in the Battle of Thermopylae against the Persians in 480 BC.  In 1955 a monument was created in Thermopylae to commemorate the battle and Leonidas.

 The monument includes a sculpture of Taygetos representing the highest mountain in the Peloponese.

   The monument also includes a sculpture of Evrotas representing the river which flows through all of Lakonia.

    In the centre of the monument stands Leonidas ready for battle. Most people may only know Leonidas from the 2006 movie simply called 300. In this movie based on a Frank Miller comic, Gerard Butler plays the Spartan King.

    Another statue is of the god, Eros. It represents the 700 Thespians who fought alongside the Spartan warriors.

     About 400 km south of Thermopylae is the town of Sparti. As one enters the town from the south, you will find this giant Spartan helmet in the middle of a roundabout.

    At the top of the street to the north stands another Leonidas Statue. This one was erected in 1969 and differs slightly from the Thermopylae statue.

     Both statues feature the Spartan helmet and shield.

    The Leonidas in Sparti is a little more modest and carries a sword. The Leonidas in Thermopylae holds a spear and was originally planned to stand in Sparti. It was his nakedness that caused the town to refuse the first statue. 

 

 

    On both sides of Leonidas you can find Spartan shields. If you are a movie fan, an historian or just want to see something interesting, you should visit these monuments. King Leonidas represents standing up for yourself and what is right no matter what the odds.

---

Map of Our World
Leonidas Statue (Sparta), Thermopylae

---

Post # 340

Ted Lasso In Amsterdam

 

Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Address: Raamgracht, 1011 KK
Date: May 2024
Website: iamsterdam.com

    Ted Lasso is a television show starring Jason Sedeikis as the title character. It is about an American college football coach who ends up coaching a British football team called AFC Richmond. In England, football is the same as American soccer. In season 3 episode 6, Ted Lasso's team take a trip to Amsterdam, Netherlands. We also found ourselves in Amsterdam and while we were there we visited a few of the filming locations from this episode.

 

Higgins & Will

    The first storyline we will look at follows Leslie Higgins, the Director of Football Operations, and Will the new equipment manager. Leslie brings Will to the Prins Hendrik Hotel to explain his love of jazz music.

    Leslie explains to Will that it was Chet Baker who got him interested in jazz. Chet Baker is a well known jazz trumpet player and singer who died at this hotel. Jeremy Swift who plays Leslie Higgins is also a skilled jazz player and he proves that later in the episode on the double bass. The monument that Higgins shows Will explains that Chet died here on May 13, 1988.

    Chet fell from a second floor window of the hotel. His photo has been placed in the window. He had a history of drug addiction and his death was ruled as an accident. Higgins says, "We only know this. Drugs are bad."

Jamie & Roy & Bond

   Roy Kent wants Jamie Tartt to get some training while in Amsterdam. Jamie Tartt is a new star on the team while Roy is a veteran player and now coach of AFC Richmond. Jamie makes Roy chase him around the city. One place they visit is a bridge known as Skinny Bridge or Magere Brug. This bridge only allows pedestrian and of course, bicycle traffic to cross.

 

    Jamie points out to Roy that this bridge was seen in the major motion picture, James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever. In that movie, a canal boat passes under the bridge while Mr Wint and Mr Kidd stand on top of it taking pictures. The boat tour gets a little more than they bargained for as they see the police fishing a body out of the river. That reminds us of a boat ride we took down the Thames in London, England. Mr Wint and Mr Kidd's comments lead us to believe that they are responsible for the body in the canal.

   When Roy politely asks Jamie to stop for a second they are at the boat cruise stations beside the Rokin Canal.  Rondvaart in Dutch means cruise. There is another Bond connection here as the Rederij P. Kooij tour company provided the canal boat for Diamonds Are Forever.

    Even better, the exact boat is still operating. It changed its name from Prins Willem-Alexander to Koning Willem-Alexander when the real Prince Willem-Alexander became King of the Netherlands in 2013. The boat can be found in the Rokin canal next to the little Dutch elephant with long, yellow braids.

  Roy Kent catches his breath while sitting down on one of the concrete posts in front of the Diamond Factory. He sits on the last post which can just barely be seen (in the photo above) on the far right, between the planter and the street light. It is here that he points at the Diamond Factory windmill and declares that all windmills are fake.

    Jamie decides to round up some bicycles and go and find a windmill. It turns out that Roy has never learned to ride a bike so Jamie teaches him in front of the Allard Pierson Museum. After a little frustation, a few falls and a thrown bike, Roy finally gets the hang of it. The pair goes off in search of a real windmill.

Colin & Trent

  The next storyline follows another AFC Richmond player named Colin. He leaves the rest of the team at the hotel deciding what to do and heads out into Amsterdam by himself. He ends up at a gay bar named Prik and runs out when Trent Crimm, a reporter who is writing a book about the team, sees him there. Trent tells Colin that he knows his secret and they end up sitting at the edge of the canal near Westerkerk (the Western Church). When the bells of the church toll, Trent mentions that Anne Frank heard those same bells every night.

     Colin says she lived very close to this big pink triangle. They are sitting in front of Homomonument which was placed here in 1987. It commemorates gays and lesbians who are persecuted because of their sexual orientation.

 

Rebecca & The Man With A Houseboat

    The final storyline has Rebecca, the owner of AFC Richmond, going for a stroll through Amsterdam. She stops on this bridge where Groenburgwal canal meets Raamgracht canal because she answers a phone call.

    You can see the houses behind her. The light purple one on the left really stands out.

    As bicycles whiz past Rebecca, a man on the houseboat on the left whistles at her and says, "I have to say something to this beautiful woman."

 

     A bike rider comes close to hitting her and Rebecca loses her balance. She flips over the railing and into the canal.What is it that the mystery man wanted to tell her?  "You're walking in the bike lane."

    Rebecca gets out of the canal and the mystery man welcomes her into his houseboat. She takes a shower while her clothes dry and ends up enjoying a nice dinner and a few drinks. Her and the mystery man end up spending the night talking and having a great time. The next day she joins the rest of the team on their bus. Everyone from Ted Lasso had a great time in Amsterdam and so did we.

---

Map of Our World
Roy Kent Learns To Ride A Bike , Rebecca Falls In The Canal

---

Post # 337

Gillie & Marc

 

   Gillie & Marc are a married couple who are known for the sculptures that they create together. Their work can be found on public streets all around the world. They are best known for their sculptures of Rabbitwoman and Dogman. They also have a strong focus on endangered animals. You can find out more about the artists and where their sculptures can be found at gillieandmarc.com. Below are some of the Gillie & Marc sculptures we have encountered in our travels. Many of their sculptures are on temporary exhibition before they move on to a new location.

Paparazzi Dogs

 

  These paparazzi dogmen were the first Gillie & Marc sculpture that we recall seeing. They were located on Powell Street in San Francisco. They were taking photos of people coming out of an H&M store inside the Elevated Shops building. The dogmen are a combination of Marc and his weimaraner dog named Indie.

Coffee Table Of Love

 

 In New York City at Park Ave and East 46th Street you will find Coffee Table Of Love. Dogman is joined by Rabbitwoman for a cup of coffee. There are two more stools at the table for passerbys to join the half animal, half human couple.

 

 

  Rabbitwoman in based on Gillie and an unknown rabbit. Rabbitwoman holds a coffee and looks across at Dogman.

 

   Dogman holds a coffee and looks across at Rabbitwoman.

Love Negotiation

  In Toronto, Canada there is another Rabbitwoman and Dogman sculpture on Scollard Street. This time they are sitting at a smaller coffee table with no room for anyone else to join them. 

 

 When we took these pictures there had been a recent snowfall so the sculptures had a layer of snow on them. These versions of Dogman and Rabbitwoman had some colour in them. Dogman was sporting a blue suit and Rabbitwoman wore a red dress. Neither of them was dressed for the weather.

 

He Was On A Wild Ride To A Safer Place With Rabbitwoman & Dogman

  At the time of posting this blog there was another Gillie & Marc sculpture in Toronto at David Pecaut Square. Dogman and Rabbitwoman are sharing a tandem bicylce with a rhinoceros. You can join them in the last seat. This sculpture is temporary and will leave Toronto in 2025. Who knows where it might end up. 

 

 

  The rhino is there to represent the campaign called Love The Last. This is meant to raise awareness of endangered animal species. We tried to see their sculpture called The Last Three in New York City, but it was gone when we got there. The sculpture represented the last three northern white rhinos on earth. Only two remain alive today.

 
The Travellers Have Arrived

  While other sculptures show Dogman and Rabbitwoman enjoying coffee or riding a bike, this sculpture in Las Vegas is quite different. The two half human, half animals are riding a donkey naked through the Cosmopolitan hotel. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas!

---

Map of Our World

Love Negotiation , He Was On A Wild Ride To A Safer Place With Rabbitwoman & Dogman , Paparazzi Dogs , Coffee Table Of Love , The Travellers Have Arrived

---

Post # 336

Total Solar Eclipse 2024

Location: Crystal Beach, Ontario, Canada
Address: 89 Ridge Rd S  

Date: April 2024
Website: visitniagaracanada.com

  April 8, 2024 saw a total solar eclipse occur in parts of southern Ontario. A total solar eclipse is caused by the moon passing directly in front of the sun and blocking the sun from view. This was the first total solar eclipse to be visible in Ontario since February 26, 1979.  In order to view a solar eclipse safely you need special glasses. We had our glasses ready and then we chose our destination of Crystal Beach in the Fort Erie area. Crystal Beach was one of the places that was getting close to totality of the eclipse. As you move away from the line of totality you will experience less darkness and be able to see less of the show. Millions of people would be on the move in order to witness this phenomenon. This is how our adventure played out.

  The early morning sky was coloured with bands of orange, red and purple. There was more cloud cover than we had hoped. Unfortunatey, any sort of lunar event seems to draw in the clouds and storms. We set off on our journey, optimistic that things would clear up as the day progressed.

 We started out early in the day to avoid traffic. As we headed along the Queen Elizabeth Way near St. Catherines we decided to exit the highway and explore the side roads. We turned south onto Third Street. Our GPS said to turn on Third Street Louth.  We thought the GPS had a typo or speech impediment, but it turns out that Louth is the area. With so many First, Second and Third Streets in the surrounding farmlands they had added the area name to the end. Louth was named after a county in Ireland. We continued our journey Louth.

 

    This tin man was standing on Effingham Street. Sometimes people wear tinfoil hats to protect from harmful electromagnetic waves or alien mind reading. We are not sure what effect a solar eclipse would have on this tin man. We do know that we would not stand beside him in a thunderstorm.

  We stopped into a Niagara Conservation area to visit the Comfort Maple. This tree is over 500 years old and is being preserved. It is called the Comfort Maple not because of how it makes people feel, but because the farm land used to belong to the Comfort family.

    The tree is so old that there are ropes used to help support its branches. Hang in there Comfort Maple and enjoy the eclipse. We headed on towards Crystal Beach.

 

 There is a large group of seniors living in Crystal Beach as many people retire here or own cottages.  This happy gang is from the Beachcombers Seniors Centre.

 

  We had arrived well ahead of the crowds and had plenty of time before the moon and the sun put on their performance. We parked our car at Crystal Ridge Park and took a walk towards the northern part of town. We stopped into Sweet E's Bakery and had coffee and scones. We also chatted with some locals about the upcoming eclipse.

  After our coffee break we took a walk along the Friendship Trail. The Friendship Trail is a biking/walking pathway built where the train tracks used to be. The trail starts well before Crystal Beach and goes all the way to Old Fort Erie. We timed our walk in order to be back for the opening of Brimstone.

Brimstone is a brewery and special events space. It is also a restaurant/bar that seems to be built into and around a former church. We came here in order to have something to eat before the eclipse started.  The waitress informed us that she had selected an eclispe themed playlist in honour of the days big event. We didn't hear any Bonnie Tyler while we were there, but did hear several moon themed songs such as Echo & The Bunnymen's The Killing Moon.

   Brimstone is usually not open on Mondays, but opened especially for us eclipse seekers. They brew several of their own beers on site. We had a Purple Lizard and a Sinister Minister which is one of their beer selections

 

 

     They also have other ales such as the Hail Mary Ale. After enjoying our meal and beverages we headed back down to where we had parked to see if any crowds had gathered.

 

 

    More people had arrived for the event but we had chosen a good spot. We are sure it was crowded down at the water's edge. Crystal Beach sits on the northeast side of Lake Erie.

 

 

    A pair of deer had walked out into the park to graze. A few minutes later something spooked them and they both bounded away into the bushes.

 

 

    The eclipse was slowly approaching. It would take the moon about an hour to slowly cover the sun.  Then there would be about 4 minutes of darkness until the moon would slowly reveal the sun once more.

 

 

    We looked through our special glasses just to be safe as the eclipse started. Everything looked orange and we could see the sun through the clouds. We took this photo through the lens of the glasses. The eclipse had begun as the moon crept over the edge of the sun.

 

 

    More and more of the sun was covered. We realized that with so much cloud cover we didn't need the special glasses to protect our eyes or take photos.

 

 

    The robins were singing in the trees. They didn't seem confused and sang throughout the eclipse, even in the total darkness. Spring is their season after all.

 

 

    Then it happened. The sky went from day to night in about a minute. A cool breeze swept in and we were in the totality of the eclipse. Almost 4 minutes later we went from night to day again. The clouds robbed us of seeing the corona of the sun. We still enjoyed our day in Crystal Beach and viewing the spectacle of the eclipse with others. Next, we had the pleasure of many hours driving back home in traffic.

---

Map of Our World 

Crystal Ridge Park

---

Post # 334