Travelsmartplanet

If you’re a fan of architecture and design you’ll want to check out The Gropius House. Walter Gropius, the founder of the highly influential Bauhaus School and one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century designed this striking home in 1938 after moving from Germany to Massachusetts to teach at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Modest in scale, the house was revolutionary in impact. It combined the traditional elements of New England architecture — wood, brick, and fieldstone, with innovative materials rarely used in domestic settings at that time: glass block, acoustical plaster, and chrome banisters, along with the latest technology in fixtures.

At the Gropius House, Bauhaus ideals remain alive, and throughout Gropius’s life, he and his wife Ise continued to add newly designed furnishings that reflected their belief in the marriage of design and industry.  In keeping with Bauhaus philosophy, every aspect of the house and its surrounding landscape was planned for maximum efficiency and simplicity of design. 

Two years after Mrs. Gropius’s death in 1983, the Gropius House opened as a historic house museum. The house contains a significant collection of furniture designed by Marcel Breuer  and fabricated in the Bauhaus workshops. The house also contains works by Eero Saarinen, Joan Miró, and Herbert Bayer that were given as gifts to Walter Gropius. With all the family possessions still in place, the house has an cohesiveness rarely found in house museums.

All images are “Courtesy of Historic New England.”

Location: Gropius House. 68 Baker Bridge Road, Lincoln, Mass. 01773
Dates: Sat and Sun, until May 31
Hours: 11 – 4pm, Tours on the hour
Tel: 781-259-8098
historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/Gropius%20House
For Regional Information, Restaurants & Attractions: merrimackvalley.org

Last chance to see Heart and Seoul: Growing Up in Korea is a new, cultural exhibit in which five modern-day Korean kids will open their hearts and invite you to take an intimate look into their lives through their diverse interests, customs and ambitions. The traveling exhibition will be in town only until end December at Stepping Stones Museum for Children.

The exhibit, both fun and educational, will use traditional folktales as well as current day personal stories told by Korean children to engage visitors in learning about time-honored cultural values and life in South Korea’s highly urbanized and technologically-advanced country.

Children and visitors will be able to explore gallery areas that recreate the settings that characterize the lives of typical South Korean children in Seoul, such as an apartment, classroom, taekwondo studio, and K-pop stage. Throughout the exhibit, these spaces will be embedded with traditional folktales and games to show how values like respect for parents and elders; the importance of scholarship; loyalty to family, friends and community; and hospitality are still an integral facet of 21st century Korean life.

Hands-on experiences include:  an animation studio where visitors can try their hand at stop-motion animation. (The popular television series The Simpsons and Family Guy were created in Korean studios, as was the film Avatar.) Musically inclined kids will take the stage at K-Pop Stars Studio, where they can get on camera and “perform” with popular K-Pop singers. There’s a Taekwondo studio, where kids can practice their moves and learn this martial art based on 2,000-year-old ancient techniques.The exhibit also includes a plaza, a restaurant, an apartment, a classroom and a Hanok guest house.

Location: Stepping Stones Museum for Children, Mathews Park,
303 West Ave, Norwalk, CT 06850 |
Dates: til the end of Dec.
Hours: Mon – Sun, 10 – 5 pm
Tel: 203-899-0606
steppingstonesmuseum.org
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: visitfairfieldcountyct.com

Brave attendees meet the Ghosts on the Banke at Strawbery Banke’s famous family-friendly Halloween celebration. Long-dead sea captains, 17th century shopkeepers and wayward pirates haunt the streets of Portsmouth’s oldest neighborhood as you trick or treat safely from house to historic house.

Trick-or-Treat safely as Jack-O-Lanterns light the way to step over the threshold of time and meet the “Ghosts on the Banke.” Discover pirate treasure, visit with the wacky witch, look into the future with guidance from the gypsy fortune teller. Catch a Ghostly Tale when Community members bring history back to life with spooky plays, skits, and interactive improvisation throughout the evening. Light up the Night and warm weary bones by the bonfire.

Masques on the Banke (Sunday Oct 30 only – 5:30 – 7pm) – Step “Behind the Mask” at this 90 minute event, as the majestic black Friesian horses of Runnymede Farm perform their equestrian ballet. US Premiere of a choreographed equestrian dressage seen only in Europe.  Meet the horses and enjoy a mask-making craft for Halloween.  Special guests include: Wick’d Fire and the Skeleton Crew Theater.
Show off Your Costume (Oct 31st at 7 pm) – March in a New Orleans-style parade, past haunted houses of old, through ghostly lanes full of things that go bump in the night. The Portsmouth Halloween Parade starts at Peirce Island by Prescott Park. It is an all-inclusive celebration of community, creativity and free expression that walks, stalks, dances, trumpets and drums its way through downtown Portsmouth each year – for more info:  portsmouthhalloweenparade.org

Location:  Strawbery Banke Museum, 14 Hancock St., Portsmouth NH 03801
Date: Fri Oct 28 – Sat Oct 29, 2016
Hours: 5:30pm – 8pm
Tel: 603-433-1100
strawberybanke.org/events/ghosts-on-the-banke.cfm
For Regional Accommodations, Restaurants & Attractions: goportsmouthnh.com

When visiting Fortress Louisbourg in Nova Scotia, you have the opportunity to sleep in an authentic 18th century home. Reach out to Parks Canada to set it up but be aware that in that era, they slept on straw mattresses (you can throw a sleeping bag on top, though). Test yourself to see if you can live without electricity. In Rodrigue House, this is the bigger room, fine for the lady. The other smaller room had 2 single beds.

Fortress Louisbourg, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, is producing smooth rum – a drink that would have been downed by rich and poor in the 18th century. Don’t forget to bring it home as a souvenir. Every time you feel the smooth liquor go down, you’ll remember your trip – and how lucky we are to live in this century. To buy it, just ask for Fortress Rum, what else?

Chocolate was hugely expensive in the 18th century and a pound would cost the same as a pair of shoes. You had to be wealthy to be able to serve cocoa to guests. the cocoa was served hot with spices and sugar and was used medicinally and for warmth and strength. Both women and men drank it. Ladies thought it was energizing. More than two centuries later, I think we still agree about that.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to flashback to calm and pleasant airline travel of the 1970’s? Well you can! We just drove from Montreal to tiny Plattsburgh Airport to take Allegiant Air to hot sunny Florida. Easily, we turned off the main road, and drove right up to the airport door. I stepped out with the luggage, and Stan just parked the car across the street.

There was NO line at the Allegiant Air desk and friendly helpful service, I was done in under two minutes. There was NO lineup at security. Since you already drove through the border, there was NO customs and immigration to deal with. In probably about 5 minutes we were going up the elevator to the waiting room.

The room had a retro counter with a man selling candy, snacks, sandwiches and drinks. When I asked him the prices, He said, “What do you want, they’re all in my head?”

There weren’t overhead screens to keep track of the flight. They send any changes to you to your cellphone – and call if necessary, too. The building is going through a renovation so things might be a bit more twenty-first century when you fly.

Those of you already planning your winter sunny getaways will be happy to know that Allegiant Air flying out of Plattsburgh offers low prices with just a short drive away for Montrealers who want a nonstop flight to sunshine. Just be advised that there are extra charges for luggage (even carry-on), choosing seats, and such things as printed boarding passes for you (you can do it at home for free).

Travelers who shop around will find substantial savings when flying with Allegiant, as well as good deals on hotels, rental cars and attractions. Montrealers wishing to spend their hard-earned dollars at their destination, rather than on transportation, can fly to sunny Las Vegas and Florida.

www.allegiantair.com

The Charles Bridge over the river Vltava is the oldest bridge in the city, built between the 14th and 15th century and lined with statues and lamps and with Gothic towers on both ends.

St John statue on Charles Bridge

The bronze statue of St. John of Nepomuk is the oldest (and most famous) one, created  in 1683. St. John was a parson who refused to betray a secret confided to him by Queen Sophia when asked by King Wenceslas IV. In 1393, he was tortured on the king´s demand and then thrown into the river from the Charles Bridge. After his death, supposedly five stars  appeared above the river.

There is a brassy cross with five stars at the place on the parapet, where he was thrown to the river. If you place your hand on the cross, so that each finger will touch one star, you can wish for something and it will be fulfilled. People also touch the relief on the statue for luck.

www.cosmos.com/Product.aspx?trip=46050