Page 108 - Off The Tourist Trail - 1000 Unexpected Travel Alternatives (Part 2 of 2)

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ART AND CULTURE

ABOVE Floral tributes decorating the statue of a saint in one of the shrines at Las Pozas, Xilitla, Mexico
RIGHT Keats-Shelley House, remembering England’s great Romantic poets, Rome, Italy

LAS POZAS, XILITLA, MEXICO Rich, English, eccentric, and friend of the Surrealists, KEATS-SHELLEY HOUSE, ROME, ITALY There are few figures in English poetry more
Edward James sold his great collection of art to put his own taste to the test in his very romantic than John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and no more romantic a spot in which
own Garden of Eden. It was no small task. The garden is situated deep in the jungle, up to contemplate their lives than this house by the Spanish Steps. For years the haunt of
in the mountains 7 hours north of Mexico City. Here, in the company of a menagerie of England’s Romantic poets, it is filled with paintings and memorabilia in homage to them.
pets and wild animals, he spent more than 20 years nurturing exotic plants and creating Keats came here suffering from tuberculosis and this is where he died, aged 25, in 1821.
houses, trails, bridges, and dozens of ambitious concrete follies. Many display a Surrealist A year later his friend Shelley, 29, drowned while sailing off the Italian coast. The
twist, such as the House on Three Floors Which Will in Fact Have Five or Four or Six. awareness of their deaths, so close together in time and place, only adds to the romance.

WINE FESTIVAL, BURGUNDY, FRANCE STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL, MIHO MUSEUM, SHIGARAKI, JAPAN PERGAMONMUSEUM, BERLIN,
The monks of Burgundy were masters of ONTARIO, CANADA Between April and Visiting this museum, designed by I. M. Pei GERMANY One of the finest collections
viniculture, and the feast of St Vincent (Jan November each year around 12 plays are for textile heiress Mihoko Koyama, is like of ancient archaeological artifacts in the
22) celebrates its grape-fueled heritage. staged in repertory in the city’s four a trip to Alice’s Wonderland. A peach- world, this imposing museum houses a
Each year, a different village defies the theaters. Shakespeare takes center stage, tree-lined path dives into a steel tunnel wealth of Roman and Greek finds as well
winter with processions and tastings but the program also covers a variety of and over a bridge to a part-subterranean as treasures of the Near East such as the
amid paper-flower-decked streets. classical and contemporary drama. space full of Western and Asian antiquities. Pergamon Altar, to which it owes its name.

ANDERSON VALLEY VINEYARDS, BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT The new Alexandria Library,
CALIFORNIA, USA North of San inaugurated in 2003, has set itself a challenging task: it aims to live up to the example set
Francisco, this bucolic, rolling valley is a by its predecessor, the Ancient Library of Alexandria, widely recognized as the greatest
tranquil enclave attracting artists and library of classical times. Built on the harbor near what is thought to have been the site of
craftsmen, where grapes have nothing to the old library, the building itself is quite breathtaking. A giant glass disc, tilted towards
do all day but ripen in the sun. Encircled the sea, it is a stunning complex in three parts: a conference center, a planetarium, and
by protective mountains, it’s an idyllic the new library itself, connected by a plaza. Outside, carved into its shield-like, curved
spot to spend a few days acquainting granite walls, are letters in more than a hundred different scripts, intended to invite
yourself with the region’s two dozen understanding between all cultures and nationalities. Inside, arranged over 11 cascading
wineries, and dining out in civilized style. levels, there are reading rooms and enough shelf space to stack eight million tomes.

CARL HAMMER GALLERY, CHICAGO, LA CHASCONA, SANTIAGO, CHILE DENNIS SEVERS’ HOUSE, LONDON, UK
USA To catch who’s new and what’s hot, La Chascona (“the uncombed”) is the This cluttered, candlelit house, which
visit this gallery on North Wells Street. epitome of a poet’s home, full of art and belonged to the fictional Jervis family of
Carl Hammer specializes in “Outsider Art,” optimism. It was built by Pablo Neruda Huguenot silk weavers, is a model of
aiming to give a break to untrained – and on a hill by a stream, after he discovered what it was like to live in the East End of
unknown – artists. Much of the work he the spot with his lover, Matilde Urrutia. The London in the early 18th century. With a
promotes is “social art,” the art of the place grew organically, and its fascinating fire in the grate, and a half-eaten meal on
underdog, but he also puts on regular complex of whimsical rooms is filled the table, it is a theatrical time capsule of
shows of known artists. Exhibitions with art and found objects, including ten paneled rooms, brilliantly re-created
change every month. a portrait of Urrutia by Diego Rivera. by the late American artist Dennis Severs.

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