Borgo Vecchio Harbor

Today, I visited the Borgo Vecchio Harbor, which is an international Italian sim.  It is a well thought out and designed sim, which has a gorgeous harbor and attached fishing village, with quaint shops through the main square area, along with cute little cafes to sit and relax at.  There are two languages here, Italian and English, and the atmosphere has an open and airy feel to it.  The surrounding village is laid out in a manner that is easy to navigate and walk around, and there are rentals for boats and homes available here.  To moor your boat here, it will cost 200L a week, which is very reasonable and since they are located in the Nautilus Continent, you have sailable waters to enjoy.  If you don't rent here, you can still use their rezz zone to rezz out a boat, to go out and enjoy the surrounding waters.

The landscaping around the entire area is very scenic and laid out quite well, so from a photographic perspective, this is a perfect spot for photos for scenery and modelling, in my personal opinion.  If you are looking for a place to listen to some good music, like the blues, most days there is music available in the Square.  The group for the sim is free to join and they seem to be quite active, from what I saw.  I do recommend checking this charming sim out.  I found it to be not just incredibly charming but a very sweet place to relax and enjoy.

Sous les Oliviers

Sous les Oliviers introduction: 

As the theme of Tuscany, Sous les Oliviers is a place to relax, explore or simply admire the view, Sous les Oliviers is the ideal retreat. Every nook and cranny is designed to offer you an immersive and soothing experience, away from the hustle and bustle.

 After landing, I could see the resemblance and the inspiration of Tuscany in the design of the sim.  Ely, who was the designer of the sim, did capture the essence and beauty of Tuscany in the different areas, with the beautiful architecture of the buildings around the landscape, to the actual landscape throughout the sim.  I could almost smell the tantalizing and mouthwatering smells coming from the market, once more; which is how amazingly well Ely did with this build.

This sim is wonderful for exploring, fantastic for photography, and the serene and tranquil atmosphere that I found here, is amazing for just relaxing in.  

If you do take photos here, Sous les Oliviers does have their own flickr group, so please feel free to share.

Today's Destination Highlight - Winter Love Valley

It has been truly quite some time since I had the pleasure of wandering around Second Life again.  RL being RL, for the last couple of years, it has been incredibly busy.  With that being said, I have the pleasure of being able to come back and wander around the grid a little more.  

For my first post, after a 2.5-year hiatus, I bring Winter Love Valley, for your wandering pleasure.  The first impression I had of this amazing sim is that the builder took their time and patiently built a sim with a fabulous variety of activities for their guests, surrounded by gorgeous visuals for the eyes to feast on.  There are rezzers available for horses, a sleigh, and for snowboarding for the guests to enjoy, along with ice skating.  There is a ski lounge to enjoy, an ice dance cave, and a ferris wheel to ride.  When this sim is not set up for winter, it's normally called Love Valley, which is owned by the multi-talented lady, Evely Heartsong.  (Regarding the horses, they only ask that you do not ride them on the ice, since that can interfere with the skaters.)

 

For Old Times sake - Auld Lang Syne

One of the things I love about the grid is the places that are inspired by real places in real life, like Auld Lang Syne.  Created by Eloise Blake and inspired by parts of Shetland, Orkney and the Hebrides, she has brought some parts of Scotland to the grid.

Aptly named Auld Lang Syne, a song which was submitted to the Scots Musical Museum by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, who claimed the words were taken from an old man's singing.  The lyric's in the Scottish version is about good friends sitting down together and recalling adventures and memories of long ago.

I've tried several times to come up with a description of what you will find but I have to admit, like Scotland, it's hard to describe.  You will find rough terrain and soft gentle spots to rest your feet, which is Scotland.  It's a land of contrasts, with harsh and weathered cliffs that the sea beats on it, day-to-day, and then the soft gentle moors, with the heather sweetening up the air and enchanting you as you walk by it.  And yes, that is what Eloise pulled into SL, the whole atmosphere that makes Scotland such an amazing and beautiful land.  With that said, I think in ending, I will just leave you with the Scottish version of Auld Lang Syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And auld lang syne?

(Chorus)
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne, 
We'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye'll be your pint-stowp!
And surely I'll be mine!
And we'll tak a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld land syne.

We twa hae run about the braes
And pu'd the gowans fine; 
But we've wander'd mony a weary foot
Sin auld lang syne.

We twa hae paidl'd i' the burn, 
Frae mornin' sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar'd 
Sin auld lang syne.

And there's a hand, my trusty fiere!
And gie's a hand o' thine!
And we'll tak a right guid willy waught, 
For auld lang syne.

Credit:
Lyrics and information obtained at Encyclopedia Britannica

Breath in the Oxygen!

Due to RL, this post is a long time in coming.  Back in December, I had the pleasure of meeting SixDigital and seeing her amazing sim, Oxygen. 

The sim is done with a bit of a vintage feel to it, with plenty of beautiful areas to visit, including a gorgeous beach that is set up with not just an eye to detail, but you get the sense of peaceful serenity, as well.  A walk around the sim is not just a pleasure, but for a photographer, it's pure joy.  She balances the visuals out in a manner that is not overwhelming, but wonderful to behold, in each area you look.

Not only is it a cornucopia of wonderful visuals, but it's also active as well, with a variety of different events and activities for you to enjoy.  If you feel like you never wish to leave this treasure of a sim, there are also rentals that are available at the sim, so you can make it your home as well.

Drop by, join the group and enjoy!

The Haunting of Hill Valley

The Haunting of Hill Valley is a fairly interesting build.  It is owned by Cinn Morigi (cinnamonmousse) & Syler Avon (jaiden.nexen), who are the owners of GTFO (Get the Freight out), which I had blogged about previously. 
The Haunting of Hill Valley is located on the Basenville region in the Satori continent, right off of Route 8.  It is a really cool build because Hill Valley is an actual neighborhood, that is located in the next two regions, one with homes and the other region contains townhouses, along with the GTFO HQ.  In the Haunted section, you can click on a bike rezzer and take a little ride around the neighborhoods, right up to the board walk and their store plaza area. 
I really could go on and on about what is there, since there was so much to see.  For the Haunted area, you have a large haunted mansion to explore, a smaller witches house with all the trimmings, a large and small graveyard, along with a haunted gazebo that has dancing ghosts around it. 
Chatting with one of the owners, this is an area that they plan on doing many things with.  They are on the Top SL Haunted Places tour and hunt and they are in the Destination Guide as well, for this season.  This is basically their Event/Display area, which will be changing with the seasons and the different holidays, so this is a place to keep your eyes on. 
The land is rated moderate and a little heads up that the neighborhoods contain rentals, the beach houses, homes, and townhouses.

**A little side notes: While blogging these areas and since I'm a major Halloween fan, I decided I would show off the costumes I like to wear while I'm working on these areas.  The costume I'm wearing is called the Georgina Outfit, from AFI Designs.  It comes with a hat, hair, jacket, jeans, boots, and the balloon, which has the holding pose in it.  It is really super cute on and I was having a blast wearing it while I was doing my landscape photography.  Check AFI Designs out for more Halloween costumes as well.  She has some really great ideas and selection to choose from.

 **WL used was by Jay Battlescare - Special Deco 4.0 (1)

Achill Island: A Touch of Irish Charm

Yesterday I did a bit of a walkabout on the grid.  Translation: I was profile perving and finding places that I have never heard of or thought they sounded interesting.  

Achill Island was in the 8th profile I had perved..I mean, checked out. and it just sounded so charming, quaint, and adorable that I had to take a peek.  I'm really glad I did that.  It has this sweet, charming feel of it, that was reminiscent of Ireland.    Designed and landscaped by the talented Minnie Atlass, she captures the feel, colors, and atmosphere of the Irish countryside in vivid detail.  

As you will see in the photos, it is set up with rolling hills, a peaceful and relaxing pond, and the cliffs are rugged and dramatic looking, similar to what you would find in Ireland.

Photographers are welcome but this is also a private home for Ziggy Duster and Grace Sixpence, who are gracious enough to open their land and share, so respect for their private areas, please.