Enjoying the Beauty of Phoenix

We awoke to another beautiful day in Phoenix but decided to forego rock climbing and head into the city instead, to see what sites we could enjoy.  Our first stop was the Japanese Friendship Gardens. 

You might be able to tell from the photo that this place offers peace and tranquility to the viewer.  It is located near high rise buildings in the city, but is a little oasis offering a lovely respite from a hectic world. 

The story behind the garden is simple.  It was proposed in 1987, by the mayor of Himegi, Japan, as a joint project between his city and Phoenix, to reinforce the bonds between the two cities. It continues to be a work in progress as the landscape undergoes more changes in development. 

Swimming in the pool of water are Koi, some as old as 30 years old, brought here originally when the garden opened.

There is a paved trail that encircles the pond, and we set out to enjoy what the garden had to offer.

We certainly were not disappointed. 

Along the way, we noticed some unusual floral displays, and upon asking one woman about her's we soon learned that the 14th Annual Ikebana Exhibit was happening this weekend, and the artists were arranging their displays for the competition today.  I'll admit that this was an art form of which I was completely unfamiliar, but we were both impressed with the beauty that was presented in so many unique ways.  

Here are a few examples:

As you can see, there is quite a variety of medium, style, and position,  and the garden background was the perfect venue to enjoy such displays.

It didn't take long, however, to circle the pond, and we were soon enjoying the last views prior to exiting.

From here we decided to venture out to Dobbins Point, located south of the city.  That involved a very long, switchback road, that eventually led to a summit  in South Mountain Park.

Believe it or not, it was actually rather hazy today, so the clarity of the vistas weren't all that sharp,

but it was still fun to drive to the top to appreciate the variation in landscape and to admire Phoenix from a distance. 

We headed back down the road, into the city, towards Heritage Square, as I was interested in taking a peek at Rosson house. When we got to  Heritage Square, we soon learned that the parking garage was an "event only" admission, and we were directed a block away to another garage adjacent to the Arizona Diamondbacks stadium.

That actually played to our advantage, as we were able to capture this photo on the raised crosswalk from the garage.

But it wouldn't be the only one that we spotted.

The walk to Heritage square offered some interesting sites as we passed two science museums along the way.  Marty managed to capture a photo of this old train engine that was exhibited in the glass wing of one of the buildings.

The heritage clock added charm to the square, 

and it stood in front of a building adjacent to the Rosson House.

The Victorian structure wasn't open for touring, but it was certainly photo worthy, don't you think?

The square is directly across from Arizona State University and I was impressed by the architecture of the buildings, and how pristine it looked.  

I was also a bit surprised to find it to be like a ghost town, so I can only presume that students are on break of some sort.

By now, our tummies were grumbling, so we went in search of a place to eat. 

We ended up at Carcara in the hotel Sheraton just down the street.  It was fun to see the place all decorated up for the upcoming super bowl festivities.

Note the Steeler emblem above Marty's head. 

It was equally fun being among the buzz of activity as we sipped a refreshing drink and watched the scurrying people come and go, most with some sort of NFL or Super Bowl emblem upon their shirts and jackets. 

After we finished our meal, we made our way back to the car, passing the beautiful St. Mary's Basilica with her lovely gardens, along the way.

It was a lovely day, and this was just enough gallivanting for a day, so we headed back to our home base to spend the evening with Aunt Susie.  

Another brilliant day to add to our adventures. You really can't beat that, can you?

 

Celebrating Music as the Sustaining Human Gift

" If not for music, the soul would have no language."  And, so we found ourselves on another exciting adventure yesterday as we explored the Musical Instrument Museum outside of Phoenix.

It didn't take long before we realized that we were in for a real treat. 

After all, how could not enjoy yourselves with this kind of welcome from the start?

Upon entering the enormous building, we were each handed a  headset, told explicitly NOT to touch the middle button (we behaved and listened), and were directed to the first room on the ground floor, which, as you can see, featured quite a number of guitars hanging on the wall.  Being married to a guitar player, you can well imagine the excitement that ensued.

Let me share just some of the highlights (in my opinion): 

Here you see a cleverly decorated Beatles themed Epiphone from the 1990s,

A Smooth talker electric acoustic guitar

an 1815 French Lyre guitar

and the Silent Guitar which is actually an electric guitar from East Jakarta, Indonesia made by Yamaha.

We moseyed around the corner,  and our eyes were immediately captured by this floor to ceiling Octobasse standing in the middle of a musical instrument room.  It is actually a replica of an instrument made in 1850 in Italy which is tuned two octaves below the violoncello.   This particular instrument was played by using a system of levers that activate a mechanism that pulls the strings against the frets.  It is intended to play long sustained tones as a bass in an orchestra. 

The walls featured all kinds of instruments one might see in an performance on stage.  Of course, there were some unusual items worth noting as well. 

I spotted a concert zither that was made in 1908

as well as a gloria model piano accordion

and this sweet, unusual looking harmonica.

Aren't they just delightful?

It was time to head out of the introduction rooms and into the real crux of this museum.  But, not before passing this pipe organ standing in the exit hallway. 

Little did we know that this was when the REAL adventure began!!

We headed upstairs, walked through the far doorway, and immediately found ourselves transported to the country of Africa.  Sierra Leone greeted us, where we soon learned that music often involves masked dancers.  

Our headsets featured such musical events, and I soon realized that these headsets were not meant to offer explanations regarding what we saw.  We could read that information.  Instead, they were designed to delight us with the traditional music connected by each country on display.  

As I looked around I realized that I was immersed in a multipurpose experience.  Not only was I viewing a wide array of unique musical instruments, but I was being exposed to a lesson on geography, as well as the culture of locations, some of which I would be hard press to identify.  

Note the name of the country, and it's location highlighted on the map insert on the wall.  Each country was represented this way.

To be quite honest, a few hours is just not sufficient to absorb the delights that surrounded us. But we set out to try to tackle as much as time would allow.

As I mentioned, the collection includes much more than just musical instruments.  There are many select items interspersed among them.  As you read along, you might note that I have highlighted some of those items that I found particular unique or interesting. 

Are you ready for your tour?  Ok, Let's go. 

Here you see a royal stool from Ghana

Nigerian Ilu goblet drums

11th century Nigerian bells, which would have been worn around the neck, 

as well as a bell from the Central African Republic.

A Tunisian goblet drum (loved all of those colors)

an arched harp from Egypt (this reminded me of a character in a Disney movie, although the particular film escapes me)

and a Saudi Arabian Bedoin Rababa

We then moved onto Turkey

Syria

with a plucked lute as well as a plucked zither.

Iran

and Ukongo  (this is a footed drum)

as well as Urunda.

From the hall ceiling hung a Chinese slit drum

and a pair of alphorns from Switzerland. (they were VERY long!)

 Here you see a tube zither from Madagascar painted with floral and animal motifs.

We were now in Tajikistan with a displayed skullcap worn by a Tajik bride during her wedding celebration.

Around the corner was Mongolia.

There was this lovely garment from Afghanistan

and an Armenian bowed lute.

Items from Maldives

and a Chinese zither shaped like a butterfly.

This lithopone consists of marble slabs, dating back hundreds of years BC, and comes from China. It is known as a Bianqing, which translates "ordered stones" and was played in an orchestra for important occasions in the Chinese court.  They are now considered to be very rare as only a few known sets exist from this ancient time period. 

South Korea featured an intricate set of bells

with colorful figures that I found to be quite delightful.

Marty posed next to  a very large drum from China.

and we moved into Cambodia, complete with costumes as well.

There were some interesting items from Burma, including a marionette puppet

and extremely ornate double headed barrel drums. The picture doesn't do the brilliant gold and sparkling inlays justice.

By this time, I had wondered if we should have allocated a time allowance to each continent, as it was quite obvious that Africa and Asia had captured a LOT of attention!  

So, we strolled through the Caribbean and into South America

which included  an ancient Aztec drum on display

Believe me, there was much more that I could share, but time was getting ahead of us.  So, we crossed the hall and found ourselves in the United States and Canada.  

You have to admit, that was quite the welcome!

An entertaining Alaskan mask seems worth featuring

as well as these local gourde rattles, ornately decorated.

Rounding the bend, I had to laugh when I spied the tribute to Alice Cooper.  What a difference this country was making in comparison to all that we had just explored!

One of the five giant keyboard zithers built by Peter and Justice Blissing known to have survived, was on display.

along with an delicately decorated autoharp from 1896.

These musical glasses produced a melody quite pleasant to the ear, and were certainly quite a unique form of entertainment. 

There was a tribute to Ragtime

acrylic drums played by Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer,

and a personal collection of harmonicas once owned by Leroy "Bluesdog" Falconi, Jr.

By this time, I decided to head to the European room, where I almost immediately spotted a Slovakian bagpipe.  

I set out on a hunt for more Slovak instruments, and was rewarded with a full wall of them, featuring another bagpipe as well as the traditional Fujara, which offered such a beautiful solemn sound in my ears. 

Across the way, I spied this delightful horn from Luxembourg,

as well as some salvaged Carillion bells from an English cathedral.

I absolutely adored these tiny Murano glass figurines representing an orchestra, each one hand blown in the town where they get their name.

The display from Ireland brought back pleasant memories from this past summer's trip, 

and it included this stunning harp from 1820.

Here you see a Norwegian lute (I loved the intricate mother of pearl detail)

Icelandic drums

and a serpent aerophone. (not quite sure how that works)

In Spain, we found a flamenco dancer, 

and a religious frame drum that had once belonged to a religious community.

Italy rewarded us with this stunning instrument

as well as a harp guitar

Croatia offered an ornately carved double lute.

There was a German zither

and two ornate German accordions as well.

Bulgaria was certainly interesting.  These costumes are actually worn by people and are intended to ward off evil spirits. 

I don't know about you, but I'd say they'd ward off way more than that!

Obviously, I've just touched upon the enormity of what the Musical Instrument Museum has to offer.  I can't begin to describe just how fascinating we found this adventure. 

As one last treat, Marty was able to try his hand at playing the harp in the room that is designed for "hands on" play. 

.

He also had some fun with a Theremin, an electrophone invented by Leon Theremin which generates sound by electric currents.

Sorry...but the blog doesn't include sound. 

On that note,  it's time to wrap this up.  I certainly hope you enjoyed traveling the world with me.  I'm off for another adventure today. 

Until next time....