Month: November 2023

USRJ S3 Episode 19 Los Angeles

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:05 — 18.4MB)

Los Angeles – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 19

Los Angeles is an amazing city that I am visiting for the second time.

To view the photographs for this podcast:

Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:

New Orleans to Los Angeles:

Another day, another Uber! This time I’m travelling to the New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport for my journey to Los Angeles. I am flying with American Airlines. My first flight is to Dallas Fort Worth and then a second to LAX.

On arrival at LAX I quickly collect my bag from the carousel and go to the FlyAway bus stop for my transport to LA Union Station and then a short taxi ride to my hotel – the DoubleTree in Downtown LA.

Angels Flight:

The Angels Flight is a funicular railway running between Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill and Hill Street where it ends opposite the Grand Central Market. The railway has run since 1901. Unfortunately at the time of my visit it is closed for refurbishment work on the upper station. Even though I can’t travel on it I have seen it.

Grand Central Market:

Grand Central Market is well named! It is grand, I’m sure it is central and it is a market with an amazing number of cultures and food types. Whoever you are and whatever you like you’ll find food to enjoy here. There is food to eat and stalls selling all the ingredients you might want for a really tasty meal.

I decide to have a coffee at G&B whose coffee is really good and spend a while absorbing the atmosphere of the bustling market.

Listen to the podcast to hear about my time in LA, my fruitless search for a watchstrap, some wonderful buildings, Traxx Bar at Union Station and joining the Texas Eagle.

Next up:

If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks for the start of my journey to Chicago on the Texas Eagle.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music licenses Steam Railway, Fashion Show and The Gold Rush for use in this podcast.

 

TH2023 Ep03 Pets in History

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:52 — 56.6MB)

Season 2023 – Talk 03 – Pets in History

In Pets in History Alan Freeland tells us a story that starts with the ‘hunter gatherers‘ and ends in the 20th Century.

Click a thumbnail below to view the image gallery that accompanies the talk.

Domestication:

Alan considers the effects of domestication on the previously wild animals. Dogs are good when hunting and guarding whilst cats kill the mice that eat the store of grain.

As humans move from hunting to farming the different aspects of these animals become important.

Early images:

We hear of early images of dogs in Saudi Arabia and of the statue of a cat that dates from the 14th to 13th century BCE.

By c 2300 BCE the dogs in the images look similar to many of breeds that we see today. In the same way those of cats dating from c 700 BCE would be familiar to all of us.

Pets:

We hear how the animals grow close to humans, although remembering all the time that the cat owns us, not the other way round!

Add to this a bit of Noah’s Ark, some patron saints, mystery, witchcraft, the occasional wombat and a rabbit and you have an entertaining and informative hour ahead of you!

Listen to the podcast and hear Alan tell the whole story.

About this podcast:

This is an edited recording of a talk given to the Farnham u3a World History  Group .

It is not always possible to use all of the images presented in the original talk because of copyright reasons.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

AKM Music licenses Media Magazine for use the music in this talk.

© The MrT Podcast Studio and Farnham u3a World History Group 2018 – 2023

USRJ S3 Episode 18 Longue Vue Garden

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:11 — 18.5MB)

Longue Vue Garden in New Orleans – US Rail Journeys Series 3 Episode 18

In Longue Vue Garden in New Orleans I visit the amazing garden created by Edith and Edgar Stern.

To view the photographs for this podcast:

Please click on a thumbnail to open the gallery:

Getting to Longue Vue:

I take an Uber from my hotel, the French Market Inn, in the French Quarter of New Orleans. The driver has to follow his SatNav to get to the famed Longue Vue Garden in Bamboo Road in the Lakewood neighbourhood of the city.

We get there without too much trouble and I go to the gatehouse with the details of my booking.

History:

In 1921 the newlyweds Edith and Edgar Stern buy the property. Edith is a Sears Roebuck heiress and Edgar comes from a wealthy New Orleans family. In 1935 they attend a dinner party where they meet the self taught landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman.

Ellen Shipman works with the Sterns from 1935 until her death in 1950. Her designs are still evident in the garden that we see today. She uses two techniques – a series of ‘axial’ views which guide the visitor’s sightlines and also ‘garden rooms’ such as the ‘Pan Garden’ and the ‘Walled Garden’.

My visit:

It is a hot and sticky day in late June when I visit. I think I’m too late for many of the flowers but it is still an amazing experience and I can see why the Sterns loved it here. My visit ends with a thunderstorm bringing much needed rain.

Some of the staff are in 1920s dress because it is the 101st anniversary of the Stern’s wedding and there is a big celebration that evening.

Listen to the podcast to hear my thoughts as I walk round the garden.

Next up:

If you enjoy these podcasts please join me in a couple of weeks when I explore the city of Los Angeles.

Links:

To visit the Amtrak website please follow this link.

This podcast is also available through Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Castbox , Deezer, Podchaser, Spotify, Stitcher and Vurbl and others.

Music:

AKM Music licenses Steam Railway, Jazz Street and Horticulture for use in this podcast.

Sound effects are courtesy of Pixabay.