Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Traveling


Traveling is one thing I will never tire of. Even if it's just around the corner, 20 miles from home. It is exciting to plan and discover, drive through unknown territory and see things unfold. Road trips are wonderful, but my favorite way to travel is by train.
Which hasn't happen much, unless you count the subway or metro to the city!
I always try to come up with an excuse to go on a train trip, but I still have to find one for a place far enough to make the car obviously the not so economical solution.
Maybe Boston or Philadelphia? I would not mind going by train to Seattle.


In a sleeping berth, having my coffee in the morning at the cafe, watching the world go by!


Dressing for dinner.


Perhaps my ideas of train travels are far from the reality and it is way less glamorous then I would hope?
Maybe Orient Express style?





I am dreaming!

Hope your week ahead is adventure filled!

xx
Victoria

Friday, February 4, 2011

British movies

I am a fan of British TV movies and after Downton Abbey has passed - way to fast- it left a void...
I roamed a bit and found a few movies to fill the gap!


(Source)

All are available on Netflix and surely as good!
Have a look!

Lark Rise to Candleford (click title to read more)


Set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighbouring market town of Candleford, the series chronicles the daily lives of farm-workers, craftsmen and gentry at the end of the 19th Century. Lark Rise to Candleford is a love letter to a vanished corner of rural England and a heart-warming drama series teeming with wit, wisdom and romance. (Source)

A dance to the Music of Time


There'll always be an England--and Anglophiles shall be forever grateful. A Dance to the Music of Time is a sumptuous, leisurely portrait of a time in Britain's history (from the 1920s to the '60s) that epitomizes the pinnacle of romance. At the center of this Dance is Nicholas Jenkins, the narrator of the tales of intrigue, infidelity, queer friendships, and ruthless ambition that intersect throughout the series. Jenkins is played by the appealing James Purefoy, who, with starring turns in the likes of the film Vanity Fair and the HBO series Rome, clearly has not met a period drama he could not master. Flawed but clear-eyed, Jenkins observes the machinations of the upper crust from a bit of a remove, as if watching a play unfold.
And unfold it does. The plot is far too intricate to encapsulate, and in the end, plot isn't the appeal of British drawing-room dramas, anyway. Instead, it's the evocation of a time bound by intricate, unspoken rules--which participants seem to spend as much time and furtive energy trying to break as they do abiding by them. Notable characters include the greasy Widmerpool (played by the BAFTA-winning Simon Russell Beale), who, despite being utterly unremarkable, manages to build quite a career in the British government and military. John Gielgud is riveting as the novelist St. John Clarke, whose books are wildly popular but sniffed at by serious critics, and Miranda Richardson is the devilish Pamela Flitton.

The miniseries bears more than a passing resemblance to the much-beloved Brideshead Revisited, and in fact the cast of characters is so complex that the boxed set includes a "cheat sheet" guide to the most prominent 15 of them. But keeping tabs is less important than simply being swept into the lush period of time and allowing its gorgeous details wash over the viewer. For Anglophiles, the experience of watching A Dance to the Music of Time is truly transcendent. --A.T. Hurley (Source)

The Grand



Welcome to The Grand, a four-star 1920s English hotel where melodrama is offered in high style. Love, lust, adultery, greed, prostitution and plenty of juicy gossip come into play as owners John and Sarah Bannerman (Michael Siberry and Julia St. John) host a crop of colorful characters. This collection includes episodes from Series 1 and 2 of the acclaimed British television show, which originally aired on PBS. (
Source)

To Serve Them All My Days

This is a movie I particularly love. Perhaps of the subject of a teacher, full of good influence and beloved by his students. Something I so missed as a child growing up in East Germany...

In this classic BBC drama based on the novel by R. F. Delderfield, shell-shocked WWI veteran David Powlett-Jones (John Duttine) goes from the trenches of war to the trenches of education when he lands a job teaching history at an elite boarding school. Scholastic life transforms him from cynic to an idealist loved by his students, even as a long-running conflict with the headmaster and unimaginable tragedy threaten to destroy his personal life.


I hope to have inspired some wonderful movie nights! This winter is still long!!!

Happy weekend!



All images as indicated!

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Lace and Fringes


Nature forms the most enticing patterns. Last night's ice storm, hitting the East Coast with a vengeance, left trees covered in sheets of ice, everything frozen in place and it looks magical and a little eerie at the same time.








I hope you are all cozy! And drive carefully!

xx
Victoria




All pictures by V.Zlotkowski
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