Simploring 2019 (9) The Citadel

21 Jan 2019 4 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , ,

When I came inworld earlier than usually on Tuesday night, January 8th, slave Gwen was present. Reading profiles I had grabbed a landmark a few days before about a place named “The Citadel” and I wanted to have a look at the Black Lux Gallery there. Knowing that it is an adult place, I simply took slave Gwen with me.

The Citadel – overview

The Citadel is an adult homestead owned by Lesk Alzael. The landing point is quite in the center of the sim, right opposed to a store named Cabal. There are not many things you can buy there, but they are extraordinary. I bought a large obelisk and had a look around. Cabal is presenting Lesk’s work that extends from decor and sculptures to architecture. There’s also a group joiner for the Cabal group and for the The Citadel group at the landing Point.

Impressions of The Citadel (1) – Cabal store (upper left) / at Eagle’s Landing (lower left) / Black Lux Gallery (lower right)

You can get around the sim either on foot or using the teleporters. I visited the Black Lux Gallery first as it was the main reason why I wanted to visit. The gallery right now shows a potpourri of the 2018 exhibitions. Obviously the program changes monthly. You can grab a notecard explaining how you could exhibit your art at the gallery’s entrance. The gallery does have a second usage as an event hall.

Impressions of The Citadel (2) – Black Lux Gallery

The next place I visited with slave Gwen at The Citadel was the Sunwater Hall, a big house full furnished and equipped. The open main room is used as a club with lots of cosy places to sit and pole dance areas. The furniture is stylish, the decoration artful and the place is used thoughtfully. I liked in particular the cell, that is installed under the staircase, what a sensful usage of this otherwise dead space! There are more rooms at Sunwater Hall and they are all worth having a look into. Clearly this space is adult *winks*.

Impressions of The Citadel (3) – Sunwater Hall

In the meanwhile Mistress Jenny has joined us and we went visiting the big tower overlooking the sim called “The Redoubt”. It is equipped with many bdsm furniture and I consider to visit with Mistress again, maybe on the occasion of a green light. Mistress and I tried out a throne with a cage under it. Again, this tower is furnished stylish and it is not a dark dungeon.

Impressions of The Citadel (4) – The Redoubt / a view from the gallery to the landing point with the Cabal store (lower right)

I also visited Castle Gardens and Eagle’s Landing, both are parks and offer cosy areas to sit and communicate or to just enjoy.
The Citadel is a very well made adult/BDSM friendly venue. For me it has the perfect mixture of my personal Second Life: Art & Architecture, BDSM and a nice environment. Good that I discovered it and made a first tour.
Thank you Lesk for providing the sim for playing and for providing the space for the art. The obelisk should remind me to come back soon, once I found a place for it at our home. I enjoyed my first visit!

Landmark to The Citadel
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Untouchables/117/169/24

Simploring 2019 (8) Petit Lac Des Cygnes

18 Jan 2019 2 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

For my Sunday simploring tour, January 6th, I selected Petit Lac Des Cygnes from scoop.it SL Destinations https://www.scoop.it/t/second-life-destinations. Petit Lac Des Cygnes is “located in the southwest region of France at the foot of the Pyrenees mountains, the private estate now open to the public, is comprised of the chateau, Le Petit Cafe Cygne, Antoinette’s, Little Swan Lake for which the region is named, and much more.” (taken from the landmark description).

Petit Lac Des Cygnes is a full sim and is owned by Cougar (Cougar Sangria) and her partner Henry (Henry Mcauley). When you land at Petit Lac Des Cygnes you are offered a folder with some information about the sim and some rules. First of all it is a private sim, although it is open to the public and: “Scripts are limited to 75 for everyone’s enjoyment, and complexity has a limit of 200,000. The region is a NO FLY ZONE. You will be notified upon landing if you are not in compliance.” In addition, no nudity and no sex is allowed at Petit Lac Des Cygnes. Due to privacy, the sim is closed for the public Mondays and Tuesdays.

Petit Lac Des Cygnes – overview

I had to strip off some of my scripts to get below the demanded limit, but it was really worth doing it. Right next to the landing point is the “Le Petite café Cygne”. You will have to follow the road and walk around it to get to the entrance. The cafe offers places to sit and have a meal outside but also inside. I recommend that you have a look inside. The cafe is way bigger than you might suspect. The tables are all set, there’re a lot of details to discover.

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (1) – Le Petite Café Cygne

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (2) – Le Petite Café Cygne

From the café I continued my tour of Petit Lac Des Cygnes and visited the chateau. The chateau is the private residence of Cougar and Henry and should be treated as such, yet you’re allowed to tour it but you shouldn’t use the furniture menu. Somehow that reminded me of tours I had to chateaus in real life. Of course you my look but you’re not allowed touching anything. What I missed in Second Life were those red ropes that usually prevent you from going to close to some objects.
The chateau is a building that I have seen before in Second Life, but this one is fitted with some very extravagant furniture which was selected with style. The paintings at the wall give the impression of being in a chateau, and even the paintings that are pictures taken in Second Life look ancient. The bathroom is just amazing and also every other room has it’s purpose, be it dining, representation, playing for kids or meeting. I really like the chateau with all it’s luxury.

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (3) – Le Château

Of course there’s also a park and some fountains behind the chateau – and an orangery. I had a look into the orangery and it suits perfectly for a formal invitation or a ball. A bit hidden by the orangery is a place where you can play chess or retreat a bit.

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (4) – Le Château and L’Orangerie

At the end of the park is a labyrinth as well as a big swimming pool. Again, it is stylish with a lot of statues and well shaped plants. But you can also see that the owners of the chateau live here and enjoy their property. The loungers around the pool are modern and there’re some toys swimming in the pool.
Just next to the pool, a bit difficult to get to due to some hegderows, is a restaurant – Antoinette’s. Again it is fun visiting and looking at the interior. And in one seperate room you find a table set for two. It’s the perfect place to go out for an exclusive dinner in Second Life.

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (5) – La Piscine and Restaurant Antoinette’s

I ended my simploring tour to Petit Lac Des Cygnes with visiting the little swan lake, that is surrounded by a lovely park, a great place to take pictures or to just sit and chill. Of course I took a lot of pictures as you can discover a lot of nice details.

Impressions of Petit Lac Des Cygnes (6) – Around Le petit lac des cygnes

Cougar (Cougar Sangria) and Henry (Henry Mcauley) created a particular place for themselves. It feels like visiting a larger park around a chateau in real life. For the tourists there’s the petite cafe and they can walk around at the swan lake. Visiting the chateau of course is the highlight of a visit and privileged rich people can dine at Antoinette’s – perfect.

Cougar wrote a nice background story for her place “Petit Lac Des Cygnes“. You can read it in her blog here. I recommend reading this article before you visit Petit Lac Des Cygnes as it brought me into the right mood and enhanced my experience.

Thank you for sharing your personal place with the public, Cougar and Henry!

Landmark to Petit Lac Des Cygnes
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pyrenees%20Atlantiques/237/6/23
Cougar Sangria’s blog
https://classiccougarstyle.com/
Post with background story about Petit Lac Des Cygnes
https://classiccougarstyle.com/2019/01/01/the-castle-of-the-little-swan-lake-part-2/

Simploring 2019 (7) Rummu

15 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

When I saw a post on scoop.it SL Destinations reporting that Serene Footman and Jade Koltai had just opened a new sim called Rummu I had to read about it and of course I had to visit it. Serene has written a very detailed documentation about Rummu, Estonia, the place they rebuilt in SL. I strongly recommend to read this documentation and to watch the documantaries embedded there. It provides the needed information to judge what you see in Second Life. It also makes your visit in Second Life getting closer to the feeling that you know this place as if you were there.

Impression of Rummu quarry, Estonia (1)

So what is Rummu? First of all it is a small borough in northern Estonia. Secondly there’s the Rummu quarry, a submerged limestone and Vasalemma marble quarry.
“The latter is a specific kind of limestone with its structure and texture resembling that of marble. The quarry is close to two former prisons, the nearest being the former Rummu prison. During the Soviet era, until the 1990s, excavation was performed as hard labour prisoners. When pumping of water ceased, the quarry quickly filled with groundwater, forming a lake, immersing some of the utility buildings and machinery. Next to the lake is the Vasalemma spoil tip (slag heap). Over time, the spoil tip assumed a unique appearance through erosion by water.
With the closure of the Rummu quarry, the area became a featured location for nature photography, hiking, rafting, scuba diving, as a summer spot, musical and sports events, and as a filming location for its unique layout. The site was depicted in the post-apocalyptic short film The Most Beautiful Day (2015) by Einar Kuusk. Several of the deserted buildings at Rummu were featured in the video for hit song “Faded” (2015) by Norwegian DJ Alan Walker.
Jump-diving into the lake off derelict buildings is very dangerous, because the lake bed contains pieces of thick concrete, tree branches, rebar spikes, metal construction (including machinery), and plenty of barbed wire.“(excerpt from wikipedia)
The area is closed now officially, which doesn’t prevent people from visiting.

Impression of Rummu quarry, Estonia (2)

Serene writes about Rummu:
“Those who visit Rummu and write about the experience invariably say that besides the strange beauty of the derelict buildings that lie partially submerged, it is the knowledge of what lies below the water – and the terrible history of the prison itself – that lends the place its extraordinary charisma. We have tried to recreate this combination of surface and depth. If you venture into the water and walk around, you will soon find yourself in darkness, surrounded by plants and pieces of derelict building. Keep on going down the slope, and in the depths you will reach some gates. Here you enter the prison itself, deep under the water, just as divers do today. It’s a creepy place, for sure.

Above ground, Rummu’s most striking feature consists of the giant slag heaps that were created by quarry works. These act as a great vantage point, while in the real place, they have to be crossed to gain access to the beach. Besides the ruined buildings and underwater prison, Rummu’s other distinctive feature are its murals, and we have recreated some of these – while adding others – at the sim. The biggest murals, most notably the image of the coffee cup, which exists at Rummu, appear to be the work of a Moscow-based group of artists called Zukclub.” (taken from Serene’s website)

Rummu in Second Life – overview

Enough foreword and quotes – let’s get to Rummu in SL.
Rummu is a moderate homestead. It is dominated by the lake with the rests of the prison and the quarry underwater, some concrete ruins of the former buildings still reaching high out of the water. There’s the slag heap, two big hills right next to the lake. Plants are growing on the slag heap. The lake is surrounded by beaches and some other solitaire concrete hugs buildings. The nature has taken back almost everything, plants and trees are growing out of every crack of the ruins. Some of the walls are covered artfully with murals outside and inside of the buildings.

Impressions of Rummu in Second Life (1)

You can walk inside of the buildings and climb up to the roos for the view and for the fun there’s a zip lane leading from one of the buildings to a ruin in the center of the lake. Serene has added reams of chairs, benches, loungers, beach furntiure, camping furniture and during my visit some of them were taken by other visitors. You can also use a Swan paddle boat, the one I saw when visiting :notos:deer: (read Simploring 2018 (106) :nostos:deer:).

Impressions of Rummu in Second Life (2)

Impressions of Rummu in Second Life (3)

I explored the whole sim, I visited the hut as well as the two cranes behind the slag heap. I dived and looked at the sunken prison, I went into all buildings, and i visited the ruins of a huge indoor swimming hall. I think, I won’t forget the statue there “A woman is more dangerous than a loaded pistol”, although I have no idea if it is something that belongs to the real Rummu (I think it doesn’t) nor do I know if it is build after a statue in RL.

Impressions of Rummu in Second Life (4)

Rummu for sure has it’s magic attraction. Having the pictures in mind that I saw in the documentaries on Serene’s website made my visit quite real. It’s great to see how people take over these really scary places and turn it into something to enjoy. That doesn’t make us forget the history but gives hope that terror and violence won’t ever be permanent.

Impressions of Rummu in Second Life (5)

Thank you Serene Footman and Jade Koltai for providing this once again impressive place to the public. I did really enjoy my visit!

Landmark to Rummu
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Gainesville/142/169/22
Serene Footman’s website page about Rummu
https://furillen.org/2019/01/01/welcome-to-rummu/
Wikipedia entry about Rummu quarry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rummu_quarry
Flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/rummusl/

Simploring 2019 (6) 2019-XS

13 Jan 2019 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , ,

Ever heard about the film Blade Runner (1982). Ever seen it? Well, I have heard about it but I never saw it nor did I know that it is an scifi film. On New Years day 2019, Annie Oh (anniebrightstar), who runs my (never ending) source of potential simploring destinations scoop.it SL Destinations, sent me a message and recommended that I’d visit 2019-XS.

“Blade Runner is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford. The Blade Runner soundtrack is by Vangelis. The film is set in a dystopian future Los Angeles of 2019, in which synthetic humans known as replicants are bio-engineered to work on off-world colonies. When a fugitive group of replicants escapes back to Earth, burnt-out cop Rick Deckard (Ford) reluctantly agrees to hunt them down.
Blade Runner initially underperformed in North American theaters and polarized critics. It deals with the fine line between humans and robots … can robots become human? It later became an acclaimed cult film regarded as one of the all-time best science fiction movies. The film has influenced many science fiction films, video games, anime, and television series.” (excerpt mainly from wikipedia)

Impressions of 2019-XS (1) – around the landing point

2019-XS is an adult homestead created and owned by Hera (zee9). The landing is in a subway station. Once you have gone upstairs to the town, there’s a board where you can grab a notecard with some background information. Hera (zee9) writes:
“Welcome to 2019-XS – Why the weird Name?
Well as all Blade Runner fans will know 2019 was the year in which the original story was set. I figured as we move into the actual year of 2019 I could not let this auspicious moment pass without acknowledging in some way the huge creative influence this movie has had on me personally since I first saw it way back in the early 1980’s. In the late 1990’s 2019-XS was my long time Domain name….“

Impressions of 2019-XS (2) – town views (left) / a night club (right)

Blade Runner is set up in an urban environment, Los Angeles in 2019! The town is a confuse chaos of streets, levels and buildings, with advertisating boards and lights everywhere, hoovering vehicles, elevators and it is noisy. There are similarities between this background and Metropolis.

Impressions of 2019 (3) – the night club “Industry”

2019-XS in Second Life is exactly this – a seemingly chaotic world of streets, passages, buildings, elevators, levels, advertising boards, lights, stores, backyards, Restaurants and night clubs. And it is fun exploring it! There are several night clubs and they are not that easily to find. I might not have found all of them. You navigate between the different levels of 2019-XS with elevators. On the levels itself you walk over bridges from one building to another. Often a door just leeds to a passage to the next building. These doors are not opened by simply clicking them but by clicking the door lock keyboard. Remember it is how the creators of Blade Runner imagined in 1982 how an urban world could like like in 2019 – it doesn’t look like this, at least not everywhere, thank god *winks*.

Impressions of 2019 (4) – roaming in LA 2019

2019-XS is a sim that can be visited for it’s nigthclubs (for example the jazz club is great), for taking pictures in front of an unusal set up, just for the fun of exploring or for roleplay.
In her landmark description Hera (zee9) also refers to some other films like Altered Carbon (a Netflix television series) and Immortal (2004). According to her 2019-XS is “Cyberpunk for real”.
Cyberpunk? Again something I had to look up:
“Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a futuristic setting that tends to focus on a combination of lowlife and high tech featuring advanced technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cybernetics, juxtaposed with a degree of breakdown or radical change in the social order” (from wikipedia)

Impressions of 2019 (5) – Holo-Girls massage / Allege Cats Jazz Club

I’m not a sci-fi fan, nor do I really know a lot about it, but 2019-XS was really fun to explore, the research for this blog post was instructive and I saw once again another new corner of Second Life. Thank you, Hera (zee9) for creating and sharing your sim (you passion). I hope it will attract many people and also roleplayers.

Landmark to 2019-XS
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ravine/129/113/31
Wikipedia about Blade Runner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blade_Runner
Wikipedia about Cyberpunk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyberpunk

 

Simploring 2019 (5) Missing Melody

11 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

For my last simploring tour in 2018 on New Year’s Eve afternoon I picked Missing Melody from scoop.it SL Destinations. There have been already several publications about this sim on various blogs. It seems to change with the season and is all winterly now. Missing Melody is a homestead, rated moderate. It is owned and created by Bambi (norahbrent).

Missing Melody Overview

Bambi writes about her sim in the landmark’s description:
“Missing Melody. Chime to an old winter song. A white blanket of snow is wrapping Missing Melody in a quiet soothing and soft cool silk. A collaboration of best friends coming together to create something new. Enjoy! xx“

I looked up Bambi (norahbrent)’s profile and there Bambi wrote why she named her sim Missing Melody:
“What is a Missing Melody? It’s that song in your head that you can’t get out but not sure how it really goes. It’s that temptation you want to have in your life so you can fight to resist. It’s that place in your heart that is always waiting to be filled. It’s that little wicked smile when a naughty thought crosses your mind.“

Impressions of Missing Melody (1) – Landing point and Fountain island

Missing Melody is another lovely sim decorcated for the season and there’s a lot to explore and discover. Missing Melody also provides spots to sit and enjoy as well as some fun activities. I went from the Landing point along the road over the big covered bridge to the fountain. Along the way is a board where you can rezz a sleigh. It works, yet a hill is missing :-). At the end of the covered bridge are snowballs that you can use for a snowball fight. Returning from the fountain I had a look at the old railroad engine which is just a museum object, but somehow these engines have something intriguing, don’t they?

Impressions of Missing Melody (2) – Grasslands with sheep/ Old Railroad engine / Farm

I explored the farm with the paddock and went over the smaller covered bridge to the ice skating and to the Christmas gazebo. At the ice skating is a board where you can get skaters. I really liked the Christmas gazebo with it’s Christmas tree. It provides some lovely animations even for one person alone. You should try it out.

Impressions of Missing Melody (3) – Ice skating and Christmas tree gazebo

Then I went to the ruins. This might be the rests of a bigger church. At the place you’d expect the altar is a piano. Some ice sculptures are rezzed to decorate the place with is a great spot to dance. Some birds like this place, hence you can also watch them.

Impressions of Missing Melody (4) – The ruins

Following the shore I came to Santa’s house. A lot of small animals have found home here in the snow and a deer is searching grass in front of the house. The chimney is smoking and the snow on the roof is about to slide down due to the warmth. Behind the house is a nice scene with 2 penguins and a dog. You can even lay down into the snow to watch the three – cute!

Impressions of Missing Melody (5) – at Santa’s house

On my way returning to the landingpoint I found a desperate Santa who had just had a crash with his sleigh. The deers were running around confused. What a scene! What a wide smile it conjured on my face! Next to the landing point is another house which is used as an atelier.

Impressions of Missing Melody (6) – Santa with his crashed sleigh / Atelier

Missing Melody is a very picturesque sim offering a lot for photgraphers like me. It also offers a lot of fun and it is a place to dream about, peaceful and romantic, a place you wanna be, idyllic world. And when I can’t get a melody out of my head, I might remember this place. Just lovely. I did enjoy my visit a lot.
Thank you Bambi (norahbrent) for providing your place with the public.

Landmark to Missing Melody
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aftershock/66/118/23

Simploring 2019 (4) Mesmeric Cove

08 Jan 2019 Leave a comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

For my simploring tour on Saturday, December 29th, 2018, I selected Mersmeric Cove from scoop.it SL Destinations as the pictures looked great. The landmark description sounded tempting as well: “Mesmeric Cove is an idyllic seaonsonal rp community sim with picturesque views,vacation & rental homes, honeymoon, restaurant,hangout, scholars hall, ballet theatre & more”

Mesmeric Cove – overview

Mesmeric Cove is a full moderate sim, it’s group owned by the group “Mesmeric” and the group itself is owned by a bot. Arriving at Mermeric Cove is an experience in itself. You get greeted nicely when you arrive at the landing point, which is at the train station:
“-Mesmeric-: As you step off the train, a rush off warm steam brushes your face. You make out the faint shadows and glows of light of what looks like a quiet town, or is it? Your curiosity impels you too travel deeper. Can you unlock the history of Mesmeric Cove”
The first views caused a “wow” for me. The scenery is just lovely and beautiful, the houses look cosy, the sounds do fit, it is lightly snowing. Accordingto the season there’s a Christmas tree in the center of the court. In the background you see a gondola lift leading up to a high mountain.

Impressions of Mesmeric Cove (1)

I began exploring and it was fun. I took the lift and went up to the mountain. On the top is a nice restaurant and a little bit below of it is a sauna, perfectly arranged as Winter sauna.

Impressions of Mesmeric Cove (2)

Where ever you turn your view you get leovely views and I took a lot of pictures. The town is built with great love for detail and I had fun exploring it, seeing the covered bridge that leads over a river, seeing the waterfall and the railrod, seeing some deers and the sleigh rides. Some of the houses were decorated for the season, some are small, some are huge villas. At the coast is a lighthouse, a promenade and a hot-air balloon. Unforuantely the balloon didn’t work for me, maybe because I didn’t join the group. The two bigger buildings in the town are a school and a theatre.

Impressions of Mesmeric Cove (3)

Mesmeric Cove is an outstanding well and thoughtfully created sim and I wanted to know more about it. The sim is owned and was created by Yosh Shi Juan (macximuss zsun) and ḋυсќïε ρøρṡ Juan (candyharlequin), a couple from the US and Europe. They love too deco and just wanted to create someting old timey feel that can change through the seasons.
There are residential homes available and some, vacation homes that are pre decorated. The sim can be used for roleplay or just to enjoy the environment. They are still building out sorority and fraternity type builds, for teen hang outs. That explains the two big buildings, the school and the theatre. Yosh and duckie finance it by their own and by the rentals and donations. The sim is changing with the seasons, which is a good reason to return for me!

Impressions of Mesmeric Cove (4)

For what reason ever you visit Mesmeric Cove, be it to rent a vacation home, be it for roleplay or be it for taking pictures – it’s worth a vist. I’m already curios to see it in Spring. I enjoyed my visit. Thank you Yosh and duckie for sharing your sim.

Landmark to Mesmeric Cove
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Silver%20Lining/75/165/32

Simploring 2019 (3) Nevgilde Forest

07 Jan 2019 4 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , , , ,

Between the years I found some more time for simploring. On December 27th, 2018, I picked Nevgilde Forest from scoop.it SL Destinations. Nevgilde Forest is “now open to the public for people to explore, hang out, and take pics in our scenic woodland and beach sim. Events, entertainment and performances starting in January, so come join our group to keep informed.”

Nevgilde Forest Overview

The landing is in a forest next to a board with information. There I grabbed a notecard with a background story, which is quite elaborated and describes what you can discover here:
If you walk through the forest a little bit towards the west you’ll find a small trail. If you follow that trail and how it winds this way and that for about 30 minutes (Remark: it just takes a few seconds in Second Life) you’ll start to smell the sea and hear the seagulls, and if you continue, the sound of the waves breaking will follow. Along your path is evidence of others having walked the same road long ago and now you see light through the trees ahead and you can finally make out the ocean.
The forest opens up to reveal a field and a couple of buildings. Up on a little hill is a small house and to your left is an old barn looking run down, but still standing and even further down is a beach. Grass and dry leaves crunch under your feet as you explore and find little treasures scattered all around, old furniture, forgotten bikes and vehicles. At first it all looked to be completely abandoned, but you soon realize that there are several signs of people having been here recently.
Someone left their coffee by the campfire, a cigarette is still smoking in the ashtray, in the barn a pot of tea is still hot and a makeshift stage is set up on the beach with drinks on ice. Suddenly this old place has come to life yet again with music, laughter, love and friendship.
This farm has a lot of stories to tell and even more to make, please join us and breathe life into the Nevgilde Forest.

Nevgilde Forest – campfire and atelier

Right next to the landing point is the above mentioned campfire place and the wreck of an old tractor. Walking out of the forest to your right is one of the two buildings of Nevgilde Forest, I called it the atelier. It is cosy inside and the glass front offers a nice view over the land and the sea.

Nevgilde Forest – exploring

The main part of Nevgilde Forest is grassland and there you find objects scattered around, bikes, furniture and hand barrows. I sat down on the tractor there, that offers some sitting poses.

Nevgilde Forest – the old barn

The main buliding is a barn, or better the rests of a barn. It looks abandonned on the first glance. Two walls are missing and and old car and other garbage is laying around. But inside you can see that it is inhabited. There’s even an upper floor with a bed and a tv, but no ladder to get there. It is fun to explore the little details there.

Walking further I came to the dance area and public beach. Outstanding is a row of 5 chairs from where you have a nice view over the beach. The two flagpoles behind the chairs have flags from the US and Norway.

Nevgilde Forest – dancing area and beach

Nevgilde Forest is owned by Sarge Red (sargered) and Neaira Rose Allegiere (Neaira Aszkenaze). Sarge is from the US, Nearia is from Norway – that explains the flagpoles. Sarge contacted me during my visit and welcomed me. He gave me some background information and later he also gave me a tour.
Sarge makes buildings and things like that, most of which are farm and country related. Neaira is specialized in landscaping in Northern European nature and style. Neaira is also blogging, here’s the link to her blog. On a platform above Nevgilde Forest is a store area for their joint venture store SRI (Sarge Red Insustries) and for Neaira’s store (she makes more than just landscaping). As mentioned above both own Nevgilde Forest, which covers a quarter sim. The store area is already accessible but not opened officially.

Nevgilde Forest – store area, Fernwood Gardens and private area

Sarge showed me what I didn’t see before. Nevgilde Forest isn’t just the corner of the sim, that I explored before. Actually is expands over a 1/4 of a full sim. There’s a passage through the rocks that separates the corner from the rest of the sim. And behind it is a nice public park – Fernwood Gardens. Sarge is designing if for photographers. The big brick house next to the park is his private home, hence not public. He gave me a tour to it nonetheless.

Nevgilde Forest and the store are still developing. As mentioned in the landmark’s description, there’re events, entertainment and performances planned that shall start in January.

Nevgilde Forest has been visited by Inara Pey already and she took some great pictures. Her simploring report is elaborated as usual (read Nevgilde Forest in Second Life in her blog). I enjoyed my visit to Nevgilde Forest. It offers a lot of opportunities for taking pictures and to just hang around and chill. Thank you Sarge Red (sargered) and Neaira Rose Allegiere (Neaira Aszkenaze) for sharing your place with the public and thank you Sarge for the tour and all the information.

Landmark to Nevgilde Forest
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Xandia/50/92/24
Landmark to the store area
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Xandia/30/62/1203
Neaira Rose Allegiere (Neaira Aszkenaze) blog
https://neaslittlecorner.wordpress.com/about/
Inara Pey’s blog post – Nevgilde Forest in Second Life
https://modemworld.me/2018/12/17/nevgilde-forest-in-second-life/

Simploring 2019 (2) Maison de L’amitié

05 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , ,

Simploring 2019 (2) Maison de L’amitié

Inspired by several entries and pictures on scoop.it SL Destinations I decided to visit Maison de L’amitié. I had visited Maison de L’amitié in April 2017 the last time (read Simploring 2017 (28) Maison de L’amitié). It was during Spring and it was a complete different sim at that time. Maison de L’amitié is a homestead owned by Corina Wonder. Maison de L’amitié is French and translates to house of friendship.

La Maison de L’amitié – overview

As often I started my visit with a bird’s eye view of the sim. Formed like the letter “U”, the layout is quite unusal. One part of the “U” is connected to the surrounding mountains, the other part faces the sea and inbetween is a fjord with steep rocks. What looks a bit strange fom the bird’s eye view is very smart when you’re on the ground. From there the simsurround fits perfect and provides a pure and natural impression of Winter in the mountains.

La Maison de L’amitié – the ice Skating area

The landing is in the Northwest close to a ice skating area, with a snowman in the center and some deers laying on the ice. There’s an gazebo nearby and the view from the gazebo over the water is really nice. Along the whole West coast is a promenade. It is illuminated with laterns and again you can see some deers. The only house on the West coast is decorated for the season. The promenade leads to the South cap of Maison de L’amitié from where you can see the lighthouse. A truck with Christmas trees is stuck in a snowdrift right at the South cap.

La Maison de L’amitié – along the West coast

La Maison de L’amitié – the South cap

If you follow the road you get to the fjord. Along the road are several places to sit and enjoy. In the fjord you can watch birds and seals. And at the end of the fjord is a waterfall, but you can’t go there on foot as the road ends at another house with a fantasic view over the fjord. The house is decorated for the season as well and I had a look inside – and no surprise the living room is decoarted as well and looks really cosy.

La Maison de L’amitié – the fjord house

I continued my simploring tour and climbed up to the high plateau of Maison de L’amitié. In the South is a hut and one single gondola, maybe a leftover from an old gondola lift. The hut itself is empty but close to it is a nice campfire under a natural roof with a log to sit.

La Maison de L’amitié – the fjord and the high plateau

Maison de L’amitié is a dream with a really picturesque Winter atmosphere. Exploring it is fun and there’re enough spots to sit and enjoy. I liked in particular the way how it melts into the sim surrounding, just perfect. Thank you Corina Wonder for sharing the Winter world with the public. I enjoyed my visit.

Landmark to Maison de L’amitié
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Orchid/133/185/24
Flickr page of Maison de L’amitié
https://www.flickr.com/groups/maison_de_lamitie/

Simploring 2019 (1) Ponto Cabana

03 Jan 2019 1 Comment

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , , ,

For my simploring tour on Christmas I selected Ponto Cabana from scoop.it SL Destinations. Ponto Cabana is owned and created by Iska (sablina) and this name did ring a bell. I visited La Virevolte in December 2017 and wrote a blogpost, that was published January 5th, 2018 – read here. And really, Ponto Cabana is built where La Virevolte was.

Ponto Cabana – overviews

Ponto Cabana is a moderate homestead. It consists of three islands, the two bigger islands are connected by a bridge. It’s a winter wonderland fantasy village and offers a lot of great views for visitors. The landing is on the frozen sea and I first walked on foot to the smallest island that has just room enough for one house. The view from there to the other two islands is just great. I also liked the ice bear family walking over the frozen sea to the North pole.

Impressions of Ponto Cabana (1)

The two bigger islands both offer a lot to explore. One island is covered with quite some buildings along one road and one unused railroad track. It is snowing there. The buildings are all furnished more or less, I just had a look into some of them. There are a lot of animals, mainly birds and squirrels. The little town looks very peaceful.

Impressions of Ponto Cabana (2)

The other island offers a long promenade along the frozen shore and a park, layed out on terraces, mainly covered with snow. On the highest terrace are two houses and their front garden is decorated nicely for the season. Again you’ll see a lot of animals there, in and outside. One of the houses is inhabited by chicken, squirrels and suricate – cute!

Impressions of Ponto Cabana (3)

Ponto Cabana is embedded into a very fitting sim sourrounding. Thus the views you get for taking pictures are just picturesque. Iska once again lures us into a wonderful snowy winterworld. Thank you for creating and sharing your world, Iska!

Landmark to Ponto Cabana
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lemon%20Beach/70/105/22

Simploring 2018 (110) Wild Edge

30 Dec 2018 3 Comments

by diomitamaurer in Exploring sims in Second Life Tags: , , ,

For my simploring tour on Saturday, December 22nd, I picked Wild Edge from scoop.it SL Destinations. Wild Edge is a moderate homestead sim owned by Funky Banana (funkybananas). He describes it as “a calm and relaxing wilderness to enjoy, explore and escape“.
What caught my eyes first was that just about one-third of the island is inhabited and cultivated, the rest of the island is occupied by snow covered hills.

On the first view wild edge looks like an outpost somewhere near the Artic or Anartic. In the bird’s eye view of Wild Edge you see a gravel runway for small planes, a radio antenna, a water storage, quite large inlet and a few buildings. Most of the shore is rocky but there’re some beaches too. I began my simploring tour at the antenna.

Impressions of Wild Edge (1) – Antenna, chicken farm, Christmas tree farm

Next to it is the wrack of a plane. Walking along the shore you get to a small residential home with some chickens outside, a small chicken farm. I continued walking along the shore and came to a Christmas tree farm just at the end of the cultivated area where the snowy hills begin. Honestly, I was surprised finding a Christmas tree farm here. Who the heck buys Christmas tree’s here?

Impressions of Wild Edge (2) – the residential house

From there I went to the only larger residential home at Wild Edge. A really nice house which is fully furnished and decorated for the season inside. Close to the residential house is a grainfield with a tractor.
My next stop was a fishing and hunting hut at the end of the inlet and from there I walked along the shore of the inlet. I found a nice place to sit and watch just close to the fishing and hunting hut. And I raptor which had just caught a fish. At the entrance of the inlet is a rock, that attracts a lot of birds. I walked back along the inlet and explored the beach with it’s campfire and fishing pier.

Impressions of Wild Edge (3) – grainfield and fishing hut

And I saw a raptor which had just caught a fish. At the entrance of the inlet is a rock, that attracts a lot of birds. I walked back along the inlet and explored the beach with it’s campfire and fishing pier.

20181222 Wild Edge_033

Impressions of Wild Edge (4) – the raptor, the bird’s rock and the fishing pier

I ended my visit at the gravel runway and had a look into the garage and at the plane parked there.

Impressions of Wild Edge (5) – around the gravel runway

Wild Edge is layed out as an outpost, most probably used for hunting and fishing or just to watch flora and fauna of a wilderness. I really enjoyed my visit and the concept. In my opinion just the Christmas tree farm, the small chicken farm and the grainfield with the tractor don’t really fit in. I’d prefer a few more hunting huts to make it a pure outpost.
For sure, you can take some great pictures at Wild Edge and enjoy nature and simplicity. Thank you Funky Banana (funkybananas) for sharing your place with the public!

Landmark to Wild Edge
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Forever%20Love/56/152/22
Pictures on Flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/bananabuilds/

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