Simploring 2021 (34) Southern Magic

22 Nov 2021 Leave a comment

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

Looking for a simploring destination, I had to scroll through the blogs, that Annie checked for me and us before on her scoop.it SL Destination. On RigTorok’s blog I came across “Southern Magic” and decided to visit it.

Southern Magic is an adult full region owned by Davis (davisdelong). The landmark description lists the main points of interest and activities on this sim: “Welcome to Southern Magic! Romance and Music are in the air! Bring a date or find one in the many romantic nooks and crannies!” along with several tags “Southern shopping square, cocktail bar, Riverboat, Hand and Foot, Greedy, 7 seas fishing, Musicans, Djs, Ride the Croc, Adult“

Southern Magic – birds eye view and orientation map

Southern Magic is built to create the look and feel of the old South in the US. The landing is right next to the largest building at “Southern Magic“, the Magnolia Club. You should be a group member to enter the club, joining the group is free.

“The Magnolia Club is an adult based meeting and dance club on Southern Comfort sim – a place for romance and more. A place to meet, hangout, catch up with friends and lovers, dance, cuddle and maybe more. We hold occasional events here but music is always on and you are welcome to come and dance or wait for people to show up any time of day or night.
On the indoor balcony upstairs you will find dining tables and chairs. You can eat all kinds of beautiful cakes desserts and patisserie, drink tea and chat quietly perhaps for before moving on upstairs to more sensual pleasure – the access to this part is reserved to group members. On the outdoor balocony are teleporters to 4 suites, each consisting of 4 rooms with adult equipment (The Bedroom, The Living Room, The Bathroom and the Playroom). Each suite has a slightly different decor and furniture.” (most parts taken from the notecard that you can grab at the entrance)

Impressions of Southern Magic (1) – The Magnolia Club

I continued my simploring tour and walked through the lovely park in front ot the Maglia Club to the little town “The Square”. The houses really provide the look and feel of the old South. All of them are furnished, the stores are really store where you can buy clothes for example. The atmosphere is really great.

Impressions of Southern Magic (2) – The Park and The Square

Next stop for me was the Riverboat. No old South without a Missisippi paddle wheel steamer! The Riverboat offers a larger gaming area on the lower floor, and a large dining room on the upper floor. The Riverboat Club holds a Dinner Dance Experience on Fridays. The Dinner Experience is a roleplayed formal dinner (Grab a notecard at the entrance to the boat to read more about it).
And above ot the dining room is a wedding room, almost perfect for weddings!

Impressions of Southern Magic (3) – The Riverboat

You can explore Southern Magic either on foot (like me) or you take the carriage (I didn’t) or you use the teleporter boards which you find at all mayor points of interest. I walked long the river on the Riverboat walk and came to the Open Air Venue and Dancing area. And I visited The Plaza, another event space.

Impressions of Southern Magic (4) – The Riverboat walk, The Open Air Venue and Dancing and The Plaza

But there’s even more to do at Southern Magic. There’s a 7 Seas Fishing game if you like to spend your time with that, or you could visit The Swamp. I read that you can ride an alligator there (I missed trying that, a reason to return asap). Beside these activities you find quite some nice and romantic spots to sit and cuddle at Southern magic, lovely places surrounded by the atmosphere of the old South.

Impressions of Southern Magic (5) – The 7 Seas Fishing, The Swamp, and two of the many romantic spots

I enjoyed my simploring tour and saw another great place in Second Life. Thank you Davis (davisdelong) for sharing your place with the public and for adding all the activities!
You can find more information, more great pictures on the Southern Magic website here.

Landmark to Southern Magic
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Southern%20Comfort/111/187/21
Southern Magic website
https://southerncomfortsl.weebly.com/

Simploring 2021 (33) Grauland November 2021

12 Nov 2021 Leave a comment

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

following Inara Pey’s blog I came across “Grauland” again. Inara just had published a new blogpost about “Grauland“: “Grauland’s Lights in Second Life“.

I have visited Grauland in 2019 the first time (read here), three times in 2020 (read here, here and here) and the last time in April 2021 (read here). And everytime it was different. Each redesign was worth a visit so far.

Grauland is an adult homestead owned by JimGarand. He runs a shop for poses (M-1 Art Poses). Inara reported in her post that JimGarand had been away for a few month, and that he moved to a new (adult) homestead. And he created again something different from what I saw from him before. As far as I could find out, Jim’s shop for poses (M-1 Art Poses) is not (yet?) located in the skies above – at least I saw no teleport point to it.

Grauland is a modern town. The landing point is in an older part with a red light district. In the background you see the skyscrapers of what might be the business district. It you use shared environment, it’s night and a bit hazy. You can sense that you’re not in the best district of the the town. The facades are used for big paintings, racelights lead to nightclubs and other stores like a laundry or a cinema. Public toilets are not far from the landing point.

Impressions of Grauland November 2021 (1): Around the landing point

I walked towards the promende first, had a short break at a bar, then walked all along the promenade with its modern light art objects. The promenade ends in a tunnel.

Impressions of Grauland November 2021 (2): Promenade with its modern light art objects

I walked back and used the stairs to enter the largest building at Grauland. I named it “Modern Art Building”. In the court you find more light art objects. The building itself seems to have no purpose. It is just empty. The glass facade offers great views on the skyscrapers inthe background. I left the Modern Art Building on the other side and came to a huge Arch of Victory, obviously a protected landmark in the heart of the town.

Impressions of Grauland November 2021 (3): Modern Art Building

I continued exploring the redlight district and found more hidden backyards, bars, a garage amd even a furnished flat, which you enter through a door teleporter. The atmosphere of Grauland is very dense and feels authentic. Jim selected the textures, the all paintings and racelights very well and I’m pretty sure that I missed many details. It is very well made!

Impressions of Grauland November 2021 (4): The redlight district

Finally I visited the beach and the pier. That’s quite a contrast to the town. At the end of the pier is a hut where you can sit inside like in a sailor’s club and outside you have a nice view on the sea or backwards to the town with it’s skyscrapers in the background. At the beach you also find a nice campfire.

Impressions of Grauland November 2021 (5): pier, beach and campfire

JimGarand has once again re-invented Grauland and surprised me with a totally different design. The setting and the atmosphere of Grauland are very fitting. The art is not too dominant, yet present and the Modern Art Building gives enough reason to speculate about its purpose (if any). Thank you Jim, in particular for sharing your sim with the public again.

Landmark to Grauland
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Liberia%20Isle/92/221/27
Grauland flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/4560078@N24/
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Grauland’s Lights in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/10/28/graulands-lights-in-second-life/

Simploring 2021 (32) Otter Lake

04 Nov 2021 1 Comment

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

I had a bit of time for a simploring tour on Tuesday, October 19th. I picked Otter Lake from scoop.it SL Destinations, as the picture with the entry looked promising and I wanted to visit an Autumn sim. It was the last time that I could select a destination from Annie Brightstar (anniebrightstar)’s SL Destinations, as Annie announced that she finishes her great work. Thank you for your great service over all these years, Annie!

Back to Otter Lake: “You just otta see Otter Lake nestled in between the mountains. Rezz a boat by the boat house, go fishing in the lake, drop by Otty’s cafe where you can sit relax and have a coffee.” (taken from the landmark description).

The landing point is on a pier next to a water airplane. I zoomed out first to get an overview. Otter Lake is a village or small twon somewhere in Canda. It is embedded into a mountain sim surround and it is located on the shore of a see. A road leads through the village and over a bridge to the other side of the lake. The road vanishes into tunnels at both ends. And as it is Autumn the trees glow in all colours – a scenery that I really love.

Otter Lake is a homestead, rated general, owned and disigned by sharon Hinterland: “My passions are shopping, listening to music, photography and modelling. I also really like to create landscaping and decorating“

Actually I had visited the “otter lake region” back in 2019 and I was excited and impressed about it (read here). Did I pick it as the name sounded familiar? It makes no difference as Otter Lake is very different from otter lake region that I visited in 2019. But again it is a masterpiece in design and fun to explore.

Impressions of Otter Lake (1) – At and around the landing point

I began my simploring at the landing point. There’s a habourmaster building which is fully furnished, a tank to fuel the water airplane, a boathouse and a diner. The scene is livened up with a few static figures. The landing spot is quite picturesque and I stayed there for a while taking pictures with several environment settings. It did remind me a lot of my visits to the North-East of the US.

Impressions of Otter Lake (2) – At and around the landing point

I left the landing point and walked along the road. On the other side of the road is a residental house. The door was closed, hence I didn’t look into it, but I could see that it is furnished. Next to it is a police station, a chapel and a garage & gas station. It all looks perfect, a quiet small town along a road in a beautiful fall setting.

Impressions of Otter Lake (3) – Residentail house / police station / chapel / garage & gas station

I walked further along the road and came to a sawmill, obviously the main employer in this town and to a bar with a sportscar parked in front of it. The bar is worth a visit as it is furnished and decorated with love for the detail.

Impressions of Otter Lake (4) – sawmill and bar

The road ended in a tunnel and I walked back and over the bridge to the other side of the lake. Right behind of the bridge is Otty’s café. I took a short break there while overlooking the lake. There’s not much more to see … just another residential house on an island in the lake. The island is connected with a small bridge – and the residential house is fully furnished. Have a look inside.

Impressions of Otter Lake (5) – Otty’s café and the other shore of the lake

What impressed me most was that I felt like visiting the North East of America. I had many of these views in real life and the beauty of the landscape in Autumn is really hard to describe. If you have fairly good weather, it is just a dream – a dream we can live in Second Life. I really enjoyed my visit to Otter Lake!

Thank you sharon Hinterland for creating Otter Lake and for sharing it with the public.

Landmark to Otter Lake
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Lanzarote%20Cove/61/98/21
Otter Lake flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14660289@N24/

Simploring 2021 (31) Nelipot – Autumn 21

16 Oct 2021 1 Comment

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

I read Inara Pey’s blogpost “Nelipot’s Autumn peace in Second Life” and it tempted me immediately to visit the place myself as I love the colours of Autumn.

Nelipot is a moderate homestead owned and designed by Shawn Shakespeare (SkinnyNilla) and Lien (Lien Lowe). It consists of 4 smaller islands and one bigger island. The landing is on one of the small islands right next to a lovely camping site. From here you have already the first great views into the colours of Autumn. The trees glow in different colours, the ground is full of leaves and more leaves are falling.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – overview / at the landing point

A roundtrip starts naturally by crossing the covered bridge withe the fitting inscript “Welcome Fall”. It leads to another island with a farm. The two buildings are furnished nicely inside and invite to take a look at many details.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – camping site / covered bridge / farm

The path continues naturally to the main building at Nelipot, an old windmill. The mill is used as a bar and again is furnished with style. The banks and chairs outside are a great place for a rest drinking a glass of wine or a rare beer – both can be found inside of the mill. The area outside of the mill seems to be also used for small events. The water from a waterfall flows beind the mill. From the mill you follow a wooden path along the shore until you reach a little platform with a chair – another lovely view into the Autumn landscape.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – at the farm / the old mill in- and outside / the wooden path and overlook platform

Next to the platform is a small pier with a boat. The boat is only for sitting and can’t be used though. A zip line connects another island with the pier, but it can only be used from the island side. I had to walk back to the wooden platform and walked to the other side of the main island where you find an old tram and tram tracks. Around the corner is a nice and cosy little hut, which I named “Writer’s hut”. A place to be and to enjoy, lovely decorated and the big windows offers anotehr great view.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – the pier / old tram / Writer’s hut

As I couldn’t use the zip line I had to walk back along the wooden pathway, along the old mill to the farm. At the pickup is a bridge to the next island which is used for a residential house. Again that is furnished and decorated with love for the detail. I sat a while on the porch and inhaled Autumn. From here you can walk over a bridge to the last island, a small island with a wrecked shack. This island has its own charme as you look to the landing island and to the writer’s hut from here. A real paradise for photographers.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – pier and zip line / residential house / wrecked shack

I finished my visit with taking a few more pictures and of course I used the zip-line.

Nelipot Autumn 21 – at the wrecked shack / using the zip line / Autumn views

Nelipot is, as Inara wrote it, a very peaceful rural sim. It offers countless nice views and I enjoyed the colours of Autumn. A very well made, romantic place. A place to wind down and forget the world around us and to simply enjoy.
Thank you Shawn Shakespeare (SkinnyNilla) and Lien (Lien Lowe) for creating Nelipot and in particular for sharing it publicly. I enjoyed my visit a lot!

Landmark to Nelipot
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Safe%20Haven/81/88/23
Nelipot flickr group
https://www.flickr.com/groups/14758902@N20/
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Nelipot’s Autumn peace in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/09/23/nelipots-autumn-peace-in-second-life/

Simploring 2021 (30) Beaufort Castle

24 Sep 2021 Leave a comment

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

For my simploring tour on Tuesday, September 7th, I picked Beaufort Castle from scoop.it Sl Destinations https://www.scoop.it/t/second-life-destinations.

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (1) – overview

Beaufort Castle, or more precisely “Beaufort Castle Estate, Highlands of Scotland“, is embedded into other Scottish places. The landmark description is short but fitting very well and provides the basic information:
“A virtual recreation of Beaufort Castle in Beauly Scotland. The castle is a 19th century Scots Baronial castle in the region of Beauly, located in the Highlands of Scotland of SL. Built by Ethan MacAlpin, Earl of Evergarden. Outlander fans welcome!“

Beaufort Castle Estate, Highlands of Scotland is located in a moderate sim, the castle and the park consume 3750 prims, which may give you an impression how detailed it was built in Second Life. Actually it is the virtual counterpart of Beaufort Castle in Scotland.

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (2) – Beaufort Castle in the physcial world

I looked it up at wikipedia:
“Beaufort Castle or Castle Dounie (Scottish Gaelic: Caisteal Dhùnaidh) is a Baronial style mansion built in 1880 and incorporating older building work. It is situated on the right bank of the River Beauly near the town of Beauly in Inverness-shire and is 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Kiltarlity and 13 mi (21 km) west of Inverness. There has been a castle on the site since the 12th century. Beaufort was the traditional seat of the Lords Lovat until 1994 when it was sold by the 15th Lord Lovat to meet inheritance taxes.” (source wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_Castle,_Scotland)

From the outside Beaufort Castle is already quite impressive and I took many pictures and tried several environment settings, which changes the character of the castle a lot.

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (3) – outside views

I walked inside and found a teleport and information quite next to the entrance inside. I grabbed the notecard about the castle:
“Beaufort Castle in the Highlands is closely modelled on the RL castle and features three main levels accessible by a tower staircase. It is currently the largest building in the Highlands of Scotland of SL and was built by Ethan MacAlpin (Ethan Evergarden), with select stain glass by Axaria MacAlpin (Axaria Evergarden). Enjoy a stroll through the informal gardens and glens around the castle or find the hidden doors and passageways inside. The Lord and Lady Evergarden welcome you to Beaufort Castle in the Highlands of Scotland! Be sure to visit our other regions-we have a total of seven now, including Beauly, Dornoch, Glen Coe, Greater Loch Ness, Inverness City, Loch Ness and Urquhart.”
(taken from the notecard availabe at the castle)

Inside the castle is almost completely furnished, although there would be space for more furniture. But the spacious rooms and hallways fit to the character of the castle.

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (4) – inside views

There’s all you would expect: Historic RL pictures of the Beaufort Castle and pictures of the virtual counterpart at the walls, pictures of the the owner family in Second Life – Ethan MacAlpin (Ethan Evergarden) and Axaria MacAlpin (Axaria Evergarden), knights in armour standing alongside the hallways, fireplaces, seating opportunities, a music room and a room with wine, a library room, an everyday dinning room and a real big event and dinning room over 2 floor with a decorated ceiling.

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (5) – inside views

Visiting and exploring Beaufort Castle was pure fun. There are some hidden doors and rooms, which provides a little bit of adventure for the visitor. I really enjoyed my visit and going to the other places that are mentioned in the notecard that I grabbed is now on my to do list (I need a 3rd and 4th life to cover all of my passions!).

Impressions of Beaufort Castle (6) – a view back when I finished my visit

Thank you Ethan MacAlpin (Ethan Evergarden) for building Beaufort Castle and for sharing it publicly. Great work!

Landmark to Beaufort Castle
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Beauly/109/102/30

Simploring 2021 (29) Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery

18 Aug 2021 Leave a comment

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

I picked Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery from scoop.it SL Destinations for my simploring tour on Thursday, July 22nd.

Are you up for something spooky? Are you up for some fun? Can you bear seeing blood? If you can answer all this with a “yes”, then the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery is a place to explore for you.

The landmark description is already intriguing: “He has visited your home. Have you visited his? Come & experience the Very NICE & Very EVIL home and art gallery of the Bellisseria Slenderman. If you can find it, take a ride on “Slender: The Eight Pages” THRILL RIDE!“

The Slenderman? I looked him up on wikipedia: “The Slender Man (also spelled Slenderman) is a fictional supernatural character that originated as a creepypasta Internet meme created by Something Awful forum user Eric Knudsen (also known as “Victor Surge”) in 2009” (source wikipedia).
I also read Inara Pey’s post “The Slender man gets arty (and more) in Bellisseria” and I recommend to read this post before visiting. Inara summarized the background very well. Hence I won’t go into more details about the Slender man here anymore.

The parcel is owned by Mouse Mysterious and the parcel’s group was founded by Bellisseria Slenderman (Slenderman Bellisserian). But you can’t communicate with Bellisseria Slenderman, all communication go through his spokesmouse Mouse Mysterious *winks*

The Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery

Actually the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery is really a gallery. The house is full of pictures, all showing appearances of of the Slenderman or scences on the occasion of his appearance. And there are many pictures shown in the gallery. But the intention is not to exhibit artful pictures. At the entrance of the gallery you can grab a notecard with things to do at the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery:

1. Take your time to look around and see the NICE & EVIL artwork of the Bellisseria Slenderman.
2. Find the Slender: Eight Pages Roller Coaster
3. Find the creepy Bellisseria Slenderman basement
4. Find The Bellisseria Slenderman BBB Stamp Machine… YES it is HIDDEN because the Bellisseria Slenderman is EVIL… Once your passport is stamped he can see you… EVERYWHERE
5. Participate in the Eight Pages Bellisseria Slenderman HUNT! Can you find ALL 8 Pages? Each one can be bought for 0 L and contains a special almost one-of-a-kind Bellisseria Slenderman GIFT (ALL 8 Pages are on the parcel somewhere. And yes some are hidden in an EVIL way)
6. Try to make it out alive

Have a NICE & EVIL Day!

Ok, I did as instructed and I had fun. I first looked at the artwork and to be honest – I was not excited of it nor intimidated at all. Once you leave the house things become more intersting. In the backyard you find a hut with some bloody bags, you walk over chains and hands reaching up trough the wooden walkway. And…. there’s the entrance to the basement. In fact you need to enable experiences and to walk into the entrance, then you get teleported to the basement.

Outside of the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery, lower left is in the basement

To get to the roller coaster you need to walk into a big “Slenderman board” right next to the entrance of the gallery. The roller coaster is big fun and well made and best experienced in mouselook.

Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery – Eight Pages Roller Coaster

And finally I had fun searching the 8 gits, the eight pages. They are really very well hidden and it takes some time to find them, I just found 2 easily. The pages are very small. Hint: use your mouse to hoover over everything to see the “buy” symbol.
The gifts itself are not really a reasom to hunt, but the hunt itself is fun.

Finally there are the BBB Stamp machines. They are not really “hidden” and easy to find. Clicking on them you get a text in main chat like:
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): He is behind you… RUN…
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): This really was the one… just watch your passport it will appear… really it will… Have a nice day…
BBB Stamp Terminal @ Slenderman Gallery ( white ): Bellisseria Slenderman is now deleting all your previous stamps… Have a nice day…

I have no idea what the stamp machine is for – did I miss something? Inara writes about it: “For those with a Bellisseria passport, the opportunity to have it stamped (or maybe “unstamped!”) by the Slender Man.” It made me curious and after some reasearch I found a video about the Bellisseria passport that is also available on youtube. Anotehr activity discovered :-).

Anyway I had fun exploring the Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery and wanted to share. Have fun exploring yourself. And don’t believe any conspiracy stories (in RL and SL)!

Landmark to Bellisseria Slenderman Gallery
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Birchbark/222/195/52
Inara Pey’s post “The Slender man gets arty (and more) in Bellisseria”
https://modemworld.me/2021/07/03/the-slender-man-gets-arty-and-more-in-bellisseria/
Video about Bellisseria passport
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z99xyGhVQU8&t=89s

Simploring 2021 (28) Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu

17 Jul 2021 Leave a comment

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

For my simploring tour on Thursday, June 24th, I picked “Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu” from scoop.it SL Destinations.

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu: overview and orientation map / at the landing point

Luane’s World is a full adult region and consists of several sims: Le Monde Perdu is on the ground and in the skies you can find stores, the Magical World and 4 residential sims. Le Monde Perdu is the main sim: “a beautiful, romantic island far away from everything. A place where you can find inner peace, enjoy and relax.”

Impressions of Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (1)

Luane’s world is owned by LuaneMeo and has been designed by and LuaneMeo and Gorba McMahon.
I visited Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu

Impressions of Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (2)

Le Monde Perdu is an island in the form of a horseshoe. In the center you find a lot of waterfalls. You can walk around the island along the shore and beaches – and you can walk up on the mountains from where you have beautiful views on the island.

Impressions of Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (3)

There’s not that much to write about Le Monde Perdu. It offers countless beautiful spots to sit and enjoy. It has a few houses with different characters, all of them are furnished. I walked around the whole island and tried out at least some of the spots to sit. For photographers like me, the sim offers great backgrounds. There are quite some animals at Le Monde Perdu, mainly birds, but I also saw some deers.

Impressions of Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (4)

I took a lot of pictures – instead of writing a lot. You have to see it yourself *winks*

Impressions of Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu (5)

Le Monde Perdu is a sim just to enjoy – and I did enjoy my visit!

Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Le%20Monde%20Perdu/135/25/21
Luane’s World – Le Monde Perdu flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/luanes_world/

Simploring 2021 (27) Ilha Do Sol

13 Jul 2021 Leave a comment

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

For my simploring tour on Monday, June 21st, I picked “Ilha Do Sol” from scoop it SL Destinations.

Ilha de Sol is Portugese and translates to “Island of the sun”. It consists of 3 connected moderate homesteads – Taal Lake, Norton and Peace. Ilha de Sol is owned by Syx Toshi and his partner Bryn Toshi (Bryn Bulloch).
The landmark description wraps it up in just a few words:
“Island of the sun. A beautiful Mediterranean Island. Come and enjoy our town, vineyards and beaches. Surfing, horseback riding, bicycling and much more.“

Ilha Do Sol – overview and orientation map

The landing is right in the center of a small town, that radiates the atmosphere of the Mediterranean. The town is livened up with quite some static figures, hence you’re not alone there. Tourists and photographers stroll through the town. And on the central marketplace there are also dealers at the stands. I sat down at a caf´e from where I could watch and enjoy the atmosphere.

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (1) – in the town

At the market you find the entrance to a tunnel. The tunnel leads to the surf beach. It is a very long beach. Along the beach you find several camps of surfers as well as a few buildings. But the main purpose of the beach is – surfing. at the end of the beach is a surf board rezzer. You can see the 2 big waves on the ocean, that are “surfable” in Second Life. I never surfed so far and hence I postponed it.

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (2) – the surf beach

Instead a visited the surf shop. It is not an inworld store for surf boards and accessoires. The shop is just very decorative and looks “real”. There’s someone at the register, there are customers in- and outside, there’re a lot of surf boards, a shop to repairing boards and a lot of decoarations and details. It’s a great place for taking pictures as well as just to explore and enjoy.

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (3) – the surf shop

I left the beach of Ilha Do Sol and took another way back in the direction of the town. The road led me into the countryside. I came by a little garden with fruit trees, sunflowers and a few chicken. And I came by a hut with a horse rezzer in front of it. I took a horse and rode into the contryside.

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (4) – the countryside

I visited the vine terraces and came to a private residence, most probably the home of Syx Toshi and his partner Bryn Toshi (Bryn Bulloch), who own the sim. The rest of this homestead (the private residence is on the homestead “peace”) is free to visit and offers real countryside, a bit meagre but typical for the Mediterranean. I for my part liked the natural beauty of the landscape a lot. And there is a large and lonely beach. As rezzing is allowed you could bring your beach gear with your and enjoy the loneliness. You’d never get that in RL *winks*.

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (5) – the countryside, vine terraces, lonely beaches

Somehow I felt like I should try the surfing once being here. Hence I changed into my swimsuit and rezzed a board. I got a quite detailed notecard with instructions. Surfing in SL can be tricky and needs practice. But there’s also an option for beginners and an easy mode – and I tried that. It was real fun! YAY!

Impressions of Ilha Do Sol (6) – Diomita surfing

I had a great time at Ilha Do Sol. It was quite like a short virtual vacation. I could almost smell the Mediterranean. Thank you Syx (Syx Toshi) and Bryn (Bryn Bulloch) for sharing your great and lovely place publicly. I really enjoyed my visit like a short vacation!

Landmark to Ilha Do Sol
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Norton/146/128/24

Simploring 2021 (26) Noweeta – Summer in Skåne

03 Jul 2021 1 Comment

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

Back in January I visited Snoweeta (read here), a “Swedish (Skåne) winter painting you can walk around in“. Snoweeta supposedly was located in Skåne, Swedens richest agricultural region. Skåne County (Swedish: Skåne län) is the southernmost county of Sweden. It covers around 3% of Sweden’s total area, while its population of 1.3 million comprises 13% of Sweden’s total population. Ystad and Simrishamn are towns in Skåne.

Noweeta – Summer in Skåne: overview and orientation map

Winter is over – Summer is here! Kaja Ashland, the owner and designer of this general homestead has remodeled her place: “Summer has arrived in Skåne! Explore, meet friends and discover hidden areas in the grass and flower fields. Relax, cuddle or take photos in one of the romantic spots. Welcome to try the new mini golf too!“

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (1): around the landing point

First of all, if you saw Snoweeta, then you recognize Noweeta immediately. Many key elements are the same, just the snow is gone. The landing point is still at the end of a long alley leading up to the house with the garage that is used as a garden house. The cell tower is still there as well as the old oak with the pigs. The sign at the street showing the direction to Ystad and Simrishamn is there, as well as the forest and the pond.

And strangely, the police car is still parked at the street! *winks*. What is new are the two wind mills. While the modern wind mill might have just been built, the old wind mill is a new addition as well as the airway (that might have been covered with snow).

Noweeta, that looks almost empty on a first glance, is full of (new) places to enjoy the Summer to the fullest. One nice place is right at the modern will mill. There’s a wagon to sleep in and outside are two king size beds from which your can watch a film – open air cinema the Swedish way.

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (2): picnic under the wind mill / the old oak / sheeps

The old oak is still where it was before and around it are some wild boars (turn the sound on to hear them). Just a few steps away walking through the flower fields is a place with several blooming cherry trees and grazing sheep. Admist of it is another picnic place where you can enjoy the sun and watch the animals. Next to the sheep are a few bee hives.

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (3): mini golf / horse corral

Completely new is the mini golf. I didn’t play it, yet the courses are just lovely, each one is a piece of art. I enjoyed just looking at them. And I might return to try it out!

The house at Noweeta hasn’t changed. It is furnished very stylish inside. This time I even walked up on the 2nd floor, where you find bedrooms and a bathroom. New is the outdoor pool and I spent some time there. Swedish Summers might be short, but they are intense and fully enjoyed.

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (4): at the pool / the house in- and outside

The little garden next to the garage is inviting to have a closer look at it. There are many details to discover. I also walked through the field of sunflowers and other flower fields and had a look at the airway and the sport areoplane.

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (5): the garage (gardenhouse) and the garden / airway

And finally I visited the forest and the pond again. That was full of life and animals in Winter. And of course it is full of life and animals even more in Summer. I could almost hear all the midges, that also belong to a Swedish Summer. Noweeta offers a lot of romantic places around the forest and the pond and I tried out some of them.

Impressions of Noweeta – Summer in Skåne (6): romantic places at the forest and the pond

I had a lot of fun exploring Noweeta. I love how Kaja Ashland transformed it from Winter to Summer. It really gave me the feeling of Summer in Sweden. I enjoyed an ultra short virtual vacation trip. Thank you Kaja for sharing your place publicly!

Landmark to Noweeta
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Noweeta/33/151/25
Noweeta on flickr
https://www.flickr.com/photos/35992644@N03/

Simploring 2021 (25) Missing Melody – June 2021

28 Jun 2021 Leave a comment

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

For my simploring tour on Thursday, June 3rd, I picked Missing Melody from scoop.it SL Destinations. I had visited Missing Melody before on New Year’s Eve 2018 (read here) and later in May 2019 in a total different layout (read here). The entry on scoop.it SL Destinations led to a post of Inara Pey “Reacquainting myself with a Missing Melody in Second Life“.

Missing Melody is a moderate homestead owned and designed by Bambi (NorahBrent). Inara wrote in her blogpost that “Bambi is now back and once again offering her region as both a home to her store“. I missed visiting the versions of Missing Melody that were also home of a store, the two version I saw so far had no store. Missing Melody in June 2021 is also home of Bambi (NorahBrent)’s store named “Oh Deer“.

Bambi wrote about Missing Melody in the landmark profile:
“Once Broken and Forgotten. Stuck in nostalgia. A cool wind strolls in a daydream between the trees. Leaves dance with the salty water’s waves. A place to breath fot a moment.
Photographer and Blogger friendly with a romantic touch. Everyone is welcome.”

Missing Melody consists of two islands. One is dedicated to farming and to the “Oh Deer” store, on the other island you find a nice café, a waterfall, a romantic pond and a village. You land at a zebra crossing for chicken (very cute!) on the farming island.

“Welcome to Missing Melody. Please enjoy your stay. I would warmly suggest if possible for you to hit that ultra and enjoy the sim fully. Missing Melody was built out of a lot of love and emotion. I hope you will feel it too as you stroll around.”

Impressions of Missing Melody June 2021 (1) – close to the landing point, the “Oh Deer” store and the beach

Close to the landing is a barn that is used for the “Oh Deer” store. “Oh Deer” offers original mesh rustic knick knaks, from a letter box to a vane, from a Zen garden to a golf bag. A great store to find nice decorations making your own place unique.
Right behind the store is the beach. No surprise that you can sit and enjoy the view there.

The rest of the island is occupied by large flower fields: a tulip field, a subfower field and a lavendar field. The three fields offer great backgrounds for pictures. Flowers as far as you can look. Again there are nice little details to discover and I enjoyed exploring. Over the island flies a sports aeroplane with an ad for Missing Melody.

Impressions of Missing Melody June 2021 (2) – the flower fields

Walking over a narrow bridge you get to the “Oh Deer” café. The café is full of decorations, so many little details to see. I was not alone in the café and sat down and let my mind and eyes wonder – a very romantic place to be.

Impressions of Missing Melody June 2021 (3) – “Oh Deer” café

I visited the village next. The village is quite a contrast to the rest of Missing Melody. It’s white facades and blue shutters and the blue round dome of the church makes it look like a Greece village, very Mediterrean. The houses are not furnished inside, but the outdoor decoration, the courts and cosy backyards invite to have a closer look at the details. There must have been a wedding recently as there’s a big bow of balloons and many hearts at one court close the shore. You have to be a bit carful walking around. I myself got lost when I tried to sit down (I fall through the ground).

Impressions of Missing Melody June 2021 (4) – the village

Finally I went to the waterfall and the romantic pond above it. Again a place where you can sit and enjoy or take pictures. Missing Melody is a lovely place to explore, to enjoy togetherness or just for taking pictures.

Impressions of Missing Melody June 2021 (5) – the pond, the waterfall and other views

“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.“

Thank you Bambi (NorahBrent) for creating this sim. I enjoyed my visit a lot!

Landmark to Missing Melody
https://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Angel%20in%20Heaven/69/63/26
Missing Melody flickr
https://www.flickr.com/groups/ohdeercafe/pool/
marketplace link to “Oh Deer” store
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/184485
Inara Pey’s blogpost “Reacquainting myself with a Missing Melody in Second Life”
https://modemworld.me/2021/05/29/reacquainting-myself-with-a-missing-melody-in-second-life/

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