Matador Network's Blog, page 902

Children comfort elder in isolation

Self-isolation during the coronavirus can easily lead to loneliness. Two children in Clintonville, Ohio, made sure that didn’t happen for their elderly neighbor. Nine-year-old Taren Tien and his six-year-old sister Calliope set up their cellos on their neighbor’s porch on Monday and gave her a performance. Because she is in a high-risk age group, 78-year-old Helena Schlam has been self-isolating to protect herself from the coronavirus and was delighted by the spontaneous half-hour musical performance, which she listened to from 10 feet away.

Neighbor Jackie Borchardt shared a video of the performance on Twitter.

Sharing with y’all pic.twitter.com/75pqmsY8bg

— Jackie Borchardt (@JMBorchardt) March 16, 2020

The responses on social media have been overwhelmingly supportive, with one user writing, “Be proud of your two youngsters because they’ve brought happiness to many people with their kindness.” Another wrote, “This act is simply beautiful. Moving. What a wonderful gift! Thanks for sharing the best of humanity.”

Indeed, the pandemic has forced all of us into incredibly inconvenient situations, canceling our favorite events, postponing festivals, and forcing us to distance ourselves from loved ones. But the crisis also continues to reveal the best of humanity, highlighting moments of kindness and neighborly love that can keep us optimistic during these tough circumstances.

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Netflix Party extension

Calls for social isolation amid the coronavirus pandemic are now requiring people to get creative if they want to spend time with their friends. A Google Chrome extension called Netflix Party is making this easier on those of us who are isolated at home. The extension has been around for a few years, but it’s more popular now than ever.

According to the extension’s website, “Netflix Party is a new way to watch Netflix with your friends online. Netflix Party synchronized video playback and adds group chat to your favorite Netflix shows.”

Basically, it allows Netflix users to watch the same thing simultaneously and remotely. Just install the Chrome extension, start watching something on Netflix, and then click the extension button to create a “party.” Once you’ve done this, you can share a link to the event with whoever you want to watch the program with. The extension also allows all party members to group chat about the show in real-time.

For detailed steps on how to install the extension, set it up, join a party, or create your own, simply go to the official website.


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Nepal makes yoga mandatory

The government of Nepal is making sure its children get their daily dose of mindfulness by requiring schools to teach yoga. Next month, yoga will be incorporated into the school curriculum, with thousands of schoolchildren from grade four to eight now enrolling in the new weekly course that previously had only been an elective.

The new curriculum will train students not only in yoga practices, but also in the history of yogic thought and classes on the self-healing principles of Ayurveda and naturopathy.

Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, Nepal’s education minister, said, “Yoga is our ancient science. We want students to learn it, and we think this is the right time.”

Nepal’s Muslim community, however, has vowed to oppose the mandatory program if the yoga classes include Hindu religious practises like the 12 poses of the sun salutation, which is dedicated to the Hindu god Surya, or chanting “om.”

But the Nepali government insists that there is no hidden Hindu agenda and that the classes will promote a healthy and active lifestyle. Ganesh Bhattarai, the director of Nepal’s Curriculum Development Center, explained that students can choose to skip chanting “om” and the sun salutations if they wish.

Nepal would be the first country in the world to make yoga a mandatory subject in schools.


More like this: 6 different types of yoga that you can try around the world

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The best elevated parks around world

What is a city without a place to take it all in? By repurposing unused or abandoned structures and areas, major cities around the world are turning wasted space into green space — led by projects such as Atlanta’s BeltLine and New York City’s High Line. Cities like Dallas and San Francisco have taken the concept as much toward urban sustainability as public gathering space, and in Europe, Rotterdam looked straight to the future with its new Luchtsingel. These seven elevated parks are sure to inspire your next big-city walk.

1. Salesforce Transit Center Park — San Francisco, California

Photo: Lebid Volodymyr/Shutterstock

Few places in the world offer the chance to lounge under a rooftop palm tree or kick around a soccer ball on a field of grass 50 feet above the street. In the summer of 2018, San Francisco became one of those places. Though its name sounds more akin to a baseball stadium than a public green space, Salesforce Transit Center Park is exactly that — an elevated park on the fourth floor of a massive new public transportation center in the heart of the city. It’s a true testament to modern architectural engineering — a spot for people to gather and recreate, stocked with trees and other flora that help the park double as a carbon sucker to help clean the Bay Area’s air. Gray water from the transit center below is upcycled to the plant life in the park’s “wetland garden” before being sent back down for a final run through the building’s toilets, helping to make the building among the city’s most sustainable and a model for future large-scale urban development.

2. Namba Parks — Osaka, Japan

Photo: seaonweb/Shutterstock

Osaka’s Namba Parks — emphasis on the plural — take the concept of the elevated park to new levels. This is a multi-story plethora of green spaces surrounding a massive commercial tower. Its terraced facade on the outside leads into an actual canyon built into the shopping mall itself. Several small park areas make up the site, turning green what would otherwise resemble the standard office and shopping high-rise common in major Asian cities. Namba’s history, however, is equally green — it sits on the site of what was formerly Osaka’s professional baseball stadium.

3. Klyde Warren Park — Dallas, Texas

Photo: Trong Nguyen/Shutterstock

Dallas in the summertime is many things, hot and muggy among them. Rather than stay inside with the AC blasting (though that’s always an option), many residents elect to spend their afternoons relaxing and recreating above the Woodall Rodgers Freeway at Klyde Warren Park, a 5.2-acre green space opened in 2012. Food trucks dock alongside the park and regular events and concerts take place in the two pavilions. Plenty of space is available for frisbee, yoga classes, film screenings, and other activities, though among the most popular areas in summer are the botanical gardens and anywhere one can park themself under a tree to escape the heat. In a true testament to human endurance and willpower, the park is a popular spot for running and serves as the launch point for the annual Five on the 4th 5K run. Humans aren’t the only ones running around at altitude in Dallas, however. Klyde Warren is also home to one of the city’s most popular dog parks.

4. Promenade Plantée — Paris, France

Photo: Kiev.Victor/Shutterstock

Paris’ Promenade Plantée is the original elevated park, turning an abandoned viaduct into both a horizontal and vertical garden stretching nearly three miles through the 12th Arrondissement from Bastille to Bois de Vincennes. It opened in 1993 and is a great way to view Paris’ historic architecture from more than 30 feet up (and to add a bit of greenery into your walking tour of the French capital). Be sure to stop by the Viaduc des Artes to peruse the many vendors hawking handmade art, clothing, jewelry, and more.

5. Bloomingdale Trail — Chicago, Illinois

Photo: Carlos Yudica/Shutterstock

Elevated rail lines are among Chicago’s most iconic trademarks, and on the city’s northwest side, one of the big ones has gone green. In 2015, the city turned the inactive Bloomingdale Line into its newest park built — or grown, rather — atop an elevated, 2.7-mile stretch of metal built nearly 150 years ago. It’s located just north of the massive Humboldt Park and passes through the neighborhood of the same name and into the West Town and Logan Square neighborhoods. Chicago is home to a series of elevated running and biking trails run and maintained by an organization called The 606, and the Bloomingdale Line stands among the country’s most successful urban rail repurposing efforts of this century.

6. Seoullo 7017 — Seoul, South Korea

Photo: Sagase48/Shutterstock

Equal parts pedestrian walkway and urban park, Seoullo 7017 passes over Seoul Station and the surrounding area via 17 bridges. Visitors can dip their feet in shallow pools to cool off, lounge next to patches of trees or on benches surrounding growing plants, and watch kids play in the designated play zone. The most unique part of this elevated beltway, however, are the glass windows that open up views to the busy city below.

7. Luchtsingel — Rotterdam, Netherlands

Photo: Frans Blok/Shutterstock

Leave it to Rotterdam — home of the upside-down, U-shaped Market Hall building — to develop the most futuristic-looking of urban elevated parks. The Luctsingel connects the Rotterdam Centraal Station with a nearby ground-level park, a rooftop garden, and the Laurenskwartier district, all in just a 1,300-foot-long path. The walkway itself, painted bright yellow and complete with its own traffic-style roundabout one story above the city below, looks like something out of a Star Wars movie — which seems to be what the city is going for these days.


More like this: The world’s best urban hiking trails inside city limits

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Customer leaves $2,500 tip

Restaurants are among the hardest hit businesses by the coronavirus closures, with thousands of restaurant workers facing indefinite unemployment. Some restaurants are easing the burden on workers by paying them during the closure, but most staff wages are going to suffer a major blow. A regular customer at one Ohio restaurant strove to alleviate some of its staff’s financial stress on Sunday, by leaving a $2,500 tip. Just before the customer made this generous gesture, the governor had announced that all restaurants would be closed until further notice.

Coaches Bar and Grill in Columbus, Ohio, uploaded a photo of the $29.75 tab to Twitter, with the caption, “When the going gets tough, the tough stay loyal. This loyal, amazing patron of Coaches on Bethel left the staff a $2500 tip to help lighten the losses during this required closing of Restaurants & Bars in Ohio.”

When the going gets tough, the tough stay loyal. This loyal, amazing patron of Coaches on Bethel left the staff a $2500 tip to help lighten the losses during this required closing of Restaurants & Bars in Ohio. @OnCoaches @nbc4i @GovMikeDeWine @wsyx6 @DinoTrip @10TVBot pic.twitter.com/scTpMJo0N1

— Coaches on Bethel (@OnCoaches) March 16, 2020

On the receipt, the customer asked that the tip be shared between four workers identified by name, though those workers requested that it be split between all 13 restaurant employees.

The customer wished to remain anonymous, even though restaurant owner Benny Leonard tried to give him credit.

“It changed things on a bad day,” said Leonard to NBC News. “Sunday was one of the wildest days since I’ve been open. I’ve been through a lot, but nothing like this.”


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José Andrés community kitchens

Following the devastating earthquakes in Haiti in 2010, chef José Andrés founded World Central Kitchen, which operated on a radical notion: The organization’s team of chefs would feed as many hungry people as possible for free, with no wish for compensation, reward, or fame. Since then, Andrés and World Central Kitchen have set up mobile kitchens in Puerto Rico and flown to Houston in the aftermath of mass flooding to feed pasta and red sauce to the displaced from ingredients he bought at Target. His mantra? “If I can feed one person, I’m happy.” Now, Andrés is once again at the frontlines of a crisis, this time setting up community kitchens to feed vulnerable people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Andrés’ Washington, DC, restaurants are closed for now to encourage social distancing (his employees will continue to be paid for the next two weeks) but that doesn’t mean the chef is taking a vacation. Instead, he’s transforming some of the closed kitchens of his restaurants, including Jaleo and Oyamel, into what he called community kitchens. In a video message, he said that he and his team would prepare takeaway meals for people who need a quick meal.

Andrés emphasized that he’s not simply opening new, smaller restaurants where anyone can drop by “for enjoyment,” but that his community kitchens are specifically intended to serve people who need an emergency meal.

Andrés also encouraged other chefs to close their restaurants and bars in order to keep people safe, though the decision might be “painful.” So far, restaurants in California, New York, New Jersey, Indiana, Washington, and Texas have made the tough decision to shutter for at least two weeks to stop the spread of the virus. While that might be the best choice for public health, the impact on small businesses and the restaurant industry as a whole could be devastating.

For now, Andrés is choosing to choose safety over profit, adding that right now, “loving each other means staying away from each other.”


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Co. Down, Northern Ireland, tour

Ireland is often called the land of saints and scholars. Without a doubt, the most famous among these is St. Patrick, or Naomh Pádraig to give him his Irish name.

A lot of mythology surrounds Ireland’s best-known saint and first bishop. For one, he probably didn’t banish the snakes from the Emerald Isle. For another, he definitely never dyed a pint of beer green in his life.

But something we know is that in the fourth century, St. Patrick worked, lived, and was buried in County Down, Northern Ireland. Although a lesser-known part of Northern Ireland, the county is a great starting point to learn more about the most famous character in Irish culture and the myths and legends that surround him.

St. Patrick’s Way

Photo: Johannes Rigg/Shutterstoc

St. Patrick’s Way is an 82-mile walk, which takes in some of Co. Down and neighboring Co. Armagh’s most important religious, industrial, and rural history. While originally a pilgrimage, today the St. Patrick’s Way is more often enjoyed as a secular hike.

One of the St. Patrick’s Way’s top-selling points is the diverse range of landscapes and indigenous wildlife that hikers are able to see. In just a few days, you’ll move through urban, mountainous, forested, and coastal settings.

Photo: Google Maps

The first part of the route joins the cities of Armagh and Newry via a repurposed canal towpath. The rest of the sign-posted walk then comprises a jaunt through the Mourne Mountains, before traveling through the Murlough Bay nature reserve, and eventually up the coast to Downpatrick.

To get the full experience, we recommend picking up the Pilgrim’s Passport from the starting point at the Navan Centre, outside Armagh. This can be stamped at 10 points along the route. If you collect all 10 stamps, you’ll receive a certificate of completion from the St. Patrick Centre.

We recommend at least six days to get the full experience. Multiple hotels and B&Bs are available in the major towns along the route.

St. Patrick’s Tomb and Visitor Centre

Photo: riccar/Shutterstoc

While it’s hard to know for sure, it’s widely accepted that St. Patrick lived and worked in Northern Ireland from around 433 AD and that he eventually died in what’s now the town of Downpatrick in 461 AD.

He’s buried in Downpatrick, on the grounds of an 11th-century monastery, alongside Ireland’s other two patron saints, Brigid and Columba. According to legend, the three saints were buried together in the 13th century, fulfilling a prophecy that Ireland’s three patron saints would find the same eternal resting place.

Since 1818, a cathedral has stood on the same spot. The current memorial to Patrick, a large unadorned granite slab, was placed there in 1900.

Naturally, the gravesite is one of great religious significance. It’s also the perfect place for a moment of quiet reflection and a great reminder of our connections to the distant past.

Photo: The Saint Patrick Centre/Facebook

Only a few minutes’ walk away from St. Patrick’s gravesite is the Saint Patrick Centre. As well as being the only permanent exhibition to Patrick in the world, the center offers a fantastic insight into Ireland’s Celtic history.

The Garden Cafe also offers outdoor dining in the peace of the center’s enclosed rear.

Newcastle

Photo: Ray Elliott/Shutterstock

Like many fishing villages, Newcastle became a popular Victorian holiday resort in the 19th century. Then, as today, one of the primary draws was the combination of sandy beaches and views of the nearby Mourne Mountains.

Newcastle is also popular for its seafront promenade, which was refurbished in 2007. Along the seafront, you’ll also find some of Northern Ireland’s best independent and artisan shops, including Painted Earth handmade jewelers and the Cookie Jar Bakery, where you’ll find the best wheaten bread there is in this part of the world.

Photo: Slieve Donard Resort & Spa/Facebook

Newcastle punches well above its weight in plenty of other ways too. It’s the home of Royal County Down Golf Club, which was founded all the way back in 1898. In 2020, Royal County Down was even named the second-best golf club in the world.

Just outside Newcastle is one of the finest examples of late-Victorian red-brick architecture in the grandiose turrets of the Slieve Donard Hotel. The hotel itself stands on six acres of open grounds, including a long stretch of private beach.

Mourne Mountains hiking

Photo: Dawid K Photography/Shutterstoc

Northern Ireland’s famous and popular mountain range, the Mournes are accessible by foot from Newcastle. The Mournes are an area of outstanding natural beauty, and reportedly inspired certain elements of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia.

They even get a mention in John Lennon’s 1972 song The Luck of the Irish.

While there are hundreds of documented routes in the Mournes, our recommendation is to follow the Mourne Wall, which was erected in the early 20th century by the local water authorities. The hand-built dry granite wall spans almost 20 miles and passes through 15 of the peaks.

For less experienced hill walkers, it’s best to use the wall for easy navigation but without committing to the full route.

Photo: Colin Majury/Shutterstock

Many of the Mournes begin with slieve, an anglicized version of the Irish word for mountain. Among these is Northern Ireland’s highest peak, Slieve Donard, translatable as Saint Donard’s Mountain. Here, you’ll also find the highest passage tomb in Ireland.

On a clear day, you can see the Scottish coast, the Isle of Man, and the surrounding mountain ranges.

Hillsborough Castle

Photo: Colin Majury/Shutterstock

For a slightly less intense outdoor experience, head to Hillsborough Castle. The castle itself was previously the official home of the Governor of Northern Ireland but became the British Royal Family’s official residence in 1972 when that role was abolished.

The sandstone Castle itself was completed in the early 1770s by wealthy British plantationists. It stands on over 100 acres of manicured gardens, which are open to the public. Particular highlights are the famous Walled Garden and the recently re-discovered Lost Garden.

Since its completion, Hillsborough castle has also played a varied and important role in Irish, British, and international politics. All the way back in 1771, the castle’s original owner, Willis Hills, even hosted the American founding father Ben Franklin. Queen Elizabeth also celebrated part of her honeymoon in the castle in 1949.

During the bloody conflict in Northern Ireland in the second half of the 20th century, the castle was fitted with added security, including bullet proof glass, which inadvertently made it the ideal location to host the negotiations which eventually led to the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

The current management of the castle and gardens offer bespoke political tours.

Castle Ward

Photo: 4kclips/Shutterstock

As a one-stop shop for enjoying Co. Down’s natural and manmade beauty, you’d be hard-pressed to beat the National Trust property, Castle Ward, which includes an 18th century mansion house.

The Castle Ward property also has 20 miles of walking trails, including routes along the front of nearby Strangford Lough. These are a particular highlight as in the warmer months you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the local seals basking on the shore.

While Castle Ward’s history spans multiple centuries, today it’s probably most popular as a filming location for HBO’s Game of Thrones. Many of the outdoor Winterfell scenes were shot in the property’s stable yards. You can even dress up in costume from the show and try your hand at archery on a replica of the Winterfell Archery Range.


More like this: The best one-day ‘Game of Thrones’ road trip through Northern Ireland

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Venice canals clear amid coronavirus

There aren’t too many silver linings to the coronavirus pandemic, but in Venice, a lack of tourists and boat traffic along the canals is actually having some positive effects. All of Italy is under lockdown due to the coronavirus, meaning Venice, one of the country’s largest tourist attractions, is seeing far less foot and boat traffic. Locals have noticed a change in the city’s water quality. No longer murky, the city’s canal water is now much clearer, and you can even see small fish swimming around.

The Facebook group Venezia Pulita has become a repository for photos of the clear canals, with residents posting a series of optimistic comments.

One Venetian wrote, “What a marvel this Venice was; this virus brought something…beautiful.”

According to the mayor of Venice, “the water now looks clearer because there is less traffic on the canals, allowing the sediment to stay at the bottom. It’s because there is less boat traffic that usually brings sediment to the top of the water’s surface.”

Posted by Martina Bettoni on Saturday, March 14, 2020

The air quality has also improved, with the mayor’s office saying that the air “is less polluted since there are less vaporetti and boat traffic than usual because of the restricted movement of residents.”


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Hotel-hospitals during coronavirus

The hospital-room shortage during the coronavirus spread might be solved by an unlikely savior: hotels.

As hospitals in the US and Europe gear up for an increasing number of coronavirus cases, there is a very real fear that there won’t be enough beds to accommodate the new patients. This potential shortage requires a creative and expedient solution, and some hotels are considering converting into temporary hospitals to alleviate the strain on health facilities.

Best Western Great Britain (BWGB), for example, will be holding discussions this week with each of its hotels to determine the viability of easing pressure on hospitals by converting bedrooms into hospital rooms. BWG has 260 independently owned hotels across England, Scotland, and Wales, and over 15,000 bedrooms that could be repurposed as hospital rooms.

Significant hotel cancellations and a sharp decline in summer bookings have resulted in empty hotels across the world, potentially freeing up much-needed space for new coronavirus patients.

Rob Paterson, BWGB’s chief executive, told The Caterer, “We are in unprecedented territory so we would be willing to take unprecedented steps to support the national effort. If the NHS (National Health Service) wants additional bed space, and we can partner with other companies to provide the right medical equipment and supplies and do it safely, then we would be willing to start having those conversations immediately. Whatever we can do to help.”

Forbes reports that Best Western International has 4,000 hotels in 80 countries, so if the solution is adopted in the UK, it could potentially spread and ease the pressure on hospitals worldwide.


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Chicago aquarium let penguins roam

The Shedd Aquarium in Chicago is one of the many popular attractions around the country currently closed because of the coronavirus, but for the aquarium’s penguins, that closure came with a silver lining. Since the building is devoid of guests, staff let rockhopper penguins leave their habitat to explore the rest of the aquarium.

In this video posted to Twitter, one penguin (named Wellington) can be seen checking out fish in the Amazon exhibit.

Penguins in the Amazon?!