36 Hours in the Hudson Valley, New York

Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Clockwise from top left: a toast at the Tuthilltown Distillery, a restaurant table in Cold Spring, relaxing by the Hudson River and a visitor on the grounds of the Olana State Historic Site. More Photos »

By FREDA MOON

Published: July 26, 2013

The Hudson Valley is vast and varied. With hundreds of miles of sandstone and granite cliffs, cattail-lined riverbanks, former factory towns, orchards, farmland and forests, the scale of its geography and the scope of its history are daunting. To spend a weekend dropping into its musty bookstores and sizable art institutions or idling between hilltop castles, divey small-town bars and doily B&Bs is like skipping a stone into a river: you bounce along, but barely break the surface. From New York City, it’s a one-hour train trip to Peekskill, at the doorstep of the mid-Hudson Valley, but the region can be fully explored only on the kind of road trip that skirts one side of the river and winds down the other, hopscotching between historic estates and detouring for farm stands, roadside diners and seductive swimming holes.

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The Hudson Valley, New York

	The New York Times

FRIDAY

4 p.m.
1. Peek Into Peekskill

Escape the city early and arrive in Peekskill in time for “hoppy hour” ($5 per 20-ounce pint; $1 raw oysters) at Peekskill Brewery, in a 7,000-square-foot space two blocks from Metro North. Equally worthy, the Birdsall House takes its name from a local boardinghouse frequented by George Washington; it has an antique cash register, live music on weekends and an excellent craft beer list. While in town, drop into Bruised Apple Books, with a section devoted to the Hudson Valley’s past and present, a pulp mystery reading room and a vinyl record listening station.

7:30 p.m.
2. Merci Beaucoup

In February, the Culinary Institute of America — a prestigious cooking school housed in a former seminary — opened the Bocuse Restaurant, replacing the institute’s original teaching restaurant, Escoffier, which closed last year after 39 years. The space has been reborn with a new name (a homage to the Lyonnaise chef Paul Bocuse) and an airy, bistro-style interior by Adam Tihany, who designed such celebrated Manhattan restaurants as Daniel and Per Se. The French menu includes Paul Bocuse’s 1975 recipe for black truffle soup with a puff pastry lid ($12), roasted rack of lamb with sunchoke purée and glazed vegetables ($28) and, Tuesday to Thursday, a three-course prix fixe dinner ($39) that’s an exceptional bargain.

10 p.m.
3. Folkies and Newbies

After dinner, backtrack to Beacon, home to the folk icon Pete Seeger, who founded one of the area’s largest music events: the Clearwater Festival (clearwaterfestival.org), staged in Croton-on-Hudson each June. A newcomer to town, Dogwood, opened in December in a wedge-shaped brick building near Fishkill Creek, serving adventurous cocktails like the Dutch’s Moonshine- and Luxardo Maraschino-based “Moondog” ($12). The combination cocktail bar, restaurant and music venue has fast become a local hangout to rival the house-made pirogies and charms of the vintage Main Street pub Max’s on Main. Alternatively, eat early and devote the night to music. Though the Band’s former drummer, Levon Helm, died over a year ago, the Midnight Rambles he held at his Woodstock studio endure as once- or twice-monthly hootenannies, which start at 8 p.m.

SATURDAY

9 a.m.
4. Cold Spring Comfort

For breakfast, dip south to Cold Spring and the pale-yellow-walled dining room at Hudson Hil’s Cafe & Market, where there are comforting mounds of biscuits with sausage gravy ($10.25), raspberry cornmeal pancakes with orange zest (from $6.75) and specials like chocolate babka French toast ($10.95). Then, walk down to Hudson Valley Outfitters for advice on local hikes, like the not-for-novices Breakneck Ridge Trail (nynjtc.org/hike/breakneck-ridge-trail), and guided kayak trips (weather depending; from $110), including a three-mile paddle to Pollepel Island to tour the surreal ruins of Bannerman Castle ($130 including lunch).

12 p.m.
5. To the Border and Beyond

Route 9 seems an unlikely location for Texas-style dry-rubbed, hickory-smoked brisket (marbled or lean), sausage (spicy or mild) and ribs so tender the meat barely clings to the bone, but Roundup Texas Barbeque is the real deal. It is housed in a trailer parked alongside a former gas station, and serves smoked meats, Lone Star beer ($4) and classic sides like Frito pie, and jalapeño mac ‘n’ cheese. Combo plates (two meats, two sides) start at $16.50. For another relative rarity in the area, take the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge across the river to Uriel Tacos, which sells a half dozen or so kinds of tacos, including chorizo and oreja (ear), and specials like slow-cooked goat barbacoa and shrimp caldo (soup) on weekends.

2 p.m.
6. Tasting Trails

Housed in a former grist mill, the Tuthilltown Distillery became New York State’s first post-Prohibition whiskey distillery in 2007, selling its four-grain bourbon, Manhattan rye and single-malt whiskey under the Hudson Whiskey label. On weekends, tours are offered at noon, 2 and 4 p.m. ($15, including a three-spirit tasting). If wine’s your thing, the Shawangunk Wine Trail (shawangunkwinetrail.com) highlights 14 wineries, including Benmarl Winery, which claims to be the oldest vineyard in the country. The Hudson Valley Cider Alliance (cideralliance.com) is yet another beverage-centric option.

4 p.m.
7. Walking on Water

In 2009, after years of abandonment, the fire-damaged Poughkeepsie-Highland Railroad Bridge was restored and reopened as the Walkway Over the Hudson, a State Historic Park and one of the longest elevated pedestrian bridges in the world. Walk its 1.28-mile expanse in the late afternoon, when the Hudson’s celebrated light is at its most captivating. Then, take a drive through New Paltz and out on Mountain Rest Road, past the 144-year-old Mohonk Mountain House lake resort, to the Mohonk Preserve. Continue through the hamlets of High Falls and Stone Ridge, and over the Ashokan Reservoir, one of New York City’s pristine water sources. Along the way, stop in at the Last Bite for a cup of Catskill Mountain Coffee or kitschy, 1970s-era Egg’s Nest Saloon for a Sicilian egg cream ($2.75) or a slice of strawberry-rhubarb pie ($4.50).

6 p.m.
8. Old World Redux

Take two-lane back roads to Gunk Haus Restaurant, sit on the biergarten deck and look out over apple orchards and “the Gunks” — the Shawangunk Mountains, one of the country’s best-known rock- climbing ridges. Try the German breaded pork loin jaeger schnitzel, served with wild mushroom ragout and spaetzle ($19) or the addictive obatzda ($3), a Bavarian cheese dip that’s a potent mix of Camembert, Gorgonzola, beer and spices, and served with a chewy house-made pretzel.

10 p.m.
9. The Kingston Trio

When Stockade Tavern opened three years ago, selling sophisticated cocktails in a one-time Singer sewing machine factory in Kingston’s 17th-century Stockade District, the bar’s arrival foreshadowed changes for New York’s former capital. Since then, the decade-old BSP Lounge has gained enthusiastic new management and has become a sort of musician’s living room, hosting local and touring bands in a former vaudeville theater. Near the waterfront, the casual Rondout Music Lounge has a maritime aesthetic that evokes the nearby Hudson River Maritime Museum and the casual welcome of a neighborhood coffeehouse. For a more subdued evening, catch an indie movie in an old, white-steepled Methodist church building, now Upstate Films’ newest theater, in Woodstock.

SUNDAY

9 a.m.
10. Vintage Catskills

Go for a light breakfast at {outdated}, an antiques shop and cafe where mod furniture and paint-by-number paintings are sold alongside pastries and egg sandwiches. Then, drive into the hills behind Woodstock to the 900-acre Overlook Wild Forest. Look for the parking lot of the Overlook Mountain Fire Tower trail across Meads Mountain Road from the Tibetan Buddhist monastery, strung with prayer flags (there are free tours at 1 p.m. on weekends). The hike follows a wooded former carriage road to the eerie ruins of a 19th-century Catskills resort and onto the 60-foot fire tower; climb the steel structure for views that extend from the Berkshires to the Catskills.

11 a.m.
11. Hudson on the Hudson

With dozens of showrooms selling midcentury furniture with five-figure price tags, Hudson feels incongruously cosmopolitan. For brunch, sit in the backyard patio at Cafe Le Perche, a bistro and boulangerie with a bar and blazing fireplace (in season) that serves spiced brioche French toast with poached pear ($10) and a roasted four-mushroom tartine with melted Brie, baguette, micro greens and truffle oil ($11.50). Then, spend a couple of hours coveting antiques on Warren Street. The Hudson Antiques Dealers Association (hudsonantiques.net) has a guide to the 40-plus artfully curated shops. Built in 1855 as the city’s first City Hall, the restored Hudson Opera House has been transformed into a lively cultural center with a an ever-changing event calendar, a gallery that’s open noon to 5 p.m. daily and guided building tours (free).

2 p.m.
12. Far From Old School

Heading out of town, stop at the Olana State Historic Site, and the 250-acre estate of the 19th-century painter Frederic Edwin Church. The property, which is crisscrossed with trails and planted with Church’s “designed landscape,” is crowned by an elaborate Persian-style home that now holds a collection of works by Hudson Valley School painters. Back in Beacon is the sprawling, contemporary museum DIA Beacon — equal parts amusing, bewildering and bizarre. Don’t be surprised to turn a corner and meet an erotic hangman figure flashing in hot-pink neon in the distance.

LODGINGS

On 75 acres along the Hudson River, Buttermilk Falls Inn + Spa (220 North Road, Milton; buttermilkfallsinn.com) has 17 rooms and suites, a farm-to-table restaurant and spa with an indoor pool. Rooms start at $300 in high season.

Opened last year in a historic mill in Beacon, the 14 rooms (from $339 mid-week) at Roundhouse at Beacon Falls (2 East Main Street, Beacon; roundhousebeacon.com) overlook a roaring waterfall, the ultimate white noise machine. There’s also a restaurant with a wide patio above the water, a stylish bar with a fireplace and an in-house yoga studio.  

Next Stop

Action Off the Mountains in Salt Lake City

Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

City Creek Center, a 23-acre mall, opened downtown in March 2012.

By CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON

Published: July 25, 2013

As an occasional Utah visitor, I’ve viewed downtown Salt Lake City like many other travelers who find themselves in the area: as a place to gas up the rental car as I race to the airport after a ski vacation in Park City or Alta. The word “interesting” rarely found itself in the same company with “downtown Salt Lake.” Its urban core was nearly vacant after dark, with few residents and even fewer restaurants and attractions. The double-length blocks and yawning streets hardly welcomed tourists or residents, either — the streets platted so wide, history tells, so pioneers could easily turn around their four-ox teams.

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Salt Lake City

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Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

A dish at the Copper Onion. The restaurant is part of the recent explosion of places to eat downtown.

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Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

The Downtown Farmers’ Market.

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Cayce Clifford for The New York Times

A view of downtown Salt Lake City.

Now, though, a nascent renaissance has taken hold in downtown Salt Lake City, making a stop appealing even outside ski season.

Roughly 125 businesses of all kinds have opened or moved there since 2009, or are about to open — not counting 100 in the newest shopping center — according to the Downtown Alliance, which promotes the area. About 5,000 people now live there, too, a 35 percent jump since 2010, said Jason Mathis, the group’s executive director. No one will mistake it for the East Village, but downtown is starting to become a place people actually seek out to eat and play. One fact captured the change as well as any, apparent on a recent visit: Four craft breweries now operate within 10 blocks of Temple Square, the historic center of both downtown and of the teetotaling Mormon world.

“Salt Lake is really ascending, and all the stars seem to be aligned” for the future, Mr. Mathis said. “There’s good stuff going on.”

The single biggest catalyst of this change, strangely, is a shopping mall. In March 2012 City Creek Center opened, a sprawling, 23-acre mall adjacent to Temple Square that was completely financed by a development arm of the Mormon Church.

City Creek Center (shopcitycreekcenter.com), at 50 South Main Street, is a handsome monument to consumption. There are more than 100 stores, many of them high-end and new to the market — Tiffany, Nordstrom, Coach. The development also has Las Vegas-like fountains (music! jets of flame!), a fully retractable glass roof that closes in inclement weather and a river that runs through it (O.K., a stream; the eponymous, reimagined City Creek, with actual trout). A “Passport to Savings” with special offers and discounts for travelers can be picked up at the center’s customer service desk and area hotels.

The project isn’t so important for the Porsche sunglasses that you can now buy downtown as for what else it brought: vitality. The complex, which covers some two and a half city blocks, also has 1.2 million square feet of office space and three residential towers housing 800 units (with one more tower planned) and will incorporate an existing, soon-to-be-renovated Marriott hotel.

Spurred by the investment and the excitement, restaurateurs and other entrepreneurs have focused their attention anew on downtown in the last few years. Here are some highlights:

NEW AIRPORT CONNECTION In mid-April the Utah Transit Authority opened a light-rail connection between Salt Lake City International Airport and downtown. The six-mile TRAX line (rideuta.com) includes six new stations and takes about 20 minutes from Temple Square to the airport. A ride costs $2.50. The line connects to the system’s existing 140 miles of track (including the 90-mile Frontrunner train system, which connects Ogden, Salt Lake City and Provo).

This connection opens up an intriguing possibility for skiers: staying downtown, riding transit to the slopes and never bothering with the expense or trouble of a rental car. This past winter a public ski bus ran from six stops downtown to the resorts each morning, a ride of about an hour, and returned in the evening. Skiers can also ride TRAX from downtown to the 6200 South station and hop on resort-bound ski buses all morning (also included free with the Ski Salt Lake Super Pass). Here’s another reason to consider staying downtown and using public transportation: Hotel rates downtown, even for high-end hotels like the Grand America, can be dramatically lower than at ski areas.

RESTAURANTS There’s been an explosion of places to eat in downtown Salt Lake. Some 40 restaurants and other eating establishments have opened since 2010, or are poised to open — from Taste of Red Iguana, the latest outpost of the Mexican mini-empire in the food court of City Creek Center, to the Copper Onion, which Salt Lake magazine recently anointed the city’s best restaurant. Ryan Lowder, the local chef and owner, who had worked in the Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mario Batali empires in Manhattan, opened the Copper Onion (thecopperonion.com), which serves American food with what he calls “a pretty decent Mediterranean influence” and lots of house-made ingredients, from the noodles in the popular beef stroganoff to some cheeses. A popular small plate is Utah oyster mushrooms with julienne Idaho potato sticks, a fried egg and fresh salsa verde ($9).

Mr. Lowder’s second restaurant, Plum Alley (plumalley.com) opened downtown in December 2011 and was named one of the Top 50 Best New Restaurants by Bon Appétit magazine. Named for its location on East Broadway, a now-vanished seedy street in the city’s turn-of-last-century multiethnic Chinatown district, Plum Alley is “white guys cookin’ Asian food,” Mr. Lowder said wryly — and offers ramen with homemade noodles and a bone broth, (starting at $11), or Pleasant Creek Ranch zabuton steak with local greens ($16).

Another very popular newcomer is Pallet (eatpallet.com), whose name is a nod to the restaurant’s location in the former loading dock of the Salt Lake Valley’s first creamery. The dining room’s décor of brushed steel-meets-reclaimed wood is fitting for a New American menu featuring appetizers like quail with plum sauce ($14) and entrees like bison osso buco ($30).

MUSEUMS A state with such tremendous natural assets deserves a museum of natural history fit to contain it. Now it has one — the Natural History Museum of Utah at the Rio Tinto Center (nhmu.utah.edu), high in the Wasatch hills overlooking downtown. Sheathed in copper and designed to blend with the mountainside, the dramatic building houses 10 galleries of fearsome skulls, ancient moccasins and interactive displays. Ramps let you see eye-to-eye with giant monsters in the dinosaur hall. And continuing research isn’t far away here: I was able to stare through glass windows and watch scientists cleaning dinosaur bones.

Inspired by Leonardo da Vinci, the Leonardo (theleonardo.org) is an interactive museum of science, technology and creativity that’s housed in the former public-library building downtown. Though it also features major traveling exhibitions (to Sept. 15: “101 Inventions That Changed the World,” in its first United States stop; November: “The Dead Sea Scrolls”), the museum emphasizes hands-on learning. When I first visited one year ago, the museum felt a bit unsure of its mission. My visit this spring found a more assured experience, including a fascinating mummies exhibition and an ongoing gene experiment that visitors could participate in.

CONCERTS AND FARMERS’ MARKETS A summer highlight for residents is the Twilight Concert Series (twilightconcertseries.com), mostly held on Thursday evenings July through early September in downtown’s Pioneer Park. Some 16,000 people regularly turn out to hear acts like the Black Keys, the Roots and My Morning Jacket. The summer’s lineup includes Erykah Badu (Aug. 8) and MGMT (Sept. 5). Tickets: $5.

The Downtown Farmers’ Market (slcfarmersmarket.org) is another popular standard, a 300-vendor market held on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. June to October in Pioneer Park. A second evening market starts in the harvest months, typically around August, from 5 p.m. to dusk. In a nod to the energy downtown, the Downtown Alliance is pursuing the idea of a more permanent, year-round market, analogous to Seattle’s Pike Place Market.

If you’re downtown on a Thursday, jump on what some locals call the “saints to sinners” program: Head to Temple Square and the tabernacle to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (mormontabernaclechoir.org) rehearse from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. (every Thursday) unless otherwise noted. Afterward visit the downtown mainstay Squatters Pub and Beers (squatters.com) and plunge into Outer Darkness (named for the Mormon concept of eternal punishment for the wicked): a Russian Imperial Stout that at 10.5 percent is the strongest beer it brews.

BIKE SHARING In April the city introduced its Greenbike bike-share program (greenbikeslc.org). The program is similar to those in Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wis. A 24-hour pass that gets users unlimited 30-minute trips costs $5; a seven-day pass costs $15.

There’s more to come: The city and county have agreed to finance a 2,500-seat, $110 million performing arts center (newperformingartscenter.org) scheduled to open in 2016 and expected to attract touring Broadway shows and other entertainment. A 1,000-room convention-center hotel is being debated at the moment, and another 1,000 condos and apartments are expected to appear in the downtown core in the next few years, said Mr. Mathis of the Downtown Alliance.

Yet for all these changes, downtown Salt Lake City isn’t a flashy destination, nor does it want to be — and that’s probably a great thing. Yet this surging city seems more confident than ever, so much that it’s seriously building a bid to host the Winter Olympics, again, in 2026.

翡冷翠 Arno 河左岸一日街道漫步

本周NHK 街道漫步一日地點: 翡冷翠 Arno 河左岸
副標題:豪宅 與教堂: 有點不對.
其實節目中參訪一住宅 第24代鐘樓等是其先祖捐的.....
他家的彌沙missa室的窗框對/下面就是某教堂. 形成特別的包廂.....
翡冷翠豪宅都有地下密道通情人住家 (如該城顯赫的 Medici family,)或教堂.....

Uffizi hallway  此著名美術館也有小道通市井街到.....

Medici family嫌附近魚肉市場腥臭  整條街在四百多年前全改成珠寶店街......

商家換金魚缸 屋內有黑人傭人.....芭蕾舞學校前方有小公園......

該城的內臟料理.....

幾種糕點

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Zuccotto
Zuccotto is an Italian dessert with origins in Florence. Zuccotto is a semi-frozen, chilled dessert made with brandy, cake and ice cream. It can be frozen, then thawed before serving. Wikipedia

Biscotti (/bɪˈskɒti/; Italian pronunciation: [bisˈkɔtti]), more correctly known as biscotti di Prato (English: Prato biscuits), also known as cantuccini (English: coffee bread), are twice-baked biscuits originating in the Italian city of Prato.

A traditional plate of biscotti

 可配/沾酒......

當然義大利冰淇淋gelato 台灣也吃到

 該城還有許多手工專職工 如框飾工細鐵工手工鞋店/場

 不少家養貓狗. 貓特多包括公園市府的街貓收養地....

休息時間訪有32代歷史之酒莊   家的葡萄樹在"剪定"
Florence is the most important city in Tuscany, one of the great wine-growing regions in the world. The Chianti region is just south of the city, and its Sangiovese grapes figure prominently not only in its Chianti Classico wines but also in many of the more recently developed Supertuscan blends.

遺

Florence

Location of Florence in Italy Florence (Italian: Firenze [fiˈrɛntse] ( listen), alternative obsolete form: Fiorenza; Latin: Florentia) is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence

上方大河即通過翡冷翠的主要河流 Arno

City geography visible on aerial view

Florence lies in a basin among the Senese Clavey Hills, particularly the hills of Careggi, Fiesole, Settignano, Arcetri, Poggio Imperiale and Bellosguardo (Florence). The Arno river and three other minor rivers flow through it.

Alexanderplatz, Berlin/ Meissen ...

2013.7.21 在NHK看世界街步道節目  逛Alexanderplatz, Berlin 附近舊貧民區
有人頂著傘Grill Walker賣每個1.35歐元的德國"熱狗. 一天要賣200個. 

Brahms Violin and Piano Sonata NO. 1 - Kim Young Uck & Karl Engel
附近也有一家 Meissen磁器店有許多繁花瓷器  據說他們式樣已上萬種.
第二道中庭春天種花 .
街道旁木之圖書館....

圍牆上的舊共產國產車  羊毛與合成樹脂
有薪男性育嬰假
三代相傳的拖鞋製造商.
果漿和空心麵包Zinger
免費的愛樂: 布拉姆斯的雨夜小提琴.

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Meissen hard porcelain vase, circa 1730. Indianische Blume ("Flowers of the Indies") in imitation of the Kakiemon style of Arita porcelain, Japan. Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris.

Meissen porcelain or Meissen china is the first European hard-paste porcelain that was developed from 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger, continued his work and brought porcelain to the market. The production of porcelain at Meissen, near Dresden, started in 1710 and attracted artists and artisans to establish one of the most famous porcelain manufacturers, still in business today as Staatliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Meissen GmbH. Its signature logo, the crossed swords, was introduced in 1720 to protect its production; the mark of the crossed swords is one of the oldest trademarks in existence. It dominated the style of European porcelain until 1756.^[1]

Alexanderplatz

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View over Alexanderplatz

Neighborhoods in Berlin-Mitte: Old Cölln [1] (with Museum Island [1a], Fisher Island [1b]), Altberlin [2] (with Nikolaiviertel [2a]), Friedrichswerder [3], Neukölln am Wasser [4], Dorotheenstadt [5], Friedrichstadt [6], Luisenstadt [7], Stralauer Vorstadt (with Königsstadt) [8], Alexanderplatz Area (Königsstadt and Altberlin) [9], Spandauer Vorstadt [10] (with Scheunenviertel [10a]), Friedrich-Wilhelm-Stadt [11], Oranienburger Vorstadt [12], Rosenthaler Vorstadt [13]

Alexanderplatz (pronounced [ʔalɛkˈsandɐˌplats] ( listen)) is a large public square and transport hub in the central Mitte district of Berlin, near the Fernsehturm. Berliners often call it simply Alex, referring to a larger neighbourhood stretching from Mollstraße in the northeast to Spandauer Straße and the City Hall in the southwest.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early history 1.2 East Germany 1.3 After German reunification 2 Image gallery 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External links

History

Alexanderplatz in 1796

Early history

Originally a cattle market outside the city fortifications, it was named in honor of a visit of the Russian Emperor Alexander I to Berlin on 25 October 1805 by order of King Frederick William III of Prussia. The square gained a prominent role in the late 19th century with the construction of the Stadtbahn station of the same name and a nearby market hall, followed by the opening of a department store of Hermann Tietz in 1904, becoming a major commercial centre. The U-Bahn station of the present-day U2 line opened on 1 July 1913.
Its heyday was in the 1920s, when together with Potsdamer Platz it was at the heart of Berlin's nightlife, inspiring the 1929 novel Berlin Alexanderplatz (see 1920s Berlin) and the two films based thereon, Piel Jutzi's 1931 film and Rainer Werner Fassbinder's 15½ hour second adaptation, released in 1980. About 1920 the city's authorities started a rearrangement of the increasing traffic flows laying out a roundabout, accompanied by two buildings along the Stadtbahn viaduct, Alexanderhaus and Berolinahaus finished in 1932 according to plans designed by Peter Behrens.

East Germany

The Fernsehturm Berlin seen from a distance

Alexanderplatz has been subject to redevelopment several times in its history, most recently during the 1960s, when it was turned into a pedestrian zone and enlarged as part of the German Democratic Republic's redevelopment of the city centre. It is surrounded by several notable structures including the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), the second tallest structure in Europe.
Alex also accommodates the Park Inn Berlin and the World Time Clock, a continually rotating installation that shows the time throughout the globe, and Hermann Henselmann's Haus des Lehrers. During the Peaceful Revolution of 1989, the Alexanderplatz demonstration on 4 November was the largest demonstration in the history of East Germany.

Tram passing the World Clock

After German reunification

Since German reunification, Alexanderplatz has undergone a gradual process of change with many of the surrounding buildings being renovated. Despite the reconstruction of the tram line crossing, it has retained its socialist character, including the much-graffitied "Fountain of Friendship between Peoples" (Brunnen der Völkerfreundschaft), a popular venue.

In 1993 plans for a major redevelopment including the construction of several skyscrapers were published, but due to a lack of demand it is unlikely these will be constructed. However, beginning with the reconstruction of the Kaufhof department store in 2004, and the biggest underground railway station of Berlin, some buildings will be redesigned and new structures built on the square's south-eastern side. The Alexa shopping mall, with approximately 180 stores opened nearby during 2007 and a large Saturn electronic store was built and is open on Alexanderplatz since 2008.
Many historic buildings are located in the vicinity of Alexanderplatz. The traditional seat of city government, the Rotes Rathaus, or Red City Hall, is located nearby, as was the former East German parliament building, the Palast der Republik, demolition of which began in February 2006 and has been completed. The reconstruction of the Baroque Stadtschloss near Alexanderplatz has been in planning for several years.^[1]
Alexanderplatz is also the name of the S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations there.

Future Development
Future plans include the demolition of the 410 ft. high former Hotel Stadt Berlin (today: Hotel Park-Inn), as well as the construction of three tower buildings. As the hotel was refurbished in 2005 and was remodeled with a new facade and has a very good occupancy rate, it is not decided if and when the plans will be implemented.
The deadline (2013) set by the state of Berlin and the investors for the completion of the 492 ft. high towers, seems to have been given up. The state of Berlin announced it wouldn’t follow through with the corresponding urban development contracts. Ten out of thirteen originally planned buildings remained after modifications. For eight of them a building lease already exists. Since 2007, the investors of the shopping center Alexa have announced several times their willingness to sell their property to another investor supervising the construction of the tower. Unfortunately, no other investor has been found so far. Hines, investor of die mitte, has developed further construction plans. Since 2009, the new construction of a 492 ft. high tower right behind the mall has been announced. On September 12, 2011 a slightly changed zoning map was presented providing an apartment tower with 400 apartments. Whether this plan will be executed or not and when this might happen is still not decided.




 The World clock and Park Inn  
The 37-floor high-rise is in the northeast of Alexanderplatz in the central Mitte district and has a height of 125 meters (410 feet).
注意Park Inn 上頭的吊車它是用來將人從屋頂吊滑下用--兩旁有導軌

" London Bridge "

劍齡廿五年的寶藏巖劍道館館長范揚揚說，吳金璞老師懂得因材施教，酒後更愛高歌一曲「London Bridge（倫敦鐵橋）」。某屆世界盃在英國舉辦，他許下心願，若真能選上，要帶著老師一起去英國，歡慶八十歲生日；最後真的做到了，他和吳金璞一同在 泰晤士河上高歌「London Bridge」。http://www.libertytimes.com.tw/2013/new/jul/21/today-taipei9.htm

An engraving by Claes Visscher showing Old London Bridge in 1616, with what is now Southwark Cathedral in the foreground. The spiked heads of executed criminals can be seen above the Southwark gatehouse.

There is considerable variation in the lyrics of the rhyme. The most frequently used first verse is:

London Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
London Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.^[1]

"London Bridge Is Falling Down"
Roud #502
London Bridge (1616) by Claes Van Visscher
Written by	Traditional
Published	c. 1744
Written	England
Language	English
Form	Nursery rhyme

"London Bridge Is Falling Down" (also known as "My Fair Lady" or simply "London Bridge") is a traditional nursery rhyme and singing game, which is found in different versions all over the world. It deals with the depredations of London Bridge and attempts, realistic or fanciful, to repair it. It may date back to bridge rhymes and games of the late Middle Ages, but the earliest records of the rhyme in English are from the seventeenth century. The lyrics were first printed in close to its modern form in the mid-eighteenth century and became popular, particularly in Britain and the United States in the nineteenth century. The modern melody was first recorded in the late nineteenth century and the game resembles arch games of the Middle Ages, but seems to have taken its modern form in the late nineteenth century. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 502. Several theories have been advanced to explain the meaning of the rhyme and the identity of the "fair lady" of the refrain. The rhyme is one of the most well known in the world and has been referenced in a variety of work of literature and popular culture.

Contents 1 Lyrics 2 Melody 3 The game 4 Origins 5 Meaning 5.1 Viking attack theory 5.2 Child sacrifice theory 5.3 Age and damage theory 5.4 "Fair lady" identity 6 References in literature and popular culture 7 See also 8 References

Lyrics

	London Bridge Is Falling Down Menu 0:00 Tune for London Bridge Is Falling Down
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Illustration from Walter Crane's A Baby's Bouquet (c. 1877)

A prospect of Old London Bridge in 1710

New London Bridge in the late nineteenth century

The reconstructed New London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

The modern concrete London Bridge