Back to the DaVinci Gardens in Second Life

 

It is strange how we hold on to the pieces of the past while we wait for our futures.

Ally Condie

 

 

As part of my campaign to focus on the positive in Second Life (SL) and to avoid becoming the sort of crank whom readers avoid, (Significant Other’s eyebrow arches at the word “becoming.”) I’m blogging about the better aspects of SL now.

I may have gotten away from one of original blogging principles which was to avoid negativity because there seemed to be way too much of it around when I first began writing. 

So, as I did last week when I blogged about the sixth anniversary celebrations in Mieville, I’ll blog presently about the fun and wonder of SL which brought me inworld originally. 

To this end, I return to DaVinci Gardens in Kalepa.  A sim discovered originally by my Research Assistant, Tera Trenchcoat, a while back.

Two earlier visits were recorded in my stories about flying the different “devices” and dragons available to visitors there.  I was taken by the clever adaption of the ideas of Master DaVinci himself and from fantasy into the reality of SL.

I promised myself and my readers that I’d return and now seems as good a time as any.  So, I’m off!

I rez into the DaVinci Gardens landing zone and am facing the teleporter board.  Eighteen destinations await me.  The diverse offerings impress me.  Everything from the ancient pyramids to the Charleston to outer space. 

After having spent my previous visits in the clouds here at DaVinci, I decide to stay on the ground. In fact, going to the root of my name, I decide to go spelunking!  I select the Dripstone Cave and move along to the next stage of my journey.  (Air travelers in Real Life (RL), like I once was, would really appreciate the ease and safety of a teleporter to say nothing of avoiding the TSA and airline fees!)

I arrive in a subterranean cavern with bats flying around.  The ceiling is low.  Stalactites and stalagmites are in view.  Water pools in depressions in the floor.  I begin to rethink my idea to start at the bottom.

Looking across the cavern, I see paintings on the wall.  They are copies of the images from the Lascaux caves in France.  In fact, walking through some of them produces the link to the relevant Wikipedia article.

This may be a reproduction of a UNESCO World Heritage site but I’m starting to get claustrophobic!  (Which I normally don’t know matter what Significant Other smugly says!)

I move through the cave, dodging bats (pesky buggers!) and arrive at the edge of a body of water which seems to lead out to daylight.  Fortuitously, one of those SL devices is at hand which permits a gondola to rez and which I can ride in.  (Yes, I get the incongruity of a gondola in a cave filled with prehistoric drawings!  Please remember that I only call ‘em as I see ‘em!)

The designers in the DaVinci Gardens always seem to be able to marry the beautiful with a touch of whimsy.  Drawing on our ancient past and throwing in Venice does make for a fun trip.

As I suspected, the gondola floats down a stream which takes me to the outside world.  The stream banks are covered with colorful flowers, shrubs, and trees.  Visitors stroll through the fields. 

Small cottages reminiscent of those from fairy tales are on the embankment.  Smoke curls from chimneys.  Overhead, the cerulean skies of Kalepa look down on me as do the falcons which I’d noticed in my earlier visits.  I glide through the waters. 

All is at peace with the world.  (At least inworld!) 

Ahead of me loom the erupting volcano and the castle ruins.  Somehow from down here they seem even larger than from above.  In the distance, majestic towers rise and I can see the observatory with its telescope.

I continue down the stream and disembark at a small, aged stone pier jutting into the water.  I return home.

I promise myself to return again.

How can I not?

Once again, I wander through a small world lovingly built and cared for by someone or someones.  (I’ll track down whom for a future story.)  The attention to detail, the flights of fancy, and the wild spread of ideas tell me that some very creative people are behind DaVinci Gardens.

Places like this should be visited and experienced by anyone who calls himself or herself a resident of SL.  Sims like this just don’t appear.  They’re the result of hours spent researching, learning the tools, and then finally building it.  I can only guess at the monetary cost for tier fees. 

I encourage all to go and enjoy themselves at DaVinci Gardens.  I promise you that you won’t be disappointed! 

I’ve included a few pictures of some of the beautiful sights in DaVinci.  My photos do no justice to what awaits the visitor.  Go and see for yourselves! 

As always, I’m grateful to all inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was passing through their lives.   

My Twitter handle is @webspelunker.  Please feel free to follow me and I’d be happy to follow you.

I welcome feedback from readers, please either comment on my blog or e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com . 

          If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.

 

 

Photo No. 1 DaVinci Gardens Teleporter Board

Photo No. 2 Dripstone Cave Landing Zone

Photo No. 3 Dripstone Cave Wall Paintings I

Photo No. 4 Dripstone Cave Wall Paintings II

Photo No. 5 Dripstone Cave Wall Paintings III

Photo No. 6 Underground River

Photo No. 7 Gondola

Photo No. 8 The World Beckons…

Photo No. 9 Riverside Cottage

Photo No. 10 Outside!

Photo No. 11 Riverside Flowers