Safari Goes Lusitanian

For week 101 of the Safari, a special themed week celebrating Portugal! Lots of Lusitanian references, plus a concert by Joao Frazao, to enrich the evening.

Belem Tower, on NiSi Festival region, Metropolis

We began our adventure as usual on Francogrid, at the clubhouse. I don't know why we never actually 

g inside the clubhouse, I guess we just like fresh air. Tht big geometric shape is an invention of Wizard Gynoid, you can buy one from a 3D website service she has set up, and you too can have a RL copy (although not that big!).

Our first destination was Carlos Loff's project to build the city of Lisbon in opensim. He has a grid of his own, and his plan is to recreate the entire metropolitan area, with all the monuments and geographical features - that's quite an enterprise!

We didn't see a huge amount of arquitectura tipica  but we were impressed by the size of the sim, which you can visit via horse...

some interesting choices for travel on this region

and by tram... 

This is a reference to the Yellow Tram 28 is the one beloved by tourists because it takes you past all the main landmarks and picturesque narrow and steep streets. 

Here it runs around a futuristic red structure like skyscrapers and bridges.

You can also sail around by yourself ...

... or ride around with your friends in motorized kayaks, although I'm pretty sure you're only supposed to be in 2 in these kayaks, Wizaroz and I were illegal passengers. The boats ride around on the ground as well, making the whole experience hilarious

Ai and snowbody ride the kayak, with uninvited passengers

On to Destination 2 on Metropolis.

NiShi region, created by Ni Lemon

Celebrated each year on April 25, The Carnation Revolution brought to an end the imperial dominions of the Portuguese in Africa and South-east Asia, and in Portugal itself, where people had become sick of fifty years of authoritarian government blocking progress and freedoms that most of us take for granted, it meant the beginning of a more modern age in democracy. 

Ni Lemon told us this story, She shares the NiSni Festival region on Metropolis with Snik Snoodle, shown here. Ni is 'alfacinha' and rightly very proud of her heritage...

The name Revolução dos cravos (Carnation Revolution) has an interesting origin. A lady called Celeste Caeiro was sent home from her job in a restaurant in Lisbon due to the military coup - there were tanks of the streets of the city, but nobody was firing. She was told she could take home the red and white carnations that had been bought to decorate the tables. She offered the flowers to the soldiers and they placed them in the muzzles of their guns - the idea soon caught on all over the city and beyond, as a symbol of the   bloodless coup - what a rarity. Celeste is still alive today - che's 83 years old!

... she's also a very good builder, as is, of course Snik. This install was made specifically for the Safari visit, which we all appreciated very much. As much as it's nice to see long beaches and cultural mashup builds with the Eiffel Tower looking down on Stonehenge, it's even more interesting to see a focused build that tells a worthwhile story. 

If, like me, you know very little about Portugal, this kind of build inspired you to want to know more, and who better to learn from than a local, like Ni. For example, this 'Galo' is another very powerful symbol of the Portuguese people, and the 30m tall Belém Tower on the Lisbon waterfront, built during the Renaissance, is the symbol of the nation's heritage of navigation, exploration, and general seafaring-ness. On Ni and Snik's sim, this whole area celebrates the international spirit of the nation which has strong links with so many other corners of the world. All this and our favorite ukulele player, Joao, to give us something to dance to. Pura felicidad.

HG Addresses:

Ni and Snik's celebration region      hypergrid.org:8002:nisni festival

Loff's World          login.loffvirtualworlds.com:8002:Lisbon Utopia