Viewpoints – Placecloud

W.G. Sebald describes the cultural history of Antwerpen-Centraal railway station through the flowing musings of his seemingly omnipotent character Austerlitz, antihero of Sebald's masterpiece, 'Austerlitz' (2001).

Iain Nairn delivers (in 1967) a brief potted history of Derry in his typical musical, dry and witty style.

In a letter to his teenage daughter, Ted Hughes describes his visit to Buckingham Palace to receive the Queen's Medal for Poetry, in November 1974. In funny and intimate language, Hughes describes with delight all the small details of the trip, from the clumsy session at Moss Bros renting a suit, to drinks with Sir John Betjeman beforehand, to his great enjoyment of the Queen herself.

A reading of Sylvia Plath's poem "The Moon and the Yew Tree", which was written after an early morning walk in the churchyard of St. Peter's Church, North Tawton, Devon, in October 1961. Plath and her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, were living at Court Green, a house directly next door to the churchyard, with their young daughter, Freida.

An excerpt from the 1914 guide to London restaurants, "The Gourmet's Guide to London", in which the author gives a detailed description of the interior of the Cheshire Cheese pub, unchanged since at least the 18th century, as thought in the company of the great 18th century personality, Dr Johnson. Including a mouthwatering remembrance of the pub's own 'pudding' - a big, savory pie-like dish concocted from various meats and other ingredients.

An excerpt from "Leviathon or, The Whale", by Philip Hoare, in which we learn about the precious, pungent substance ambergris; its source-place in the body of the sperm whale and its unlikely use in the coronations of British monarchs in Westminster Abbey.

An excerpt from "Rings of Saturn", by W. G. Sebald, in which the author gives a portrait of the Victorian poet Swinburne, the narrative winding and weaving, and ending with a vivid description of his final, decades-long retirement in a villa in Putney, south-west London, with his companion, Theodore Watts-Dunton.

An account - given to Iain Sinclair in 1992 and written up in his 2009 book "Hackney, that Rose-Red Empire" - by Tony Lambrianou, East End criminal and associate of the Kray twins, about the role of the Regent's Canal in the murder of Jack McVitie in 1967, and in East End crime more widely.

An excerpt from a biography of the British poet Edward Thomas (1878-1917), who died in the Great War, this viewpoint introduces his most famous poem, Adlestrop, followed by the poem itself. Adlestrop is a village in Gloucestershire, England, which used to have its own railway station, depicted in the poem. The station has disappeared; the poem lives on.

The Ljubljana castle

Mediaeval cities were built along the rivers, which represented the cheapest highway and on the foot of the hills. The view from the top position enabled them to control the area. The city centre along the river is 300 m above the sea level (around 1000 feet) and the hill is 70 meters or approx. 210 feet higher. From there we have a very clear view to all parts: to the East, to the South, to the West and to the North. After the rain or after the north wind the view is very clear and you can even see 1/3 of Slovenian territory. Well, and that was already a good enough reason to build a construction there: or as a control- viewing tower or, when the times were not safe- a settlement as well. If not on the top at least on the foot of the hill. Today’s construction could be called a fort as well; however, we call it graduate, what means a castle- it is as a crown on the top of the hill. The oldest parts would be from 12 century when an Austrian noble family came to Ljubljana, built a fort on the top of the hill and gave rights to the settlement on its foot and that was the beginning of our city. At the end of 12 hundreds, the family extinct and the Habsburg took over. At the end of 14hundreds, the Ottoman invasions were quite intense and Frederik the 3rd decided to build a stronger construction. Life up there was not so comfortable so later on moved to the city centre and the castle was more in use for a prison and as a place where you could find an affordable roof above your head. In late 60ties, the renovation started and it boomed after 2007 when the funicular to the top was constructed. Today, when in Ljubljana, a visit to the fort or so called castle is necessary: you can take a funicular, small electric train or –what is actually a lot of fun: you can climb to the top. There are more than five nicely maintained trails and you can reach the top within 10- 15 minutes. The viewing tower

Enables us to see the area, there is a virtual museum presenting castle’s history, St George chapel, the museum of Slovenian history, the puppet museum, and you can see how well is doing the “daughter of the oldest wine in the world”. Namely, I do not know if you heard, but the oldest vine in the world is growing in the second biggest Slovenian city Maribor and as I said, the you can even enjoy tasting of delicious Slovenian wines with a gorgeous view of the city. Today’s castle is a perfect example of harmonious combination, where heritage meets modern life. Thank you for your attention and with love from Ljubljana, Slovenia