Topic: California

Longevity: The Blue Zones Methusalem Enigma

15.08.2024

The quality of longevity is being discussed in controversial ways. Whereas the goal set by the ones optimistic of their (ever-)lasting physical and mental stamina is reaching an age of biblical extent, others would rather see themselves passing away at the height of their beauty, wit and grit – just in time, so to say. For them, the outlook on being left helplessly wilting in a forlorn nursery home or as an undead vegetable plugged to the wonders of life-prolonging contraptions, is utterly unbearable. Not to hope for heavenly conditions on earth seems the more realistic approach since, commonly, just-in-time rarely happens.

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Frank Sinatra in Palm Springs

Palm Springs pays tribute to Frank Sinatra

10.11.2015

The list is long, impressive, reliably star-studded and makes the hearts of veteran fans pound faster even from a distance: Hollywood celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, Lucille Ball, Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe, Sammy Davis Jr., Liz Taylor, Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Kirk Douglas all resided in Palm Springs – or paid frequent visits to it – at some point during their remarkable careers. Especially dearly remembered is Frank Sinatra – ol’ blue eyes – whose 100th birthday the destination is celebrating this year. Reason enough for the city to concoct a host of events surrounding the historic anniversary of its still much-revered former resident.

Another sounding name associated with Palm Springs is Albert Einstein’s; the great physician’s attention had not merely been directed at perishable stars on a twinkling cinematic firmament – but at the entire universe created to outlast time.

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A view on nightly San Fransisco from Cavallo Point Lodge.

Cavallo Point Lodge: a resort-turned army post near San Francisco

11.03.2015

If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to bear in mind the wide variety of accommodation options it offers. But if you’re going to San Francisco for a stunning view of the city itself, you may want to choose a place on the opposite side of the bay. Here is one in Sausalito that would fulfil this concrete wish of yours – and perhaps satisfy a number of other visions stressed-out business travellers or leisurely vacationers might maintain.

There was no Golden Gate Bridge yet, when the U.S. Army acquired the site of Horseshoe Cove at the mouth of San Francisco Bay in 1866 to establish a strategic military base. Much later, 24 Colonial Revival buildings – erected between 1901 and 1915 – embraced the 10-acre parade ground of the camp named Fort Baker. When the Golden Gate National Parks were founded in 1972 and Fort Baker was no longer needed by the military, it was designated to be taken under the wings of the National Park Service, a transaction officially concluded in 2002. The post has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

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