St. Augustine - Fountain of Youth Part1

No trip to St. Augustine is complete without a visit to the Fountain of Youth. One of the main reasons Ponce de Leon first came to Florida, to search for this legendary spring that has been recounted in many legends for thousands of years. I first visited the site when I was 14, and I drank a cup of the 'miraculous' spring waters.  I no longer look adolescent -Thank the Lord - it is safe to say that the mythical Fountain of Youth is still undiscovered.

Anyways, the site is where the Spanish first landed in Florida, and where they came in contact with the Timucuan tribe. The site has been subject to archaeological excavations, these excavations found positive evidence that the park is the location of the 1565 Spanish settlement -St. Augustine. The Europeans came to find the fabled Fountain of Youth, and they never left. 

Peacocks roam free in these lands.

A look into the past

The excavations artifacts

Inside that little cup was a parchment written in Old Spanish. This is a photograph of said parchment. It says: "Sepase por esto que yo, Alonzo Soriano, vecino y residente del Brillar subscribo y certifico que estuve presente al principio de la fundacion, la cual es la religion, y es con la salida y la puesta del Sol. Por orden de la Real Corona de Aragon hizo su descripcion al Manantial el cual es bueno y dulce al gusto. Era en el ano 1513"

The 'miraculous' spring- it was salty. The the employee said something about sulfur. I am not too sure anymore. I wrote it down but cannot find that paper. 

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Castillo De San Marcos Parte 2! I try to be funny and snarky- hashtag edition

Some of the more glamorous shots I took of the fort.

The Spanish crest on a cannon, go Spain. Putting your crest on everything is like monogramming it. Good for you. #southern #preppy #spanishcrest

It's a doorway that was cemented up. So sad, perhaps it was another entrance into Narnia.

So 4 people slept in this bunk bed and everything they owned was put on the hooks and in that drawer space. #cuddlebuddy #bros4life #militarylife

El Necesario. The Necessary. The Bathroom. The Restroom. 

Call it whatever suits your fancy but this is where the occupants of the fort went to empty their bladders and bowels.

Looking out into the bay #gorgeous #nofilter

An inside look at the fort, so spacious and I love the inner yard

Looking out into the bay. I love the sky #blue #ocean #travel

A shot looking out from the second story of the fort looking into Historic St. Augustine. #florida #sunny #st.augustine #cannon

This was taken outside of the fort, a photo of the moat area and you can also see historic St. Augustine in this shot.

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'Ode to Joy' Flash Mob

So, I was looking around the internet for some distraction. I found distraction in the form of classical music with this video. In 2012 there was a flash mob of a bunch of musicians playing Ode to Joy, one of my favourite pieces used by Beethoven in his 9th Symphony. Beethoven brought the song to the equivalent of 'cult status' because it was deemed as a failure by its original writer and composer in 1785. This flash mob occurred in a Sabadell, Catalonia which is a city close to Barcelona. The bank pictured in the background hired an orchestra to celebrate their 130th anniversary.
What is unique about this flash mob is that while this type of artistic expression is normally associated with Generation Y there are some members who appear not to be of this generation. Also what is unique is that most flash mobs are usually choreographed dances to contemporary music, Ode to Joy is not contemporary nor is an orchestra a dance. Some of my favorite moments in the video: 0:19, 1:57, 3:07, 3:41, 4:10

To imagine it all began with a coin.

P.S This makes me want to learn to play my flute again

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