Re: Golden Gate Park - San Francisco

Ohhh :)
maps.google.com/maps

< 17th century William III moved his court to Kensington Palace. He found that his walk to St James's was very dangerous, so he had 300 oil lamps installed, creating the first artificially lit highway in the country. >

Great Trivia There !

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyde_Park,_Sydney
Not the largest park (that would be Centennial Park) , but a tremendous history, here...

Hyde Park was named after the original Hyde Park in London. The park is pock marked with drain lids, many of which lead down to Busby's Bore, the first large scale attempt at a water source system after the backing up of Tank Stream, the Sydney colony's primary water source. Busby's Bore was built between 1827 and 1837 using convict labour and supplied fresh water from Lachlan Swamps, (which later became known as Centennial Park) to the city.

From the very early days of the colony, the open area to the south east of the settlement was a favourite place for sport and recreation. It was known variously as 'The Common', the 'Exercising Ground', the 'Cricket Ground' and the 'Race Course. On 13 October 1810, Governor Macquarie separated the area from the Domain to the north, named it Hyde Park and dedicated it for the "recreation and amusement of the inhabitants of the town and a field of exercises for the troops". He kept the Domain for his own exclusive use.

Many sports were played at Hyde Park including cricket, rugby, horse racing, quoits and hurling, however, sports people using Hyde Park had share it with both the military, who trained on it and practised drill work, the public, who cut paths across the playing fields, stray dogs, cattle, goats, sheep and other animals as well as other sports people whose interests sometimes conflicted. The quoit players in particular, used an area close to the cricket pitch and often damaged it.


* Horse racing

Seven Arab horses taken on board the First Fleet at the Cape Colony (now South Africa) were the first horses to be brought to Australia. The first thoroughbred to be brought to Australia was Rockingham in 1799. By 1800 there were 200 horses in the colony which grew to 1100 by 1810. A race ground on the Hawkesbury River near Richmond was probably Australia's first racecourse being used as early as 1806. Match races were run there as part of a holiday at Parramatta in April 1810.

Only two days after Governor Macquarie dedicated Hyde Park for 'recreation and amusement' it became the site of Australia's first official horse race meeting organised on 15, 17 and 19 October 1810 by the officers of the 73rd Regiment (Macquarie's regiment). The meetings to devise the rules and organise the event were held in the officers' mess and many of the horses were owned by the officers.
Painting of Hyde Park, 1842

The race meeting consisted of a series of heats with weights set depending on the sex and age of a horse. There were also a number of match races between two horses and sweepstake prizes offered. Governor Macquarie himself attended each day of the meeting.

This format for race meetings was followed in the colony for the next 50 years. Owners mostly rode their own horses and the courses were marked by flags and posts. Novelty events were often included.

Meetings continued to be held at Hyde Park up until the formation of the Sydney Turf Club in 1825 when they were moved to the 'Bellevue' course. Meetings were also run at Parramatta and Camperdown. The Australian Racing and Jockey Club was formed in 1828 with the encouragement of Governor Darling but the colony could not support two race clubs and both folded in 1831.

*Cricket

Although some research indicates that cricket was played before 1803 at the southern end of the Common near where the War Memorial is today, the first confirmed match took place on the Common in 1803. The players were the civilians and officers from the supply ship Calcutta. The cricket ground was laid out in the north-western section of the park (just behind the current entrance to St. James railway station) and all major games were played there until 1856.

The first fully recorded match took place in Hyde Park between the 17th and 39th Regiments on 7 May 1832. However, by the 1850s running problems with other users of the Park, the public, the military and players of other sports, ultimately caused cricket matches to be moved to the Domain where unfortunately, similar problems were also encountered.
The Obelisk in the early 1900s

*Boxing

Organised bareknuckle fights were probably common in the early colony and officers of the NSW Corps were known to have arranged fights between convicts. The first recorded fight took place on the road to Botany about half a mile from the Racecourse in 1814. This would put it near the current location of the War Memorial. As if the boxing bout was not enough, the combatants, John Berringer (also known as John Parton) and Charles Sefton, were first required to run a mile. Both Berrenger and Sefton has been sentenced to death in Britain but had their sentences commuted to transportation to NSW. The fight lasted 56 rounds and was won by Berringer.

*Rugby

On 17 June 1865 the first known rugby match to be played in Australia took place in Hyde Park between members of Australia's first rugby club, the Sydney Football Club, which had been established that month. In the July that year, the Sydney Club played the Australian Club in Hyde Park, in the first inter-club game.

In 1856, Hyde Park was turned into public gardens and sporting activity all but ceased. Cricket and football clubs had to find other places to play. Cricket was played at the Domain and both sports were also played at Moore Park and the Garrison Ground (now the Sydney Cricket Ground).

Hyde Park contains well-kept gardens and approximately 580 trees; a mixture of Moreton Bay Figs, Palms and other varieties. It is famed for its magnificent fig tree lined avenues, but in 2005 a number of disease-affected trees were discovered and felled.[1] Following investigations a significant proportion of the trees were found to be infected with three different fungi. Currently a Draft Tree Management Plan is being considered under which about 230 diseased trees will be removed and replaced.[2] Sandringham Gardens sit on the eastern side, close to the intersection of Park Street and College Street.

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*the site of Australia's first official horse race meeting organised on 15, 17 and 19 October 1810

*Although some research indicates that cricket was played before 1803 at the southern end of the Common near where the War Memorial is today, the first confirmed match took place on the Common in 1803

*Organised bareknuckle fights were probably common in the early colony and officers of the NSW Corps were known to have arranged fights between convicts. The first recorded fight took place on the road to Botany about half a mile from the Racecourse in 1814.

*On 17 June 1865 the first known rugby match to be played in Australia took place in Hyde Park

aerial photo:
farm1.static.flickr.com/27/510...8f0.jpg

Oh - and Centennial Park:
www.centennialparklands.com.au/ab...age

Cheers!

Too true!
"The real-estate value of Central Park was estimated, by property-appraisal firm Miller Samuel, to be $528,783,552,000 in December 2005.[9]"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park
(and that was in 2005 !)

The Prater - Vienna, Austria

Personal note: when I was here is was even colder in January than it was in Munich, so most of the park attractions were closed down. There was a lovely Chinese restaurant nearby, and also a good game store between the Prater and the Underground.

The Prater is of course best known for the giant Ferris Wheel, where each of the gondolas is the size of a small cabin.

www.wien.info/en/sightseeing/prater

I should love to return to Vienna in the Fall. Although if the ghost of Mozart pushes me down the steps at St. Stephens Cathedral again, I'll be very annoyed.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._...al,_Vienna

Excellent! Thank you, Craig!

>Der Englisher Garten - Munich

Personal note: when I visited here it was in January so there were not any of the famous nude sunbathers. Perhaps another time. :)<

Ha! Just ran across the photos of me naked in the Liegeweisse !

(I was hoping for this, too! Thank you, Zoinksybaby!)
More on the observatory:
www.griffithobservatory.org/obshist.html

Beauty!
Great aerial shots!

From the ashes..