Today I offer you a short look at some buildings around Auckland. The buildings I have chosen to show you all share a common feature. They were named.
Each owner was justifiably proud of his/her place of business and wanted his name to last far into the future.
William Shakespeare was the one who penned, "What's in a name?" He added, "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
I think we all agree with his logic.
But I think the owners who financed these buildings would disagree when referring to their life's work. What's in a name? Well, there is a heck of a lot of accomplishment in Their names and they wanted everyone to know it!
Take a look.
This one is hard to read. It's the Achilles Building
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OrCA1OInoo
As you can see, the range of buildings runs from impressive to modest, but each is a page out of history. There is a personal story behind each of these structures. We pass some of them each day without giving a thought to what that story is. Let's take a moment to appreciate the people who helped to build this city, and left their mark. -djf
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I learned something recently that I'd like to pass on. Allie told us about it during one of our trips to the Pop-Up Globe Theatre to see a Shakespeare play. We don't know if it is true, but if you do any research at all, you'll find a number of sites that report it, so....
London, in Shakespeare's day, was filthy. For one thing, there was no sewage system and as a result, the city and Thames River were putrid to an unimaginable degree.
Shakespeare's plays were performed at the Globe Theatre. There was a another theatre, a competitor of the Globe, called the Rose. It apparently had some sewage problems.
The story goes that Shakespeare, when he wrote his famous line for Romeo and Juliet, about a rose smelling as 'sweet' by any other name, meant it also as a dig at the rival theatre and their odor problem. The crowds at The Globe must have loved that, if it is true.
Of course, The Globe Theatre was next to the river and could not have smelled all that great itself.
It's a good story. I hope it's true. Double entendres are fun. Any Shakespeare scholars out there? What about this?
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I've got to tell you how we start each month here. It's a tradition in our house for the boys to approach each of us adults and give us 'a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month.'
Very gently of course. Sweet kids.
London, in Shakespeare's day, was filthy. For one thing, there was no sewage system and as a result, the city and Thames River were putrid to an unimaginable degree.
Shakespeare's plays were performed at the Globe Theatre. There was a another theatre, a competitor of the Globe, called the Rose. It apparently had some sewage problems.
The story goes that Shakespeare, when he wrote his famous line for Romeo and Juliet, about a rose smelling as 'sweet' by any other name, meant it also as a dig at the rival theatre and their odor problem. The crowds at The Globe must have loved that, if it is true.
Of course, The Globe Theatre was next to the river and could not have smelled all that great itself.
It's a good story. I hope it's true. Double entendres are fun. Any Shakespeare scholars out there? What about this?
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I've got to tell you how we start each month here. It's a tradition in our house for the boys to approach each of us adults and give us 'a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month.'
Very gently of course. Sweet kids.
I read this post again almost 4 weeks after you published it so that I might write some comments about named buildings - but first I want to comment about your current cover photo: your fried-egg tree looks delicious! (wink ;) )
ReplyDeleteSo while naming buildings is actually quite common everywhere, to have its name carved into its facade is not and the buildings you featured in this post have a lot of character as well. So I'm wondering if the Portland Building has the restaurant in it which was also in the TAEYEON music video? Were you able to go inside?
At the Gifford Building - did you investigate what's in there like the sign asked? And the Achilles House reminds me of the Hogwarts houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin - but hopefully is soundly based in the Muggle world.
Finally, I like that story about the Globe & Rose theaters. Shakespeare really did have a quirky sense of humor.
Yes, what you see in the video is what's inside the Portland Building.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the Gifford Building, no, I haven't researched what's actually in there. Too much else to do I guess.