CVL Travelogue #3 Roleplays in 1920's Berlin

As I've written in two other articles, the CVL Travelogue group continues its tours with #3 on September 18 to 1920's Berlin. The 1920's Berlin Project tour was conducted by Rosemary Thyme who met our group and visitors at the Berlin Teleportplatz where freebie period clothing was available for those who needed them. Although we were told that the Berlin Project is not a strict role-play sim, it's best to look and act the part as much as possible. 

The train ride into Berlin was fast.

The group's favorite spot, the library

Outside the Club Eldorado

From the Teleportplatz, we took the train into Berlin. After disembarking, Rosemary gave us the history of the sim and some interesting tidbits of information as we visited such places as Der Keller (a backstreet where you can dance and listen to 1920's music); Alexanderplatz (where the municipal building, stores, and residential areas are found); Club Eldorado (open every Saturday for Cabaret/burlesque shows and concerts); Magdalenenkirche (the church where services are held each week); the library (our favorite spot); the museum (which is closed now but offers exhibits occasionally); the Odeon theater (that features concerts and performances regularly); the Unter den Linden (famous square in Berlin); Adlon (a luxury hotel that is almost always booked to capacity and where the second anniversary ball recently took place); the school Hindenburg schule (the only place on the sim that allows voice chatting and where language classes are given); the police station; and the final stop, the night club der Keller, where Rosemary told us there is a "happy hour" every night.

The Church

The luxurious Adlon Hotel

The language school

The Unter den Linden with blimp above

Originally posted in "Rainbow Notes" blog

Second CVL Travelogue Visits the Past

In a previous blog, I wrote about the fun and entertainment sims that the CVL Travelogue featured on their first tour. On July 17, the CVL Travelolgue group conducted a second tour of historical sims. The places visited included the First World War Poetry Digital Archive, Virtual Harlem, and Virtual Montmarte. The First Wold War Poetry Digital Archive tour was led by Csteph Submariner and the Virtual Harlem and Virtual Montmarte tours were led by Bryan Mnemonic.

The CVL Travelogue Group and guests at the
WWI Poetry Digital Archives

Touring the Trenches

The first stop on the historical tour was the World War I Poetry Digital Archive where the group and guests, led by Csteph Submariner (Christopher Stephens in RL) of the University of Oxford, visited the camp and trenches. Since time was limited and there is a vast amount of very detailed historical information to see and learn about, it was suggested that participants visit again on their own. A free HUD is available to teleport between sites. Videos and notecards highlight the immersive historical experience. At the campsite, there are realistic illustrations of wartime living conditions on the front down to scary, animated rats. The group and visitors agreed that this is an important and very well-created build. We later learned that funding for this project was discontinued in 2009 and that Submarinar is in need of keeping it going. He wrote an email to the head of the CVL Travelogue group asking her help in sending an email in support of the WWI Poetry Arachive to

stuart....@oucs.ox.ac.uk -- Director: computing Services
katharine.lind...@oucs.ox.ac.uk -- Project manager: WWI Poetry Digital
Archive

CVL Travelogue tour group at the Cotton Club

The Virtual Harlem tour led by Bryan Mnemonic (Bryan Carter in RL), Associate Professor of English at the University of Central Missouri, began at the Dark Tower mansion, the office of Dr. Menemonic. After a brief introduction, Menemonic gave a tour of several sites in 1920's Virtual Harlem, the famous Cotton Club jazz club and two locations that featured student art exhibits. Afterwards, he led everyone across the bridge to France where we visited Virtual Montmarte, a very authentic-looking French village with some nice shops and sites.

Virtual Montmarte

A slightly larger number of people joined us for the history tour, and we hope that more will come to the next one which may possibly focus on roleplay sims. There are so many places to visit in SL, and the CVL Travelogue is a great way to learn of them and become introduced to the different location themes. The group is always in need of volunteers and has its own Google as well as SL group to communicate its meetings and events.

Originally posted in "Rainbow Notes" blog

First Travelogue Tour

I recently joined the CVL (Community Virtual Library) Travelogue group, a new group that will offer tours of a variety of Second Life places on a quarterly basis. Our first tour's theme was "Places to Play." We visited 3 locations: Chelsea's Diner and Bowling Alley; http://slurl.com/secondlife/Vitae/127/162/1503, and the Celestial Game Tower.

Chelsea's diner and bowling alley
1st stop on Travelogue Tour

At Chelsea's Diner and Bowling Alley, our guide, Aiyden Crystal, showed us around the diner and bowling alley that also featured a nice game room. The bowling alley has three lanes that can accomodate groups of 4 per team. He also showed us a bit of the Butterfly Kisses sim which is PG-rated. We saw the ice cream shop, and he pointed out some of the clothing and other stores that are on the sim, as well as a mini golf course. Everyone agreed this is a great place to go with friends.

Bumper Cars next to the Movies @ Vitae
2nd stop on Travelogue Tour

The next stop on the Travelogue tour was the Movies and bumper cars @ Vitae where I showed the group the theater that features a concession stand with popcorn and other goodies and shows full-length films. By clicking on the box in front of the screen and adjusting your media settings, you have your choice of shows. All directions are on a notecard, and you can even sync the movies for your friends to watch the same shows with you. Next to the theater is the bumper cars which temporarily rez at your command and disappear when you vacate them. Groups can have a lot of fun playing on these, and our group enjoyed a hands-on demonstration.

Celestial Game Tower
Final stop on Travelogue Tour

The last location visite was the Celestial Game Tower where owner, Sorina Garrigus, showed us an amazing collection of all types of SL games that can be purchased or played on-site. She said there are over 300 games on display!

The next set of tours will be of historical places, and I am looking forward to attending, if not leading the group this time. There are so many places to see in SL, so a group like the CVL Travelogue is one that can help introduce residents to those they have never visited before and may definitely want to explore further on their own.

Originally posted in "Rainbow Notes" blog