Spring is here. Do you have a serious case of House Lust? This is a great little article by Sarah Hampson from Globe and Mail talking about the sometimes detrimental emotions of new house buying.
Cinders McLeod for The Globe and Mail
Posted by: Sarah Hampson
From Tuesday’s Globe and Mail Published on Tuesday, Apr. 06, 2010
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel is no ordinary building
In cities like Toronto, where skyscrapers and other manmade structures tend to dominate features such as lakes, rivers and ravines, a disconnect from nature isn’t uncommon.
(One of my favourite exchanges on the subject was overheard some years ago in St. Lawrence Market, where a visitor asked his wife if, after they had finished shopping, she would like to walk down to Lake Ontario.
Her reply: “There’s a lake here?”) But in places like Hawaii, which I visited recently, nature is very much front and centre, even in big cities like Honolulu. There, ocean meets urbanity at eye level and Diamond Head looms almost everywhere you turn, so it’s saying a lot when a building has the power to distract.
The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, though, is no ordinary building, as I discovered during my trip. Built in 1927, the pink-toned, Moorish-style icon is almost as symbolic of Waikiki as Diamond Head. That’s why a lot of locals were nervous when it closed in 2008 for an extensive renovation. When it reopened last year, a few grumblers grumbled but mostly the reviews were positive. I can see why…
Posted by: Danny SinopoliGlobe and Mail Update
Last updated on Monday, Apr. 05, 2010 10:50AM EDT