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| Romance of the Lost Gardens of Apollo in Second Life |
New World Notes, Hamlet Au's Second Life news blog, maintains a Sim Deathwatch that informs the virtual world's residents of the imminent closing of a significant build. Today, I learned that the Lost Gardens of Apollo will close on June 26. Of course, there's nothing permanent in the world, whether it's the real world or a virtual world. But many Second Life observers have remarked on how many notable locations are being lost recently. And this one is especially painful. Not only is the Lost Gardens of Apollo an exceptionally lovely sim, it's the most romantic in all Second Life.
Click on the pictures to enlarge them for better viewing.
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| Salsas y Boleros in the Lost Gardens of Apollo |
The Lost Gardens of Apollo has been a popular Second Life destination seemingly forever, and it was the place that sold me on Second Life when I was a noob. Being taken there on a date must be a near universal experience for avatars of my gender. And no wonder. Beautiful garden paths for intimate strolls, secluded little nooks and crannies for those private moments, and dancing to seductive Latin rhythms at the Salsas y Boleros. I've always maintained that more friendships were made at Open Latte, the late lamented coffee house at Mill Pond, than anywhere else in Second Life. I'm equally confident in saying that more romances were probably ignited at the Lost Gardens of Apollo than anywhere else in this virtual world.
The Lost Gardens of Apollo has been a popular Second Life destination seemingly forever, and it was the place that sold me on Second Life when I was a noob. Being taken there on a date must be a near universal experience for avatars of my gender. And no wonder. Beautiful garden paths for intimate strolls, secluded little nooks and crannies for those private moments, and dancing to seductive Latin rhythms at the Salsas y Boleros. I've always maintained that more friendships were made at Open Latte, the late lamented coffee house at Mill Pond, than anywhere else in Second Life. I'm equally confident in saying that more romances were probably ignited at the Lost Gardens of Apollo than anywhere else in this virtual world.
Floating in the canopy of Apollo's forest is the courtyard dance floor of Salsas y Boleros. I made regular appearances there early in my first year in Second Life and have warm memories of those times. It was there that I first experienced dancing in Second Life. And I would admire the lovely formals the ladies would wear on the dance floor. So it also my first exposure to fashion in Second Life, and I always enjoyed the opportunity to dress beautifully there. I even enticed some work-clothes-casual type males hanging around Open Latte to invest in formal tuxes so they could take me dancing at Salsas y Boleros. Oh those were the days.
A comment to the Apollo post in New World Notes laments the disappearance from Second Life of sims dedicated to romance. It notes that Midnight Reflections, Elysium Gardens, Ballroom in the Clouds, and so many others have recently disappeared from the grid. And now the Lost Gardens of Apollo, the oldest and the most romantic, is joining them in oblivion. Is romance a thing of the past in Second Life? I really can't say. However, nothing lasts forever. And I feel that Second Life has gotten noticeably colder.
The Lost Gardens of Apollo - Visit it before it disappears.
slurl.com/secondlife/Apollo/76/212/24
New World Note's Deathwatch notice concerning the Lost Gardens of Apollo:
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/06/second-life-sim-deathwatch-lost-garden-of-apollo.html#comments
