Xanadu - Mon., Apr. 28

My inspiration for today's blog came from our Wimberley Volksmarch. As we were walking along, I spied the following and immediately I knew my "X" word!

When I think of Xanadu, two entirely different things come to mind:

1. Site of Xanadu, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
   From the UNESCO website: "North of the Great Wall, the Site of Xanadu encompasses the remains of Kublai Khan's legendary capital city, designed by the Mongol ruler's Chinese advisor Liu Bingzhdong in 1256...the site was a unique attempt to assimilate the nomadic Mongolian and Han Chinese cultures. From this base, Kublai Khan established the Yuan dynasty that ruled China over a century, extending its boundaries across Asia. The religious debate that took place here resulted in the dissemination of Tibetan Buddhism over north-east Asia, a cultural and religious tradition still practised in many areas today. The site was planned according to the traditional Chinese feng shui in relation to the nearby mountains and river. It features remains of the city, including temples, palaces, tombs, nomadic encampments and the Tiefan'gang Canal, along with other waterworks."
   
2. The 1980 romantic fantasy musical movie "Xanadu" with Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck and Gene Kelly.
   
   At the time the movie came out, I fell in love with and bought the movie. When I watched it years later, I thought it was slow and rather silly. I love the concept of the movie, however. A down-and-out artist painting poster-sized reproductions of album covers wanted to freelance as an artist. However, he couldn't make money at it and went back to painting album cover posters for record store advertisements. One day, he is tasked with painting an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. A beautiful woman who had kissed him earlier in the day was one of the women on the album cover. He becomes obsessed with finding her. When he finds her, he learns her name is Kira, but that is all she will tell him about herself. Turns out Kira is one of the nine Muses (Terpsichore) of Greek mythology who enter earth through a mural portal painted on the side of a building. Kira encourages Sonny, the artist, to team up with Danny (Gene Kelly), a has-been big band leader turned construction mogul. Together Sonny and Danny create Xanadu nightclub. The music in the movie is wonderful with ELO and Olivia Newton-John singing beautiful songs, including "Xanadu."

You never know from whence inspiration will come!

Travel Bug out.