I’ve had a number of suggestions for places to visit reach me of late – and I promise I will get around to hopping over to seeing them and potentially blog about them in due course. However, over the years there have been places I’ve particularly enjoyed visiting and look forward to re-visiting, and these tend to quickly bubble to the top of my list of places to write about whenever I note they have been redressed – and such is the case here.
Simurg occupies a quarter Full region, and since its inception has never failed to impress with both the beauty of its looks and the use of elevation to present a sense of space beyond the setting’s physical size. The work of Lintu (KorppiLintu) with the support of Kwoone Oui (Kwoone), this is a place which changes with the seasons whilst retaining the touches and care of design which always make it a must-see destination.
For the coming of spring – and the fact that February is the month of romance – the setting offers warmth in terms of both colour and in the romantic little places it presents in which visitors can pass the time. In doing so, it retains something of the elevated element of the landscape from the winter 2024 setting, and which which again presents the Landing Point.
However, while the wooden deck and seating area continue to cling to the top of the cliff and overlook the landscape below, the rest of this open space no longer sports buildings, but instead is now an open meadow-like space with wonderfully attractive vignettes: a stage suggesting literary or poetic readings, a table for two, complete with the dessert from a romantic dinner, whilst an old piano has be repurposed as a flower planter, although as it is accompanied by a violin sized to present a cello, it still offers a suggestion it is there to provide music to accompany the romance of the setting.
A path winds down to the lower elevation to one side of this high meadow, passing Lintu’s workshop (once again open to the public) escorted by a parallel parade of trees to reach the lower part of the setting.
In following the path’s gentle downward sweep past the workshop, visitors arrive at a scene which those who visited Simurg in winter 2024 might find tantalising familiar in part. There is a body of water here, fed by a stream proceeding outwards from the vertical decent of a waterfall, which carries with it something of a memory of the broader stretch of stream passing through the winter 2024’s lower half.
The difference is that whilst that water was frozen for winter, and the stream narrowed to pass onwards to the edge of the region, now the water flows freely from stream into what is now a broad oval pond, the one open downstream length of the pond now closed-off by land. Thus, in its presentation, the pond offers one of those hints of the previous iteration of the setting I enjoy seeing, whilst still allowing this version of Simurg to be stand in its own right and independent of past builds.
Within the lower elevation of the setting there is – as ever – much to see, indoors as well as outside. Rowing boats sit on the waters of the pond to offer places to sit, and the temptation to perhaps dangle a hand in the water as swans form love hearts with elegant curved necks as they face one another. Around the banks of the water are further places to sit in the sunlight and watch the swans on the water or the horses roaming the meadow.
Two buildings can be found alongside the pond; one is the ever-popular Apple Fall Old Manufactory, the other a two-storey cabin by Hisa. Both are well-furnished and over little retreats which, even if not used as places to sit, offer a wealth of detail and touches ripe for appreciation and photography. They also stand – along with the workshop on the slopes of the hill – home to the many cats who probably sit as the actual owners of the the landscape (because cats always take charge! 🙂 ).
Across the water lay an old terrace and fountain. The terrace forms the home to an outdoor refreshments area served by both fixed and mobile drink and food stands. Close by is a wrought iron gazebo where people can sign the setting’s guestbook (another guestbook can be found at the Landing Point).
Upstream from the pond and curtained behind the waterfall, sits another staple of Simurg’s settings: the cave, here neatly hiding the Simurg in-world store, as well as offering places to sit and pass the time.
As noted at the start, I always enjoy visiting Simurg; so much love and creativity goes into it (much of which I’ve merely glossed over here) that it is for me one of the gems of Second Life – but don’t take my word for it; go and enjoy it for yourselves!
SLurl Details
- Simurg + Romance in Spring (Lunar Valley, rated Moderate)
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 