One of the most beautiful sites we saw while we were in Honolulu was Shangri-La. Now a tour through the Honolulu Academy of Art, Shangri-La is a beautiful home built by Doris Duke. (There is more information on the website, found at
http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/. There is a virtual tour which includes pictures from inside of the home, which we were not allowed to photograph.) Built in 1937 on the coastline near Diamond Head (which is pretty close to where my aunt and uncle live), this beautiful house was inspired by Doris Duke's fascination with Islamic Art. While she was on her honeymoon around the world, she was deeply moved by the art she saw in the Muslim world. When she came to the last place on her honeymoon, she decided to stay in Hawaii and build a home. The architecture of the house itself is somewhat influenced by homes typically seen in Muslim countries. Inside, where you are not allowed to photograph, there are many pieces of artwork that Doris collected from all over the world. They are not specific to one country, so there are pieces from many places, including Turkey, Egypt, Iran, India, Syria, Pakistan, and beyond. Some pieces were already complete and she had them shipped over from wherever they originated. She also commissioned other pieces and had them specifically made for her, many from an artist in Morocco.
It was an interesting tour. After visiting Honolulu many times, I've gotten used to seeing certain things that I associate with Hawaii, but Shangri-La was
so different, it was pretty trippy to see all these pieces of Islamic art in a home there. Things I would typically associate with some other part of the world, far far away from Hawaii, brought together by one woman and pieced together to make a truly unique collage. Although the ticket prices were expensive ($25 per person for a 2-hour tour), I thought it was worth it.
This picture was taken outside of the house. The "play house" is what you see in the background. The pool (where the diving board is) has salt water in it that is continually replenished with water from the sea, which is just to the left and down a huge cliff.
Here are Max and I at a beach in Waimanalo. It looks like he's waving, but I think it's really just a fluke. We have a lot more pictures from that particular day at the beach, including the sand castle that Zahra and nana-mommy built, but I am running out of time for today. Perhaps I'll be able to post them tomorrow. So bye for now...
One of the most beautiful sites we saw while we were in Honolulu was Shangri-La. Now a tour through the Honolulu Academy of Art, Shangri-La is a beautiful home built by Doris Duke. (There is more information on the website, found at http://www.shangrilahawaii.org/. There is a virtual tour which includes pictures from inside of the home, which we were not allowed to photograph.) Built in 1937 on the coastline near Diamond Head (which is pretty close to where my aunt and uncle live), this beautiful house was inspired by Doris Duke's fascination with Islamic Art. While she was on her honeymoon around the world, she was deeply moved by the art she saw in the Muslim world. When she came to the last place on her honeymoon, she decided to stay in Hawaii and build a home. The architecture of the house itself is somewhat influenced by homes typically seen in Muslim countries. Inside, where you are not allowed to photograph, there are many pieces of artwork that Doris collected from all over the world. They are not specific to one country, so there are pieces from many places, including Turkey, Egypt, Iran, India, Syria, Pakistan, and beyond. Some pieces were already complete and she had them shipped over from wherever they originated. She also commissioned other pieces and had them specifically made for her, many from an artist in Morocco.
It was an interesting tour. After visiting Honolulu many times, I've gotten used to seeing certain things that I associate with Hawaii, but Shangri-La was so different, it was pretty trippy to see all these pieces of Islamic art in a home there. Things I would typically associate with some other part of the world, far far away from Hawaii, brought together by one woman and pieced together to make a truly unique collage. Although the ticket prices were expensive ($25 per person for a 2-hour tour), I thought it was worth it. 
This picture was taken outside of the house. The "play house" is what you see in the background. The pool (where the diving board is) has salt water in it that is continually replenished with water from the sea, which is just to the left and down a huge cliff.
Here are Max and I at a beach in Waimanalo. It looks like he's waving, but I think it's really just a fluke. We have a lot more pictures from that particular day at the beach, including the sand castle that Zahra and nana-mommy built, but I am running out of time for today. Perhaps I'll be able to post them tomorrow. So bye for now...
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