Most of the scenes you see filmed in Central Park are filmed on the Literary Walk and in the Mall. The Literary Mall is a thoughtful place and the scenes from the movies bear this out. Film characters come here to break up, divorce, get engaged or express their undying devotion to their partner, often in a long slow walk down the Mall.

This is a view northward into the American Elm grove in New York City's Central Park. The photograph was taken in early May. You can see the leaves are not fully filled out and the grass and the leaves are both that spring green color that is the season's signature color. (Did you ever notice how the Crayola crayon company captured spring green so perfectly in the crayon of that same name?)

The photograph showcases the four rows of American Elms that park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed to be planted here. These represent the east side of the planted landscape. The Literary Walk leads up to the Mall and Bethesda Terrace. Vaux and Olmsted believed the park needed one area of outdoor formality in the European style of parks. The Mall and the Bethesda Terrace and Bethesda Fountain section of the park serve this formal purpose of social gathering and showcasing.

What the park designers were thinking: Olmsted and Vaux wanted to satisfy the social needs without compromising the Park's natural features. They felt that the Mall must be secondary to the natural view — in this case the Lake and the Ramble. Flanking the 40-foot-wide Mall are quadruple rows of American Elms. The elm was one of the designers' favorite trees, providing a living cathedral ceiling high over the walkway. The Mall is breathtaking in any season.

In the spring, the sun filtering through the translucent leaves seems to tint the atmosphere a lime-green. As the canopy matures over the summer, it creates a cool dense shade for the landscape below. When autumn's yellow and gold leaves fall, they reveal the bold architecture of the trees' skeletons. A fresh winter snow creates a lace veil in the black and white tree branches.

June 2008 - Europe's Best Beaches - Bloemendaal aa Zee, Holland - The number of bars, clubs and restaurants nestled into the sand dunes at Bloemendaal aan Zee are there to support a large number of tourists who come to this windswept beach overlooking the North Sea. It is one of Europe's hottest beach parties. It is a seaside village and only a 20-minute train ride from the city of Amsterdam. Every bar in this town showcases a different atmosphere from stylish good looks to more bohemian decor and atmosphere. So that Americans and European visitors can be comfortable in your cheap oakley sunglasses or dress it up a little in cheap knockoff chanel sunglasses! Maybe you really need some knockoff Prada sunglasses to party!