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Millie the Clyde Puffer at Trudeau Quay after the union of Second Life ™ Sailing Sims

And my noisy little Tangyes steam engine

Africa is a single region sim entirely devoted to the landscape and wildlife of Africa. Here you can stalk ostriches, watch elephants at waterholes and generally play amongst the Acacia trees.

I was completely knocked out by this sim when I first visited, and it's still a lot of fun to explore.

Virtual Africa is an entirely different kettle of Meerkats. Originated by Uthango , a South Africa based social and ethical investment initiative, this tow sim location has both a wild side (get your free meerkats here) and a sophisticated commercial/social sim with shops, galleries and provision for "Embassies" for interested organisations. Part of the Uthango's in-world policy is to promote the availability of quality, representative African items. When I visited there was an excellent exhibition of paintings in the gallery space.

Go see, it's really, really good..

OK, quick count - we were at 9 so..

Paris 10
Firenze 11
Roma 12
Greece 13
Egypt 16
Africa 18

So next sim is number 19, the question is, where?

On safari in Africa

Uthango's VirtualAfrica is an exciting and seriously considered venture

The Real Egypt is exactly that. Not an earth-changing build, or a spectacular facsimile of the Real World but a sim belonging to and populated by real Egyptians. Virtual travel is good, but this is better. Seek out the locals as you are sure of a warm welcome, and explore the market.

Of an entirely different order, The Temple of the Gods is a spectacular evocation of the splendour of Ancient Egypt.

Although there are still a few market stalls awaiting tenants, the sim has enough items to interest even the most cynical.

The Museum is a must-see, with clear, informative captions, artfully crafted replicas of artifact and the most amazing underground set-piece. Another location that is certainly worth a visit.

There are many other Egyptian or Egypt related sims and its worth searching on a few key words, temple, Egypt and Anubis are especially rewarding.

On now..to AFRICA!

The Real Egypt

The Temple of the Gods

I decided to stay in the Mediterranean and pursue the Ancient Civilisations theme by visitng Greece, specifically Greeceofficial.

"Waht's a Greek Urn?" is an old schoolboy joke (the ususal answer sued to be "About 10 drachma a week") but I hope whoever was behind this sim got a bit more, because there are some impressive builds.

On arrival you havea view uphill to a recontructed Parthenon. It's worth the walk, because what you cannot see at a distance is the amphitheatre, and the temple interior, complete with the statue of Athena. There are many towns and tourist destinations represented here, and I can only urge you to explore as much as posible - around every corner there is something more to see.

The third region of thr group is goven over to Greek Commerce, with some very well-crafted ships complete down to the last passengers' bar!

It's always nice ot get a souvenir when you enjoy visitng somewhere, and back near the arrival point in Athen is a Free souvenir stall - where I acquired my little urn ( I am not going there, no).

I quite like this Mediterranean stuff, - Egypt next I think....

Walking up through olive groves to the Parthenon

My free souvenir Greek "urn"

Greece has always been famous for ships and shipping, this is Greece Commercial

I wanted to reach Rome in june because it is the last month sacred to a real Deity,namely Juno, consort to Jupiter, greatest of the Roman Gods., - that's all..

Roma is an elegantly crafted evocation of the ancient city in its ancient heyday. Though not strict, it is a role playing sim, so it is advisable to dress accordingly when visitng, no swimwear or hotpants etc. Since all I ever seem to wear is black, I usually add a travelling cloak when visiting here.

You arrive on a jetty in the harbour,as would many genuine visitors to the city. There is lots of help available regarding the city layout, things to see and do, and not do. It's no-fly sim, so a wlak up the Capitoline Hill is a must. Here you can see the city, as well as replicas of imprtant nacient building, and visit the Capitoline Museum.

The city spans three regions including an entertaining Necropolis complete with ghosts, and deserves proper exploration, but we ahve another 68 sims to visit!!!

The Harbour and Customs House, your point of arrival, it pays to read the Notices here.

I was wondering where to go from Paris , West to Barcelona and or Lisbon, East to the Low Countries..then it occured to me that many designers quote "London, Paris, Rome" as the locations of their shops. So I decided to go to Florence (Frienze to the Italians and the confusion of visitors!).

I have never visited the real Florence, but I have seen many many pictrues of the amazing and significant works of art that the city has given us. Fittingly the sim offers an interpretation of the Duomom, the great and problematic cathedral fianlly crowned by Brunelleschi's dome, and the fabulous Gates of Paradise ont he Chapter House.

You can also visit the Uffizi Palace and it's fine collection of Renaiisence paintings, or browse the shops in the atmospherically Mediterranean streets.

On the adjoining sim you can visit the local football ground, although I was less confortable hereas the scaling of local objects seemed "wrong" - have a look for your self.

I intend to visit Rome in June..I'll explain why when we get there...

The Campanile and the Chapter House

and the Uffizi

As I did the research for this project, I began to realise thet just calling a place after a RL location is not good enough. There is only on Dublin in Second Life, thos locations that have multiple iterations made it into this list on tha basis that they effectively convey something opf the real loaction. There are several Eiffel Towers in SL, and perhaps as many "Paris-es", only this on is the best....

Paris 1900 was built by the serial genius, YadNe Monde and oozes quality, from the accurately riotous growth of the Metro Station entrance where you arrive, to the atounding embodiment of Paris' best known landmark.

This is a no-fly Sim, but you can get an aerial perspective by TP'ing to the top of the Eiffel Tower and jumping off (parachutes are provided).

You can explore genuinely Haute Coutuer shops inthe Champs Elysee, bvisit the temporary exhibitions in the Musee, and just take in the scene sitting outside a typical French cafe (so like one I know on the Place d'Italie where they serve the best Croque Monsieur.....)

Another must see is the remarkable hollow elephant at the Moulin Rouge. There are small exhibitions of vintage and contemporary photographs of Paris at appropraite points, just to give each part of the city a context.

This was one of my early favourite locations in SL and remains so even after many, many visits.

Oh, and don't miss the wire death-slide from the top of the Arc de Triomphe

The Moulin Rouge, opposite your point of arrival

The Embankment and Eiffel Tower

The historically correct but nonetheless bizarre hollow elephant at the Moulin Rouge

It occurs to me if we are doing this in "80 Sims" we had better start counting....

I think if a location is represented by a continuous group of regions, it should count as "one", so on that basis:

Dublin 1
Orkney 1
Loch Lomond 1
Edinburgh 2
Cardiff 1
London 3
Total 9

Next stop Paris!
("I love Paris in the Springtime, I love Paris ......)

...............Having stepped into an old Police phone box in Cardiff, I emerge mysteriously in London, 12 days later.....

.Just like Edinburgh, SL London is fragmented. There is no actual"London" sim as such. There is Chelsea, with a representation of Big Ben, Mayfair, with Eros from Piccadilly Circus, and Piccadilly Circus, with a market that looks like Camden Lock. Oh, and a wonderful interpretation of St. Paul's Cathedral, just on its own.

Someone has worked very hard on these sims though, I passed a wonderful representation of Selfridges famous Oxford Street store, - it's worth having a walk around the sims, which are centred on Chelsea, Mayfair and Knightsbridge. Look out for the moving buses, or if you prefer not to walk far, there is a working Underground.

The Penny Lane and Piccadilly Circus sim is probably the best if you are into real SL shopping - including an atmospheric "Adult" market. Actually, having revisited the sim to get better pictures, it really reminds me of Soho, with clothes shops, clothing factories and "Adult" shops. There is even a Girlie bar in the market....

Finally, the model of St Paul's Cathedral on the Protected Public land at Grace is worth a visit.

The London Sims...

Eros in Mayfair

Doesn't this look like Soho?

......and finally, St. Paul's

This is Cardiff - or at least the Millennium Centre.

The in-world representation of Cardiff (Katrina, 114,15,27) is the centre for a number of Dr Who-related exhibits and shops. Some of you may know that Torchwood, the series and institution spun out of Dr Who, is located beneath this building, and that both series are actually made by BBC Wales.

If you have the least interest in Sci-Fi or Dr Who, then I can heartily recommend a visit to this location!

It will probably come as no surprise to you to discover that there are also two Edinburghs in Second Life. What surprised me is that one of them is operated by the University of Edinburgh as an experimental environment (details at http://vue.ed.ac.uk)

There are 10 sims in the cluster, with University departments represented, as well as interpretations of some of Edinburgh's more significant buildings.

Visit the Vue sims at Edinburgh University

The second example of Edinburgh is part of the three sims Scotland R Us cluster. I personally like this sim as there is a sense of bustle and fun about it. The version of the Royal Mile in the Old Town is just right. You can also visit the castle of Eilann Donan on a neighbouring sim, and a very impressive interpretation it is too.

Arrive at this point, and you can pick up Landmarks to the other attractions in this group of sims.

As we have seen Dublin and Edinburgh, our next destination will be the Millennium Centre in Cardiff!

Edinburgh Castle, as seen on the Edinburgh University Sim

Edinburgh University Dept of Medicine, with Carlton Hill beyond

Arrive here in the Scotland R Us sim - be sure to look at all three sims in the cluster

Bizarrely there are two versions of Loch Lomond in SL, one of which is a purely residential tropical island group! The other is much nicer, and much more like the area around the loch. Loch Lomond Balloch has shops and a pub to visit, and an exploration of the islands reveals an island discotheque (!) in a ruined barn - "The Ruin - Inchmoan Island" the location reminds me of RL Duck Bay.

Tomorrow, we should be in Edinburgh

Balloch

Almost Duck Bay..Inchmoan Island

In case you have been wondering how I'm getting about in this adventure, here's just one of the modes of transport available.

I could not resist including this as I have complete weakness for new toys. Isn't she pretty? A Savoia flying boat from pre-war Italy, with room for me and a passenger.

Next stop, Loch Lomond!

Well, Hinterland and Hinterland Orkney to be exact.

Vaguely keeping with the geographical theme, we travel North, over the top of Scotland to the Orkney Islands. Azure and I are very fond of these Islands in RL (you may hear more of this later in the year). My reason for wanting to show you these sims is that they are just so GOOD. Walking around Hinterland you could be in Stromness,

The narrow paved streets are really convincing, with relevant and interesting shops. A visit to Kirkness Art Centre is always worthwhile. There is even a restaurant on the quayside, although no car park for the ferry!

Orcadians refer to anything in the UK mainland as "sooth", so next, we will travel "sooth" to look at some of the representations of Scotland in-world....

Hinterland Orkney looking South into Hinterland

..........and the building in the centre is a pretty good take on The Stromness Hotel...

Indeed I did, an opportunity to explore Second Life's Real Life city analogues, so here is the first, SL Dublin...

Dublin is one of the oldest SL city-sims, I remember visiting it in 2003. It is also one of the most faithful, if somewhat truncated. So much so that the Irish Tourist Board has this year decided to use SL Dublin as a platform for the promotion of Ireland as a holiday destination, and I don't think you can get a better accreditation than that!

As well as atmospheric renderings of the city landmarks, you can enjoy a virtual welcome in the amazingly Irish pub "The Blarney Stone"

When I began the research for this Travelogue, I had only the vaguest notion of how to structure it, until I thought of the most famous travelogue of all time - "Around the World in 80 Days". So I began to wonder if it was possible to go "Around the World in 80 Sims"........so I decided to find out.

Just like Phineas Fogg I have not planned this, so we are starting in Dublin, rather than London.....

Look closely enough at the history of technology and you will begin to see something that is both obvious and interesting. Let's call it "Blackadder's Law"

"Any new technology will begin by imitating aspects of the technology it complements or replaces" (this is not carved in stone, but it captures the idea)

Actually, this is inevitable, otherwise we wouldn't know how to use new technologies. If you want an example of Blackadder's Law, you need look no further than your keyboard.

So what's the point, in the context of online worlds or simulations?

The point is that most Sims are content do just that, to imitate the "real world" with only a few experimenting with new uses for "information space".

Not that this is in any sense a "bad thing". The Paris 1900 Sim is fabulous, even if it is currently covered by a thick layer of virtual snow that even sounds like snow when you walk on it (honest!). So I have decided that, apart from topical asides, my first project will be a "Grand Tour" of the great cities represented in Second Life.

We will come back to Paris in the springtime. Why? Because I love Paris in the Springtime...

Of course it might be nice to have an entire world all to yourself - apart from the aliens you are trying to exterminate that is, but perhaps it would be more fun to share the world with other people.

Once you do this, you also find out how creative people can be about the way they look. Believe me this goes way way beyond what is possible with hair dye and make up...

SL is full of places like Svarga, places where imagination rules, and one of the ideas I had when setting up this blog was for a kind of travelogue, seeking out the most fascinating and engaging spaces in SL, and sharing them with you.

I still think it's a good idea......

So to begin with I think I'll stick with the "achingly beautiful theme".

These are the "Lost Gardens of Apollo".