The Polasek Museum

Hidden in Winter Park, Florida is the gem of the Polasek Museum, which memorializes world renowned Czech- American sculptor and artist Albin Polasek. Over the course of his life, he created some 400 pieces of art, 200 of which are on display at the museum, which he started as a gallery in his retirement home in Winter Park. It is amazing to note that he sculpted many of his later works while he was paralyzed on one side with a stroke!

His sculptures of the human form are breathtaking in their attention to detail, making them very lifelike. Guests are welcomed by his sculpture called "The Sower", an imposing male nude. Throughout his life, he made various forms of his famous work "Man Carving His Own Destiny". It was a rather personal concept, where he was the rock brought in to the US from his home of Czechoslovakia, and he was carving out a life for himself here.

The Sower

Man Carving Out His Destiny

Man Carving Out His Destiny 

Polasek also created many religious pieces. Perhaps most imposing is his depiction of the Victorious Christ - a unique piece which shows the Christ looking up instead of down. His series of The Stations of the Cross is found in the tranquil garden which ends in Lake Osceola.

Victorious Christ

Mother

The garden is a perfect place to relax and reflect or even for an intimate picnic. It is set up for just that sort of think with benches and tables, hidden sitting areas, or you can just sit on the lawn by Lake Osceola and soak in some sun.

Special thanks to Todd Ruopp for this experience! 

I highly recommend the Polasek Museum if you're in the Orlando area!

The Polasek Museum is at
633 Osceola Avenue
Winter Park, FL 32792
407.647.6294
www.polasek.org

Above all else

It's interesting to note that most people will never fly in a helicopter in their life and I've flown in a helicopter twice already in just over a year. But the opportunity to see a new city from above is just too alluring to turn down! I mean, how can you not want to see an entire city from a perspective much better - and much more breathtaking - than the street. Google Earth can help, but nothing compares to the real thing.

It is fascinating to see Orlando's stretch of the I-4 from 1000 feet in the air. After seeing Harry Potter's World from above, we ditched our original idea to go there. This was much better than standing in line with those poor people down there! This was cool!

Our tour took us over Lake Eola, downtown Orlando, right by the Executive Airport, over Universal, Sea World, and many other landmarks. It was a windy day, so it felt a bit like a roller coaster, but a helicopter ride is always a good way to get around. I'd love to have one of my own!

Try it - I'm sure you'd love to tell everyone about the experience....it's a good life!

Cafe de France

I love discovering new places and last week I stumbled up a quaint restaurant in Downtown Winter Park and decided to try the Cafe de France. For some reason, the restaurant was rather empty at 8 o'clock on a Thursday night. The waiter assured me, though, that it did get busy. While my companion and I were there, only four more people came in. Now, don't get me wrong - I am not complaining about an empty restaurant, not at all! It was great to feel as though we had bought out the entire restaurant!

The asparagus bisque was good, but not the soupe a l'oignon gratinee that I had. The carre d'agneau, which came with roasted garlic potato mash and vegetables was good as well, but the filet mignon de boeuf that I had was rather bland. The cauliflower gratin with blue cheese it came with, though was quite good. I guess I just made the wrong choices.

We had a great waiter, but how can one mess that up when we were the only patrons? But I am left wondering if the lack of patronage is the potentially good but rather lackluster food, or a sign of the economic times?

The Lifestyle Maven's review:
Ambience: 4 stars
Service: 4 stars
Food: 3 stars

The Cafe de France is at:
526 Park Avenue South
Winter Park, FL