Third Place
I stumbled upon this post about third place. Don't know how I ended up there, but then that's the part of the charm isn't it?
Ray Oldenburg writes about third place in his book:
His slant is obviously towards the US and their lack of third places. He considers local pubs in the UK to be third places.
I agree to an extent, but don't feel pubs in London follow this maxim. I suppose because everyone is a potential nutter and there is a tendency for fights to start, it is difficult to find a "Cheers" type bar.
However, I was reminded of the bar in the Buenos Aires that we went to most friday nights. It was an old corner bar with tango roots. It didn't have a name - no, really.
Yet every week there were familiar faces to greet you, as well as new friends to be made. It had the required low-cost food and drink and some entertainment in the form of people singing and playing guitar.
I think all countries have their third places. You just have to be lucky enough to find them.
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hola! soy guada, la del blog del ombligo. entré por las estadísticas de mi sitio, y me sorprendió ver mi blog linkeado aca... hablas castellano?
Hey third place hey? Work, home and a third place...what comes to my mind instantly is the INNER SPACE...while the pub is great, what about looking inside ourselves for refuge.The pub has to close at a certain time but our inner 'pub' is always open. Our inner being is available to all...even Americans...though we have to look for it ourselves. If our third place is outside of ourselves...then really we would depend always on the external circumstances for our GREAT OLD PLACE! Cheers to your pursuit of happiness, my friend in faraway UK!
Guada - Hola. Hablo un poco. Estaba aprendiendo castellano en Buenos Aires el ano pasado. Quiero seguir a aprender castellano. especialmente de BA. Encontre tu blog cuando buscando algo en castellano para leer. Me gusta tu blog, entonces lo linkee. :) Karen - How did I know you'd say something like that. :) Third place is about others. Perhaps the inner space is the fourth? I agree with you: it is just as necessary to be at peace with yourself.