Paper Boats

Google Street View (Click on the image for larger image)

These paper boats at a roundabout in Castrillón, Asturias, Spain remind me of a beautiful poem "Paper Boats" by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Day by day I float my paper boats one by one down the running stream.

In big black letters I write my name on them and the name of the village where I live.

I hope that someone in some strange land will find them and know who I am.

I load my little boats with shiuli flower* from our garden, and hope that these blooms of the dawn will be carried safely to land in the night.

I launch my paper boats and look up into the sky and see the little clouds setting thee white bulging sails.

I know not what playmate of mine in the sky sends them down the air to race with my boats!

When night comes I bury my face in my arms and dream that my paper boats float on and on under the midnight stars.

The fairies of sleep are sailing in them, and the lading ins their baskets full of dreams.
(Source: allpoetry.com)
*Shiuli flower (English: Night-flowering Jasmine)

Surprisingly no information is available about this art work or may be I couldn't find it on the Net. Perhaps some readers can throw more light on it.

Update: March 26, 2012

As per links e-mailed by Krenek, an active member of Google  Earth Community, the Paper Boats sculpture is part pf the plans to beautify the approach roads to the town. The boats have been made of steel and painted to give it the looks of news paper, which also carries the pictures of celebrities of the town. Amongst those included is a picture of Woody Allen who has an affinity with the region and has shot some scenes here for one of his film.

Each boat is eight meters long and 2.5 meters wide and nine  feet high. These boats are illuminated during the night.

Source of info: lne.es (In Spanish) (English Translation) / minube.com  (In Spanish) (English Translation) - This web page also has some good images of the Paper Boats.

Credits: Thank you Krenek for sending me links about these Paper Boats.

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