best kept secret
殺伐とした話題ばかりなので，たまにはこんな話も。アメリカのベスト「隠れ家的都市」（best kept secret ）として，Charlestonを推す記事がDaily Telegraph紙で紹介してありました。なお，あのCondé Nast（高級 旅雑誌）もこの街をperfect cityに選出しています。わたしもいつか行ってみたいと思いながらもまだ実現させていません。来年あたりはどうかな。
なお，これはあくまで海外に住む英国人の観点からのお話ということだけは留意しておきましょう。（UG）
Why beautiful Charleston is America's best kept secret
As our World's Best Places to Live campaign draws to a close, an expat living in Charleston explains why this part of the American South would be a worthy winner.
Charleston is known as The Holy City, Americas best kept secret and America’s politest and most beautiful city. It was voted Conde Nast’s most perfect city in 2012.
In 1663 Charles II granted a charter to eight Lords Proprietors of Carolina who set up the colonial government. The city was named in honour of the king and thus its illustrious and sometimes tragic history began.
My love affair with Charleston started almost 40 years ago, when my husband and I came to the city for a week’s holiday; while we were there he was offered a position at the Medical University of South Carolina.
The peninsula city is truly beautiful; the houses, most of which were built in the 18th and 19th centuries have side piazzas (verandahs) which catch the summer breezes as well as lush gardens. There are modest homes and many grand mansions which reflect the prosperity of Charleston during the colonial era, when cotton and rice were king, and huge fortunes were amassed, making Charleston one of the wealthiest cities in America.
cf. "Charleston, SC, United States"でマップ検索をどうぞ
