Tag: urban landscape

He Got There First, Venice

This guy and the thousands of others I saw wielding cameras and smart phones were ever-present reminders that taking original, “new” photos in Venice, if not entirely impossible, is no mean achievement. As I pointed my camera at one breathtakingly gorgeous site after another, it was good for my ego to be reminded that whatever I came up with in the way of an image would be very similar to the photos a multitude of people already had in their photo albums.

The High Line, New York City

A friend spoke highly of the High Line, and I decided walking the trail would be a good way to spend a morning in Manhattan before heading to Baltimore by train in the afternoon. It was a beautiful walk on an end-of-summer day – quiet in a city not noted for quiet, secluded in parts, with views of the Hudson River and Chelsea in other parts. Very pleasant, very relaxing. The southern end of the trail is next to the Whitney Museum – if you have the time (alas, I did not), you can combine the High Line with a visit to the museum.

From Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Line): The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. … The abandoned spur has been redesigned as a “living system” drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. The High Line was inspired by the 4.7 km (2.9 mi) long Promenade plantée (tree-lined walkway), a similar project in Paris completed in 1993.

The Old State House, Boston

I returned to Vietnam last week from a one month visit to the United States, my first trip in three years. It was great to see family and friends in Petaluma, California, Boston and Amherst, Massachusetts, New York City, Baltimore, and the Denver area. That said, and while the US is the country of my birth, I am glad I no longer live there. The United States has too much tension, anxiety, and simmering anger for my taste. Life where I am in Vietnam is a good deal more relaxed and laid back.

Boston’s Old State House served as the seat of the Massachusetts colonial government from 1713 to 1776 and, after the American revolution, was the seat of the state government until 1798. Now hemmed in by office towers in downtown Boston, this national and Boston historic landmark is the city’s oldest surviving public building.