Sight seeing in Two very different settings

It interesting to look at the different perspectives of traveling in the U.S versus traveling in Europe. The similarity as I would guess you could find whenever your are traveling is the importance of touring areas of great importance. If you were traveling to the U.S depending on what section ( since we don't have the convenience of the train system like Europe) you would be going to visit places like New York City, Washington D.C, Maybe Florida/Disney world, Niagara falls, Vegas, places in California, The grand canyon and so on and so fourth. In Europe as well your going to want to visit the basics, Rome, Paris, Amsterdam , Venice, London etc. because all of those places hold a great deal of historical importance as well as almost a packaged deal of each specific culture. They are cultural focal points to visit. However, the difference in between American Vacations and European vacations are that when looking at the packages for Europe there are greater instances of small village feel tours where you get a some what real idea of the old world culture. The ability to visit places that aren't as monumental like the cities named above is a lot more prevalent then in the United States. No one from Europe really is interested in visiting a small little southern town to get a feel for the American South or Visiting a small mountain top town in Colorado. However an American in lets say Italy would be very inclined to visit a small village outside of Venice to get a deeper cultural feel. This may have a lot to do with the American Culture and how diverse it is on the whole as the say we are a melting pot there fore it would take forever to get a feel for all sorts of American ideals. However in Europe there are still pieces of the old world that hold true. Over all places in Europe tend to be breath taking to American where as if you stumble across certain cities/ towns in America I have a feeling the vacationer would not be so happy with paying for what they were seeing.

Hopefully I will be able to experience Europe soon enough :-)

Seeing Buffalo in a New Light

A friend of mine/ a native buffalonian took me around buffalo to see some of the places we talked about in class Sadly I forgot to bring my camera. There is such a beauty in the old run down ways of the city of buffalo. It gives an erring feeling of greatness lost and its hidden powers that once existed. Seeing the places we talked about in person gave me a new insight into looking at them it was an incredible experience. I love to drive around and explore places that are new to me (even though I have been living in Buffalo for 4 years now) there is so much I am excluded from for being solely and University Student but this drive last night allowed me to feel closer to buffalo and it makes me feel deeply connected to it. There is a feeling buffalo gives me that I never can get from when I am in Rochester. I also was able to venture to the outskirts of Hamburg and found myself on a winterized beach over looking the city skyline. From afar the beauty of the city was breath taking the view made me gasp a little or maybe it was the frigid cold. However standing looking out across lake Erie under a night sky surrounded by snow covered dunes allowed me to connect with a Landscape that has now become home to me.


Pictures soon to follow......

Greco-Roman Architecture

When thinking about Greco-Roman architectures in America I think of two things. Greek Restaurants and the Jefferson Monument. However looking deeper that is a great deal of the Greek and the Roman among us. Looking at UB their are the broken columns at Baird Point. Do the serve a purpose other than a fun place to dance and eat a nice lunch in the spring. No not really but it gives the campus an ideal of learning in the classical way of the Greeks and romans. Also many important building give a sense of Greek and Roman architecture to show a sense of justice and idea of the purest republic. City hall in buffalo's entrance way is the front of the Parthenon without question. The use of Greek and Roman architectural designs just gives the sense that as Americans were hold a sense of the ideal Roman and Greek values and education. To show importance, Justice and educational excellence important buildings are built to look like important buildings of the classic world. Also its interesting to look at certain homes that are built with a classic world feel . I found a home in Saratoga (last picture) that has the classic Greco- roman feel which also made me realized that so many homes are like this but yet it seems to American and normal when in reality it makes me laugh to think people live in mini temples.