vaguely trip-related musings, also an appreciation of national parks
I'm still attempting to gather my thoughts on the France + Switzerland trip, and one of the things I was pondering was why on earth anyone from Europe would actually want to go sight-seeing in the US. I mean, I guess it might be cool to walk through a city where all the buildings are less than 200 years old, but I'd much rather walk through a city where most of the buildings are over 200 years old. I guess there's cool modern buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright lurking somewhere, because I've seen pictures, but aside from that, I think you can see American architecture in most major European cities. So I don't think it's the buildings that would draw their attention.
However, national parks are another story. Our national parks are awesome and spectacular and totally worth visiting. You can go for the woods-and-mountains approach, the neat-shaped-rocks approach, the smells-like-rotten-eggs approach, or the please-do-not-fall-into-this-spectacular-but-dangerous-running-water approach (and there's probably more I've forgotten to mention.) It's big in the US. There's space for a lot of neat trails and hidden grottos and trading posts that sell t-shirts.
That's why I would visit America, if I lived in Europe. I'd probably have to pick a geographical region to focus on (I know the West Coast's parks best, actually, despite living on the opposite side of the country) but I'd hike and photograph and not feed the squirrels, and then I'd come home and hug a cathedral.
However, national parks are another story. Our national parks are awesome and spectacular and totally worth visiting. You can go for the woods-and-mountains approach, the neat-shaped-rocks approach, the smells-like-rotten-eggs approach, or the please-do-not-fall-into-this-spectacular-but-dangerous-running-water approach (and there's probably more I've forgotten to mention.) It's big in the US. There's space for a lot of neat trails and hidden grottos and trading posts that sell t-shirts.
That's why I would visit America, if I lived in Europe. I'd probably have to pick a geographical region to focus on (I know the West Coast's parks best, actually, despite living on the opposite side of the country) but I'd hike and photograph and not feed the squirrels, and then I'd come home and hug a cathedral.