During my first visit to the US, instead of flying like a normal person, I took Amtrak's California Zephyr from the San Francisco Bay Area to Chicago. This was an incredible (and incredibly affordable) three-day trip across the North American continent. I saw scenic vistas of seven states, met a colourful array of fellow travellers, and even had breakfast one morning with an Amish family. Few people would call a long train ride a highlight of an American summer holiday, but I had a blast!
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Photos from my day trip to California’s famed Yosemite National Park, situated in the picturesque Sierra Nevada mountains...
On the final leg of my visit to the United States, I went to Las Vegas in Nevada to do two things: visit the Grand Canyon and to go down to a firing range and experience for the first time what it's like to shoot a gun. And I am proud to say that I accomplished both these missions. On the highway into Grand Canyon National Park...Ah, the mildly memorable highway from Vegas into Arizona! The rocky, sun-grim landscape. The scraggly, spike-fisted Joshua trees. And a brief stop by the engineering marvel that is the Hoover Dam on the border between Nevada and Arizona. As for the final destination, all I can frankly say is that the Grand Canyon is nigh indescribably epic. Photos cannot do the dramatic geography justice. Layers upon layers of sheer geological time, carved by the slithering Colorado River. I could tell you that it is nearly 450 km long, nearly 30 km wide and hits a depth of over 1.8 km. But those figures don't mean much to me. Instead, I stood there imagining what it would've been like for the first person to see it as a giant wound in the earth. She was a child perhaps. Perhaps the ancestor from tribes that have lived continuously in this area for countless generations. I can imagine her finding herself on the edge of the sky itself. Tiptoeing on a precipice, where the earth in front simply fell away like rain. Then hundreds of years later, some European interloper mapping passage down the Colorado River would ink its contours and dub it 'Grand'. But that word doesn't begin to capture the dizzying power, the sheer canyons of imagination that this place can conjure up. And the city of American excess...Anyway, I also hung out around Las Vegas for a while, ate American fast food, tried the buffet at Caesars' Palace, and got bored at the gross slot machines. It's an amusement city for easily entertained adults with its flamingos, fake Eiffel Tower, fake Venetian canals, fake everything. A weird, plasticky, and not even properly sleazy gambling mecca. I did take some videos of amusing, free attractions in Vegas though... Video #1: The artificial volcano in front of The Mirage, a Polynesian-themed casino resort. It erupts away nightly with music and pyrotechnics. Video 2#: The Fountains of Bellagio which is hard to miss with its meticulously choreographed music and lights water show. Video 3#: The notorious Fremont Street Experience, a touristy pedestrian mall located a respectable distance away from the main Las Vegas Strip. I recommend it for anyone after something a little grittier and grimier. And something a little more bewildering. But don't assume my negative vibes here are reflective of my thoughts on the United States as a whole! Oh, America (i.e. Home of the Brave, Land of the Free), you've provided an amazing journey... you've made me feel like I've soared atop a bald eagle, pistol duelled Alexander Hamilton, stolen Colonel Sanders' secret fried chicken recipe, and shared a Bud Light with the last of the buffalo. But alas, as the sun sets over the red, white, and blue, I must depart the city of Vegas for a mildly saner one. Anyway, I'm done! I'm out! This particular place is not for me.
MoMA and the MET! Which one is better?The answer is obviously the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Compared to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the Met), MoMA is easier to navigate, has nicer staff (the ones working at the Met struck me as obnoxiously rude at times), and with a higher superb-artwork-to-floorspace ratio. The Met also suffers from what I call 'Louvre Syndrome': its hoard of treasurers are too sprawling and exhausting to peruse in any effective way. That said, both are exceptional art museums, with influential pieces from the world over. The Museum of Modern Art MoMA boasts some truly marvellous pieces, including:
Thought of the day: O Edward Hopper, why are you so amazing?The Art Institute of Chicago was one of my must-see stops on my journey from the West Coast to East Coast of America, via the 'Windy City' of Chicago (probably named after its political climate and inter-city rivalries as opposed to its actual weather). What a home to both American and international masterpieces! Paris Street; Rainy Day by Gustave Caillebotte. A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat. A Vincent van Gogh self-portrait and one of his Bedroom in Arles paintings. Jules Breton's The Song of the Lark. Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon. Ivan Albright's powerfully haunting That Which I Should Have Done I Did Not Do (The Door). And much, much more. As mentioned above, there are some well-known paintings by the American realist painter Edward Hopper which perfectly capture the beautiful solitude and sad loneliness of modern life. I love his paintings and none is more resonant of this theme (or heavily parodied) as his famous 1942 painting Nighthawks.
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AuthorMing is an economist, traveller, and creative writer from Melbourne, Australia. He’s a nebulous collection of particles on the lookout for a good corner to sit with a book and a cup of coffee. Archives
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