Wedding Season

I have just about reached that age when some of my friends are getting married, and when the fingers on one hand no longer suffice to count the years many others have spent in committed relationships. Unfortunately for me, two among my closest friends decided to have their weddings during my year in Kenya, which spelled two long journeys across the Atlantic: first to Toronto, then to Philadelphia (with a quick personal detour to Washington DC), both within the space of a month. At the time I booked my tickets, I did not know I could ask for flexible working arrangements (one of the many secrets at my workplace), so I ended up making four journeys that each took almost twenty-four hours.

Dreading to take more leave than absolutely necessary for the dubitable privilege of staying in suburban North America, I did not have much free time. Still, I managed to squeeze in two morning walks in Toronto, one morning walk in Washington DC, and another morning walk in Philadelphia. I had visited all three of these cities before, so I knew exactly what I wanted to see. In Toronto, I walked down to the churches in the historic centre and made a trip to Casa Loma on the second day. In DC, I went to see the Capitol Building, and my friend took me to the campus of Georgetown Law. And finally, in Philadelphia, I revisited the City Hall and Independence Hall but also stopped by the Betsy Ross House and the Edgar Allan Poe monument for the first time. I was especially eager to withdraw some dollars from my US bank account so that I could continue travelling with a universally accepted currency.    

The Church of the Messiah in Toronto
An archway
The Royal Ontario Museum
Annesley Hall
Church of the Redeemer
The back of the Ontario Premier's Office
A gazebo at the University of Toronto
The clock on Soldiers' Tower
Convocation Hall
Knox College
The Gerstein Science Information Centre
Queen Elizabeth II
Queen Victoria
The Ontario Premier's Office
A building in downtown Toronto
Old buildings in Toronto
Allan Gardens
The Metropolitan United Church
Baby Jesus at Saint Michael's Cathedral Basilica
Saint Michael's Cathedral Basilica
Inside the basilica
The Cathedral Church of Saint James
Campbell House
The Toronto skyline as seen from Sir Winston Churchill Park
Casa Loma
A rabbit
Casa Loma again
The stairs at Sir Winston Churchill Park
The Church of the Messiah
Union Station in Washington DC
The same
The Capitol Building
Georgetown Law
An art deco ensemble
Chess Players at John Marshall Memorial Park
The Darlington Memorial Fountain
A raven in front of Edgar Allan Poe's house in Philadelphia
The house
A tent at Franklin Square
Lanterns at Franklin Square
A fire truck
A shop outside the Betsy Ross'House
The Betsy Ross House
Independence Hall
Philadelphia City Hall
The arches of Philadelphia City Hall
The windows of Philadelphia City Hall

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Final Days in Bangkok

Image
Not long after my flight from Sukhothai landed in Bangkok, I called myself a Grab cab to the river and took a final tour of the city that had been my home for the past five months. I began on the pier across from Wat Arun and noticed that the winter sun was casting harsher shadows on its sides than I remembered. I then walked to the Grand Palace without paying for the tickets and walking inside: I merely strolled all the way to the gate and back again, weaving my way through the crowds of inappropriately clad tourists as they scrambled to buy trousers with elephant prints. I also remembered I had never taken a good picture of the City Pillar Shrine, so I tried my luck after eating some pad thai at a nearby restaurant.
Read more

Not All Turtles Are Alike

Image
On my second full day in Xiamen, Kelly, Yiding, and I visited the South Putuo Temple, originally built during the Tang Dynasty, destroyed during the Ming Dynasty, and rebuilt during the Qing Dynasty. Before plunging into the hordes of tourists, we took a little stroll around the pond in front to look at fish and turtles. To our consternation, we found a monstrous giant turtle in the midst of the pond’s other inhabitants – likely a rather ill-considered release by a rogue animal lover.
Read more

Tunisian Travels – Day 1: A Day Trip to Carthage

Image
On my first day in Tunisia, I visited Carthage. The highlight of my preparation for this trip was the night before when – at my hotel in Tunis – I revisited the Aeneid with its description of the city and Dido’s famous suicide scene. On a practical level, however, I had already done my logistical research several days earlier. The train to Carthage was supposed to run from the eastern end of central Tunis every half an hour, but recent reviews of the station said the train was out of order. Since I did not want to walk all the way to the station only to find out for myself, I decided to call a Bolt cab from my hotel and rode to Carthage directly.
Read more