favorite public places
mandrew
2,720 Posts
What are your favorite public places worldwide?the first ones that come to mind for me are the Einstein & Lincoln memorials after midnight
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The getty at sunset, the garden at the getty on a nice sunny day.jpg)
Morro Sao Paulo
& The getty at sunset, the garden at the getty on a nice sunny dayMorro Sao Paulo
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Portland has very nice places.
Forecourt Fountain:
Pioneer Courthouse Square:
Public Markets are always great places.
Seattle:
Baltimore:
Place Des Vosges, Paris
Temple of Karnak, Lotus Columns, Luxor, Egypt
View of my beloved city (Portland, Or) from one of its many parks
Here are just a couple highlights.
I could have added many more, their are so many interesting facets to this building.
If you are ever in Seattle it is a must see.
morro's a perfect down-to-earth getaway island. not usually into tourism-based communities but i take exception with this one.
i used to smoke joints with einstein (and lincoln) late nights. haven't been back to either after 9/11 so i don't know if security has beefed up or not, but it used to be chill.
that seattle library looks ridiculous!
there is of course the view from[/b] down there, I lived near the building with the two little _ things happening just to the left of the tallest one. Long story short, when I was young and strapping I used to go jogging around the front of the opera house as my 'loop' .. next:
Piha on Auckland's west coast, this is the spot
On the edge of what is actually a small cliffface (felt massive to us then). Me, my brother and my sister used to climb up towards the tower as the fierce seawaves crashed beneath us. You'd get to the top feeling proud of yourself and slightly relieved before taking a moment to look out over the bay sitting in the ruins of an 18th centry folly.
The tower:
The view:
That is the worst statue I have ever seen.
For those who aren't up on it, this was a bum and junkie hangout until some locals,
made a couple small skateable obstacles, which grew slowly and surely until you
have what is pictured. This was built all by volunteers, some of the concrete/material
was donated. And Portland being the progressive city it is, allowed the park to stay.
Oh yeah did I mention the park was build "illegally", without permits or land ownership either...
POWER TO THE PEOPLE!
This is Red, the main designer/builder, he rules this place like no other.
He parlayed this experience into building more of the best skateparks in the world.
He is the man!
EINSTURD
the mall in dc (untill they f it up)
canal in utrecht nl
harpers ferry wv
g-town
c&o canal
isle of palms sc
east village / lower eastside
pffffthtttt
flo, the reason this is one of my favorite memorials is because of how different it is from all of the other magnanimous and glorious statues they got in dc. look at big ol' lincoln, staring down at his hordes of fans, mocking them, "will thou ever be as important as i? i think not." while memorials like this and the legendary tales that go with historical personas like lincoln and washington provide nice inspiration for the kids, their inflated accomplishments are ultimately out of reach for any person nowadays, and it could lead to a disappointing future. on the other hand, you got einstein just a few blocks away, nustled under some trees, so much more humble and friendlly. "come sit with me, lets read and learn together," he seems to be saying. it may be ugly, but that's the point. he's human. respek
well put,
goes well with the sculpture garden down the street, around the corner
MORE!!!
Cliffs of Moher
Also, the Boston Public Garden, near the entrance to Charles St. Well described in Infinite Jest, and where I went to sit and finish the book.
this is like the giving tree you know that one hippy dude that wrote poems? yeah, well the orange trees was that for me. i love them. riding bikes with the fellers and eating off the fat o the land. building my cardboard clubhouse inside the orange tree on my grandma's orchard. mid winter pulling green oranges from the trees and throwing them at cars. i love driving through them on a summer night when the air is hot and then you hit a pocket of orange trees that they just watered and that cool air fills you up. or when id have a tantrum at home and hop in the honda and drive through the groves and relax my mind.
this is montara right near half moon bay. its so fucking awesome and only 1/2 hour from SF (with no traffic). i used to drive out there, get a quesadilla suiza at los tres amigos and hit the montara state beach. right above the beach is a cliff. on the cliff is this thicket of trees. so damn beautiful up there. you cant see it but the ocean is right on the other side.
i dont know if this is corny tourest shit or not but i loved this park. last time i went to england i met this dude named barry and he was from south london and i could barely understand what he was saying and my gf had to kinda translate but the dude was cool and he said we should get out of north london and go to south london cuz its much cooler down there and he was right! me and the lady found this park and it was such a mix of folks. we sat there for a while. its called stockwell park and i think its in brixton england. but im not sure.
anyone can see this from the freeway. its the LA river. its this ugly concrete waterway with, imo, a lot of subpar graffiti. but this one day after a joe bataan concert, the superdude jeffie graf took me down into the river and i have to say the sense of space when your standing on the floor of the river is pretty fucking cool. there's like no one around except maybe a scrougy dog or some crackheads or painter dudes, and your in downtown los angeles. architecturally, it was the coolest space ive been in and it was bult by engineers!
this last one i couldnt find a pic online and my pics i would have to scan.
anyways, a few years ago there was this esprit outlet in SF. if you a lady or you had a lady, you prolly know of it too. it was way the fuck out there right on the bay and i had a car so id drive me lady out there and stand there like a tool. well, i got tired of being the tool plus it was hard not to eyeball other bargain honeys so i would take the car and drive around. i found the coolest place ever. i mean, i know its famous and im pretty sure i had seen pictures of it before but there was this train graveyard. i think they called it ghostyard or something like that and it used to be real easy to get back there. all these transients lived out there too and it smelled like a mixture of septic tank and funky ass sea water. you climb through a tore apart fence, behind some industrial building and there they were. these old ass train cars and random piles of junk that were fucking crushed. i "found" an old metal sign of the cable car system from the 1980s when they were doing rehab on the cars or something. anyways, i loved that place and i took every nerdy friend of mines out there. man, that spot made me love sf. when i moved back from japan, they locked that place up pretty tight. i think maybe there was now a business or something in that building cuz everytime i went back there were people there working and they wouldnt let me back there. i'll try and upload the pictures. it was truly amazing.
Sorry, didn't mean it to come across like that at all - I understand why you chose it and you've got good reasons. I'll
Who, me??? Cool!
This is Schultz Pass in Flagstaff, AZ. I have some great memories of hiking and mtn. biking with friends here. In the summer, you're likely to get caught in a quick afternoon monsoon:
keep'em coming!
here's a few from when i used to live out there. some of these are borderline wilderness areas so i think i consider them in a different class than "public places". but i guess they are technically public places since they're free and generally frequented by an urban public.
right outside the city, largest urban park in the US (world?). and not too shabby at that.
about 20 miles out of the city, used to head out here in the summer to throw myself off of cliffs. tried to hike up through the river bed once until eventually came to a stop at a 40 ft sheer waterfall. ended up having to swim back at some point, lost my walet in the rapids, and it turned up all fucked up in the mail at my parents house in NJ 2 years later. no joke.
oregon coast. one of the few places i've ever been where i could consistently go and just forget about shit and have fun. even in the rain.
After all that, you moved back to Jersey?!
i'd like to add the entire stretch of highway 1 starting south from sf, including each and every cliff, lil' beach, and roadside restaurant. it looks something like this stretched out over four hours or so
also, there's a strange fort/army barracks/old korean war watchtower area off the first exit of the golden gate on the north (marin) side. i forget what its called so couldn't find a pic online but here are two photos from my last trip there a couple months back on an overcast day
Traded DC in for:
Santa Cruz bra.
i'll see your highway 1 south of sf and raise you highway 1 south of crescent city. the whole stretch is awesome. i drove it once and it took at least a day with an overnight stay somewheres.