Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery
My cruise, which started in Venice, arrived in Pula, Croatia today. We started the day visiting an amazingly intact Roman amphitheater. It was gorgeous, and we could just wander around looking at all the details. It is still used as a concert venue. Parts of it have been reconstructed.
Piazza San Marco is the big tourist area in Venice. It is where the Palazzo Ducale (Doge’s Palace) and Basilica di San Marco are among other photogenic spots. It is also the spot that is always photographed when Venice floods. They have the parts for the platforms for people to walk on placed strategically around Venice for when acqua alta arrives. The basilica is one of the lowest parts of Venice, and some tiny amount of water was present around the basilica when I was there. [The flooding essentially comes from below the buildings. It does not come from shores exactly.] I was able to wander around the area on two different days, which is why differing weather conditioning can be seen in the photos below.
I came to Richmond to tour the Virginia state capitol. I took the tour today, and the tour was so bad that as a resident of Virginia, I was actually embarrassed by it. First, the tour lasted a little over an hour, and well beyond half of it was history of the state, not of the actual capitol (with an “o” meaning the building itself). I find it hard to believe that I am the only person who when going for a tour of a capitol or some other building wants a tour of the building and the history of the building, not of the state or people who used to live there. Second, the tour was completely whitewashed. My tour guide did not say the word “slave” once. In her entire hour long recitation of the history of the colony and state of Virginia, she did not think it important to mention slavery once. If she had barely talked about the history of Virginia, I might be more forgiving of that huge gap. Also, I am going to make an educated guess that slaves were involved in building the capitol.
Third, probably because she spent so much time talking about the history of Virginia, she barely had time to talk about the details of the building. She evidently doesn’t show either of the House or Senate chambers, unless the group wants to see one. We all wanted to see one, so she took us to the House chambers. After that I asked if we could see the Senate, she seemed surprise that someone would want to see both. Is it really that surprising that someone who goes on a tour of a state capitol would want to see both chambers, which generally are the most important rooms in the entire building? She said the two chambers look the same, but possibly because others wanted to see it also, she took us to the Senate chamber also. They are not the same. They are very similar, but there are specific differences. The House has green seats and curtains. The Senate has red seats and curtains. I have visited enough state capitols to make an educated guess that that is based on the British Parliament lower and upper house. [See the California State Capitol and Colorado State Capitol among others.] However I have to guess because the tour guide didn’t bother to point it out. Considering she said they are exactly the same, perhaps she did not even realize it. Further, when we were in the Senate chamber, I asked her about some symbol on the ceiling [see below photo] that I had also noticed in the House. She did at least partially explain what it was, but considering how capitols are generally full of symbolism, I found it bizarre that she didn’t talk about it to initially. Also, she never mentioned that there is place near the stair landing a floor above where we were, where they have clear plastic covering a portion of the interior of the building [see photo below]. Even if she was not going to take us there, she could have mentioned it as something we might want to go see. I discovered it by accident while wandering around after the official tour.
Fourth, perhaps this is a dumb complaint, but one of the reasons I take guided tours of the capitols is because generally the tour guides are fantastic, knowledgable, and can tell you all these details you can’t get by just wandering around. In the rotunda, to the side of the dome, the state seal is painted on the ceiling. Only it is not the official seal. The state seal of Virginia, which among other places is on the flag not to mention numerous places in the capitol, features the goddess Virtue, and one of her breasts, including the nipple is showing. The seal on ceiling has both of Virtue’s breasts covered. I noticed this immediately that it looked wrong. I asked the guide during the tour if that painted version was because of the former Attorney General Cuccinelli who made national news when he changed the seal to cover up Virtue’s breast on things in his office. She said no that is the official seal. After the tour, I showed her an up close photo to point out the difference, and I am not sure she even realized that the painted version differs from the version on the flag and on the floor next to the tour guide desk. She had no explanation for the difference and didn’t seem to be interested in a visitor pointing out to her there is a difference. She said that painting has been there for years. So maybe that version has nothing to do with a recent politician, but why is it different? I am very curious. Also of note, when I told to her after, there was a security guard right there, and he was really interested and wanted to look at my photo. Thus at least one other person finds it interesting that the painted seal is different. I am curious about how old the rotunda painting is and the history of the version of the seal. Internet searches are only giving me the version on the flag.
My complaints are not just about this particular guide. I am quite frankly dumbfounded that a normal tour does not allow a visitor to see both chambers. You can’t get into the chambers at all without a guide. In most of the state capitols I have been to so far, you can just wander in to at least the viewing gallery. In Virginia, that is not possible. As a resident of Virginia this strikes me as wrong. It is supposed to be the people’s house, so let the people see it.
I am continuing my quest to see all the state capitols. I am in Richmond this weekend to see the Virginia state capitol. However, today, I just wandered around. I spent most of the day walking along and near the Richmond canal walk. Richmond has a couple of disjointed canal that were originally part of a large system so that ships could avoid the James River rapids. The canal walk is lovely. The original building of the canal and the restoration of it are impressive engineering projects. They have restored much of the system, and you can even take a boat ride along part of it. [I did, and some of those photos are included.] Railroads and then highways were built alongside and on top of parts of the canal system. My tour guide on the boat ride noted that there is one part where you can see 18th century (the canal), 19th century (the railroad), and 20th century (the highway) transportation systems all in a single frame. I thought that was an interesting and insightful observation. The canal also is both inside and outside the Richmond flood wall, which is another impressive piece of engineering. A canal was built to bypass the James River rapids, and a wall was built to protect against James River floods.
I am continuing on my quest to see all the state capitols, and today was the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg. It is gorgeous. Harrisburg is the third city to serve as the capital, and the current capitol is the third building in Harrisburg to serve that purpose. So I guess they had several chances to get it right. When the current building was dedicated, President Theodore Roosevelt said it was”the handsomest building” he ever saw. This capitol has everything: stained glass, paintings every where, tile, columns, and gold leaf galore. The rotunda was inspired by St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, and the steps and balconies with the rotunda were inspired by the Paris Opera House, so that says a lot about the design.
One of the buildings open for Doors Open Toronto was the historic Don Jail, which now houses Bridgepoint Active Healthcare Administration Building. The jail was built between 1800-1866 and closed in 1977. I have not toured that many old jails, but this building has ornamentation that I honestly did not think would ever be in a jail. It was built as a reform jail, and evidently sunlight was part of that idea. The cells, or at least the doorways I could see, were still pretty darn tiny though. Architecturally, it is something to behold.
After it closed, the jail evidently sat unused for a while because really, what do you do with an old jail? Bridgepoint purchased it to turn it into an administrative building next to their hospital. They preserved its historic elements. It does seem like some of the offices must be nice, but I can’t imagine working in an old jail no matter how many fresh coats of paint are put on it. There is even a closed off area, which was open for photos, where the gallows were. The are offices across the hall for the gallows room. I really don’t think I could work on that hallway.
Another site I visited with Doors Open Toronto was an abandoned subway station. When the Bay Subway Station was built, there was an upper and lower level. According to the Doors Open Toronto website “When Line 2 officially opened in 1966, Bay Lower was in full use. Alternate trains used the Wye connection, which allowed customers to travel from Line 1 to Line 2 without changing trains. The TTC tested this system for six months and also tested the two separate subway lines for six months. Following testing, the TTC decided that two trains worked best and Bay Lower was closed.” If like me, you do not live in Toronto, that means very little or nothing. Having studied the Toronto subway map for a little bit of time, I think I now understands what it means, but to be perfectly honest, it sounds like it was a dumb idea from the start. Yes, yes, hindsight is 20/20, but it just seems overly complicated, and I know how long it took me just to understand New York City’s local versus express lines, so this seems like it might have made things easier for some but confused the heck out of others. It also sounds like something that carried not insignificant risks for train operation and train traffic control.
The lower level was not used for very long, but it has been used ever since by TTC for testing and training. It has also been used by the television and movie industry quite a bit for shooting scenes. The signs they had displayed seem to indicate that it has been a stand in for many U.S. city subway lines. Ever since I visited the lower level, I have been trying to think how many U.S. cities actually have a subway, as in trains that run underground. There are not that many, and furthermore, not many look like this station. Then again, the movie industry may not always care about things like that. But I digress.
In any event, it was kind of neat to walk around the platform. They had a train on either track with all doors open, so you could walk around the trains. They also let people visit the conductor’s seat/booth/area/I don’t what it is called. Today I learned, when given the opportunity to visit this area, people both young and old, really, really, really like to honk the horn. How the employees watching everything were not developing headaches from the horns constantly going off in the confined station where the noise really bounces around, I have no idea.
One final observation. I am rather fascinated by Toronto’s subway trains because the individual cars are all connected into one true train where you can walk very easily between all the cars. I don’t how many other systems have cars like this, but I was fascinated by it. I am most familiar with the Washington, D.C. and New York City subway systems where walking between cars requires going outside and is rather frowned upon or difficult. It would seem likely this would make it rather difficult for trains to be taken apart should only one or two cars need service, but I am not sure how often cars are taken apart and reconfigured on other systems where visually at least, it would appear to be easier.
One of the places I visited for Doors Open Toronto was the City of Toronto Archives. The main reason I wanted to visit was a photo I had seen on the website, which once I got there was the viewing gallery. All the photos taken below were taken from there. It is a really neat area where you can look to see the stacks of archive boxes. Well, you can see some of the archives box because there are a LOT of archive boxes, and you can’t see them all. They are kept in a climate controlled area with fire protection. I honestly wanted to learn more about the engineering of the climate control and fire protection, but there didn’t seem to be anyway to ask.
However, while there, I ended up spending quite a bit of time looking at some photographs from their files. I also talked with man who worked with the archives about the restoration and digital scanning of archives. It was fascinating. They scan and also photograph archives depending on the piece. They also had a lot of information about vinegar syndrome, which sounds rather funny, but happens to cellulose acetate film and causes irreversible damage once it starts occurring. They keep cellulose acetate film in a freezer to try to prevent it.
Amazingly I lived in Colorado for four years while in college and never once went inside the state capitol. I finally changed that today. Although while taking the tour, I learned that the capitol has been renovated and restored since I was in college, so I was able to see a much nicer looking building than I would have seen back then. The capitol is lovely, and if you are able to visit, take the tour because you can go up into the dome and onto an observation balcony but only on the tour. Similar to capitols, the House of Representatives is decorated in green like the UK House of Commons, while the Senate is decorated in red like the House of Lords. Much of the stone in the building is from quarries in the state, including a gorgeous red onyx. There is a lot of brass that appears to need constant polishing. My favorite feature of the building is Mr. Brown’s Attic, where there are windows to allow you to see much of the superstructure, including vaulted ceiling of the two chambers.
Colorado State Capitol
Interior space
Ground floor
The rotunda
Inside the rotunda looking up to the dome
Representatives chamber
Senate chamber
Brass elevator
Red onyx and brass decorate much of the building
Stairwell with brass decorations
Inside the dome
Window in Mr. Brown’s Attic of the exterior of one of the chamber’s vaulted ceiling
View from the dome’s balcony
I am continuing in my quest to visit all the state capitols, and I am in Sacramento this weekend, so I got to add California to my list. The history of the building is rather interesting in that they started building it in 1860, but mainly due to lack of funds, it was not finished for 14 years. In 1906, much modernization was done to the building including electricity and central heat and air. [I was unclear when the indoor plumbing came.] Additions and other renovations were done after that. Some of those renovations sounded like they were more “renovations” that probably sounded good to some at the time, but now most of us at least, and cringe at what was done. Then in 1975, they pretty much completely rebuilt the capitol. The shell of the building stayed, but the interior was completely torn down and built back up again. They did a lovely job of rebuilding. The building is gorgeous with wonderful wooden staircases, gilded and painted ceilings and walls, tile floors, and plenty of little touches you just have to explore to find. The state seal can be found in all sorts of places, and many other symbols are subtly placed around the building. There are bears everywhere, including coming out of staircase railing columns. They also restored several rooms on the first floor to their 1906 appearance, so parts of the capitol are a historical museum.
California State Capitol
Rotunda
Rotunda
Rotunda
The senate chamber is decorated with a lot of pink, which is supposed to reflect the color of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords.
Senate chamber
Senate chamber
The assembly chamber is decorated with a lot of green, which is supposed to reflect the color of the United Kingdom’s House of Commons.
Assembly chamber
Assembly chamber ceiling
In one of the panels of the assembly’s ceiling, is a grotesque of man’s head and his two hands. It is difficult to see unless you are looking for it, preferably with the help of a tour guide with a laser pointer. It is in a panel with a ring of (what I assume are) prickly pears with yellow flowers. Based on what my tour guide said and my internet searches, it doesn’t seem like the origins and true meaning of the grotesque are clear, but a chubby cheeked man with his hands up in a room where politicians work kind of gives me easy ideas.
Assembly chamber ceiling grotesque
Elevator
Wooden staircases with intricate metal lamps
Wooden staircase
Stained glass ceiling light
1906 Governor’s office
Bear guarding the governor’s office