Jul 192010
Wherever you went – there was this juxtaposition of old and new art. Of course, coming from the U.S. I found the new things disturbing. I wanted to walk through places that were hundreds or thousands of years old and hadn’t been disturbed by time. I wonder, if when Europeans come to the states, they feel how “new” everything is.
Hi Dave,
Funny to see a picture from you taken in Belgium.
I’ve been following your blog off and on the past few years and this is the first Belgian picture i’ve seen so far. Not that i really need to see them. I really like your way of photographing the streets of NY.
I did wanna comment on your remark about everything feeling old in Europe en new in the us. I’ve only been in the US twice for a short amount of time but there’s one thing that struck me most, it’s the fact that everything always seems to be well done in the US. I mean, for example a public restroom, soap and towels were always present. Over here it is almost common practice to expect one or even both to be missing in the mens room. Same goes for snack bars and food.
If you order a snack sandwich you really have to watch people to give you your moneys worth, like just giving you the minimal amount of cheese or lettuce. While in NY, I had a turkey club sandwich once and i still remember it to be one of the best sandwiches i ever had. I really got my moneys worth with the amount of stuff on it. I don’t know if it would be a good thing to actually live there, as I would start eating twice the amount I eat here but at least you get the feeling you get your moneys worth and that’s something europeans tend to skimp on; give as little as possible and see if you can get away with it.
It often feels like that in bars and restaurants. The opposite in the US.
But to come back to your question, things do feel like new in the US but they look slightly old so you get that feeling of vintage but still very functional and sturdy while in Europe often has the real deal, authentic, old and very characteristic, but also crappy or not very functional most of the times.
Hope that answers your question somehow.
Greetings from Belgium.
Kris
Very cool to get your response from Belgium. I will write more about this difference later.