Something that’s very hard to find a comparison to in the TC, or even in most U.S. cities, is the experience of wandering around a European Old Town, in this case Geneva. It’s a maze of twisty little streets, all alike. Cars actually drive along them, and when they come, you have to press against the sides of the buildings to make room for them to pass. Fortunately there an’te many. Little plazas open up around the corner, infront of a huge church that you didn’t even know was there. Shops take up the street level, but they’re modern shops in old old old buildings, with apartments above them. You’re more likely to find something like this in say, New York or Boston, but even there it’s different. Things were definitely built with the idea that there wasn’t going to be any outward space, it seems. The maze-like aspect was to help defend against invading hordes, I believe.

It certainly is fun to just wander for hours and hours looking in shop windows, smelling the delicious aromas from pubs, and just soaking in the centuries. Can anyone think of something we have that is similar to cramped, but cozy feel of the European Old Town?

Related posts:

1. going out of town again
2. out of town
3. Doesn’t every town have a local bar? Maybe not.
4. Town Talk Mania
5. hot town, summer in the city