Stephen Travels

Tag Archives: architecture


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This Twain I Shall Meet

Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut

Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Two of the most well-known characters in American letters. Still, despite my Bachelor of Arts degree in English and love of classic literature, I have never read either of their adventures. In fact, I’ve read very little of Mark Twain’s works—just A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and The Innocents Abroad. So, when I found out that Twain’s historic house was located just a mile from where I was staying in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Goodwin Hotel, I decided it was time to better familiarize myself with his canon and with his fascinating life, all of which unfolds beautifully at the Mark Twain House and Museum. Read about it >


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Which Wichita Building Is the Best?

Campbell Castle, Wichita, KansasI was spending a few days in Kansas’ largest city, enjoying some great barbecue, a wonderful botanic garden, a good zoo, and some worthy museums. Sometimes on foot, sometimes by car, I continually happened upon some excellent architecture that is easily among the best in the state and that add greater interest to the city. Read about the top five buildings in Wichita, Kansas >


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The Virgin Mary on a Battlefield and a Dead Miner

St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, Millvale, Pennsylvania

Just four miles outside of downtown Pittsburgh, in the borough of Millvale, Pennsylvania, St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church offers a collection of artwork, created by a single artist, that I had never seen in a church before—and I’ve visited a lot of churches. Maksimilijan “Maxo” Vanka created 25 murals that turned the religious art world on its head by graphically portraying war, violence, exploitation, bloodshed, environmental destruction, and selfish materialism. But, in his societal commentary, he didn’t abandon the promise of faith and the tenets of Christianity to make his point: In Vanka’s mesmerizing art, there’s also the promise of eternal reward for those who navigate successfully through the world’s self-inflicted evils and horrors. Read about it >


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Buenos Aires’ Belle Époque Lives On

Barolo Palace, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaBuenos Aires is largely regarded as the best entrée city to South America for Americans, especially those of European descent. There’s a familiarity here for that group that would be more difficult to find in, say, Lima or La Paz. As an American first-timer to the country, I had to agree. Walking around the city and its distinctive neighborhoods—heavily influenced by European immigrants—is not entirely foreign, and utterly delightful (except for all those narrow and broken sidewalks). All around me, glorious structures from the city’s belle époque—its churches and theaters and municipal buildings—still stand proudly (and, in some cases, in need of a little TLC). Read about the top five buildings in Buenos Aires, Argentina >


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Historic Delights in Dover, Delaware

34 North State Street, Dover, Delaware

I had chosen Dover for a weeklong vacation to Delaware for its central location in the state, allowing short rides north, south, and east to see much of the rest of the state. While I wasn’t on the road, I was strolling around this historic city, taking in a great art museum, lovely parks, some noteworthy restaurants, and an abundance of beautiful buildings, especially in the genteel Victorian Dover Historic District. Read about the top five buildings in Dover >


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Wisconsin’s Winning Architecture

Red Gym, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WisconsinIf you’re in Wisconsin during the winter, you may find it a bit chilly, and rightly so. That, however, provides a wonderful opportunity to step instead some of the state’s most beautiful buildings to warm up for a while and to admire craftsmanship you’re unlikely to ever see again. Wisconsin’s architectural marvels span a wide range of styles, from evocative Victorian homes to impressive college campus buildings to nearly a dozen of Frank Lloyd Wright’s innovations. Read about the top five buildings in Wisconsin >


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Lovely Louisville

Cathedral of the Assumption, Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky, was proving to be a delightful city. The friendliness of the people was quite shocking (where else would a gift shop tell you to take a tee shirt for free because they didn’t have the correct change for your cash purchase?), and I was loving the fried green tomatoes at nearly an addictive level. One of my biggest surprises was the astounding architecture, especially in downtown and in Old Louisville, one of the most beautiful historic districts in the United States. Read about the top five buildings in Louisville, Kentucky >


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A Fantastical Palace for a Portuguese Artist-King

National Palace of Pena, Sintra, PortugalDue to massive crowds, said every source I checked, avoid the city of Sintra, Portugal, on the weekends. Avoid the city on Mondays, they advised, when, again, it’s swamped with tourists, now because the museums in nearby Lisbon are closed. So, I went on a Thursday. Result? It didn’t matter. The National Palace of Pena—former summer home of Portuguese royalty, starting with King Ferdinand II—was jam-packed with people. But who can blame them? It’s the number-one tourist sight in Portugal, and deservedly so. Read about it >


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Bank on It

Skanenbanken, Stockholm, SwedenOn a daily basis, there’s little need to go into a bank anymore. You can do practically everything online, and, when you need cash, you just stop at an ATM. There’s even less of a need when you’re on vacation. However, some of the most beautiful buildings I’ve been to are banks, and they deserve some special attention. If you want to be impressed by architectural beauty, visiting them is simply money in the bank. Read about the top five bank buildings >


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Montreal’s Manmade Marvels

Erskine and American United Church, Montreal, CanadaFounded as a Roman Catholic colony by France in 1642, Montreal has been growing fairly steadily for nearly four centuries. The largest city in Quebec, Montreal has expanded to all points of the large island it occupies in the St. Lawrence River. Nicknamed “la ville aux cent clochers” (the city of a hundred bell towers), Montreal teems with beautiful houses of worship of various denominations, but there are plenty of other types of buildings that caught my eye while exploring the second-largest city in Canada. Read about the top five buildings in Montreal >