My theory is a real traveler is able to discover interesting things even in the most unlikely of places. Well, Buffalo probably has not done the "Top Destinations" list for a while ', but I did some research on it and I thought it was time to Buffalo, the closest American city of Toronto, just south of explore Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, across the border.
So my fellow lovers of architecture and Shauna and I went early yesterday morning to2 hours to make the trek to Buffalo. We picked the Fort Erie border and fortunately was not very crowded. The pass was actually quite a pleasant experience, as border guards were in a really good mood and very friendly, pleasant presentation, a good day.
Approaching the city we have removed a wrong turn and headed south on Highway 5 from downtown. But we need to Buffalo on the waterfront, which includes this area in a couple of marinas and see the spectacularsome dilapidated old industrial buildings. We turned around and walked back toward the center. Because the tourist information office was closed on Sunday, we thought we'd be in the Hampton Inn & Suites hotel stop in a couple of tourist brochures and maps. A more pleasant experience: The lady at the front desk was very helpful, gave us several brochures and a printout of how to get to two of the most important architectural legacy in Buffalo:Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House and his other important Buffalo work Graycliff Mansion.
After the car parked on Delaware Avenue at about 10:30 clock, was the only thing we noticed right away as the streets were empty. There was virtually no traffic at all pedestrian and very few vehicles. We thought it must be too early for the people, and we left in a restaurant called "Flappy" to strengthen us for the brunch the day with a filling. We booked our tourMartin House for 2 to watch, so after breakfast we had about 2 hours to tour the city.
As we left the restaurant we noticed the city had become a little 'more lively, but not much. We parked our car close to Niagara Square and started our exploration on foot. First on the agenda of the Buffalo City Hall, a monumental Art Deco skyscraper was completed in 1931, built in sandstone with intricate details and orange colored ornaments. An immensely impressiveBuilding. We examined all the facade details and friezes, to show the images in relation to agriculture.
We have a small central circle, and covered some very interesting buildings. The red color and decoration of Louis Sullivan's Guaranty Building Detailed really caught our imagination. We passed through St. Paul's Cathedral and past the tram tracks on the main street we found the Palace Square Elicott. The east entrance of the building was actually open so we went inside. ThisBuilding was built in 1896 and designed by Daniel Burnham, one of the most famous architects in Chicago. This building is built around a large courtyard kept covered with a glass ceiling beams decorated block. We have commented on how similar this design one of the most famous buildings in Chicago, the "Rookery" was, and it was not until this morning that I realized that both buildings were created by the same architect.
This is an amazingly impressive building withbeautiful wide staircases and an intricate mosaic of the entire site. Ellicott Square Building of the direction we went to Lafayette Hotel, a handsome red brick and white terra cotta French Renaissance-style building, built in view of the expected influx of visitors to the Pan-American Exposition in 1901. Because of financial difficulties was not established until 1904. From there we checked out, General Electric Tower, a fine white clay coatedStructure since 1912.
The electrical tower is right next to another fascinating building: the Buffalo Savings Bank, a building boom in Buffalo show in the second half of the 19 th Century. In late 1890 - the peak of the golden age of Buffalo - the bank has announced a competition for a major new headquarters. The competition was organized by Green & Wicks, Buffalo has won the leading turn-of-the-century architects. Their design projected stability, security and aspiration.TheCharacteristic signature of the building is the dome of gold leaf.
After the Buffalo Savings Bank we explored the Genesee Building which today the Hyatt Regency Hotel. While exploring the construction of the heavens opened and there was a torrential downpour so we sat in front of the Hyatt and ended up in street scene. We found ourselves in front of Main Street, is now a pedestrian area and is home to Buffalo line of light rail train. One thing we consistently noticedBuffalo was the lack of street-level shops and restaurants. In the city, as a fact that even the most modern offices and government buildings is not the street dealers. A large part of the modern administrative buildings in Buffalo have rather austere and welcoming atmosphere and some of the newer buildings of the 50s and then a prison almost feel. The resulting shortage street-level windows combined with the totalThe lack of pedestrians (certainly on the weekend) really gives downtown Buffalo a rather disturbing feeling deserted, and the lack of people downtown was our most striking impression of Buffalo. Starting from the street lamps have classic style with flowers in bloom, however, the city seems to have worked to beautify the city.
We started back to the car and crossed the Statler Hotel, which is not really a hotel more, but apparently a building full of lawyersOffices. We got a glimpse into the impressive lobby, the French chandeliers from Century offers 20 / 1. I have some pictures, but the guard stopped me and told me that photography was not allowed. We had an interesting conversation, after this, and commented on the long-term economic problems of Buffalo and how he believes that the current mayor had only made things worse. An example of the economic problems of the city is the majestic ballroom of the Hotel Statler was onlyhas recently been reopened after closing in 1957. In addition, a previous owner had tried the building, a food court, creating in the basement and had opened the ground floor, but ran out of money before the food court could be built. Now you have an opening quite intrusive on the ground floor with a view in a basement with no empty shops or restaurants. Our local contact also commented on why downtown Buffalo was so devoid of people, and he told me that allthe locals do their shopping centers in suburban department store, and stories. The economic problems of the city together, apparently a flight to the suburbs, leaving the city's core rather lifeless on the weekend has created.
It 'was really sad to see that a city like Buffalo that such a large number of exceptional architectural heritage, has virtually no street life, retail or shopping in town had. Many shops were boarded up andThe few shops that were there were firmly closed on weekends.
Well, we had to move during our tour of another architectural jewel, Frank Lloyd Wright's Martin House. Darwin Martin was a senior executive with the Larkin Soap Company and his brother-in-law had encouraged Darwin to seek employment Wright in Oak Park, a suburb of Chicago. After working with Wright led him to Buffalo in November 1902 to build a house for his sister, the Barton House,with a size of about 4000 meters, and then to build his main house of 15,000 square meters house in the Prairie style, through a rigorous and consistent use of the plans of the cross, Wright, pillars and brackets, and other principles influenced Prairie House. After many years of neglect, the Martin house is now renovated to restore its original early 1900's true greatness.
Currently the building is empty and a few large photographs illustrate the former furniture and furnishings. It 'veryvisible that this building is used for a long time Martin House Restoration Corporation and has been neglected worked very hard to show it again on his 1907 original, authentic, and the degree of rebuilding the pergola and garage, demolition of a previous owner were. The tour lasted about 90 minutes and was delivered by a teacher very passionate and all the volunteers in the gift shop and the guide is very useful. We also got a glass of water in the 60Kitchen of the House Martin, who will be cut down and carried on through an authentic features such as restructuring.
After the damp heat inside the Martin and Barton Houses we were glad to cool off. We drove through the neighborhood near the historic East Side Park, Delaware Park, a creation of the famous landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, who also designed Central Park. The area around Delaware Park and Forest Lawn Cemetery is a beautiful partthe city with magnificent buildings and manicured lawns, and this beauty is most evident on Millionaires Row 'along Delaware Avenue. There was a lot of traffic and street life in this part of Buffalo, the atmosphere was pleasant and the residential areas impressive.
We drove closer to the Niagara River and drove along the Seaway Trail, crossed Grand Iceland and further on the edge of Niagara Falls, NY, right along the Niagara River towards Lewiston. The drive north of NiagaraFort Niagara Falls State Park on Lake Ontario is gorgeous, with beautiful old homes overlooking the Niagara River, huge trees overhanging the two lanes, with well-maintained property on both sides of the road. We stopped for a snack at the gates of the very picturesque town of Lewiston, in a place called Shiloh, which is right next to the river, overlooking a launch site for high-speed boats that whisk visitors into the rapids of the Niagara Gorge . We had a nice lunch outside fat,enjoying the breeze (hey, no need to eat healthy every day) and then set our trip to Fort Niagara State Park, admiring the villas and land.
We had decided that the border at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge crossing, but the building was confusing detours and a local New York State father and son stopped their car when they saw us off the road and stared at the card, try as caused get the point across. She lowered the window andsaid they would take us to the bridge, which they did. We followed them for about 10 minutes through the maze of detour signs until we found the bridge and returned to Canada. We were both very impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the locals.
Back on the Canadian side we drove along the Niagara Parkway and stopped in the beautiful little village of Niagara-on-the-Lake. NOTL calls itself "the most beautiful village in Ontario," and may fit the bill. The village isHome-preserved Victorian homes, overflowing flower baskets, souvenir shops, bars, bed and breakfasts, as well as the famous Shaw Festival, and for many Ontarians, is a popular destination for a weekend fast.
Niagara-on-the-Lake, we drove through the vineyards and orchards to St. Catharines, Port Dalhousie and its water area of entertainment, do not forget to Fresh setback from a street fruit stand of ripe red cherries and nuclear size of apricots buythe tree. About 20 minutes from NOTL, Port Dalhousie is home to a marina and a long pier and numerous outdoor patio restaurants, ice cream parlors, souvenir shops and other entertainment. Hundreds of people marched along the pier, couples, parents with children, dog owners, and people took a very interesting young lady with red hair, whose friend had to dye her poodle a matching-colored-hair hair remaining.
The atmosphere in Port Dalhousie was almost the sameCalifornia coastal towns, with skaters, walkers, beach volleyball, navigators and relaxed pedestrians taking a stroll through the village and the pier. I did not feel like I'm in Ontario. The sun began to set in the sea and was laid before us like an ocean without shores visible on the opposite side. Wanted was a nice warm evening and I felt like a whole week in this place going. But no luck, we had to return to Toronto afterour exciting girls-only trip to Buffalo and the Niagara Peninsula.
We have some fantastic architectural gems to explore the legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright joined, had a nice lunch right next to the fat Niagara River, enjoyed the hospitality of local inhabitants and the availability of New York State, and again in our country, we went up on the shore of Lake Ontario to fresh fruit, frozen yogurt and incredibly relaxing afternoon enjoying the water. It is notmuch better than this ...
