Travel: January 2005 Archives
For this week's , signs, I went back to September for this shot.
This sign points the way to Abra de Warmiwanusca, or Dead Woman's Pass. At 4200m (~13,800 feet) above sea level, this is the highest point on the traditional 4-day Inca Trail hike to Machu Picchu, in the Andes of Peru. We crossed the pass in a thick fog and couldn't see anything in the valley below, but I loved the vivid blue paint and the bits of rust on this sign.
I thought of another thing I like about the Charlotte airport. This helps balance out my hatred of USAirways and their hub at CLT, the expense of flying into CLT, and the ugly statue of Queen Charlotte outside the terminal (she looks like she's been punched in the stomach).
In the main concourse, in the midst of the , is the coolest mobile I've ever seen. It has four flat rings, two turning clockwise and two turning counter. Long posts jut out from each ring, and on the end of each is an airplane, or spacecraft. There's even a hot air balloon.
I tried snapping some photos of it, but the speed combined with the dim concourse didn't work to my advantage for the most part. I liked this one though.
By the time I flew out of Charlotte, USAirways had resolved their problems enough to get their flights out on schedule. I don't know if these two were actually delayed or not; I just like to imagine what people are doing in airports -- where they're flying, who they're going to see. These two sat at the bar while I rocked in the chair on the balcony above.
I have many complaints about the Charlotte airport, but this is not one of them. A long row of white wooden rocking chairs lines the large hall between terminals. Another row sits on a balcony overlooking the busy concourse. The airport could have put in benches, or armchairs, or couches. Instead, they chose rocking chairs.
Brilliant.
(Side note: I've just listed this blog at and am seeing an increase in hits as a result. I'm very interested in improving my photography skills, since at the moment I'm basically starting from scratch -- not in terms of quantity of pictures taken because I've always been snap-happy, but certainly in terms of quality! If you have comments and/or suggestions, please feel free to post them.)
