In the evening, Lolita and I drove downtown. It should be noted that Madison was founded by a judge named James in honor of the founding father and fourth president of the US, who was also named James, and who died shortly before the city came into existence.
Downtown Madison is squeezed between two lakes, dividing the city into a western and an eastern part
The judge bought a piece of swamp between lakes Monona and Mendota, and the Wisconsin Territory (not yet a state at the time) needed to choose a capital, one conveniently located geographically. The crafty judge first forced a cartographer to mark his swamp as a city. And then, manipulating the Americans who were already suckers for discounts and slogans even back then, he promised to sell everyone plots of land on the cheap, and name the streets after the founding fathers. The sentimental lawmakers couldn't resist and made the fictitious settlement the capital, despite the fact that the city of Middleton was already nearby, which was perfectly suited for this role. In Middleton, if you recall, lives Lena.
Winter view of Monona Terrace
Lolita and I first visited Monona Terrace, meaning the terrace on Lake Monona. The terrace has a difficult destiny. The terrace project was conceived in 1937 by the great architect Frank Lloyd Wright, a Wisconsin native, who, after achieving worldwide fame, finally decided to create something worthy in his hometown. In 1938, the city authorities were not ready for such a massive project, and they only managed to return to it in 1952. But leading an extravagant lifestyle, the master made enemies, and all sorts of obstacles were thrown at the project, removed only in 1959. Unfortunately, Wright died that year, and the project, for which he had fought for over 20 years, to which he had dedicated endless sketches, plans and blueprints, and for which he received a laughable 250 dollars, was left hanging in the air.
Close-up
They only managed to get back to it in the nineties, and with the help of a referendum among residents, which passed by a slim majority. Frank Wright's student Tony Puttnam redesigned the interior from the original version of government offices to a public and entertainment center, leaving the exterior unchanged.
Interior
Construction was completed in 1997, 60 years after it was conceived, during which time 10 lawsuits were filed over the project, 10 laws were passed, and 5 referendums were held. The terrace cost 67 million dollars, with a significant chunk of that money donated by civic-minded citizens, for which their names are immortalized on the tiles that visitors walk on. You can read this whole fascinating story on the official website of the terrace.
The terrace's parking ramp in HDR
HDR, in case anyone still doesn't know, is an attempt to convey to humans the extended spectrum range that instruments and some animals "see". To make a good HDR, you need several photos of the exact same place and a special program.
View of Madison from Lake Monona in the summer
After checking out the terrace, where, by the way, the women's restroom was out of order (Americans have slip-ups too) we headed to the students' favorite hangout spot in Madison, located on the shore of Lake Mendota.
Funny chairs of a uniform design
You can only get there through the student union building, but then a pleasant evening atmosphere awaited us, even though it was quite loud from the huge crowds of students and other partygoers. People can study in the US year-round, and they take as many classes as they find convenient - a one-year course can be stretched over many years. Despite this, there are still fewer people downtown in the summer. But not in this popular little spot.
Yacht marina
We didn't stay on the shore of Mendota for long because my lazy sister was waiting for me. I want to say a big thank you to Lolita - if not for her, I would have seen less than half of Madison, and definitely wouldn't have gone reading online about the construction of the terrace and the history of Madison. But my sister has gotten older, gotten boring, she's now fond of books and camping, not sightseeing. By the way, yesterday I watched the movie "In Bruges", which I couldn't skip after it was hyped up by walkabout_d, Lebedev, and Goblin. There was some of that in a fun vein too, I mean sightseeing. And there was stuff about elephant-like Americans, but I won't spoil the fun for you.
Sunset
As for Madison, it's a beautiful and green city, but it's a far cry from the might of Chicago. A city is, after all, an urban entity, and it ought to epitomize that very urbanism. (That's an intentional pleonasm for you, nothing to sneeze at!) If you want nature - go camping. About which, by the way, there will also be a separate post. On the other hand, a Dao master must break structural norms in order to achieve a transition to a new threshold of complexity and beauty. If you don't know what that last sentence means, don't worry - you're just clearly not an art person.
