Tramping: Indiana

On Monday I took a replacement bus from Springfield Massachusetts to Albany, New York. Then a long wait for the delayed Lake Shore Limited train to Chicago. Began to see a lot of whom I presume were Amish people. The men and boys in blue shirts and black jerkins with straw hats. The women in long dresses and bonnets. A lot boarded the same train. Have to admire people who have maintained their traditional way of life for so long. I can't help thinking of the 1984 film Witness and the simpler life - and that was before mobile phones, the internet and social media. And of course as a linguist I was fascinated to hear them speaking Pennsylvanian Dutch.

Arriving in Chicago the next morning I had a 10 minute walk from Union Station to the Greyhound station and then boarded a bus south for Indianapolis. I was met by Andy, whom I got to know back in my university year in France in 1989, in his Tesla for the short drive to his place in Fishers. We hadn't seen each other in 10 years so a lot to catch up on.

The next day we headed to Columbus , Indiana. Why? Well I saw a great little film called simply 'Columbus' a few year ago https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5990474/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_4_nm_4_in_0_q_columbus

And I thought, wouldn't it be nice to go there one day? It was certainly worth it. We took an architectural tour in the morning, partly on foot and also by small bus.

First Christian Church 1942 Eliel Saarinen

with Henry Moore Arch sculpture

Church door

Fire Station Number 1 Leighton Bowers 1941

Lunch at Olesya's Kitchen had delicious dumplings followed by this fantastic Ukrainian honey cake.

Next up was a tour of the Miller House, 1957 by Saarinen's son Eero, with landscaping by Dan Kiley and interiors by Alexander Girard. Miller was the chair of Cummins Engineering and instigator of a company initiative to pay for well known architects to design public buildings, starting with schools. This led to the reputation the city has today for beautiful architecture.