Further Windows Into Cultures

carnival costumes-Spain

women's fashion-Paris

boilded eggs/statues-London's Chinatown

Human Cycles-Seville

kilted mannequins-Edinburgh

Once more we find images of different storefronts. These images relate to what people in a place want for themselves, not what they hope that visitors to their cities will buy. How customers are enticed to buy things is often the same in urban areas. Instead of the colorful, noisy marketplace of smaller places with vendors aggressively encouraging people to buy their wares, streets are lined with competing display windows. Whether you are in Paris, London, Nairobi, or Boothbay Harbor (Maine) items will be placed prominently in windows, often with the word "sale" in bold letters. "Sales" , we know, are relative terms. What is interesting to me as a traveler is WHAT is displayed for local use......

Kilts are still worn by some Scots in formal occasions, as you will discover as you walk the streets of Edinburgh. Carnival costumes in Spain and hard boiled eggs in London's Chinatown, signs of special celebrations. Vibrant colors of cartoonish figures with word bubbles draw the eye towards a women's store in Paris. "Human Cycles" in Seville advertises bicycles (something the city actively promotes the use of) but makes me wonder what sort of "human cycles" could be involved. All of these items give the traveler a bit more insight in the total culture of the place. Wouldn't it be boring if these windows were the same, regardless of the city or country? Our cultural differences at times cause misunderstandings, but they also make it interesting for us to travel beyond our present horizons and discover what is there. What better reason to travel?

Thank you for visiting, please stop by again. In themeantime, may your travels be interesting and enjoyable.

Kerry

p.s. I forgot to mention that I'm looking forward to my next trip, which will happen in a little over a week. Will spend time with family members in Maine, Boston, and Philadelphia and also do some travel on our own. Philadelphia is a new city for me and almost a week will be spent there. A combination of revisiting the old and exploring the new-an excellent travel blend.