Gateway Arch

I left St. Louis with a new admiration for the elegance and symbolism of the Arch. It really is a very impressive, and completely different, monument. The design is incredibly simple and it does seem to have a timeless quality. After having just visited 1000-year old Cahokia across the river, one wonders if this structure might still be standing many centuries from now? And what people might make of it?

Getting to the top is an adventure in itself - sort of a slow moving amusement park ride. The tram is a small train of 8 cars, each holding five people in a windowless and very sci-fi gondola. It had to be built to fit into the tapering triangular structure and to accommodate a constantly changing slope. The top is not an observation deck as much as an attempt to squeeze a little public space into a complex and tight engineering structure. But the views are both spectacular and unique - unlike conventional skyscrapers and the more typical urban tourist needles, you are suspended above empty space.