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bergen »
WESTERN NORWAY
Wood and color are humble build-
ing blocks, but in Bryggen—the
1,000-year-old district at the heart of
Norway’s second largest city—the vivid
reds, yellows, oranges, and creams of
its wonderful, steeply gabled wooden
buildings create one of Europe’s loveli-
est and most unusual historic quarters.
The district has its origins in the
quayside warehouses built by foreign
merchants during the Middle Ages.
Former warehouses and merchants’
homes in the historic Bryggen district
56
savannah
GEORGIA
Savannah’s townscape has proved
wonderfully resistant to change since
its founding in 1733, preserving a glori-
ous medley of period buildings—nota-
bly white wooden and pillar-fronted
houses—as well as stately squares,
parks, and elegant streets lined with
trees draped with Spanish moss,
making it one of the largest national
historic landmark districts in America.
Savannah’s Forsyth Park dates from
the 1840s and its fountain from 1858.
58
chichén itzá
YUCATÁN, MEXICO
Chichén Itzá tantalizes with hints as
to the nature of its former inhabi-
tants. The great monuments of this
Maya city, at its height in the tenth
century, point to a civilization of
obvious power. But what of the site’s
immense stone enclosures, built sim-
ply to play ball games, which suggest
an altogether more frivolous side to
the Maya character?
The Temple of Kukulkan serves as the
centerpiece of the Maya capital.