bridges
Bridges are fascinating marvels of engineering. I am always, always, always interested to see how they are constructed and amazed that, frankly, they are upright and functioning properly. I'm not an engineer, so honestly bridges could have been created by fairies waving their wands and I would believe it.
And so often bridges add to the visual landscape of a city or place, becoming iconic landmarks in their own right. There are some bridges that you could see represented as an outline or a line drawing and you would immediately recognize them.
How many iconic bridges immediately pop into your mind? Off the top of my head, here's my list:
The Golden Gate Bridge (San Francisco)
Tower Bridge (London)
Millennium Bridge (London)
Sydney Harbour Bridge Sydney)
Rialto Bridge (Venice)
Forth Bridge (Scotland)
Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (Virginia)
Bixby Creek Bridge (California)
Whenever we're planning a trip, if there's a landmark bridge in a city or town, the chances are really good that I'm going to walk over it. My personalized Google map is dotted with bridges all over the world that I have seen or want to see.
Some bridges get repeat visits; every time we are in London, I want to walk over Tower Bridge and Millennium Bridge. Every time we're in San Francisco, we walk or drive over the Golden Gate.1
No lie, any time we drive over a bridge and I'm a passenger (which is most often), I pull out my phone and start snapping photos. No matter how many times I've been on that bridge. Any opportunity to walk or bike over will take longer because I'll stop to take pictures.
Some bridges are great for walking. The Dom Luis I Bridge in Porto, Portugal is one. I enjoy every step over that and back. Same for the Golden Gate. And definitely the aforementioned London bridges.
Unfortunately, not all bridges are great for walking.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge while beautiful to look at, was awful as a pedestrian experience. The paths are narrow and traffic whizzes by very closely, so the experience is loud and smells strongly of car exhaust. Additionally, the walking areas have been lined with tall chain link fences and topped with barbed wire for safety, which ruins the views and feels claustrophobic. We walked over and seriously debated how we could avoid walking back. (Ultimately we walked back, but really it was more of a sprint.)
The Rialto Bridge in Venice is stunningly gorgeous but unfortunately swarmed with tourists much of the time, making traversing it slow and unpleasant, not to mention the need to be very aware of pickpockets.
If I could see any bridge in the world and in time, it would be the old London Bridge (1209-1831). It was wide enough to be lined with buildings on both sides, so it was an entire neighborhood in itself. Yes, it very likely smelled terrible, but I'd forebear if it meant I could have a couple of hours to explore.
What are your thoughts about bridges? Do you have a favorite?
Full disclosure: We’ve only been twice so far.