Places of myth and legend

While seeing and hearing about the experiences of my fellow travellers last night, I was reminded of something I experienced while I was away. It was disappointment. I know this sounds rather negative, but sometimes these places aren't as great in person as they seem from afar. But that is my point, and a realisation I have had - often we who study in Australia bemoan the distance to all the 'significant' places of history, when really the wonderment comes from the mythos of these places and the selective drawings and photographs that create an image we hold in our head that inspires us. In some ways, I preferred having an untainted view of the world, but in other ways, I found it reassuring that places on the Grand Tour had their flaws too.

Of course, there are also those places that take you by surprise - they touch you and stick with you in a way you didn't know architecture could.