Touchdown
Somehow, in this story, liftoff starts at touchdown. I picked up my cousin at the Lexington airport, and we headed for St. Louis. The primary purpose of the trip was to check out Washington University, which my cousin is considering for Masters work. Tuesday was a pretty uneventful trip, and as it warmed up throughout the day, we had lunch outside in the beautiful Illinois Spring weather. Visited with our gracious housing hosts that evening.
WashU
The big day nearly blew us away at the outset. We were quite ironically in the middle of a conversation about architecture when we arrived at Washington University of St. Louis. Whoa! The campus could nearly knock a person over. Abounding with astonishing architecture, it looks like Cambridge Univeristy! From the dominating castle front entrance, to the stone and the spires and the arches and the lavish interiors, the school is an artistic masterpiece.
Somehow, in this story, liftoff starts at touchdown. I picked up my cousin at the Lexington airport, and we headed for St. Louis. The primary purpose of the trip was to check out Washington University, which my cousin is considering for Masters work. Tuesday was a pretty uneventful trip, and as it warmed up throughout the day, we had lunch outside in the beautiful Illinois Spring weather. Visited with our gracious housing hosts that evening.
WashU
The big day nearly blew us away at the outset. We were quite ironically in the middle of a conversation about architecture when we arrived at Washington University of St. Louis. Whoa! The campus could nearly knock a person over. Abounding with astonishing architecture, it looks like Cambridge Univeristy! From the dominating castle front entrance, to the stone and the spires and the arches and the lavish interiors, the school is an artistic masterpiece.
WashU Front Entrance.
(If you're not familiar with Cambridge, check out pictures of both. There is an astonishing resemblance.
Cambridge:
http://www.pbase.com/compu
http://pacejmiller.files.w
WashU:
http://admissions.wustl.ed
"The Quadrangle" Courtyard. Modeled after Oxford.
A meeting room. (I'm thinking "Greatroom")
Holmes Lounge. Originally built for the 1904 Worlds Fair.
I would have loved to revel in the buildings and take lots of pictures, but we had other things to do.
First a tour, then meetings with Admissions and Financial Aid (yes, how could I not be professionally observant in these sessions?). Lunch, and I managed to get in a jog while I was waiting in line. Got to visit a class after that. I really really wanted to get involved in the discussion, but I refrained. I studied for my masters course briefly in one of their many libraries, then we stepped across the street to one of the most amazing places I have ever not seen. But I'll talk about that later. (check the day 3 & 4 blog)
Short personal review? Very nice school. It's large, but they've managed to keep away from an overwhelming feel. Friendly for a Mid-Western city location, I didn't feel odd interacting with anyone. In terms of connecting with the location, feel, and personality of the school, I could see myself in school there. Major drawback: very secular, sold to postmodernism, and glorying in pluralism.
The 'Burg
That evening, we checked out the area, driving around looking at housing options, the student hangouts, "the loop," and downtown St. Louis. We went to an Italian restaurant recommended to us by our hosts, where the food was excellent and the waitress not so much (we will never forget that experience, lol). We discussed later, and are not sure that she ever made eye contact with either of us - aside from a rather strict application of menus.
Louis under Lights
Now that darkness had set in, the real test began. We returned to all the places we had visited earlier in the day, to see how they transformed at night. This time, instead of just driving around, we got out, walked, and looked around. We tried to get a feel for each area. Most were pretty good, and quite acceptable for a city. But there was also that place with the marble floors and broken grand piano .... That place was an easy decision - no.
To be continued ...
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