Sightseeing: taking time to take in the sights - or not. How do you 'see' the sights when you travel?
When you're visiting an attraction, how long do you spend at a sight? I'm talking about a specific museum exhibit, an individual painting, a natural phenomenon and so on, at scenic attractions, ancient ruins, historic churches, city museums, art galleries and the like. Are you a stroller? That's to say, do you stay in motion, wandering around the place taking in the scenery as a whole, glancing here and there, but all the time you keep moving? Or are you a stop-and-starter? You stop, look, think, perhaps have a read of an interpretive sign on the wall or the description in your guidebook or a pamphlet, take another look, then you start all over again, stop at the next sight, look, think, etc? You get the picture. It's something I find endlessly fascinating. Sometimes I spend more time taking in the way people experience attractions than I do taking in the place myself. I've always wanted to sit with a stopwatch and see what the average length of time is that someone spends in front of a painting. And compare a highlight with a standard sight, say, the Mona Lisa with a painting by an unknown artist. I enjoyed seeing these people, pictured, taking it easy and enjoying the rugged beauty of their surroundings at The Twelve Apostles earlier this week on the Great Ocean Road (in stark contrast to the young tourists I wrote about here). I also found amusement in a family who were taking photographs... the father snapped a pic of the mother and one of the children in front of a rock formation, while the teenage son was looking in awe at the size of the waves. The youngest daughter had obviously had enough, however, and started skipping back up the path to the car. "It's not time to go back yet, Ruby. We're not done here yet," her mother shouted out to her with a bemused smile. Well, Ruby was certainly done. How long does it take you on average to do a sight? And how do you prefer to do it?
When you're visiting an attraction, how long do you spend at a sight? I'm talking about a specific museum exhibit, an individual painting, a natural phenomenon and so on, at scenic attractions, ancient ruins, historic churches, city museums, art galleries and the like. Are you a stroller? That's to say, do you stay in motion, wandering around the place taking in the scenery as a whole, glancing here and there, but all the time you keep moving? Or are you a stop-and-starter? You stop, look, think, perhaps have a read of an interpretive sign on the wall or the description in your guidebook or a pamphlet, take another look, then you start all over again, stop at the next sight, look, think, etc? You get the picture. It's something I find endlessly fascinating. Sometimes I spend more time taking in the way people experience attractions than I do taking in the place myself. I've always wanted to sit with a stopwatch and see what the average length of time is that someone spends in front of a painting. And compare a highlight with a standard sight, say, the Mona Lisa with a painting by an unknown artist. I enjoyed seeing these people, pictured, taking it easy and enjoying the rugged beauty of their surroundings at The Twelve Apostles earlier this week on the Great Ocean Road (in stark contrast to the young tourists I wrote about here). I also found amusement in a family who were taking photographs... the father snapped a pic of the mother and one of the children in front of a rock formation, while the teenage son was looking in awe at the size of the waves. The youngest daughter had obviously had enough, however, and started skipping back up the path to the car. "It's not time to go back yet, Ruby. We're not done here yet," her mother shouted out to her with a bemused smile. Well, Ruby was certainly done. How long does it take you on average to do a sight? And how do you prefer to do it?