Touring 1/2 of the Twin Cities

Hello Kari:

One of the hobbies we share in common is photography. So for the post to kick off this week, a photo essay which I hope you'll enjoy and may be a springboard for some discussion.

When I take pictures, sometimes, I impose on myself some artificial constraint. For instance, one time in San Francisco, I limited myself to using a 28mm lens SLR with 1000 ASA film for night photography with no flash. The results of that effort can be seen here.

For Minneapolis, my constraint was to use a 35mm point-and-shoot with 400 ASA film and no prior knowledge of what the famous buildings of Minneapolis downtown are. I later read the city guide book at my hotel which has a couple pages on downtown architecture and of course, I also did some web surfing back in LA to find some web links.

I will admit that I did know in advance about the Mary Tyler Moore statute! Having grown up on the show, I had to make the pilgrimage to the famous site where she tossed the hat into the air in the end of the opening credits.

Thus, below, my photo essay for your enjoyment and our reader's curiosity.

Cheers,
Rene

	Welcome to Minneapolis! Since the city is in Minneso-cold, they have these skyway's connecting the buildings. It wasn't too cold during the weekend plus two days I was there so I often walked outside on the streets. However, no doubt, these pathways get heavily used in the late fall, winter and early spring!!
This building is the US Bank Place Tower. To read more about it go here. Can you guess who the main architect was on the project? It was I.M. Pei!	This is the ATT Tower. For stats on it click here and see the Walsh Bishop site.
Completed in 1929, the Foshay Tower was at that time the tallest structure in the city. For more on the building visit this site and here.	Here is the Ivy Tower, another building from the historic past of the city. It is being renovated. On the banner, of the building they have a URL http://www.theivytower.com/ but it doesn't have any information yet.
Probably one of the most famous buildings is the Philip Johnson designed IDS Tower. Check it out here.	One feature is the enclosed plaza area where a water fountain has the water originating from the top of the plaza.
Another view of the IDS.	Here is the part that collects the water
Here is the Wells Fargo Center. It was at one time called the Northwest Center and is designed by Cesar Pelli.	However, perhaps the most famous thing about Minneapolis, at least for some of us of a certain age, is the Mary Tyler Moore show. At the end of the opening credits, she tosses her hat into the air. To commemorate the spot is this statue just outside the Marshall Field's department store.