Jaw droppers and gob stoppers

Some things enroute made us gasp in other ways. Coming out from our mountain retreat one morning we were hunting down a coffee in a small village called South Royalton in the Green Mountains of Vermont.

We quickly realised that this was no ordinary village: the entire village seemed to form some sort of school, with mature-age students wandering, books in hands, between characterful old wooden houses, many beautifully maintained; some with historic markers on their sidewalks.

South Royalton turned out to be a private law school. One of the most famous in the country. Houses in the village not given over to tuition rooms or libraries of sorts become permanent or temporary homes for staff and students. 

And what a law school! For much of its history the Vermont Law School has rated #1 school in the country for Environmental Law with dual degrees offered in conjunction with Yale and Cambridge. Not quite what you expect to find when you are chancing upon a coffee: a small village in a small state devoted solely to the study of law. Quite something.

One of the fun things we did enroute this trip was to memorize the capitals of each State we passed through; and to visit them if they were close. We managed this frequently. One very icy evening we drove into Albany, the capital of New York State where we decided to stop for the night aiming to check out the downtown before dinner. 

We drove into the heart of this small city, its population along the lines of Toowoomba -- less than 95,000. We parked, took some steps up to a central square then one by one came to a complete standstill. All of us entirely gobsmacked.

All of Albany's legislative buildings are contained within this square. They are vast, modern and visually stunning. Named after Nelson Rockefeller, they are set in this wonderful watery space called the Empire State Plaza. 

One of the buildings down one side is called the Egg: it holds the downtown performing arts centre. Next to it stands the tallest building in Albany, the Corning Tower: all marble and glass. Opposite, are its smaller progeny, lined up in minimalist rectalinear perfection: four perfect towers, all in a row. 

And at the heart, the supreme head of this beautiful collection of buildings, is the Cultural Centre which sits like a squat pagoda reigning benignly over a sublime infinity pool at its feet. Unbelievable collection of buildings. 

The money that is available for such public buildings in such tiny towns in America is more than we can possibly conceive in Australia. Where does it all come from?

The red door church, South Royalton 

Little lawyers all in a row 

Vermont Law School uses all the town buildings

Cultural Centre like a squat pagoda, Empire State Plaza

Minimalist rectilinear purity, Empire State Plaza 

The Egg for the performing arts,  Empire State Plaza

Monolith  in the Empire State Plaza in Albany