A Walk in Fremont

A Walk in Fremont

One Saturday, I wake up naturally. I lived in my travel mood, and tried not to push myself to wake up early in order to have enough time at Fremont.

I have GPS, but I don’t use it unless I really need too. I asked people where the exact interest spots were. The man answered me with a very complex facial expression. It did not matter what it meant, it lightened up my day while the sunlight came in the car. This is my happiness: by asking questions I create chances to communicate with people, and I can sense the atmosphere of the place.

We parked in a place near construction area where there were harsh words on the fence. I hand in hand with my child and left quickly to avoid the “pollution”, then we arrived at our first destination: The Troll. A man laid underneath one hand of the Troll who was a monster with another hand pressed on a little vehicle. Many travelers waited to take pictures with Troll, but they laughed with the man’s idea of making interesting photos. The Troll also reminded me a youth movie of “Ten Things I hate about you”. Some shots were from here. A female group of four asked me to take a picture for them. One of them said, “You know how!” while she was pointing to my camera. I smiled and thanked her for her encouragement and her confidence in me.  I took 4 shots with different zooming and asked her to choose the best one.

 

Although it was on weekend, everybody dressed well. Casual has a style, yet casual fashion is not easy to grasp. I read a book “Bohenmian Manifesto” mentioned about Bohenmian find fashion in garbage, not in fashion magazine. In church, we believe that God can build the beauty above ashes. And strong businessmen or entrepreneurs said that they could build a kingdom on the desert, an empire on the ruins. That is the weekend wear should be: an active, easy, comfortable wear with unique and a tasteful style.

We visited all the interesting spots in Fremont. Just like what it says in the introduction of the book “The Best American Travel Writing of 2009”, “The new generation of writer-travelers are not passive observers: A dose of cultural confusion is an accepted, even cherished part of the travel experience-we are all lost in translation some of the time—and it can lead to its own form of enlightenment.” I often think about the true meaning of the travel. It can be simple, and it can be deep.

 

Fremont has its own romantic atmosphere, cozy, cute, friendly, relaxing, and it is a good escape for busy working people on weekend. This satellite town of suburban area next to the city center attracts many visitors because of its easy access. On the door of Cold Stone ice cream store, there was an announcement:  Dear customers, we have to close our business for good, sorry for the inconvenience.You can reach us at our email address.” The words were backing and forth in my mind, while I was busy taking photos. I felt sad, but I was also happy by the words.  Business is a relationship; it is not just about money although the competition is always there.

Sometimes I am a greedy learner because I want to get a lot from a trip. I always have a summary like, “10 things that I have learned from the trip.” But most of the time I could not come up 10 items, so I blamed myself for not learning enough. I travel my life. After work, I spend one or two hours on the street of city center, look around people, stores, window showcases, architectures, birds while my ears are surrounded by different types of music.

In front of the direction sign, I was confused and asked a young lady in the store. She explained the confusions to me and laughed with a clear and shining voice. Finally, both of us laughed together, what an instyle and sweet lady! She is unforgettable and inspiring!

 

The main spots in Fremont are: The Troll, Waiting for the interurban, the Statue of Lenin, Music sign building, The Rocket. Compared to the city center, this is a very small area, but what makes it survived from the competition? In city center, I spent 2 hours that I could not really finish sightseeing of one street. So I understand that “2 days in Paris” can only be a movie. (LOL)

 

Brainstorming comes while I am on the road, and new ideas are born after the trip. There are secrets on every move. We have always learned something from a trip. It might not be clear what those things were, but as time goes on, it reveals. Maybe that is the significant of the travel? See you on the road, my dear friends.

 

ps: all comments and corrections are welcome, thanks.

 

所有跟帖： 

• Excellent writing. Thanks! -~葉子~- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/29/2013 postreply 23:08:55

• Vivid descriptions. -紓珈- ♀ (0 bytes) () 09/30/2013 postreply 20:18:49

• Thanks the above 2, There are still many mistakes in the article -colorofsea- ♀ (254 bytes) () 10/01/2013 postreply 01:02:28