Atlanta trip

Two weekends ago, I flew to Atlanta, GA to visit my friend Mary Lou. Atlanta is a huge city, with lots to explore, but we were able to see the amazing aquarium, the High Museum, and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Park.

This is a picture of some of the brilliantly colored fish we saw on Saturday at the Atlanta Aquarium.



I thought it was really neat that whomever designed the signs for the MLK National Park depicted one of his dreams- that people of all color would some day not be divided and be able to hold hands. If you look at the top of the sign, you'll see what I mean.
"I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers."-MLK from his "I have a dream" speech


Here I am in front of a statue of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday.



This is a drawing of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr with each of their respective quotes. Martin Luther King Jr was inspired to use nonviolence by Gandhi's teachings.
"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him."-MLK Jr.

On Sunday we got to explore the High Museum of Art, which had a wide variety of exhibits going on. One of them brought back memories of Italy, as I had seen these very doors in San Giovanni, outside of Florence. The exhibit was called "The Gates of Paradise: Lorenzo Ghiberti’s Renaissance Masterpiece" It was really neat to learn about the restoration process, and how the artist's techniques were learned during the process. More exciting though, was the ongoing Louvre exhibit showcasing things such as the art collections of the French kings, not to mention their exquisite furniture and other collectables. Although someday I'd love to get to Paris to explore the Louvre and see the rest of the masterpieces housed there, this was a great way to get a taste of it. We also had time to view the amazing collection of Annie Leibovitz's photography which included both photos of her family and a large variety of famous people. She's photogaphed everyone from Jamie Fox to Nicole Kidman to a few of the U.S. presidents and their family and fellow staff. One thing that stood out to me was her ability to capture the essence and spirit of the person she was photographing at the moment.
It was a great weekend, and I recommend all three of these stops to anyone visiting Atlanta in the future.