Jaunted

Voting

Americans Abroad Travel: Election Day in Argentina

October 8, 2008 at 1:45 PM | 2 Comments

Jaunted editor Paul Brady has been hiding out in Buenos Aires and won't be back to vote in the US on November 4. Instead of just mailing in an absentee ballot, he went to the embassy for today's Voting Party...

This city is all about standing around waiting for stuff. There are lines at the bakery, lines outside the bank to use the ATM, lines at the post office, lines like you could never imagine at bus stops. So I shouldn't have been surprised when I showed up for today's democracy fest at the US embassy and there was a queue of Americans stretching way down Avenida Colombia.

At least those of us waiting to get in could enjoy the tunes from the jazz combo that Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne hired to play in the courtyard while we made small talk about our hometowns, our impressions of Argentina and why in God's name this was taking so long.

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Olympics

Forget Gymnastics: US Now Challenging China's Olympic Architecture

August 14, 2008 at 4:30 PM | 0 Comments

If you've never been to an American embassy, we're here to tell you that it's not actually that much fun. (Well, maybe it's fun if you're invited to a party, but that's not why we stopped by!) Still, the new diplomatic mission in Beijing looks good enough to compete with The Bird's Nest and The Watercube.

The Skidmore, Owings & Merrill building opened the same day as the games, August 8, and is second in size only to the US embassy in Baghdad. The eight-floor facility covers 10 acres and cost $434 million to build. It's just outside Beijing's Third Ring Road.

Inside, you'll find a rich collection of contemporary art, including pieces from Louise Bourgeois, Martin Puryear, Maya Lin, Cai Guo-Qiang and Robert Rauschenberg. Because the embassy had a budget of "only" $800,000, many of the works were either donated or sold way below cost to the State Department. One exception is Jeff Koons' "Tulips" which is on a 10-year loan from the artist.

Related Stories:
· About the Embassy [Official Site]
· Cool New US Embassy in Beijing [BlackBook]
· More Embassy Travel: Let's Go See the Queen! [Jaunted]

[Photo: SOM]

Architecture

Eero Saarinen Travel: Let's Go See the Queen!

July 31, 2008 at 12:05 PM | 0 Comments

There's a lot of great Eero Saarinen action right here in the United States, but he didn't limit his works to the states. One example of his adventures overseas is the Embassy of the United States in London that sits in Grosvenor Square. Finished in 1960, it's one of the largest American diplomatic offices in the world.

The building consists of nine stories, with three of them below ground. The facility is topped with a gilded aluminum Bald Eagle with a wingspan of more than 35 feet. Besides the US embassy in Japan, the London post is the only one situated on land not owned by the American government. Let's just hope the United Kingdom doesn't get any ideas.

Besides handing out visas and other paperwork, the building is traditionally used as the setting for announcing any agreements between the UK and US. Maybe you'll even get to visit on your next trip to London after spending a little too much time at the pub and getting belligerent in the streets!

Related Stories:
· Embassy of the US: London [Official Site]
· Eero Saarinen Travel Map [Jaunted]
· Architecture Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]