Stairways

This post is about stairways. I've told readers of this blog in the past that stairways appeal to me. Maybe that sounds strange. What kind of goof likes stairways after all?  Geez. They go up. They go down. They take you from one place to another.  Big deal. Get a life, pal.  

Well, I'd respond by saying that it is because I've had a very interesting life that I like stairways. I've seen a bunch of them over the years that took me to really interesting places. And some of them were pretty cool just because of their history. Some of them I was able to follow, and some I could only glimpse their progess. Here are a few of my favorites.

• The stairway down to the boiler room at Wakefield High School. My dad took us down there just once, but we got to see the tunnels under the school where provisions were stored in case of a nuclear attack. We also saw the tunnel that connected to the orchestra pit door at the Wakefield Community Building, about a quarter mile away.

• The stairway down into a copper mine near Calumet, Michigan. We went only to the first level underground. I think there were 17 levels farther down that became flooded after the mine closed down and its deep pumps turned off. 

• The stairway down to the Apostle Paul's prison cell in Rome. Stone steps worn down toward the center from centuries of foot traffic. This is one where the stairway itself was amazing. 

• The stairway down to Rome's catacombs. The coolness and mustiness that rose up and surrounded us as we descended are what I remember most. They went deep.   

• The ramp (almost like a stairway) that led down to tunnels under the University of Madrid in Spain. The opening was large and left unguarded. I wanted so badly to wander down and see what was down there, but I never did. Franco's Guardia Civil ruled the city and intimidated me from attempting such a foolhardy act. 

• (the best one of all) A narrow steep staircase that started behind the altar at the Cathedral in Sevilla, Spain. I was looking from one side toward the altar when a trap door opened and a monk climbed up and out. Can you even imagine the history and wonders that were down there?

• The spiral staircase that Jeanne and I literally ran up, because we had only 15 minutes before La Sagrada Familia, the Gaudi-designed Church in Barcelona, Spain closed for the day, and we had to return to Madrid in a few hours on the night train. 

• The staircase with curving walls that forced us to lean to the right as we climbed up along the underside of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.  

• The longest, deepest escalator I have ever seen. It started at the lowest level of the underground Metro (subway system) in Madrid, and went down from there. It looked to be twice or three times the length of a normal metro escalator and took me down to the very deepest tunnel, whose train ran to to the Casa de Campo Park outside Madrid. (I almost got arrested down there.) 

There are many more I could mention. 
I think too that the artist M. C. Escher might have had something to do with my appreciation of stairways.  

(this picture is only Escher-like, not the original 

For my post today, I have taken a few pictures of stairways I've come across here in Auckland. Are they as exciting as those I desribed to you above? No, of course not. But once you've realized that the unknown is at the top or bottom of a stairway, and the urge to experience that unknown comes upon you, you'll appreciate stairways like you might not have before. 

These stairways represent the unknown to me. I know a little bit of Auckland already, but most of it is still a mystery.  I watch, every day that I explore here, for the opportunity to climb or descend and discover its hidden places.   

When I saw this, I was reminded about walking up similar stairs, heading for, believe it or not, Dr. Gorilla's dental office in Wakefield when I was a kid. I still shudder. Not all my stairway experiences ended pleasantly. 

And this one is only slightly better. I looks very much like the staircase up to Dr. Frank's office where we got our flu shots. Since I was the oldest kid in the family, the doctor would start with me and work his way down the line. 

This one is much better. It feels a little like a Dr. Suess-ish like place to me.  It's the arch that does it. 

This set of stairs gets smaller as it goes up, adding to the illusion of stairs disappearing into the distance.  

Lots of light and a feeling of openess at the top of these. Like reaching the summit of a hill and breaking free of the surrounding forest.  

Looks classy, doesn't it? Those steps give me the impression of flowing...very slowly.  I wish that they looked worn in the centers to add to the illusion of movement.

Same stairs, closer up. Look at that door at the top. What do you suppose is up there, that needs locking up?
And the gate makes the Safety Director part of me question the wisdom of that kind of closure.   

This takes you from an alley off Queen Street up to Mills Lane. 

This is on a wall on K' Road. I think that it was origianlly a pattern of Escher's. I think it qualifies as a stairway photo. I wish someone would paint figures on it climbing or descending in all three dimensions.  I once had a dream in which I saw a single axel, enclosed trailer with this pattern all over it. 

Well, I don't know if I convinced you with this post that stairways can be cool. Do you have any that come to mind that you've climbed?                                   -djf