Big Texas

The better food options in the Buffalo terminal.

I admit it: I did go for the 'Big Texas Cinnamon Roll'. It wasn't worth it – not only did it not live up to its own billing, the looks I got from the five-year-old sitting across from me were intense enough that I needed to move.

It has taken me sixteen days and nineteen posts to cover fifty-six photos, including twenty-two from the concert that was the purpose of my day trip to Buffalo. That makes for a fairly productive trip, and has been the second-largest project I've done with my little Canon S100.

It would have been nice to have a camera that's a little better, but I wouldn't have wanted anything bigger. At this point there's only one that matches that description, but I'm a long way from being in the market. These would do for small prints, which is more than what I have planned for them.

Taki's Texas

Hiding down a corridor in the Buffalo bus station is this little establishment. I can't say I've ever been there, though, even though there's a goos chance that it was open when I was nearby in the afternoon.

Who knew?

Metro Terminal #2

Three photos from the Buffalo bus station at night. This turned out to be a very slow place to spend four hours – there really isn't all that much going on.

I probably could have bought a newspaper, but the free one was terrible, so why risk it?

Metro Terminal #1

Three photos from the Buffalo bus station in daylight. This turned out to be a good place to hang out in the middle of the afternoon – there weren't all that many places to sit and take breaks during the day.

Bus Station

Like a shining beacon of civilization…

Cheeky

I'm a badly-mannered guest.

After a quick lunch and mixed results from walking around Buffalo, I headed back to the bus station so that I could sit and regroup. The downtown map that's posted in the station includes the Canadian Consulate as a point of interest, so I decided to go and say hello.

The Consulate is in a large office building with planters in a pedestrian plaza surrounding it, completely deserted, but I was able to relax and have fun. I knew that if I was hassled by a security guard I'd just need to show my passport to explain my presence.

The American and Canadian flags flew outside the building, but the American was in the shadow of the building. It's impolite of me, but I just couldn't resist the photo opportunity.

Fountain Plaza

The frustrating thing about downtown Buffalo is that it's really quite a nice place.

There's a great mix of older buildings with interesting architecture, most of them are in very good shape, and there are plenty of signs of preservation and revitalization. I watched crews working on the facade of a building with the largest boom lift I've ever seen – the work platform was nine stories up. Nobody puts that kind of effort into a city that they don't care about.

It just needs more people, more businesses, and more activity.