A couple of weeks ago I received an email thanking me for posting photos of the old buildings in the village of Matten, Switzerland on my blog. The message, which was from a William Diesslin, read in part:

“You didn’t know it at the time, but you photographed my great grandfather’s store front! I’ve attached the photo for your reference.”

Matten was the town I stayed in when visiting Switzerland during the summer of 2007 and I had taken scores of photos of the intriguing architecture in the village. Curious, I downloaded the photo he had attached – an historical black and white image of an old storefront. I figured it would be a simple thing to find the present day photo among those I had published on the blog and began side by side comparisons. It was not as easy as I had assumed it would be, but by comparing things like the gables, roof line, and the horizontal strip that separated the first and second stories, I was eventually able to identify the correct structure.

Today the building is home to a hostel, the Balmer’s Herberge. The building is located on the same street as my hotel and I had even eaten at the Thai restaurant that now occupies the basement. Take a look at the photos below for a glimpse into the past and an idea of how well these old buildings have withstood the test of time.

Today one of the buildings comprising a large hostel, the Diesslin store hides its age well

Historic Diesslin store; the man standing in the doorway is Bill's great grandfather and the child to his right is Bill's grandfather

A closer look at the store from the opposite direction, as it looks today

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By the time my writers conference ended in Richmond, Virginia, I had been sitting for two days and I desperately needed to move. Serendipitously, I discovered that the conference fell on the same weekend as Richmond’s Annual Folk Music Festival, and so I decided to extend my stay by a day to enjoy this historic city and attend the festival on the shores of the James River.

I set out early yesterday morning, determined to see as much of Richmond as possible on foot. From the center of downtown, I followed Broad Street toward Virginia Commonwealth University. Many of the lovely old buildings in this part of downtown are in disrepair and a large percentage of the storefronts are empty, but signs of rebirth abound. Coffee shops, crafters, retailers, and art galleries are moving into this Soho-like neighborhood as the old buildings are painstakingly restored. This former dairy and police station are just two examples of the inner city revitalization:

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