If you have read my articles for a while, you know that I am a visual arts lover. One of the highlights of my Rochester trip was a walk through the Neighbourhood of the Arts.

My local experts Patti and Carrie met me in the morning and we started off with a lovely breakfast at a restaurant called Jine's, located in a bustling neighbourhood on Park Avenue. The friendly feel of this city became evident when several passers-by stopped by to chat with Patti and I was vaguely reminded of my home town in Europe, where everybody knows everybody and people still say hello. I enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere on the patio as the local residents read the paper, savoured their coffees, walked their dogs or started to go about their errands. Sometimes smaller cities have a more tranquil ambience to them.

After strenghtening ourselves with a nice breakfast we set off to explore Rochester's Neighbourhood of the Arts. Set in the middle of this neighbourhood is the Memorial Art Gallery on University Avenue. With its comprehensive collections spanning 50 centuries, the museum hosts travelling exhibitions and operates a popular gift shop and restaurant. Every September it hosts the Clotheslines Arts Festival. ArtWalk is Rochester outdoor art museum and features sidewalk imprints, artistic benches, tiled light poles, sculptures and other artistic endeavours.

The Neighbourhood of the Arts has won several awards and I thought it was just an awesome idea to turn a regular nice-looking neighbourhood into a stunning, creative destination full of outdoor art installations. The idea with the decorative benches in particular introduces the element of street life, inviting residents and visitors alike to sit down and enjoy the visual pleasures offered by this outdoor art experience.

After exploring this lovely neighbourhood, we continued our exploration of Rochester and the next item on our itinerary was an exploration of the well-preserved architecture downtown.

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions(http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

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