Candy really rang my bell.

> From:    Candice Brashears <[log in to unmask]>
>
> I think if there were not historical sites, many people wouldn't see at
> all. It's when they go home that perhaps they begin to open their eyes.
> Of course it seems to me that tourists never go to their own backyard
> anyway - It's not that the grass is greener elsewhere, it's just that we
> can "always see what is close by - and do it another day".

Another proverb to the point: Familiarity breeds contempt.

Mainly I want to respond to the line "It's when they go home ... ."

I grew up in the Chicago area, and I come from a long line of
builders on my father's (Italian) side, but my interest in architecture
was not very active at first.  Only when I spent a year in Paris
and took some courses in art and architectural history, and then
came home to Chicago, did I feel that I owed it to myself to learn
about Chicago buildings.  Needless to say this was the beginning of
a long and fervent learning process.  But it wasn't triggered until
I went away and came back.