Wasting Time For A Nondescript View

It baffles the mind why tourists squander precious hours waiting in expensive long lines to see cityscapes from the top of the highest skyscrapers.  





Oftentimes, the views are unremarkable.  After the time-consuming ascent, you're squished alongside a throng of people, and you often cannot linger.

Do the pictures above look different... or mostly similar?  Thus, is it worth the long wait/cost for such a nondescript view?  How can visitors discern the culture of a foreign place from so far up?

For a nicer form of "heightened" experience, try a fine eatery, like NYC's farm-to-table Manhatta Restaurant...



or Cité in Chicago.

 

Or one of the venues at Jazz at Lincoln Center.



Perhaps, find a natural vantage point... less crowded and more fun to climb.

The culture of a city is NOT high-up; it's at street-level--where the locals go.









Following what we preach, when Lewis and I vacationed in Paris and Shanghai, we applied our time away from their "tall towers" and enjoyed it amongst the people and their streets.

Be smarter than the people who like to wait/pay for insignificant views.