On the Way to El Paso: Plein Air Pee

A curious restroom design choice at some of the Texas rest areas:

View from a toilet in the ladies' room, Interstate 10, Texas, between El Paso and Fort Stockton. August 2016.

Not a bad choice, a curious one.

Makes some sense - ample ventilation plus plenty of natural light during the daytime hours. There's also an aesthetic benefit in combining the beauty of outdoor nature with a traveler's natural bodily functions. For those with shy bladders, it might be especially helpful when it's raining.

Speaking of melding the act of urination with scenery, it reminds me of the jaw-dropping view of Chicago's skyline from the ladies room of the Signature Lounge in the Hancock Building:

View of Chicago skyline from ladies room, Signature Lounge, Hancock Building. Chicago, Illinois. December 2009.

And now with the stream of memories (get it? stream?) re: plein air pees, some adventures here.
 

Flora at Texas rest area, Interstate 10, between Fort Stockton and El Paso. August 2016.

At this rest stop, it was so good to see my old Chihuahua Desert friends again.

Antigua, Guatemala: The Scourge of Pee

I learned something in Antigua that was gobsmacking.

Antigua, Guatemala. April 2016.

Men's habit of peeing on the exterior building walls in Antigua is damaging the buildings. Antigua is a UNESCO World Heritage Center, so this is serious business.

It's not just in Antigua. Consider Germany's Ulm Minister, the church with the tallest tower in the world. "Persistent peeing is damaging the historic structure."

Peeing on the limestone walls of the 250-year-old Alamo in Texas is a serious crime because of the damage it does to the historic structure.

In Berlin, the city created a force of "urine police" to protect historic buildings. "Human urine is so abrasive and corrosive that, over time, it acts like a sandblaster," said a scientist.

It's also a problem in Chester, England, which sits atop Roman ruins.

And in Plymouth, England, for a 250-year old synagogue.

There is apparently a Facebook page that has photos of men caught in the act of peeing on walls in Antigua. It's a shaming page. I haven't been able to track it down.