Cities

[oyceter]

jonquil's been linking to posts on the giant spectacle in London, and stakebait just came back from Hong Kong. rachelmanija has also been going around London and Madrid.

I've always loved Neil Gaiman's short piece on cities, especially as a companion to his "Tale of Two Cities" in World's End; I think it's collected in Smoke and Mirrors. Cities are alive and they grow and they change. They have personalities and forms and shapes.

I love cities. I fell in love with Hong Kong the minute I saw its tall, needly buildings poking out of the rocky green island, the moment we drove across the long bridge connecting the airport to the main island. I still love the narrow streets and the odd contrast between the shiny metal smoothness of Central and the dirty side streets and sidewalk vendors. I miss the winding roads and the hills and the oppressive humidity, the mix of modern and old, the subway system, the mix of Cantonese and British and Chinese cultures.

I miss New York even though I never lived there, the dirty sidewalks and the subway and the grumpy people and the wealth of culture and books and art. I miss the posters plastered over construction sites, metal scaffolding above sidewalks, the numbered streets.

I love getting to know cities and finding all the nooks and crannies and making them mine. I loved eating baguettes in Paris in front of Notre Dame, but I loved looking at the sidewalk cafes even more. I loved the little grocery stores in Florence and how the lady there just let us sample the grapes. I miss Taipei and Hsinchu and the vendors selling food on the street and the six million different small restaurants and side streets.

I'm still getting acquainted with San Francisco, though I've already got a few favorite spots there already. I can tell I'm getting along better with it now that I have certain routines or routes that I go through when I'm there: genre bookstore with cat and then Ethiopian, or Kinokuniya in Japantown, or hole-in-the-wall sushi place and a walk to the dessert place with the giant slices of cake.

What are your favorite cities? What do they feel like? (also, I totally want to make this a meme because I like hearing about cities and I like reading about people's personal experiences of places and the little details that bring it to life)

Comments

[ckd]

London is one city that I carry an echo of in my heart, ever since my first visit of many (but never enough). From the Tube and the old Routemasters (now relegated to heritage runs) to the Houses of Parliament, from the British Museum to the Royal Observatory, from the Canary Wharf complex to Camden Locks...it's all there.

I'd love to visit Hong Kong someday; I'd love another week or two in Tokyo; I've visited New York and Paris and Munich and Zurich; I've lived in small towns on Puget Sound and the People's Republic of Cambridge...but if I think to myself that I need a week to become less tired of life, it's time for a dose of Dr. Johnson's remedy.

[oyceter]

I adore London, particularly the Tube. I seem to have a thing for public transportation.

I have a giant, giant list of places I want to go, and I have no idea when I'll get to it, but you never know!