shazdor

i love the fact that there are people who thought manchester was not worth visiting – i would be confused if they all fell in love with it, because its best points are not immediately endearing. manchester is sprawling, grubby and unabashedly frivolous, and that’s what makes it great. the people of manchester don’t concern themselves with sophistication and pretence because they know it doesn’t matter – what matters is that ‘they know how to throw a party’ (in the words of frank gallagher). bill bryson didn’t find it memorable, but he was looking for a monument, not the intangible essence of a place consumed with its own icons. so go there, go to a gig, go to affleck’s, go to fifth avenue and experience that loud, collective enjoyment of life southeners just don’t understand.

despite having everyone i know make fun of me for visiting a cemetary, i had a great time visiting pere lachaise. oscar wilde’s grave was a highlight, and i found the interaction between the grandeur of the monuments and the ravages of time (read: loads of cool moss) engrossing. and if you are as lucky as me you might even have a black cat run out of a grave and straight across your path… i think i am the most cursed person ever.

the art here is amazing – i went to 5 galleries in 4 days with many left over! wien’s grand past by way of the hapsburgs has not been forgotten, the city remains littered with immaculate palaces and towering equestrian statues. it is fascinating to see the tensions that have arisen between the ringstrasse establishment and secession-style subversiveness. oh and you must have a slice of sacher torte :)

i would say worth visiting, however i didn’t like it as a place. it depressed me that so many people seemed taken in by the myth of prague and not the reality, firstly that the people of prague did not self-immolate in order for the city to be overrun by stag weekends and drug dealers, and secondly that the parts of eastern europe as yet untouched by the benevolent hand of the tourist dollar continue to languish in the shadow of communist rule. fairytale buildings are one thing; what they conceal is quite another.

i would go back over and over and over again. berlin has so many layers, but even if you only see the surface it is amazing.