He’s immersed in his iPhone as I was in mine. I wonder where he’s going.

Should I be bothered that I recognise him? Wonder if he recognises me.

Half way through the trip I happen to look up and see a single tear roll down her cheek.

She notices and wipes away the tear.

No more tears follow.

Minsk was not what I expected; it felt more like old Europe than old Russia or at least what I imagine old Russia to be like. I’m due to return in April but frankly the fights back were so bad I’m unlikely to; check out the last photo – my knees still hurt.

For the last two days I have worked from home, but today I made it into the office in London where the is no snow; not a single flake. I commute by train and there is deep, crisp and even snow all the way down from my home to Euston station in North London, but not a flake to be seen in the West End. As I sit here it’s hard to believe that there is so  much snow at home.

This stunning image from NASA shows just how snowy the UK is this week:

Download as iPhone wallpaper

I was talking with a friend recently about cities; their similarities, their differences and what defines them. It struck me that cities are so much more than places and people; cities themselves have their own character and personality.

It is this character, this personality that makes a city almost like a person. As with people you might get on with that personality or you might not.

Sometimes a city will grow on you, sometimes you know you will never like a city and sometimes it will be love at first sight.

Over the last few years I have definitely realised I am a city person, not that I don’t love the country and I will always love the coast, but cities and me we have an understanding.

In the words of Underworld Mmm Skyscraper I Love You.

]]> http://www.davidhughes.org/dedicated-to-the-city/feed 0 http://www.davidhughes.org/biting-the-big-apple http://www.davidhughes.org/biting-the-big-apple#comments Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:39:41 +0000 David Hughes http://www.davidhughes.org/?p=1195 As I no longer have a links page or blogroll I’d like to draw your attention, if I may, to Biting The Big Apple; a great blog written by my friend Stephanie.

Stephanie and I worked together for a few years in London, then in 2007 Stephanie made the huge step of moving to New York to live and work. Biting The Big Apple records that adventure and Stephanie’s thoughts and experiences of living in New York City.

It’s been really interesting re-reading a number of the posts with a new perspective following my first trip to New York.

Take a bite from the Big Apple.

I saw a number of locations from films in my all too short trip, but by far the most striking was Grand Central Station.

Grand Central Station was one of the highlights of my visit; it is simply beautiful and yet beautifully simple inside. There’s none of the clutter you see in UK stations; just a wonderful open space crafted from marble with the most stunning painted ceiling above.

Looking down across the concourse made me think of the wonderful scene in The Fisher King where Grand Central Station waltzes around the main characters:

Amazingly Grand Central Station wasn’t closed for shooting, and so the odd confused looking rail passenger can be fleetingly seen in the background.

A fittingly beautiful scene for such a beautiful building.

The panoramic photo was taken with the excellent iPhone app Pano

Here are the photos of my short trip; enhanced with iPhone fuzziness:

I found this wonderful video via Kottke.org; work like this makes my licence fee seem like good value.

click for larger image

It’s been implemented with the usual Google practicality and simplicity, and will definitely help with meetings in parts of London that are, as yet, unexplored by my good self.