Tuesday, May 26, 2009

When a Man is Tired of London -

- a Man is Tired of Life. I think Samuel Johnson said that. He said a lot of great stuff, I'm going to have to read some more of him. What made me think of that? Well we have some English friends staying with us for a few weeks.
I really don't see how anyone could ever get tired of London, if you've never been there I would suggest a visit. A year would be a good start! Think I'm kidding? I'm not, a year there would only be a start.
I think London is the greatest city in the world. Now that may be because I know London better than any other city, having been there more times than any other city. (Not counting Baltimore - who is not even in the running - and that shows that it is not simply familiarity that makes a city great.) Thinking about it, I've been to quite a few cities around the world, some great and some not so great. Why don't I list some of my candidates for great cities of the world and then you list yours? After London would come Sydney, Australia, The City of Paris was nice - but when I think about that it makes me realize that the people also have to figure into the equation, and because of that Paris drops well down on the scale, Washington DC is OK but not what I would call great, New York definitely makes the cut, as do Bejing and Shanghai, I liked Vancouver and Ottawa too. There are a lot of small cities that fit, and there are a lot of cities that I have visited but not stayed long enough to form an opinion. I think generally big cities fit the old adage "It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there". Using that adage, the only big cities that I can think of offhand that I don't think I'd mind living in are London, Sydney, Vancouver and possibly New York. I don't know any others well enough.
What is your take ? Do you have a list?
David.