Thoughts on Place…
Having trekked across 21 different countries, crossed at least 15 different bodies of water and stayed in at least 30 different cities, I’ve come to some interesting conclusions about place.
Anywhere near the sea is fabulous.
Anywhere near snow is not so good, especially for an archaeologist.
Anything with grass, or green foliage of any kind is a place worth visiting.
You do not have to travel far to find the exotic.
Summer is the season of happiness.
The city:
Is sometimes scary in that it is so synthetic.
Structured. Angular.
A giant lego land of geometric blocks that, on a day where nothing’s going right, seem to blot out the very sun. In some places, like Mexico City, the air is so stiff with smog that each breath feels like you’re sucking in an inch of dust. The worst thing is being caught in midday smog, the humidity making your clothes stick in sweat to your body…
There are never many trees in a city. They are repaced by concrete in a thousand different shades of grey.
But there are some things about the city that one can’t help but love.
Like when day turns to night, and all the little lights pop on, like giant sea of fairylights; a neon brilliance.
Daydreaming on a train rides.
The collision of a hundred different smells in the one place, brought together in the way that only a city can.
Christmas in department stores.
The collection of people from all different cultures, together, in the one place.
The airport. The train station. The CBD.
The mediterranean village:
One of the most beautiful places to live. Anywhere you settle is close to the ocean.
Growing up on Cape York of Queensland has made me a creature of the heat, and here it is summer all round.
I have a plethora of happy feelings and memories that come with the mediterranean:
Working on my first dig in Lesbos. Visiting the vineyards of Italian country towns.
Eating spicy food and rissoto al a carte and late at night.
Painting by the water at dusk in a balmy breeze.
Using candles as opposed to lights, and watching moths and other insects alight their diaphonus wings on my windowsill, trying to get close to the flame.
Getting fairly drunk on good homemade wine, with a Sardinian family, a botinist and two archaeologists.
Swimming in the dead of the night in a warm sea.
The lifestyle of the mediterranean village or country town is also unique. The people there are so relaxed. They work hard in the morning, then have siestas in the afternoon. In comparison to people of the big city, they live an almost ascetic way of life in terms of material possession; but this is balanced out by the richness of culture and tradition they keep alive.
All I have left to say is.. go! travel! see the world! and i hope your experiences have been as good as mine have been.
