Places in mind and space

Feels kind of weird at cashdayjob this final week; like I am in limbo marking time until I can get on with the great big new project... time passes fast though and I will surely miss some aspects of the experience, some people etc.

Thinking about going to Amsterdam next week and all the memories that come back when I start dwelling on travel. One of my favourite things in the world is to find myself on the first day in a new city somewhere in the world, map in hand and camera at the ready, just waiting to see what is out there. We have walked for miles and miles in cities we have visited, stubbornly shunning the local transport to foot the streets in search of new experiences. It would be extremely hard to put my finger on the favourites from over the years but a place I always think back on as pure magic is the walled city of Dubrovik. We were lucky enough to stay within the walls for two weeks; our tiny apartment like a lighthouse built up one room above the other, the house opposite so close you could nearly touch fingers. The sun shone every day and every morning we rose up the stairs to the terrace where the whole amazing terracotta roof city spread out below us. Seagulls flying over had terracotta tummies from the reflected light; huge gangs of swifts hurtled by screaming and twisting in the air; the light burned the stone surfaces and toasted bare feet in seconds. Every stone and tiny alley of the place spoke silently of history; some heroic, some tragic, always monumental and proud; certainly for me the most amazing mass of buildings I have ever had the thrill of seeing. Reminds me of the line in 'Gladiator'; 'I didn't know man could build such things.'

My Amsterdam will be different and unique, which is why I love trips like this; it can join Paris, Milan, Bangkok and New York; Florence and Saigon, St Petersburg and Hong Kong. Dreaming cities of history and discovery full of lives and stories; often full of paintings and angels.

I am truly glad to have the privilege to travel to places and fill my head with the amazing images and narratives that come from them.