And so the American adventure continues!

And so the story of the 'virgin abroad' continues, and having spent a little time in Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia and New York, each different yet each virtually the same, it's hard to imagine that I'd actually spent any time at all in any of the places.

Each of us will, individually, view such cities in our own unique way, and in doing so will likely be lumbered with the stock images of Hollywood, history and the media onslaught that's all too prevalent in a, sadly, consumerist and globally commercial world.  I, personally, am no great lover of cities anywhere in the world, and their only real compensation is the ability to offer the refuge of anonymity for those so inclined, of which I'm one.  There's something to be said for being alone in the thick of a crowd, if nothing else the madness of life becomes far more manageable and you simply extract the bits of direct interest.  Of course, a new city is one found to be exciting for it offers the opportunity to compare and contrast, and even challenge the perceptions you may have, but in the end a city is a city and all function in the same way.

I realise that I may be offering a negative view, I'm not.  Cities appeal to people because of their bustling nature, and the four mentioned above are perfectly capable of proving me wrong for those so inclined to argue with me.  All I'm saying is that I'm no great lover of cities, and the best times I had visiting anywhere were either individual places of interest, or the coastal fishing ports.  Perhaps the point I'm making is that modern cities look rarely different from each other because of the corporate need to blandly display their image in exactly the same way wherever they are; which to my mind sterilises the very unique nature of any city.

Despite those comments, each of the cities visited revealed something surprising.  There's been much play over the years that the USA is violent and that wondering around is perhaps not the best option.  I wasn't in the slightest bit concerned on my travels, even when riding the subway.  If I had any worries then it'd be on the roads where the order and lane discipline of European motorways has largely been abandoned in the States, but that's a tale of its own and best left to the likes of Hollywood's finest directors to gloss over.  One might want to watch the madness of American driving as shown in the Steve Martin film 'Bowfinger', particularly the scene where Eddie Murphy tries to cross the interstate to get an idea.  Riding the subway was an initial worry, I've no doubt due to the attention drawn to the problems of former years by the media, helped along by the stalwarts of the film industry.  It may well be different late at night, or in the twilight hours, I don't know, but riding the subway from Brooklyn to Harlem in New York, a long subway journey, nothing was more worrying than getting off at the right stop.

The New York subway was perhaps more enlightening in terms of people, nobody made any kind of eye contact, which I gather from my dear friend Stefan is perfectly normal and he did inform me that every individual is in a world of their own, listening to an iPod, reading something or other, just generally minding their own business.  Personal space was another thing I noticed, and no matter how packed the subway train was everyone managed to be surrounded by a 'force field'.  Another misconception is that everybody ignores you in New York, and if you were to drop dead they'd simply step over you, walk around you, or cross the street simply to ignore you.  During my time there people were helpful and answered any questions or queries I had, at 2am on Sunday morning in Times Square a delightful lady of Asian heritage started chatting to us without any prompting, a totally unexpected surprise given that New Yorkers have a reputation to the contrary.  The same thing happened when I spent the day alone in Philadelphia, a nice lady came up to me asking if I was lost and needed a map; she was no doubt under the illusion that I needed some kind of help, wandering around as I was with camcorder in my hand, hopelessly looking like a tourist, completely lost in a world of my own making.  For me, such a state is perfectly normal when I'm engaged with my environment, to an outsider I guess I might resemble something that might be better helped by being taken on a ride with two individuals wearing white coats.

None of the cities I visited were covered in any depth, and my visits brief.  All I can say is that none of them dispelled any thoughts I might have about not liking cities.  All were sufficiently different to engender an interest, none of them I'd like to live in.  Boston and Philadelphia were historically interesting.  Washington politically so, and New York is as garish as it is dull and grey.  Each has its own unique flavour, each is as easy to get lost in as to find something to occupy the mind for a while.  Boston has a sense of Europe about it, largely due to its history, Philadelphia a product of its own colonial history, Washington had the feeling of a working capital, closing after 6pm.  New York, the 'Big Apple' nothing like 'Sex in the city'.  For now I'll finish there, except to say that each of the four cities looked magnificent during the hours of darkness, when the skyscrapers took on their own particular identity, awash with lights, surreal and more exciting to the eye.  Perhaps, when all said and done, American cities only become American cities at night, the various vistas will remain with me a lot longer than the daylight versions.