You know that person on the plane who shrieks ecstatically when they discover that their seat is next to the window? That person is me.
I love looking down on cities from high above – working out its size from the lights it exudes at night, counting the number of swimming pools, moaning (already) about the ground-traffic and identifying as many landmarks as possible. The geographer in me running a little wildly amongst the clouds. Essentially I savour that first and unique perspective of your destination, or the welcome-back salute as your home town unfolds like a treasure map below you.
The problem is that memory has to stay in your head – taking a photo of it is both frustratingly impossible and also slightly embarrassing. In my eyes taking a photo inside a plane is a like wearing a fluorescent T-shirt imprinted with the message “I have never flown before and I am wildly excited”, met with cabin angst and raised eyebrows from the “frequent flyers’ club”.
As such, the next best thing is climbing to the tallest viewing point in a city and taking hundreds of photos, which you later discard, edit and eventually keep (in that order). The photos that follow are therefore just a few of those shots – all contributing the overheating, gradually dying state of my over-tasked computer; but which were all worth it in the end.
1) Berlin
2) Copenhagen
3) New York
Marzipan and Marmite 