A few years ago when I was traveling through Germany, I stopped for a night at a friend's place in Hannover. Like many German cities, Hannover was completely razed during the war. Unfortunately, the rebuilding process was swift and lacking in imagination. It's not exactly an ugly city, but it's certainly charmless.
He told me, in his thick East German accent (he had moved from Dresden), that one nice thing about living in a city such as Hannover was that when people come to visit you, it's because they want to see you, not the city. Imagine you live in Paris, and your friends want to come see you every month. It's entirely possible that you are the only reason they are coming. Or perhaps not.
I was reminded of that as we traveled from city to city in Colombia and Venezuela. Colombia has its fair share of ugly and charmless cities, with Barranquilla claiming the top prize. Venezuela, on the other hand, has at least seven cities competing in the Ugliest City in the World Competition, every year...Maracaibo, San Felix, and Valencia come to mind. But during our time here, we've made lots of friends in every place we've visited, including in the above-named cities. So I'm hoping they realize that when we visit, they are the only reason we go.
So now we live in small village called Mushaisa, which, like Hannover, is certainly not ugly, but lacks a bit of charm and can get a bit boring. But if you come visit this place, I'll know why you came.
He told me, in his thick East German accent (he had moved from Dresden), that one nice thing about living in a city such as Hannover was that when people come to visit you, it's because they want to see you, not the city. Imagine you live in Paris, and your friends want to come see you every month. It's entirely possible that you are the only reason they are coming. Or perhaps not.
I was reminded of that as we traveled from city to city in Colombia and Venezuela. Colombia has its fair share of ugly and charmless cities, with Barranquilla claiming the top prize. Venezuela, on the other hand, has at least seven cities competing in the Ugliest City in the World Competition, every year...Maracaibo, San Felix, and Valencia come to mind. But during our time here, we've made lots of friends in every place we've visited, including in the above-named cities. So I'm hoping they realize that when we visit, they are the only reason we go.
So now we live in small village called Mushaisa, which, like Hannover, is certainly not ugly, but lacks a bit of charm and can get a bit boring. But if you come visit this place, I'll know why you came.
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