Goodbye New York

After four months it is time to say goodbye to New York. It has been an amazing experience thanks to DD who made the trip possible. There is so much to see and do and the city so complex that I am glad that I got to spend even a few months there and begin to understand a city that is so influential and relevant to contemporary culture and society.

It was hard contemplating leaving New York, it is like a giant magnet that pulls you in and slowly erases your memory of a world beyond. The people so diverse, the sites, galleries and events so plentiful and the constant activity leave little room for contemplation of that which exists outside it’s borders. The people and objects represent so much of what is beyond that experiencing them in New York temporarily dulls the desire to see them anywhere else.

Being in New York during the Presidential debates, elections and subsequently watch the inauguration of President Obama in Harlem was interesting. It was an exciting series of events to witness and one that would have felt rather more abstract had I been elsewhere but were bizarre, interesting, inspiring and exciting nonetheless.

The flight to London was an appropriate departure, flying from Newark and along the length of Manhattan, millions of sparkling lights making the whole island visible. It was a final chance to marvel at such a magnificent city but it will not be the last.