Can you read my mind?
Can you read my mind?
The teenage queen, the loaded gun
The drop dead dream, the Chosen One
A southern drawl, a world unseen
A city wall and a trampoline
I know London all too well to be easy to write about how mixed my feelings are every time I go back. There's this song by The Killers, Can you read my mind? (Check the cover by Portuguese musician David Fonseca - scroll down to the end of this post) that sums it up for me. London can always read my mind. I'm fifteen again when I walk by Trafalgar Square, and remember the first time I've seen punks and a Velásquez live - both on the same day, just a few meters away from each other. The big city's vertigo - the ultimate melting pot. Everyone fits. Even me, with my stubborn look wearing a flowered jacket, pink skirt and ballerinas... climbing the steps of The National Gallery. I'm back in Trafalgar Square, just a few years ago when London won the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games - shortly before the terrorist attacks that spread terror across the city. No, no, no, not again! My mind slides to my first crumble, a bread pudding or baked beans, and moves to the large bookstores where every book on Earth can be found.
But not everything about London is dreamy. Visiting is always great, living there is quite a different matter. What feels organized when you visit becomes narrow minded after a while, the competitive struggle for little things is exhausting, the misty weather gets to your bones, and to your brain. Still. London is the city I'd want to live in if I was to leave my country. 'Cause nothing compares to this ability to find something new whilst walking the streets that lead to Convent Garden or Notting Hill. Wherever you go, there's a corner, a shop or a place steeped in the vibes of its area that grabs your soul. Unbelievable, this. It is exciting, shocking - even scary - to be in a city that reads your mind...
Oh well I don't mind, you don't mind
Cause I don't shine if you don't shine
Before you go
Tell me what you find when you read my mind
6 comments:
Posso ler a tua mente posso e posso ainda ler que a menina foi ao Costa Coffee Shop! Realmente é tão diferente visitar um lugar ou viver lá. Adorei visitar Londres, mas talvez não gostasse de lá viver.
What is that yummy looking sugar (or salt?) covered food at the end of your post?
Great post on London! The best writing about travel or places (be it cities or countries) are always the personal ones for me :)
The pretty thing at the end of this post is a very delicious Almond & Cherry Muffin. ;-)
Lovely post! I often feel the same way about New York, but it's the only big city I've ever called home. I often wonder what my relationship to it will be like once I leave.
Love the shot of the I Made You Look wall.
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