Places dripping with people

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Ask someone to name their favourite places in the world and they will probably happily name you a few.

I would pick Miami and Istanbul.

Ask them to explain why they love these places and they will probably give some reasons about the weather, the sights, the food, the nightlife, the landscape etc.

I love Miami because the weather is perfect, the beach is awesome and it is in the middle of the most perfect tropical paradise imaginable.  I love Istanbul because it is the most incredible blend of Eastern and Western culture, the Islamic architecture and history is simply stunning.

But if you ask them to tell you what they did there, sure you will get the sightseeing or the nights out that relate back to the reasons why they love it.  More often than not though, they will tell you about the people they were there with.  

I went to Miami with my ex.  I was young and completely in love.  I look back on that time as the high point in our relationship.

Like it or not, the most perfect sunshine and beautiful buildings and fabulous things to do are not what makes us love a place.  Not what makes us choose it as our favourite place in the world.  It is the people, the interactions, the relationships that make the memories.

When places are tied to people, going back can be a strange experience.  The streets are the same, the sights the sounds the smells are all familiar, but somehow... everything is different.  The silence of missing voices hangs in the warm summer air, thoughts of lost loves and old friends drip from the buildings themselves.  Nothing is the same.

Every time I return to Manchester, I cannot shake the thoughts of an old friend who used to live there.  Every street, every building brings back echoes of his voice, memories of his face.  I dread going to Manchester simply because of the heartache it brings.  Manchester itself did nothing to deserve that. 

I would love to go back to Miami, but I don't know if I ever will, no matter how many chances are offered to me.  Relationships may come and go, but I couldn't bear to fall out of love with that city.