Daydreaming about...Big City Life.

Yesterday, Monday, arrived almost as soon as I had taken my shoes off on Friday evening. Another Monday, another dark cloud hanging over Bury, another thousand droplets of water on the window, another day in the office.

I was working through my caseload but my mind was somewhere else.

I was physically present in the office. My bottom was positioned firmly on my seat, my eyes were staring at the computer screen and my fingers were speedily tapping at the keyboard but my mind was elsewhere.

I was dreaming about city life.

Cities are where I like to be most. Cities make me feel alive. The pace of life, the people, the buzz, the boutiques, the restaurants and bars, the music shops, the libraries, the architecture, the theatres, the networks of public transport, the buskers, the coffee shops, the city centre parks, the night life and the glamour! I could go on.

Throughout my travels, two cities have stood out to me: Paris and New York.

Paris. La ville d'amour. La Ville-Lumière.

New York. The Big Apple. The City that never sleeps.

I ache to return to wander aimlessly through their streets, to sit in coffee shop windows and observe the buzz and fast pace of life rushing by, to immerse myself in the culture, visit art galleries and shops and spend a lazy afternoon in a park listening to music or reading a book.

New York is boisterous, obnoxious, in-your-face, incredibly imposing, incredibly cool, incredibly fashionable and has the absolute 'wow' factor. I love it.

Paris is beautiful, elegant, chic and stylish. I also love it.

Neither city can claim to be my number 1. Whilst different in many aspects, each city has such amazing qualities that it is near impossible for me, as a relatively indecisive person anyway, to choose between the two.

Thus, I'll settle with them being joint first place.