Mental mapping

Satori, Stephen on July 9, 2011 @ 6:17 am — 0 comments

The last two times I was in Hamburg, I was pretty much along for the ride with my friend Olaf. Wherever he went, I went, and I didn’t think too much about it. Since everything was new to me, I was happy to see whatever. This time, I have access to a bike and have been spending a little time on my own, going out for a date here and there, or biking around a bit. And I feel like I am starting to get a feel for the city, its neighborhoods, and how things are connected here. I think it is pretty fascinating the way we make sense of a physical place like a city. We start with bits and pieces, certain pathways from point a to point b, etc. And it takes a while before those start to overlap and we begin to have an overall mental map of a place. Something in the last couple of days has finally made this larger map start to form for me here, and it makes the experience of Hamburg all the better.