Picture the scene, if you will: It's Sunday, 6.45am, and I've just arrived in a European city by train. I've been travelling by train for 19 hours and have had little sleep. I'm by myself in a foreign country and exit the station as dawn is just waking up.
As I leave the beautiful station, I set out for a walk with a rucksack on my back. The first thing that hits me is how warm it is - a pharmacy sign reveals it is already 24degrees. The next thing I notice is that the youth of the city are just leaving the bars. People stagger around with glazed expressions.
I venture into the mammoth square in the centre of the city. There's just me stood in the middle of it as I gaze around. Then, a street sweeping van does balletic movements around where I am.
This happened to me in Toulouse the other Sunday morning. It gave me a beautiful feeling of serenity and set my holiday off to a great start.
What also helped was, as I had left the train, Alone in Kyoto by Air had come on my mp3 player. Not only was I in their country, but I was immediately reminded of a scene from a movie which featured the song.
Unfortunately, I can't embed the video, but please click the link to see Scarlett Johansson milling round Kyoto in Lost in Translation. It's a beautiful scene and very expressive of how I felt that early morning in Toulouse.
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