We had the assignment to map Leiden. To be honest I didn't do it. Not that I didn't want to but I didn't make time to. Leiden is a small town and its easy to discover it for yourself if you take the time to explore it. I think that goes for any city I visit. You get to know it by certain land marks and by experience.
I went to Rome this past weekend and I mapped the city by experience. Granted I had been there before it was easy to remember things by the way it smelt or the things I heard. Everybody maps things in a different way you might map it by a route you take or by the memories you have in a place, but regardless its still mapping. I read this quote one time and it kind of stuck. "Not all who wander are lost". I know its cheesy but I find that you actually have to wander you have to explore or else you wont find the things that are memorable. The map that you create wont matter if you cant remember it.
I also think that you should get lost when you go to places. Some of the best memories I have are when I have been lost. I usually discover new places. Yes sometimes it becomes frustrating, but there are points when you have to say "fuck it. I'm lost lets make the best out of this situation". This probly doesn't work for all thing. I wouldn't want to get lost in Hezbollah. But if I did it would make for a damn good story and I would put that on my map to never to go to again.
