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I have a love affair with New Orleans and am finally living here after visting about 40-50 times over ten years. Crazy as it sounds, I feel like I have been "called" to come here. I feel as though I am completely at home.
I have had an equally strong reaction in the other direction to Chicago-- I couldn't STAND living there. I got out as soon as I could (after a year). As soon as I saw the skyline, I felt my stomach drop and an overwhelming feeling of dread and doom that I just never shook.
I have read a lot about astrology of place. I am Scorpio with all of my planets in Scorpio through Mars and everything else in water, so yes, I am pretty intuitive (probably too much.) I often get a real sense of place, much like the impression a person makes when you meet them for the first time. Some places intrigue me, some grab me, some repel me. I am curious to hear if anyone else has this sort of reaction, beyond what the usual pragmatic considerations hold. Do you think it has a connection to your sign? Your past lives? Just your general psychological state? What places are you drawn to? What was your experience like if you were in them? How about the places you felt ill at ease in?
Lived there three times for a total of seven years out of fifteen. As much as I love Texas, and know there's nothing in Colorado Springs for me anymore, I'd go back there in a minute if I thought I could.
After 48 years of living on the coast of Alabama I got this crazy pull to move to Austin, Texas. That's where I have been living for 5 years now and it feels more like home to me than Alabama did even after living there all those years..
I've had the opposite feeling about New Orleans. Don't like the city or people. I later learned how the French aristocrats of New Orleans treated my Acadian ancestors when they arrived after they were exiled from what is now Nova Scotia by the British. The rich French aristocrats and merchants had spent years telling African slaves that the work the slaves were doing were beneath the French people and then here comes these French people who were farmers, hunters, fishermen, carpenters, seamstress, and other low level trades that the French aristocrats had forced African slaves to perform for free. They were looked down upon by their own countrymen and pitied by the African slaves. My ancestors got tired of this and headed west and settled in the region where I live now. I've been back to New Orleans a few times for the benefit of my wife who is drawn to New Orleans. She has Spanish (not Mexican, Spanish as in Spain) ancestors and for a time New Orleans was ruled by Spain which is why the "French Quarter" looks more like Spain than France.
I've had the opposite feeling about New Orleans. Don't like the city or people. I later learned how the French aristocrats of New Orleans treated my Acadian ancestors when they arrived after they were exiled from what is now Nova Scotia by the British. The rich French aristocrats and merchants had spent years telling African slaves that the work the slaves were doing were beneath the French people and then here comes these French people who were farmers, hunters, fishermen, carpenters, seamstress, and other low level trades that the French aristocrats had forced African slaves to perform for free. They were looked down upon by their own countrymen and pitied by the African slaves. My ancestors got tired of this and headed west and settled in the region where I live now. I've been back to New Orleans a few times for the benefit of my wife who is drawn to New Orleans. She has Spanish (not Mexican, Spanish as in Spain) ancestors and for a time New Orleans was ruled by Spain which is why the "French Quarter" looks more like Spain than France.
There isn't any real "drawn to" city. I've been to many cities in many parts of Europe from my 8 years in the navy. There are several cities I've visited that I always wanted to go back to even after several visits. Some are famous and some not so famous. Two of the cities that stand out the most are Gaeta, Italy (where I was stationed for 2 years) and the Greek island of Rhodes, Greece. Though the majority of my ancestors were from France, the few times I visited France I hated it. Mostly because of the rude nasty attitude of the people I met. I prefer to remain in this region and the other part of my ancestry is from here via native Americans.
I feel that way about Maine. I'm depressed as soon as I leave and count the days until I can return. I think it has more to do with my French Canadian heritage and the happy summer vacations I spent there visiting my Grandmother and Great Aunt. Maine has that similar feel to it. I did however have a really strange experience in one of the homes we looked at. Spiritually I think we dodged a bullet.
The first time I visited Oregon, I stepped out of the airport and knew immediately that I was "home."
For reasons too complicated to go into here, I'm no longer living there but if I could -- I would.
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