But sometimes, like this chap, we can’t and we have to make the best of the here and now. It’s like a game we occasionally play where we sit outside a city cafe with our expresso, our backs to the road and pretend there’s a harbour behind us. A way to survive the city.
I see other people finding their own ways of creating a bit of personal space, on the trains and tubes. Mostly this seems to involve iPods, phones and newspapers.
I like this chap. I’m not really sure what he’s doing there, just sunbathing, maybe saving a parking space? Who knows? All I know is that there he sat, in the sun, relaxing and he made me smile.

The other thing I know is that if I hadn’t had my camera with me I would never have seen him. It was only because I was casting around for something to photograph that I saw him at all.
So there he is – a slice of city life. Did he make you smile too?