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You have a clear view of this strange and wondrous place.

Not known to many, this is a city where things don't quite work the way you're used to.

Things a little bit upside down. Walking around this town, you might find schools of fish

in the sky. Or magicians doing spells on the street corner. Some call it magical. Others

would say it's strangely scientific, but either way you can't wait to explore the mysteries

and surprises in store for you. You've never been here before, but some old friends

of yours moved to the area a number of years ago. This is the first time you've made the

journey out to see them and you're excited to spend a week at their home. They're kind,

generous, and funny people. From the postcards they've sent, you know that they've

lived in a beautiful apartment underneath the weeping Willow Bows of Kizia Street, which

backs on to one of the city's most famous canals. You imagine that you'll spend long

evenings in that small shady backyard of theirs, resting on cozy chairs beneath strings

of little paper lanterns. You'll sit together in comfortable silence, watching turquoise

mantarades fly slowly across the evening sky, and you'll enjoy the cool night breeze that

moves the Willow front over the surface of the canal like a calligraphy brushes. The

city is famous for a type of crisp golden cider, flavoured ever so faintly with blackberries.

After a long dusty train ride across the open desert, you cannot imagine anything more

...