The UK’s town squares may be impressive, but they can’t top the ones on the continent
I have favourite squares in Britain: Radcliffe Square in Oxford, dominated by its majestic camera; Millennium Square in Leeds; Trafalgar Square in London. Other favourites are much farther away: my breath was stolen by St Petersburg’s Palace Square; I was bowled over by Cairo’s Tahrir Square; charmed by Marrakech’s Jemaa el-Fnaa.
But who does town squares best? Continental Europeans, of course. That’s why we often describe squares by their Italian name: piazzas. I have special memories of Pariser Platz in Berlin and Livu Square in Riga. When those of us not from the continent think of our finest holiday moments, I would wager that tucking into lunch, sipping a coffee, nibbling ice-cream, people-watching or chatting with a companion, all while sitting alfresco at a piazza table, are up there with other delights such as lounging on a beach, going on long walks, and haggling in markets.
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