Walking the densely packed streets gives no relief from everyday life. There are no signs that suggest Portsmouth is a seaside city encompassed in water. No stereotypical features that make our other coastal destinations so loveable. Instead, streets are crammed with unkempt Victorian terraces, the occasional 60s tower block too dangerous to live in and rows upon rows of cars that make no attempt to please the eye. The roads, like arteries, are an unplanned maze with little sign of escape or glimpse of what is beyond the houses. Suddenly a clearing is reached but is nothing more than a car park for a supermarket or shopping centre. The other side presents yet more  crowded streets featuring years of careless modifications and ‘to let’ boards, however once you emerge from the vast maze to the outskirts of the city it all starts to make sense. With expansive views on all sides, Portsmouth is all about looking out at what’s beyond and not standing on the beach glancing back into the functional city. You realise it doesn’t matter what the city looks like when facing the other way. It is simply a lense that enables 238,000 residents to capture the view