I’ve been meaning to do something about mountains. The thing about mountains with dense settlements on or around them is that they are mostly invisible. While you can tell that they’re there from long flights of steps and sloped roads, they are missing the most rewarding aspects of a mountain: the view from them, as well as of them. Construction might cover up what was once a recognisable peak with a slab of concrete, or erase it from sight altogether by putting up a building around it. Even if an urban peak remains accessible, the more the built-up area encroaches on the peak, the more difficult it is to recognise it from further away, and the less extensive the view from above.

Once a mountain leaves our direct perception, it loses its function as a reference point. An elevation that might in earlier days have deserved its own name becomes nothing but a slope to be overcome on our way somewhere else.