Thursday, March 23, 2006

Back to Reality

Our trip to England was enjoyable in spite of the fact the weather was cold and blustery (very similar to the weather here in Michigan). People kept commenting that they were having the coldest spring in 25 years. It didn't rain though, so that was a plus.

I'm still playing catch up here at home, but I wanted to post a couple of pictures from our trip. The first one is the Tower Bridge over the Thames as taken from the Thameslink train. (We rode the train after we landed at the airport to get to our destination in Bedford, which is about 70 miles north of London.)

The second picture shows my husband posing with a very congenial Bobby. In fact, I didn't meet one English person who wasn't congenial and helpful, which really stood out in contrast to some surly people we had to deal with before we even left the country. Whatever happened to American manners and courtesy, and why have so many of us become aggressive and rude? I miss the days when people treated each other with kindness and respect - even under difficult circumstances.

One final observation, many people I spoke to in England voiced their displeasure with George Bush for dragging their country into the mess in the Middle East, yet they felt the U.S. should resolve the problem by dropping a couple of nuclear bombs over there and just wiping the Muslims off the face of the earth. I found that unnerving, especially from people who live in a country that experienced the death and destruction of bombs firsthand. How does that make them any different from the terrorists? How does killing innocent people solve the problem?

Anyway, I just wanted to share these experiences with everyone. I'll be posting something new very soon.

3 comments:

Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker said...

As a student, I lived and worked in London for a time. Working at a pub off the beaten path, I hardly ever encountered another American until one day two retired couples walked in for lunch. I can't fully express how much hearing their whining, demanding voices ("Gimme this! I want that!")hurt my ears. Where were they from?

Michigan. I kid you not.

Plus, I'm pretty sure they were Democrats.

His Honor the Mayor said...

Welcome back!

Unknown said...

Welcome back! I've spent a fair amount of time in U.K. but it was limited almost entirely to London. (The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, actually.)

I used to joke that it is "just like going to Europe, except they speak English."

Glad you're back, and glad you had anice time.