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We had a great time and enjoyed seeing both England and Spain. In England, it was amazing how quickly Londoners took the bombings in stride. We stayed in the B&B until about mid- afternoon, mostly because we needed a nap after the travel and we thought it prudent to stay put. Later, we went to a really good French/Indian restaurant because it was in walking distance, was rated highly, and it was my husband's birthday.
One thing that is immediately noticeable ALL over London is that there are prominent signs indicating that the area is monitored by Closed Circuit TV (CCTV). The signs were very obvious - in bright yellow and black. The police were able to get a huge amount of information very quickly from them. I wonder if America's culture being more individual based vs group based would preclude acceptance of this level of surveillance. Both the Police and the press referred to the bombings as crimes and investigated them as such. After identifying the bombers, and finding the source of their bombs, they talked about tracking their money and communication flows. All in all, sounds more like a Kerry response than a Bush response.
The next day the buses and the underground (with some re-routes) were running, so we saw a play at the Globe theatre (which was amazing), and went on the London Eye (actually boring, but good views). On our last day, we went on a Beatles walk with some English friends of ours- seeing places associated with the Beatles. It took us into some really nice neighborhoods that our English friend and her son had never seen. We had lunch/dinner at a pub and saw the Queen based musical in the West End. (The gist was a future authoritarian time when people were banned from writing or playing music - it was all to be created by computer. In the summary of how the world reached this state there were a few jabs at boy bands and W - that were applauded. At the end, music wins. Shades of Yellow Submarine - but happening here not far away)
My husband and I had met the English people we saw on 2 earlier trips after meeting on the internet. She is the daughter of an American GI who met and married an English woman and stayed in England. Her dad has the same unusual last name as my husband and she was trying to expand her family tree. My husband's family didn't know names back far enough - but they were from the same area and their is a strong family resemblance to her dad (who we met on an earlier trip) and his family. But related or not, we have kids about the same age and like each other.
One bad note, was that if she is representative, some of the negative stereotypes that Kerry was assigned here seem to have gone to London as well - She voted for Kerry (she has dual citizenship), but said she didn't like him because he seemed a very cold man. (I disagreed but didn't push the issue. If Kerry runs again, I will send her some of the stuff countering that or send Butler's book which subtly counters that - especially when it shows him with all the kids making up games for them.)
In Spain, we were in Costa Del Sol. The area was so gorgeous, but we were told by several of the guides and other people we met that life has become a lot harder for the people in the area since the euro was introduced. The price for land and homes has escalated to a point where young people can't afford to move away from their parents. (This area (other than the coastline) was the poorest area years ago and only recently have they built good highways which make it easier to get to inland cities. They blamed it on the euro, though it might really have been that the improved accessibility made foreigners and people from other areas of Spain bid up the prices.)
We had fun swimming in the Mediterranean, seeing Cordoba and Ronda and going to a water park. (Guess which day our 14 year old planned.)
I did see DU while there, but neglected to take login info - so I only read things and was amazed how much was going on.
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