What an incredibly expensive place this is.
Yes, but what a wonderful place it is too. The city is a real city. Its building seem to be getting better. There is hardly any trace of modern architecture . Every building seems so solid...so substantive.
There are far too many cars in the city. It wasn't designed for this. Cars are parked everywhere, in every nook and cranny between bldgs, in front of buildings, behind buildings.
The grieving of Princess DIana is at once touching and irritating.
The number of flowers and letters, cards and pictures and candles that have been placed at the gates of Kensington, Buckingham, along the funeral route, at Harrods...basically everywhere, is quite astonishing. There is a great deal of goodwill and deep emotion in this country.
And yet, the whole thing is also a bandwagon. With such abundant display of emotion, it is hard not to get caught up in it, even if you don't on your own feel any particular or special sorrow regarding these tragic deaths. A car accident, a drunk driver, a celebrity playing games with the media...why should we feel that this death is so special. The woman was a clothes horse, and at least a little mentally distressed. [Yes] She lived in a world of plenty, and [YES] she offered solace to the needy and [YES!] she used her influence to try to achive good. But she didn't do these things at any personal cost. She lived regally. Unlike the other tragic death this month, Mother Theresa.
Walking through Hyde Park on a drab autumn day, I am struck by how human the geography and climate of England are, at least compared to Canada. A The elm and chestnut trees offer real protection for an unexpected rain shower, people are walking around in shirtsleeves, or in jackets, or sweaters. The temperature is neither too hot nor too cold. It is, well, just pleasant.
The country resonantes with me. My earliest memories are strong. Given the slightest encouragement, they come back. These are not specific memories of events or people. But just feelings, walking over the grass in Hyde Park in an area which has gone to seed, I come across a group of boys playing soccer in the school uniforms. I don't know if I ever did that, but it just felt very familiar and very right. I don't think I will ever feel the same about another place.
Speaking of boys in school uniferms, they are everywhere. Girls too. I think this is a good thing. Don't ask why...but when I see boys Andrew's age running in a playground with their ties askew and shirttails rumpled out of their shorts, I wonder why we don't do that. Compare this to Canada where the "uniform" consists of T-shirts and sweatpants. No comparison.
Wine. Its not that I think Canadians ought to drink more wine, but I think that we are just too uptight about it. During an all day business meeting the lawyers produced the usual fare of sandwiches and pop for lunch, but without fanfare a bottle of red and a bottle of white were also placed next to the glasses. Some people took a glass, most didn't. But the choice was there, and as the meeting dragged on into the evening, those two bottles made changed the atmosphere from a brutal negotiating session to a "have a drink and talk this thing through" session. There is a world of difference.
Despite the fact that Glasgow has the title, London IS the city of culture. This weekend there will be a concert in the Park, the Proms in the Park. Popular classics performed live in Hyde Park in front of god knows how many people, plus a live video feed on giant TV screens of the real Proms concert in Royal Albert Hall, just across the street. Imagine.....a classical concert being transmitted onto jumbo video for the people, to see.