Gary back in Africa again???

[Magnum Man]

Haven’t see @GaryE … on the forum lately… hope he’s ok, and doing something fun… rather than getting tired of me, and putting me on ignore…

 

[gwand]

I thought he mentioned a trip to Italy.

 

[Essjay]

Yes, Europe this time

 

[Back in the fold]

He did say something about a trip to Europe recently . I wonder if he’s going to pick up any Killifish or Killifish eggs .

 

[Colin_T]

The Canadian dollar must be worth a bit if he can afford to go jet setting for fish eggs. Or did he steal the TFF Learjet

 

[GaryE]

The TFF learjet is not what I expected. It turned out to be a large styrofoam glider.

11 days away and I only saw 5 goldfish, languishing in a tiny London petshop. We went to London, then Florence, Siena and London again. I have this thing about big, classic art museums and medieval neighbourhoods. I even enter churches when I travel, providing they're at least 300 years old, although I prefer 800 year old ones. The architecture can be magnificent.

I may sound naive, but the idea that I can be in London in 5 hours, the same amount of time it would take me to drive to the Quebecois village of St Louis de Ha!Ha! leaves me shaking my head. It's a great world.

 

[anewbie]

I never liked london much - been there 3 times; copenhagen, stockholm, amsterdam and esp prague are all prefer by a wide margin to london.

 

[MattW]

I don't want to start another north/south divide but the closer I get to London the less friendly people seem.

This vid sums it up

 

[anewbie]

I don't want to start another north/south divide but the closer I get to London the less friendly people seem.

This vid sums it up

I think it is just the by product of a large city - you see this in a lot of large cities in Europe and USA. I remember when i was in italy for a week and a bit; while my siblings and parents slept till noon i would walk to one of the nearby towns (around 3 to 5 miles); and they were all pretty friendly but the larger cities were not quite as friendly (we were in the northern part of the country).

 

[GaryE]

I love being anonymous, so an unfriendly city doesn't bother me in the least. I enjoy people watching in a huge city, but I don't really go to see individual people - it's the dynamism of the city. I'm also an amateur historian type, and spend a lot of time chasing ghosts. I love knowing some of the things that have happened in places, and imagining how they really were when I stand in or walk in those places.

I like a city where you are ignored and left alone. I found people friendly enough, outside of the wealthy areas. I had more interesting conversations with locals in Florence than in London, for certain, but they were about the art, and with younger people who wanted me to look at things they loved. London has a bad case of alienation - people who act detached from everything but the pursuit of money and the secret (to me) code of labels and status shopping. A lot of people seemed to buy shopping bags from expensive, high status stores so they could carry them around and look 'successful'. But to be fair, a lot of those people are tourists.

It can be like watching an aggressive fish tank, but there are lots of genuine people scattered through the predator and fin flaring stuff. Strutting and preening are everywhere. So are smart people. I met a guy selling vinyl records from a temporary street market barrow, and we had a fun conversation about blues music, and about how he'd recently noticed a hook from a 1920s recording in a Taylor Swift song. He was a guitar playing amateur historian/musicologist, and his thing was tracing things to their roots. Fun. I try to do that too, so we got along.

I see so many people these days falling into rigid ideologies and ungrounded theories, and a lot of them could use a lot of travel and listening to people who think differently to get their minds out of the weird ruts they've settled into. It's great to appreciate your own place, but you really should see other societies,values, solutions, failures etc. In my world view, everyone should travel, study history , keep fish, read and listen.

I met an Englishwoman who had to be close to 90, visiting Florence for the first time and tapping her cane with excitement as she set out alone on her first walk over to see some Michelangelos. I admire that.

I can't figure out how to travel and keep fish at the same time though.

 

[Back in the fold]

I even enter churches when I travel

And nothing happens ? No earthquakes or floods ?

 

[emeraldking]

The Canadian dollar must be worth a bit

The euro is worth more than the Canadian dollar. But still less than the English pound.

We went to London, then Florence, Siena and London again. I have this thing about big, classic art museums and medieval neighbourhoods. I even enter churches when I travel, providing they're at least 300 years old, although I prefer 800 year old ones. The architecture can be magnificent.

You'll find real old churhces in mid Europe.

I think it is just the by product of a large city - you see this in a lot of large cities in Europe and USA

I agree...

I see so many people these days falling into rigid ideologies and ungrounded theories, and a lot of them could use a lot of travel and listening to people who think differently to get their minds out of the weird ruts they've settled into.

So true...! This is also why I'm so grateful to have travelled a lot... Meeting different cultures with their own values, will give you a broad view on things.