I've said to heaps of people that I don't live in the safest part of London, but it isn't the worst part either. Tonight I picked Netta up from the new St Pancras and took her to Suza's house. On the way home, discovered that I had wandered into what looked like a set from The Bill. Police tape, a huge amount of 'bobbies' and those little white tents they put up to preserve blood stains. This is what had happened, for anyone who is interested: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/27/nstabbing127.xml
Of course, because they'd blocked a big chunk of Upper Street off, there were no buses heading down Essex Road and no cabs in the area either. So of course I am left with no other option but to walk home through hoodie central. Which to me only increases the likelihood of someone else (ie. me) getting mugged/stabbed/accosted by drunks. Oh look, I live in Islington/Stoke Newington where there have been numerous other stabbings of late. I think I'll just take a late night stroll home.
Anyway, I'm now watching comic relief. Stabbings and Take That performing for charity. Tomorrow I am heading out to buy a Kevlar jacket.
Welcome to England Netta.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Belgian Things
Christmas in Belgium was fantastic. In the sense that any time you can go to a country where you can eat cones of frites and drink super strong beer with impunity, you are inevitably going to have a good time.
The Christmas markets were nice. The heavy food was great. The weather was crisp and sunny. And at 3€ for a glass of Leffe, any potential possible homesickness was washed away in an alcoholic fog. (This is a joke, mum and dad. I wasn't spending Christmas singing carols to myself in a drunken stupor. No - I was eating a chicken club sandwich and having a nice afternoon nap while reading the presents I was given by my 'orphan family').
So yes, I had a good time, not much homesickness and the enduring feeling that Christmas in Europe at least feels like Christmas and that maybe we in the southern hemisphere should just celebrate something different altogether. Something that doesn't require us to put an aging man with a white beard into board shorts on the beach in order to make it at all appropriate to our environment.
Having said all this, I have come to the conclusion that Belgium is perhaps the MOST boring country in Europe. I mean, it's pretty and people are friendly and I will grant that it was Christmas, but it just didn't feel that interesting to me. Mayeb it was my mood. Maybe it's because it wasn't the ideal time of year to do all the 'war stuff'.
But I don't think anything illustrates that innate boredom that is Belgium than the fact that one of Brussels' most popular tourist attractions is 'mini Europe'. Which cost €12 to get into. Or 4 glasses of Leffe. And there you have the Belgian view of Europe. In which 'Europe' is really only the countries in the EU. Ooooooo...political.
The Netherlands will be 'New in 2008.
The awesome work of 20th Century engineering, the Channel Tunnel, is represented by a piece of PVC pipe and some pond water. With a small mechanical train for good measure.
The Ireland display came complete with barnyard noises.
Slovenia didn't even crack a monument. Just a patch of grass. Same for Estonia and some of the other 'lesser' EU Nations.
Belgium seemed to have twice as many objects of interest as France, and I am telling you, it just isn't so.
The collapse of the Berlin wall was shown with a Tonka truck pulling down a small piece of plastic with some truly bizarre sound effects.
The most amazing thing about this was that some of these displays cost €350 000 to make. Those must have been some expensive Tonka toys.
So that was Belgium. And Christmas. Thanks to Wayne, Katie and Deaks for sharing my Christmas with me and preventing me from just sitting around, eating chocolate and watching TV. Oh, wait....
I will post pictures of mini Europe when I feel like I can loko at them without cracking up.
The Christmas markets were nice. The heavy food was great. The weather was crisp and sunny. And at 3€ for a glass of Leffe, any potential possible homesickness was washed away in an alcoholic fog. (This is a joke, mum and dad. I wasn't spending Christmas singing carols to myself in a drunken stupor. No - I was eating a chicken club sandwich and having a nice afternoon nap while reading the presents I was given by my 'orphan family').
So yes, I had a good time, not much homesickness and the enduring feeling that Christmas in Europe at least feels like Christmas and that maybe we in the southern hemisphere should just celebrate something different altogether. Something that doesn't require us to put an aging man with a white beard into board shorts on the beach in order to make it at all appropriate to our environment.
Having said all this, I have come to the conclusion that Belgium is perhaps the MOST boring country in Europe. I mean, it's pretty and people are friendly and I will grant that it was Christmas, but it just didn't feel that interesting to me. Mayeb it was my mood. Maybe it's because it wasn't the ideal time of year to do all the 'war stuff'.
But I don't think anything illustrates that innate boredom that is Belgium than the fact that one of Brussels' most popular tourist attractions is 'mini Europe'. Which cost €12 to get into. Or 4 glasses of Leffe. And there you have the Belgian view of Europe. In which 'Europe' is really only the countries in the EU. Ooooooo...political.
The Netherlands will be 'New in 2008.
The awesome work of 20th Century engineering, the Channel Tunnel, is represented by a piece of PVC pipe and some pond water. With a small mechanical train for good measure.
The Ireland display came complete with barnyard noises.
Slovenia didn't even crack a monument. Just a patch of grass. Same for Estonia and some of the other 'lesser' EU Nations.
Belgium seemed to have twice as many objects of interest as France, and I am telling you, it just isn't so.
The collapse of the Berlin wall was shown with a Tonka truck pulling down a small piece of plastic with some truly bizarre sound effects.
The most amazing thing about this was that some of these displays cost €350 000 to make. Those must have been some expensive Tonka toys.
So that was Belgium. And Christmas. Thanks to Wayne, Katie and Deaks for sharing my Christmas with me and preventing me from just sitting around, eating chocolate and watching TV. Oh, wait....
I will post pictures of mini Europe when I feel like I can loko at them without cracking up.
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