Right now, 90% of Americans are probably saying, "Europe? Fine. I didn't want to travel to that country anyway."
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/covid-19-europe-travel-ban-trump-bolsonaro-puti...
Right now, 90% of Americans are probably saying, "Europe? Fine. I didn't want to travel to that country anyway."
https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/covid-19-europe-travel-ban-trump-bolsonaro-puti...
On the pick/so-so border, but I‘m going with a pick as it‘s given me a little time and space to process . . . stuff!
This is a very mixed collection of short essays (?no, shorter), thoughts, love letters on ‘What Europe means to me‘ from people who are, on the whole, gutted to be leaving. Many are ‘Meh‘, some are excellent, all are heartfelt. I struggled through the more sentimental/nostalgic French exchange/first love pieces, but 👇
Interesting read. A collection of brief anecdotes and essays. There are some real highlights (Colin Tude and Michel Faber in particular) but the majority are a bit underwhelming and surprisingly repetitive (there are more countries in Europe that France you know).
All in all I'm glad I picked it up. It was, pleasantly, less political and more hopeful/reflective than I expected.
Questions we thought we'd put behind us indeed! Not naivety mind. I don't think anyone could have predicted how readily people would sacrifice NI in their pursuit of a past that never was.
The Channel is calm today, a bright turquoise diffusing into a sharp blue line where the sea meets the sky. But the horizon isn‘t a border, you know. It‘s what joins us.
What a lovely thought
"A telling aspect of that European distribution is that blackbirds love to be near us. They achieve their highest breeding numbers and success, not in the pristine forest where they originated, but in suburbia. We would not be entirely wrong to imagine that they like to sing to us."
I really enjoyed this collection of essays, although some did bring a tear to my eye, most were uplifting, funny and very genuine about their love for Europe.
I could have quoted lots really, but I‘m too sad and today is weighing heavily- I just hope no one gives me one of those 50p coins!!
#99ponkindle required reading tomorrow 😢