A couple final thoughts

European tour 2011 is officially in the books and I have a couple comments to make:

ON LONDON
Amazing city with wonderful people. There is a great feel about the city and I think Londoners are justifiably proud of their splendid city.

ON PARIS AND ITALY
On countless occasions we encountered extremely rude people in both these cities. While generally we found small town Italy and France to be a bit more welcoming - these two major cities and many others in France and Italy are incapable of being helpful or pproviding what I think is the minimum amount of courtesyy for effective communication and social discourse. Booooo

ON SANTORINI
I believe this island is a mess and requires strong leadership and a new direction or risk becoming a serious black eye to the rest of Greece. Just to scratch the surface:

Doing something with the sewage - it just washes up on the beach,,,,

The ATV/scooter rental business needs to be controlled. There are literally thousands of unhelmeted inexperienced drivers going too fast or too slow on the roads. Add to this the local Greeks who drive well beyond safe speeds and have no regard for any traffic laws whatsoever. In addition, there are countless incidences of accidents on the island due to this or improper maintenance.It's a mess.

Each business owner in his or her zest to extract maximum cash from touristos has to be made to understand that this is hurting the welfare of all Santorinians and Greeks in general. Programs for tourists to report ripoffs should be made available and licencing processes put in place.  IE  - no prices marked...you forget to ask the price of a bottle of water in advance and its 4 Euro. 50 cents anywhere in Athens - but 4 waters carelessly ordered in Santorini costs you close to $25. What a pile of crap. Shame (this is one of countless schemes we ran across). I will never return to this Island and intend to write a letter to the editor of the local "Welcome to Santorini guide book". It should be subtitled "where we love you money and will find a way to get it all"

ON HOLIDAYS
I love my job and have no trouble merrily going along doing what needs to be done, but taking the time out for yourself and family are equally important. A holiday gives you an opportunity to reflect on, assess and ponder life. Breaks are necessary and I am fortunate to have had a couple good ones in recent years.

ON TOMATOES
Tomatoes are red - all the way to the center. Huh! Who knew. The food is amazing in Europe. Cheese - cured meats and wine are standouts but it's the tomatoes that steal the show!

ON MY WORKMATES
I am indebted to my workmates who have so generously covered off my duties in my absence. In he 5 years I have been with this company, I am constantly surprised and pleased by the way the organization supports its members. Whether it is formal processes or just people helping people - I am very proud of our company for this and many other reasons. Thank you

ON GOVERNMENT INVOLVEMENT IN THE ECONOMY
I believe that my politics take me slightly to the right of center. That said, I am supportive of a social democracy and capitalism. And I have been known (on quite a few occasions) to complain about the Government (all 3 levels) getting overly involved in business and my personal life.

When we first reached Europe and enjoyed a bottle of wine and brick of cheese in a park with others doing the same, the following occurred to me;
1) It was cheap - no sin tax
2) It was delicious - less government intervention complicating production
3) No one was falling over drunk (In fact there are far far less homeless/ drug abusers in Europe)
4) We were free to enjoy the park without worry of being arrested.
5) We bought it at the corner store of which there are many...

All of these things really appeal to me, but as I continued to work my way through Europe I saw that at some point, lack of government involvement leads to chaos and a lack of fairness in process. I am very proud that in Canada if you work hard, you have a reasonably good chance of being successful. You don't need to grease any palms, rip people off, or be concerned about the stability of the government (for the most part) in the future. IN sum - we have it really good and I have never been so proud to be a Canadian.

ON FAMILY
This trip has brought us closer together as a family. As we shared the emotional roller coaster of travelling together, we found ourselves being more supportive and thoughtful about each other's needs. Travel is intensified living where in a single day your emotions are like shooting stars as you delight in the sights but basic life processes can be such a challenge. A small gypsy boy of about 10 years old came at Jake with a pair of scissors yesterday and then pretended to stab Jake in the arm. There was no harm done - and I was proud of Jake for shaking it off so quickly. He reasoned that the boy was probably not even aware that his actions were threatening given that he lives on the street where his norms and Jake's are miles apart.

And yes - I hauled the kids through a bunch of Museums but tried to balance that with fun along the way. This blog (although rough) is going to be produced as a book the kids can look back on years from now and remember some of what we shared as a family thanks to the generosity of my workmates and the lifestyle we enjoy in Canada. Maybe - just maybe, they'll remember a few things from one of those damned museums or churches!