Follies of politicians

I typed up this from the notes I made following a trip to London last weekend:

Being tired and lazy I've yet to wash London from my body over nearly twelve hours since I got back. Spending the puente in London with thirty other Spaniards in a hotel in North London was a shattering experience. A few days of loloping the streets paved with gold and I am blistered, pulled and loaded with stodge. Hopefully, within a few days my pulled muscles will be able to push once again, my blisters will be either burst or deflated, and the stodge unloaded.

A city break can be an exhausting rather than relaxing experience, but it didn't stop seemingly thousands of Spaniards to coming to London to do the same as us. They were everywhere, making keeping track of our group of Spaniards difficult to keep track of. Although we couldn't have been held responsible for any disappearances or casualties of adults on the trip, keeping up our numbers was important. In a big village/small town like this everyone seemed to know at least someone who was going on this trip. If the worst happened and there was a plane crash I'd want there to be be a decent memorial to us.

Arriving as when we did, the first results from various local elections across the country were coming in. New Labour were getting the kicking it probably deserves. As to whether Britain deserves the Tory party again I'm not so sure. London in the spring sunshine is wonderful, the infrequent, but heavy showers make it glisten. Open air opera singers in Covent garden and the traffic jams of tour boats were pleasant to experience as a tourist, but it was image of parliament wrapped in security similar to Baghdad's green zone is what will stay with me from this trip.
Not having been to Westminster since the antiwar marches of 2003 I was shocked at the change. It's now is encased in two layers of security fencing, constant and highly visible police patrols and concrete blocks to presumably stop car bombs. When a government has to protect itself so heavily from the citizens it claims to govern / provide aid to / liberate something is not right.

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ElGuiri, London