Gone Fishin', Summer Break

Took a Month to Rest in Europe

Now Need a Year to Recover

By Gordon Duff

Just flew in from Paris last night, arms tired as hell.  I spent about a month in Europe in a yearly self imposed scheme of physical punishment and that endless seach for the "Jim Morrison/Ernest Hemingway" view of life.  That I picked two suicidal crazies to emulate is a clear indication that my PTSD is alive and well.

Being a "political writer", talking about travel seems a bit off subject.  I could talk about how much everyone in Europe loves Obama.  This could be proof of a couple of things.  Intelligence is not one of them.  Travel was always seen as a way to broaden your outlook on life.  The idea was that if you saw enough of the "wonders of the world", you would, somehow, be a better person.  Seeing people pay $11 a gallon for gasoline made coming home to $4 buck gas less painful, so they may have been right.

One experience probably belongs here more than others.  I had "meetings" to attend in a hotel near London’s Hyde Park.  I had been hiking in the German Alps when the demand came in……

London in summer still is loaded with Americans, even with the financial crisis.  I loaded up my Peugeot 207 SW and drove from Garmish-Partenkirchen thru France to Calais where I stuck it and myself on the ferry for Dover along with a pile of UK car enthusiasts with their classic Bentleys, Aston Martins and Jags.  Driving, wrong side of the road, into London using my Satanic Navigation Device dumped me at the Four Seasons at dark.

Entering Britain, though part of the European Union, required a passport check and, upon landing, extensive customs screening and a virtual gauntlet of cameras, sensors and such looking for "undesirables".  As our resident defender of "lost causes", minorities, veterans and other undesirable types it seemed that Britain was pretty serious about keeping "bad guys" away.

Then I checked into the hotel, and decided to walk around the Serpentine Lake in London’s massive Hyde Park.  It was an eye opener.  I live near Toledo, OH, a town with a large and long integrated Islamic population.  I shop at an Islamic grocery and live in what I thought was a mixed neighborhood, not far from the medical center.

Hyde Park was like walking onto the set of "National Lampoons Terrorist Vacation".  Thousands of people were enjoying the warm evening.  If anyone is wondering where the Taliban is hiding out, I can tell them.  It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that my USMC t-shirt nearly caused a riot.  You would be surprised to see how fast women in Burkas wielding knives and clubs can run.

Absolutely no attempt to speak English, dress in a western fashion or become "British" in any way was going on here.  London, or the "money" half, is Arab as hell with the exclamation on "hell"!  Now I know why the border was so "tight".  If one more terrorist gets onto Britain it is likely to sink.

I travel in the Middle East, have many friends there and find the Islamic world both hospitable and warm.  This thing going on in Britain is something else.  Britain has 6 million Muslims, I am sure the majority of whom are quite "British", not a perfect thing by any means, as Brit’s are, perhaps, even more flawed than Americans. 

I spent a few days in Paris, my preferred "in and out" location in Europe.  If you return a rental car to the French with air in one tire, it is considered perfect.  Germans will put a rental car on the rack and check the tires for wear.  French allow tourists to prettymuch carry as much luggage on a plane as you can get in an SUV.  Germans will weigh your wallet and Britain allows one carry-on bag.  Imagine deciding whether to pay 200 bucks to take 20 bucks of worn underwear on a plane or having to pack 3 bags into one and make it weigh half as much while running down a ramp in an airport.  (perhaps chased by women in Burka’s)

This was the trip where I found Leitchenstein.  It was hiding inside Switzerland and is about the size of a Walmart parking lot but not nearly as fun or interesting.  Bus loads of people were visiting their money in the discreet and secure banks there.  Money tourism, the up and coming thing in the 21st century.  Not many American’s on the busses, no surprise there.

I still have a major case of jet lag.  I will try to work myself into a lather over the John Conyers "too little/too late" impeachment hearings or the idiotic election we are having. 

On a cultural level, I got sucked into going to the opera with a group of Brits who were visiting Italy.  Our driver was "Bruno".  Bruno, a wonderful character, drove 4 couples from Lucca to Siena to the Puccini Festival to see Madame Butterfly at their lakefront theatre.  The Brits were good company, especially the retired veternarian and we were all a bit drunk anyway.  If any of you are planning to "do opera", get drunk as possible first.

Gordon Duff is a regular contributor on social and political issues.

Gordon Duff

Gordon Duff posted articles on VT from 2008 to 2022. He is a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam War. A disabled veteran, he worked on veterans and POW issues for decades.

Gordon is an accredited diplomat and is generally accepted as one of the top global intelligence specialists. He manages the world’s largest private intelligence organization and regularly consults with governments challenged by security issues.

Duff has traveled extensively, is published around the world, and is a regular guest on TV and radio in more than “several” countries. He is also a trained chef, wine enthusiast, avid motorcyclist, and gunsmith specializing in historical weapons and restoration. Business experience and interests are in energy and defense technology.

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