London or Tripoli?

[HRH1948]

Remembrance Day

For the fourth time, I had an opportunity to spend the second Sunday in November in London this past November 14th.

The last time I was there for the event there was in 2018. Then and on the previous two occasions, I was deeply impressed to the point of almost being overwhelmed with emotion. London is a noisy place. However, in previous years, at 11AM Big Ben sounds and there was complete silence. I recall being aware of the sound of leaves rustling in the trees. A sound that I was not aware of only moments before.

This year, things were different. Big Ben is under construction and the sound is different. The usual spotless streets had trash and debris scattered about and the usual diverse crowd was replaced by a noisy throng made up primarily of middle easterners. It was like Tripoli with better architecture.

I was very careful not to forget anything in our hotel room. I didn’t want an excuse to ever travel back to London.

So sad…