Travels – Page 23 – Splendid Isolation

Crims Gonna Crim

October 18, 2019 Kim du Toit Behind Enemy Lines, Crime

As the old saying goes: “If you ban guns, can we use swords?” Well, Britishland is discovering the folly of denying its citizens the natural right of self-defense, and especially ownership of guns, as the choirboys just turn to other means:

Knife crime is continuing to rocket as shocking figures released today show more than 44,000 offences were reported last year. The number of offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in England and Wales rose by 7% on the previous 12 months, figures released by the Office for National Statistics show.
The alarming figures also reveal a 4% rise in firearms offences, a 10% increase in pickpock[et]ing, an 11% rise in robberies and a 9% increase in public order offences.

And as you continue to emasculate [sic] your police force:

Worryingly, a breakdown shows just 1.4% of reported rapes end up in someone being charged, just 3.3% of sexual offences and only 5% of thefts.

I’ll bet that the highest percentage of crime categories solved (so as to bring the average up to that 7.4%) is nonsense like “didn’t have a TV license” or “littering” — you know, the serious crimes.

The percentage of cases solved has almost halved in the last four years. It was 14.8% in 2015.

And it was crap in 2015, too. From memory, the number was something like 60% solved back in the 1970s, when Life On Mars policing was reality and not satire.

For my Murkin Readers: remember, I’m always going on about Britishland because it’s an object lesson in what could happen (and in some cases is already happening) Over Here.

Take away the right to self-defense, take away the proper means of self-defense, lessen the efficiency of your police force by means of politically-correct dicta and harassment, and you have… London. And, by the way, Chicago.

Thanks, but no thanks.

Ordnung

September 24, 2019 Kim du Toit Travels

Saw this pic over at CW’s place (part of his fantastic Open Road series) and I could not help be amazed at the fact that people adhered to the traffic circle even though it was covered with snow.

Then it occurred to me that the picture was doubtless taken in Germany or one of the other OCD countries, and the lone tracks which do bisect the circle were probably made by a lost American tourist.

Small Wonder

September 8, 2019 Kim du Toit Culture, Travels

According to some organization, Vienna is the most “liveable” city in the world. I can see why, and I could live there in a heartbeat. I’ve often commented on my love for Vienna — to this day, it’s the only city that is so beautiful that the first time I went there, I walked the streets with tears running down my cheeks.

I don’t know what criteria the EIU set to decide livability, but here are mine:

1) It must be beautiful. Vienna has that, in spades.

2) There must be lots of culture: art, music and all the rest. Feel free to tell me Vienna doesn’t have that covered. Here’s the Kunsthistoriches (Art History) museum, see also beauty (above)

…and as for music? Even their street musicians are a cut above the rest (he was playing Mozart tunes, FFS):

3) The people must be well-mannered, well-dressed and classy. Vienna: check, check and check. The Viennese are terribly formal, which suits me down to the ground.

4) A relaxed lifestyle. Vienna = café culture, maybe even more so than Paris. And oooh the coffee…

5) Good food, and restaurants. Here’s Vienna’s equivalent of Whole Foods, or maybe M&S Food Court. Let me tell you: I know grocery stores, and Julius Meinl is the best in the world.

Let’s not forget the street markets:

So yeah: if somebody stuck a gun to my head and said, “You have to go and live in Vienna!”, I’d snatch the gun away and shoot him before he could change his mind.

I would be remiss, however, if I didn’t list a couple of negatives about Vienna. (A German I met once said, “Vienna would be beautiful, except for the Viennese”, and my only qualification of his opinion is that of the language.)

I speak German reasonably well, and can get around most of Germany without too much hassle (once I’ve been there a few days and have caught up — you don’t use it, you lose it, and I’ve pretty much lost it). That’s not true in Vienna, where the local patois is incomprehensible, even to a lot of Germans. (In the early days in Munich, Hitler had to take a few elocution lessons because people couldn’t understand his Austrian-accented speeches.)

Also: in winter, it’s witch’s tit cold. Holy balls. Even coming from Chicago as I did, Viennese winters are cold, Bubba. The only good thing about winter there is that it keeps most of the tourists away — which brings me to my last quibble: in summer, Vienna has more tourists per square yard than the average day at DisneyWorld.

But in summer, the weather is glorious and the whole city seems to sing. The multitude of statues to Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and Strauss (all of whom lived in Vienna) must have something to do with it…

Mein schönes Wien… I need to get back there, and soon.

As for the rest of the “ten most liveable” cities on that list? Ugh. As far as I’m concerned, it’s Snow White and the Nine Dwarfs.

And one wonders how anyone could put Vienna and Toronto (???!!!) on the same such list, with a straight face.

More Places I Have Seen

August 18, 2019 Kim du Toit Beauty, Travels

In alphabetical order:

Ahrweil, Germany

Heidelberg, Germany

Ludgate, London

Pie Town, NM (near the Continental Divide, temperature: -2F)

Silverton, CO

Trastevere, Rome

Zwettl, Austria

As with all these pics, right-click to enlarge, and feel free to use as wallpaper etc.

Not In Keeping

August 14, 2019 Kim du Toit Travels

In last Sunday’s post about places I’ve seen, there was one pic which, for various reasons, didn’t make the cut:

As a long-ago Reader once commented: “The best view of Manhattan is through a bomb-sight.”

Like so many cities, the place is best viewed from a distance because a) it smells and b) Noo Yawkers. And of course there’s the political thing.

Despite all that, however, I like NYFC even though (to quote another Reader) it’s “mostly hype and hicks”. And I’m not talking about the members of the International Hayseed Set who can be found gawping at Times Square and forming long lines at the Statue; having lived there for three years, I’ve found most New Yorkers to be unbelievably parochial and yes, hicks. What else can explain a city which serves the most over-priced-yet-average food in North America, and thinks that if it doesn’t happen in NYC, it doesn’t matter?

New Wife has never been to NYFC, so at some point I may have to grit my teeth and take her there. Or not. The price (to me) may just be too high.

Places I Have Seen

August 11, 2019 Kim du Toit Beauty, Travels

Indulge me for a moment, O Gentle Readers (like you don’t all the time) while I invite you all to take a stroll down Memory Lane with me, and re-visit some of my favorite places in the world. It’s by no means comprehensive, nor are the pics ranked by anything other than alphabetical order. (Some are quite large — right-click to embiggen. And feel free to copy or use them as wallpaper etc.)

All Cannings, Wiltshire, England