London, After the Bombs

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The Monday after the bombs, Londoners were using the buses and trains to get to work, and I arrived by train in Kings Cross station from York. As you can see from the sign, the damaged lines had been closed.

King's Cross

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Where Londoners could remember their dead.

Flowers for the Dead

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Solidarity

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Anyone could enter a small triangle of space behind a fence to read the messages attached to the flowers, or leave something of their own.

Laying Flowers

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I heard a policeman say that her that her nephew was missing.

Human Comfort

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I had a hard time deciding whether to put these pictures on the blog. I feel a little like I'm putting this old lady's pain on display. At the same time, I had no second thoughts when I took it. She summed up the way I felt as my train pulled into King's Cross that morning.

Do Not Despair

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Self-Portrait

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My cousins Jennifer and Marty live in York, England, about two hours north of London by train. I visited them after working at the G-8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland.

Marty and Jennifer's Home

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They live in a row house not far from the center of town. It's comfy and cool on a hot day, and there's a little back porch where we cooked out burgers.

Along the Wall

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Much of York's medieval wall is still intact, and walking along the top of it is a nice way to see the city.

York's ``Minister''

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Down by The River

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This was an old and crowded pub on the riverbank. It was packed because it also had some of the least expensive, quality brew, and because you could stay outside rather than couped up on a hot July day.

Beers

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Jennifer and Marty proved to be enthusiastic and well-informed pub companions, and York has some nice pubs.

Beers Redux

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I couldn't decide which of these two almost identitical pictures I liked best, and I figured cyberspace could make room for both.

Jennifer and Marty

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Gleneagles Hotel

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This was the afternoon before the bombings, Putin was about to arrive, and the big news of the day were clashes between police and demonstrators.

After an Absurd TV Hit in Italian

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My tie's tied a little short, or my belly's too long...

Reed at Gleneagles

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A budding television personality...

Adam and Michelle

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I met Adam -- an old Wabash buddy -- and his wife Michelle in London for the weekend of my 35th birthday. The whole visit was nice. My birthday was exceptional. We started with a couple beers, ate Thai food, pub crawled and then ended the evening drinking vodka and apple juice with some Polish immigrants we met on the street. We were a little hung over the next day...

Adam on the Thames Smiling

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Adam on the Thames Laughing

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BLIAR!

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The lawn in front of Parliament was covered with signs protesting the British involvement in Iraq. This shot shows a few.

Mitzvomobile

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For anyone in need of mitzvos on the go. London is a diverse city, and we were staying in Golders Green, which is a Jewish neighborhood with great bakeries and scrumptious bagels.

Look Kids, Big Ben

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This was just the super-cheese tourist shot, so we had to do it.

Welcome to the Biennale!

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The end of our vacation took us to Venice's bi-annual modern art festival. It was Brunella's belated birthday present.

Red Brunella

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Blue Brunella

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Leap Frog

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This picture and the next two were from a work where film loops of naked people doing funny things were projected into the bottoms of cardboard boxes. I don't know exactly how to interpret the message, nor did I try to hard. It was clever.

Run!

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The Alligator Is Coming!

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Hungarian Art

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More Hungarian Art

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You can see part of me taking the picture in the reflection...

Interactive Art

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Bruni became a part of the ``Center of Attention'' artwork. She does like attention.

At Her Own Funeral

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The concept was that you become the ``center of attention'' by attending your own funeral while you choose a song for your wake. Bruni chose ``Such a Perfect Day'' by Lou Reed.

She's a Little Weird...

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Chinese Installation

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A Chadelier...

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Made of Tampons

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Tower of Piazza San Marco

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Venice

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She's Happy

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She got three days of modern art, and in between exhibits she got to enjoy Venice.

The Grand Canal

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Venetian Clouds

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Vaporetto Captain

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A vaporetto is like a Venetian bus. It's slow, loud and smoky. They haul people around the lagoon and the Grand Canal day and night.

Vaporetto Pulling Into the Grand Canal

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Venetian Street

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Marseille Courtyard

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Chapel in Hospice de la Vieille Charite

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This 17th century rectanglular building with a chapel at its center used to house hundreds of families too poor to pay for their own housing. Now it's a museum.

Baroque Chapel

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Le Panier

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This area was turned into a ghetto by the Germans in WWII, and before that it was the neighborhood of the Italian immigrants. It's a picturesque quarter.