Categories: uncategorized
Date: 03 May 2006 14:18:24
I heard that my country had been liberated.
I was in Toledo as we were doing a brief tour of Spain. We were staying in Madrid and our guidebook said that if you could do one day trip it should be to Toledo and if you could manage two, then do Toledo and Segovia. Idiots. We had time for two trips so we went to Segovia one day and Toledo the next. Segovia is the most amazing town in the most stunning setting you could imagine. On the way there you get to see the Valle de los Caidos - Franco's impressive, and largely successful, attempt to be Ozymandias. And if you go in Spring you'll see snow on the mountains forming the backdrop to the amazing aquaduct, the bizarre castle that Disney copied, and dozens of gorgeous little towers and churches that look as if someone has collected them from all over just to form a beautiful little gallery. The place is really quite small and the density of stunning sights is just incredible. And then, having decided that Segovia might just be the most wonderful place in the whole of Europe, on the second day we went to Toledo because the guidebook had said it would be better. What an absolute let-down. The railway station is beautiful, but when the station is the best sight in a town you know something is wrong. Yes, if you want, you can be impressed with the alcázar that Franco successfully besieged, but no sane person likes to dwell on the bad guy's successes. And apart from that, there's nothing but dozens of tacky tourist-trap shops selling knives. Like Sheffield but with less culture.
So it was that the day was redeemed only by reading the newspaper to find that, for the first time in twenty years, the British public had shown that they did want such a thing as society, that they didn't want to always be selfish b******s, that their consciences hadn't completely atrophied during 18 years of being told that the only way to get back the money that was being stolen from them was by trampling over their neighbours, that occasionally they wanted a break from being exploited by the same old ruling classes that had been exploiting them for over a thousand years.
Now the good guys certainly don't look so good. An illegal war with endless casualties certainly wasn't something we wanted or expected. But even in the blackest moments it's still easy to look back and know that, whatever happens, it's a million times better than the bunch of maggots that were thrown out nine years ago. And, seeing a prat who attracts the cameras by riding his bike while his Hummer chugs along behind carrying his shoes, it's good to know that that hasn't changed.