On London

If you plan to visit London among other destinations, make it towards the leg of your trip or else you will wind up hating all of England -- and that's without even having tried the English Breakfast. (One word: regurgitation).

London is so amazingly expensive it makes the head hurt.

Trust me, the currency ain't called the English pound for nothing.

Did not mind the typical grayness of the weather---charming, rather---but this world city is not for the budget traveller. In fact, I stopped over near the start of my trip and was still smarting from the exchange rate.

Very glad, however, to report I didn't encounter any racial beef. Whilst in Barcelona I met a rowdy group of Britons from Birmingham, England. They were a nice lot and not shabby about sharing drinks. In fact, they were happy to ply you with them...the more, the merrier, as the saying goes.

Long live the Queen, and all that jazz.