This City...

[rosiphelee]

This is London. Boudicca burnt it. The Vikings invaded it. The Peasants' Revolt marched through it. The Black Death and the Great Plague ravaged it and the Great Fire of 1666 razed it. Within the memory of living Londoners the city had survived the blitz and the prolonged IRA bombing campaign.

Do you petty, cowardly little people really think you can intimidate the people of this city?

Comments

[alintaflame.livejournal.com]

Damn that made me cry with pride.

[paantha.livejournal.com]

This city is wonderful. As are all the people in it.

Blessings and prayers to everyone.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Typical British reaction to any crisis:

1. Make a cup of tea.

2. Make another cup of tea, this time with biscuits.

3. Stick a finger up at the perpetrators.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

I wouldn't say it's a universally great city. Like most places it's a mix of good and bad and indifference but it does have a certain collective attitude (or maybe collective attitude problem ~_^)

[saiena.livejournal.com]

London is as London does, there isn't another place like it. It fuses old with new, cosmopolition with historical, the weird, the wonderful, the wise and the woeful, strength with solidarity and no one - NO ONE - can simply walk in and wipe that away.
Londoners are stronger than that.
Britain is stronger than that.
We're this little island, but we're an island with a lot of history. If the greats of history didn't succeed in driving us down, I don't see how they're going to do it now.

Nothing if not defiant. Well said, my dear, very, very well said.

(Love the new icon by the way. *hugs*)

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

The icon's great, isn't it. It came from here (http://www.livejournal.com/community/metaicons/4479.html)

Things are pretty subdued here today but we're getting back to normal. It's very quiet - anyone who can work at home has. The buses and most of the Tube are running again.

We've even managed to post the exam results on time.

London is London. It's irrepressible.

*hugs*

[saiena.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've been watching BBC News (did that all day yesterday, I have very square eyes) and they keep giving out the travelling details. It's incredible really - resilience is quite possibly the best word for it.

Well done on getting the exam results out.

[paantha.livejournal.com]

Everywhere is a mix of good and bad. That is part of human nature.

And tea! TEA!!!!

[ladylight.livejournal.com]

Bloody well said! Gorgeous shot of the city, too.

And that icon is absolutely priceless. It makes me want an Aussie version (with beer substituted for the tea, of course).

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

It was a lovely evening on Wednesday and I ended up taking loads of pictures of the Thames and Lincoln's Inn (and then ended up reading the history bit of their website which in turn gave me an idea for a young adult historical novel...)

The icon is great. I'm seeing it in more and more places - it obviously struck a chord with a lot of people.

[ambsdrig.livejournal.com]

I am glad to here you are ok - and sorry about the news.

I just got back from Wisconsin - and to think yesterday I was annoyed about not getting in 'till 3am on July 7th due to a storm in Atlanta holding up traffic for almost six hours.

I fell asleep happy to be home and happy to know London had got the olympics.

I woke up at 11:30 and heard the despicable news. Knowing that you talked about your commute from King's Cross I was worried - and am happy that you are ok.

Enjoy your cup of tea - I'll drink one to you and all Londoners, and all who despise sniveling, skulking, pathetic cowards, with no brains nor balls.

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

Thanks. Luckily, I'm staying with my parents this week and commuting a different way. It has emphasised that walking is probably the safest way to get around London. I haven't been back towards King's Cross yet - I doubt I'll be going back to Cambridge until next week. I'm dreading it a little as it's clear it was the worst of the incidents. It's very strange to look at the news pictures and see places I walk past every day.

Everything is getting back to normal here. I think most Londoners are just determined to get on with life. People outside the city seem to be more worried.

[wispywillow.livejournal.com]

Wonderful spirit, Jenna!

And dammit, I will visit that city one day soon!

[rosiphelee.livejournal.com]

It's a great city. I played tourist on Wednesday and took loads of photos but what with everything I haven't had a chance to sort through them yet. I will have a tour of Lincoln's Inn and Waterloo Bridge for you all sometime this weekend.

The attitude here at the moment is one of determination. Everyone's just getting on with things. There's still work which needs to be done. Changing our behaviour in response to this would be letting them win. It also helps that we were prepared. It seemed to me that until 9/11 America believed itself to be invulnerable and part of the shock was the realisation that that wasn't true. That was never an issue for London - even my generation have grown up with the awareness of terrorism in the background and a lot of Londoners have lived and worked through IRA attacks. Everyone in London is aware of the daily risk of being in the city and has chosen to take that risk.

[wispywillow.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I'm very glad Londoners are picking up and moving on, not letting this thing bring them down.

That's very true. Too many Americans relied too heavily on that false sense of security. The younger generations, for the most part, seem to have a different mentality than some of the older ones. Most of the people (that I know) in my age group are left-wing, unhappy with the state of our government and country, all know (now more than ever) that safety is an illusion. I'm glad that people here are realizing that now. People are a bit edgy, wondering if we'll be next--but at least there's not the panic that there might have been a couple years ago. I believe that our behavior changed after the 9/11 attacks, but it was a necessary change. We couldn't continue walking around as a country with its eyes closed.

It's always good to have open eyes... not to mention open minds.