Lavenham, Suffolk

The Swan Hotel in Lavenham (see image RHS) was where our younger son and his wife had their wedding reception. Years before I came here on a course. Food was fabulous and after a week I had put on 8 lbs.

Today we visited Lavenham and ate a simple lunch at the Angel Hotel opposite the Guildhall. It had recently gone back to being a real pub with soup and sandwiches on the lunchtime menu.

Weather was January! 5-6 deg C, rainy and miserable, although it brightened up after lunch with a cold, biting wind.

Anti-Jewish feelings?

It saddens me that so many Jewish people find the UK is anti-Semitic but many Jews chose to live apart: separate schools, avoidance of eye contact in the streets (try it - it took 15 minutes or more in a Jewish part of north London to make any eye contact and the Jew who eventually did make eye contact was shocked!). Sorry, but in an inclusive society all groups must try to integrate. This applies to all groups and not just Jewish people.  By the way, some of the kindest people I know are Jewish. I am all for love and kindness between all peoples.

Euros

I continue to be puzzled by the Euro and the fact that so many different economies have been prepared to share the same currency when their underlying economic strengths are so different. Take for example Germany and Greece whose economies are poles apart. At the present time the Pound to Euro exchange rate is very favourable. One pound Sterling buys about 1.33 Euros. Greece has said today it will not default on its loans,but how will it pay its debts?

Auschwitz - 70 years on since liberation

Some years ago I visited Auschwitz. Even in the 21st century this Nazi death camp still gave me shivers. It is a miserable place and during WW2 it must have been horrific.

Today, hatred of the Jews seems to be on the increase. I have no sympathy for Israel's position over Gaza and Israel's position on the Palestinian people. All I wish is that everyone can respect the views of others and of their right to exist and worship as they wish, even if they chose to do so differently. Life is too short for hatred.

Arab, Christian, Jew? It matters not. What matters is we all share this little planet together, and should do so  in peace.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-30996555 .

Park and Ride

Every Tuesday I drive into Cambridge (Newmarket Road Park and Ride) where I pick up the Park and Ride bus into Cambridge, where I attend my U3AC course called "Maps in the Computer Age". It is an excellent course with good supporting notes and links. Apart from the £1 to park, travel into the city is free as I have an OAP bus pass.

Visit by son and granddaughter

Today our son and granddaughter visited us from London. It was good to see them both. She is very good at 24 piece jigsaws on the iPad. She did about 6 or 7 without any help whilst sitting on my lap. Seeing them always cheers me up. She is 4 in May.

FTSE 100

Amazingly, the FTSE 100 share index ended the day slightly higher than it started, despite the turbulence of the Greek's voting into power a government that is mostly composed of the far-left Syriza party that wants to renegotiate its bailout terms.