I've got to throw in an observation about the ability of folks to see eye-to-eye on whatever subject might be on the table wherever it might be on the table!

My older brother, now in his mid-80s, spent the better part of a summer biking and backpacking around Europe in the mid 1950s. Certainly not something unusual as it was the inexpensive way to "do the Grand Tour" thing in those days.

EXCEPT that my brother was born deaf. He had problems with his English and certainly never learned a foreign language. But, he was forever sending letters home telling our parents about how he'd biked down a small road, met a farmer in his field, asked the farmer if he could bunk down in his barn. Upon doing so, being asked by the farmer and his wife to eat with them.

In the course of an evening, these diverse individuals (an American kid incapable of hearing his hosts, a European couple with severely limited ability to speak English) "solved the problems of the world," over supper and wine or beer!

It has always been one of the most extraordinary stories in my life, how my brother and half of Europe got on together despite their inability to communicate in a mutual way!

Would that we could all do the same, today! :bigthumbsup:

My view is that we Americans are much less likely to be welcomed with open arms virtually anywhere we travel, these days. I'm in the Caribbean a lot, and I'm (for which read: my money) certainly welcome. Elsewhere, I don't think I can ever be quite as comfortable as I once was.

Sad! :'(

SWR