About two years previously to me deciding I wanted to go to Russia, a friend had asked me if I would go to Canada with her. It was a lovely idea but far too expensive so we had shelved the idea unless I came in for a windfall, an unexpected amount of cash coming my way. The cost of going to Russia was much more achievable. I asked my friend to accompany me not really expecting her to want to come. At first she was taken aback but soon became very interested and we began looking at brochures together. Eventually be decided on a company called Titan who were doing a boat trip from St Petersburg to Moscow down the rivers and canals. It was an 11 day trip and although it was dearer than some 7 or 8 day holidays it took you through more scenery and interesting places and provided breakfast, lunch and dinner, whereas the other apparently cheaper holidays were hotel, bed and breakfast, so one had to find other meals. Having decided what we wanted to do we had to get passports. I had never had one and my friend had not had one since about the seventies. I will tell you about this next time.
I have written in previous posts about disasters. In the case of Concorde, decisions by people, plus other factors were directly to blame for the event. In the case of the Penlee disaster it may have been avoided if someone had made a better choice in the time beforehand and as a consequence brave men and the ship's crew and the captain and his family died. 9/11 was certainly the result of wicked men committing a terrorist act, but even in this there was heroism notably by another Cornish man, Rick Rescorla who helped many to safety and left it too late to help himself. In situations like this we see what the human spirit is capable of both good and evil. What of disasters that come on people because of the earth restless movement of tectonic plates. Often people live near volcanoes because the land is rich and fertile and they have the chance of a better life there when the volcano is resting. We cannot blame them for that but sometimes people become complacent...
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