I just spent 3 weeks shooting and touring in central Europe. I got in this morning.
I was outside Manchester when the bombing occurred, then I was in Paris when the knife attacks occurred.
I am still processing my experience.
Over all, at this time anyway, I enjoyed the trip.
When I was able to suspend reality, it was very good.
I can say, as an American traveler, We (the typical US citizen) are not European. Our two societies have evolved along different paths.
Do not project whatever your personal viewpoints are onto the European people. To make pronouncements about what amounts to another ethnic cleansing on a website is ignorant.
In case you can't remember, We backed the Muslims when the Serbs started murdering them about 30 years ago.
Continental Europe is a mixed society that slaughtered 50 million of their own residents about 75 years ago. Their daily lives bear no resemblance to ours. Their aspirations are not American aspirations.
They live in apartments, in cities, by and large. They pay high taxes, they ride public transportation. They have health clinics. Trains are a blessing when they go where you want them to.
The population seems mostly young. And very tolerant.
They do not like having squads of soldiers carrying automatic weapons, walking all over Paris. As an American, where that is forbidden, it's an eye opener.
Experiencing a mobilization while photographing the Eiffel tower, seemed surreal. First Sirens, then shouting, squads aggregating, troops deploying, orders being shouted.
People being crowd managed.
It's like an endless Jason Bourne movie.
FWIW, The subway walls are touting Noomi Rapace as the new female Jason Bourne.
The people of Europe are not going to start killing their Moslem neighbors on tv for the enjoyment of cowboy Americans.
Again, it's a mixed, diverse, culturally accepting, generally tolerant, society.
