Those Poor People at the Hilton.....

Recently, we spent four wonderful days in San Francisco.  The total cost of lodging for those 4 nights came to a mere $80 and that included our breakfast and a glass of wine in the evening before going to bed.  How is that possible?  It's the Affordable Travel Club that made it possible.

  Check it out by clicking on the link above.  Those poor people at the Hilton, spending maybe more than $300 a night, would never have the experience we had.  Our hosts were a wonderful couple who generously extended their hospitality to two Canucks from Brantford Ontario.  During the days of the cold war, it was a movement called "Citizen Diplomacy" that opened the doors to a frank exchange of people from the West and East in the belief that it is ordinary people meeting ordinary people that breaks down the barriers of misunderstanding between nations. Canada and the US have much in common.  But there is also a lot of ignorance and lack of understanding that keeps us  frozen in our stereotypes of each other.  Two couples sitting down for a glass of wine before retiring for the evening and enjoying a breakfast together the next morning has a way of opening up  the channels of understanding and enriching each other in ways that those poor people at the Hilton will never know.