That's a very thoughtful post.

I've just heard an interview with the successful young marathon runner, Charlotte Purdue. She said she has never trained alone in the dark, and when she was younger her mum or dad would even follow her in the car if she was out training in the evening. One sad aspect of all this is that more and more people will be fearful of going out at night, there will be fewer people on the streets and the streets will be all the more dangerous.

I love the custom of the evening stroll with friends and family, including children, in Spain (paseo) and Italy (passeggiata). We join in whenever we are holiday. Of course, you do need the weather for it. It's not about "feeling safe." It's about the sheer enjoyment of socialising, enjoying a stroll, maybe having a drink outside a bar or just people-watching. At the weekend even the younger kids can play out quite late, their parents never too far away. One of the best passeggiatas we've come across is the one in Lecce in Puglia. It seems that every man, woman, child and dog are out! The gelaterias are damn good too... In Andalucía, we had an all-too-brief stay in Cazorla. The paseo in the lovely town square was a highlight. That was one for a glass or two of Rioja and a spot of people-watching.