London's not the safe haven it once was. The place has got issues - a class divide and a social restlessness that has changed the face of the city.Credit: Reuters
London's burning. You'd have to be hiding under some sort of cyber rock not to know that.
The place is going crazy – for anyone who's visited the British capital, it's incredible to watch scenes of masked youths roaming those familiar, friendly streets torching cars and looting shops.
It's a cliché, but that's the stuff you expect to see on news footage from the Middle East, not from the Old Dart. There's even rioting in Clapham! The most agitated I've ever seen anyone there was when the local brasserie ran out of pinot gris.
This sort of thing just doesn't happen in what almost feels like a second home to a lot of us.
London has always been thought of as a safe destination for Australian travellers. It's hugely popular, one of our most visited cities, and it's easy to see why. The city is the perfect first stop for novices, a relaxed and predictable way to ease into the travel experience.
After all, everyone speaks English, there's minimal culture shock, and a very low probability of anything going wrong. Plus, it's easy to sort yourself out if something does.
Even Clapham has been hit by the riots.Credit: Reuters
It's a fantastic place to spend a few years of your late youth drinking your pay away, or spend a few weeks with the family seeing the sights, or just spend a few days catching up with friends.
But obviously, something's changed. I'm not going to go into the cause of the recent riots, because there are people far better qualified than me to do that job. And while I don't think this is something that will be repeated soon, the unrest is clearly a sign of a deeper malaise.
London's not the safe haven it once was. The place has got issues – a class divide and a social restlessness that has changed the face of the city.
The question is: how is that going to affect travellers?
Once the current violence has settled down, probably not a great deal on street level. If you exercise the caution you normally would while travelling and stick to the beaten path, it's as safe as anywhere in the world.
The main difference is going to be the knowledge that the city has its problems, and that there's an element of society to avoid, which can affect people's thinking when they're planning their big holiday.
London still has a huge amount going for it as a travel destination – a wealth of history, culture, monuments and landmarks. It has brilliant museums and art galleries that cost nothing to enter, as well as acres of parkland, and some fantastic pubs to drink in once all the sightseeing is done.
But then again, so does Berlin. So does Barcelona. So does Amsterdam. So does Stockholm.
This could be the incident that tips Australian tourists away from our traditional, safe hunting ground and in the direction of European cities that may, in theory, seem more difficult for an inexperienced tourist to visit, but are actually clean, safe, easy places to travel around.
London has always been a no-brainer for school-leavers on a gap year, but there'd have to be a lot of parents watching the TV over the last few days wondering if that's such a good idea any more.
What about Canada instead? Vancouver, or Quebec? What about Madrid or Rome or Prague? I know what my choice would be.
This isn't to say that tourism will dry up in London – with the Olympic Games coming up, far from it. I'll be there in a few weeks' time, and I can't wait.
But the city has obviously changed for the worse, and that's always going to make you think twice.
Do you think London has changed since you first visited? Would you think twice about visiting now given the recent events?
Hope you're enjoying the Backpacker blog – there will be a new one published every Tuesday and Wednesday on the Fairfax Media websites. To contact me with any topic suggestions or personal abuse, visit my website, follow me on Twitter, or email me at bengroundwater@gmail.com.
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