The bangs, the bangs, the bangs!

We had a wonderful weekend in London. It started on Friday night with cocktails at a local cocktail bar. I wanted a night in and Benny wanted to go to the movies. We made a happy compromise. On Saturday we met some friends at Dukes Head for lunch. It was quite busy as there was a rowing carnival, we unfortunately didn't see much. We both were in shock with how people were rowing under the very cold weather conditions.

After lunch we headed to the centre of London in search for fireworks as it was Guy Fawkes night. For the past few weeks people have been stocking up on fireworks from the local supermarkets. We have had the pleasure of listening to fire crackers, rockets and fireworks being set off for weeks around the streets but on Saturday was the official night. Guy Fawkes tried to burn down the Houses of Parliament 5 November, 1605, so to celebrate there is yet another strange tradition that the British follow which is lighting bonfires and fireworks. We headed to Southwark Park to watch the display. It was run very orderly and on time. Everyone had to leave by 7:30pm. It was not even close to Riverfire but it was good anyway.

On Sunday Ben and I went into Selfridges after a recommendation from Lee that it was a good place to buy a jacket. The first one Ben tried on, we had the shop assistant following us closely, the jacket made Benny look very handsome. When we asked for the price we acted very cooly when she uttered the words 895 pounds. Sadly we declined on that one and bought another very nice one for a better price. After the shops we headed to Temple to an exhibit about William Morris. I learnt about him in my interior decorating course, he was a textile designer in the 1800's. It was amazing seeing some of his original works. We also went to Somerset House and had lunch in Covent Garden at a very cute place that serves only spuds with cool toppings. A very yummy concept. While making dinner last night we had the pleasure of our very own fireworks display from the house in front of us.

This week we are catching up with friends, getting used to the leaves falling off the trees and working. Only 3 1/2 weeks until Em and Sam arrive. We are really looking forward to it.