A couple of times during our travels this past year all of a sudden we are hit with something American out of the clear blue sky. This was the case during the Sherlock Holmes Walk through London when all of a sudden we came upon the former home of Benjamin Franklin.
He lived at the house for 16 years over his life and it is the last remaining house that Franklin owned.
More than any other city I've been to London has history that is easily accessible...accessible as in turn your head and there is a neat little sign letting you know the history that happened right in front of your face.
Some of the history might not be that riveting and then a few steps later something jumps out at you that is. It certainly keeps it on your toes.
While we were staying in London we stayed in the area of town called Little Venice.
It's an area that has several small canals that little boats can fit through. There are also several cafe/boats which were tied up along the sidewalks.
The canals were home to many ducks and geese as well.
We stopped one morning at one of the canal cafes to have a full English breakfast. I think I was just missing a slice of tomato and it would have been perfect. It was certainly the best breakfast I've had since visiting Mom's Restaurant back in Colfax.
Now that's a banger that would make my Grandmother proud.
After visiting The Royal Albert Hall we headed up the street and went to Hyde Park. It was quite the change from the busy London streets. This section of the park was off limits and so it looks like there wasn't a soul in the park.
The part of Hyde Park that I really wanted to see was the legendary Speaker's Corner. Public political debate is nearly non existent in America short of a college campus or a Lincoln-Douglas debate forensics tournament and so I was looking to see the clash of ideas that makes democracy the least worst system of government.
Unfortunately, this is what we found, not a public speaker in sight. We went on a weekday in the afternoon and so I guess democracy takes a break sometimes.
Never mind the disappointment, at least we got to see the Marble Arch.
An important part in preparing for Jāņi, which is the mid-summer festival/most important holiday in Latvia, is the making of the wreaths. Both men and women wear distinctive wreaths on their heads for the holiday. Men typically wear oak leaves on their head like this gentleman is wearing.
Women have a lot more choices as they generally choose flowers as the main part of the wreaths. Daisies are Latvia's national flower and so they are oftentimes the center piece of the wreath.
A few days before Jāņi down near the Freedom Monument in Riga there was a public wreath making event where you could come and get the flowers needed to make a wreath and you could get some lessons if you were new to it.
Folk costumes weren't required but you might stick out like a sour thumb if you weren't dressed in one.
Another Jāņi tradition is that on the night itself you would jump over the large bonfires that are burned which would ensure that you would have good luck in the coming year. Here a short clip I filmed of one of the bonfires at the Riga Jāņi celebration that wouldn't be able to be jumped over for many, many hours yet.
