Hollow-een

I'm told that Halloween is a less-important holiday here than in the States. Since I don't venture that often into London's commercial core, I can't really tell you how, for example, retailers pitched the holiday. I can tell you that I went for a run on Wednesday evening, just as trick-or-treating was getting underway, and saw my share of costumed children. Many appeared to be heading into parties, rather than taking part in door-to-door treat-gathering. It wasn't the armies of children one would see in a typical family-oriented neighborhood like the one we live in. I can't recall seeing a single house decorated in our neighborhood. I'm not sure if that's because of a particularly British sense of decorum or a particularly Highgate sense of propriety.

What I did notice, however, is that Halloween was the night I first heard fireworks this year as London ramps up for Guy Fawkes Day, aka Bonfire Night. The pops of fireworks continued into last night and I'm sure we'll be hearing them until Monday or so. I believe our plan for the weekend is to view the big display at the Alexandra Palace Saturday night.