Bank Holiday

Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Location: Islington, London, UK
Weather: Sunny

The sun came out, and so did all of London to celebrate one of the last weekends of summer. It was a Bank Holiday Monday, so a three day weekend, and the first sunny one since I arrived. On the Southbank, Londoners and tourists alike swarmed the parks and public spaces, and even the temporary beach at low tide to take advantage of the sun.



I started the weekend with a visit to Kew Gardens, famous for some of the first and most amazing Green Houses, i.e. Palm House below. They also had an amazing Minka House imported from Japan, that somehow in my wonderment I forgot to take a photo of. :(









On Monday, I went to a dance weekend at the Watch This Space, and open air performance space outside the National Theater. In the continued celebrations of India Now! (the celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Indian independence) they had a whole day of classical Indian dance performances, Bangra music, and Bollywood dance lessons. I ended up partnered with a 70-year old lady (playing the male part too!) but I had a great time. And I now know you can Samba to Bangra music, and true to the hybrid nature of cultural events here, I wasn’t the only one (one of the Bollywood performers seemed to be Brazilian.) Well, I hope the weather stays good for more urban adventures! Cheers!