Happy Halloween!

     Well, the European Studies 2015 kids flew home a few days ago, and today actually marks the two year anniversary of my last night in England when I was on that trip. I remember at that time being amazed at an English Halloween. Where are the kids? Where's the candy? All I seemed to see were adults wearing white make-up on their faces. This year, I'm pleased to say I've seen a more nuanced view of the holiday. 

      Yesterday morning, as Kristin and I rode back from the Saatchi gallery's chanel show, it occurred to us that being Tube stops would be a clever and absurdly simple costume idea! We really enjoyed using our best Tube-lady voices: "This is a circle line train to Cockfosters ... exit here for Ben's cookies." "Please mind the gap between the train and the platform." Our minimal, understated design (lol) caught eyes and was a big hit for how little we actually worked on it. Last night was the Halloween triple pound party over at the Institute, which means that for three pounds you have unlimited beer and wine. Does this sound like a recipe for trouble? It is. All of Duchy House was hungover today.

       So for actual Halloween, we were looking for something a little more low key. The day began with a brave expedition to Borough Market. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful, crisp fall day with sunshine and beautiful light on the Thames. The toasted cheese sandwich we sampled was decadently rich and an utterly unmissable experience.

We walked along the river home, taking our time and a lot of pictures!

As evening approached, I realized that I never wanted to look at an alcoholic beverage ever again, so we decided to approach Halloween with a new tactic: The Lambeth Fire Festival at the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens! They had a fireworks show, a band, food trucks, fire eaters and dancers! Not to mention a HUGE bonfire. I ate a toffee apple and danced to Thriller (Vincent Price went to the Courtauld, did you know that?) and had a lot of fun. 

Walking through the more residential area, we saw children trick or treating and more interesting costumes than just white paint on faces. It turns out, London shows out for Halloween!

Boo to you and you!