fantastical fireworks

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

This past weekend was Guy Fawkes night (or Bonfire night), and we celebrated it twice!
First, we went to a country pub about 15 minutes north of us. It was raining cats and dogs and a few rats too just as I left to fetch Mr Fluff from the train station, but happily it stopped raining on our way to the pub. When we got there we paid a minimal fee and got ourselves a drink.

There was a humongous bonfire behind the trees that lit up the sky. The tradition (as I understand it) is that they set fire to a 'Guy' (representing Guy Fawkes) or people are invited to make their own 'Guys' to throw onto the fire. Unfortunately we missed that part because we got there too late. Never mind, the fire was spectacularly huge.

Before we got to watch the bonfire burn it started raining again, so we watched it in the rain while most of the other people that were outside ran for cover. We finally had to find cover too when it started pouring cows and sheep and we were getting soaked. Luckily the rain stopped just in time for the start of the fireworks display, which was good enough to make me squeal with delight a few times. I'm afraid we don't have any photos of the Friday night, but trust me, Saturday's photos more than make up for it!

On Saturday the Fireworks Extravaganza was at a nearby park, so we got the bus in. We paid our fee again and as we entered the park I spotted people selling things that glow and twinkle in the dark. Woo-Hoo! Nothing makes me happier! Mr Fluff had to wrestle a wizard, box a witch and twirl a fairy until she passed out, but in the end he got me my magical fairy wand to take home and make spells with. My hero!

My fairy wand magically painted a heart and infinity, to say 'our love is forever', just like that..

We still had more than an hour before the fireworks display, and we went in search of peasant food and drink, but to our dismay there were no beer or mulled wine tents, and nothing vegetarian to eat. We decided to head to the nearest pub, but they only had a BBQ going. Damn.

We then headed to the nearby Indian Restaurant. We had about an hour to kill and thought that we would easily have enough time to grab a meal and head back to the park. We ordered some samosas, a few veggie side dishes and naan, and a bottle of red. We sipped and chatted and waited for our food. We sipped some more and waited some more. We were getting near the end of our bottle of wine and we were still waiting for the food to arrive. That's when we started to panic.

Mr Fluff spoke to a young waiter and told him we were in a hurry. The waiter said: "No worries, your food is on the way". We waited another ten minutes. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock, Tic-bloody-Tock! We only had half an hour left to eat, pay and get back to the park!!

Mr Fluff got the waiter's attention again, and then the Maître' D arrived. He asked what the matter was and then eagerly promised us that the food was on the way. He had sheer panic in his eyes because by now Mr Fluff had stood up and grabbed him by the collar. With his face only a ball's hair from the headwaiter's face, smoke billowing from his flaring nostrils, he told the headwaiter in no uncertain terms, that if our food did not arrive in five minutes we would leave and only pay for the wine!

HAHAHA

OK, I twisted the truth a teeny bit, but you get the picture.

Finally our food arrived. I enjoyed the samosas and the naan (peshwari, with coconut, nuts and sultanas), but the rest was dismal. Tick-Tock... we had ten minutes to get to the park. We got up after we finished our meal and paid at the bar. If we had waited for the bill to be brought to us we would probably still be there.

I am happy to report that we made it back to the park in time and the fireworks display was brilliant. The whole sky was sparkly. See for yourselves...

After the show the park was misty with smoke. We waited around while the crowds departed and I took a few snaps before we got a cab home. 

SpankySparkle in a smoky haze

SpankySparkle performing a dance for the Fairy of Fire and Smoke

Playing silly buggers

Kids battling with their lightsabres (the blue lights in the foreground)

 Close-up of the lightsabres

SpankySparkle and her Fairy wand

My Hero, my Knight in shining Red armour, standing tall with his head high above the smoke clouds after another magical night out.

Mmmm, I wonder what we will get up to next year...

:0)