Portsmouth, Bonfires and Remembrance Day

On Monday I went on a business trip to Portsmouth, UK. The city is on the south coast of England about 1.5 hours from London. Portsmouth is the 11th largest urban area in England and home to the world's oldest dry dock still in use. I didn't get to see much of the city because I was in meetings all week but it did seem like a pretty nice area. I'm going back in February so hopefully I'll get a chance to see more then.

The only bummer was the all day travel...a ČSA flight from Brno to Prague, another flight from Prague to London, and then a couple of hours in a car to Portsmouth. I spent more time hanging out in airports then I actually did flying.
November 5th was Guy Fawkes Day, also known as Bonfire Night, and it commemorates the unsuccessful plot to blow up Parliament in 1605. It's kind of funny to me that they celebrate a guy who failed at something. But I did get to see some of the fireworks from my hotel room.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

Almost everyone in the UK wore a poppy pin on their lapels. The Royal British Legion provides the pins, for donations, in memory of the country's fallen service men and women from the two world wars. Remembrance Day is officially on 11 November at 11 AM but the main observance is a two-minute silence observed on the second Sunday in November.