“I must say: very British, indeed!” as my aunt commented. Yesterday was the date for the annual Tweed Run and we went out to enjoy the nice weather and see the spectacle.

We had some problem figuring out the route they were taking but finally found them riding through Kensington Gardens in front of Royal Albert Hall.

It seems like the tweed thing is a whole tongue-in-cheek movement of endorsing gentleman-ship, gin drinking and pipe smoking manifested in the magazine The Chap.

“The Chap takes a wry look at the modern world through the steamed-up monocle of a more refined age, occasionally getting its sock suspenders into a twist at the unspeakable vulgarity of the twenty-first century.”

The people in tweed looked like they were truly enjoying their ride but so were all the people looking and there was quite a number of people out taking pictures of the spectacle.

We live in the borough of Brent which is the most ethnic diverse in England and also the place with most Irish people in London. Wednesday last week was the real St. Patrick’s day which meant they put on a parade right down the street from us.

Around 6000 people came out and celebrated everything Green, Guinness and Irish and it was quite a show. It was great to see not just the Irish but everyone celebrating. Like these kids which looks anything but Irish playing the Bodhrán.

I also enjoyed the fact that the lineup before the actual parade was in front of the local mosque. Here with a truck with the title of an Irish rebel song called “Follow me up to Carlow” which is a celebration of an Irish victory over a 3000 men English army.

Peter Marshall the photographer was also in Willesden Green and as a lot more photos from the event.

Yesterday the sun was out and the bagpipers where filling the streets of central London with Irish tunes.

Not all of it was particular Irish. For instance the most cheerful act was Hare Krishna worshippers playing, singing and dancing down the street.

Other than that it was a parade of big hats, green cars and white legs.

Ann had four Maltese friends staying over this weekend and the parade was the Sunday out event before they all went back home.

In Zizkov this is celebrated with people dressing up and walking in parade from Jiho z Podebrad to Zizkov city hall where the city provides free food and beer. So we had to check it out.

As in other Christian celebrations, Masopust has elements of much older traditions involving fertility rites and celebrating the coming of spring. In Masopust these elements take form in the masks and costumes traditionally worn by revelers, representing various mythical characters and creatures. Like the guys in this video with wipes and strange face paint and costumes:

Later on the parade made it down to the town hall and the party got an extra lift from the free beers and food that plenty of teenagers and hobos also seemed to enjoy. Here is a cheeky Czech guy who offers Femi a drink of vodka and then later asks him for money:

Because of the cold weather (sigh!) we only stayed for one beer and by then we had seen a lot of the gimmicks. A funny thing was the odd mix of people with old women, students, young school children, expats and tourists – everyone with a big smile on their face.

Wednesday offered more entertainment in our neighborhood as Helge, a Danish friend, had invited us out to Akropolis. An Nigerian artist calledTony Allen was playing afrobeat with his band.

It turned out to be a fantastic concert and Akropolis has great atmosphere much in the same way as Vega in Copenhagen. After the concert we all went to a bar to celebrate Helges birthday, more people joined and the good times continued. We were about 8 or 10 Danish speaking people so it almost felt like being home.

In 10 hours Im on the plane to Stansted. Ann and I are spending a weekend together in Cambridge 

Før paraden gik i gang havde vi tid til at gå lidt rundt i byen og besøgte Sears Towers og Millinium Park. Vejret var herligt og vi kunne til tider gå rundt i t-shirt. Gutterne jeg var afsted med er fra venstre Martin og Frederik (begge fra Sverige) og Mike fra USA.



Og så gik det ellers i gang først farvede de Chicago River grøn – og jeg mener virkelig grøn. Langsomt begyndte byen at blive flyldt op af mennesker i grønt og senere startede paraden, hvor foreninger, politkere, firmaer og marchbands gik igennem byen.

Efter det gik vi på jagt efter et hotelværelse, men det var umuligt at finde et værelse til under $200-$300 (!), så vi tog tilbage til bilen og tog en lur.

Herefter fik vi arrangeret det sådan at vi kunne sove i Mikes onkels kælder et stykke udenfor byen, så med en ædru chauffør tog vi ud i byen. Vi tog på en række forskellige barer – den fedeste var House of Blues, hvor man desværre ikke måtte tage billeder. Senere på aftenen tog vi på Signature Lounge, som ligger på 95. etage af Hancock Tower med udsigt over hele byen.

Endelig sluttede vi af på Cheesecake Factory med noget godt at spise inden vi tog hjem.

Jeg havde altid troet at Chicago var som en hvilket som helst anden storby herover, men i modsætning til Minneapolis og New York, synes jeg mægtig godt om den efter at have besøgt byen.