Confectionery Boxes

In spite of today being the hottest day so far this year, we decided to go on a long walk, starting by heading randomly east from home to see where we would end up. As we crossed Hackney Downs, we noticed a series of these signs which attempt to coach park-goers into participating in a rather makeshift gym, starting with the vaguely official-sounding "step ups,"

and moving on to the less convincing athletic benefits of "leapfrog."

From Hackney Downs, we wandered down toward London Fields and Broadway Market, browsing for a bit in wonderful Broadway Bookshop before heading toward a stretch of the Regent's Canal that we hadn't walked on before. Although the day showed no sign of cooling down yet, the towpath made for a wonderful stroll, free of traffic noise and full of typical London sights. The typography of this sign may not be the most conducive to easy reading, but I still liked it:

Opportunity rested on the canal

near the Laburnum Boat Club, which offers canoes and narrowboats for public use.

There were quite a few coots with their young on the canal, but this was the only bird of its kind out today:

I love the old faded signs that grace many a brick wall in London. This sign belongs to a box manufacturer who dealt in folding boxes, drapers' stock boxes, shirt mantle boxes, collapsible milliners' boxes, parcels post boxes, postal tubes, stationery boxes, confectionery boxes, and round & oval boxes!

A newer bit of canalside decoration is this bit of work:

(The bar across Mona Lisa's eyes reads: "Stop using my image.") Although today was Canada Day, after last year's embarrassing spectacle at Trafalgar Square, and having a look at the website (riddled with typos and cringe-worthy claims of things being "world famous") for this year's festival, we decided to pass on this year's fest. In thinking back about today, the closest we came to celebrating Canada Day was spotting the colours on this "critical" sign!