Thames Kew - Magna Carta

The sun sets at 15:51 leaving us with 7 hour and 59 minute of daylight. Plus 20 seconds. I am reminded why people who grow up in California .. stay in California. But the UK does have its charms : cozy houses jammed together and gas fireplaces; the occasional smell of burning coal. Traffic jams, the Underground and a transport system that fails at the slightest snow. Shakespeare. Cheap alcohol and flat screen TVs. Thatcher, mods, North Sea oil. Oxford, Cambridge, Eton and St Paul's. Wayne Rooney. Claridges, the Dorchester and the Lanesborough. Dukes martini. Bond. Tesco and the paps. The NHS. Churchill. Owning India and Canada. The White Lies, Kooks and the Brixton Academy. 2012 Olympics - the V&A. Paula Radcliffe's Marathon. High finance. The Queen, Kate Middleton, Joseph Bazalgatte. Kidney pie; fish and chips in newspaper. The bobby and Big Ben; Kate Moss. The Rolling Stones. The Premiere League. John Lennon. Chatsworth. Suburban smugness, red mail boxes, clotted cream. Tea. A good ramble. Richmond Park and the Thames, pictured, the mightiest river of them all.

Costantinos tells me the Italians do not care so much about the money - they seek instead the bella vita in their food and wine and company. Material hings don't mean so much.

Madeleine comes home following the British Library with Caterina and Mirella where they see the Magna Carta. Sonnet and I take Constantinos to Kew Gardens which he goes nuts for though we only have a little time since the grounds close 4:15PM in winter (the gatekeeper won't let us have 20 minutes without paying despite my long-time membership. Typical English). We pick up some flour so Eitan can bake crostata, which he describes as "an Italian pie" in honour of our guests. Costantino works away on some garden-plans for our house : he sketches the backyard and measures the sun's path; he calculates the ground water flows and various soil depths and marks free space; he considers colour patterns and advises a combination of the artistic (blossoms, grasses, shrubs) with the pragmatic (herbs, vegitables). Costantinos suggests a fusion of Mediterranean+technology+modern. He is convincing.

Magna Carta was issued in 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions that omit certain temporary provisions, including the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority. The 1215 Charter required King John of England to proclaim certain liberties, and accept that his will was not arbitrary, for example by explicitly accepting that no "freeman" could be punished except through the law of the land, a right that stills exists today. Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English King by a group of his subjects (the barons) in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges. It was preceded and directly influenced by the 1100 Charter of Liberties, when King Henry I had specified particular areas where his powers would be limited. Despite its recognised importance, by the second half of the 19th century nearly all of its clauses had been repealed in their original form. Three clauses remain part of the law of England and Wales, however, and are considered part of the uncodified constitution. Lord Denning described it as "the greatest constitutional document of all times – the foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot".The charter was an important part of the extensive historical process that led to the rule of constitutional law in the English speaking world, although it was "far from unique, either in content or form". In practice, Magna Carta in the medieval period did not limit the power of kings, but by the time of the English Civil War it had become an important symbol for those who wished to show that the King was bound by the law. It influenced the early settlers in New England and inspired later constitutional documents, including the US Constitution. (Source: Wiki, edited)

"Perfecto"

--Costantinos