Bonfire Night not quite

"Remember, remember, the fifth of November

Gunpowder treason and plot

We see no reason

Why Gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot…."

The London sky lights up technicolor as the words "remember, remember the fifth of November" play in my head. No, I am not talking about the movie "V for Vendetta." But of Guy Fawkes Night, to be exact my first Bonfire Night, or Fireworks Night as some call it. While the holiday is non-existent in the US, this American decided to take to the streets and see what it's all about in London. While I couldn't find any actual bonfires or burnings of an effigy of Guy Fawkes, I did watch the fireworks paint the sky all over the city.

As I stated earlier, bonfires are no longer popular within the city, but a trip to the countryside could provide you with that experience. Instead, London releases fireworks from the fifth until to eighth (Remembrance Day), so you are bound to experience this spectacle no matter where you are in the city. After the pyrotechnic show, I headed off down Queen's Walk along the riverside to meet up with my good friend, who offered me to come and check out her historical tour that gave me some interesting peeks into the city's society back in 1605.

She was running one of her outings with her company Lantern Ghost Tours down by London Bridge. The tour, referred to as the Sex and Drugs tour, took you back to the lawless streets of the 1600s, showing the darker past of Southwark. Even the Bishop of Winchester himself was significantly involved in the seedy underbelly with the creation of his "Winchester Geese," the first upscale prostitutes; what made these girls so high class? Well, unlike other prostitutes in their time, these ladies could read a little, had a little more education, and they bathed four times a year as opposed to their once-a-year counterparts.

We checked out England's oldest prison and passed by a prostitute graveyard. Yes, they had their own cemeteries due to being denied Christian burial rights because of their occupation. The most famous being Cross Bone Cemetry. The rusted iron gates surround the "lawless" graveyard and are adorned with ribbons, feathers, beads, and other tokens to commemorate those buried there.

A more permanent plaque was added in 2006 to replace the one placed in 1998 honoring "The Outcast Dead" was also among the other momentums.

We also went to the world's oldest "Operating theater," where the surgeons of the time would observe each other during different procedures. Needless to say, that place gave me the willies just imagining how many poor and outcast souls went under the knife of surgeons, who were nothing more than glorified butchers back then in the name of medical science. In true English fashion, we ended the tour at the Boots and Flogger Pub, located just a stone's throw from Guy Hospital and across from the Cross Bones Cemetery; the perfect way to end a tour of the lawless.

As my friend and I chatted over our sherry with the rest of our group, I thought about how Guy Fawkes Night was not as huge a celebration as Hollywood has made it out to be. My excitement for the holiday that wasn't much of a holiday dwindles mostly to a display of fireworks. But then again, many days of historical significants tend to lose their celebrations over time. I mean, let's face it; you can only celebrate the epic failure of one man and his group so many years before it becomes nothing more than a firework show.

While this isn't the first time Hollywood may have lied to me, I'm still waiting for my prince charming to whisk me away into the land of happily ever after; it wouldn't be the first time they have exaggerated historical events or got them flat out wrong. Still, it was an enjoyable night out with my friend. There may not have been bonfires as its nickname implies, but London's skyline lit up with so many warm colors that I honestly preferred this sight and the tour over a pile of kindling.

Even with some mild disappointment, this American ex-pat still managed to get in the spirit of the British holiday. I can honestly say that if you're planning on visiting the UK in the later months of the year, be sure to hit up Central London on the fifth of November for an explosive night of fun.