Our first full day in London started off with a long-awaited trip to the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner. Essentially, it’s an area in this large, sprawling park in which folks with something on their minds get to stand up (on a ladder or some sort of stool) and share “wisdom” with the crowd. Today, we spotted two speakers—one was a Middle Eastern bemoaning the Israel-Lebanon conflict, the other was a middle-aged Brit who was rambling on about sin, G-d, and heaven knows what else.

It was modestly entertaining, but perhaps with the advent of 10 zillion TV and radio channels where any fool can grab a mike and share his or her insight, the impact of this public venue has lost its impact. I can imagine that 30-40 years ago, it probably was the place to be on Sundays.