Have a Cigar!

As my friend Ron once suggested when we were strolling through the streets of Roma, you have to look up to see the unusual. And as I've often found that applies when walking through most cities in Europe. I hadn't been looking up as we walked along Leidsestraat in Amsterdam I would have seen the fascinating displays in the Gant store but missed these charming friezes  on what was once a cigar makers shop.

Now I'm not advocating child labour, nor do I approve of children smoking cigars but this industrious little group, under the tutelage of a cherubic Mercury, seem pretty knowledgeable in the art of making a good cigar.

I noticed that though none of them seem to have taken to the addictive weed when they've finished their work they seem to know how to enjoy the fruits of the vine!

My friend MJ tells me that there was a time when it was cheaper - and in times of war politically more expedient - for plantation owners in the Southern United States to send their tobacco to Holland rather than England for processing. 


14 June -1789: HMS Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,600 mi) journey in an open boat.


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