Wedding Day

London in a shot
After spending a relaxing day at Granny's, eating and resting, we were feeling ready for more adventure. In the morning we watched the royal wedding on TV. My Granny seemed to really enjoy the broadcast and was even singing along at points. After the broadcast of the actual event was over, we packed up a small bag and hopped back on the 285 bus. We got off the bus at Hatton Cross and boarded the Piccadilly underground line to Russel Square.

London street party in the Muse

After a brief walk, we arrived at my aunt Lizzie's flat. As soon as we arrived, the doorbell rang. Downstairs were waiting about nine of her friends ready to hit the street parties.

The party host Jane #2
and "Prince Phillip"
With a shopping bag full of champagne, wine, and plastic glasses; we headed around the corner to join the festivities. We had a really enjoyable time meeting the neighbors. One man in our party named Pat, had a Prince Philip mask that he was wearing. Funny thing was he actually looked like him without the mask. My cousins - Will, Ralph, and Dan all came by and helped polish off the vino.
The man behind the mask

We celebrated for about two hours. Lizzie headed off to grab a coffee with her boyfriend Mark. Will, Dan and Ralph left to go sailing, to the Isle of Wight. My cousin Tom is getting married later this month and they were celebrating his stag party.

Will, Dan and Luis
We decided to brave the crowds and see the site of the royal wedding. We passed through thick crowds of people many of whom were pretty drunk. The route taken by the wedding procession was still blocked off from traffic. The enormous union jacks lined the road. However, by now the streets were filled with litter, mostly discarded beer cans and crisp packets. We walked through Trafalgar Square and saw the enormous tents for the various international media. Some were being dismantled but some were still broadcasting. Continuing on, we went past 10 downing street, Whitehall and Big Ben. Arriving at Westminster Abbey, we were able to look into the giant doors and watch as they were packing up the decorations. The lovely trees will evidently be left for three days for visitors to enjoy. Westminster has been one of our favorite sites for years.

The aftermath....
actual royal horse poop


The BBC broadcast area
across from Westminster
The last time we visited England together we kept missing the general opening hours for the Abbey. First, because it was a holiday. Then, because we were just too late. Luckily, as we were walking away we noticed that they were having their evening service. We were able to sit in and hear the most beautiful choir music. Listening to the sermon echo through the empty nave, with sculptures of many well known writers and musicians behind us, was an awe inspiring moment. This time however, the scene was quite obnoxious as tourists from all over elbowed each other for a photo of the site of the royal wedding.

A peek inside Westminster
We walked back to Lizzie's and had a cup of tea as we watch reruns of the broadcast. As Jane's cousins were now away, we were fortunate to have the run of their flat for the weekend.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lickety Split

Image
The hotel beach  Erika and Tom  We woke up ready to hit the beach only to find that it was pouring rain.  With our plans derailed for the day, we decided to take it easy and lounge around until the rain cleared. This turned out to be a good part of the day.  In the late afternoon, we headed down to the hotel restaurant for a drink.   We found the same waiter from the previous night and ordered a couple of glasses of wine.  No problem. When Luis’s arrived it had some cork or other strange floaty bits.  Noticing this, the waiter became concerned.  He leaned in close to Luis and examined the glass, practically sticking his nose into it. “No Problem” he said grabbing the glass and returning with a new one.  This guy was really funny without intending to be.   One of the palace entrances Statue of Gregory of Nin Around 4:00 pm, the rain finally stopped and we all decided to drive into Split and do a little sightseeing.   Split is t...
Read more

Mission impossible was possible

Image
London Eye along the Thames Woke up this morning early, ready to go to London. A brief stop before the next leg of our trip - Budapest. Our stuff was packed and after a quick shower and breakfast, We drove to Kingston to run a few quick errands. We got back to Granny's house at about half ten. We said a quick farewell to her, walked to the end of the street and boarded the 285 bus. Arriving at Hatton Cross we caught the Picadiliy line to London. We arrived at Russell square a little after noon. Made our way to William and Ralph's flat. Ralph was home to greet us, let us drop off our bags, and give us a key to his and Elizabeth's flat. The missing "eye" After arriving we briefly took a break and had some tea before wandering through the city. We figured we would head south towards the river and see where we ended up from there. Once there we took a couple of pictures of the London eye. A few weeks back When driving to Nottingham, we had noticed...
Read more

Great Scott this is beautiful

Image
The Artic Penguin Last night at the Stagecoach Inn at Cairndow we heard voices. The first was a woman laughing in the middle of the night; the other was unidentifiable, perhaps a man whispering. The walls of the hotel were really thick and we couldn ’t hear any other guests, even if they were right outside our door. Perhaps these were ghosts of travelers past. The building was once an old coaching inn and would have been a waypoint for the carriages as they traversed the highlands. Stepping out of the cold, damp air into the hotel feels as if you are transported back in time. Describing the inn as old and quirky is an understatement. The rooms are an explosion of mismatched prints and the floors slope to such a degree one could almost ski from the bathtub to the sink. However, the atmosphere was perfect. It was warm, cozy and we had one of the best night’s sleep of our trip. From our room we could lookout at the misty grey Loch Fynne . As this tiny “town” along the edge of t...
Read more