Thames Jubilee Pageant

We had an unforgettable weekend in London for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrating the Queen's 60 years on the throne. All the neighborhoods we saw were decked out in festive flags and bunting.

Then on Sunday the River Thames was lined with over a million flag-waving fans of the Queen--including us! A flotilla of 1,000 vessels participated in the Thames Jubilee Pageant, and it was amazing!

We saw lots of great boats, and we stood at the MI-6 building to watch, which is also pretty cool. :) The following photo is dedicated to members of my Mom's family whose ancestors hail from the Isle of Man. See the Manx flag? (PS-Jacob also deserves credit for taking this photo; he had the camera while I took care of Gavin. He took the photo because he liked the boats where the rowers were standing.)

Here are a couple of photos of the Queen's barge. She wore white, making her pretty easy to spot. But the boat itself is beautiful too!

God save the Queen!

Windsor jubilee pageant

Saturday night we got to attend the Windsor Castle Diamond Jubilee Pageant! This is one of many events to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this year, and hopefully not the only one we'll participate in. With the London 2012 Olympics and the Diamond Jubilee, this is an exciting time to be in the UK! Union jack flags are flying everywhere.

The pageant celebrated some of the locations around the world the Queen has visited during her reign. It was a great evening that also included performances by The Tenors and narration by Alan Titchmarsh and Angela Rippon. The following brief video shows a Haka dancer from New Zealand whom the audience loved because of the way he jiggled his bare cheeks to the rhythm of the songs (sorry, that part's not in the video). This is his bow upon leaving the stage.

In addition to New Zealand we like the performance from Africa (including some West End stars singing from The Lion King). We saw these performers before the show. That headdress is really something. 

The performers from the Indian subcontinent were colorful and beautiful, and we loved the dude who followed the dancers around and threw what looked like poppadoms in the air, cleaned them up again, then threw them in the air again. It was entertaining.

The performance from the USA had a western theme with this cute stagecoach and a very talented lasso group. 

By far the most impressive act, and one of the more impressive things we've seen in our lives, was the Russian performance. The horses were moving at their top speeds while riders did stunts like hanging upside-down from the side of the horse or climbing underneath the fast-moving horse. It was crazy-cool--we were totally wowed. It was too fast-moving to get photos and I didn't get videos of the really impressive stuff, but here's a video of something cool (though much slower-moving).

Royal Wedding, part II

Did you watch the wedding coverage? We had a gathering of a few friends for our Royal Wedding party, and it was pretty fun. And yes, I took pictures of the TV screen. Go ahead and make fun of me right along with Jacob.
We grilled burgers, and I made a no-bake strawberries & cream cake. Because what's more British than strawberries & cream? I'll tell you--a strawberries & cream cake that involves rich tea biscuits. Yes, the same cookie reportedly the star ingredient in William's groom's cake.

What a fun day to live in the UK!! Enjoy the rest of my "screen shots." :)

Royal Wedding, part I

I was a little distracted when Kate and William announced their engagement last year. And even if I hadn't been about to give birth, I might not have thought it that big a deal. But I would have been wrong. It's a HUMONGOUS deal. In the lead-up to the Royal Wedding, it's pretty much all we hear about on TV and radio. Everyone has the day off, and the Prime Minister has encouraged everyone to party in the streets.

We saw on BBC news that the bell-ringers at the parish church in Kate's hometown of Bucklebury have prepared a 4-hour peal for Friday. FOUR HOURS. They're pretty excited.
The same news segment shows her family's butcher. He's also very excited.

BBC's website is helping everyone out with lots of street party recipes and Royal Wedding Recipes. They're excited.

The seating plan, the dress, the guest list, the honeymoon plans, the cakes, the hair (here too), the vows, the weather forecast... I could go on. Who isn't excited?!

This guy: VERY excited.

(This guy isn't. Neither is Jerry Seinfeld.)

Windsor

My Aunt Nancy and Uncle Don are the family members who have most consistently promised to visit us in England, and we're super-excited they're here! They arrived this morning and haven't showed any signs of jet lag as we toured Windsor Castle today. I toured the castle before, but today was also Jacob's first visit to the Queen's other London residence. It's the largest inhabited castle in the world.

The State Opening

The Queen's speech every November opens the new parliamentary session; it's called the 'State Opening.' It's happened for more than 500 years, and it's very elaborate and ceremonial. She delivers her speech on the grand throne in the House of Lords. Her speech sets out the legislative agenda for the parliamentary term, and it's written by members of parliament. She has no say in what she says. But basically every sentence begins with "my government is committed to..." The photos here are just screen shots from when I watched it online today. This country is so awesome!

(Prime Minister Gordon Brown (left) and David Cameron (right), Leader of the Opposition, are listening to the Queen's speech. Someone must make them sit together; most of the time they're yelling at each other over the table in the House of Commons.)

Over-the-top

We got to tour Buckingham Palace yesterday, and it was amazing! It was totally extravagant and over-the-top, and we were glad Grandma & Grandpa got to see it while they were here. We also had a bit of dessert at the Palace cafe (below).

We also took the open-top bus tour and got the overview of the city; thankfully we had great weather.
Punting the Cam Friday was fun, but also a little challenging. It was either raining really hard or sunny and windy. Jacob did an amazing job! And the rest of us toughed it out in the rain. :)

WE SAW THE QUEEN!!

A few months ago I blogged about the Queen's actual birthday, and I mentioned that the 2nd weekend in June is her observed birthday, when they have the big parade in London called Trouping the Colour. We (my Mom and I--Jacob wasn't there) saw parts of that parade today, but the most important part was that we SAW THE QUEEN!! She rode past us in a horse-drawn carriage. The photos aren't super-close or really great quality, but I can't believe I actually SAW HER!!! It was thrilling!

(I'm pretty sure that's her hubby Prince Philip next to her. When I zoomed in it looked like him, plus his uniform is very decorated.)

Her Majesty the Queen's (real) birthday

Since we moved here the British Monarchy has been a source of total fascination for me. We've loved visiting some of the current Royal residences (here, here, here and here) and learning about past monarchs on TV programmes and at historical sites. We also watched Her Majesty the Queen's annual Christmas broadcast with keen interest. And we've been hearing about the fact that Her Majesty the Queen has two birthdays. Today is her actual birthday; she is 83. Since 1805 the Sovereign's birthday has been been officially celebrated the second Saturday of June with a big parade called "Trooping the Colour." (According to the official website of the British Monarchy, the date was chosen because "good weather is more likely.")

Since we're on the subject, I loved watching the Obamas meet Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh a few weeks ago at Buckingham Palace. And, yes, many people in this country were deeply offended that Michelle Obama hugged the Queen (also, that she didn't curtsy). Thankfully the Queen was not among those offended.

A post about Her Majesty wouldn't be complete without a few lines from the British National Anthem, "God Save the Queen." (If any of you Americans would like to sing along, you already know the tune. It's the same as "My Country, 'Tis of Thee." Not joking.)

God save our gracious Queen!

Long live our noble Queen!

God save the Queen!

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the Queen

Windsor and Warwick

This week I went to 2 castles: Windsor (where Her Majesty the Queen still lives--it's one of her 3 primary residences, in addition to the many secondary ones) and Warwick (pronounced war-rick). Both trips I took with my friend Robyn and her family.

The day we went to Windsor Castle it rained torrentially, so I didn't take much time to photograph it. But it's absolutely magnificent! The castle was originally built by William the Conqueror back in the 11th Century. But the real highlight was the State Rooms, very poshly furnished and decorated. It must be nice to be the Queen!

The guards at Windsor (and all the royal residences) are super-cute in their big black fuzzy hats!

Warwick Castle was also originally built during the time of William the Conqueror in the 11th Century. Part of it also served as a very lavish residence of the Earls of Warwick. We also got to hear an interesting (and true) little ghost story told in the form of a haunted house--very spooky!

Other than a few little showers, it was a beautiful, sunny day. You can still see a few autumn colors and the glistening of the swelling Avon River in this photo from the top of one of the castle's towers--breathtaking.

(Jacob will be back this weekend to fill you in on the last of his Turkish adventures.)