Today, on Amy’s suggestion, we went and watched the Trooping of the Colour, the “official” celebration of the Queen’s birthday and her inspection of the troops. Regiments of soldiers in full dress uniforms, a 41 gun (artillery) salute, a 49 plane flyover, as well as the Royal family filled the day.
http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page5357.asp
We arrived early at Buckingham Palace and found a good spot on the Mall (more importantly in the shade) to watch the parades. After Amy’s brief “encounter” with some Japanese tourists, we talked with the most entertaining Yorkshire couple. He was retired military having served in Korea, and he filled us in on ALL the specifics of the different regiments and symbolism. She gave us some insight into the lesser known things to see in London and their experiences with the pageantry of the day. Really just a great visit.
THOUSANDS of people lined the street to see the Queen in her carriage, with Prince Charles and the Princess Royal (Ann) riding behind on horseback. Prince Harry and Prince Andrew (along with a few others who warranted the Royal Salute) rode in a separate carriages. After the parade back to Buckingham Palace we moved over to Green Park to see the artillery salute, and still made it back in time to see the fly over. All VERY impressive.
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OK - a London resident for only 3 weeks and I've experienced the first Queen sighting! We were really up close on the front row of the parade route. It was pretty exciting and the bits of information we picked up from the charming Yorkshire couple was great. Ray took nearly 100 photos. I'm still working on the photo album and will link to this page. Maybe I'll get it completed this week...
We found Bodean's BBQ on Friday night and enjoyed beer and ribs. Not quite like BBQ in Texas, but it was very good. Definitely a place we'll revisit.
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