A Jubilant Weekend

As I’m sure many of you know, the weekend in which I began this blog,  was dedicated to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Now, usually the thought of trekking all about London in the pouring rain would end up in me chaining myself to the bed in protest, although my blog name may lead you to think differently. However, my family had come to London from all areas just for this specific occasion and so I had little choice in the matter. 

For me, the whole celebration extravaganza started on the Saturday. My aunt had arrived from Scotland the night before, so she had made it in time for the street party my road was hosting. And it was, as one might say, a jolly good success. It honestly was! We had live music at one end of the street and a barbecue smoking away down at the other end. It was a surprising revelation as I realised how little I knew about our neighbors. The fact that I didn’t recognise more than half the people celebrating was surprising in itself, but when people I had never spoken too (as far as I can recall) came up to me and said “are you Christines child?” I was even more bemused. Nevertheless I tore the shyness from my personality and threw it away and after a fair amount of mingling I realised that there are A LOT of lovely people on my road. So now, as I walk down the street I spend half my time nodding or smiling my fellow neighbours who actually recognise me and are not wondering “who is that weird girl smiling at me?”.

Now I believe we have reached the time where I tell you the tale of what happened on Sunday. Don’t close the window yet! I am aware that your family or friends may have told you all about the Flotilla, but it is my turn! Right, well, uh anyways, halfway through Saturday the French side of my family arrived to enjoy the final hour of the street party – meanwhile I had escaped and was watching ‘Singing In The Rain’  if you haven’t seen it yet stop reading this blog and go watch it. Actually, don’t do that, watch it after you have finished reading, or whenever you like. ANYWAY, back to Sunday. So, my French side of the family had come up to London to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee and to attempt to get a glimpse of the Queen. So on that morning we walked up to the tube station and went to Westminster. It was packed. The tube police people had blocked off several exits which meant that we had to leave through an exit which was even more cramped that the tube itself. As we left, my mum took lead and herded us up and we ended up walking on the northbank of the river, with a lovely view of a bunch of peoples heads. Apparently, the only way of getting a view worth seeing these days is if you camp out three days before hand. However, we could see the screen, which was good enough … Well, most of weren’t complaining, but my little cousin had her heart set on seeing the queen and so she insisted of climbing onto her mothers shoulders when the cheers got so loud that it couldn’t be anyone but the Royal Family. 10 minutes later we saw my cousin bobbing up and down inbetween the heads of the most unthreatening crowd  I have ever been in. As my aunt reached us she was swaying unsteadily, and it took three people to help her get down safely so my cousin wouldn’t do a nosedive towards the concrete. Although my cousin was the only one who managed to see any sign of the Royal Family, none of us were complaining, because it was not a day wasted, since once the Royal Family had past a vast majority of the happy singing crowd left and we were able to see the Thames and I considered it a day well spent because I got to see the Pink Hat Boat (I doubt that is the actual name, but nevertheless, i’m sure you’ll agree it has a ring to it) Just incase my poor description has not sufficed I have added a photo for your benefit. You’re welcome. Anyway so once the steady flow of boats began to slow, we all plodded about London in search for food , refusing to allow the rain to dampen our mood. So as we entered a cozy little restaurant, soaked through our many layers, we considered it a day well spent.

Now, unless I am mistaken, I believe that my story has now reached the Monday of the Jubilee, the day of the concert. Yes, I am right. I checked. This day in my opinion was the best day! It was even better since I had low expectations, I was expecting to be at the back of the Mall, completely soaked and not able to hear or see a thing. Oh, how I was so very wrong. I was indeed at the back of the Mall, but i had been one of the lucky few that were able to stand on the steps which meant i could see over all the heads – even the ignorant children on their parents shoulders through out the entire concert did not affect me. Unfortunately I was separated from my family early on, but we were texting each other so we knew that no one had been kidnapped or mugged. I personally think that Tom Jones was the best act, he was so happy that it was infectious, I found myself singing along to lyrics I didn’t know. I am also proud to say that I took part in the forward mexican wave suggested by Rob Brydon, as random and odd that night was, it is one I wont forget.

The last day, in my opinion was not worth the blisters on my feet. I know that I got some pretty good footage of the flypass, the hours of shuffling about London in massive – but still not very threatening – crowds with a family which was about as organized as a fish*. So I followed my mother who had practically tied a leash round my neck to prevent me from getting lost and as soon as we reached  fence I climbed onto it, trying to ignore the 20 ft drop on the other side, and manged to see about 7 horses with riders wearing ridiculous hats trot past. So, I can’t help but think that this day was not as successfull as the others, but this was not anyones fault but my family, since we left with about an hour to get to trafalger square to find that it had been closed off and then we somehow managed to see a few horses, and thanks to friends of ours who had been slightly more prepared than us, they informed us that trafalger was being reopened and that we should head back there. Which we did immedialtely, like well-trained puppies. and this is where I got some pretty ood footage which I am now going to attempt to share with you. Well anyway I think the highlight of that day was lunch. We went to Wahacca meeting up with the very helpful informants and even though the food was quite spicy it was an enjoyable experience and we left with pocketfuls of the free chilly seeds they were giving out.

Well I got it to work, but that meant uploading it to Youtube! I hope you appreciate the kerfuffle I go through for you. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Jjau6-UFjA0

I would like to apologise for the very long gap between this blog and my previous and I hope that it was worth the wait. Hopefully my next blog will be coming soon, I am giving myself a challenge that I would like to share. More details in my next blog. 

*Fishes in my mind are very disorganised, due to the fact that they have a seven second memory.

Last updated: April 16, 2020