Saturday 30 April 2011

My Royal Wedding Adventure

Well, I can now say I have the seen the British Royal Family, sort of up close, sort of personal.


The adventure began on Thursday night - I headed into London to stay over at a friends. We got in the spirit early.


And began celebrating with chocolate cake. As you do.


The next day began way too early - 4am.

It was dark outside.

But I was excited and ready!

We got a night bus to Ealing Broadway to get the first train of the day into the city.

Excitement!

Liz was appropriately decked out.

The train journey into London was uneventful - we were curious to see how many there would be. The tube was certainly lively, but by no means packed. It was pretty obvious that everyone on the train was headed to the wedding: flags, fold up chairs, picnic baskets, etc.. We were fortunate that everyone seemed to be getting off at the stop before ours, St. James's Park, presumably to find spots along the Procession Route. We decided to be brave and go one more to Westminster, despite hearing people had been camped there since Tuesday.

When we came out, dawn was approaching.
(Note the time here). There were indeed campers everywhere, and an obvious crowd forming. We decided to continue along to attempt to find a place across from the door to the Abbey. And so we pressed on!
We discovered the temporary structure that had been built to accommodate the press, and assumed that they would have a pretty good view. With this information, we attempted to smush ourselves into the group of people massed beneath the newscasters and cameras.
The view was indeed great!
Once we established a spot. We settled in for the wait..
Light still dim enough for blurry pictures. Not to worry, we brought sustenance!
Liz demonstrates classic Britishness with a Hot Cross Bun!

And I sustain myself with my new favourite granola, brought all the way from Atlanta to London, via Cambridge. (I am completely obsessed - so delicious).

Note the time on this clock:
Only five more hours until the wedding starts!
The night before I drew this little Greek flag, just in case, and found a crumpled Union Jack behind the cupboard in my room...
Now approaching 7am, and spirits are still high!
TV coverage began and we got to witness BBC interviews. No idea who these people were though..
Now approaching 8am...!
Things were starting to happen by now - police officers moving around.
Some hats began appearing.
And some dignitaries - but no idea who they were!
Time ticking on..
Time for the princes to arrive!
Next to arrive were the Middletons
And with that elegant hat, I will have to leave it for the night. The 4am wake up has messed up my sleep schedule a little bit. Will provide the second half tomorrow!

1 comments:

Lee said... [Reply]

Great pics and thinking of where to camp out. Brilliant!