Jubilation...

Yesterday was the largest maritime gathering on the Thames River in over 300 years. All to honor Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. I watched from the relative warmth and dryness of our flat thanks to a live online stream from BBC. A twinge of regret had begun sneaking up on me for not taking the train into London to celebrate the flotilla in person. However, that twinge was quickly erased when I saw the banks packed with hundreds of thousands of onlookers, every single one of which was soaked to the bone. The weather held out for a portion of the festivities, but by the end of the parade of boats, the grand finale fly-over was cancelled due to low-hanging cloud cover and driving rain. So, I was happy to have gotten closeup views from almost every possible angle while sitting on my sofa. I might have missed out on some of the atmosphere, but I'm fine with that because I'm confident the negatives would have outweighed the positives. Plus, at church yesterday morning, we collectively yelled, "Hip hip hooray!" three times for the Queen. And we prayed for her, as we know that she has faithfully prayed for her country and her decisions. So, I got to participate in the Jubilee in my own way.

This could have been my vantage point. I'm glad I passed. But at least these brave souls have a story to tell. They were there when the Queen rode by on her royal barge as only the second British monarch ever to reign for 60 years.

The BBC coverage was laughable. The main commentators were unintentionally caught on air multiple times when they thought the coverage had been passed off to the on-site reporters. It made for some awesomely awkward moments. All in all, it was an entertaining way to spend my Sunday afternoon. I attempted to take screen shots of my laptop during the pageantry in order to relive the  most exciting moments. Hopefully, those of you who weren't able to watch it will get a kick out of my version of events. Here goes:

HRH looked darn good for an octogenarian who has been working non-stop at the same job since she was 25. Her appropriately diamond-colored jacket and hat were embellished with Swarovski crystals, and she looked pretty majestic atop her ornate vessel. The entire rigamarole lasted over 4 hours, and impressively, the Queen never sat down once. (Despite the fact that special throne chairs were perched atop her ship for use by her and her husband.)

At times, the Duke of Edinburgh appeared as if he were enjoying the spectacle more than his wife. Of course, it could have something to do with his time spent in the Royal Navy.

The entire royal family spent most of their time on this side of their boat as over 1,000 crews paddled, rowed, sailed and motored by. The man-powered vessels kept a steady pace of 4 knots, which sounds tiring given that they had a 15 mile course to complete.

No disrespect to the Queen, but I probably looked forward to every glimpse of her granddaughter-in-law as much as anything. Oh, Kate, how radiant you are. I also found this particular scene to be rather amusing. Allow me to insert my irreverent commentary here... Charles: "I do say, dear William, Catherine is looking ravishing in red." Harry: "Wills, are you gonna let dad talk about your smokin' hot lady like that?" Will: "Aw, Dad, come on now." Camilla (looking disgruntled): "Charles Wales, can you not restrain yourself for once?" All the while, Kate and the pageant master in the gray suit are trying to pretend they can't hear the conversation.

This bird's eye view helps to see the massive crowds on the banks and the scope of how many boats were rolling down the river.

Sigh... Girl, you so pretty. Like model or cheerleader.

How cute, the Middletons got to ride in the parade too! There's sister Pippa (navy and cream button-up blazer and skirt), brother James (to the right of Pippa with a red tie), dad Michael (on the other side of Pippa), and mom Carole (in the beige dress suit next to the yellow-jacketed lady.)

Remember how I said the BBC coverage was laughable. Here is but a taste of what I meant. This reporter with a hideous and crooked hat was "knighted" at one point by a street performer after asking the feathered man to her right for a (drag)queen style makeover. What the heck?

When the ships passed Parliament and The Eye, it was a pretty iconic moment.

In front of the Queen and her hubs you can see the throne chairs that never got a second of sit time. Also, HRH added gloves and a shawl as the weather deteriorated, but she kept her composure (as always.)

The finish line for the flotilla was the Tower Bridge. Once the royal barge passed the HMS Belfast, the Tower Bridge lifted and the road split in two as the gate was raised in vertical salute. Although the grand finale flyover did not happen, fireworks were still launched from atop the Tower Bridge spires. Jolly good.

I was impressed. It felt like an important and momentous occasion. The royal family, the reigning monarch, extraordinary pomp, and never-ending rain. How thoroughly British! I think that the monarchy is an exceptionally special tradition, one that I have happily embraced during my time here. There will probably always be naysayers and anti-royalists that believe the institution is outdated and superfluous. But in my opinion, it seems fantastic to possess such a long-standing and constant component in your nation's history. Elizabeth has acted as a consistent and unifying force over the past six decades of wars, crises, governmental overhauls, innovations, and inventions. Her stoicism, perseverance, and adherence to her faith make her admirable in my eyes. And I think she deserves to be honored.

Today is the giant concert in front of Buckingham Palace. Something like 10,000 tickets were given away in a lottery system and another 2,000 went to various charities and big wigs. I'm not sure if the BBC will stream the concert live or not, but I'll let you know how that goes. Later tonight, beacons will be lit at specified times across the entire Commonwealth in homage to Her Majesty. Then tomorrow, the final day of the holiday, a thanksgiving service will be held at St. Paul's cathedral. Wednesday, the UK heads back to work, hopefully having recuperated from the long weekend.

Next post, I will attempt to recap our trip to Switzerland. And wouldn't you know it, we are leaving again on Friday for another round of travel. Ireland, here we come! Matthew turns in the final draft of his thesis on Wednesday, and we are going to celebrate with dinner and a movie on Thursday. Then Friday, we are meeting up with our friend Tomas and departing Stansted at 6:30am. Gotta love that the cheap flights are always the earliest! Well, until I get the chance to edit some Switzerland photos, here's one to leave you with. We got to Skype with Bullitt.

What a good puppy, He can sit, shake, and lay down. (In exchange for biscuits or cheese.)

Can't wait to scratch those soft ears again soon. Only five more weeks from today!!!!!