Trooping the Colour 2014 - A Right Royal Day Out

"I have to be seen to be believed" - Queen Elizabeth II

Yesterday we all overslept, not an auspicious beginning to what we expected would be a very big day. I can't say I planned our last visit to London for the "Trooping the Colour", it was in fact an utter fluke and a fabulous coincidence.

 Having slept late we imagined that we would have little chance of seeing anything. We walked down through Green Park with many other late comers, arriving at ten thirty as a sea of people poured down The Mall and already people where standing five or more deep along the barricades. It seemed that passage down The Mall was blocked so we attempted to move up towards the Victoria Monument but after squeezing through the tightest gaps we realised there was no way we would see anything there and had to squeeze back out again.

We made our way back down The Mall, as we were able to now. Apparently the footpath was blocked when we tried earlier to allow Prince Charles to leave Clarence House. When we reached this now  open barrier at Stable Yard Road we reasoned that once the parade began this barrier would again close and if we waited patiently at the gate we would have an unobstructed view. Bingo, our luck was in, our spot was perfect.

Adding to the fun of the day was chatting with other spectators and the affable constables who manned our gate. Once our gate was shut no one was able to walk back up The Mall until after the Royals had passed by, which took some time. The witty Constable Hubert had us all in stitches as he very politely directed traffic around by an alternative route, at least two hundred times.

We had very good views of the Royal Family as they passed by in coaches, but managed to miss those on horseback, in the sea of horses that passed down The Mall. There was a lot of waiting in between the procession up to Horse Guards and its return to the palace. But again we had a terrific view once they finally returned.

Once our gate was opened we joined the other cattle in the race to the Palace for a vantage point to see Royal Family on the balcony. We figured that as they were going to be up high we could be further back and get a good view with binoculars and the camera. Again we were lucky and thanks to the end of a brief drizzle the umbrellas went down just as the Family came out.

I had a good view through the camera with the others using binoculars. The affections of the crowd was all in favour of the lovely Duchess Kate though unfortunately we didn't get to see young Prince George.

The RAF flypast was spectacular and very loud, I can only imagine how amazing the view from the balcony would have been. Once the groups of planes past by, including a Lancaster Bomber, Spitfires and fighter jets, the Red Arrows aerobatic team finished the day in fine style.

Soon after it was all over and we made our way back through the crowd to our friends house to get warmer clothes. Somehow in all the excitement of a week of lovely warm days we forgot that its always wise to carry something long sleeved in England and we had been quite cold most of the day.
As it was our last day in England we had to look back at our "must see list" to make sure we had no overlooked anything we would regret later. On Friday Rob had spent a few hours in Hyde Park with the kids enjoying the sunshine and taking out little boats on the Serpentine.

This left me time for a leisurely and long overdue visit to Westminster Abbey. It really was a wonderful place, and I must add that visiting on my own allowed me to take as much time as I liked and really get the most out of my visit.

The lasting memories I will take away with me include not only the famous tombs and memorials, the  towering ceilings including the magnificent fan vaulting of the ceiling in Henry VII's chapel but also and particularly the 13th century wall paintings in the Poets Corner and the Chapter House. These wonderful fragments provided me a window through which the long dead friends and acquaintances of the artists could be glimpsed after all those centuries.

And so having ticked off these very important places we were left with  only one landmark we had long promised a visit to, and what better place to end our time in London than by taking a turn on the London Eye.

We all really enjoyed it though Julian says he would prefer it went a lot faster and around again and again. We made up for this very minor disappointment with dinner at the Rainforest Café we celebrated Emma and Rob's birthdays at back in March. Again we abandoned the kids menu in favour of adding tasting plates and a side salad to two mains which more than fed the four of us without resorting to junk food.

And so we leave London this morning well satisfied that we leave made the most of our visits here and without the heavy hearts which accompanied our departure from the Ringwood area where we have been living for the best part of the last six months. The beautiful people here and the wonderful scenery will go with us in our hearts for a lifetime.