brushing shoulders with the monarchy

I got up earlier than my little family on the first new morning after our arrival, and went and sat out in the little garden of my sister's rowhouse in London where we're staying for the first 5 days or so. The air was chilly, and while the sun was rising and promising to warm the air, it hadn't reached the small space of the garden to take the chill out of my bones. I didn't stay long out there, but I made two observations.

1- My sister and her husband, let's call them Michal and Nigel (because those are their names), have put so much amazing work into their small space. They have several fruit trees, herbs, berries, rhubarb, a small pond, a lion fountain, a bird bath, and a few places to sit and enjoy it all. It's all quite inspiring!! Ryan and I obviously have a lot more work to do on our little simliar sized back garden, and this serves as a great source of inspiration!

2- While sitting outside for the brief 10 minutes or so (before I got too chilly and came in), I must have seen 5 or 6 different kinds of birds flit in and out and over the garden. Now I'm no birder, but I found this marvelously fascinating and a happy surprise! Is it just me, or do others also think of London as not the most hospitable place for furry and feathered friends to reside? I was proven wrong, and as many different birds as I could hear, there were double that many different songs being sung all around. Breathtaking and beautiful! In the days since that first morning I've begun to really enjoy waking up to the songs outside our skylight.

That first day proceeded to have quite a few surprises, actually. We had big plans to go and cast our eyes on some big monuments and buildings in London, and as we came up from the Tube at Westminster, hoping to catch a glimpse of Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the Parliament buildings, we were shocked by a THRONG of people, nay an impossible crowd of bustlers, spectators, both tourists and natives, all lined and squished and pushed up against a temporary fencing structure that had been put up, and was being guarded by the police. 

So this photo shows about the amount that we could see. Throngs of people with cameras and phones, and in the distance some tiiiiiiny little marching guys.  As it turned out, the Queen was opening parliament that day, and went by in her royal carriage, but we were too far away to see it. 

And so between hardly being able to move anywhere, trying to keep our girls with us, fielding panic by our middle girl in the midst of the crowd, and the excitement of all that was going on, we decided to try and push our way out and head to the palace. Not before snapping a sassy picture of myself with Big Ben though. :)

Handsome, no? 

So we did our best to carve out a route to the palace, and kept coming up against more road blocks, more police, as well as the queen's guard in their bearskins and armed guards with machine guns drawn. Um, this little Canadian was a bit taken aback by the machine guns. Call it a stark realization of just what terrorism can do to a city and it's security. We live a very peaceful life in Western Canada, although I don't doubt we'll have our own troubles one day. 

Once we finally made our way to the entryway to Buckingham Palace, we found that there were less people around (at least the throng wasn't so intense) and yet the road was still blocked off. I chatted with an English couple who told me what was going on, and that the Queen would be returning at some point soon to the palace. 

Okay, let's just dwell on that last phrase. The queen would be returning soon to the palace. Um, at certain points that morning I could be heard saying to my daughters, "Girls. Can you believe we are actually going to see a palace? That a real queen lives in? I mean, this isn't fake! This isn't Disney Land and all these police and guards aren't actors! This is REAL!" ("We KNOW, mom..." haha!)

Anyway, as the couple predicted, not long after, there was a bit more commotion. We came across the royal guard marching band, and I snapped a handsome picture of their back ends. 

And then in got real, friends. Really real. Royal soldiers on horses real. 

And then more came.....!!!!

And then just like that, THE QUEEN!!!

I can't tell you how thrilled we all were. I mean, to see her in real life was really exciting! More carriages rode past, one bearing the crown, and others bearing other important types I didn't recognize, until this guy went by...

Okay, really hard to see, but it was Prince Charles and Camilla!! Not only did they go by, but the prince looked right at me. Yes. Locked eyes my friends. Me and the prince. Pretty spectacular.

(Now, Ryan, who was beside me, is convinced that the prince was looking at him, but let's all agree that I'm the one that draws more looks, okay? He was looking at me.)

Okay, so this was a major thrill. We continued on towards the palace after and were struck by the magnificence of it all! 

Ryan, of course, was so struck by it that he had to pull out a lunge. You're welcome to all that have requested more lunges. :)

Magnificent!!

The rest of the day was spent in wandering back through the palace grounds and catching the Tube home to my sister's place. What a great first day in London it was!!