This blog entry is to commemorate the fact that Marco and I have just concluded one of the most thoroughly British fortnights we’ve had in our whole 5 months in London. We took part in the Diamond Jubilee festivities with much enthusiasm, not least because we got a 4-day weekend to celebrate…. Hurrah for the Queen! Along with the rest of London, Marco and I decided to brave the foul weather and head to the River Thames to watch the Royal Flotilla. With a lot of jostling and elbowing, we actually managed to get ourselves a prime spot on the top of London Bridge, and I then managed to get the prime spot of all prime spots… and spent most of the afternoon sitting on Marco’s shoulders!
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| The Royal Barge!! |
We got a great view of the royal barge bobbing down the river, and though we were too far away to see the royals themselves, it was none the less an impressive sight to watch thousands of boats floating by. The best thing, though, was the atmosphere – everyone cheering and waving flags with all their might, and Union Jacks fluttering from every surface. The entire city had been decorated for the occasion, and although we got rained on a bit we enjoyed being part of the crowd, drinking our Vodka and Orange Juice and waving away with the best of them.
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| The crowds on London Bridge |
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| Oxford Circus decorated for the occasion |
The very next weekend, just to carry on the British nature of things, we dolled ourselves up and headed off to watch a game of Polo. Thankfully we had much better weather, and spent a glorious afternoon drowning in sunshine and drinking Pimms. The horses were absolutely beautiful and it was an interesting game to watch, but after the 1st match I turned my attention to the people instead. It was a very swanky and well-dressed crowd – some of the women were stunning and seemed to have longer legs than the horses! But none the less it didn’t differ to many other British sporting events in that it did seem to be a great big booze-a-thon, and by the end of it most people were pretty hammered. At the end of the day, the crowds leaving the field seemed just as boisterous and rowdy as your average Pommy football hooligans – just in better clothing!
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| Waving at the horsies at the Polo |
Other than our occasional outings on weekends, Marco and I are living pretty quietly – keeping our heads down and trying to rebuild some savings, but it is difficult – this is an expensive city, and it feels like we are haemorrhaging money on even the bare essentials! None the less we keep on keeping on – Marco trots off to Oxford Circus every day to his investment bank, and I trot off to the London School of Economics on The Strand. It’s Marco’s birthday in a fortnight, which will be our first UK birthday to celebrate, and I think I’m looking forward to it more than he is! Any excuse for cake and good times J
xxxxxxxx Jenny
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