Pausing a while.................

..... remembering the very special moments we had in 2012 ~
It was a very full year here in England with the Queen's Jubilee, The Summer Olympics, the arts olympiad and the Canix European Championships.
We sometimes wonder, "what we will do in the summer of 2013 as nothing could be as exciting."
The Queen's Jubilee was full of the pomp and ceremony that only the English could do for their monarch. And why not! Elizabeth II is the second monarch to reign for 6o years, the first of course being another woman: Victoria.
A pagaent of quite a size was planned for the Thames river with all sorts of vessels of numerous sizes and shapes sailing past our Queen to honour her.

What an amazing lady, she stood all day out in the open under shelter of the rain receiving the honour.  England came out in true style braving the rain and lining the river to be a part of the celebration. 

We watched from the warm comfort of our home anad travelled down to London on the 2nd day to be a part of the festivities.
It was a fun day but disappointing that we did not get close enough to see the royal procession.
However, this did not deter my dear daughter, who then searched to see if the Queen would be visiting our town as a part of the Jubilee celebrations.  She was!
We arrived bright and early on the day, determined to have a front row position.
Starbucks coffees were bought and we all settled in to wait.
It was such an exciting moment to see the Queen up close with prince Philip; but even more to actually meet them.  What a gracious lady she is and he such a charming man.
I never dreamed they would actually stop and chat to us, but they made an effort to say a few words, ask a few questions and make eye contact with almost everyone in the front row.
What an exciting day for the two of us; an excitement that flowed over to the next day as we discovered our photograph in the local newspaper when the Queen was greeting us.

 

Next we had the 2012 Oympics to look forward to. The highlight for me was being in London for the triathlon. To be amoungst all the supporters lining the streets and cheering our own boys on is something I will always remember.

 My son and daughter were able to visit the Olympic park and see some races there, but I will have my turn this year, but that is another story for the summer of 2013.