Great British Summer

This summer is one of the best times ever to be living in London. First there was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - celebrating Queen Elizabeth's 60 years on the throne. Then the annual Trooping the Colour took place to wish the Queen a very happy 86th birthday. And in August, London will host the Summer Olympics!

Even though the royal establishment is a completely foreign concept to me and I find it very hard to support a monarchy when America’s fore founders fought and died to make America a free nation, I must admit that today, the British royals mostly use their power and money to do a lot of good. Kate supports multiple charities and both William and Harry are on active military duty supporting their country. 

Even with my not-so-favourable opinion of a monarchy in general, David and I felt like this was the summer to start participating in some of the royal hoopla to see what all of the fuss is about. So before we used our extra Jubilee vacation days to head to Africa, we went to a local Jubilee street party. We enjoyed the entertainment, drank some Pimm’s cups, and bought some festive sweets!

The weekend after we returned from Tanzania, we went to Buckingham Palace with our houseguests, Emily and Erin, to see the Trooping the Colour parade. I’ve never even seen the Changing of the Guard, but the Trooping was like the Changing on crack! There were hundreds of household cavalry and Welsh guards marching down the Mall. We arrived after the royal family made their procession from Buckingham Palace down the Mall to the Horseguards Parade, so we were able to snag some great spots on a small hill between Green Park and the Palace gates.

Union Jacks flying proudly next to the palace gates

When the royal family came out for their annual balcony appearance, the crowd went nuts for Kate!  People definitely cheered when the Queen walked out, but everyone adores the Duchess and cheered loudest for her.

The Queen was then honored with a royal air force flyover

After two years of living in London and plenty of opportunities, we finally saw the royal family!  And Kate even gave a smile for David! ;)

And this past weekend, we attended our first British wedding! 

One of David’s friends from high school, Natalie, got married in Exeter.  So Friday after work, we took the train out to Karen’s and then the three of us drove through the Southwest to Devon to attend the ceremony and reception.

We made a weekend trip out of the wedding with a nice, relaxing stay in Sidmouth on the coast.  Devon was just as beautiful as War Horse made it out to be.  We really enjoyed the drive through the countryside and our stay on the beach.

We stayed in Sidmouth at a turn of the century Victorian hotel on the beachfront.  It was a beautiful hotel but we were definitely the youngest people there by 40 years. 

Dipping my feet in the cold water along the Jurassic Coast

Esplanade

Town centre

For the wedding, David rented a traditional morning suit. 

I was so excited to wear a hat to event, 

and so were most of the American girls David went to high school with!  

Kristen, Emily, Stephanie, and Katie flew in 

from the states to support Natalie.

It was Karen's first British wedding, too.  Nice hat!

The ceremony was at a church in Exeter and the reception was at a 

17^th century manor the family had rented for the week. 

The grounds of the home were beautiful

Natalie’s mom, Michelle, did a great job 

planning and decorating the marquee.

The tables were named after Greek gods.  

We were at Aphrodite (for all the beautiful ladies at our table).

The happy couple, Guy and Natalie 

Natalie and her TASIS girlfriends

Mr. Hurst, Karen, and David.  It was a TASIS reunion!

Cheers to the Queen and congratulations Natalie and Guy!