Caroline gets v close to the Queen

Thought I should put a bit here about all the interesting stuff I am getting up to in England cause I like to pretend this is part of my trip and not just an extended period of being a lazy good-for-nothing! So today I get to tell you all about me seeing the queen!

As you will all know (!!!) today was the state opening of parliament and my lovely friend Sarah who works for the house of lords had somehow managed to win a ticket for one of the inside rooms so she invited me along (I think primarily as all her other friends actually have work to do!) Main concern this morning was what on earth "day dress" was. But after consultation with my friend Anna who knows about such things, decided that smart work clothes would suffice and off i trotted to the Houses of Parliament feeling v excited! Unfortunately my lovely small handbag didn't fit my wallet so I left my driving licence at home....not a problem normally but when the invite has in red "BRING PHOTO ID" you begin to think that this may have been a mistake! But luckily, thanks to Sarah and mine stunning good looks and flirting techniques (and that, probably, neither of us were middle eastern men) the police managed to overlook this and accept my switch card as id!

So happily in, Sarah and I then settled ourselves into this amazingly ornate room to watch it all happen. And whilst it was all very interesting, it was a little slow.....and really quiet! Just lots of old men in funny costumes walking up and down the room at 5 min intervals and us lot all standing up in a mexican wave effect when one end realised this was a starred bit on the agenda and we should be standing!!! Then, finally, little old Queenie arrived (with, finally some trumpeting) and I got to see her in all her splendour! Was quite strange seeing her quite so close...and shes very small! Tried to catch her eye and bond with her in the hope she would give me lots of money, but failed miserably! Oooh, also got to see the state imperial crown (or something) both on the queen's head, but also being processed (is that the verb??!) up and down this room a bit earlier, along with the sword of state and the cap of honour (or something...it all sounded very monty python-esque at any rate!)

Quite difficult to describe it all as it was all so out of the ordinary....but Sarah summed it up quite well saying it was just a big fancy dress parade really. We particularly liked the men holding sticks with small blue birds on top but never did figure out what they were called!

And then, if I am being honest, the best bit for me was coming out of the houses of parliament and walking down the roads that had been closed off! Felt very self important. Especially with all the huge crowds of foreigners on the other side of the street...hee hee hee. Then made sure to hold my ivitation on the outside of heat so people could see.....god i am sad!

What next???

Well, I am fully ensconsed in UK living now and happily back in my old ways of spending rather large amounts of money without even trying!

Vic and Matt's wedding was absolutely wonderful....a brilliant day. Vic looked stunningly beautiful, Matt looked so happy it made me cry and Dad's speach was great (even if it was written by Mum, it was said from Dad's heart!) But now am back to reality, which means spending hours on the internet trying to figure out what it is I want to do for the rest of this year.....answers on a postcard please.

So far have come up with a few months in Ecuador (the only spanish speaking country which appears to not be flooded with rain over the summer) doing some as yet unspecified voluntary work, followed by a few months in africa working on eco-lodges. But my lovely friend Rebecca (of Honduras and Nicaragua fame) has now put a spanner in the works by suggesting we travel again together in November. That would be fab but do need to seriously think about what I want to get out of this year......so much serious thinking to be done!