Wicked and the Queen

This past weekend, Brian and I ventured into the Big City to do two things I have wanted to do for a long time - see Wicked the musical and see Royalty.

Brian was looking online a couple of weeks ago and saw that the Queen's annual birthday parade was going to be on June 12. We actually don't get into London that often, so I wanted to make the most of our trip into the city and see Wicked too. I've heard so many amazing things about Wicked, and they were all true. Brian and I normally aren't theatre people, but we LOVED the show and would definitely recommend it to others.

The next morning, we got up early for the Queen's Birthday Parade. This event is known as "Trooping The Colour" and is a big celebration where the Queen and other members of the royal family travel by carriage from Buckingham Palace to Horse Guards Parade. Once there, the Queen does her official inspection of the Guards and then travels back along the same route. Then the royal family gathers on the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a "fly-past" (or fly-over as we would call it). The jets and planes were amazing! 30 planes, in groups of small formations, flew over the Palace over the course of almost 4 minutes.

This was definitely a great experience to be a part of; that day, we not only saw the Queen, but also her husband the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles, and Prince William. Now I can check off royal sighting from my to-do list while I'm here! =) Here are some photos Brian captured at the parade - hope you enjoy!